LOWE FAMILY

Sacrament Meeting program

2011-11-26T10:52:00.002-07:00

We just had our annual Sacrament meeting program. I know the stress and hard work that the presidency puts into the program, so as I was sitting watching my 3 boys up on the stand I was hoping for the best. It was precious. Ethan was first to do his lines, and he did them great. Then Blake gets up and makes sure that the presidency member DOES NOT help him with his lines as he politely says "I don't need help, I've got this". Then proceeds to say his lines. Then "The Loges" gets up...and we never are quite sure what he is going to do. Of course he is the one, and every ward has "The one" that screams their part into the microphone. Then about 3/4 of the way through the program, after a song was over he thought that they were done and screams or shouts with both hands over his head "We did it! We won! It's over!"as Blake runs off the stand holding himself and running down the aisle saying "I have to go to the bathroom!" Wow! The Lowes at their best.

Park City

2011-10-14T12:04:00.007-06:00

We just got back from Park City...It was one of those vacations that you go into without huge expectations and it turns out to be wonderful!We had such a great time spending the week together as a family.

We went on a super fun hike up in the canyon and were able to see the beautiful colors. We hiked all the way to Secret Lake. It was beautiful. After we roasted marshmellows and had smores... So Fun!

We went to the Park City resort and rode the alpine slide, Adam was happy in his stroller.

One of the Highlights of the week was being able to take Ethan to conference for his first time. It was so fun, walking temple square, the conference center and seeing the Prophet through a childs eyes. Ethan loved it and it was great to spend the time with just him.

I loved that while we were there, I was able to see both my sisters. Becky and her family came up the week before so we were able to spend Saturday with them. It was great to all be together.

The last day that we were there it was SO fun to get snow! Luckily the boys had just gotten back from the BYU booksstore with their BYU loot!

It's Been awhile....

2011-09-25T15:38:00.003-06:00

I have been feeling lately that I need to update our blog and start blogging all of the little things that the boys are doing and saying. Im not sure where to start because it has been so long, so instead of trying to play catch up I will start today...

Brent has been out of town for the past few days which had me at church alone. Whenver I have the boys by myself at church, we always make some sort of scene and it usually involves Logan. One Sunday he pulled his pants down and mooned the family across the aile, another time he stood up on the bench and waved loudly at his dad who was speaking...etc. Well today was no different. I had to take Adam out which meant that my three boys were alone on the bench...while I was gone, Logan got a hold of my phone and started taking pictures with my iphone and talking in a really loud voice, "my pictures are so good." The really distracting thing was that the flash was on. Here is one of his pictures that he took, notice the sweet ward member coming to the rescue.

On the way home from church today we had a funny conversation:
Blake: Mom, where do you go when you die and you were really bad?
Mom: Um Outer Darkness
Blake: Well where do you go when you are really good?
Mom: You go to the Celestial Kingdom
Blake: Well were do you go if you are just so-so
Mom: Ummm let me think, Spirit Prison?
Blake: Oh well I am for sure going to the celestial kingdom- the best place
Ethan: Oh ya me too
Logan: Well, I'm going to go to the so-so- place.

Super Stud

2009-06-23T14:56:00.004-06:00

Ethan got a skateboard for his birthday which he LOVES! He begs to go outside and ride any chance he gets. Brent was showing Ethan how to ride a skateboard and Blake was wanting to try. I told Blake that he first had to learn to ride a skooter then a bike (without training wheels) and then the skateboard. So Blake says, OK mom, I will ride a bike. Brent gets out Ethan's bike, steadies it so he can get on and off he goes. He totally starts riding with out any instruction. We were shocked. He then started screaming I AM SUPER STUD! HERE COMES SUPER STUD! Since he doesn't know how to stop he just falls onto the asphalt or runs his bike into the curb/gutter. It was pretty funny. Here are all three of my Super Studs.

Happy 6th Birthday Ethan!

2009-06-23T14:31:00.005-06:00

We are starting our month of Birthday Celebrations! Ethan had his birthday on June 19th. This year he chose an Army themed birthday. It actually turned out to be a really fun birthday idea. We started by painting their faces, giving them army hats and doing simple drills, then did an obstacle course which ended by firing a paintball gun. The boys LOVED shooting the gun. They then had a grenade (waterballoon) and squirt gun fights. We ended the party with pizza and cake. As the boys left they got to take with them their own dog tags and little water bottle filled with treats. I know Ethan had a great day when he said that this was the best birthday he has ever had. We love our sweet Ethan and are so grateful he is part of our family. Thanks for being such a great kid!

All of the troops flashing a peace sign.

Here are the boys doing their drills.

Part of the obstacle course...

Trip To Washington

2009-05-30T20:41:00.006-06:00

We just got back from our trip to Washington. We haven't visited the farm for a couple of years and we were overdo. Every night before bed Brent tells the boys stories about when he was a little boy and all of the very adventurous things that he and his brothers would do. So as you can imagine the farm and uncle Danny were bigger than life to my boys. They had a very specific to-do list when we got there...swim in the pond, ask uncle Danny to show them his cut off finger, shoot coyotes, catch gophers with Grandpa, ride horses, climb trees...they would not be deterred until they experienced all these things. It was so fun to visit with Brent's family and to let the kids play with their cousins.

Blake very proud of his kill- and Uncle Danny who taught them the phrase, "Greasy grimy Gopher Guts!"

The boys very dirty- trying to catch a fish

Looking to see if we caught any more gophers!

Brent's friend Sean has some horses that the boys were able to ride. Blake LOVED it! He named this horse "Cinder" and was completely in character as he sang the Indiana Jones theme and cracked his whip.

This is a really cute picture of Ethan, but Brent and I were laughing because the entire time we were out riding horses Ethan would only give us "tough cowboy" looks. We could NEVER get him to smile. I guess he too was in character.

Here is Blake's toughest Indy look.

This is the tree that Brent would climb as a little boy. The boys would climb up the ladder and hen sit on the branch like it was a horse and Brent would shake it. It made me very nervous-as you can see Blake was more into it than the other boys.

Ethan riding the 4 wheeler all by himself- he was very proud of himself.

Here we are in Grandpas cherry orchard. While we were in the orchard we saw a coyote...

And shot at a coyote...

This was a rite of passage for Ethan. When Brent was little he and his brothers would swim in this pond and hide from the farmer who was looking for them in the weeds. Ethan thought it was the coolest thing and would not pass up the opportunity to swim in the same pond. So, with clothes on, and shoes on he jumped in. He was so proud of himself, when he came up out of the water he had his arms in the air yelling- YAAAAA! We of course didn't have our camera...but here is the pond.

Eric and Marc's kids on Memorial Day. The boys LOVED playing with their cousins. We had such a fun time- the kids are already asking when we can go back.

Our day in Seattle

2009-05-28T10:56:00.011-06:00

Before heading over to the farm we spent the day in Seattle. As we were flying in Blake summed it up by yelling, "Seattle is Awesome!" All the people on the flight got a good laugh.I LOVE this city. It is so beautiful! We had a great time.

We started off our day with a ferry ride. It was super fun- Ethan watched Pirates of the Carribean the night before in the hotel room so we were on the look out for the "Cracken".

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We found this beach where the boys found crabs, an old fort and tons of sea shells.

Isn't it such a gorgeous day? All the locals we ran into kept telling us how lucky we were to have such great weather

On top of the Space Needle...

Mt. Rainier

Pikes Place Market

Day at Disneyland

2009-05-12T17:19:00.004-06:00

Yesterday I took the kids to Disneyland with Dave, Julie and my mom. I haven't been able to wrap my brain around going alone so I was so grateful for the help and company. We had the BEST day. It was such a great mellow day at Disneyland...happy kids, short lines, warm weather...happy mommy!

The kids had a great time and it was so fun to spend the day with family.

Happy Easter

2009-04-30T19:11:00.005-06:00

I feel like I am only hitting the holidays with blogging! This Easter started out with the ward Easter party which is always a hit with my boys. Logan has this thing for hugging any stuffed character that he sees. Whenever we go to Disneyland he has to stop and hug and kiss all the characters and the Easter bunny was no exception. Luckily we knew that the person underneath the mask wasn't some creepy meth addict child molester. We then had our Easter morning with a treasure hunt that was left by the Easter Bunny. The boys thought that was a best part of the day. For dinner and one last Easter egg hunt we headed down to my mom's house. Luckily the kids did have the TRUE meaning of Easter as we had a wonderful day at church.

