Oh I have a sweet little boy!!!

I know it may be a lofty claim but . . . I am pretty sure that I have one of the most tender hearted sweetest boys that has ever existed right here in my family. Each one of my kids is so amazing and has unique talents. One of Hayden's special talents is simply that he loves people. And he does! He is always telling me, "Mom . . . I love everyone. I'm everyone's friend." And he means it!

Hayden loves to hug. He is always hugging. It was really cute yesterday at my parent's missionary report in their ward. After the meeting was over, and my parents were making their way down the isle greeting friends and neighbors as the went, Hayden walks up to my Dad and says something like, "Hey! . . . How about a hug?" And then he immediately ran up to and wrapped his arms around Grandpa. It was pretty cute.

Today the kids were running around playing and I was sitting on the couch. All of a sudden Hayden pauses from his playing, runs over to me and gives me a hug and then runs off. As he is running he yells, "I love you!" And then a couple seconds later he continues . . . "Jesus made you special!" It was a sweet moment. But not nearly as sweet as what just occured tonight.

Today was a hard day for Drew as far as being obedient is concerned. At the end of the day we told Drew that from now on every time he is being knowingly disobedient he is going to be grounded from his best buddy Jonah for the remainder of the day. We chose that consequence because it is the one thing we could think of that Drew would be devastated about if it were to happen.

So after we read scriptures, said prayers, and read stories I turned the lights out and was putting away some laundry in the drawers. Hayden started saying something and it wasn't making a lot of sense. I said, "What are you saying Hayden?" And then he said, "It's just that . . . sometimes Drew lies." And then he went on, "Drew was spitting on me and he said it was rain."

Of course I wasn't too pleased about this bit of information and I started saying to Hayden (but really meaning for Drew to hear) "Well Hayden, if Drew spits on you again . . . you tell me! Because if he spits on you I am going to ground him from Jonah!!"

As soon as I said this Hayden burst into tears and was sobbing uncontrollably. I was surprised. I thought Hayden would be happy to know that his brother would be punished for spitting on him. I wrapped my arms around Hayden and said, "Hayden . . . what's the matter? You down want me to ground Drew?" And Hayden weeping said, "It's just that . . . I love him!! And if you ground him then he is going to be out of this world!"I was like, "What are you talking about?" He kept sobbing hysterically. I tried to make him understand. I said, "Hayden I love Drew too, but it is not okay for Drew to be spitting on you. That is why I said I would ground him." This didn't help at all though. He started crying louder. He kept crying trying to find air and stuttering, "I love everyone. I don't want you to ground Drew and his friends." He turned over and seemed like maybe he might calm down. I said, "Go to sleep bud." And I put his blanket over him. I went in our bedroom and was going to tell Lamon about how sweet it was that Hayden cared so much about whether I grounded Drew or not, and then Hayden started sobbing again. Lamon went in and laid next to Hayden and Lamon asked Hayden, "What is wrong?" I overheard Hayden tell Lamon, "Mom said that she was going to 'Drowned' Drew. But . . . I love him." The whole time my sweet little boy thought that I was saying I was going to 'drowned' Drew. That is why he said, "but then he would be out of this world!" I didn't quite understand that when he said it. I came in and grabbed Hayden and hugged him and assured him that I would never ever ever ever drowned Drew. That I loved him too! No wonder the poor kid was so devasted! I said to Hayden, "Hayden say 'GRRR . . . ound' Do you know what grrrround means?" He didn't have a clue. So I explained to him when someone says that they are going to ground their children from something, it simply means that they can't play with it/him. He was quite relieved to say the least. And I just can't stop thinking about how traumatic that must have been for Hayden when he thought I was saying 'drowned' and not 'ground'! He certainly does love his brother though, and of course couldn't bare the thought of not having him here with him for a moment. Sweet, sweet Hayden!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love you!!

Drew's dreams come true today . . . apparently.

Drew has a friend that lives next door named Jonah. Jonah is Drew's best buddy. They play so well together. They climb trees and collect bugs . . . all the good things boys like to do . . . And in Drew's book Jonah knows everything.

One night I was reading the scripture story about when Jesus was in the temple and teaching all the men there. I wanted to make a point about how "smart" these men were that Jesus was teaching so that it would show how amazing it was that Jesus, a young boy, was teaching and answering their questions, and I asked Drew, "Who is the smartest person you know." He didn't take long to answer the question. I thought Mommy might understandably be the first answer . . . maybe Daddy. But no . . . he replied, "Jonah!" I then went on to assure him that Jonah was not the smartest person in the world. He is only 8. But then Drew went on telling me all sorts of things that Jonah had taught him. Many of the things were absolutely ridiculous. Among those things was that lighting came from the ground.

"Drew" I said, "there is no way that lightning comes from the ground. That is the silliest thing I have every heard." But he insisted.

