You've got me on my knees!

So check out what Ephraim has been up to lately...


He is getting pretty good at getting up on his knees... and rocking back and forth. Then he kind of flops forward on his tummy. Sometimes he drags himself forward with his arms. It won't be long before he figures this whole crawling thing out!

Birthday Bike Tour: The Heber Valley Century

Towards the end of last week, Joe and I were gearing up for our next bicycle tour. Each evening after Joe got home from work I went on a bike ride. We got our final Nashbar order delivered, which was a good thing because it had a long-sleeved jersey for me and a pair of clip shoes. Jacob decided that he wanted to be part of the action too. He insisted that I put my jersey on him, and then later I found him wearing the shoes. What a goof!



















Then on Friday evening our visitors arrived. Jacob was very excited to see Grandpa and Grandma Heiner. He wanted to see Aunt Shannon and Jalene too, as long as "their dogs won't get me with their tongues!" I thought that was pretty funny.

That evening we got everything ready for the next day. I tried out the clip pedals and shoes, but apparently I need some more practice with them. I managed to fall flat on my face... twice. So we switched back to my regular pedals and got my bike back in order.

Then bright and early on my birthday we were headed to Heber City for the Heber Valley Century. Joe and I signed up to do the metric century (100km) ride, Shannon and Mom had signed up for the 25 mile ride, and Dad signed for the 50 mile ride.

It was a beautiful day. We left the boys with Jalene, even though she would liked to have been able to ride with us too. Unfortunately for her she had already promised to watch the kids for us. We got to the start of the ride just as the first group was leaving, and I was amazed at how many cyclists there were. I heard that there were seven to eight hundred people riding that day!

Joe and I had a good time riding together. The first part of the ride was not too bad, but after about 15 miles there was an enormous hill. I am talking about 3 miles of 8% grade. It was tough! I just kept pedaling, even though I was only maintaining about 5 mph. I told my honey to go up at his own pace and I would meet him at the top. I am proud to say I made it to the rest stop at the top! I made Joe pose for a picture with me.

We're cute, huh?

During our well-deserved stop I enjoyed the beautiful scenery. I saw a bike propped up against a rock and could not resist taking a picture.

Before long we took off again. We rounded a corner only to find that there was ANOTHER huge hill to climb up! Since Joe is a better cyclist than me, especially when it comes to climbing, I told him to go up ahead again and take some pictures for me.

Can you see me? I am the pink speck in the front coming up the hill.

I love this next photo that Joe took of me! Whenever I look at it I feel like superwoman.

I wasn't going to post the next photo in the series because it is just a shot of my rear end, but I decided it was worth it to show you how far up this hill goes!

The best part about going up huge hills is going down the other side! My speedometer said we got going around 45 mph! It was awesome!

Then we rode around in the next valley around various little towns. There were plenty of rest stops where we could take a break, and they even had lunch for us. At the stop where we had lunch all the cyclists were "hitching" their bikes to the post in an interesting way, so I took a picture. Check it out:


The bike in the front is Joe's, and mine is right behind it. Fun, huh?

Joe and I had fun riding together, and we learned a bit about how to cooperate and help one another by drafting. I hope to get in better shape over the winter so that riding with me is a bit more challenging for Joe. That way we can be a team and both have a great time!

The bike tour ended where it started, which meant that we had to climb up the big hills AGAIN... from the other side, of course. By the time we hit 45 or 50 miles I was getting really tired... but we made it! Wahooo!!!

I can't believe that I actually cycled about 67 miles!! Here we are at the finish.


I was really proud of my family too. Mom and Shannon finished the 25 mile ride (which turned and avoided the big hill), and Dad attempted the hill but couldn't make it up because he wasn't feeling well. He still managed about 40 miles, which is awesome!

We drove home that afternoon and then went out to dinner for my birthday. After that we all just sat around because we were so tired! It was a good day, even if it was a bit of an unusual thing to do on my birthday.

Apparently we are all addicted to cycling because that weekend we all just kept talking about what tour we want to do next! I was surprised that I didn't really get very sore at all. I do have a very interesting tan line on my arms because I was wearing gloves... so my tan stops right at my wrists!

Beeper, How are you?

Recently Jacob has started to shorten "Eper-beeper" to just Beeper. He will walk up to Ephraim and say, "Beeper, How are you?". It is the cutest and funniest thing ever!

