Moments from my life

Having said goodbye to Travis today until Christmas, I seem to have little else to say since then. So here are some candid moments over the past week that although I won't be able to properly explain why they were so great, I'm hoping years down the road when I look at the photos the memory of that special moment will come back to me:
A morning at the park with Keili

Attacking the Travis Monster

Such cuties, the lot of 'um

Just hanging around

This girl has no fear

He made it through and then
it almost nailed me and my
camera :) 

 Football Season is upon us:

BYU Game Time

Loves to cheer along

 HiDe 'N' sEeK tImE!
I had been making the bed, left the room, and when I came back Nala was sitting in my doorway with Maddix nowhere to be found. I simply asked out loud, "Nala, where is that Maddix." Instantly her tail began to wag and he jumped on my pile of blankets and started pawing at them until I heard giggles. And that's how their game began.

"Boo!"

Wishing he could hide too

Here we are

Even Uncle Garett joined in for awhile

Then today before Travis left, I insisted we get a new family photo; nothing official, but at least something with Aaron in it. So we quickly ran out back and 5 minutes later we turned out this picture:

Funny how different our family is from just one year ago!

"Come What May..."

"Come What May, and Love It."
In a talk given by Elder Joseph B. Worthlin he speaks of his mother and this saying she would give to him. He moves on to explain why she said it as
"I think she may have meant that every life has peaks and shadows and times when it seems that the birds don’t sing and bells don’t ring. Yet in spite of discouragement and adversity, those who are happiest seem to have a way of learning from difficult times, becoming stronger, wiser, and happier as a result."
 I like this thought. I especially like hearing it right now when I am about to say goodbye to my best friend and loan him back to Poland for the next school semester, while I stay here with the boys and continue working. "Come what May, and love it." This is so appropriate for me, and goes hand in hand with a talk given by Pres. Uchtdorf on enjoying the journey (the bike ride story with his wife).

Little Sophie was enamored with
Baby Aaron

I know time will pass quickly as times does and I will have days where the birds don't sing, but they will be followed by days where the bells ring loudly and I will feel the growth I make by having to rely on faith a little more without Travis around.  ~I guess what all this is about is how I'm just really going to miss Travis; however I am so grateful for the knowledge I have that The Lord will watch over us. He will provide everything I need to get by without Travis, and I also know that he will be home in the blink of an eye in the scheme of eternity. While I am comforted, just knowing he leaves in a week from this Saturday really causes me to step back and look at all that he does for me. For example, Travis stayed home and watched Maddix for me so I could take Aaron and go to a Girl's Lunch with my friends.

Michelle and Soph, Me and Aaron,
Tuare, and Ambria out to
cafe rio

Each and everyday Travis offers to hold Aaron so I can eat my meals before he dishes up for himself. With that, he always dishes Maddix's food up so I can eat sooner. Travis will automatically hold Aaron and watch Maddix so I can take a nap if I am feeling tired, go exercise if I'm feeling fat, shower if I'm feeling grimy, clean if I'm feeling stressed, or anything else that makes ME happy... and he never asks for any equal 'HIM' time in return.

This boy loves his daddy

Even though I know he is tired in the mornings he knows it's important to me that we don't just turn the t.v. on for Maddix. I've also mentioned that we're training Nala to walk on the leash, well Travis is the one that muscles her back and reins in her hyper energy so that once she's broken in and responsive I can then walk the calm version of her.

Look at that energy!

Love that bunch

 Today when I said, "shakes sound really good right now" we grabbed shakes, and of course they were from my favorite place, in my favorite flavor; and although we split one he never asks to try another flavor that he might like more. Today he also spent the day replacing the struts on my car because he doesn't want my car less than (as) perfect (as we can make her) for me to drive.  And when we had our jeep he insisted I drove it since it was the nicer vehicle.
When I stress about money and discuss that we can't afford one of his toys he doesn't even bat an eye when I turn around and have to purchase something... he figures that anything I purchase is a necessity and I deserve it; in fact most time when I am too guilt ridden to buy something for just me, he'll just buy it for me so that I have to have it.
He is my rock.
      He is my best friend.
            He is the love of my life.
                  He is my better half, and I think that's really what scares me: that if my better half leaves how good can my half really be... however:
"Come What May, and Love It."

