Las Vegas Road Trip

Eric finally convinced his dad and got it scheduled to take the defensive hand gun course at Front Sight. His mom invited the rest of us to come along and play while they were training so with the desire to bet cabin fever (plus I'm a real baby about being home alone, thank goodness Eric doesn't have to travel for work!) we all headed to Vegas. Thursday morning Jan 26 we took a ridiculous amount of time to get out of the house not leaving till after we hoped to be in Delta (anybody else have hard time leaving the house?) and met his parents in Delta. Deb had lunch already for us, ate and were on the road. The kids did fabulous as we only stopped for gas in St George getting into Vegas after dark. Now my kids list of states they have been in has doubled from just Utah and Idaho to include Arizona and Nevada, hooray! We stayed at the Silverton casino/hotel which was waay bigger than I had ever been in before. In fact the kids and I never left the whole time we were there. Here are Miriam and Aaron in their first hotel room/bed. Deb got us a room with 2 queen beds and Miriam always slept in other one and did great. You can also just barely see their new stuffed animals Grandma got them; Miriam a bobcat (appropriate as Eric calls her that) and Aaron a fish (even though we tried to talk him into cuter ones). On the right is Rachel crawling amongst our belongings. As we walked there was an enormous aquarium with all kinds of fish, rays and tiger sharks (brought back 10th grade memories of dissecting a tiger shark). We happened to come when a diver was in feeding the fish and flirting with the guests. The diver would come up to the glass, wave, high five the kids, give knuckles and blow bubble kisses. At first our kids and all the other kids were to shy to interact but each time we saw him they were involved and excited to see him. Even Clifford gave him high five. They even had "mermaids" in to perform for a little while doing water acrobatics.

First night we had Mexican food and then checked our the Pro Bass Shop out that was connected to the casino. It was huge, every time I went in there I saw something new. They had awesome waterfalls, stuffed animals (taxidermy), fish tanks, the works.

Rachel and Russ at dinner Friday night at a pizza place after the guys got back from training. Grandma, the kids and I spent the day eating (big pancake breakfast, Johnny Rockets for lunch and ice cream for mid afternoon snack), going through Pro Bass shop again and hanging out in our room. They had a pool but it was outside and a little too windy to go swimming, drats. I tried getting everyone down for naps and eventually went for a little nap in the parking lot which was nice to get fresh air. Aaron and Grandma watching a movie on the computer. They watched lots together. Saturday the guys went to training and we took a leisurely breakfast and packed up to check out at noon. Deb couldn't get the rooms for Saturday night so we ended up doing over to Mesquite for that night. It was perfect time for the kids to take a nap driving over. We found a nice diner for lunch when we got there and then let the kids play at a park before we checked in to the Virgin River casino (luckily all rooms were outside and we didn't have to go through the casino this time).

The guys caught up to us that night and we just hung out in the room and ate all our leftovers. We were going to go to the hotel restaurant for breakfast Sunday morning but they were packed so we found our way back over to the diner. Miriam at the diner buttering her own pancakes. I was pretty tired of dealing with kids in restuarants by this time. Packed up and came home. Stopped on way home for gas and went to Delta and let the kids play for a couple of hours because they had a harder time being cooped up coming home (no movies I guess was the problem). Eric and I got to have a good visit with Grandma and Grandpa Johnson in the mean while.

Rachel really took off crawling on this trip and started pulling herself up to standing. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for a nice little vacation to break cabin fever!