Ephraim is becoming quite the character. He's a happy boy and loves to smile and giggle at us. He has also decided that his toes are delicious! (much more tasty than that rice cereal stuff his mommy feeds him)

Ephraim will definitely be crawling soon. I managed to catch a video of him trying to crawl this morning. He is SO close. Pretty soon he is going to be all over the place, just like his brother. I guess it's time to start baby-proofing the house yet again. I have already caught Ephraim playing with things that I didn't think he could get to. He sure proved me wrong!



Recently Joe discovered that Ephraim loves to play peek-a-boo with us. He thinks it is really funny. He is getting pretty good at hiding his head all by himself. Check this video out:



Isn't he adorable? We love our little Beeper-boy. He is tons of fun and we are glad that he is part of our family.

Bike to Suncrest

Before Joe left for his conference in Las Vegas, he arranged for us to go on a bike ride the following Saturday with some employees from the Trek Store. After some discussion, they decided that they wanted to ride up to Suncrest.

They said it was uphill and challenging, but that I could do it. I think if I had seen where we were going to go beforehand I probably would have said there was NO WAY I would make it up there.

So on Saturday we dropped the boys off at the Randalls house bright and early. Then we went to the Trek Store in American Fork. Turns out there were only going to be five of us riding (all the others chickened out). So we headed northward and upward.

After discussing it with Joe, we figure we started somewhere around 4575 feet in elevation. When we reached the Highland Highway we were probably at about 4800 feet. Then we headed up North Highland Boulevard. The road twists around a bit because you are basically climbing a mountain! Here is a picture looking back to the south (at about 5900 feet). Keep in mind, we started down there on the valley floor.

It was a pretty tough climb (at least for me). But I did it! It was just short of 10 miles to the Suncrest Development at the top, and we went all the way up to about 6,100 feet. So our total climb was about 1,525 feet.

Here is a picture of where Suncrest Drive meets Traverse Ridge Road. From here you can either turn around and head back to Utah County, or as the sign says you can go down the hill the other way and go to Draper!

Here's a photo of Salt Lake County.

The way back down the hill was a blast! My odometer says that our top speed was 42 miles per hour! What a rush! It took much less time to get down than it did to get up, let me tell you. We ended up taking longer than we normally would have because Joe stopped to help a lady with a flat tire (what a guy).

I think Joe and I are mostly ready for our upcoming bike tour this weekend in Heber City. I can't believe we are going to go over 60 miles! I'll be sure to post photos and commentary later on.

Jump at the chance to see Edible Legos

Last week while Joe was gone to his conference in Las Vegas, we took a trip up to Jeanette's house so I could learn how to do some digital scrapbooking. The funny thing is that I didn't end up with a lot of pictures! I was too busy playing with photos I had already taken.

I did catch this cute photo of Ephraim playing on the floor at her house. Apparently he thought these Legos were pretty tasty!

When we got home on Wednesday we went over to the Brown's house to watch Emma and Ashton. We played outside for a while, and I took a cute photo of sleepy Ephraim laying on the grass. Isn't he a cutie?

Jacob was excited because the Brown's have a trampoline. He hasn't really jumped in one very much, so we let him have a minute to jump by himself. He thought it was pretty fun.



Isn't he a character? What a silly boy.

We spent this weekend home together, which was really nice. We all missed Daddy while he was gone. As a matter of fact, this morning Jacob asked me where Daddy was, so I said he was at work. Jacob replied, "Daddy come home today?"

Yes buddy. Daddy will be coming home today, and tomorrow, and the next day... hooray!

What's up Doc?

Isn't this page cute? It is one of the first pages that I made with Jeanette when I went to visit her this week. I was pretty happy with the way it turned out.

Well today it was time to visit the doctor again. This time it was Ephraim's six month appointment. Doctor Arnold himself said that he couldn't believe Ephraim was already six months old, and neither can I.

So here are the stats:
weight: 16 lbs 15 ounces (35th percentile)
height: 26 1/2 inches (50th percentile)
head circ: 45 cm (75th percentile)

Yet again Ephraim is average height, a little on the leaner than average side, and has a HUGE noggin. Doctor Arnold said he has to have somewhere to store all that brain power.

I told Doctor Arnold that Ephraim has been lifting his bum up in the air while he is on his tummy. I also noticed that in the past couple of days he has started to put his knees down. He mostly goes backwards, which is cute. The doctor said he is ahead developmentally... I just hope he's not walking by nine months or something! It is already hard to keep track of him.

