Memorial Weekend

Early Saturday morning (we are talking before 8 am!) Joe and I dropped the boys off with my friend Stacy so we could go on a long bike ride. Joe has been helping me train for my upcoming century at the Little Red Riding Hood ride in Logan.

Joe and I went just over 77 miles and had a totally great time! We got to spend many child-free hours enjoying ourselves and working hard on a ride with a small group of cyclists. I think I am ready for this weekend now! Wanna know the best part? My boys had a great time too. As a matter of fact, Jacob didn't want to go home with us!

Since we were returning to her house later for a barbeque, Stacy told me that Jacob could stay and play with her son Caleb, while we went home to give Ephraim a nap. So basically Jacob was at her house all day. He loved playing with all the great boy toys, watching movies and jumping on the trampoline.

We had a fun time at the barbecue. We got to hang out with Brian and Stacy and meet some of their friends. We also got to watch the boys play on the trampoline.

We did manage to get the boys to eat a little bit... but they were really more interested in jumping. It was really fun to watch them!

At first Ephraim wasn't quite sure about jumping, but he was having a blast in no time!

Joe had the day off Monday, which was nice. He did a lot of work around the house. I had a very productive Memorial Day as well and got a lot done. In the evening the boys and I went on a walk. We were looking for bugs for our preschool lesson and I thought the boys were so cute running around with their nets.

We even managed to catch a couple of bugs, which the boys were very excited about. We put them in glass jars to show Jacob's preschool class.

We ended up walking through the cemetery near our house. It is always amazing to me how colorful and beautiful the cemetery is on Memorial Day.  There are so many lovely flowers as people gather to remember those they have loved and lost.

They even had lovely flowers growing on the bushes around the cemetery. Of course I was looking for bugs, so I might was well stop and look at the flowers!

As for Daddy, he worked on the cooler and checked things out on the roof. Jacob had to climb up the ladder too so he could be on the roof with Daddy.

Ephraim wanted to get on the roof too, but we told him he would have to wait until there were more people up there to watch him! Maybe when Grandpa Devereaux comes to help fix the roof both of the boys can check out the view from up there!

Day Out With Thomas

We received a flier in the mail for "Day Out With Thomas" in Heber City. Since we were planning on going, I put the picture on the fridge for the boys to look at. Every day after that, Ephraim would ask me, "hee Momas?" He kept wanting to know if today was the day we were going to see Thomas! So I guess you could say that the boys were excited the day had finally arrived!

It was a bit of a windy day in Heber city, but luckily it was not too cold. We went shopping at the Park City outlets before going to Thomas, and got there just in time for our train ride. Of course we had to stop at the banners showing some of our favorite trains on our way in!

Here is Ephraim and Daddy, waiting for our turn to board Thomas.

It was fun to get to go see Thomas with my family. Here is everyone who got to go with us:

(Autums, Grandma, Ephraim, Jacob, Joe, Deanna, Greg, Samantha, Jeanette, Marisa, Braydon, and Kaylee)

We decided to ride in an open car this year, so we could get a better look at the scenery. The boys thought it was really fun to watch the countryside go by.

Since I'm always behind the camera, I gave the camera to Joe for a minute so he could be a picture of me with the boys. Can you tell it was windy?

I liked this picture of Ephraim. He is checking out everything that was going by.

Jacob had a great time too. I was impressed with how well the boys did even though our train ride didn't start until after Ephraim's nap time!

We also got to see a real steam locomotive while we were at the train station. This engine pulled up just as we left the station and when we got back it was facing the same direction, but was at the opposite end of the line of cars! We couldn't quite figure out how they did that one!

We heard this engine blow it's whistle too and it was REALLY loud! You should have seen the boys jump when it went off! But they still thought it was cool.

Here is Daddy and the boys at the end of the ride. We had to go to the front and get a good look at Thomas. After the ride we got to go so some other fun things. Both the boys got to get a balloon made for them. Jacob picked a sword.

Ephraim got a monkey with a banana. He really liked it, but was upset that Daddy wouldn't let him walk around with it. Little did he know it would have popped the instant it hit the ground. It was windy and a lot of little kids balloons were suffering that sad fate!

We could tell at this point that Ephraim was getting tired. Luckily it was time to go home. So we loaded up in the van and headed home. I have to say that the ride home was pretty quiet.

Anybody wonder why?

Looks like some boys had TOO much fun! Since the boys were both sleeping, we actually stopped and picked up some petunias as a housewarming present for my friend Stacy. The boys were STILL asleep so we went to REI to look for some things that we didn't find at the Pearl Izumi outlet in Park City. It was a random trip and we ended up getting home late, but it was a fun day!

Working Weekend, Wacky weather

What a busy weekend! We always seem to have so much to do! This weekend we got everything finished with the garden (and when I say we, I mostly mean Joe!). Check out how awesome all the tomato and pepper cages look.

I had to take pictures because it is like some kind of wire sculpture. I thought it looked cool.

I love the drip irrigation system that Joe has set up because it means that the plants get watered, but very little else does. So we don't get very many weeds, which is SO nice!

