Should we get a trampoline?

So Jess and I have been thinking about getting the boys a backyard trampoline.....Just a month ago I was certain I would never have one. (on account of little boys don't need motivation to break their body parts). But I was talking to some friends who said that their kids hardly ever play on their swing sets, but play on their tramps everyday.
We have nothing in the backyard right now and the boys get bored out there....anyway--I was wondering what everyone thought--ya or nay? (and if yes, what kinds are good?)

Kade's Christmas Play

walking reverently out...



Handsome fellow in his new suit







Kade was asked to pass out programs by the door...he got so bored waiting for people...but he just looked so cute!!!




I've been so so so excited for Kade's first Christmas play--which, although I hadn't thought of it, Jess' mom made me realize last night that this is probably the last time, through school, that he'll do a "nativity" Christmas play, and I'm so glad they did. It was so so cute! Kade was one of the hosts which meant that he got a speaking part, and got to hand out the programs to the parents at the door. When he got his part, it made me laugh....because it wasn't exactly what I was expecting for the play, "Next we will be taking a group picture. You are invited to take pictures at that time." ha ha, so funny, and he did sooooooooo great! Jess and I loved it. Thanks to the Johnsons who watched Luke, we were able to watch the entire thing uninterupted. YAY!!! Merry Christmas everyone!

Shots

The boys and I got our flu shots the other day. Kade knew about his shots (he needed two others as well) a few days in advance...he heard me make the appointment on the phone. ANYWAY, I got mine, then we had Kade go next so he could be a tough example for Luke. Kade was sooooooooooo scared. Once on the table he cried and was so nervous....through the tears after the first shot he mumbled out..."oh, well, that didn't hurt so bad...then the next shot and...--ya, that didn't hurt much either. Apparently the flu shot was the worst and he didn't mention it being easy. AT ANY RATE....
After all that craziness, Luke from on the chair to the side shouted out, "MY TURN NEXT!" with so much excitement. He hoped right up, winced and was done. It made me laugh at my little masochistic son! :)

TWILIGHT!
YAY! The group of us!---ha ha, it's funny cause A#1: we're trying to wear these fangs that just kept falling out but were AWESOME-thanks Linds, and B#2: it's funny to look at the group of 12 or so and try to see who stayed up for the show and who "woke up" for the show....poor Shari was so sick and so so pregnant (sorry Shar).


This was soooooooooo fun! We all went to the midnight showing of Twilight on Thursday night and amidst the cracking up due to Lindsey, Shantelle and Jessica, we really liked it. It was exactly what I expected. (we really did laugh a lot because of the awesome music and well, it was a little lower budget..) We loved it and despite the lameness at which I was a mom the next day, it was worth it (and the boys LOVED watching Kung Fu Panda while I rested!) Good idea Jessica! I loved it!

rock climbing

One of the last things we did before we left Utah was go rock climbing with Scott. Kade loved it and was really good at it (and he didn't get a chance to get bored because about an hour in another little girl came and they had more fun running around, it worked out great) It was sooooooooo fun. Now, Scott is into Bouldering, which is rock climbing without the rope, and not too high, just hard. It was sooo great! The climbs are measured in V's--starting at V-0, V-1 and up to V-10 or something at the quarry that he goes-ANYWAY, I totally rocked the V-0's and then tried the V-1's....then went back to V-0's. I so so so so so wish there was some sort of rock climbing place within 100 miles of us. So here is some of Kade and at the end of the video is an awesome new jump thing Scott learned while we were there.

Last week we went to Las Vegas with Jess family and he met us there. It WAS AWESOME. Jess' parents are so incredibly generous and paid for our stay (in a hotel that was huge and so pretty) gas, food and fun. It was Jess' grandpa's 90th birthday and we all gathered for that. It was fun to play the "who is that again" game.


The boys saw the M&M factory (which, by the time we walked to it, we only had 15 minutes...but they had time to fill up their bags with whichever m&m color they wanted. I didn't think Luke would care too much when we saw the giant m&m guys, but he loved them! I didn't get a very good shot because of how many people were around him but he was just a-waving and shouting hi.
That night we went to the birthday party, which was fun. I think Jess' grandpa is just so nice and there were lots and lots of people there to celebrate! Afterwards Jess and me, Aubrey, Melodie,Justin, Emily and Riley went out on the town to see the sights (which, in Vegas, is the grossest time for sure!!! Yuck) but we went through some of the prettiest hotels and by 12:05 got to the Bilagio to see the water show. We waited and laughed and waited and laughed (Melodie's got the moves!)...until a nice homeless man told us the water shows end at midnight. So, we walked back. (I was glad I was wearing flip-flops). Anyway--it was tons of fun to just hang out with everyone!
Sunday we went to church and after said goodbye to Melodie, Justin and Riley who had to get back for work. That night Jess and I went to visit our way super awesome friends, Tom and Tiffeny Kutz! YAY! I just love them! I so wish we had more time to play, but as it was we had just dropped off Jess' family at grandpa's at it was getting late. I can't wait till next time! (we're crossing our fingers that we'll win some money so we can come on your cruise with ya'll---SO FUN)