Random Happenings

Life just ebbs on. We're not doing anything really exciting just hanging out at home and trying not to be buried in the house. We've had 2 major bouts of sickness so we've stayed home to get better and not get others sick. First after Christmas was a stomach virus and then this last week was the croup.Had a lot of fun Jan 13 with pizza/movie night. We let the kids make their own pizzas. I had to take a picture of the masterpiece because Aaron carefully put the pepperonis on with one olive slice in the middle. He really may end up a chef, still quited interested in all things in the kitchen. They then watched Bambi while Eric and I watched Lord of the Rings (extended version we just got from his brother) in our room. Eric mixed the pizza dough up in our new bread maker and it was tasty. We also tried out my new pastry roller which made the best looking crusts I've ever seen. Aaron modeling, or so it looked when I had to get this picture on Jan 16. Grandma Delta got the kids cowboy boots on a clearance awhile back though much too big, the kids still insist on wearing them periodically. This morning they had been playing something with all the cowboy stuff (love that they are more into imaginative play these days). The cap guns was from Santa and are working out well as Aaron goes around pointing it and saying,"shoot, shoot" or hoot depending on how it sounds. I couldn't resist taking this sweet picture of Rachel sleeping on January 10. She does pretty good taking apx 2 naps during the day. I get her sleepy then put her down and she will cry for a few minutes and then be asleep. She wakes in the morning quite happy, but always crying from naps perhaps she's just saying come and get me! This has been a crazy winter with hardly any snow or if it does its gone in 2 days. Here are the kids playing outside without shoes or coats on Jan 3!! Good bye January!

Happy Birthday Eric!

Eric got to celebrate his birthday for 3 days this year. We started out with his favorite dinner of enchiladas on his birthday. Miriam was excited to help put them together, so much so she requested we have them again a week or so later. I wanted to have the cake done to do with presents, but that didn't happen. He did open our presents of American Famous Documents for LDS families, a box of granola bars to keep at work and in his truck for if he got hungry, and the movie Fireproof. Friday we surprised him with balloons at work when we went to pick him up for lunch out. I think the kids enjoyed the balloons more than he did. We went ate at Pizza Pie Cafe, enjoying all their unusual pizzas and most especially their desert pizzas. Rachel did pretty good hanging out in the high chair playing with toys. The other two got rambunctious towards end when they just wanted to run around. Next stop the BYU dinosaur museum. Every since we started going to museums Eric's wanted to come here and it was on our agenda with the culture museum but we ran out of time. Eric has been a dinosaur lover his whole life so he loved sharing his knowledge with the kids. This museum is great for kids because of the quality of fossils but also the smallness that lets them get a good feel without overwhelming them and getting bored.Saturday he got the usual strawberry ice cream waffles and I finished decorating the chicken cake. I tried putting pudding in the middle and then left it out which was a baad mistake. We like having cakes that commemorate events in our lives. That night his parents watched the kids so we could go to a party with several of his high school friends. They were all married but not many have kids so it was a little surreal to me being there without kids and not even comparing kids that much like moms usually do. All in all a good birthday!

Rachel checkups

Time passes and I forgot to document Rachel's 4 month checkup. She is a joy in our house and we're glad she is healthy and growing well.We went to the doctors on October 25 just 3 days passed her 4 mon mark. Head circumference was 16 1/4 inch putting her in the 58%. It was up 1.5 inchs in 2 months majorly jumping in the percentile ranks from just 19%. I wondered if she would have as big of a head as Aaron, but she seems to have slowed down since then. Rachel is 25 in tall growing 2 inches in 2 months and percentile the same at 76%. She weighs 15 lbs 10 oz to put her at 87%, gaining 3.66 lbs. One trouble we talked over was all the red dots all over her body. I was beginning to think she was having an allergic reaction to something but she just has sensitive skin with a bad case of eczema.We were back at the doctors for 6 mon on Dec 23 (was scheduled day before but accidentally scheduled my dentist at the same time). Head circumference 16.52 in dropping down to 36% as only grew apx 1/4 of an inch. Rachel is 26.51 in tall putting her at 78%, having only grown 1.5 in. She weighs 17 lbs 10 oz putting her at 81%, having gained 2 lbs precisely. Dr Lator was very pleased with how she is growing. She is in size 3 diapers and wearing 3-6 mon clothes. I think she is in size 2 shoe.

October 2010 Flashback

So I have been really bad at posting lately, nothing new in 2 months. This blog is little bit about sharing our lives with others, but like other blogs I frequent it is mostly about documenting our doings for our families sake.I found it interesting how much I pared down as opposed to if I had blogged this a year ago. It is also a reality check into how much my kids have changed in 15 months!Aaron at 1 year, 2 mon looks sooo much younger and it's a shock to see the pacifier in his mouth though it hasn't been that long since we took it away. I also can't get over the curly hair either as all curl dropped out after his first haircut. Even then he really enjoyed helping to cook (picture from Oct 27).