The next day Jonah came over and was playing. Jonah turned to me and said, "You know what?" and he continued to tell me the same thing that he told Drew. "Did you know that lightning comes from the ground?" I turned to Jonah and I said flatly, "Jonah . . . you're wrong." He looked at me a little startled and then his Dad yelled for him to come home. He walked off and I was feeling a little bad for putting him in his place.

So later that night Lamon had me come down to watch a weather forecast on the computer. I was wondering why in the world he was having me watch it . . . and then he just told me. Dan Pope just said that 90% of lightning comes from the ground." Boy did I feel sheepish. I was like, "Oh great . . . this is not going to help me as I try to convince Drew that Jonah is not the smartest person in the world." I then stayed up and researched all about lightning. The next day I humbly apologized to 8 year old Jonah.

Anyhow, Drew idolizes his friend that's for sure. Today I was mowing the lawn, and Drew came outside. I said, "Drew, do you want to come out and push the lawnmower?" He has been begging me to mow the lawn because his friend Jonah mows their lawn. So he came out and grabbed on to the mower, and couldn't move it one inch. I put one hand on the mower with him and we started to push it across the lawn. He kept insisting he could do it himself . . . so I would let go, and he would use every ounce of strength to push that thing. Any time I grabbed on he would say, "No, I got it. I got it!" It took quite a long time for him to finish, and despite his insisting, I had to help him push a lot of the time. At the end I said, "Drew, You are so awesome! You can do big things!" He was so excited! He was smiling ear to ear. He was like, "That was hard, but I did it by myself! Now I am like Jonah! I told you I wanted to mow the lawn!" Then he turned to me and said completely serious, "My dreams have come true!"

So what are the chances that mowing the lawn will continue to make his dreams come true in say like 10 years? Wouldn't that be fabulous?

Hayden . . . a boy aware of modesty!

I thought this was pretty cute, so I thought I would share.

This morning the kids were all getting dressed before breakfast. I was in the kitchen and I overheard this conversation.

Hayden very sweetly said to his sister, "Ada . . . your shirt is not modest."

I went into the hall where they were, and sure enough Ada had put on a shirt with no sleeves that needed a shirt under it.

Hayden then put his arm around Ada and said, "Ada . . . do you want me to help you find a modest shirt?"

After a few minutes Ada returned with a shirt underneath her spaghetti strapped shirt. It didn't match, but I let her keep it on because I was so proud of my little boy!!!! What a good big brother! I thought it was pretty good for a four year old! :)

Update--Scout Camp/ July 2010

Every year for the last 5 years Lamon has gone on a week long Scouting Trip. This year was his first week long backpacking trip, and he took the boys up to the High Uintas. He was looking forward to the trip for a long time, and a week or two before the camp he went backpacking in the designated spot with some friends from work to sort of check things out. He came home assuring me that the hike was certainly not as hard as he had previously thought.

The night before they were to set off Lamon packed his pack and brought it down and weighed it. They suggest that when backpacking your pack should be less than a third of your body weight. Lamon's pack? . . . . more than 70 pounds!! Lamon doesn't even weigh a buck 50! So he would be carrying more like half of his body weight. He let me try it on, and I just about tipped over backwards. I was thinking that maybe I might be able to make it around the block. I was a little worried about Lamon's back at the end of a week carrying that thing!

I heard from various sources throughout the week that leaders who hiked in and out admitted that the hike was REALLY HARD, and that some leaders and some of the boys were struggling. So the entire week I was worried that all the boys were having a miserable time, and I even had a nightmare that one of the boys was miserable and left and got lost. Everyone was looking for him, and somehow I was suddenly there and looking for him too.

They did all make it home alive however. There were so many mosquitos up there. One boy got more than 100 mosquito bites on his hands within minutes. Luckily they were smart enough to buy mosquito nets for all of the boys to protect their faces. And they also had plenty of food, which I was a little worried about as well. They were able to catch plenty of fish, and their bags of food lasted them throughout the week.

I sure love Lamon. He is a great example to me. He loves his calling. He loves working with the scouts, and I am just amazed at how dedicated he is. What a man!

We have our very own waterpark in our backyard?!

July 4th Freedom Run with Ed

We've done quite a few races this year, but this one was different! It was pretty much awesome! And not because I ran it in record time either.

Lamon has a friend from work named Ed. Ed is so cool and funny, but he is also pretty inspiring. About a year ago Ed had Gastric Bypass surgery. Since his surgery he has lost 180 pounds. Lamon and I have often had conversations in which we talk about how it doesn't matter what kind of procedure someone has done, or special diet that someone goes on . . . if they don't change their lifestyle . . . it will eventually come back. Well Ed has totally changed his lifestyle and he is amazing. Earlier in the year he told people at work that he was going to train for and run the Freedom Run 5k. It didn't take long for a bunch of people from the PACU to jump on board and say that they wanted to run it with him. Everyone loves Ed!!