I am being given an opportunity to see what sort of person I have grown into since meeting Travis. I can take this chance to better myself so that I can better my family.When they sing "How firm a Foundation," I've always thought of the Wise Man/Foolish man story, but now I know my firm foundation is Travis." He is a wonderful example of perseverance, of obtaining knowledge, fulfilling your callings, honoring your Priesthood, being a committed parent, giving whatever is his to help his family, a caring husband, and a man who is striving to be like Jesus. One of my favorite things of all... he gave me these two Angels

How could I ask for anything more than these faces?? And tonight while I had little spots made for them on the floor as they watched Cars 2 I walked in on them holding hands. Maddix never holds hands, or cuddles, or holds still for that matter. But for some brief time I witnessed such a sweet and tender moment between my two boys. I was only able to capture a blurry photo of it, but I hope to never forget that sight. Thank you Travis for our boys, our little family, and the life we've created together.

I'm so glad you chose me

~Friday Date Night~

I love family traditions, old and new, the ones that are temporary and the ones the stick forever. Recently I've felt the push to get back on track and establish some routines. Don't get me wrong, I'm sad to see another summer pass by faster than I can grasp, but I am looking forward to it cooling off a little, the beautiful fall colors, and getting back to a little more routine day.

Maddix took this photo:)

As Aaron has been sleeping through the nights pretty consistently this past while, I've found my desire to be up in the mornings accomplishing tasks coming back to me. Now with my energy returning I've also been feeling the push to finish my list of Summer To Do's... plus it doesn't help that the count down to Travis's departure (Two weeks, two days) is so close that it's constantly reminding me that I'm about to be on my own. So, in preparation for things to come we've started with one of the things on our list: training Nala to walk on a leash next to the stroller.

A New Tradition that we have started are morning walks. It just makes my day 100x's better when it's started off with a walk vs. cartoons. I've been wrapping Aaron in that baby wrap device while Travis pushes Maddix in the stroller, and Nala is leashed to it as well; let's just say it's a work in progress.

Anyway, for today's post:

So our FaMiLy DaTe NiGhT started this morning with a new chore chart (also a new routine we're starting). Maddix made his bed, pottied on the toilet, read scriptures etc and he got a sticker for each one he accomplished. Then after that we stuck Aaron in the wrap and went for our morning walk; it was so picturesque with the storm clouds hanging low over the green mountains. After a lot of errands we were all overly hungry and sad that Travis would be leaving so we decided to do another thing that was on our list: Eat at Mi Ranchitos. Tasty, Tasty, and the boys were great the whole time we were there. We spent a fun afternoon together reading, taking it easy, and going for another walk up to the park, we came back for a fun movie night and dinner of leftovers from lunch!

Making some homemade popcorn for our movie night

Our sweet awesome spread for the movie

 While we were deciding what movie would be good to watch as a family we stumbled upon a classic: The Sandlot. I thought Maddix might like it because of all the cool boys playing baseball... but I had no idea he would LOVE it so much. I haven't seen him that into a movie since Cars first came out. And I had no idea someone else would be so into it as well.

These two were glued to the t.v. Nala was growling
and concerned that the dog was
chasing the boy

 This movie was an amazing pick, and half way through it Maddix ran to his room to find his bat and ball and has been insisting we practice. He is PUMPED to play ball.

As we're watching him throw it back and forth it's becoming apparent he just might decide to be a lefty! His motion is fluid, and the power behind it is much more powerful than with his right. This might have been a monumental night for our little family: the night Maddix found his love for the Great American Pass time, the classic of classics, Baseball.

p.s. now the boys are outside shooting air soft guns together... I think I'm not the only one who's starting to feel the departure countdown closing in!

California Trip: Day 5 & 6

Day 5... this was the pinnacle POINT in our trip... the HIGHLIGHT day of the entire week... the MOMENT we had been working towards for the past 10 months; this was the day Maddix got to go to Disney Land for potty training!!!!!