Miriam at just over 2 1/2 was majorly into things and copying me. Many of her pictures show her mischief making. I'm amazed at how much they catch onto. One night while I was talking to my mom, Miriam had to talk too.
We finally kept our promise from back in August and got Miriam her own Book of Mormon and she loves it (still carrying it around now!). In August we had gone to see temple square and Miriam didn't want to leave the Book of Mormon display until we promised to get her own. She always wants to take it to church and drags it everywhere with her. When she sees one of us reading the Book of Mormon she has to go get hers. I'm so glad she loves it already!

One of my cousins was in the BYU homecoming parade so I packed the kids up and went to watch it on Oct 9. It was cold but we still had a good time. I think Eric was helping his dad that day.

Cousin William's birthday party was also on October 9 at the Springville pool. We had a great time bobbing around. We were doing the usual jump off the side into our arms. Miriam did great but Aaron still hadn't learned to jump. He would crouch down and then not go anywhere to eventually just fall forward into the water.

It has become a tradition for all the Jones cousins to get together at the Red Barn and go for a hayride and pick a pumpkin. This year we went on Oct 13.Top left is Aaron and his pumpkin. Top right is all of us on the hay wagon including a cousin. Bottom left is Miriam, Aaron and Myles (cousin). Bottom right is Megan and Elizabeth helping Miriam and Aaron get their pumpkins, thanks!

Eric's grandparents celebrated their wedding anniversary on October 18 with a fun concert and refreshments in Delta that we got to go see. We're so glad Grandma and Grandpa Johnson live closer to us now and we can see them!

Our Halloween fun. Upper left is our babysitting co-op party we had at our house, we were hoping to get to know everyone a little better but the co-op fell apart soon after anyway. Miriam in some of her cute clothes (wore them again this year!) Aaron in the middle on Halloween with our traditional pizza. We ate pizza watched Care Bear Halloween, gave out candy, and the kids trick-or-treated around our upstairs for some fruit snacks.Strawberry Shortcake- the dress was just right if a little tight and the tights and hat were enormous!

Grandma Delta picked up these cute costumes for the kids to wear. Miriam a Strawberry Shortcake and Aaron a snow tiger. I wasn't sure where they were going to wear them since I didn't plan on trick or treating, but they still found opportunity to dress up. Miriam loved the tiger so much she wore it more often and was fascinated by the tail. Bottom left is Miriam pulling Aaron's tail and top left is Aaron pulling Miriam's tail. She would put the costume on and then say,"Aaron pull my tail" to which he was happy to oblige. There is quite a difference between Aaron center top and Aaron a year later below wearing the same costume. He looks way more grown up!

Halloween 2011 Miriam in Snow White (that Grandma Nicee got her) and Aaron in same tiger costume.

Whats new with Miriam

A few highlights of Miriam's over the last while so everyone gets an update.June 27 she was drawing with chalk and lately she done more than just scribbling. She told me she drew Rachel here.One of the biggest things Miriam has been working on the last while is potty training! I knew I did not want 3 kids in diapers so we got down to business on April 27. For well over a year we had been having her sit on her princess potty (maybe even before she was 2) but she didn't seem to connect when she needed to go. For the mere handful of times that she actually went in that time frame we lavished praise on her and gave her big girl snacks (fruit snacks), but it didn't seem to help.We spent a lot of time there as I would have her sit whenever we changed diapers or when I needed to go and we read lots of potty books. A friend lent me a book that she used with her son quite successfully called "Toilet Training in Less than a Day" by Nathan Azrin and richard Foxx which finally gave me the confidence to move forward. I think she could have been trained much earlier but I didn't have clear ideas of what to do. I've decided I really need to read something instead of just hear it for it to make viable sense to me (probably a good indication to read the conference talks). This picture is April 22 after we got a new dolly that goes potty that Miriam "taught" how to go potty. It is still an ongoing process here in January with not trying at all to work on staying dry through the night and still having accidents, but definitely better than 3 kids in diapers.

August 2 modeling the pioneer dress Grandma Delta made her. She seems to have a penchant for long dresses to twirl in. She told us the other night that only girls could dance, not boys.