To add to the excitement of the day- It was Brent's birthday too! So we celebrated his birthday down at my mom's with a small family party. I made him his favorite carrot cake and a few presents from the boys. Notice the golf tournament on in the background...that is all he wanted for his birthday was to watch the Master's uninterrupted. Happy Birthday Brent! I love You.

St. Patrick's Day

2009-03-17T17:49:00.002-06:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

Grandparent time!

2009-02-28T18:02:00.004-07:00

We have had Brent's dad and step mom come and visit us for the past couple of weeks. The boys absolutely adore them. I seriously believe that Brent's dad is Ethan's most favorite person in the world. While they were here we went to Disneyland for a couple of days, the beach, the Wild Animal Park and basically hung out. It was great. Grandpa tells the best stories that only a little boy could truly appreciate. For instance, killing coyotes, catching snakes, riding motorcycles, trapping skunks and making uncle Danny and Uncle Ryan adventure heroes. We are so glad to have been able to spend time with our Grandpa and Grandma.

Am I Really that old?

2009-02-24T16:55:00.004-07:00

This past week I have been feeling like I am getting old. Not only have I been noticing a few more wrinkles around my eyes, and the slowing metabolism I had a few things happen that made me feel like I wasn't 20 anymore. This past week I went to work a day. It was Presidents Day so the majority of patients that I saw were teenagers that had the day off from school. Since I was working in RB I felt that I had quite a bit in common with them seeing as I am an ALUMNI of their Highschool. So, as I was trying desperately to keep conversation going, is when the moment came that I realized I appear OLD to these kids! The first one told me that I look exactly like his friend's mom. (And this kid was 16!) The next realization came when I was asking this girl who some of her teachers were at RB High thinking that I would know some. She just looked at me and said, "I only know of one who is REALLY old! I mean old enough to be around when you were here." I tried to play it cool but it was a weird feeling to think that I am not 20 anymore!

The last thing that happened was Brent and I were at White Lime and that song about Notorious BIG was on. I forget the name of it, but it was SUPER popular my Senior Year in HS. Of course Brent and I know the ALL the words and were quietly singing to ourselves when it happened again. The sweet little HS girl behind the counter made a comment about Brent's singing. I asked her..."Have you ever heard this song before?" I once again felt old as she replied..."No..I mean I think I've heard it, but don't know the words?" What is happening to us? Are we really getting old?

Pirates Beware!

2009-02-10T17:02:00.006-07:00

Last weekend we took the boys down to La Jolla cove. This is one of my favorite places to go mainly because it's free and I am cheap these days. While we were there looking at the seals these young adults came up to me and asked if the kids wanted to find buried treasure. Immediately Ethan's imagination went wild and they began their treasure hunt. They looked in all the caves and sand searching for Blackbeard's lost treasure. I am so grateful for the random act of kindness that these people showed to my boys- it made their day.

Mormon Battalion

2009-02-07T09:33:00.007-07:00

Every year the Mormon Battalion does a big "mormon battalion celebration" down in Old Town. We have gone in past years and my boys love it! It is a little boys dream to walk around with a rifle, see canons fired, touch dead animals, get their hands dirty with mud and search for gold. I have to say my favorite part was going to eat at our favorite Mexican restaurant afterwards.

Big Bear

2009-01-16T14:43:00.005-07:00

I have been wanting to take the kids up to Big Bear for a long time, especially since they have so much snow. With the weather being 85 degrees, we were wanting a little bit of snow fun. So, last weekend we packed up our things and headed up on Friday night. It was so much fun spending time together. Brent has been gone a lot lately studying for some tests for work so it was great to have this time away where we didn't have to think about all the things that awaited us at home. The boys had a blast sledding for most of the day. We started with the warm up hill in the front yard and then went to the big sledding hill down the street. The boys had a great time- while Logan and I kicked it in the car watching Barney videos.

I had to laugh because my boys are wearing the same moon boots that Becky and I wore like 25 years ago. They are true vintage...Anyway while they were sledding they had several people comment on them saying that they wanted to get them. Brent and I thought it was hilarious.

Our New Year's Adventure

2008-12-31T10:22:00.000-07:00

Like I said still trying to play catch up. For New Year's we decided to take the kids down to Coronado. I had been wanting to go for a long time. We went downtown and walked along the harbor watching the "pirate ships". Then got on the ferry and made our way over to Coronado. The boys LOVED the boat ride. We then let the boys ride their scooters around and got pizza at this little pizza place. It was super fun but soooooo cold. As soon as the sun went down it was freezing. We then went over to the Waldrons for some celebration time. The boys once again loved the poppers, sparklers, dancing to Thriller, and banging their pots and pans. It was such a great end to a wild year for our family.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-26T15:49:00.000-07:00

We had a great Christmas at home this year. This is the first year that we stayed home and had Christmas morning at our own house. I have to say that we really enjoyed it.

Logan trying to play games with Brent and the boys on Christmas Eve.

My parents came up to our house for dinner. It's always so fun to have Grandma and Grandpa come over.

My mom read the nativity out of the scriptures while we ALL dressed up. My dad was the token audience member.

My little angel.

We always act out the Polar Express and read the book on Christmas Eve. The boys are pretending to be on the train with their bells and whistles.

The treats that we left out for Santa.

Now, off to bed! Amazingly, the kids didn't wake up until 8:00! A small Christmas miracle for Brent and I.

The boys all got treated very well by Santa this year. Ethan was so happy to have gotten Lego Batman, Blake was thrilled with his gumballs and Logan loved his little car. We had a great Christmas together as a family. I just have to write a few things that I loved about Christmas this year. I loved reading Christmas stories and having hot cocoa every night leading up to Christmas. I loved going out to see Christmas lights in Santee (the same ones that I went to see when I was a little girl). I loved taking my kids to the creche festival that our stake put on. I loved singing Christmas songs every night before bed. I loved how Blake would sing Jingle Bells at the top of his lungs as we went through Wal mart or Target-just trying to spread a little cheer. I loved the magic and excitment that the boys brought into our home. I loved teaching our children more about the Savior and focusing on His birth.

Ugly Sweater Party

2008-12-19T15:06:00.000-07:00

About a week after we moved in my friend Missi and I threw an Ugly Sweater party. I say "we" threw it but Missi did all the work, I basically just had clean my house and open the door. It turned out to be really fun. Everyone came dressed up in ugly sweaters, we took silly prom like pictures that were hilarious, drank egg nog and had a white elephant gift exchange. It was a fun way to start off the season and especially fun to get together with friends. We will have to do it again next year.

Here we all are in our "ugly sweaters"

Home Sweet Home

2008-12-15T12:23:00.001-07:00

It seems that we have come full circle this past year. We moved from Temecula to Idaho Falls a little over a year ago. Our adventures in Idaho all seem like a dream now that we are back in our old neighborhood and old ward. I find myself driving the same streets and going to the same preschools, stores, malls and have to remind myself that we really DID move 4 times this past year to end up where we are. There is something about feeling settled and truly laying down roots that puts your life in alignment. We have just recently moved into our house and it was so nice to get in before Christmas. The boys were thrilled to see some of their toys that had been in storage for the past year. Being back in Temecula has made the final move and adjustment very easy. It is so nice to be around family and good friends. We are happy to call this home.

Playing Catch up

2008-12-15T11:51:00.000-07:00

We have been so busy the past couple of months with moving, the holidays etc. So forgive me as I play catch up.

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-26T17:39:00.000-07:00

For Thanksgiving this year we went to Arizona to visit my brother and sister. We had such a fun non traditional time. This year for Thanksgiving dinner we decided to go out to dinner at this country club. The food was good and the best part was that we wern't in the kitchen all day preparing and we didn't have any dishes to clean up afterwards. It was great weather and so fun to play with all the cousins. That morning we went on a Thanksgiving Day hike with all the family. The kids loved riding their scooters and running on the trails. It was great to all be together.

