Helping the Blind to See

Anthony and I noticed that one of Peter's eyes was crossing and that he was blinking a lot more then normal! So we decided to take him to the doctor and we discovered that he is very, very farsighted! So we precieved to pick out some frames and get lens for him. He is so excited about his new glasses and loves to show them off to anyone. The doctor told us that his sight could improve as he gets older and that if we wanted to we could put in him contacts! Crazy! I couldn't imagine putting contacts in a three year old! Ne ways.. he absolutely loves his glasses and can see so much better! He is constantly pointing at things to us that we are guessing he never saw before!

FHE at the Park!

This Monday we spent part of our FHE at the nature park playground. The boys had a blast! They have some great toys there.

Andrew hated the slides though! He usually has no fear but lately he has been terrified of new experiences! I love this picture of Andrew! It totally shows his mischievous side!
There was a digger there but Peter's legs were quite not long enough. So Anthony stepped in to help him! We had a lot of fun!

Anthony even had to get into the action! He's just a big kid at heart!

My Boys!

Here some pictures of Anthony and the boys while they were watching a bunny in the neighbor's yard. The boys love Anthony so much and he is such a good dad to them! He has far more patience with them then I ever do and is always more willingly to attempt to explain things to the boys instead of, like me, just try to get them to stop whatever they are doing. Anthony teaches me each day how to be a better parent and what love is all about. Thanks for being a wonderful dad and example to me!

Fun in the Sun!

After eating a wonderful dinner and conversing for a while, we decided to go over Grandma Monsons to enjoy some more of the wonderful sunshine! My parents had bought a scooter toy at the DI for the boys and we all laughed at their delight of cruising down the driveway and then pushing it back up to the top and then going down again! Andrew was our only causality when he biffed it running after Peter down the hill. You can it see him falling in the picture of Peter. He skinned his face a little and cried a lot!




Everyone got into the action when a old wheelchair was pulled out for grown-up fun!



Anthony thrilled us all by popping wheelies and Aunt Rachal gave rides to Andrew while he wanted his turn on the "lion" as the boys called.

Only in Rexburg, Idaho!!

So my first day of freedom, I spent outside with my boys and what did we do....what every normal child does in Rexburg in on the 11th of April. We built SNOWCASTLES! That's right! You didn't read it wrong! We filled up their pails with snow and made snowcastles! The boys were thrilled and thought that I was so smart and clever....which I am being a college graduate now! We had so much fun packing the snow in and then dumping it out and then doing it over again! It was really great to be able to hang with my kids without worrying about homework looming over my head! Kind of weird concept for me after going to school for almost 17 years of my life! (this figure includes grade school up!) Our castles were melted by the afternoon but it was fun while it lasted! The snow was so deep in our backyard that it is taking an eternity to go away. The boys ask every day if they can go out and shovel! I don't know what they are going to shovel when all the snow is gone but I'm sure that they will come up with something!

Graduation Annoucement

For those of you whose email I don't have, heres an annoucement! We are so excited to be graduating! I only have six more class periods left! (I only go on Tues/Thurs) We are sad to leave BYU-I but are so ready!

Bunny Money Egg Hunt!

So it become a tradition to every year have a egg hunt in which my Dad and DeRay (my second dad) hid plastic eggs that contain money all over the yard. Its called the Bunny Money hunt! It is great. My dads hid them so well that it takes up almost an hour to find them all. There is usually always one golden egg that has a high bill in it(like a twenty or something) and then small bills and finally pocket change mixed with candy. Its in the rules that we can't look in our eggs until we have found them all. Everyone is allowed a certain amount. Its a lot of fun and without doubt, every year, there is at least one egg that stays hiding! The hunt was started to after Megan (DeRay's daughter and my best friend growing up) and I got married. Our parents decided that they needed to help us out and this was an easy way. It kind of back fired when all our younger brothers got the big finds. Oh, well! Its so much fun and nobody really cares about the amount of money that they make! The boys also got to do a egg hunt. When Peter would find an egg, he would insist upon opening it up and seeing what was inside. In one, he found a dollar and he was so excited! He runs up screaming to us..."I found a thousand dollar. I found a thousand dollar," and promptly put it in his pocket! It was so cute and funny! This is Anthony finding an egg that had been hidden in the dead flowers that are up by the top of my parents driveway! The Dads got very sneaky this year and hidden alot of the eggs in things like dead plants, the snow, and the trees.
This is the Dads (my Dad John in the brown and my second dad, DeRay in the stripes) keeping track of where we hid the eggs. They mapped out where they hid them and then had us report when we found one so they could mark it off. They love this almost as much as we do!
This is James and Glen looking for some eggs. The Dads were giving out clues to help us find the last few eggs. They said to look by the burn pile but it was really about 10 feet from them in the grass. Notice that James is moving a tree and Glen is kicking through the burn heap to find the eggs. They were getting a little desperate!
This is Glen after he had found some of his eggs. Poor guy, he ended up being the one that was short one egg because it got lost.
Last of all, this is Chad after he found an egg in the bird feeder! His face says it all!

