Smiles

I really have a hard time getting the boys to pose for pictures but I did get these cute ones.  They really have started having fun playing together, which is really nice.  As you can see they were trying to hide from me behind the ironing board.

Thanksgiving

  The boys and I spent the week before Thanksgiving with my parents while Shane got some much needed work done. He joined us Wednesday night.
  I decided that Kia Rio's are not good in the snow.  I felt like I was floating and had no control.  To add to this complication deer were everywhere! I had to stop on the way to Wyoming to wait for some to cross the road.  Sunday morning on the way to church 5 of them ran across the road.  I hit the brakes but slide and ended up doing a 180.  I turned around and 1 still hadn't crossed the road.  I don't know what the deal is.. I must be a deer magnet.  I just know that we won't be able to afford another deer accident.  Also to add to my distress of driving...  on our way to town on Monday a girl coming from a side street was going way to fast and didn't stop at the stop sign.  Luckily I was going slow and could slow down without sliding too much.  She went right in front of me across the road and into the ditch.  She was fine though.  She drove right out and tailgated me all the way to town!
We had a great time at my parents. We went to see my brother Travis in the high school play.  He did an excellent job.  Broden wasn't very thrilled with it but Clay loved it. He clapped and giggled during the whole thing.  He was kind of scared to see Travis in his costume afterwards though. The boys got to play in the snow, dip pretzels, and Clay got to ride the horse.  My sister and I did some fun crafts.  My mom, sister and I did some heavy duty baking on Wednesday; 5 dozen rolls and 6 pies.  It sure was worth it though.  Thanksgiving dinner was excellent.  My Mom is a wonderful cook.  Shane went and got us a Christmas tree with the Robinsons.  It is quite a bit smaller than last year.  Last year we had a 1 foot walkway around the whole thing!  It was the prettiest tree I have ever seen but it was a little bit to big for our tiny living room.  Hopefully we will get it put up tonight.

Anyway I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Clay riding the horse with Grandpa's help

All by himself

Daddy's kisses

                                  Clay in the play car

Uncle Jaden, and the boys

                                                                                   Uncle Eric with Clay and Shane

                              

Our family picture

                                                            All of the boys

Clay and the dipped pretzels

Good and Bad changes

 Some things have changed for us the past couple of weeks. First on our way to Wyoming for Halloween weekend we hit a deer. We were right outside of Soda Springs. The boys were asleep and didn't even wake up even though Shane said I screamed bloody murder. We were able to slow down a little before we hit it but it just stood there and we knocked its legs out from under it, flipped it up and over the car, not before hitting the hood and the windshield. We were fine but the deer didn't make it. I understand the "Deer in the headlight look" quote so much better now. They really do just stop and stare at you in a daze. Well we called our insurance and they said they would get an adjuster to come look at the car and note the damage. Well it took them more than a week so yes we will be changing insurance companies... He said it would take the auto body shop a week and a half minimum to fix it. That makes sense since we have to have a new windshield, new hood, new grill and new bumper. Yikes! It is a good thing we don't have to pay for all of that. So while our car is in the shop, insurance will pay for a rental car. We now have this lovely Kia Rio. Quite a bit smaller than our outback but hey, it is much better walking in the soon to be snow right?

Another change is the boys' bed. My good friend's parents were getting rid of their bunk beds and asked if we wanted them. I wasn't quite sure if Broden was ready to be out of a crib but, since he doesn't sleep much anyway I figured it wouldn't hurt to try it. The bottom is actually a futon so it pulls out to be a full bed. They have been sleeping it it together and loving it. Clay has wanted to sleep on the top bunk ever since we got it and I let him tonight since he woke up 3 times last night on account of his brother kicking him in the head or pushing him off the bed. We will see how tonight goes..... Clay helped me paint his dresser to match their bed.  We did navy blue on the outside, the drawers red and the knobs white.  I think it matches pretty good. It definitely looks better than the pastel colors it had before. We also bought a Lightning McQueen bedspread as a early Christmas present.  The boys love it!

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Aggie Game

On Saturday we took the boys to the Aggie game. I usually buy a spouse pass and the boys get in free. It is fun to go as a family. The Aggies played Nevada and of course didn't win. It was fun though and the boys had a good time but ended up pretty bored at half time so we headed home. Clay loves throwing a football with Shane but he is not to interested in watching the game yet. Shane is working on him though.

A short vacation

Clay and I decorating Halloween cookies


My mom doing peaches

Clay was really proud of the huge puzzle he
did with Shane

Broden in the car my mom got the boys. We
really had to work on sharing with this. They
both always wanted to be in it.


This last week we went to Star Valley to visit my family and Shane's Grandparents. We had a lot of fun although it was really cold. My mom had gotten the boys a toy car at the end of the summer. They played with it the whole time we were there. The boys didn't seem to care that it was freezing. Thursday I helped my mom bottle peaches. What a long process! It was fun though and so rewarding yum! We also make Halloween cookies. Clay helped me cutting them out and decorating them. I think he actually ate more candy than actually got on the cookies. We had fun though. We took family pictures....which didn't turn out the best but I guess I will take what I can get. If any of you have any ideas of how to get little kids to look at the camera and smile let me know. We sure struggle with that!