That night Becky and I decided to go hit black Friday deals. We put our sweats on and went to ToysR Us to wait in line. It was the first time that I have waited in line in the middle of the night and I have to admit, it was a blast. We got some great deals and it was nice to get a chunk of Christmas shopping done early. Most of all it was great to spend time together as a family.

The Bee's

2008-11-25T09:44:00.004-07:00

The other day we noticed what we thought was a bee hive in my parents backyard. The boys were completely enthralled with it seeing as the discovery channel is Ethan's favorite channel. After a bee charmer came to take it away it ended up being not being a beehive but a swarm of bees. 15,000 bees were all surrounding the queen looking for a place to start a new hive. It was very cool how the bees work together and what this bee charmer did to get them out of the yard. My boys LOVED it! Grandma's house seems to be a growing zoo of excitement with the lizards, rabbits, spiders, owls, bees and occasional bats.

Our Blakers

2008-11-25T09:23:00.004-07:00

I have to write this little story down or I will forget it. The other day I had the boys outside swimming. I was putting more water in the pool while watching the boys swim. All of the sudden Blake takes off his life jacket and his bathing suit and starts running laps around the pool naked. I then tell him to go inside and that it is NOT ok to run around naked. Ethan is dying laughing at this point. So we then all go inside but first I have to turn the water off, so Blake gets a little head start. He runs up into the house before we could get up there, locks us out and presses his bare bum up against the glass door. Ethan was dying laughing, and I started laughing too. Not so much at what he was doing but thinking in my mind, is this really happening? Did my child really lock me out? And who taught him to do that? Luckily he unlocked the door, and then spent some quality time in time out. Do I have a Lowe Boy on my hands or what? We love our little Blake for adding the spice to our family.

Logan's Head

2008-11-09T16:52:00.002-07:00

Nothing really to report other than Logan doing a head first into the corner of a door. He was laughing like 2 minutes later.

Yes on 8!

2008-11-04T11:39:00.012-07:00

Well, the past week has been a very interesting one here in southern California. Now that Proposition 8 has passed there has been a pretty big back lash of people who wish it hadn't. At this point, everyone seems to believe the Mormon Church was the single driving force behind the success of the "Yes on 8" campaign (no offense to the other 5 1/2 million people who voted in support of the proposition). I suppose the church is used to the "attention". There are thousands of other large protestant churches and the Catholic Church who were also very big supporters, but not one has come out in defense of our work on Yes on 8. Thanks for the back up.

Here's a picture of some very "passionate" protesters.

One of my favorite news bites is where it shows hundreds of protesters around the LA Temple putting degrading signs on the temple fence and yelling obscenities, when 4 or 5 Polynesians come up and start tearing their signs down and yelling back - the crowd slowly moves back and directs their protests in a different direction, it was quite entertaining.

Prior to the vote we spent several weeks walking our neighborhoods, sign waving on the street corners and plastering every car we own with yes on 8 stickers. The crazy thing is, no one really expected to win. The polls were rarely in our favor and it just seemed that success was not going to happen. The fact that the No on 8 rallies are happening now, after the election, is a bit odd. Too little too late i guess.

Here's a couple pictures of us sign waving prior to the election.

Happy Halloween

2008-10-31T11:34:00.006-06:00

I have to play catch up...We took the kids to the Bate's nut farm pumpkin patch one Saturday along with the rest of San Diego county. It was super fun. It is so nice to be living close to family again. Here are some pictures...

Becky's kids and Ethan and Blake with Grandma and Grandpa

Pretending to be scarecrows with Grandma

Searching for the perfect pumpkin...

A year ago...

2008-10-21T11:33:00.004-06:00

It has been awhile since I have posted a blog entry. So here is an update on our family. We are now back in Southern California and we will be moving into our new home shortly. We are enjoying being back with family and friends and good weather. It was a year ago this weekend that we started our adventure to Idaho as we were leaving the San Diego wild fires. As we were being evacuated, sleeping in a hotel downtown we pulled away from San Diego watching the flames in our rear view mirror. We loved our short year in Idaho and there are things that we really miss, friends being at the top of the list.
As a remembrance of the San Diego wild fires they set up a memorial at the community park here in Rancho Bernardo. We took the kids down to see all the flags that were set up. Each of the 1100 flags represented a house that was burned down during the fire.
It has been a crazy year for our family...I promise more blog entries are coming.

Grace, Idaho

2008-08-28T10:19:00.005-06:00

Brent's dad came into town after education week. It was so great to see him and Patricia. They are so great with my boys and really helped us a ton to get ready to move. While they were here we took a trip down to Grace Idaho to visit his dad's birthplace and to go to the cemetary where his dad's mother and baby brother are buried. I am so glad that we took the time to do this because I don't know when we will ever be back there again.

Brent's Family reunion

2008-08-28T09:40:00.004-06:00

These past couple of weeks we have been lucky to have Brent's family visiting. His mom came into town for a family reunion and we were able to spend a day with her before the reunion. At the reunion the boys got to swim, go on waterslides, make Indian hats and make marshmellow pop guns. It was really a fun day and great to spend it with family.

Letting go

2008-08-18T16:26:00.004-06:00

We are so proud of Ethan for learning to ride his bike. Brent and Ethan have been practicing for awhile now and I suppose that the lesson learned was hard work and determination pay off. Brent was following along side Ethan, holding on to the back of his seat. Day after day they would go out and practice while Brent would run beside him while holding the seat. Finally Brent just let go of the seat and to all of our amazment the first time he let go Ethan could ride! It took a couple of times for him to build his confidence but now he is off and loving his bike. This has been a HUGE victory for our little family and I totally started getting sentimental in thinking how do I know as a parent when to "let go". There are so many little milestones in our children's lives that we have to know when to let go and let them go for it on their own. We have just experienced the first of many. Congratulations Ethan!

Calling all Rodeo and Collin Raye Fans!

2008-08-01T11:12:00.004-06:00

Rodeo Season is here! (since there is only two seasons in Idaho - "Harsh Winter" and "Blazing Hot" they reserve one season as Rodeo Season). Brent and I took the boys to a rodeo in St. Anthony last weekend. It was so small town style! Everything from the rickety fencing keeping the cows and bulls in, to the countless "big hair" rodeo babes (I use the term babes very loosely). The boys LOVED it. I have to say that it was really fun. Ethan and Blake even got a chance to get out in the rodeo ring and chase a cow with some cash on its back. I'm not sure if they new what the point of it all was, but then again, does there need to be a point to chasing a cow with cash on its back?

Then last night Brent and I went to the rodeo in Idaho Falls with our friends the Grobergs. It was a lot bigger, faster paced and seemed a lot more dangerous. I came to realize that there actually is an attraction to cowboys, horses, wranglers, cowboy hats, and wrestling full grown cows to ground that you just can't deny.

After the rodeo Collin Raye performed. He's no J.T. but it was pretty entertaining. I was actually surprised at how many hits he had. Check him out, you won't be disappointed.

Here's to "Rodeo Season"!!

This is the bull riding.

Our Camera isn't ideal for long distance shots (sorry).

My friend Natalee and I getting ready for the concert.

Sorry no pictures of Collin- my camera isn't good enough

Bear World

2008-07-24T16:43:00.006-06:00

We got ambitious one Saturday and decided to take a trip up to Yellowstone. As we were heading out we drove past Bear World. Brent and I couldn't pass up the temptation of going here instead so we pulled off. The kids loved seeing the animals, riding the rides and feeding the animals in the petting zoo. It actually was really fun and the fudge was fabulous.

The boys at the entrance to the park.

Petting the baby deer

Ethan feeding the mommy deer

All of my little bear cubs

Ethan and Blake on this little roller coaster

Blake on a ride

A moose that we saw there.

One of the many bears that we saw.

This monster elk that is there.

Happy Birthday Krissy!

2008-07-21T10:52:00.007-06:00

(Hey, this is Brent. This is kinda long but the story needed to be told)

As most of you know, Krissy celebrated her 29th birthday this past weekend. Can you believe it. While the rest of us age (poorly in my case) she doesn't look a day over 20. I'm not kidding either, people give her looks when she has the three boys with her. They're judging her!