Happy Easter!

Here are some pictures from our Easter adventures. We got the boys some new clothes and I couldn't believe how big and old they looked! I wanted to cry when I saw Peter! I thought to myself this can not be my little boy. He is so big! If you can't tell I'm having issues with my boys growing up on me. We gave the boys a little bit of candy forgetting that they were going to get tons for the egg hunt later! Let's just say that I'm pretty sure that they didn't get all the main food groups today! Overall, it was a fun day and we really enjoy being with family and relaxing from the stress of school and work!

James' Birthday!

So my brother's birthday was last week ( I think...my days and week are seeming to run together. All I really know is that I have less then three weeks left of school!) and we celebrated by having my family come up here and have a party! It was extra special because we got to go do baptisms at the Rexburg temple for some family names! That was a totally awesome experience! I can totally understand the feeling of Elijah now and I feel so connected to my ancestors and really feel that some of them excepted the work that we did for them.

I was also excited to see my family and to celebrate a my brother's birthday. Eventhough we tease each other horribly, we really do love each other and I so thankful for his support and willingness to be there whenever I need him.

Back from the Dead!

And we are back! Sorry about the delay in posting for those you check our blog! School, kids, and other activities have kept us pretty busy these last two weeks. Valentine's Day was awesome! Anthony and I had dinner at the Railroad Inn (aka Anthony's parents home.) All the girls got together before the dinner and primped and curled and chatted. It was a lot of fun to be with just all the girls. We then had a yummy dinner by candlelight and then played a version of Family Freud that I found on Ideadoor. com. (I love that website!) My brother, James, came up from Firth, which we really appreciated! It was really fun to get out and to be together with Anth's family!

The Second Adventure began Saturday morning. While Anthony was at work trying to catch up on hours, I, absentmindedly, step on the side of our garbage sack that was sitting on the floor. So what? you may say? Well, by stepping on the side of the bag I stepped on a chicken can lid and slice my toe wide open. At first I thought I had just stumped it or something. It didn't really hurt. But then I looked down and saw that it was bleeding. I still didn't think that it was that bad, until I finally sat down on the floor and looked at it. It was bleeding all over the place and I could tell that it was pretty bad. I called Anthony and he said that he would come home in a little bit and then we would decide if I need stitches! I called my friend, Sinead, and she came over and administered first aid since I couldn't really do it and I didn't have the stuff and I was desperately trying to stay calm for my two dumbfounded little boys, who were trying to understand what was going on. Anyways... Anth finally came and we decided to run to Community Care and see about some stitches. Sinead watched the boys and we were off. After waiting for about 30 minutes, it was determined that I could just be glued together, but I still had to get a tetanus shot! That hurt worst then everything! Ne ways... so I now will have a scar on the my second toe on my left foot! It has healed nicely and all the glue is gone now.

Adventure three was on Monday, when we got to go sledding with the boys. Anthony was off because of President's Day and we had so much fun. Since we couldn't find a sled to buy anywhere in Rexburg, we decided to rent some from the BYU-I ORC(Outdoor Recreation Center.) We then headed to Smith Park! Anth and I had a blast! The boys not so much! The first time we went down, Peter said, "I'm done! I want to go home now!" They finally warmed up to it and were really loving it!

I think that I will end this post and start a new one for the next adventure since its a pretty big one but you will know about it before you know about this because of the way that things are posted on here!

