Deals

We celebrated K2’s first birthday. K2 was born 4 years after Mama and I met, which is also the day that Mama’s cousin Benjamin passed away. Mama misses her cousin. K2 enjoyed birthday cupcakes with friends at swimming lessons that Mama decorated like baseballs. K2 loves balls. Underfoot lobbied for Bob the Tomato cupcakes, but K2’s favorite toys are balls.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend! This time of the year is special for Mama and I because we celebrate the weekend we met and got engaged and the birth of our second child. It is also a time to remember those who died serving our country.

We have enjoyed the weekend by going to Mesa on Friday night to visit the temple. Some friends were kind enough to watch Underfoot and K2. We had planned to come home immediately after the temple, but instead we stayed the night. Saturday morning we stopped at a yard sale and were able to pick up a plastic slide and 2 big wheel motorcycles (they have 3 wheels and make lots of motorcycle noises) all for 20 bucks! What a deal. Underfoot loves his new toys. K2’s a little
small for them, but not for long.

We spent Saturday cleaning house. It seems like we are always so close to having
everything clean, but we’re never quite done.

This morning Underfoot and I harvested 6 blackberries. I set the bowl down in the kitchen so I could get the camera and take a picture of them. I came back in to the kitchen to find the bowl empty and Underfoot’ mouth stuffed with berries. I guess he likes them as much as I do. He was kind enough to share two of them with K2, who did a good job staining his white onesie. I tried to get the stain out. Mama let me know that it was virtually impossible to get out... Oh, well.

Underfoot says: I found my John (a little man figuring that he likes a lot.) I went to swimming lessons and got my picture and I got food. D. (a neighbor friend) came to our house. I want to go to D.’s house again.

Mama really likes the new car. She has already put 3k miles on it. She even changed the oil this week with the help of a friend. What a woman. She has been toying with the idea of starting a preschool in our home for several years. She even went so far as to find out what type of insurance coverage we’d need to get. She decided this week that rather than host the preschool in our home, it would make more sense to have it be a rotating co-op between friends where each mother takes the children twice a week. That way no one person has to shoulder the entire responsibility. It is called the Joy School method.

A Bath

The Scout got its first bath in 10 years! It was even waxed, vacuumed, and had the windows washed. By the way, it looks pretty good. That was our family activity yesterday. Underfoot squirted his Daddy multiple times which was prompted by Mama. Mama did remain unscathed and pretty dry. K2 played in a toy center until he screamed to be out and placed on Daddy’s back.

We went to swimming lessons this week and then as a bonus swam in a neighbor’s pool. (Underfoot actually took the phone away from me and asked if he could go swimming in the neighbor's pool.) K2 LOVED his swimming lesson on Friday. It was the first time that he didn’t cry once. He would splash the water and leap out of our arms to swim. Underfoot got to swim with K2 during his lesson on Friday and was a fish. Underfoot would swim from place to place. When we went to swim at the neighbor’s pool, Underfoot did really well. He tried really hard!

K2 had his one year old check up. He weights 18.25 lbs, 29 inches tall, and head 45 cm. He looks healthy and is very active. K2 has this great laugh and smile. He loves to hold a ball wherever we go and play catch. He holds the ball and passes it to my hand and then I throw it. K2 then retrieves the ball.

Underfoot has mastered the potty including sleeping in underwear at night. We are all happy because he is potty trained! Underfoot also got his haircut! He sat very well while he watched “The Incredibles.” His imagination is developing which is fun to see what he can think up.


On Thursday night, we hosted our first game night after the Anderson family left. It was a lot of fun! We hope to have many more.

Friday night we were invited to a bon fire. We made our supper there and cooked it on the coals, watched children play, and got acquainted with some new people.

Gila Valley and Such

K2 took his first step yesterday afternoon because he was motivated to get a ball but has not done it since. He also started the swimming portion of the infant resource swim program. He was an excellent floater. He also had 3 teeth break through the gums this week. He loves rough housing with Underfoot. The rough housing is Underfoot coming and landing on top of K2 than grabbing K2 around the waist and rolling over, or Underfoot flattens K2 to the ground when he is
crawling lets K2 out to retreat and then does it again and again and again. Underfoot has become more gentle in the process, and K2 laughs until he is done being touched and then screams. K2 also loves to be outside and crawl to all parts of the backyard.

Underfoot has been very cuddly this week. He wants to be on my lap for most of the afternoon. He plays and plays in our backyard and then wants to sit on my lap. He reads himself books and continually talks about going camping soon like now if he could. He is doing sign language letters on his own and is enjoying riding in Giant (a.k.a. the new car). He wants to ride in the very back row and got to for this weekend.

We went to the Gila Valley LDS Temple open house with some neighbors. At an open house, the public is invited to tour the temple before the building is dedicated to God. The dedication will take place in one week. Underfoot recognized the pictures of Jesus throughout the temple. It was a nice trip to go and be together.

L4 is enjoying his job very much right now. He says, “Like my Uncle Ron, I’m excited to get up and go to work in the morning.” The work is challenging which L4 is always up for a challenge. I hope it continues for him. He was very motivated this week and went to a BSA training meeting, an HOA board meeting, and cleaned up our entire backyard. The clean up has happened on the pergola now all that is left is to paint it.

