Life....as it's been.

I feel a little past due for updating. I keep putting it off, who knows why? Anyway, our last couple of weeks have been fairly full. We spent 2 weekends in Elko. Kannon had volunteered his labor to repair some damage done by a broken water heater at his mom's. We figured it would take more than one weekend. At the end of our 2 weekends it still wasn't finished. I'm sure he'll be up there again as soon as he can.

The 15th-17th was our first weekend. On Friday the cousins got to spend the day together. Stetson built a fire (without the flame) following the instructions he got on the grandma vacation. Then they decided they needed marshmallows. They each had a plastic fork, and Kate was in charge of doling out the mallows. I thought it looked like great fun!

Kate and Sarah playing with the dandelions. Kate tried to make a necklace.

That night Kannon and I went on a double date with his brother J.J. and his fiance, Misty. We went out for dinner and I enjoyed visiting and getting to know her better. This will be JJ's second marriage (Misty's too). And he will inherit 3 children! On Saturday morning I went to one of the Elko parks and met up with Misty and her kids. Sasha joined us shortly with her kids, too. We got to visit some more while the kids played. Misty's kids are the same age as mine (a boy Ben's age and a girl Sarah's age. Gabby kept saying Sarah was her best friend. They actually played together very well!) That evening was Misty's baptism. It was so neat. I love convert baptisms. I try to imagine that feeling of newness and peace in having chosen what the Lord wants.

Kreg (Kannon's brother), Misty and JJ.

That week we had our last day of school with the boys. We did the letter Z - made paper bag zebras and zebra cookies. I think they all just enjoyed playing together more than anything.

We went to Elko again on the 23-25th (Memorial Day weekend). We got there Friday night and I got up early Saturday (3:40 am!) to drive to SLC. I wanted to spend the day with my sisters, Janet and Susan (who was also visiting). I hadn't slept very well, so got up during one moment when I was pretty awake. Staying awake on the drive was tough. I stopped in Tooele for hashbrowns and a Dr. Pepper! Nice breakfast, eh? That would be called "the breakfast of people trying to stay awake"! I had had my fill of jellybeans and gobstoppers and my water was all gone (another reason I had to stop!) I got to Janet's in time to go with her to a Mary Kay "thing". We had a good time, got to visit and put on makeup. Then back to her house for yummy pizza and a nap for me. We went to the Distribution Center for new garments and met the boys (Levi and Stephen) at the Peace Gardens. It was an enjoyable walk - but I was having Braxton Hicks contractions the whole time! No pictures of my day there, I had to leave the camera for remodeling pictures at the in-laws. We had taco soup for dinner and then I had to leave. I listened to a book on cd the whole way there and back (and all the way home on Monday, too.) That helped me stay awake. Stayed up to watch "Taken" when I got to Elko. I didn't enjoy it very much. But, slept better that night. We had a relaxing Sunday - no remodeling, but the boys decided to play some basketball - some of it in the rain!

Kreg, the one with the broken hand, won! He got injured the weekend before in a motorcycle accident. We were all grateful it wasn't worse and hope he learned some lessons from the experience.

This is another Nevada sunset. I just love what the rain does for the sky and the smells of Nevada! It was beautiful, but also cold. I was shivering when I went back in after taking their pictures!

We left Monday after a quick lunch. I drove the whole way (without stopping). Kannon and Sarah slept the whole way, Ben about 1/2 and then he watched a movie. We had met in Fernley and left his car there, on Friday. So, that's where we drove to. Sarah and I went home; Kannon and Ben took his car to Reno. A few weeks before, Kannon had won tickets in a raffle at the Union to go to a Reno Aces game. Box seats. They had a good time, although by the 5th inning Benjamin said he was done. He did enjoy the fireworks at the end, though. And the Aces won - so that was a plus.

Sarah and I had pizza and ice cream for our dinner and I enjoyed the quiet evening alone (after she was in bed).

We've got our garden planted. I'll have to do pictures of that later. We planted the seeds one night and then this last Saturday I bought the plants we wanted and we put those in that evening. We've enjoyed rain the last 3 nights and hope that it will be beneficial to our garden and the crops in our valley. I've loved the rain. Loved that I can turn off the cooler and just open the front door to keep the house cool. Love the smells and the overcast skies.

Last week, Kannon was asked to work some overtime. He had some late nights and even worked on Saturday. Because he just finished teaching a class at the Union and is going to be teaching another one starting next week, I felt like we needed to PLAN some family time. So that the kids would have things to look forward to and Kannon's time at home wouldn't all be taken up in projects. So, the first thing on our list was a food fight! A couple of times, at dinner, Kannon has tossed a piece of food at me to see if he can "make a basket." Ben always wants to follow suit and throw food, too. So, a long time ago we promised we would have a food fight - outside and planned so that Mom could deal with it.

This was actually before the food fight. I made mashed potatoes, ramen noodles, peas, corn, and applesauce. I forgot the jello in the fridge. Anyway, Sarah and Ben were pretty messy eaters!

All of a sudden I threw a spoonful of corn at Kannon and the fight was on. We all loved throwing the food, no one really enjoyed getting the food on them.

This was Ben's first bit of mess. He wasn't too pleased. Sarah fussed the whole time!

We did laugh a lot though and it was pretty easy clean-up. I ended up getting a spoonful of peas right down my front! (courtesy of Kannon, of course.) So, I spent the rest of the time holding my shirt like this.

We've also got a swim day planned and as soon as there is a movie we all want to see, we'll do that, too. I think we'll have to do a few more plans like this throughout the summer to make sure we are spending good time together.

Benjamin also finished his kindergarten work for the year and I say he's officially a 1st grader now. He'll tell you that he already did first grade - because he's been doing 1st grade work. We've got things in the works for him to go to school this next year. Homeschooling has been hard on me. He doesn't want to listen to me, wants to do it all his own way. I just don't feel like it's as disciplined as it needs to be. Plus, he definitely needs the social part that public school can give him. We start shots next week.=(

We also had a photo shoot for the kids this week. I've been putting it off for months! Maybe even almost a year. I knew that Sarah would be tough. She just doesn't always agree to pose. And they both do goofy faces when you tell them to smile. Well, we finally did it - and I don't think it went too badly. She didn't hold still often, but I think there will be some good ones to pick from. And Ben had the same posed smile over and over again! We borrowed my neighbors beautiful backyard and I'm excited to get them done! The roses were (are) in bloom and made a nice backdrop for some. Yesterday, when I opened my front door I could actually smell the roses. I didn't even have to go out and sniff each individual one! We have red and yellow ones blooming out front. I'll have to do some pictures of those later, too.

And so, we are pretty much updated. I have a doctor's appt. in a few days and I will update then on how the pregnancy is going. It's hard for me to believe that in 2-5 weeks I will have a new baby! I'm still pretty nervous about the whole labor part! It's hard not knowing how it will go.