Snow Adventures

Birthday-the Big 24

I know of alot of you are probably thinking, "24? That's not big! Just wait!" I know, I know! But I do feel a little old, especially next to some of the sisters in my college ward! My birthday was last Friday, the first, and I want to say thank you to all those that wished me a happy birthday. It started out, should we say interesting, and got progressively better. Anthony threw together a party with some of our friends and it was a lot of fun. The pictures are of me opening my presents that Anth and the boys got me. I got a new backpack, (prefect way of saying so long to college life) a new scarf and glove set, a Payday (my favorite candybar, okay so its only one of my favorite candbars. What can I say? I love chocolate) and Are you smarter than a fifth grader board game. The next picture is of the boys licking the cake batter from after I made the cake. That's right, I baked my own cake and I'm really okay with it. At least this way I got to get what I really wanted. I tried a new recipe and it was a smash! One of my first memories is licking cake batter after my grandma made a cake and I want my boys to be able to have the same kind of memories!

Let's Boogie!

If you didn't know this about me, you now will! I love Big Band music or I guess you could say old jazz. I love listening to Glen Miller and all those bands from the fifties and forties! There is just something about the music that wants to make me jump up and boogie or to close my eyes and softly sway and remember romanitc moments in my life. Ne ways . . . I had some of it playing the other day when I was getting ready and I thought that I would steal one of my friends ideas and record my kids "busting a move!" The minute the music came on, the boys began to jump all over the place, or if you are Andrew kick! It was just so cute that I couldn't help putting it on!

Santa Claus is coming to...Broulims?

We heard that Santa was going to do some shopping at Broulims, so we loaded up the boys and took them over to see him! The first time Peter saw Santa, he freaked out and was so scared! So this time, we made it a big deal and told him what we were doing, and he at least sat on his lap and let me take a picture!

Andrew, on the other hand, waited impatiently for his turn and then sat down and was content! He even said Cheese! The difference in these two amazes me daily!

Time to Decorate!

Now it's time to decorate the tree! The boys had some much fun putting all the ornaments on the tree! They were so excited about it! Peter has to show everyone his tree when they come into our house! The boys do a really good job staying away from it too! It only got pushed over once and that was an accident committed by a guest that will remain nameless!

The Hunt

Last year after dragging Peter through knee deep snow, crying and screaming, we decided that a fake tree might not be such a bad idea! I still liked the tradition of hunting for the tree, so we compromised! Root of any good marriage, right? We bought a fake tree last year after Christmas from someone that was moving and a killer of a deal! This year we put it together, (a feat in itself), and then got the boys in thier snow gear (another feat!). Anthony then went and hid the tree out in the yard and we commenced on our hunt! The boys had a lot of fun walking around looking for it. This is us in front of our tree. By then Andrew and Peter were crying because they were cold and as we hauled the tree in, we snapped off one of the legs on the base! So it was just like the real thing! Ne ways... we had a great time and plan to make this one of our family traditions!

Yummy! Let's eat!

Andrew and Peter loved the appretizer I gave them: a celery stick with some zingy Ranch dip! They just licked it right up while the rest of us were more cautious. Peter was so excited to eat turkey! It was all he talked about for days. His favorite was probably the olives and jello that I gave him! Isn't that every kids fave? Thanksgiving at Grandma Monson's house was a lot of fun and we had so much food left over that we are still eating three days later! Anyone want some turkey or pie?

Goodby AOL CDs

We are de-junking so I decided to get rid of my AOL CD collection. I let Peter and Andrew play with them for a while before throwing the CDs away.

I can fly!

It's true! Our boys really did come from heaven and here's the pictures to prove it! This last week has been busy as Anth and I have been trying to wrap up our classes for our Thanksgiving break that begins next Monday! We get a whole week off! YEAH! But its really not a week off because I have to do a paper and Anthony has to work and do his homework as well! Oh well! We only have 18 more weeks left of school till we graduate! (That is only counting the days that we actually got to school!) I'm really pumped to be graduating! I can't even inagine what life will be like when homework isn't looming over us. We like to think that every day will be just like summer vacation! No homework and all we have to do is be a family and for Anthony to go to work. It will awesome but scary at the same time!

Don't always listen to your mom!

I told Peter that he was bouncing off the walls and the next thing I knew he was! Moral of the story: be careful what you tell your kids to do.... they just might do it!