Since I'm responsible for transplanting Krissy to the Gem State, and taking from her one of the only things she holds dear in this life (Nordstrom, the other things are these three kids that live at our house) I felt the appropriate gift would be to take Krissy down to the Nordstrom Half-Yearly Sale. Wahoo!! Party Girl Time!!

So, there's this roll of cash that Krissy has been keeping in her drawer (and I'm not kidding) for like a year. We sold an old outdoor dining set a while back and got like $800 cash for it. Since then I've assumed Krissy took the money and spent it on books and leap frog learning tools for the children. A natural assumption for any father. Not the case this time. She's been "saving" it.

So we get a hotel in Salt Lake for a couple of nights. I wasn't able to secure a solid baby sitter for the weekend but as I mentioned before she does think very highly of our children so I figured it would be the "perfect storm" of a birthday. Having her children close to her and being able to "handle her business" at Nordstrom.

So, day one of our little weekender goes like this.

9 PM - We get checked into the hotel.The boys fell asleep in the car on the way down so they've got their second wind going.

12AM - We finally get the boys in their bed and Logan down in his portacrib thing.

12:30 - 1AM - We doze off watching Conan (O'brien, not the Barbarian. Krissy hates guys with big muscles, they gross her out)

2:30AM - Logan awakes from his slumber. We attempt to get him back down but to no avail.

3:00AM - I drive to the convenience store for some additional milk.

3:30AM - The milk doesn't help, Logan has been crying so loud and for so long that Ethan and Blake both wake up.

4:00AM - Logan is almost asleep (Krissy is holding him) and I'm laying with Blake and Ethan attempting to help them go back to sleep.

The next two occurrences happened almost simultaneously...
4:15AM - Blake (sleeping on my chest) wakes up from a bad dream starts crying so hard and loud - vomits all over my chest and neck (and to be completely honest some of it goes in my mouth). This was like grown man vomit, not this "spit up" stuff.
4:16AM - I turn the light on, Ethan takes one look at me and he throws up all over the room!

This is about the time that I seriously start considering what life would be like if...No, I won't finish that sentence. Just know that a lot of contemplation and reflection occurred in the next 5 seconds about life, choices, what might have been, and a small village on the Mexican coast.

Back to the story:
This chain reaction was straight out of "Stand by Me". You know, the story that kid told about the fat kid at the pie eating contest who plays a practical joke on the entire city and starts vomiting pie all over everyone. And that starts a chain reaction and pretty soon the entire town is puking all over each other...I knew that it was my responsibility to not allow the chain reaction to continue. When I saw Ethan hurl, I knew the easy thing to do would be to do the same. It's almost the polite thing to do for heavens sake. But I resisted the reflex (a little pat on the back if I do say so myself).

4:20AM - Both boys are in the bath tub - and I'm at the Hotel front desk getting a key to a new room.

5:00AM - Boys are back to sleep (Except Logan, and for him we just turned the TV on with no sound and let him stare at it for like the next 45 minutes). We think he ended up fading out at around 6AM.

Does it really matter what happened the rest of the weekend. Sure, I can tell you we woke up around 10 AM, got ready for the day, did the shopping thing and got Krissy some really great stuff. Yea, she had a great birthday and the focus of the weekend was her. But don't ever forget the price paid (not just the wad of cash that Krissy has been saving).

Oh, did I mention that Ethan threw up again on the way home? Nice work Ethan, way to always keep it real.

And Happy Birthday to Krissy. We love you honey! Do I know how to treat a woman right, or do I know how to treat a woman right, eh?

It's Hot!

2008-07-16T20:26:00.003-06:00

Top Ten Ways I know it's Hot!

The house that we are renting doesn't have A/C. And although I am soooooo grateful for the heat I have to admit that it is uncomfortable inside our house.
So, here are the top ten ways I know it's HOT!

10. MY legs are sweating to the couch
9. Logan is crawling/walking around with water droplets on his nose.
8. I found Blake standing inside the refrigerator trying to get the door closed
7. I haven't cooked dinner since I have been home from San Diego (where is dinner group when you need it most?)
6. The thermostat upstairs said it was 87 degrees
5. Ethan got an icepack out of the freezer and put it on his face and legs.
4. I take cold showers now and by the end of the day don't smell like I took one at all.
3. We are all a little bit cranky
2. The boys hang out around the house without shirts on.
1. Today Ethan said, "Mom I am begging you to TURN OFF the HEATER!"

Like I said, I love that the weather is warm but I just had to write down a few of the funny things that the kids have been doing and saying.

Blake's 3rd Birthday

2008-07-16T19:54:00.004-06:00

Blake's birthday was on June 30th. We did a little birthday party at our house before we left for the airport to go to San Diego. We had a Spider man theme breakfast and then off to the airport. He was thrilled that he got to ride on the "Blue Jet" for his birthday. When we got to my parents house we had a star wars birthday party for him with his cousins. He had a great day and it was fun to celebrate with cousins.

Blake is such a fun boy and a special part of our family. He is so silly, and funny. He always has a huge contagious grin on his face, even when he is being disciplined. He loves Star Wars, Indiana Jones, playing with his brother and dancing to Thriller. He is now potty trained which I am so happy about and every time he goes to the bathroom he sings, "You had a Bad Day". He has little or no fear, as he will jump on and off anything. When Ethan is too afraid to do something, Blake very willingly will do whatever Ethan suggests but is too afraid to try himself. We love our little Blakers.

Our San Diego Trip!

2008-07-11T12:02:00.005-06:00

We just got back from San Diego last night. My whole family came to my moms house, so there were 11 adults and 14 kids all at my mom's house. It was a blast. The kids swam all day long, we went to the beach several times, visited friends, went to Sea World and Lego land. It was so great to be back home, I have to admit it was hard to leave California. On the way home I flew with the three boys by myself. It actually wasn't as bad as I thought except for Logan throwing up on the plane, all over me, the seat and Blake. That was fun to clean up. We had a great couple of weeks away. Here are a couple of pictures from the our trip.

Happy Birthday Logan!

2008-07-07T11:11:00.006-06:00

Logan had his birthday on June 26th...and I am a little late. We did a small little birthday party at our house- I can't believe he is ONE! Time really has flown by. So, for journaling sake... He took his first steps, he claps, plays peek a boo, knows his toes and eyes, says mama, dada, baba, and laughs hysterically at his brothers. He has been such an easy baby and I am so grateful for him. By the way- he wanted NOTHING to do with his birthday cake, so I have no good pictures of him with it.

"We're Going on a Bear Hunt"

2008-06-22T17:56:00.004-06:00

Brent went bear hunting this past weekend. And this is as close as he came to his bear...

Better luck next weekend.

Ethan's 5th Birthday

2008-06-21T20:08:00.005-06:00

For Ethan's birthday we had an Indiana Jones birthday party at "Blast Off" ( a play place for kids). Ethan and Blake officially idolize Indiana Jones (can you blame them, Dr. Jones is quite the charmer). It was a last minute decision after my Indiana Jones costumes didn't show up for our theme party. It ended up being really fun and TONS less work.

Ethan getting ready to blow out his candles- I would highly recommend the "cupcake cake" much easier to serve the kids, but he still got his themed birthday cake.

Ethan, his buddy Parker Paugh and his cousin Kate.

Random picture of Logan in the balls. He kept getting buried.

Blake playing. I almost got one of these Indiana Jones T-Shirts for myself. I love 'em.

Some of the kids at the party...

Ethan sooooo excited to get the new Lego Indiana Jones. Blake is holding up a Cars PSP game. Blake thought it was his birthday too, especially because some of my sweet friends included him in the gift giving so he wouldn't feel left out. Thanks guys...

Ethan and his super cool cousin Seth having water gun fights and slip and slide races.

