Halloween 2009 (updated)

We had two spooky ghosts for Halloween this year. When people would ask Helaman if he was going to be a cute ghost or a scary ghost, he always said scary. We actually thought they ended up looking pretty creepy. They are making there serious/scary ghost faces in this picture.

Our ward does trunk or treat on the night before Halloween for some dumb reason(s). So we got to dress up twice this year. Isaiah was sleeping when I dyed my hair black and put on the black lipstick and eye make up on Friday and he was scared and wouldn't come near me when we woke up. So dad had to get him ready and put his make up on. Once he was all painted I guess he realized it was fake, and we were friends again.

There was a little carnival inside the church before the trunk or treat, and the boys had fun trying out the games. They never could get a ball to land in the glasses, but they did great on the other ones. Well, Isaiah cheated at the others, but he still had fun and got prizes. :)

The next day we had a very tired 8 a.m. soccer game, and then our end of the season soccer party at the part at lunch time. Then we went trick or treating again with some friends and had lots of fun. Isaiah was still dragging through it all, but Helaman couldn't have been any happier, tired or not. A lot of people in Ridgecrest do some really fun stuff for Halloween, and we had a great time checking it all out and getting lots of yummy candy.

We hadn't had time to get dinner before we went trick or treating, so we ended up at Taco Bell late that night with lots of other people having a late dinner. The boys were really good, even so tired, and entertained the people around us by being their cute selves. We're all tired today, but it was a great Halloween.

*As requested I've added a better witch picture (thanks Khiana) and another cute one she sent me of Helaman eating the donut.
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Losing Freedom

As I watch what is happening in the world around me lately, I am growing more and more concerned for the protection of the basic civil rights protected by the constitution. I am not a Republican or Democrat, I don't fully agree with either party, and often strongly disagree with both. Omar and I both are free from party affiliation and try to vote based on issues and candidates.

As our new president took office, I didn't vote for him, but decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and see what he would do. I thought he had some good ideas about things, like governmental transparency, and I was excited to see that happen. While I disagreed in other areas, I didn't think too much harm could be done.

Now as I read the news each night, I am more and more awe-struck at the freedoms being taken from the American people. It was one thing when the Patriot Act started invading privacy and listening in on folks. It's quite another thing to try and silence and black-list dissenting voices. The White House war with Fox News (which for full disclosure is not where I usually go for news even) shocks and horrifies me. The Pay Czar cutting pay in private companies scares me. Now the White House wants to take down the Chamber of Commerce for disagreeing about health care reform. Every day it seems like there is more news about how freedoms I could never have imagined being threatened in the United States are now being threatened.

I disagree with lots of laws and policies, but I know that even if they are enacted they can be changed. But I am so afraid that we are quietly sitting by while the constitution is eroded, and I don't see any easy way to regain lost freedoms.

Then today when I went to LDS.org I found a speech by Dallin H. Oaks about how our religious freedoms are threatened. I loved what he had to say, and think everyone should read it.

I don't know what the answer is. But I know we the people have got to something, now. Any ideas?

Happy Halloween!

And for your entertainment, our scary/silly Halloween faces.
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Birthday Month with Disneyland and everything!

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Since both boys have birthdays 9 days apart, the beginning of October turned into a whole birthday month. On Wednesday before Isaiah's birthday we went to John's Pizza to celebrate with our friend Steven, since we wouldn't be in town on his actual birthday.

The servers came and sang to Isa, which he loved, although he couldn't stand to stay and eat the ice cream when there was so much fun to be had in the game room. Almost every game is broken, but the boys had tons of fun playing in the balls anyway (as you can tell by Helaman's face if you look closely at this picture!

Helaman at 5

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Helaman turned 5 this month. He's such a fun son. (I'm a poet!) He loves the help me with "chores" and I am enjoying that while it lasts. He loves going to school and learning new things and playing with the kids there. He has such a curious mind, and I'm convinced, an almost photographic memory. He reminds me a lot of his dad in so many ways. He wants to know how everything works and is never satisfied with a blow off answer. He has his own ideas, and while he wants to be good, he also wants to do what he thinks he wants to do right then (Omar anyone?)