Bright and early we made our way into Disney, all of us soaring high with excitement... and maybe a little nervous to see how this day would pan out with two kids, one of whom was nursing.

Snow White; first ride of the day

Waiting for Dumbo

While we were waiting for the line to move, Maddix requested that I ride with him. Travis offered to take Aaron for a turn while Maddix and I rode together... this lead me to say, "So you and Derek are going to ride together... with just the baby? Well okay then:)" And so they did, they even ended up in a purple Dumbo.

Really this day could not have gone more perfectly than it did. The weather was perfect, it never was overwhelming warm and there was a nice breeze all day. The lines... well what lines?? They were almost none existent; our longest line was 10 minutes and it was probably for the Dole Whip ice cream we get every time we go! I cannot emphasize how wonderful it was being there without any crowd!

Bug's Life

Loved the Bumper cars

We were lucky enough to have two strollers and a wonderful cousin, Derek (thank you so much for coming; you made it way more fun) with us that really made the day with the kids a walk in the park. Of course they each had their moments, but they're just little, and what do you expect? However anytime Maddix was getting tired or sad and a character would walk by, his eyes would widen and he had to meet them; I'm so glad he wasn't scared of them this time. Next time we go we're pretty sure we'll be getting a signature book for him to fill out.

Pluto kept whistling at Aaron to show us he
found him cute

High fives

Goofy Kept petting Aaron's head; Maddix thought
it was funny

This is one of my favorites

All my boys! 

Jesse was pointing to her eyes and
then Maddix's. Later that night when
we reached our car lot (we were parked
in the Jesse lot) he looked at her photo and
said, "I have green eyes like Jess." Loved it

Meanwhile anytime the boys all went on a ride I would snag a passenger paper so I could take one of them and skip the line once they returned, and then Aaron and I would snag a spot and wait. Oh man he was a good baby. He was as perfect as they come just chill to ride around, or be held, or stand, or sleep. And the nicest thing was then we discovered Disney Land provides Mother's Lounges!

was trying to take a photo of my hair while we were waiting
around

My amazing lil guy!

Now our day at Disney was definitely the best thing ever, but the icing on the cake was a new place we'd never been before, and the one place Maddix kept requesting...... CARS LAND!!!
So we went right over to Radiator Springs! And it didn't disappoint. I honestly don't know who was more excited Maddix or his mom and dad. I mean, they nailed it down to the very smallest detail. Maddix couldn't believe he was there and that he was meeting many of his favorite character!

Welcome to Radiator Springs

Fillmore's hut

This was Maddix's favorite ride hands down (because he was
too little to ride the Cars ride.. which he bawled about)

Mater was amazing:)

MATER!!!!!

Maddix was so sad he had to wait in line to
meet McQueen!

Happiest moment of the day!!!!!

Luigi's Tire ride

I think his name was PJ

LOVED the Neon!

Thank you Disney for making it possible
for my family (especially Maddix) to visit Radiator Springs

Day 6
We woke up at the crack of dawn so we could be on the road as early as possible, which got us out at 6:45am; however Travis forgot some keys at the house so we turned around to go get them not too far into the drive. Back on the road at 7:00am we hopped the freeway... and Travis missed the freeway exit! When we turned around we got caught in traffic, boo. The most amazing part of the drive was that the boys both slept for a very long time. Aaron would wake up here and there to eat, but Maddix slep all the way to St. George! At that point we discovered he'd slept so long and deep that he peed himself. So before we snagged lunch at In and out we cleaned that up and got him changed just as a heavy rain storm began. Back on the road the rain became intense! We were driving on nothing but faith because we couldn't see the road! Eventually we made it out of the storm and ended up having to stop for a bathroom break. I took Maddix in to go to the bathroom and Travis discovered Aaron had had a blow out, so I returned to a naked baby:) Eventually, we made it home and that brings us to now and I really should go to bed. I am so grateful for the amazing trip we just had! Goodnight!