Monday, we went to Circus Circus--and it was so fun! Especially the Acrobat act with the guys from Kenya--AMAZING! we were cheering so so loud! Then we went to see the AWESOMENESS of the Mirage. Who knew (well, tons of people--just not me) that they had dolphins and tigers and lions....there? We lucked out with a few free tickets and it truly was amazing. The animals were all up and walking around and playing and so so so close. Not to mention the dolphins were so cute! Anyway, the boys loved it! Lastly we wanted the boys to see the Treasure Island show...but turns out after a day of walking and so much fun...the three boys (Brody) were all asleep in our arms. So we went home instead. Jess and I and Aubrey took the boys to Madagascar that night and THEY LOVED IT!!! We were all laughing so much. What a good show! We loved it and Kade and Luke were laughing lots. We totally recommend it! They were out like a light that night!
Jess flew home Tuesday morning and we drove back to Utah. The trip home was awesome too, Jess' mom had gone to the dollar store and LOADED up on toys and cramed them into a black bag for the three boys and they really did love that (thanks) and the Suburban they rented had a DVD player and everything..and really, except Kaden needing to go to the bathroom every 5 minutes everything was pretty easy breezy!. It was a great trip and we loved it!

I don't have many pics from Vegas cause my camera's battery ran out, so sorry it's kinda boring...Aubrey's going to send me her pics!

Also, Scott found all his old pokemon collection and has been giving some to Kaden. HE's IN HEAVEN! He had one card that he got from Mathew Johnson, asked Scott if he knew about it, Scott found his stuff, and now he won't let it out of his sight. Kade carries all his cards around in his Superman wallet. It makes me laugh.

Kade's Jump

Pieces of our Utah Trip

Utah has been soooooo much fun! And the weather has been so nice and warm and AWESOME. The boys are loving it and have been so so so busy with all the activities we've been packing in. Yesterday we raked up all the leaves and the pile was huge.....so....we talked Kade into jumping from the tree house into the leaves. HE LOVED IT.



We were so so lucky to be here on Brody's birthday. YAY--Emily had it at Kangaroo Zoo and we ALL had so so much fun! HAPPY 3RD B-DAY BRODY!!! WE LOVE YOU.



I've never played Rock Band before...TURNS OUT IT ROCKS! he he...I loved it and totally want it now. The boys liked playing it too and Kade did a great job with B.J. on the guitar. Anyway--so fun!



Pumpkin carving was funny because...turns out...Kade and Luke both think it's pretty gross. We all tried to show them how COOL it was to mash the pumpkin innards...didn't work. but...by the end they were at least used to it.



We went to a childrens museum at the gateway mall and it was so so so fun. It had so much fun stuff for toddlers and Kade's age. It had a house that was to scale for the boys, a working construction site with cranes and building blocks...a grocery store with fake food and isles and cash registers and oh so much cute stuff. Anyway, Kade and Gavin were dressed up the whole time as Police Chief Kade and Firechief Gavin and patroled the area. They LOVED it. It was super cool!




This is a picture in mom's back yard. Kade has just climbed acrossed the monkey bars for the first time (he was so so brave) and we called Dad to share the good news. We miss you JESS!!! And seriously CAN'T wait to see you this weekend!!! YAY!!! We love you baby!

Oh, and in case you didn't notice...there's Pac Man on the bottom of this blog and I LOVE IT. I first started playing it on Hannah's blog...then it stopped working and I had to take matters into my own hands. At any rate, I'm totally addicted and LOVE Pac Man. Just a little heads up!

WICKED!!!

YAY!!! Last night Shantelle and me when to the Broadway play WICKED. It was awesome!!! First of all, the drive was so fun, then the theatre was awesome! I've been listening to the music for years now and I've never seen the play and now sooo many questions are answered. And it was hilarious! I laughed the ENTIRE first half because of how hilarious Glinda was--seriously, soooooo funny! Then the second half Shantelle and I both were crying-it was sooooo fun and thanks so much for coming with me Shantelle--you're amazing and I learn so much from you! Happy Birthday(IT REALLY WAS SO FUN!!! GO WICKED!)