He's always been a little shy, but in his usual analtical way, he asked me about how to make friends and then has been applying the steps everywhere he goes. He loves to talk to everyone we encounter now, and does it in such a cute grown up way. Like when the lady at Wal-Mart tells us the total, he says,"Okay, great." and then will probably thank her for the receipt before we leave.

He is still in gymnastics and LOVES it. He's getting stronger all the time, and it's been really good for him. He also really loves soccer, especially when his dad is the defender coach and he gets to play defender or goalie. Still anything is cool with dad. And he still loves art. He wants to do a craft everyday, and loves drawing on the computer now, too. Maybe he will be an artist when he grow up, though now he says mechanical engineer. "Like Daddy?" I asked. "No, so I can be a race-car driver."  (Most Nascar drivers are mechanical engineers.) Funny kid.

Helaman cracks us up, and fills our lives with little boy joy. Happy Birthday, Buddy. We love you!

Isaiah at 2

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Isaiah is 2 now, though if you ask him he may say 4 or 5 (because he wants to be exactly like Helaman). He is very proud of being able to get his fingers to make the 2, and then usually wants to sing "Little Bunny Foo-foo." He cracks me up.

I've decided the best way to describe Isaiah is passionate. Everything he does, happy or sad, he is full force, full hearted. He loves you passionately, gets mad passionately (and, alas, violently), runs fast, jumps high, laughs hard. As Dr. Tedford said, he's a pistol! He keeps our life exciting, and we love him so much!

He has an amazing grasp of language. I'm constantly stunned by his vocabulary and sentence structure. He's also really graceful, he moves like a natural athlete (which must come from his dad!) There's just such a lot of person in such a little guy. (34" and 26 lbs).

Helaman and Isaiah are great friends. They love to be silly and crazy together. This usually means someone ends up getting hurt, but that doesn't seem to stop the madness. I was always afraid of having all boys because they are so crazy. And while I was right about that, I sure love my boys.

Happy Birthday Isaiah! We can't imagine what life was like without you.

Just for fun, here's Isaiah saying "Hey Diddle Diddle." One day I was giving him a shower and told him to look up so I could wash the shampoo out of his hair. I asked him if he could see the moon up there, and he said, yes, and the cow jumping over the moon. And then he popped out with the whole poem. Who knew?

Helaman's Art

this is mostly for Grandma Maggie, unless there are other art lovers out there. Helaman still says he's going to be an artist when he grows up, and he really does love drawing. Right now his favorite is drawing in Paint on the computer, though there are notebooks all over our house covered in Jack-o-lanters and ghosts, too.

You can click on any of the picture to see them in more detail and read about them.

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Warthog Soccer

Helaman is playing soccer for the first time this season, and I'm his coach. He's so far, unimpressed, but seems to be having fun in his don't move around a lot way. We'll see...

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Labor Day with Fernando

Fernando came to play with us for Labor Day. It was lots of fun having him here. The boys follow him around and complete for his attention, and he is so good and patient with them. We learned a lot about being calm and thinking they are funny instead of being annoyed from Fernando in those two days. That and he spoils them silly. He brought toys and took them to Wal-Mart to get more toys while he was here. They were very very happy!

Omar is always really happy to spend time with is brother. They went for a ride on Monday and had lots of fun with their big boy toys. We can't wait until he comes back![gallery]

I Can't Make Cookies

Why oh why can I not make cookies!  They always turn into this weird flat mess with chocolate chips sticking up out of them. I HATE making cookies! They come out of the oven all puffy and normal looking, and as they cool.... phtttt.

I've tried using crisco, margarine, butter... no help!  I don't use a hot pan, I get a new cold one every time. What else? Any ideas?

Fires

In August the fires in L.A. filled the sky with smoke. Even the mountains were completely the blocked, and the sun was a crazy orange that you could stare right at and not go blind. (That's for you, Bill). I was really happy when the wind came for once, and we could see the sky again.

New School

Helaman started preschool again in August. He's at a new school and he LOVES it there. And his teachers love him, which makes a huge difference for me. (When daddy gave him a blessing on the first day of school, that was one of the things he blessed him with. I'm so grateful for that man!) The learning here is really self-directed, and he can go at his own pace working on things he is interested in. It's a perfect fit for my little man.

Isaiah had a hard time the first few days, he really missed his brother. But we are always so busy, he hasn't had a lot of time to mope about it.