In more exciting news, Joe is coming home tonight. Hooray, Hooray! We are all excited to see him. We did some shopping this morning, and when we were done Jacob asked where we were going. I told him we were on our way home. He said, "No. We not going home! We going to pick up daddy at his office."

Do you think he's excited to see Daddy, or what?

When He's Helping He's Happy... and Sit boy!

This weekend at the Devereaux household we were enjoying some family time. Especially since Joe left this morning to go to a conference in Las Vegas. So the boys and I will be home without him until Friday afternoon! *sigh*

So Ephraim has decided that he does not want to take on the world lying down. He'd much rather sit up. I was trying to lay him down in his bouncy seat and got this instead:

When I tried to get him to recline he would just stick his arms out and behind him, as if refusing to lay back. Funny little man! So we have been sitting him up more so that he can look at the world right-side-up, and he is loving it.

Ephraim is still working hard on figuring out this crawling thing. Now when he is on his tummy he will pull his hips up off the floor so that he is only on his hands and feet. When he figures out that he needs to put his knees down I'm sure he will be off in no time!

As for Jacob, he is still a Daddy's boy. This weekend he decided that the lawn mower is "not scary, just noisy". This is a common phrase at our house, and Jacob is finally ok with the vacuum cleaner too.

Anyway, when Joe went out to mow the lawn Jacob said he wanted to "help Daddy". So Joe let him help when he got to the straight part of the lawn. Jacob was having a blast! You should have seen the smile on his face when he finished helping.





















When he grows up I know that Jacob is going to be a great helper to his daddy. He will probably be Daddy's little shadow.

Jacob also wanted to "hold Ephraim" this weekend. That is a little bit difficult because Ephraim is not so little anymore. But we let Jacob do it, and he was so proud of himself. He just loves his little brother!


Finally here are a couple more pictures of my boys. Aren't they the cutest?

Ephraim (and Jacob) at Six Months

Can you believe it? Yesterday was Ephraim's half-birthday. He is now six months old and doesn't he look like a happy boy?

Not only is he rolling himself all over the house and trying to figure out how to crawl, but it also seems that Ephraim is starting to master the art of sitting up all by himself. He is getting pretty good at keeping his balance, but he gets very indignant if you let him fall over.

Just look at how BIG he is! He is growing so fast. This week I had to get out the six to nine month clothes because his other clothes were starting to seem a bit small. I was experiencing a bit of nostalgia as I looked through all the clothes that Jacob wore when he was little.

There was one outfit in particular that I thought was adorable, so I dressed Ephraim in those clothes and took a couple of pictures. Then I went and found some pictures of Jacob in the same outfit. In these pictures Jacob is about five and a half months old, and Ephraim is six months old on the dot. What do you think of these boys?

Isn't it fun to check them both out in the same clothes? I think they look related, but quite a bit different. I guess we'll see how they turn out as they get a little bit older. They are definitely both cute, don't you think?


















As I was looking through their clothes, I also noticed that apparently 6-9 months or larger is the size of clothing that people don't give you at baby showers. I had SO many clothes in the smaller sizes! I probably could have dressed Ephraim in a different outfit every day for a few weeks. Now my choices are a bit more limited. We have received some cute clothing in bigger sizes this time around, so that has been nice.

I need to try to get a video of Ephraim trying to crawl. He gets himself up on his hands and toes and then doesn't quite know what to do. He is getting pretty good at turning himself around using his arms, and he pushed himself backwards occasionally.

Pretty soon he is going to be roaming all over the house with his brother... probably getting into trouble together!

They say it's your Birthday!

Ho Hum Weekend

This weekend was pretty low-key at the Devereaux house.

Saturday morning I woke up later than I intended to. Ephraim has been waking up a couple times at night lately because his teeth are bothering him. Consequently I didn't sleep very well until after 4:30 a.m. or so.

So I had to hustle to make it to the group ride that they were having at our local Trek store. They go on a 20 mile ride every other weekend or so. Joe said that I could go this time because his legs were a little tired from all the riding he did last week.

I made it on time and there were about 22 other riders. It was a no-drop fun ride, which theoretically means that no one gets left behind. I didn't really have a hard time keeping up with everyone and I was in the middle between the front and back group most of the time. Then a lady fell off at a railroad crossing and her chain slipped off. As soon as the rear guard came to help her I took off on my bike (big mistake!). I thought I would be able to see the group in front of me... nope. I didn't know where I was going and I lost them. I wasn't lost, I just lost everyone else.