Silly boys!

I'm going to try and add some video. Kade and Luke have come to 2 of mine and Jess' karate classes and now they practice what they saw with each other. (Yikes--I know they're going to start practicing it on other people--but as of right now--it just kind of makes me laugh)

Apple Tasting Party

This was such a cute idea! My friend Brittney had an apple tasting party the other night to welcome in the fall! We all brough apple dishes or pumpkin dishes and we voted on the best tasting apple out of her huge selection! The winner was Honeycrisp apples--Most of us had never heard of it--and turns out it was the most expensive type--awesome! But thanks again Brittney--soooo fun!

Oh, and here is the recipe from the Apple-Pecan Sticky Buns that I brought. I had never tried it and got it out of a magazine with an awesome picture!!! Anyway--it turned out really nummy:



Prep time: 40 min
Bake time: 40 min

2 tart apples, such as granny smith—peeled, cored and sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 1/4 cups plus 1 tablespoon packed light brown sugar
1 1/2 sticks (6 ounces) butter, softened
2 cups flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons honey

1. Preheat the oven to 400°. Grease a 9-inch square baking pan. Place the apples, 1 tablespoon brown sugar and 1 tablespoon butter on a parchmentpaper- lined baking sheet; toss to coat. Cover loosely with foil and roast until tender, 15 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 350°.
2. Meanwhile, using an electric mixer, blend the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt at low speed. Add 5 tablespoons butter and mix until crumbly. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs with 1/2 cup cream, then mix into the dry ingredients.
3. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to form a 9-inch rectangle. In a small bowl, mix 1/2 cup brown sugar, the pecans and cinnamon. Cut up 2 tablespoons butter and dot the dough. Sprinkle the brown sugar mixture on top and cover evenly with the roasted apples. Roll up the dough, jelly roll-style, and cut crosswise into 9 slices; place the slices cut side down in the prepared baking pan. Bake until golden, 35 to 40 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool.
4. Meanwhile, in a saucepan, bring the remaining 4 tablespoons butter, 3/4 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup cream, 1/2 teaspoon salt and the honey to a boil, stirring. Whisk until reduced, about 2 minutes. Let cool slightly. Drizzle the sauce over the warm buns.


I would put the nutrition facts--but it's a little depressing so...just know they TASTE AWESOME! :)

6th ANNIVERSARY!!!

We had a wonderful 6th Wedding Anniversary this last week. We went to The Chop House and it was AMAZING! The steak melted in our mouths---the sweet potato was like a little dream on a plate..but my favorite was dessert (like ALWAYS) I wanted to bring the spoon home just to have as a souvenir it was that good. YUM. Afterwards we went to Bed Bath and Beyond to get new pillows for our presents! YAY!! Only I picked out one of those memory foam pillows with the swerve top (to help with neck strain) and WOW....it was awful. I woke up the next day with the worse cramped neck I've ever had. Turns out, I love my old pillows. Anyway--thanks Johnsons for watching our kids and...seriously, anyone who wants the best dessert ever, get the fudge carmel cake with AMAZING ice cream at the Chop House. (I might be drooling a little right now thinking about it.)

And Jess--I LOVE YOU. You are INCREDIBLE. You're an amazing, fun dad, a thoughtful, caring, kind, "one who sees and listens through my emotional tears and makes sense of the insanity underneath" WONDERFUL and loving best friend. I'm eternally grateful that we were brought together. I learn from you everyday of my life. Turns out I'm not always right....ha...who knew? (well, you did) but I love learning with you, and being with you through this amazing journey! Thanks for choosing me!

Fall Festival

Jess had his feet worked on last week....He has bone spurs and Plantir Fascitis. Anyway, he had a proceedure done last year to help the Plantir Fascitis, and it didn't really work. But the doctor wanted to try it again (?) on both feet this year. Basically it's shock waves that tear apart the scar tissue on the inside of his feet. The good news is, it's been almost a week and he feels a lot better and his hobbles are less noticeable. The bad news is that the doctor said, the longer the recovery time, the better chance of it working this time around. Well, maybe next year then.