Sometimes we worried that we hadn't done the right thing keeping him out of kindergarten, but he's doing so well, we are very reassured. We always knew it was what we were supposed to do, but it's still so comforting to that he's so happy and it's all working well. I'm so proud of my little preschooler, who is flourishing, and doing so fantastically!

My little buddies

My boys have been such good friends lately. I just love watching them play together. They are so different, but they love each other so much and have so much fun together. A couple of goof balls!

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Rubber

Isaiah has an obsession with rubbing little moles or zits while he sucks his bottom lip. It's his version of sucking his thumb and having a lovey. I have a little mole on my cheek and Omar has one near his eye. Think you don't have any on your face? Make friends with Isaiah and hold him for a while. He'll find it. And he gets really mad if you don't let him touch it. He's getting better about stopping when you tell him it hurts (which it does after a while) unless he's too tired to be reasonable. Such a funny little baby.

Cat in the Hat Pancakes

Pancakes is the one dish that everyone at my house will for sure be happy to eat. So we eat them a lot. I've found a recipe I really like (see below). But my pancakes are never round, never even a recognizable shape. As Omar was doing dishes I was making pancakes, and getting really frustrated. He just laughed at me and said they are just "cat in the hat pancakes." I act mad, but I really like that he laughs at me like I'm cute.

But why is it that everything I do turns out cat in the hat and everything he does turns out perfectly?

I made him finish making the pancakes.

Best Pancake Recipe

from recipezaar

• 1 egg


• 3/4 cup milk


• 2 tablespoons margarine, melted


• 1 cup flour


• 1 tablespoon sugar


• 3 teaspoons baking powder


• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

• Beat egg until fluffy.


• Add milk and melted margarine.


• Add dry ingredients and mix well.


• Heat a heavy griddle or fry pan which is greased with a little butter on a paper towel.


• The pan is hot enough when a drop of water breaks into several smaller balls which 'dance' around the pan.


• Pour a small amount of batter (approx 1/4 cup) into pan and tip to spread out or spread with spoon.


• When bubbles appear on surface and begin to break, turn over and cook the other side.

Gone Again

Our Relief Society took a trip to the temple this Friday. Since we were going to L.A. anyway, we thought it would be fun to make a little trip of it and visit some family. Omar and I decided to go down the night before and stay in the temple apartments so we wouldn't have to leave so early in the morning to make the appointment.

The boys weren't feeling well on Thursday when it was time to leave, but we decided to go anyway. We got stuck in traffic, took a crazy detour through Bel Air, and finally got to the temple apartments pretty late at night. They boys thought it was so cool, and even Omar slept well there, which is rare for him out of his own bed.

I got up early and went to the temple for the 6:30 endowment session. It was so peaceful and wonderful. I felt so happy just walking up the steps to the temple, and enjoyed all of my time there. At 9:30 the sisters from my ward got there and we did baptisms. I had a name from my Grandma's side of the family that I had brought, and it was a very cool experience. We went to initiatories after that and I got to do that work for Emma (my great-great-something grandma), too. It was a wonderful time in the temple.

I got back just in time to help the boys check out of the apartment at 11 and then we walked around the temple and enjoyed the grounds for a while. It is just such a peaceful feeling there.

After that we went for a drive, we thought to Hollywood, but missed a turn and ended up in Beverly Hills. Which was interesting, too. Then we drove to San Juan Capistrano to Fernando's house and got ready for the beach. We had tons of fun at Laguna Beach, and everyone was exhausted by the time we showered and ate and got ready for bed.

Today we had planned on going to visit my Aunt Ann. Helaman has been asking to see his cousins forever. But after all the fun yesterday, it was just too much for my sick boys. Isaiah was up all night coughing, and no one was very happy today, so we decided to just come home. We went out to a delicious lunch with Fernando at Olive Garden and then drove and drove home.

I think we are going to be staying home for a little while now. Helaman starts school next week, and Omar, the homebody, should get to choose to stay home sometimes. We've had a lot of fun in all of our crazy travels this summer. We are so blessed to have so much family close enough to visit, and to live in such a beautiful state. We also feel blessed to be where we are, and are looking forward to some relaxing time to just enjoy it for a while.


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Smokers? No!