After a couple of minutes I noticed my front tire was flat! So I headed towards to Trek store on foot. I called Joe for advice and then used my CO2 cartridge to pump up my tire enough to get me most of the way there. When I got home Joe showed me how to change my tire. So now I know what to do next time!

Later we went back to the Trek store on our way to Costco to get a replacement CO2 cartridge and they apologized for losing me. They said they had a lot of new people riding that day and some of them wanted to "race" which isn't the way it is supposed to go. It wasn't really their fault. I had a good time (besides losing everyone and getting a flat) and Joe and I are planning on going on the group ride together again soon.

Then we went to Costco and got a new battery for Joe's car. He replaced it when he got home and the car works fine! Yahoo.

Sunday we had regional conference. Joe had an early meeting and I worked on getting everyone ready. We got there early, which was good because I ended up with red juice on my khaki skirt (darn sippy cups!). Then Ephraim spit up all over Joe's suit. We were having a grand time, let me tell you.

The conference was pretty good. I especially enjoyed the talks by President Uchtdorf and Elder Jensen. The only thing that made the meeting difficult was that for some reason Joe and I were really tired. Plus it is always an interesting challenge to keep a two-year-old occupied during a two hour long meeting. When the conference was over we went home, ate lunch, and then we all took a nice, long nap.

My friend Stacy came over later in the afternoon to drop off some books and the goldfish crackers that I am addicted to. Then we had dinner and I made a peach cobbler. It was yummy.

So that was our weekend in a nutshell. This morning I slept in later than I intended to because Jacob woke me up twice (once to go potty, once because he wanted milk) and Ephraim woke me up twice (ouchy teeth). So needless to say, I am a bit tired today. I mostly worked on laundry and took the boys out on a bike ride in the trailer (they are HEAVY!).

In good news, I am happy to report that for now my nose is mostly clear! Hopefully it stays that way and we all get some more sleep soon.

Photo spectacular

I have taken some really cute pictures of the boys lately, so I thought I should share them now that we are not quite as sick around here.

Ephraim is a rolling machine! He can get nearly anywhere he wants to go by rolling himself around. The other day I changed his diaper in his room and then went to get something. When I came back I almost couldn't find him!

Yep. He decided to check out what it looks like UNDER his bed. Silly boy!

He is also working on crawling. He can propel himself backwards a little bit, but hasn't figured out how to go forward yet. I am sure he will get there before I am ready for it! In any case, isn't he a cutie?


Jacob and Ephraim have a great time rolling around on the floor together. Jacob will lay down next to Ephraim and goo at him, which Ephraim loves. Ephraim absolutely adores his older brother and he laughs and smiles at Jacob all the time.

I managed to pin them both down (well, mostly Jacob) while they were playing to get them to let me take this photo. It is one of my favorites.


Ephraim definitely prefers to sleep on his side or his tummy. He curls up on his side or cuddles up to his bear when he takes a nap. It is so precious!

We also think that Ephraim is working on some teeth. He has been drooling like crazy, chewing on his hands and everything else, and his little rear is a bit raw because of all the saliva going through his system. Poor boy. He has also been acting a bit more cranky lately and I hope the teeth come quickly.

Having two boys is a lot of fun. I think that they will really enjoy playing together as they grow up. I know that I will enjoy watching them both grow in the coming years.

Here are both boys checking out a rainy day. (Ephraim had a little help)

When it Rains it Pours

I guess I spoke too soon when I said that we were all starting to feel better at the Devereaux house.

Yesterday morning we were all feeling pretty good. We went and dropped my bike off at the shop so they could tighten one of my cables and get rid of a minor squeak. Then the boys and I went and made some freezer jam at the Randalls house. We went home when Laura headed off to preschool.

Though I tried, I could not get Jacob to take a nap in the afternoon. Eventually I gave up and let him watch a movie while I tried to get some work done from home. Later when Joe got home, the bike shop called to say my bike was ready. So we ate dinner and got ready to go pick it up.

Not long after dinner I started to feel queasy.

On the way to pick up my bike both of the boys fell asleep in the car. They didn't wake up until we had already picked up the bike and made our way home. As the evening progressed I felt more and more icky.