Kade is loving school and we've cut back now and only do 3 days a week. We were doing 5 but lots of times he would want to stay home so he could finishe a game of candy land, or knew me and Luke were going to bake cookies or....he'd still love school when he went, but I figured, that this is the last year that I'll get him home when I want (Georgia has such strict laws on never letting kids get out of school. It scares me a little for when he starts Kindergarten) ANYWAY, yesterday he told me that he needs to wear black shirts to school only. Kade and his friends play "Power Rangers" at recess pretty much every day, his friend Jackson is kind of the ring leader and decided that whatever shirt color you had on, you were that Ranger--Kade's favorite is the black one so...we're doing a lot of black shirts. (go go power rangers--brings me back to my elementary school days)






His school had a fall festival last week that me and the boys went to (Jess had to miss out on account of his foot thingy) last week. It was rainy so not many kids were there at first and the kids loved it! Every game they got to play till they won, the cupcake walk was a guarentee cupcake everytime, and no line for the pony ride.


They chose to go on a little theme park ride where you go around and around in circles and it lifts a little right. Well, while they were waiting for the ride lady to buckle everyone in, Luke decided to get out. So, I, not thinking said I'd sit with him. I'd forgotten that I HATE CIRCLE RIDES and I got sooooo ill. Yuck! I hate stuff like this. The whole time I just wanted to throw up (3 minutes felt like an hour) Anyone else get sick like that? It's lame I know--I'm a fun killer, but Kade loved it and Luke thought it was boring a bit.

Kaden won a fish. I'd never realized the bitter/sweetness of those games. I wanted him to win of course, but I sure didn't want a fish...that meant we needed to get all the stuff for a fish. So....he won one. He first named it Jasmine. When I asked why he said because it was one of my favorite flowers and some of his friends were named after flowers. (sweet) but then we decided it was a boy so now it's Evey....after someone on Ben 10 I think you has 8 lives or...I'm not actually sure, but that's it's name. We told him that they die really soon...just to prepare him...so everyday now that it's still alive he's soooooo excited. Plus he loves the responsibility of his new job to feed him day and night.

Conference Craziness!

Well, it was that wonderful time again when we get to listen to the prophets of the Lord speak. I LOVE CONFERENCE. But I guess I never really appreciated my youth (understatement) of watching the entire thing without any interruptions. One of my favorite talks was by Joseph B. Wirthlin on "Come What May, and Love It", and Jess and I both were bawling like little school girls on the next talk by Jeffrey R. Holland about angels among us---sooo great!

"My beloved brothers and sisters, I testify of angels, both the heavenly and the mortal kind. In doing so I am testifying that God never leaves us alone, never leaves us unaided in the challenges that we face. “[N]or will he, so long as time shall last, or the earth shall stand, or there shall be one man [or woman or child] upon the face thereof to be saved.”13 On occasions, global or personal, we may feel we are distanced from God, shut out from heaven, lost, alone in dark and dreary places. Often enough that distress can be of our own making, but even then the Father of us all is watching and assisting. And always there are those angels who come and go all around us, seen and unseen, known and unknown, mortal and immortal.

"May we all believe more readily in, and have more gratitude for, the Lord’s promise as contained in one of President Monson’s favorite scriptures: “I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, . . . my Spirit shall be in your [heart], and mine angels round about you, to bear you up.”14 In the process of praying for those angels to attend us, may we all try to be a little more angelic ourselves—with a kind word, a strong arm, a declaration of faith and “the covenant wherewith [we] have covenanted.”15 Perhaps then we can be emissaries sent from God when someone, perhaps a Primary child, is crying, “Darkness . . . afraid . . . river . . . alone.” To this end, I pray in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen"

More then that....I'm not sure what happened. I do know that I felt soooooooo prepared. I'd printed off a bazillion coloring pages and conference "fun books", we'd built a fort for the front room....we were ready....Then the fort collapsed like a bazillion times and HAD to be rebuilt...the front room was insane and loud and......ha ha, I never knew this was what mom went through. But the beautiful pieces of truths that I did glean from conference were amazing and I'm excited to read them all later!





And one last thing about church--I'm in nursery in our ward and they've just put together a new manual! IT IS AWESOME! Perfect for that age and it's my new love! NURSERY MANUAL SHOUT-OUT! (I'm a nerd I know...but seriously, it's awesome and makes my calling so much easier)

B.J.'s almost HOME!

YAY!!! Tomorrow my little brother is getting home from San Antonio, TX, where he's been for the past 2 years serving a Mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!!!! Tomorrow! I'm so excited (and although I'm not there now, we will be in 3 weeks so YAY!!!) WELCOME HOME LITTLE BRO!!! We love you and missed you and are so grateful for your example!!!