Our recent trip to Gridley was to pick up this truck we bought from a friend there. As Helaman was exploring the new truck he came a cross the cigarette lighter and asked Omar what it was for. When Omar explained it to him, he told his dad that they had better throw it away so no could smoke with it. (He is really grossed out by smoking.)

He's been listening to us discuss if we are going to keep this truck or sell it for the last few days. Yesterday he told Omar that we can't sell the truck because "then some bad person might buy it, and use it to smoke." I guess that settles that. :)

And then July

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July was filled with days spent at the pool and nights spent outside with daddy "working" on his motorcycle. It doesn't get cool until late at night, so the boys were up late every night playing out side once the sun went down, and then they would sleep in every morning until it was time to leave for the pool. I even got a few mornings to myself until Isaiah realized I wasn't sleeping in, too. We didn't do very much work, we mostly played all day every day and every night.

It was a fun and relaxing summer month.

But it was exciting too. At the beginning of the month, Llael came down for the fourth of July. We played in Ridgecrest and then went to spend the actual 4th in L.A. With lots of swimming, beaches, and fireworks, we had a great time.

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At the end of the month we had another exciting adventure. Isaiah, Helaman, and I rode the train to Sacramento to stay in Gridley for a week. We left on Sunday night, and Omar joined us on Thursday night. We had lots of fun, but even in a week, it felt like we could never see everyone. There are just too many people to love in Gridley!

(Note: If you want to get more juicy, or boring, details, you can click on any of the thumbnails in these posts.)

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June birthday trip to Gridley

My mom called about a week before my birthday (I am 30 now, how weird is that?) and offered to pay for us to drive up, get us a hotel for Friday night, and watch the kids for two days as a birthday present. So, of course, we did.

We left after work on Thursday and got there for cake late that night. Friday morning Omar and I got up and got ready, then went to Sacramento to go to the temple and have some fun. When we got to the temple, we found out Omar's temple recommend had expired the month before! Luckily, and miraculously, our bishop was home and we made it in without even being late. Our bishop is never home, and we're never on time! The temple was wonderful from beginning to end, and it was a great start to the weekend.

After the temple we went and checked into our hotel and then went to play in old-town Sacramento. We always have lots of fun together when we have time play. I am so lucky to have married my best friend. After that we went and had dinner at the Chevy's by the river and then went to the mall to find some shoes that we didn't find.

We went back to our hotel and found a Wal-mart with a redbox and rented a movie and bought popcorn and candy. Then we went back to the hotel and swam and then attempted to watch Benjamin Button, but neither of us had the patience for it. And then the most amazing thing happened, we slept the whole night, alone! The whole night and alone are both a big deal at our house.

The next morning we woke up late, had lunch at Taco Bell, and spent the rest of the weekend with our families, running back to Ridgecrest on Sunday. Our trips are always so fast! But it was lots of fun. Thanks mom!

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June

June was when things really got crazy. I was in a stake band for the 4th of July and had practices once a week for that so Omar got to spend more alone time with the boys. Then we also started swim lessons for both boys and then we would stay at the pool and do lap swim and play with our friends and in the pool. We had so much fun with our Ridgecrest friends at the pool this summer. It's been a busy crazy fun time!

We also did lots of playing with our friends Ryan and Ashley. The have moved to Washington now, and we miss them, but June was lots of fun, with exciting trips to John's Pizza in Bakersfield and Lake Isabella, barbecues, and outings.

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Also in May

Some other things I don't want to forget from May:

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May trip to Gridley

We've made a lot fast trips to Gridley this Summer. We've enjoyed spending this time with our family, even if it is always just a fast weekend.

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Mt. Whitney

I'm way behind blogging about our adventures this summer. We've been doing and going and having a lot of fun I don't want to forget. So for the sake of posterity (and avoiding cleaning the bathrooms) I'm going back to May and catching up, starting with our trip to Mt. Whitney on May 15th.

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Smart Boys

I know! I'm way behind. I have lots to write about, but the big stuff I think I'll remember. It's the little funny moments I'm afraid of losing. So for posterity... here's some stories of my genius babies.

