in a while crocodile

this vacation has been in the works for about a year and it has not come soon enough.....

we are off to witness the marriage of these 2 love birds

and to spend some quality time with our friends in disneyland

its perfectly fitting that we are going while disenyland is all gussied up in halloween. jude is literally dying to get there...

see you next week.

How to do Jackson in 24 hrs

my family (the williams) went to jackson hole this past week. we were suppose to go but because we are going to california/disneyland this week we opted out because we could not financially swing both. trevan and i were depressed all weekend. we majorly heart jackson hole. trevan would have rather gone to jackson (the fishing? please.) but because his most favorite uncle is getting married he knew the right choice was california. i was just upset that i was missing out on QUALITY sister time. poor jude was even sad, he really wanted to go to jackson hole but understood it was that or disneyland. i called daily for updates and cried nightly on what i was missing out on.

after work on monday i called my mom and she said there was room for us because ante and paige were leaving and that we should come up for the last day. i told her sarcastically i was already half way there. when i got home i told trevan what she told me and he laughed and then we went to bed. the next morning while i was feeding the chillens breakfast i got a call from trevan asking if i wanted to go to jackson for the night. needless to say we were packed, loaded, and driving in less than an hour. (side note.... trevan is great but he is not sporadic. it may have been his best moment yet.)

we spent the most wonderful 24 hours in jackson hole. we had to jam pack my families 5 days of fun into 1 day and i think we succeeded. we were sad we missed the clark's but were also grateful for their contribution. we went on a little hike, laughed, ate, crafted, played cards, fished, enjoyed the scenery, strolled the town, shopped, and slept soundly all in a few measly hours. my kids LOVED seeing their st. george cousins and i am pretty sure jude would like to be a lamoreaux boy. it was perfect. the only down fall was the speeding ticket i got after i dropped trevan off at the snake to fish on our way up. i may or may not have not tried to "elude" the cop and have a hefty $158 fine to pay to the lincoln county sheriffs department. its embarrassing and hilarious at the same time. the ticket however did not make this trip any less perfect.

proof we were there in '09

these 2 are best friends.... really. minie thinks jude is the cats pajamas and jude thinks minie is both nearly 4 and a boy. i can get jude to come with me anywhere as long as i tell him brooke and minie will be there too.... because they usually are.

tired handsome boy. its rough getting in 24 hours of play with your favorite people in the world. (thanks nannie for finally getting our kids to bed at 1am.... we owe you.)

why its totally awesome to be their mom

sometimes being a mom is the best. right now our family is kind of into glee. jude only ever wants to listen to "morgan's" song (dont stop believin') and i really hated the song at first but after listening to it 300+ times it has grown on me. trust me, its even better in person.

enjoy.....

(don't mind the laundry in the background or my own vocals jumping in on occasion.... i can't help myself)

i told you she was a dancer.... hilarious.

18 months

today my greta is 18 months.

i literally never thought this day would come. i think every mother feels this way at every milestone with their children, they don't think that those times will ever come but they always do. i cannot believe gretsie is 18 months, i cannot beleive jude is nearly 4, and i certainly cannot believe that i am their mother. i am lucky to be a mother, especially theirs.

dear greta,

i am elated. you, greta, are a sheer joy. i never, ever want to take being your mommie for granted. in your short 18 months you have been through a lot, more than anyone should ever have to go through. you are so brave. you are so beautiful. you are so happy. you are a miracle.

at 18 months you are so smart. you are not a talker quite yet and they say its because of your decreased muscle tone that effects even your mouth, but you understand everything. you can do simple signs to indicate what you want or feel (more, eat, drink, and thank you). believe me sweet baby you know exactly what is going on around you. you interact with us and are a part of all of our conversations. you think you are a big girl (silly girl, you are my baby you can't be a big girl yet). you are exactly where you are suppose to be emotionally, socially, and cognitively.... if not even a bit advanced. you still struggle with some gross motor development and are a bit delayed in speech but to me you are perfect... because you are perfect grets. you get around by crawling and climbing wherever you want to go, and if you can't physically do something you sure know how to let people know that you need help. you want to walk SO badly and you are getting there. its so cute when we put you down and you flex your little legs so you can stand and practice walking. you are one determined little girl. you are a dancer. from a very young age you started jiving. yaya likes to say you hear music in your head and dance to your own music. when any sort of song comes on you have the coordinating dance moves on the first note and its beyond amazing. eating is your favorite hobby and you are really good at it. you hear food and you start grabbing for it. no one can sneak a snack by you without having to share. you are a little peanut with a big appetite.