All Boy Camping Adventure

2008-06-15T16:16:00.005-06:00

This past weekend we went camping with a couple other families and between the three of us we have 10 boys, 0 girls. So, if you can imagine this weekend was "ALL BOY". It was really fun and beautiful. This was the first nice weekend that we have had in about a month so we were all very excited to be outside. I have to say there is something about camping that totally brings your family together. I don't know if it is the dirt, the nature and beauty of the outdoors, breathing the fresh air or the lack of modern conviences but I felt like this weekend was perfect timing for us to be brought together. The boys proved they were boys as they fished, hiked, threw rocks over cliffs, pretended to be Indiana Jones and hunted down bugs. I knew that I was forever out numbered when Ethan asked me to pick up one of his worms from his bug collection that he started. I just had to tell him no, and that girls don't like bugs. I tried to tell him that boys like bugs and girls like flowers. I also had to say no when he asked me to hold the fish head that they had cut off. GROSS. My boys thought it was hillarious to carry it around and have it pretend to talk. I really didn't even know how to react to this. Logan was a trooper and was completely content to sit in the dirt and eat rocks. I have to say that I was extremely lucky that I didn't have to sleep out in the cold because another couple that we went with had a camper, so Logan and I got to sleep in the camper- what a difference. It was a very fun weekend and we are all extremely exhausted. I am lucky to have such a great dad for my boys who loves to endulge their boy side. Happy Fathers Day!

Small Town News

2008-06-10T13:42:00.000-06:00

There are a few things that I have grown to love about living in a small town, and I need to remind myself of them on days like today when it is still not quite nice enough for the kids to play outside, and it is JUNE! Just so you know it is supposed to SNOW tonight! So, here are a few things that I have learned to love. I love that the small business man can make living for himself in a small town, I enjoy the slow pace, no traffic, temple 5 minutes away, I can go to the grocery store in sweats and not feel out of place and also the tight knit community. I enrolled the boys in basketball where they teach them skills of the game. One night there was a newspaper journalist there doing a story on the program. He happened to capture some really cute pictures of my boys and said that he would put them in the paper. So, I answered a few questions for them and sure enough Ethan and Brent were in the paper. So, there is some charm to living in a small town.

http://www.rivercityweekly.com/paper/031308/031308.pdf

I hope this link works... it's on page 13 if interested.

Mesa Falls

2008-06-02T21:20:00.005-06:00

We went to Mesa Falls over Memorial day weekend. It was really pretty and the boys loved hiking around. The only downfall was the rain that ended our little trip early. But it was a fun Sunday afternoon adventure. It reminded me of Ricks college days as I saw all of these young couples trying to either have a romantic moment or just trying too hard. One girl that we saw was walking around in high heals and then decided to take them off and walk barefoot. She was trying to act like her feet were not killing her as she was walking on pieces of wood and rocks. It was pure comedy. Brent and I got a good laugh. What you do for love right?

Just Another Day

2008-05-29T09:00:00.003-06:00

I haven't posted anything lately because I guess that nothing other than everyday stuff has been happening so here is my day. I started at about 4:30 when Blake woke up and got into my bed. He was up until like 5:30. Then the other two kids woke up at 7:00. We got breakfast- mini pancakes and started cleaning up the morning. I then went upstairs to do laundry. The catch is, is that we don't have a working dryer so everything is air dried. So one load is a process. As I was laying out our clothes to dry, I put another load in. Little did I realize that there was a diaper in the load that I put in. So, when I went to lay out my next load, I soon realized that the diaper had EXPLODED all over the washer and all over my clean clothes. That was fun to clean up. Then, Blake had an accident on his Superman chair- gross. He then went poo on the toilet and didn't tell me, and smeared his bum all over the bathroom-gross once again. Blake and Ethan thought is was really funny to slide down the stairs on their Buzz Lightyear tent, which they ended up breaking, but hearing the sounds of their laughing almost made it worth it. They then played swords with a T ball stand and a sword, Blake got hit in the face and was gushing blood from his nose. His pain quickly disappeared when he thought it was cool to look at his bloody face in the mirror. We then loaded up into the car and went to the zoo for a couple of hours. When Brent got home we had dinner and then played baseball outside with the boys. I ended my day by putting the kids down and watching a couple more episodes of Prisonbreak. I seriously am addicted. Well that's us. Here are a couple of pictures from the zoo.

Where have the Lowe's been?

2008-05-11T21:21:00.009-06:00

It has been awhile since I have posted. We have been so busy with moving, then not having internet etc. So now it is catch up time. I'll start with the move. We were going to move into this old house to save money, to make a long story short we were half way into the move when I pulled the plug on the whole thing (we got a call from someone we know in San Diego who just so happens to have a house in Idaho Falls in the same neighborhood as our last house) and we are now living in a brand new spec house that has been on the market for a LONG time due to some of the choices made by the builder (canary yellow siding - sweeet-doggy!). But at least Logan is rubbing his face on clean carpet right?

As we were getting settled, Brent's parents came up and let us escape for a weekend in St. George with some good friends. It was a much needed break... We had a blast. The guys basically golfed and us girls shopped, got pedicures, went to chick flicks, and laid out by the pool. It was great. We left Idaho for St. George in a snow storm. Yea, you heard that right, and yes it is MAY!

I am HOPING that we can finally say goodbye to winter. With everyday that we get sun I feel like I have to take advantage of it, so off to the park we went. The kids loved being outside here are a few pictures.

Finally, Ethan had his first singing performance this past weekend. He did awesome. He was adorable in his little outfit and was so darling to watch. If you click on the picture you can see him on the front row, center.

Happy Mother's Day!

2008-05-11T20:56:00.005-06:00

My mom got me a book for Mother's Day called, "My Dear Sister's" by President Hinckley. I love one of the quotes that were in it, he says, "And to you women...You too can take on the luster of Christ. You too can be strong and encouraging and beautiful and helpful...We can stand for truth and goodness, and we will not stand alone. Moreover, we shall have the unseen forces of heaven to assist us."

I love this quote. Hang in there Mother's and know that we are not alone in our efforts.

Happy Mother's Day.

Also, to those of you who are mother's of boys, I got the cutest book called "Mom Says I Can." It totally captures the essence of raising boys and how much we love our little men.

"I love to see the Temple"

2008-04-22T16:16:00.003-06:00

I love the temple. I have to write an entry about how grateful I am to have a temple 5 minutes from my house. We have lived here for about 6 months and I had not yet been to the temple. I know that is horrible. Here come my excuses...it seems like it takes time to get back into the swing of things after having a baby, getting settled into a new place, ward etc, also my recommend expired, and I just didn't think that I had time. Boy was I wrong. I have realized that the temple is the exact place that I need to be. So, thanks to my friend Hillary she suggested going to the 6:00 session this morning. I can not tell you how great it was to start my day at the temple. The quiet hours of meditation were exactly what I needed. It's amazing how much smoother the day went.

Good Times with Good Friends

2008-04-14T09:47:00.008-06:00

We are so lucky that we have such good friends here in Idaho. The move would have been so much harder had we not had our "friend family" already here. Brent has two good friends from high school that live in Rexburg now with their families. They literally are family to each other. It has been great to have them so close. Well, Brent and his friend Brandon's birthday's are one day apart. So, we had a combined birthday party. We went to dinner and then back to our house for cake and a jam session with Rock Band. It was a fun night.
Also, my roommate from Ricks; Hillary and Aaron (Brent's roommate) got married and live in Pocatello, which is an hour away. It is so fun to get together with them as well. They came up Saturday and had dinner with us, and once again we all jammed. It was so great to share Brent's birthday with friends. There is something so special about old friends. I love the instant comfortable feeling, the way that you don't have to see each other for years and yet you can still pick up where you left off - and I love the laughter and memories. I am so grateful for all of our "old friends."

Happy Birthday Brent!