Helaman tied this car to his bicycle and was pulling Isaiah around on our patio. Since I was raised in a barn, and they started their lives being raised in a barn, they are almost always outside with no shoes on like the little farm babies they once were. Poor Isaiah's toe got caught on the cement, and ripped his toe nail and it was bleeding. Daddy took hiim to get patched up and told Helaman they probably couldn't do that anymore because Isaiah's feet dragged.

When Omar came back out, Helaman had put these bricks in the car for Isaiah. He put him in the car then bent down to make sure his toes wouldn't touch, and they were off again. What a funny kid.

Today Isaiah and I were naming parts of our faces. He had to touch both ears "the other side" and both eyes, and was pretty excited to know were everything was and how to talk about it. I asked him where his forehead was and he pointed at his head, but looked confused. I showed him where it was on the front part of his head, but he said, "no, one-head". I thought it was so funny. I told him it was called a forehead, but there was just one. He kept repeating, "just one" and looking at me like I was crazy. He loves counting, but I never realized before he had some concept of what he was saying after all.

The best part is, no I can tell him just one more, and know he knows what I am saying...

Yesterday for family night we did 4-wheeler rides. The boys loved it. There are some little hills in the desert across the street from our house, and Omar would slow down as he approaced the hill and then one of them would shout "gun it!" and they would race up the "bumpity-bumps."

I love watching my sweet husband with his boys. He's such a good dad and they love him so much. When Isaiah woke up from his nap today he was crying for his dad. He said he wanted him to come home with him. I told him that meant that he missed him. When Omar came home from work, Isaiah ran up and hugged him and said in his most pathetic voice and big eyes, "I missed you, daddy. I want you come home with baby."  (This is why daddy's go to work and mommy's stay home, it would break my heart!)

Funny Boys

On Sunday after Church we were in our room changing when Omar had to relieve some of the gas you hold all through Church... Anyway, as soon as the noise was made Isaiah yelled, "Uh-oh! Poop!" and then ran over and tried to pull Omar's pants open to check his diaper like we always do to him. I haven't stopped laughing all week.

Last night we went to Chili's to use the gift certificate my parents gave him for his birthday (thanks guys!) Helaman wanted to dump the Sweet 'n Low on the chips. I told he could put it on one and try it himself, but he wasn't interested. The next thing I know he is crying, "I don't like it!" while spitting chip on the table. He had taken my suggestion and dumped some on a chip and tried it. A little while later my thoughtful boy handed me another packet and his crayon and very seriously asked me to write "Don't Eat This" on the packet, I guess to warn other people. He looked so concerned. How sweet is that!

Isaiah's Fishies

Isaiah makes me watch this over and over and over...

The Scream

Helaman says, "That's me, and that's Joseph Smith, and that's Isaiah screaming." Can you tell what life is like at our house?

Philosopher

Helaman is my little Descartes lately. Omar is always worried that he is an over-thinker, but I can appreciate the tendency. The other day they were driving around and Helaman would say, "I see a tree right there, so there must be a tree right there. I see a car driving by, so there must be a car driving by." Pretty deep thoughts. I think we are only a few steps away from Cogito Ergo Sum.

Lately

We were cleaning out the garage and I had a permanent marker on the table for marking boxes. In a moment of motherhood delirium I left the pen on the table and Isaiah was very excited to find it. He decorated himself very nicely. Do you like his wiskers?

As a side note, Baby Oil really does get permanent marker off of skin, in case you have ever heard that rumor and disbelieved it like me. Although my big man still said, "Owie!" the whole time I wiped it off. Dramatic? Where do you think he would get that? Neither of his parents are dramatic!

Speaking of Isaiah, he decided two nights ago that he cannot sleep in a crib any longer. He kept waking up the other night, so Omar decided to sleep with him on the bottom bunk. And that was that. He acts like it's an insult if you try to put him in his crib, and he will not tolerate it. He is really excited to get up and come out every morning, he does his little happy walk, and cracks me up. We have to lay down with him at night and he tells me to sing "Bridge" which sounds like a bad word but really means London Bridges. It took me a long time to figure that out, but he kept talking and talking until I did. I think I got it from, "Bridge Fall Down" finally. Funny kid. Where did my baby go? We are still resisiting the change and haven't taken down the crib yet, though.

Omar and I spent all day cleaning, but we did manage to have some fun with the kids. Or I should say fun daddy managed to have some fun with the kids. (As a side note: as soon as Isaiah wakes up he says,"Daddy gone?" If the answer is that daddy is home he shoults gleefully, "Daddy play!")