So co-workers and families met the morning of the race dressed in PACU t-shirts and lined up for the race. One of Lamon's friends from work, Cami, said, "Let's go stand in between the 9 min mile marker and the 10. I was thinking, "I run faster than that." The thought of my paying for the race, and not doing my best was disconcerting for about half a second . . . until I realized how retarded I was for thinking like that. So who cares if on the 2010 Freedom Run stats it doesn't have me as running an 8 minute mile. That wasn't why I was there! So I ran with the PACU pack and it was one of the funnest races I have ever ran. Those guys are awesome. And Ed is the bomb. What a cool guy. He has caught the runner addiction and has done more races since. I have a feeling those 180 pounds are gone for good! We all finished the race together, and that was pretty sweet!

Family Reunion in St. Louis

Another fun trip we took this summer was our Family Reunion to St. Louis. Our brother-in-law Broc is going to medical school there. It was so much fun.

I had to spill the beans on my being pregnant because I was sooooooo sick. The long trip in the car with morning sickness was not my favorite thing I'm not going to lie. The kids did pretty good though. We were armed with a DVD player and lots of movies and that saved us for sure.

I think that St. Louis is such a pretty place. I loved all of the old homes with wrap around porches and the GREEN. It was very green . . . lots of trees and vegetation. Of course with that there comes a price. It was as humid as I'll get out. Our clothes were all wet most of the time. Lamon whined the most I think about the humidity! He didn't like it one bit. I guess we won't be moving there anytime soon. But it really is a cool city. It has so many FREE things to do. Some of the things we did were:
1.Go to a super fun splash park in the middle of the city
2.We went to the zoo (which was totally free)
3.We went to the Science Center (also free and totally awesome)
4. We went exploring in the Meramac caves. And seriously . . . when are caves not fun? It was great.
5. We went to this really interesting Sculpture Park. And you heard that right. It was this huge beautiful Park that had all sorts of modern art like sculptures throughout it. There were little nature walks that led to different sculptures, and it was pretty cool. I can honestly say that I have never been to a park quite like that one!
6. We went to the top of the St. Louis Arch. Of course we had to do that!

Catch up-- Surprise . . . sort of

Actually . . . it wasn't too much of a surprise. We had been trying for months! But at the end of May I found out that I was indeed pregnant with our fourth child! Wahoo!

It is a good thing too, because I don't know if we could have afforded too many more pregnancy tests! I have a bit of an addiction with taking pregnancy tests, and I probably went through about 3 or 4 a month. But towards the end of May while I was out for a run I was soooooo tired. I only went about three miles and I stopped like 4 times during the run. One of the times I stopped to walk Lamon's Dad came upon me while on his morning bike ride. I told him, "I am so tired! Maybe I am pregnant!"

So I went home and even though it was about 6 days before I was supposed to have a period, I thought, "Hey . . . I am going to get a pregnancy test!" So I got an early pregnancy test, and . . . there it was. There was a faint second line. I was so happy I started crying right there in the bathroom!!

Now I am 14 weeks, and am so very excited to make an addition to our little family! And I am already looking quite pregnant. It happened way too fast, but it's exciting. I love having a pregnant belly! I think it is fun.

Catch up--Tour de Cure

Another event that happened this summer that was quite significant was the Tour de Cure. It was a big 100 mile bike ride up in Logan that Lamon and some friends from work did together. They each had to get $250.oo in donations to enter the race, and in turn they got some sweet biking clothes the day of the race.

Lamon said it was pretty hard, but they had such a blast! The wind was in their faces the entire time.

Memorial Day

Basically I have neglected to blog about any of our trips/adventures etc. this summer, so. . . I am going to do it.Many of the trips we take are spontaneous or spur of the moment, and that is definitely the case with our trip on Memorial Day. Days before we went Sue mentioned that she was thinking that it would be fun to take a quick one night/two day trip to Colorado to visit Grandma and Grandpa Barksdale and Grandma Crandall's graves and also to visit a National Park and a National Monument as well. Lamon didn't have to work until Wednesday, so we decided, "Hey, that sounds like fun!!" So we came too.

Colorado Monument

The last place we hit before we headed home was the Colorado Monument. As we were driving through it we were absolutely amazed at how spectacular it was. We were all wondering why in the world it wasn't a National Park. We asked someone at the visitor's center, and they said it had a lot to do with politics. It isn't quite big enough to be a National Park and extending the borders would make certain people quite irate. Anyhow it was awesome!

Black Canyon of the Gunnison

On Memorial Day we headed to The Black Canyon of the Gunnison. It just became a National Park in 1999. It was breathtaking! They call it the little brother to the Grand Canyon. We went to a bunch of outlooks, and we drove down this really steep road to the bottom of the canyon and spent some time at the river. While we were there taking pictures some people came up to us and said, "Just so you know . . . there is a bear right over there." It didn't take us long to usher the children to the car. But then of course being unsmart like we are, we took turns getting out of the car and taking a look. It was a baby bear, and it was up in a tree. We are quite lucky that the Mother bear didn't decide to make her presence known while we were observing the cub!
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