I LOVE THESE BOYS!!!
(And even though I might mention later that Jess didn't have the BEST time camping--he still loved parts of it...so...that's good! Just look at that smile--I love you baby!)

We had a ward camp out the other night. We've all been excited for weeks! All that day it rained...Jess got home and assumed we weren't going..."that's crazy" I said, a little rain will be fun! (ha ha, it's really so funny to see the differences in Jess and me!) Anyway, it just kept on raining...FOREVER! Lots from the ward showed up and the sight was nice and Jess set up the tent while we ate our KFC (it was funny, because the hot dogs that everyone else brought, looked so much better).

Anyway so after we got all set up Jess had had enough of the rain and went in the tent. The boys and I roasted marshmallows in the rain (we didn't so much have jackets...because A#1--it's summer and hot,and B#2---I'm just a really good mom (and was so sure it would stop raining--the optimist in me is occasionally wrong) Turns out neither of the boys like the actual "roasted" part of the marshmallow--but they like the idea apparently...and then settled in for the night.

Kade was so excited to go to bed because we've been reading the Spiderwick Chronicles and we'd just gotten book 2 from the library (he's soooooooooo into these--it's cute). Anyway--so we read some and it was a good night. then the tent started to drip...I guess a water-proof tarp on top can only be soooooo water proof. ha ha! The boys and I were still having fun (notice the absence of one member...he's so funny (also, you should know Jess really likes being clean and dry...so....it wasn't a good combination for him.) I guess it didn't help either when both of us needed to leave the tent for a bit and I left the boys some treats while we were gone...gummy worms (in hind sight--not the best idea...), and the marshmallows were still in the tent. When we got back there were lots and lots of sticky spots, Jess stepped in a marshmallow that had been smashed into the tent....oooooh, the joys of camping. The next morning before we left I wanted to get a picture...but jess protested on account of he wasn't going to smile--he he, oh Jess, you're always so funny I say...and we went home. BUT!!! It really was so so so much fun. I loved everyone there, the company was awesome, it smelled great, the boys got in plenty of tree kicking (ninja moves on objects that mom says is okay), the rain stopped eventually and the tent was dry by morning--just about, the boys LOVED it, and Luke's new motivation to wear "big boy under ware" is so that he can pee outside like Kaden! Adventures and fun!! WE love camping!




Oh, and GUESS WHAT? Jess and I moved up to "Gold Belt" in Karate--woo woo--watch out world!



Yesterday we went on a walk with our friends who live next door. I love love love having the walking trails so close. Have I said that before. We really should go more--especially now that the weather is AWESOME! Anyway--Donna and the kids are tons of fun! We saw the coolest catapillar--it looked like it was straight out of The Labrynth (which later Donna let me borrow--I love that show! Thanks Donna!)





KADE'S FIRST BIG PURCHASE!




So Kade's been saving up his money for months now to get a Ben 10 omnitrix watch that plays games right....so at Target (months ago) it was $20...so 2 months later, now that he's been dreaming of it forever....IT'S A COLLECTORS ITEM and no longer at Target. Well, he's been into Legos for awhile now and it's a good thing too, because after much convincing, he decided that it was fine about the watch and he wanted special Legos. Jess took him and they brought back a cool Mars Mission set. Kade stayed up with us putting it all together, and then the next day-Sunday, we were all late because we just kept playing with the Legos. SO FUN! At any rate, they've been put together and taken apart and now he just makes some awesome "inventions" with it all. So here it is....KADE'S FIRST REAL PURCHASE:



I also want to say thanks to Jess for taking so many pics at the store....he usually doesn't love taking pictures in non-picture taking spots (he knows what I mean) so just thanks---I love you!


A few days ago mom sent the boys two envelopes, each with their name on it and $3 inside. They went nuts! We went to the dollar store that night. Kade fell in love with a "Transbotix" that was $6...so after 20 minutes of pleading with Luke, he gave up his Construction Mr. Potato Head to go in on it with Kade. Kade was sooooooooo happy and hasn't put it out of his sight (but is sooooooooo good with sharing it and remembering that Luke did a nice thing for him.) Then at the end they got gum balls--Luke loves putting the quarters in those "demon, make grocery shopping so much harder because kids Have to have them and now they have them at the hospital too" candy/tiny toy machines! (not that I was bitter this trip...but really--who thought of the candy machines for little kids?) ANYWAY It was soooooooooooo fun taking them there and mom--THANKS! They loved it!

a