greta you love your brother to pieces and love to do whatever he is doing (in spite of him). you have wised up to his antics and are now putting up a fight for the things you want. although i strongly discourage any sort of biting or hitting, its kind of adorable/hilarious when you do it. you have us all wrapped around your little finger. no one can resist your sweetness. you are still snugly and it makes me warm and cozy all over. you still prefer me over anyone else but your daddie is an extremely close second. all you have to do is tuck your head to your shoulder and bat those eyes like you do and your wish is his command. you love to flirt with all men and are upset when people don't notice you. don't you worry my angel, you will always be noticed, you are extraordinary.

greta thank you for being here. thank you for fighting. thank you for choosing us, for choosing me. i love you endlessly. i never knew i could love a daughter they way i love you. i never knew....

happy 18 month birthday!

forever and always,

mommie

weekend perfection

one of our most favorite things to do is drive up big cottonwood canyon, over guardsman's pass, into the beautiful miday/heber valley(our future home), and have bite to eat at dairy keen. {did you know that there you can get soft serve orange sherbet like the kind that mcdonalds use to have years ago? well, you can and for me that alone is worth the trip.} that beautiful drive combined with our favorite music and sleeping babies has got to be the closest thing to perfection.

this weekend we made the drive for the leaves and you better do the same ASAP because they are out of this world.

i want to live in late september forever.

after our early dinner we stopped at the middle provo river so trevan could scope out some fly fishing territory. probably his best idea ever, screw fishing there i could live there. i will settle for something with in a 100 ft radius. in all honesty, living in that valley is in our 10 year plan.

the best view of life is always on your father's shoulders.

gretsie loved crawling around through the meadow. her poor legs are still recovering from all the cockleburrs.

jude ran around for nearly an hour jumping through the waist high grasses and fighting the reeds with his sword (stick). he was in 7th heaven and loved to play follow the leader around the river banks.

did you know my husband is smart? he is full of information that you would never care to think about. i wonder where i got him sometimes..... the things he fills is brain with are so random.

such as this.... see those slugs on the bottom of that rock? well, they are very bad for the rivers/fish. going from one fising spot to another fishermen track these vermin into the rivers on their felt boots they use for fishing. as 2010 you will now longer be able to buy felt soled boots for fishing. good to know, right? (see i was listen trevan)

what a perfectly magical weekend.

today... i love my life.

an evening with the schreck's

meet blake, lucy, and codi.... the schreck's. blake and trevan go way back to trevan's morgan stanley days, way back to when these 2 darlings thought their dogs were the perfect answer to children. 3 years later we are still friends and becoming better friends with each passing get together. friday we met at the zoo right before closing (perfect time to go the zoo btw) and then gathered at their house for some delicious pizza and cookies. safe to say.... we love the schreck's.

meet lucy.... she is equal parts amazing and adorable.

how do you feel about baby elephants? you should love them, especially ones like zuri. if we didn't have such cute human subjects i might have gotten better animal shots... oh well.

its good to love your siblings as much as these two do.

what? why yes, greta is standing up to objects and starting to cruise. it is nothing short of a miracle and nothing short of really really cute.

yes, he is that beautiful.

and no jude's teeth are not always that orange.... its a side effect of the nasty orange drink he got in his zoo collectors cup.

these 2......

are bound to be besties.

thanks blake and codi for a wonderful evening of animals and children. jude is STILL sleeping with his goody bag. you are the perfect hosts and perfect friends. we will return the favor as soon i decide to clean my house.

my friend jude

you should know that we are friends these days, me and my jude.

the past 3 weeks have been wonderful. jude has made a break through and i think (fingers crossed) we are out of the horrible 3's. jude's personality is so much like mine its a little scary (two of us in one house... ahhh). i think that maybe thats part of our problem sometimes. we get each other and we get how to make each other crazy. its a dangerous game reproducing, you never know what qualities your kids are going to get of yours. jude is a mix of mostly me, slightly trevan and some other crazy we have yet to meet. he is delightful, truly.

jude is actually pretty funny and has the most unique way of looking at things. his newest thing is making facial expressions when he talks to help get his point across. it is kind of adorable.

jude is also a singer and a dancer. jude loves music.... mostly my music. we sing-a-long to plenty of music he probably shouldn't be listening to but it is what it is, swell. he and greta both can shake a leg with the best of them. cam was over the other night and kept calling jude a "flamer" (slightly offensive) because of his dance moves and positrons. we all get a laugh out of my kids dance moves. we dance to the beat of our own drum over here on carnation drive.

in case you are wondering who this is......

this is the 'little fella' and he has been a part of our lives now going on 7 years. he sings a heart warming version of "super freak" and shakes his lovely little bones. he is part of our family and we all love him. its a national holiday when he gets out every year and consider yourself lucky if you get "crank" called by him.