Uncle Nate's Wedding

Evan has been excited for our trip to Utah for many reasons--the airplane, going to Grandma and Grandpa's house, seeing cousins--not to mention seeing the SALT LAKE TEMPLE!! The hugest, hugest temple as high as the sky! I wanted to get a good picture of Evan in front of the temple for his bedroom. I also had visions of family pictures with my boys in their matching wedding outfits, smiling.

Evan and Seth were left with Caitlyn's siblings during the ceremony. The ceremony was special for me since it was the first and only marriage I've been to since my own, 5 years ago. Seth had been a little grumpy while we were gone (this was expected), and quickly fell asleep in Isaiah's arms when we came back. We got a good walk around the temple and to the fountains with Evan while waiting for Nate and Caitlyn to come out. I'm pretty sure the temple was everything he wished for. We kept reinforcing how cool it was and how tall it was and Wow! Look at the water! And do you see the Angel Moroni on top? It's so big! This is the real Salt Lake Temple, just like in your pictures in your room! What's your favorite part? You got to touch the temple, wow! This is so awesome!

Unfortunately, after the thrill of finally seeing the SALT LAKE TEMPLE!!, family picture time and Evan's meltdown ended up coexisting. He crashed fast and we had to call it quits and get home before all of Temple Square felt his fury. I feel badly that Nate and Caitlyn never got a picture with all of the family together but, with 5 grandkids ages 3 and under, it probably would've been a miracle if they had.

 Right about here is where both boys lost it.

This is the closest we got to Evan and the Salt Lake Temple

A few days later we went to the Mount Timpanogos temple which was a bit more positive in the picture-taking department. Evan is the teeny guy holding his arms out on the bench.

The non-wedding parts of our trip were also fun, including meeting my new sister-in-law for a whopping two hours or so. I was a bit ashamed when a couple people asked me questions about her and I couldn't answer them. Caitlyn, come visit us so we can get to know you better. I also met a nephew I've never met in person before. I love how much I can love my nieces and nephew even though I've barely spent any time with them. The same goes for their relationships with each other. They're instant friends and it was so fun seeing them play with each other.

Happy Baby

Seth has chosen a really good time to stop being the grumpiest baby on the planet. I had developed anxiety while driving--particularly when I got to red lights--from hearing his crying and not being able to stop it. Even when he wasn't in the car I would pull up to a red light and expect to hear him wail because crying and driving had become synonymous for me. I haven't done anything differently but we've now had about a week where he is actually content while driving (most of the time). It's quiet in the car now and it's amazing.

This Friday we have the blessed opportunity of driving to San Francisco during the morning commute to make it to UCSF for testing and spina bifida clinic at 8:45. I still don't think it'll be the smoothest drive ever, but I don't dread being with Seth in the car anymore so I have confidence I'll be able to make the trip without losing my mind.

It's incredible how much more I like being Seth's mama when he's not crying and upset all the time. He's earned his way into more pictures. Bet you didn't know he has a dimple! It's all the more cute because you have to work hard for him to show it to you.

Growing Up

I know Evan has been growing up, but our new little guy really makes that evident.

Evan has a few favorite things that he loves to do, and he does nothing but those few favorite things. These include:

• Throwing balls
• Throwing stuffed animals
• Throwing anything he can even though Mama has made it very clear that he is not supposed to throw anything except balls and stuffed animals.
• Jumping
• Coloring temples
• Saying, "Watch this!"
• Telling stories (if you've seen him in the past two months you probably heard the tooth story a couple of times)
• Finding every fire extinguisher at every store
• Watching garbage truck and fire truck videos on the iPad

He actually learns quite a bit watching truck videos. Exhibit A:

"It travels down the conveyor belt and it gets crushed in the compactor and then the fork...and then the forklift comes up and picks it up and transports it to another part of the warehouse."

I ambitiously took the two boys, on my own, to the city Egg-stravaganza on the Saturday before Easter. It was intensely crowded, involved a lot of walking and waiting in lines, and I might have forgotten to take water or sunscreen...but it all paid off when Evan saw the fire trucks that came to the party. After taking pictures from every angle with the ladder truck, the egg hunt was highly anticlimactic. But we did it anyway because I'm in the business of making memories and I sure try to give my kids varied experiences, even if the fire trucks experiences are the only ones he talks about.

This year our family tried to establish our own Easter traditions, merging things from mine and Isaiah's childhoods. So the Easter bunny came to our house and hid candy-filled eggs around the house and in the backyard. He also put candy and a chocolate bunny in our Sunday shoes. (Is my family the only ones who do that?) Evan was a rockstar egg-finder. Because of schedule conflicts we had Easter dinner--ham, potatoes, carrot cake--with only our little family of 4. We told the Easter story about a hundred times.

After Easter we're back to normal life. Preschool has started again after a 1-month hiatus. Evan sings songs and does tricks and makes us laugh and drives me nuts.

And occasionally we remember that we have another child and we should probably document his life as well. So, here's Seth.

Don't pity him. He gets plenty of attention.