We have been enjoying raspberries from our very own stalks. We planted the stalks at the end of February and have been pleasantly surprised by the results we have. We hope they continue to propagate.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother’s Day! We have learned about the beginnings of Mother’s Day which occurred after the Civil War “to reunite families that had been divided during the Civil War” by Ann Jarvis. There were many attempts by various women to start the day until an 1914 law from the U. S. Congress recognized the day that was endorsed by Woodrow Wilson, who stated in a proclamation “as a day for American citizens to show the flag in honor of those mothers whose sons had died in war.” All the references are from Wikipedia on-line. We hope that you have enjoyed your families and know that you are appreciated and loved for all you do and the influence you give.

L4 and Underfoot went on the annual church father and sons camping trip this weekend. It was determined that K2 was still too little to go with the rest of the men in our home. They car-pooled to and from the campsite. Underfoot had a wonderful time climbing on rocks, being with friends, sleeping outside, and eating cookies for breakfast. I think L4 enjoyed himself except for the lack of sleep. L4 prefers his bed to the ground. Underfoot came into our room this morning and asked if we could go camping again. We said yes. He promptly asked us to get in the car to go camping now. When planning with a 3 year-old, it means right now or not at all.

While the boys went to the campout, K2 and I cleaned up the house and went to a community fair done by the local elementary school PTA. The fair was amazing to see how many different activities there were. We checked in on a neighbor who was running a booth and watched another neighbor do a dance. Underfoot got his first cavity filled on Monday. He was a trooper. His Mom was more nervous than he was. He didn’t know to be nervous. We are very diligent now about his dental hygiene.

K2 is standing up and walking with assistance. We think that any day he will have the confidence to step out on his own. He will stand up and dance to the music we are listening to by bouncing up and down.

When I was a missionary, I didn’t write very detailed letters. My parents knew I was alive by the brief encrypted messages I would sent home like “you never know how grateful you are for your health until you don’t have it. Love, Mama” Instead of writing that I was struggling with my companion who was self-medicating and not following the guidelines given us, stress, and being generally tired. My Mom called and asked what the letter meant from the office staff in the mission. They told her I went to the hospital but had returned to where I was working and was fine. I thought that I was being very clear, but unfortunately, I wasn’t. I still struggle with telling about myself because I don’t believe that people want to know about daily life that surrounds me just more about my boys. I understand that my boys are my life, and that is where it needs to be. I wash clothes, dishes, little boys, floors, again the little boys. I run errands, make meals, talk on the phone to friends and family about their lives. I don’t know that I see that I accomplish much or do much because it feels like it is the same every day without much change. There is still the washing, running, and never getting ahead. L4 makes most of the amazing changes to our yard and handyman projects to the interior of our home. I do accomplish little things but never feel that I have a house as clean as Auntie Ann or organization like Auntie Lyn or a calm presence like Auntie Kathy. I do feel that I try my best each day to be the best Mama I can be.

I am grateful for the Mama that raised my sweet husband. She helped foster the foundation that makes him who he is. She gave him determination and no fear to speak up when he believes something is wrong. L4 has a wondering mind and asks intelligent questions to learn. L4’s Mom is always asking questions to learn to broaden her knowledge.

I watched my Mom be the best Mama she could be even when she was happy or tired. She always supported each one of her children in EVERY activity she could. She taught a love of God, devotion to family through service, and a strong love of the nation that supported her beliefs. She supported and joined in ALL she could for my Dad so he knew that she was behind him 100%, and he likewise supports her in ALL that she chooses to do. I’m grateful for the everyday mundane that my Mom gave and hope she knows how much that mundane is appreciated and feels of the love we have for her. I hope that she knows we love her and appreciate her.

Almost the end of a few things

L4 made a lot of good progress on the pergola on Saturday. He has put up the stays, the copper, and cut off the last two vertical posts. He also added metal trellising for the three grape vines so they can climb up. One of the vine grabbed on and started climbing immediately. Eventually, we’ll remove the metal trellising. He needs to solder some of the copper joints and stain the wood then the pergola will be done! It sounds quicker written than it will take in actual time.

On his way to work Wednesday, L4 was jolted awake by a friendly bump from another driver. If you were worried, the Scout suffered no damage. It is constructed like a tank and gets about the same gas mileage. The other car lost some plastic pieces from the front. L4 was a little sore and visited the chiropractor for an adjustment.

Underfoot finished swimming lessons this week. He swam with summer clothes and winter clothes. His shoe fell off his foot, and he was more concerned about his shoe than trying to swim. He did swim though. If you’d like to see some neat pictures, go to here. The password is our last name with capital at the first. Underfoot has been very helpful this week. He played with some friends on Saturday. He played so hard that he fell asleep in the car coming home by 6:30 p.m. (Underfoot normally is a night owl.) He has named the new car “The Giant.” When you go from a small car to a large car and you are little, anything is considered a giant. He wore underwear to bed and did not have an accident! Yippee!

K2 has taken to playing with any ball. He loves to pass them back and forth with Underfoot and Daddy. K2 can stand up on his own. He likes to hold hands and walk. Today he pushed Underfoot around on a little plastic toy car. It was adorable to watch them play together. He has two teeth starting to push through on the top gum so he has wanted to be held a lot more this week.

I went to the doctor and got the results from the MRI and CAT scan. I have a lymphangioma which is made up of mixed venous vascular and/or hemangiomatous component. This means I have a mass in my neck that is not harmful. The doctor gave me three options: 1. Do nothing. 2. Surgically have it removed. The mass is surrounded by a lot of nerves, and my salivary gland is in the way. 3. Sclerotherapy which is injecting alcohol in the mass and having it scar and shrink. I think at this point we will choose option 1 and do nothing. The reason to remove it would be cosmetic.