Then on Sunday we were all just hanging around. Daddy and the boys were watching some video clips on the computer and I thought they were so cute, so I got out my camera and took some random pictures.

This picture made me laugh because Ephraim and Daddy are making nearly the same gesture with their hand. It was so cute! As the boys grow up I can see little bits of Mommy and Daddy in their mannerisms and looks, which is fun to watch.

Then on Monday morning I woke up to the most horrifying thing ever. SNOW at the end of May?!?! I almost thought I was hallucinating! Nope the grass was covered.

So were the plants and my poor flowers!

So my project for the morning was to go outside and cover up all the little tomato and pepper plants. Luckily we have a lot of tarps because it was a lot of ground to cover! I ended up covering the tops of the cages with tarps. Then I realized I should shake the snow off the poor, cold plants. They were looking kind of droopy. So I got to crawl under the tarps and give them a little shake. That was so fun! But the plants all seemed to do better after that. By evening the snow had stopped and most of the slush had melted. We ended up making newspaper coverings for all our plants that night, which took quite a while.

Fortunately all of our tomato and pepper plants seem to be just fine. Unfortunately our apricot tree has not been so lucky this spring. We had SO many little apricots on the tree, but now most of them have started to shrivel up. It has just been too cold for them! Hopefully we will still get a few, but not nearly as many as we would have. The weather has just been really strange this spring!

The Devereaux Bed and Breakfast

After the excitement of the "Great Dresser Crash of 2010" in the morning, we had the opportunity to spend the evening with Grandpa and Grandma Heiner. They were on their way to Price to attend the funeral of Greg's mother, Deila Joy Kirkham. She passed away earlier in the week, and my parents wanted to support Jeanette, Greg and their family. Since we were on their way, they decided to stop here for the night.

The boys were excited for a chance to see Grandma and Grandpa (or "bum-mah" and "Pa-pa", as Ephraim calls them).  We did a little shopping when they first got here because there was a customer appreciation night at our favorite Trek store. We all got some fun bike goodies and then headed home for a while. We didn't do anything exciting, but that was fine with the boys.

They had a great time cuddling with Grandpa and Grandma. Of course there was some book reading as well as snuggling, but I don't think that Grandpa and Grandma minded one bit!

We have been fortunate enough to see Grandma quite a few times lately... for Ephraim and Jacob's birthdays. The boys haven't seen Grandpa as often, so they were both excited to see him.

As a matter of fact, they both wanted to cuddle with him at the same time! Of course they have always been daddy's boys, so they tend to gravitate to the men of the family. I don't think Grandpa minds that one bit!

Grandpa and Grandma didn't get to stay too long, but it was nice to see them. It sure put some smiles on the boys' faces!

We love you Grandma and Grandpa! Come back and visit us anytime!

Crash, Bang!

I had a feeling when I woke up on Friday it was going to be one of those days. My fever had gone down significantly, but I was still feeling tired, head-achy, and my throat was really sore. I was hoping I could spend the day at home, just resting.

The boys were playing really well together, so I decided to hop in the shower. The warm water always makes me feel better.

I was just about finished in the shower I heard a very loud CRASH and then a BOOM.
Oh no! What was that?!
Then I heard both of my boys crying.

Needles to say I jumped out of the shower and ran to see what happened. You can imagine my shock and horror when I found this:

Apparently Ephraim had decided to use the drawers of Jacob's dresser as a ladder in an attempt to reach something on top of the dresser... and the whole thing tipped over. It crashed into the bookcase and dumped everything onto the floor.

The boys were mostly crying because they were scared... but Ephraim did get a bit banged up:

Ouch! I got him all cleaned up but I could not decide if I needed to take him to the doctor or not. Not feeling really great didn't help with my decision-making either. So I emailed Joe these pics and we decided that it was better to be safe than sorry. So I made an appointment and headed off to the doctors office.... again. Nothing like going twice in two days!

Of course the nurse said that he did not need stitches or glue because it wasn't that deep. So it should heal just fine. I felt a little silly about going to the doctor's office for nothing, especially when I wasn't feeling well, but it was good to know that he was o.k.

I'm glad that both of my boys (the little monkeys) survived the attack of the dresser. I hope now they have learned why Mommy tells them not to climb on the furniture!

Gardening by Moonlight, Jacob at the Dr.'s Office and the Hot Mommy

Wednesday evening I had to go to work. I really enjoy working at the library once a week or so, and it's nice to know that the boys are being well taken care of at home. I think the boys enjoy the time they get to spend alone with their Daddy.

So when I got home, I saw the most unusual thing out in our garden.

In case you can't tell, that is Joe! He is out in the garden, getting the drip system set up by lamplight. The funny thing is that I got my camera and went to try to get some pictures, and he never even heard me because he was listening to music on his iPod. Isn't he just the cutest thing? Thanks Honey for working so hard to get our garden up and running!