2008-04-12T09:09:00.002-06:00

Today is Brent's 32nd birthday. Here is the top 32 reasons why I love my sweet husband.
1. First off, he is so ridiculously good looking
2. His witty personality- I never can keep up with
3. His sarcastic sense of humor
4. His love of sports- basketball, golf, snowboarding,
5. How great of a dad he is to my boys. They adore him and follow his every move. I'm so glad that he is their role model.
6. His sense of style. I feel like sometimes he keeps me in style.
7. I love how he researches the perfect Christmas gifts for me and comes up with amazing things that I would never buy for myself.
8. I love his dedication to the gospel.
9. His knowledge and depth of his testimony.
10. I love that he loves the Book of Mormon and reads and studies it.
11. I love the council that he gives me.
12. I love that he is my best friend
13. I love that he loves the temple and I love visiting with him and hearing the insight that he gains every time he goes.
14. I love the farm boy in him, and that he doesn't ever want to move back to the farm.
15.I love that he is such a hard worker, and is always working so hard to provide for us.
16. I love that he will do his own laundry if I get behind.
17. I love that he has a great imagination and loves Star Wars and can play for endless hours with my boys.
18. I love how my boys love him and respect him so much.
19. I love that he likes to go shopping with me.
20. I love that he will get up in the middle of the night with the kids and let me sleep.
21. I love how he never has once raised his voice at me. He has a very even temper.
22. I love that he loves Wheaties for breakfast.
23. I love that he is such a great public speaker, and is so comfortable in front of a crowd.
24. I love that he loves hunting, although I do not like to store "the kill"
25. I love that he cleans his ears every day.
26. I love that he loves animals and bugs so that he can answer all of Ethan's bug questions.
27. I love that Ethan and Blake think that he his the smartest person in the world.
28. I love how he loves me no matter what.
29. I love that he teaches my boys to respect their mother.
30.I love that he can dance and that he has rhythm, because I have none.
31. I love that he doesn't freak out about how much money I spend.
32. I love that he has total self control, for instance, he gave up soda for a New Year's resolution and has not cheated once.

I love you Babe. Happy Birthday!

Potty Training Diaries

2008-04-04T14:06:00.003-06:00

So, if the people at the zoo can do it, why can't I?

I am still trying to potty train Blake, and continue to be unsuccessful. I was so confident that I would succeed after the treats, the special toilet, the many books we have read on the toilet, the bribes,the charts, etc... Well yesterday I caught him in "the act" and decided to throw him on the toilet. I was "coaching" him on what to do. After a bit of frustration on my part Blake turns to me and says, "I can't mom because I will fall in and then have to go live with Jesus." It was so sweet and innocent. Missi always gives me peace of mind in reassuring me that if he is going to kindergarden in diapers, then we have an issue. I guess that I am going to lay off and let Blake do it in his own time.

Oh landLORD!

2008-03-31T09:16:00.004-06:00

I have experienced the glories of being a "renter". Yesterday Brent and I were down in the basement playing with the kids. We were playing hide and seek with the boys, and peek a boo. So the entire family was in the bed down stairs and on the count of three we would pull the covers off of us and yell boo. We would do this to Logan and Blake who thought it was hilarious. We were also playing hide and seek and since it was freezing down there, the bed was a natural hiding place. So, this is the Lowe family at it's best and all the sudden we hear a male voice in our house. Here I am sitting in bed playing with my kids and the landlord walks into the room in the basement. He let himself into our house with his own key. You can imagine the horror, embarrassment and anger I am feeling at this point. I know I probably gave him one of my famous looks. He not only let himself into our house, but he was showing it to prospective home buyers. I was mortified that the house was a mess and that he let himself in and showed them around my bedroom, bathroom etc without me knowing. I was fuming mad. As soon as they left the room I told Brent he had to handle it or I would. So of course Brent had a tactful but firm chat with him out on the front porch, and I am SURE it won't happen again. The pains of being a renter.

A little addition to the story, is that the next day he came over and gave us 30 days notice. He said that the people who looked at the house bought it . I have a really hard time believing him but regardless we have to be out in a month. As you can imagine my mental state is extremely fragile right about now; Brent won't buy a house unless its the ultimate deal of a lifetime. He goes back and forth between building and buying. Who knows! So, I am now on the hunt for another rental house. The countdown is on, until I can get into my OWN house.

Sister's trip

2008-03-30T19:01:00.005-06:00

Thank you to my wonderful husband, I was able to escape for a sister's weekend in Phoenix. It was so much fun. All my sister's and my mom flew to Arizona for the weekend for much needed relaxation and to celebrate Becky's 30th birthday. It was so great to leave 26 degree weather and escape to 90 degree weather, to lay by the pool, go on walks, eat way too much, shop, and rest with all my great sister's and my mom. There is something so special about having sisters (and I am including my sister in laws). I love the honesty, the laughter, and the secrets that only sisters share. I miss my sisters and mom so much and treasure these little getaways that we have. It's amazing to me how 3 days away can help you to be such a better mom.

I have to say that Brent did an amazing job holding down the fort. Ethan decided that they were going to have a "boys only" weekend. As I was leaving Ethan told me that they were going to sleep in the tent, eat candy and stay up really late because mom wasn't home to tell them what to do. Before I could get out the door Ethan had posted a sign on the door, "No girls allowed- boys only." Brent didn't let them down either. He was a real trooper with the camp out, junk food, sportsmans warehouse runs etc. I love you honey-thank you.

We ARE still alive!

2008-03-26T19:30:00.013-06:00

I know I have been slacking big time with my blog. Time has just gotten away from me, and I have to admit, my shows have cramped my blogging time.

We just got back from a fabulous trip to San Diego. It was so fun to get away from the cold, brown, windy weather and enjoy the sunshine. I can not believe how green it is right now. The boys loved being able to play outside and it was so much fun to visit with friends and family. Becky and her kids came too which made it very fun for my boys. Here are a few pictures from our trip.

Mission Beach
The Waldrons and the Scotts came down to Mission beach, we had a bon fire and walked the board walk. The beach crowd never ceases to amaze me.

Disneyland

Brent got picked out of the crowd to help Merlin...he was thrilled...
Blake is a little star struck

La Jolla Shore with the kids.

Small Miracles in our lives

2008-03-01T16:01:00.008-07:00

I came across these pictures of David's accident and I thought that I would post them. My brother David and his darling wife Julie were in a life threatening accident the first weekend in October. They were stopped at a stop sign and were hit from behind by a lady going 70 mph., who was on drugs. The paramedics that were on the scene were shocked that they were not dead. Julie had a very severe concussion and a broken nose, but David suffered the brunt of the hit. He had no broken bones, but he had a severed spleen and brain trauma. After months of rehabilitation and determination on David's part he has now regained his short term memory and just last week was given back his drivers license! It is a miracle that they survived and that he has made such a speedy recovery. Hopefully his brain will continue to heal. Congrats Dave on the drivers license!

House Arrest

2008-02-28T18:08:00.002-07:00

This past week I have been car less. My van has been in the shop getting the passenger side door fixed from my little fender bender. I don't know what it is about not having a car that is so hard. It's like I could have home days all the time and not think twice about it, but now that I don't have the option to leave it has been torture. My kids and I both are so terribly bored. I seriously have to break up my day with lengthy phone chats and Ellen and Oprah. I feel like if I can make it till 3:00 I will be okay, because I will be able to watch Ellen and Oprah until Brent gets home at 5:00. My life has slowed way down since I have moved to Idaho but this past week has just been crawling. I realize that there are some of you who would give anything to be home all day, would die for more time to catch up on housework and to be able to spend quality time with the kids. With that said, I am grateful for the time I've had but there comes a breaking point. I suppose that when our lives are slow we wish we were busier and when they are busy we would give anything to slow things down. I guess I just need to enjoy life as it rolls.

Trip to Jackson Hole

2008-02-20T20:50:00.009-07:00

Brent's parents came down to visit us for a few days. It was fun to have them here, the boys love it when they come and I do too because they literally play with the kids the entire time. So, one day while they were here we went to Jackson Hole. The drive up was gorgeous. We saw moose, elk and deer along the road. Once we got there I was expecting to revisit the Polo outlet (for my husbands sake so he could reminisce the good ole days) and the Gap outlet but when we got there I was disappointed to find that the only thing left that I remember is the giant arch of antlers. I think that I have this same picture with Jana and our moms during mom's week. :)Anyway, it was fun to walk around. After we left the town, we drove through Teton Village. We decided to get out and walk around there too. It was about sunset and the lifts had closed to skiers, but they let people ride up the Gondola to have dinner at the restaurant at the top of the mountain. The boys loved the ride, Blake thought he was on a rocket. When we got to the top, we took in the view, watched the sunset, got big mugs of hot chocolate and went back down. The boys had a blast.