We bought the boys squirt guns at Wal-Mart today, a first at our house. Helaman was overjoyed. As so was daddy. :) The made a little lot to say they needed to show me something so they could ambush me in the garage. Helaman was so funny. He went around squirting everything he could think of. He even cleaned the windows for me. (yaye! ha ha ha)

Dad also made a ramp for them with our old swamp cooler pads and some plywood we got from a friend. They thought it was the coolest thing EVER. They were so proud to show me their tricks. It's so fun to be the girl with all the boys. I sure love my crazy monkeys.

Finally, in other news, our fridge finally went kaput. So the day we got back from Gridley we were off on a road trip to buy a new fridge. One of the joys of life in Ridgecrst, everything is a road trip. We'd been researching them online, and knew where the deal was and what we wanted. I'm really excited, I love my new fridge. It's sad that we'd forgotten how delicious cold milk is. But we sure appreciate it now!

The Walls of Jericho

Isaiah got really sick with the Rotavirus last Thursday. He was so sick. Finally last Sunday I woke up and knew he needed to go to the emergency room. He was completely lethargic. Even when they took his blood and put in the IV he didn't even twitch. He was so dehydrated he couldn't function anymore.

He was better for a while on Monday, and even woke up with a wet diaper. By that night he hadn't had another and I was getting worried again. I called the pediatrician and he told me if there had been no more wet diapers, I needed to get him back to the ER. Omar called our friend Eric to come and help give Isaiah a blessing before we left. As Omar blessed Isaiah his voice became stronger and suddenly he declared that Isaiah would be better by the next afternoon.

We left to the ER and Isaiah was given more fluid. He came home and was still sick in the morning, but by the next afternoon, as promised by the Lord, he was better and has been fine ever since. Rotavirus can have a few relapses, but he's been completely fine.

Tonight for Family Home Evening Helaman was teaching the lesson and wanted to do the Wall of Jericho. We built a wall out of cushions and acted out walking around it and trumpeting and shouting. The boys thought it was great fun. Then we talked about what the point of the story was.

We talked about how the Lord always does what He promises. He told the Israelites he would knock down the wall and they would get the promised land, and He did. And we talked about how God had promised through daddy that Isaiah would be better by the next afternoon, and he was.

I'm so grateful to have a husband who hold the priesthood righteously and can invoke the power and promise of Heaven to bless my children. And I'm grateful for the confirmation of my testimony that the Lord always keeps his promises.

Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday dawned bright and early to the sounds of sickness in our house. Dad, Greta, and Helaman were all sick and didn't go to church. Mom made it for a while but came back to take care of the sickos, and I came home to check on Helaman after Sacrament meeting. He had just barely gotten up when I got here and just layed around all day. When it was his turn to pick the movie (since that's all anyone did all day) he picked Finding Faith in Christ to see the Easter story. What a cutie!

He did get a burst of energy when it was time to hunt for eggs. He was so excited. Isaiah loved it too. No one told him what to do, he just knew candy when he saw it and put it in his basket. We have one egg shaped like a jelly bean and he couldn't decide whether or not to pick it up because he thought it was messed up. Funny boy.

Helaman ran out of energy as quickly as it had come. Poor guy. Our company left shortly after to go be sick at home. We were sad to see them go, and hope they are better soon!

Easter Weekend - Saturday.

Saturday started out a lazy day because we had gotten back so late the night before. By noon we were all up and ready to get going again. Mom and Greta took the boys on a date to McDonald's and Wal-Mart (yes, that's exciting for Ridgecrest) while Omar, Dad, and I went riding.

The view from the mountains was amazing. The wildflowers, the cactus, the rocks and ravines were all just amazing. It was so much fun to ride and challenge ourselves and check it all out.

The rock formations were crazy. I've never seen anything like it.

There was a place in the mountain covered with shotgun shells and bullets. It was the craziest thing I've ever seen!

After we had all showered we made it back to Randsburg just in time to have some ice cream and check out the stores there. It's a cool little "living ghost town". I think mom and dad would have like to antique more, but we didn't make it before most stuff had closed again. Silly people were turning away so much business that night.