Then on Thursday we went to the Doctor's office for Jacob's four year well visit. His appointment went really well. Doctor Arnold said that Jacob is growing just fine and is ahead developmentally. Jacob even sat up on the exam table by himself while Doctor Arnold checked out his eyes, ears, etc. What a brave boy!

When Doctor Arnold blew a puff of air into Jacob's ears to look at his eardrums he said to Jacob, "Did you feel that little tickle? Is there a dinosaur in there?" To which Jacob replied, "It's just air!" in a tone of voice that implied that Doctor Arnold was being silly. It was so hilarious. Doctor Arnold just laughed and said, "You are too smart for me!".

So here are Jacob's stats:
height: 39 1/2 inches (40th percentile)
weight: 35 pounds (35th percentile)

Doctor Arnold said if Jacob keeps growing on his present curve, then he will be about 5'8 or 5'9 when he grows up. That is taller than Joe and me, so I guess that's pretty good.

When we finished up at the doctor's office we went over and played at the Smiths house for a while. Jacob and Ephraim really like to play with Alyssa and Ty. The kids had a great time but before long it was time to head home for lunch.

After lunch I started to feel yucky. My head and my muscles were all achy. By the time Ephraim went down for his nap I was really not feeling good. I ended up going upstairs to crash on my bed for a while. Jacob was a really good boy until Daddy got home. By that point I had a pretty high fever (100.5 degrees) and felt all icky. Not nauseous, just extremely tired and achy.  Good thing I already had dinner all made!

We ate dinner and I spent most of the evening on the couch. I don't get sick very often, so the boys didn't really quite understand what was going on. They kept coming up and asking me to read books to them. Then they both wanted to "cuddle" with me.

What a pair of goofy boys I've got! At least I know I'm loved, right?

A Trip to the Zoo

Monday we were so excited because Melinda invited us to go to the zoo! She has a membership and guest passes, which would get me and the boys in for FREE. How cool is that? At first we thought we weren't going to be able to make it because Sara might not have been feeling well, but she woke up fine. My boys were ecstatic and we headed to Salt Lake.

The first thing that we HAD to do was ride on the zoo train. Of course my boys love trains, and so does Sara. Here are the kiddos waiting for their turn to ride the train.

Here is my most fabulous friend Melinda and her two cute girls getting ready to ride the train.

It was so nice to go to the zoo with friends! Not only did the kids have more fun, so did the mommies. Plus then there was someone to take pictures of the moms with their kids at the zoo-- fabulous! Here is a shot that Melinda took of the boys and I as we waited for the train to get moving.

Melinda was kind enough to try to take a picture of us as we got off the train, but my kids would not look at her and people were trying to run over Melinda and her girls. What a bunch of sillies.

After the train we had to go check out the big water ball in the middle of the courtyard. The kids think it is fun to see if they can get it rolling. Besides, who doesn't want to get their hands wet?

Then we headed off to check out the animals. We were especially excited to see the elephants and baby Zuri. Jacob remembered the big elephant statue from our last visit and was excited to check that out as well. I actually managed to get a cute picture of the boys sitting on the elephant's trunk:

Jacob thinks the elephant statue is really cool, and he likes the funny noises that it makes. Ephraim on the other hand told me it was "carys", which is his way of saying "scary". Good thing he is brave enough to let me sit him on there.

We didn't see baby Zuri when we first went to see the elephants, but we did on our way out of the zoo. She is such a cutie! We can't wait to go see her again sometime.

One other thing that Jacob loved at the zoo was the peacocks. We had one spread out his tail right when we were watching him, which Jacob thought was awe-inspiring.

Very pretty, don't you think?

We had a great time walking around looking at the animals at the zoo. We enjoyed seeing the monkeys, apes, camels, penguins and of course the tigers! Here I am with the boys at the tiger statue... of course you never can get both boys looking at the camera at the same time!

Then we went to see my favorites, which are the giraffes. Ephraim thought they were pretty neat too. He kept saying "Wow! 'raffe!" when we stopped for a minute for a bit to eat near the giraffe house. We also got to see a giraffe stick out his long tongue to eat the new leaves on a nearby tree.

After the giraffes we went to our last stop, which was the carousel. I think the carousel is so gorgeous and fun. My boys really love it too. Ephraim wasn't really sure at first what we were doing.

But he loved it as soon as the carousel started moving. Jacob decided that he wanted to ride on a zebra, so I put both of the boys on one. Jacob just loved riding on the carousel!

As a matter of fact, I nearly could not get him OFF! He would not let go of the pole and I had to literally pry him off! He was so upset that he cried- poor boy.

Good thing it was nearly time to go home. Jacob had been a real trooper and had walked the entire time. So I told him that he could ride for a minute. Of course Ephraim was not really cool with that decision. So I ended up being supermommy.

Next time I think I will just avoid the whole problem by bringing our double stroller... now that I know it will fit in the back of the van with Melinda's double!

The boys and I had a wonderful, fabulous, awesome time at the zoo! We were so happy that Melinda asked us to go with her. Isn't she just the bestest friend ever? We can't wait to go again sometime soon!