Miriam still loves being with her sister and helping her. Though when I see her carrying her my heart stops as Miriam is not that much bigger. Miriam still loves stories and we've been working on learning the A,B,C's with great stories like Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. She is sharing both with Rachel on Sept 17 when both were 3 (Miriam years and Rachel months). Below was an unique bedtime experience on October 4. We were getting ready for bed and I asked Miriam something about her and Rachel's sizes which she said they were the same or she was asking why so I decided to show her. I put one of Rachel's sleep gowns on (that Miriam also wore at that size) and asked if it fit. Of course it didn't proving that Miriam was bigger and she thought it was funny too.She has a most unique way of phrasing things any more. We went to the theater to watch Cars 2 and Miriam was excited to watch a movie at the 'popcorn store'. Ever since she wants to go watch movies at the popcorn store. So called because on the front of the theater is a lighted popcorn box. She likes watching movies and has started watching "The Incredibles" surprising us with random quotes like saying her back hurt like Mr Incredible (how she says incredible is really funny too). We were commenting on how fast Dash ran across the water and she turned excitedly to us "yah he's like Jesus walking on the water!" More and more I hear myself coming out of her mouth and it is scary.

Aaron's Second Birthday

The night before Aaron's second birthday was spent driving to Idaho for a family reunion. It was stressful getting everything packed and on top of that Eric and I stayed up late the night before wrapping Aaron's birthday presents and packing them carefully in the car. At some point the kids ended up playing in the car and when I finally went to go see what they were doing (not thinking any harm could come from it-ha ha) they had opened pretty much every present. I was livid, in fact the only other time I was so mad was when they dumped every article of clothing in Aaron's room in his crib. It was the hard work of wrapping and then missing out on his reactions to his presents that I had been anticipating that made it so bad. We finally left after Eric was done with work getting into my parents late.First thing Aaron got was strawberry ice cream waffles for a birthday breakfast, standard breakfast for our family of strawberry lovers. We commemorated his birthday by wearing his birthday onesie. He spent the rest of the day playing at Grandma Nicee's and then driving to Lake Alturus for the Briscoe family reunion. Unfortunately, the night before as we were driving the van developed a loud vibration around Blackfoot that increased till we discovered in Idaho Falls that the bolts hadn't been screwed on all the way when the van was in the shop. Eric thought tightening the rest besides one sheared bolt would be ok, but it wasn't. After stopping to tighten them to find more bolts sheared we started looking for a repair shop. By the time we found a Les Schwab in Hailey it was late and we were hungry so we stopped at a Mexican restaurant. After dinner we decided Eric would stay with the van, get it fixed in the morning and come up while the rest of us hitched a ride with my cousin Emily. We really appreciated them stopping by for us because my parents vehicle was stuffed full. As one of Aaron's presents was a sleeping bag that we needed that night we let Aaron open a couple of presents which both of the kids were quite gleeful about. This is a clip of Aaron opening presents in the restaurant.By Friday we were enjoying the reunion, the cabins and the forest around. Grandma and Aaron went to work decorating Aaron's birthday cake- Lightning McQueen!

We got to share the cake with all the family Friday night. Upper left my family. Upper right Grandma Nicee with Aaron and Miriam. Lower left our little family and lower right all the Briscoes that were at the reunion. My grandparents are on the far right sitting down. It was kind of funny because I have a cousin named Aaron who when he saw the cake didn't know it was his second birthday (he has turned in his mission papers!).

 

My cousin Anna's little boy was much interested in everything because he also is a Cars fanatic. He loved Aaron's new Mack truck, we had to figure out some sharing and insisted on having a wheel from the cake. I'm afraid this won't be the first time Aaron has his birthday in conjunction with a reunion. Saturday we packed up, had lunch at the lake which is where the picture of them eating cake is from, then went on to my cousin Melissa's farewell (us Sisters have to stick together!)All the Briscoe sister missionaries with the exception of my grandma who served in Nauvoo with grandpa. We figured Rachel could be in the picture too, especially since Eric specifically mentioned a mission in her blessing. When we got back to Rigby we sort of wrapped the rest of his presents and let him open them. Aaron enjoyed all his Cars stuff among other things. Happy Birthday!