Then we dyed Easter eggs. The boys were very into it for the 10 minutes they were into it. It was cute to watch them being so careful with the eggs. When Helaman was 18 months we only pretended to dye eggs with plastic eggs and water. But Isaiah did a good job with lots of help from Grandma.

Easter Weekend - Friday.

My parents and Greta came to spend Easter weekend with us. We were happy to see them, and had lots of fun, until poor Dad and Greta and Helaman got sick. Easter was kind of a dreary day at our house. But it was still really nice to be together.

On Friday my Aunt Ann and her husband and a few of her kids came to play with us. We started the day at the Armament Museum on base. It was kind of cool, and kind of disappointing because there was no one there to do a tour, so we just kind of wandered around and were overwhelmed by all the technical mumbo jumbo.

But we did see some missiles and bombs and airplanes. And it is always fun to hang out together.

Helaman and I think we're so funny!

After the museum we drove out to Fossil Falls. The kids had tons of fun climbing on the rocks before we even started hiking to the falls, and all the way there. It was really good for Helaman watching all the other kids be brave and strong, and by the end of the day he wanted to go where ever anyone else did.

I carried Isaiah in the my hiking backpack down the trail. It was so much fun. Omar doesn't enjoy hiking and it was nice to have people who wanted to do it with me. Especially considering hiking is what there is to do around here...

The hike to fossil falls is really short and easy and really worth it! It was even cooler than I had imagined. Grandpa was great taking care of Helaman. At first they just stayed on top and then sat on a hole. The longer we were there the braver Helaman got, and he even let Grandpa take him down in the bottom of the ravines. I was so proud of him!

And if Helaman is doing it, Isaiah must do it to. He is fearless under normal circumstances, and had no problem at all in the rocks. He was very calm for him, gratefully!

After that we went to the gardens at the Maturango Museum and then we tried to go to Ransburg, but everything there closes at 4 or the stragglers at 5. Since that didn't work out we drove to Victorville and went out to dinner at Olive Garden. We all had a great time!

Las Vegas

My sister, Cari, and her husband flew into Las Vegas on Saturday on their way to Utah. Since we never get to see them and they were only three hours away, we decided to take a road trip and spend the day in Vegas together. Neither Omar or I had ever been there before. We're not sure it lives up to all the hype, good or bad. Although I will say I have never seen so much alcohol consumption any where else, even the fair. :)



This is Isaiah driving the car while we waited for Cari and Josh to meet us at Subway. He was so excited (you can see his lips making the vibrating car noise) he didn't want to get out when they got there. He loves cars and anything that "goes" these days. Though nothing can compete with airplanes, so it's a good thing we live in Ridgecrest.



There were ducks swimming in the fountains at the Belagio while we waited for show to start. Isaiah was so excited. He loves to say duck and quack. He's got quite the vocabulary lately.



Helaman was really impressed with the fountain show. Just look at that face. He would have stayed there all day I think. The second time we watched it (we saw it a few times) we were coming out of the hotel, so we were on the other side of the show and got pretty wet. Isaiah was very scared of it after that.



I have to say I loved the fountains too. It is really amazing how perfectly it is all timed to the beautiful music. And how graceful the water is. We all really enjoyed it. At night, with the lights, it's even more amazing. It's one of those things that stirs my soul. As cheesey as that sounds, I can't think of another way to describe it.



We thought the Paris hotel was pretty cool too, though a little stuffy. We ate dinner at a "sidewalk cafe" that night, and it was pretty cool. There are lots of beautiful things there. But Vegas also gives you the feeling that this is why other countries hate us...



I love art glass. When we went to Seattle I was drooling over all of the art glass stores. I don't own any, it's not worthy what my monkeys would do to it. In the Belagio lobby there was this huge display of art glass flowers covering the ceiling. It was so beautiful. I had a hard time taking a picture of it, but it was absolutely gorgeous!



After we checked out the strip (well, come of it) we went to a park to let the kids blow off some steam for a while. After we played on the playground for a while we found some ducks to feed. Helaman thought it was so funny to feed them our left over pretzel crumbs. I love his crack up face here.



Just more duck pictures. Cari was so funny holding on to Helaman's pants. She thought for sure he was going to throw too hard and send himself into the pond. I used to be like that...





We already miss you guys!