Valentine's Day Party

2008-02-17T17:50:00.009-07:00

Yes, I know it is hard to believe, but I did throw a valentine's day party. Luckily I wasn't alone in my efforts. My friend Jody helped me and actually had it at her house. It turned out to be a really fun night. We had yummy appetizers and dessert. I think that although the egg rolls were sooo time consuming they were the most delicious things ever- Jody I still need the recipe. I did the chocolate fountain which was fun because we haven't gotten it out in awhile. We then played the Newlywed Game and had a white elephant gift exchange. We told everyone to bring an item to spice up their marriage so we had quite an assortment of gifts. I still am a little bitter that I didn't get the candles from Pottery Barn. :) Overall it was a fun night to get to know friends better. As a party favor we made up a love song CD for everyone, sugar cookies and a candle and put them in a cute bag. It was so unlike me to have a party but it actually turned out to be pretty fun. Thanks Jody for doing it with me, we will have to have them more often.

Happy Valentine's Day

2008-02-17T17:29:00.006-07:00

I know I am a little bit late with the Valentine Blog entry...but better late than never. I have to say that for those of you who know our little family tradition- the Valentine Fairy DID stop by our house this year. The boys were so excited when they woke up to see the festive decorations and the presents that the Valentine Fairy left for them. We opened presents and had a big family breakfast together. It was so fun to see how excited they got.
Later that day we went over to my friend Natalie's house to make sugar cookies and valentines. The kids once again had so much fun. The only unfortunate thing is that we brought the stomach flu home with us. Logan has still not stopped throwing up. My other boys haven't gotten it yet, I'm still waiting. After we made valentines we went up to Brent's office to take him the cookies and valentines. Brent and I got Cafe Rio for dinner and stayed home and watched a chick flick. The evening pretty much ended there when Brent fell asleep on the couch. Anyway it was a fun day. The Valentine's Party was the following night.

Blake's Surgery

2008-02-16T00:36:00.006-07:00

Blake had his tubes put back in and his adenoids taken out last Wednesday. I was very stressed about the surgery. Blake and I woke up super early, 5:30 so that we could be at the Surgical Center by 6:00. I had been talking to Blake A LOT about his surgery for a couple of days trying to prepare him for the point where I have to stay behind and he has to go with the nurses. As a mother this is the most heart wrenching thing to do. Knowing that your child is scared and that you are the only one who can comfort him, and yet you are helpless. I HATE this feeling. So, anyway, Blake went with the nurse with a very scared look on his face and I had to go back to the waiting room and wait. Luckily I had a good book to keep my mind occupied- thanks Linds. Everything went well with the surgery and it was over by 8:00. I was so happy the moment that I got to hold him again. Although the surgery is very minor it was probably harder on me than him. Hopefully now he will regain some of his hearing loss, sleep easier and get over colds faster. What are adenoids anyway?

Once there was a Snowman

2008-02-16T00:20:00.003-07:00

It is finally warming up to about 35 degrees outside. Kinda sad when this seems warm. It got up to 40 the other day and I felt like I wanted to drive around with the windows down. But anyway, my point is, is that it is warm enough to play outside. So, the other day while Logan was taking his nap I got the snow gear out and went outside to play with the boys. It was so much fun. Brent had made them a snow cave the day before so they played in that, and then they wanted to make a snowman. I have never made a snowman before so it started out somewhat rough...but I was trying to be a "fun mom" so I continued with it. This is what we ended up with. I was surprised at the work out I got from rolling the balls. Our snowman is now (a few days later) not as perky, his head fell off a couple of times, his carrot nose is wilting, and his smile has fallen off. Every time we go outside Blake says, "Mom our snowman is sad, he wants his mommy." It's cute, because he is referring to the very big, beautiful fully intact snowman across the street.

A Night out in IF

2008-02-09T20:38:00.000-07:00

On Friday night Brent and I went to the movies with some friends. We had hoped to see 27 Dresses (when I say "we" I mean my girlfriend and I, our husbands didn't care much to see it). We get to the theater and the movie was sold out. The only other movie starting was "The Eye". We didn't know much about it but had heard it was a little scary. So much for a relaxing, mindless , chick flick movie with popcorn. This movie is very scary. Jessica Alba gets some eye transplants and starts seeing ghosts and these freaky death things that take people away after people die.I was literally sweating, closing my eyes and plugging my ears for like half of the movie and the other half I was totally stressed out waiting for CREEPY things to jump out of the screen. I stress ate so much popcorn and sour patch kids and drank so much diet coke, I was sick. I HATE going to movies like this. I left the movie theater completely exhausted.

When we left the theater I was still freaked out and it was only 9:30. (Brent recommended we go home and watch Dumb and Dumber). I was not really ready to go home yet. So we started driving and quickly realized that there really isn't anything to do. Not a huge shock, I know. We drove up and down 17th street enough times to officially be considered cruising Idaho Falls. wow. It was very comical. We then got Dairy Queen, gave up and called it a night.

Complaining pays off

2008-02-05T20:36:00.000-07:00

OK, I have been fed up with the streets that are NOT plowed here in Idaho Falls. I have a front wheel drive mini van (which is not the same as a 4 wheel drive no matter what my husband says) so I just want the streets cleared off. It is so annoying that the main streets are clear and in my neighborhood (and all the other neighborhoods) they don't bother to plow. I have to drive through like at least 6 inches of snow all the time which has already resulted in an insurance claim so far this year. Super annoying. So, I made a call to the city of Idaho Falls yesterday. I made a nice complaint, but asked that my neighborhood be plowed. Sure enough, when Brent and I came back from his basketball game at like 9:00 pm it appeared the city of Idaho Falls had unleashed their fleet of snow plows on our little neighborhood. I must say, Brent was very impressed and I was soooo happy. No more sliding around corners...until the next snow fall.

Logan is a Lowe!

2008-02-04T22:51:00.001-07:00

I came across these pictures of Ethan when he was about Logan's age. We've always talked about how Logan has his own look and how different he is. I guess we can't really say that anymore. Looking at these pictures, its clear that they are truly brothers.

Logan is in the stripes, Ethan's in the dark blue...

Just Dad!

2008-02-04T22:31:00.000-07:00

Brent is now on his second Daddy and me class with the boys. The first one he did a swimming class with Ethan and Blake. Every day for two weeks this past summer Brent would take the boys to swimming lessons and actually swim with them. I was very grateful for this because I had just had Logan and needed the break from the boys and Ethan and Blake loved the time that they got to spend with their Dad.
So, now he is on his second Daddy and me class. I signed them both up for basketball. It has been so much fun watching them play together. So often the boys miss out on Daddy time due to busy schedules and the hustle of life that it has been great for our family to have this scheduled time with their dad and they love it. While I was watching Brent juggle both boys, I felt like I should go over and help him. So, I had another mom watch Logan and I made my way across the gym to throw the ball with Blake. When I got over to them I enthusiastically said, "Blake, throw the ball to Mommy! I will play with you." Blake just looked at me and said, "No, just daddy! You go back mom." So, I was reminded of my role in this situation and made my way back to the bench where I sat and just cheered them on.
I'm sure that through the course of raising three boys, the bench will become a very familiar place for me.

I Need A Coach!

2008-01-21T21:36:00.000-07:00

Brent and I have been teaching Ethan, or should I say making Ethan wipe his own bum. As we have been doing this, Ethan has been a little resistant to the whole idea. He doesn't want to take responsibility for this part of his life. So the other day he came up to me to let me know that he had to go to the bathroom and instead of asking me to wipe him, he said "will you be my coach mom, I need a coach to coach me while I wipe." I thought he was very clever to come up with a plan to still get me into the bathroom. So, now I am officially his coach!

As I was thinking about this I was wishing that I too had my own personal coach throughout my day to encourage me to accomplish the things that I know need to be done. If I could I would totally have an organizational coach, a spiritual coach, a mothering coach and an exercise coach. There are so many times that just like Ethan, I know that I can do things but it would be so nice to have a coach there looking over my shoulder making sure that I am doing everything right. I guess until Brent gets me a Life Coach, my cell phone bill will continue be high:) Thanks guys.

2008-01-16T20:06:00.000-07:00

Too Much Snow!!!!

2008-01-16T10:33:00.000-07:00

I have been meaning to post these pictures for a while now. The snow plow plowed and left a huge pile of snow in our culdesac. Some of the neighbors made little caves in it and my boys loved it. It was like a little boys dream come true pretending to be playing in polar bear caves. They had a lot of fun and played until they were completely frozen. The only way I got them back into the house was bribing them with hot chocolate and the fire.

