We survived!

By the middle of saturday I thought I wouldn't make it through the day!  Mike went to Mexico with some friends from school and I stayed home with the boys.  I thought I would be fine by myself since I am at home with the boys all the time anyway.......I was WRONG!  

Saturday was the hardest day I've had since becoming a mother!  Everything that could have gone wrong did.  Emerson who is normally a sweet, easygoing child was a TERROR!  I don't know what was going on with him on Saturday but he was not himself.  On top of all of his tantrums and destruction and problems, my phone wouldn't work because Madden stuck it in his mouth for 2 seconds.  I could write a novel for all of the things that happened on Saturday, it was that bad.  

Luckily my wonderful friends saved me!  I had several come over to hang out that night and keep me company and a couple more bring me flowers and ice cream.  I felt so loved and supported.  It was so what I needed that night and they were all so kind!  I was starting to feel so homesick during the day and felt so alone.  If I was in Utah I would have my family to help me out or at least keep me sane.  I am SO grateful for these awesome people in my life who made my day so much better on Saturday!  

Anyway, we survived and Sunday was much better, Mike came home!  I am so glad Mike went on his trip but I am even more glad he is home:)  All of these fun experiences make us stronger, right?!

Pumpkin Patch & Corn Maze

Last night we got invited to go to the corn maze with a few friends.  Emerson had lots of fun climbing on hay bales and throwing bark all over the place.

Our little family at the pumpkin patch

This was so funny!  We thought Emerson would have fun going on a ride in one of the cows.  He didn't want to go by himself so Mike went with him.  We thought they would just go around in a little circle but they actually went through a little bit of the corn.  The cows moved up and down and the guys that went with the boys looked so uncomfortable.  I enjoyed watching Mike and Matt take the boys on it way more that watching Emerson on it! They looked like they were getting whip lashed pretty bad:)

Here is the group: the Jones, The Burns, The Harmons, The Gronemans, Us and The Mcclenaghans. In front of the corn maze.  

Emerson liked getting another pum-pum (pumpkin).  They had a haunted maze right there too so anytime a chainsaw carrying scarecrow would walk by, Emerson would get scared and run over to us.  We went to dinner after and it was a fun night.  Good company as always!  

My Boys

Best Buddies

Emerson loves to hold Maddens hand when they are on the couch or in the car.  So sweet!

Lately I have been feeling so sad that my boys are growing so fast.  Emerson turned 2 in July and is almost all the way potty trained.  I should be happy about this (and I am in many ways) but part of me is feeling like it is one more way he is getting older and more independent.  

Madden is 5 months old and is the best baby.  He is always so happy and is becoming so aware of the world around him.  His little life has been a whirlwind for me.  We have had so much going on and now that life has finally started to settle down he is 5 months and I feel like I missed out so much of the newborn phase.

On the positive side, they are both becoming a lot of fun.  Emerson loves playing with Madden and that is usually a scary thing.  Yesterday I heard Emerson go into my room so I followed him in there and found him in Maddens crib kneeling across him and bouncing up and down.  Madden was laughing so hard every time he did it but I felt like he was going to smash him really bad.  Yesterday Madden was in his bouncer and me and Emerson were eating lunch.  We look over at Madden and he is flashing his precious dimple smile at us.  We went over there and something I said made Madden laugh really hard so Emerson and I both started laughing.  This made Madden laugh even harder so the 3 of us sat there and had a laughing moment for a few minutes.  

I guess I am just reminded that time goes by so fast and I should just enjoy every moment in any stage and try not to look forward to when my kids gain more independence.  That will come way too fast & I will never get it back!

KFC-A&W

Mike and I tried the local KFC-A&W when we first moved down here.  As soon as we walk in the door an angry man is leaving telling everyone in line to leave and that you aren't going to get the food you ordered.  We all just thought he was one upset customer, oh well.  Well we finally get up to order and after walking away we realize that the packed restaurant is full of people who had not got their food yet!  We waited for a good 20 minutes before getting our food.  Many people were really mad.  We didn't really care because we weren't in a huge hurry.  We got our food and our order was off.  Mike had ordered regular fries and ended up getting Chili Cheese Fries.  Mike went back up to the counter to ask for ketchup and heard a worker in the back ask the other workers "where are those chili cheese fries I have been waiting for?"  Mike told the other worker "I got those" she said "you are lucky, those are expensive."  We just kept laughing at the many angry people and the fact that they were giving the wrong food to everyone in the restaurant.  

Well,  I had just thought that this was a one time thing, just a bad night for KFC.  This weekend while my family was here we needed lunch and the only place Ryan and Chelsey could agree on was KFC so we gave it another shot.  The restaurant this time is relatively empty.  There is an older man in front of us picking up his food.  On his plate the worker gave him was 1 piece of chicken.  He said "I ordered 2 pieces of chicken, you only gave me 1."  As the worker turns around to get him another he said "for $4.63 I should be getting 5 or 6 pieces!"  The worker looks at him and says "calm down."  It was so funny.  We all looked at each other and were trying not to laugh.  