We got Jacob in bed and were winding down for the night. Finally I had to give Ephraim and his bottle to Joe so I could go to the bathroom and lose my lunch, dinner, and probably everything else I ate that day. It's incredible just how much your stomach can hold, isn't it?

After I threw up I felt much better. Too bad that wasn't the case for Jacob. We went to bed early, and sometime after 11 PM Joe woke me up to tell me that Jacob was throwing up in his room.

So we went to get Jacob cleaned up, and I had to run back to the bathroom for a minute because of the nasty smell. Joe managed to get him cleaned up and we threw all his bedding and clothes in the wash.

Throughout the night I got up with Jacob about three more times (I can't exactly remember) to help him try to throw up in a bowl. He finally settled down to sleep sometime after 4 AM... I think.

Joe left for work this morning and I didn't even hear him. The rest of us slept in. Jacob seems to be right as rain today. Ephraim seems a bit grouchy, but otherwise fine. My stomach is a little tender and I feel tired but mostly ok... except I STILL have a stuffy nose. It is driving me crazy. I have taken antihistamines, decongestants, Dayquil, nasal spray, and nothing seems to work for long. If this doesn't clear up soon I may have to go to the doctor.

So today I got to wash a bunch more stuff from Jacob's room in an effort to make the house smell better. We also aired the place out this morning. Melinda was kind enough to come over and bring us some soup. I had it for lunch and it was yummy. Her kids also stayed for a while to play in our sandbox.



That was really nice because even though I didn't have any energy, somehow Jacob did. Little Sara was making us laugh because she was having a great time flinging sand everywhere. Isn't she a cutie?
Melinda ended up stripping Sara down to her diaper to take her home. It was pretty funny.

This afternoon the boys took nice long naps. I mostly just worked on feeling better. Then Joe came home and I left to go to work. Then I returned to the house because the car would not start. Joe came and looked at it and declared the battery dead.

So tonight I am at work with the only functioning car. So far September is not being very nice to us! Usually it is my favorite month, but if it doesn't shape up I may have to change my mind about that.

Labor Day: Rain Delay, Impromtu parties and September Snow?

I think that the sniffling, sneezing, and stuffy headedness are finally on their way out at the Devereaux household. Hooray!

We were a bunch of lounge-abouts this weekend. The weather probably contributed to that, since it was so cold and rainy that we didn't particularly want to go outside!

On Labor Day Joe and I were planning on taking a long (about 2 hour) bike ride on the west side of Utah Lake. We were hoping the storm would run through on Sunday and be done by Monday morning. Of course we woke up Monday to find that our hopes were dashed. It was still soggy and overcast.

So we went to Orem to drop off some stuff at work for Joe so he wouldn't have to take it in on his bike this week. Then we went to do a little shopping at JoAnns, but didn't end up buying anything. Bummer. So we went to lunch and headed home.

The weather had finally cleared out, so Joe and I went out on bike rides separately. We will try to get out together a couple of Saturdays this month before our ride in Heber on my birthday.

We had arranged to swap babysitting, so even later in the afternoon we went over to the Randalls and watched their daughters so they could go to a movie. They hadn't been gone too long when they called to say that even though they bought tickets in advance, the movie was oversold so they couldn't find a seat. What a bummer! So they went shopping at Wal*Mart alone instead.

Watching their daughters was a piece of cake. We had fun playing with them.

When Jason and Melinda got home we ended up having dinner at their house. Then Joe ran home to pick up a dessert that I had made the previous evening. It was a yummy peach-blackberry crumble that we were happy to share. Joe forgot the whipped topping, so Melinda whipped some up! It was yummy.

So I guess you could say we had an impromptu dinner party. We all sat around and talked and laughed. It turned out to be the best part of our holiday! Before long the kids reached the point of melt-down and we headed home.

This morning when we got up it was COLD! It was about 41 degrees when Joe left to ride his bike to work. We got him some arm warmers, but hopefully his legs don't get too cold. I guess we are going to need to get him a long sleeved jersey and leg warmers or pants sooner than we anticipated!

Speaking of cold weather... check out what happened in Star Valley this weekend!

Jeanette and Greg's Family went to Star Valley to visit my parents. They went boating out on the lake on Saturday. Then on Monday they got to play in the snow!


This picture is great! Purple flowers... green grass... kiddie pool... and SNOW?


I hope this doesn't mean that Fall is going to be as short as Spring was this year! I don't really want to skip directly to Winter from here!