The beach...in a box

Pure enjoyment, even after eating the sand

Both of the boys digging

Another happy face. He even said "cheese"
for the first time.

Clay loving his "new" dirt pile

When Shane decides to build something he usually does it really well. Our new sandbox is no exception. I wanted a sandbox for the boys to play in so they could quit digging up our yard. Well I got that and then some. Shane's uncle was able to get a good deal on sand at the gravel pit. So we got a lot of sand, about 4 cubic yards of sand, which is a lot more than it sounds. To hold all of this sand we had to have a big sandbox. So now we have a 10 foot by 12 foot sandbox in our backyard. The boys have barely given it a rest since. They would have stayed back there playing all day if I would have let them. It is nice because I don't have to entertain them. they are very content to entertain themselves. So if any of you want to bring your kids over to play in the sandbox feel free, there is definitely plenty of room!

To catch up...

Here they are at JPL trying to figure out how
to get the rover unstuck that is on mars.

The Spacecraft Assembly Facility

Welcome to Cal Tech

It is really pretty and green with lots of beautiful
buildings

Another building

My camera's attempt of the city at night

These boats went on for what seemed like miles
along the shore of Lake Michigan.

Chicago was really pretty but too many
people and buildings for me.

One of the statues in the womens garden.

The statue of Hyrum and Joseph in front
of the temple.

Joseph Smith Red brick store

The sister missionary told us how they made
their own cloth.

The Nauvoo Temple

The quarry, where they took rock for the
temple.

Us, at the end of our trip

So a lot has happened since I last posted. I think that is why I keep putting it off. Hopefully it won't take me to long to catch up. On August 5th I left the boys in Wyoming with my parents and headed down to Logan. I got things taken care of with the house, packed my suitcases and the next morning drove to Salt Lake. I met my good friend Katy at her house, left my car there and she drove me to the airport. I was so nervous! I had never flown by myself before and had only ever flown twice before that. I made it through security just fine and found my gate. A little while later I realized that my gate said some other city so I decided to check. My flight had been delayed and was to be boarding at another gate! It is a good thing I checked! The flight was only an hour and a half long which wasn't bad at all. I found the bag claim with no problems and there was Shane! I was so excited to see him! I hadn't seen him for 2 months! We caught 2 different buses and the train before we finally reached our hotel. Shane had to work the next day and caught the bus across the street from our hotel at 5:30 a.m. I went with him to make sure I knew what I was doing. After he left I went back to the hotel to sleep for a few more hours. I was supposed to be out at the bus stop at 12:30 to head to JPL. He had scheduled me for a tour at a certain time. Well the bus was supposed to come at 12:40 but I waited and waited and it never did. Some of the people who waited with me for the other bus said that the 177 that I was waiting for was never on time. So I went back to the Hotel, used the restroom and went back to the bus stop. It was supposed to come every hour. Anyway I waited another hour and still no bus. Shane told me to go back to the hotel and call a cab if I still wanted to see JPL. So that is what I did. They told me it would be 5 minutes. Well 20 minutes later the cab pulls up. I hopped in and told the driver I wanted to go to JPL. Well just my luck he didn't know where it was. He called and got directions and soon we were on our way. Then we got lost and he called for more directions. Needless to say I wasn't very impressed with California's transportation system. He eventually got me there though. I missed out on the tour because I was so late. Shane wanted me to meet his supervisor and he had already gone home. I did get to see some things but I was pretty disappointed that I had missed out on the tour. Saturday we went to see Cal Tech, where Shane had his dorm room. It is the prettiest campus I have ever seen! I can't say as much for his dorm room though. It would be like living in a cardboard box. Sunday morning we got up, packed our things and headed for the train station. The LAX airport was insane! There were lines backed up everywhere! I was worried we were going to miss our flight even though we had gotten there really early. Once on our plane we headed to Chicago,caught a cab to our hotel. This time it went a lot better. We were going to stay at the Hyatt Hotel where Shane was presenting at a conference. It was right on the edge of Lake Michigan. So when he was working that is where I went. It was really pretty. Shane presented on Wednesday so on Thursday we got a rental car and drove to Nauvoo. I had never been. My family went for spring break when I was in college so I couldn't go. It took us 5 hours to get there so we didn't have very much time. They give wagon rides and tell about all of the sites. I am glad we got to do that because that way we got to see all of Nauvoo in a short time. After 2 1/2 hours we drove the 5 hours back. After taking the rental car back we got back to our hotel pretty late. We woke up early on Friday morning packed our things and went to the airport. My flight left for Salt Lake about an hour and a half before Shane's left for L.A. He had one more week at JPL and then would fly home. That was about it. I had a good time even though at the end I was really starting to miss the boys. We talked to them everyday and they didn't seem to care I was gone. I sure got some good hugs when I got back though. Now we are back home and are getting settled back into a routine. I am grateful my parents were so willing to have us this summer but it is nice to be back in our own house.

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