Once we got our food it was wrong again.  We had ordered 3 popcorn chicken boxes but got 2, Chelsey ordered Fries and Macaroni and Cheese for her sides and got 2 orders of fries.  I ordered potatoes and gravy and got fries.  So after we got this corrected we sat down.  We watched as everyone after us came in, their food order was messed up to.  Every time a worker would take food to someone she would apologize.  It was so funny.  

We were still hungry because they didn't give us much food so my mom went to order another popcorn chicken.  She brought it back to the table and Ryan needed more ketchup so he went to the counter and asked for some ketchup.  The worker looks at him and hands him another popcorn chicken instead of ketchup.  He starts walking back with it and my mom said "Ryan we already got ours, go put it back."  He said "They told me it was ours, I told them we already got ours but she said no, aren't you sitting at that table?  I told her yes but she is confused."  So, Ryan took it back and got ketchup.  

We laughed and laughed because I honestly thought that the time Mike and I went was a fluke but apparently it wasn't!  If you ever need a good laugh and you are feeling very patient go to KFC-A&W in Surprise, it is always an adventure!

Our New House

We are finally getting settled into our new house.  We had only been here for 3 days before we went up to Utah for the summer.   We love this house and the area!  We can walk 7 houses down on either side of us and end up at a park.  We have an awesome clubhouse with 2 pools, fireplaces and party rooms.  There are so many other parks close by that we haven't had time to explore yet but we love it.  Needless to say, it is going to be so hard to move away from this place in 3 years!!!  Here are a few of the pictures of it...

The family room

Our bedroom

The dining room

The kitchen

The boys room

The view from the front door with the living room/office on the left

The front of the house

More summer

Since I haven't posted anything since May I am a bit behind.  I have posted this post and another to try and get a little up to date....sorry it is scattered!

We had a BBQ a couple days before we left Utah.  This is all of the guys playing a little soccer in the backyard.  We had so much fun and we love getting together with our wonderful friends back at home.

My mom took all us girls to Thanksgiving point gardens.  It was so beautiful there.  I loved being surrounded by all of the green and flowers.  After walking around the gardens we went to lunch at the cafe there, so pretty.  I had a great time with my sisters, Love you girls!

My big boy turned 2!!!!  We wanted to make Emerson have the best day of his life so me, Mike, my mom and Ryan took Emerson to Kangaroo Zoo.  He loves this place.  We went many times over the summer.  Emerson still asks for Zoo, Zoo, Zoo.

After Kangaroo Zoo we took Emers to McDonald's for lunch and he played in the play place.  We went home, took naps and got ready for the party.  We went to the park for his birthday party.  All of our family came.  He had a baseball cake (which he LOVED and was upset I wouldn't let him grab it before the party), we played baseball and had a pinata.  The kid was super spoiled with gifts by his parents, grandparents and all his aunts and uncles.  You all know how to make a kid feel special.  It was a great day.  Emerson had so much fun!

We also celebrated my birthday.  I usually hate birthdays for myself but this year was so fun.  It started with going to lunch with my mom and my sisters to Cheescake Factory in Salt Lake.  After that my sister Alyssa took me to get pedicures at the Sanctuary Day Spa at the Gateway.  It was AMAZING!  I love pedicures!!!!  We went shopping for a few hours after.  Then, I met Mike and my mom and dad and we went to dinner at Tuscany.  It was such a fun experience.  The food was amazing and the atmosphere and company were too.  As soon as we got home the rest of my family came over and we had cake and ice cream.  It was so nice.

A few weeks ago I also found out that I am going to be an aunt!  My sister Alyssa is having a baby in March.  I am sooo excited that someone else in our family is providing children and that it is not me every time:)  

Summer Fun

This summer was so much fun.  We were so lucky to spend over 2 months in Utah with our families and friends.  Here are just a few pictures from things we did.  

Mike's mom took us up to Snowbird to go on the trams, hiking and on the Alpine slide.  I love the mountains and always wish I spent more time there while we are in Utah.

Uncle Ry and Emerson at Thanksgiving Point Childrens Garden

Emerson loved having Nerf wars with uncle Ry...he is very observant of what other people say and when he wanted to shoot someone he would come up and ask you to "cock" his gun...what a vocabulary for a 2 year old!

The baseball obsession has begun!!!  My dad, Ryan and Chelsey all played a lot of baseball this summer.  Emerson loved going to all the games.  He would wake up every morning and wanted to go outside to play baseball and spent hours a day doing just that!  This is of Emerson wanting to watch baseball with Bapa.  Every night before bed he wanted to go watch baseball highlights on ESPN with my dad....what a boy!

Emerson at the Provo 4th of July parade...just after I did my first 5k!  My time was horrible but I was just happy I was able to do it.  (I have never been a runner).

Mike and I at the Real Salt Lake soccer game.  We went with Rob and Rocio and it was so much fun!  It was nice to be able to go out together and have a babysitter for the boys.

This summer was so nice because Mike was home so much and helped out a lot with the boys.  Even though he spent a lot of time studying he was there and helped so much.  I will be so sad and miss him when he goes back to school in two weeks.