We just got back from such a great weekend in Park City. We went sledding and skiing, which I haven't done in like 6 years. I was pretty slow and rusty on my skis but it was a blast. Ethan took a ski class and loved it. I am lame and didn't have my camera so I will post pictures later....

Vampires Anyone?

2008-01-09T22:37:00.001-07:00

I have to announce that I just finished Eclipse and can't wait for the next one to come out. I am addicted just like everyone else. Thanks Chelsea for the reminder to watch Moonlight...

I have to admit it has been really nice to read again. I have forgotten how much I love reading and how nice it is to get totally involved in a book especially because my shows haven't been on....Brent has loved it too because he can watch Sports Center without any complaints.

What a Day

2008-01-09T22:10:00.000-07:00

I guess that you could say today wasn't the best of days. Brent came home for a little while this afternoon to say hi. Which is a reason why I love living in Idaho- I never thought that my husband would ever be able to stop by the house just to say hi while he was at work. But anyway...we started cleaning out the fish tank because Ethan poured like half a bottle of fish food into it while he was trying to feed them this morning and my house reaked like fish. So we were trying to do that and I lost track of time. By the time I realized it I was late picking up Ethan from school and Blake and Logan were asleep. So, I rushed to wake them up, got them loaded and headed out the door. On my way out the last thing I heard Brent say was, "Drive safely". I was driving very slow but it has been dumping snow all day long and Idaho Falls isn't great about plowing, plus my California driving skills don't really help. So, long story short, my van slid through a stop sign and I got hit on the passenger side of my car. Luckily we were all safe, it just totally sticks that now I have a dented door and I have to get it fixed.

It was also not so fun having to call my husband to let him know what happened. My driving record has not been good since we moved here 2 1/2 months ago. Since we have moved here I have been pulled over twice (by the same cop)for speeding and now this accident. Yikes, I have now officially become an insurance liability.

Happy New Year!

2008-01-03T22:23:00.000-07:00

I hope that everyone had a great New Years. We spent new Year's in Salt Lake with some friends and then went to a party that my sister was throwing to ring in the New Year. It was a good time and it was fun to be on a date with my husband again.

I love the energy and rejuvenation that I feel when I start a new year. I love the ability that we have to have a fresh start and new outlook on life. I love to reflect on the past year and look at what the year has brought to me and my family. 2007 was a very eventful year for us as we had our third boy. I am so grateful for our sweet baby Logan who has made the transition to three boys as painless as possible. Also, Brent leaving his job, and finding a new job. Selling our house leaving behind friends and family and moving to Idaho. There has been so many changes in our little family's lives that I am looking forward to the new year. I hope that it is a year of calmness and of feeling settled for my family.

As for resolutions, Brent has given up fast food and soda. I told him there is no way I would be able to do that or want to. Come 3:00- I need my diet Coke. I decided that I am going to start going back to the gym and really getting off this baby weight seeing as my baby is now 6 months old.

Our Christmas in San Diego.

2007-12-30T12:34:00.000-07:00

Merry Christmas.

We had a great Christmas . It's hard to believe that it is now over. After a long drive in the car we made it to my parents house. It was a little strange to be the one's visiting . We had a great time visiting friends and family and enjoying the warm weather. My boys were thrilled to go to Sea World again. Blake was so happy to see Shamu his whole body was shaking with excitement. Every time Shamu would jump he would let out a big belly laugh. It was very fun. Christmas eve was spent roasting marshmellows outside on the fire,watching the Charger game, reading Christmas stories, and having a nativity with the little kids. We were lucky to have a baby Jesus this year.Logan did a great job. Ethan and Blake were both wise men. Ethan was very set that he was not going to be Joseph so the he did not have to stand by his GIRL cousin Grace (who has a secret crush on Ethan). Somehow I was forced into being the angel... We set out cookies and reindeer food and then headed outside to try to spot the sleigh and reindeer. We laid on the driveway with the kids looking up at the sky. Ethan even thought that he spotted "him" but then changed his mind. Regardless, Santa did visit our house and the boys woke up to a wonderful Christmas.

Santa brought Ethan his Lego Star wars PS3 and Blake was thrilled to have his very own BUZZ costume and Logan was happy to be in his saucer-although he loves these stacking blocks that I got him- (thanks Linds). Ethan and Brent have had many hours of bonding time as they play Lego Star wars together. We finished the day by visiting my grandma in the hospital and then having a small dinner. We were lucky to have the Waldron's come over to join our chaos for dinner- definately a highlight for Ethan to have his little buddy. We loved seeing our family and friends and our now bracing ourselves for the cold.

LEGOMANIA!!!!!!

2007-12-20T00:27:00.000-07:00

This year we are trying something new. Instead of having far too many presents for our kids to open and remember, we are skimming down our gift giving to 3 per child, plus a couple of Santa gifts. This has been even more challenging and stressful than anticipated. One gift Ethan is absolutely sure of is Lego Star Wars (Brent says thank you to Pete and Dallin for this obsession of Ethan's). We thought this would be a slam dunk. Guess again...I have had an internal struggle over which type of video game system to buy. Ethan is 4 years old and really could do without a $400 video game. But then again, how can you say no when that's the only thing he wanted to write to Santa. Besides, I think Brent will find more enjoyment out of the whole thing than Ethan.

We have searched literally every Target, Wal Mart, and Circuit City from Idaho Falls to Draper Utah and have come up with no luck on getting the type of game I think would be best for Ethan. That being the Nintendo Wii. It just seems to be more kid friendly. So, Brent talked me into getting the PS3 (shocker). I haven't given up. I am planning on waiting outside GameStop tomorrow morning. After all this, come Christmas morning I can guarantee Ethan will enjoy his $10 power ranger gun more than anything else. Merry Christmas Brent. What we will do for our kids reactions and happiness on Christmas morning is priceless.

CHRISTMAS IN SAN DIEGO!

2007-12-17T21:14:00.000-07:00

I am very happy to report that we will be going to San Diego for Christmas. I'm tempted to write we are"coming home" for Christmas, but I don't think Brent would appreciate that. The boys are very excited to see their Grandma & Grandpa again. Blake has been asking me at least 5 times a day if I want to go to "Sea World to see the dolphins, and sharks, and dolphins, and Shamu". How can I deny him that? We are so excited to see family and friends. Hope to see you soon!

Sledding at the Sand Dunes

2007-12-15T22:52:00.000-07:00

Well, we took the kids sledding today. We went to the sand dunes close by Rexburg with some friends. Im sure that for some of us who went to Ricks, hearing Sand Dunes brings back memories. I know that I never thought I would be bringing my kids here. Logan and I mostly stayed in the truck while Brent took Ethan and Blake sledding. It was so much fun. The boys loved riding on the 4 wheeler when dad didn't go too crazy. It was very cold too so some friends that we were with made a fire in the snow. The kids were all having fun roasting marshmallows on sticks that we found laying around. It was all great until my boys started fighting over a marshmallow near the fire and Ethan pushed Blake and Blake fell with his hands in the fire. I luckily grabbed him really fast and stuck his hand in the snow. He was crying really hard for a while. Im not sure if it was because I stuck his bare hand in the snow or if it was because his hand was burning. Luckily he is just fine, and was healed with cookies and watching The Incredibles in the car. There's never a dull moment around here. I promise that Logan is in our family, it's usually just too cold to get his picture.

2007-12-08T15:33:00.000-07:00

I had to put these pictures on because Blake is now officially our cowboy. He rarely takes off his hat. Every morning when he wakes up he asks for it. I guess he is adjusting faster than the rest of us to Idaho life.

2007-12-08T15:28:00.001-07:00

The boys found a very small hill...

2007-10-27T17:58:00.000-06:00

Brent took this video today of the boys. They found a hill and thought it would be great to roll down it. This video was taken at the little farm house we are staying at until our other house is ready to move into, which we hope will be next week sometime.

Our First Blog!!

2007-10-27T17:44:00.000-06:00

OK. This is our first blog. My wife Krissy has asked that I create this for her since we have moved to Idaho and she feels trapped, exiled, and forgotten by all.

Hope you like it.

The Lowe's.