To clarify

Last Sunday, Joe got a call from his former CFO. The CFO had a new position and wanted Joe to come in and discuss it. Joe had another interview for a financial analyst position the same day. Anyways, long story short, he took a job with his old company with another pay increase and it sounds like Joe will like the job a lot. Yeah...I have conceded the fact that we are probably in Utah till Joe retires. He was working towards GIS certification, but when opportunity calls, I guess you don't pass it up. ;)

Samuel's black eye came as a result of big brother. They had been running in the living room. I asked them to stop (which they did). As soon as I got in the bathroom, I heard a loud cry. Joe and I came in and Samuel had a large goose egg next to his eye. Joe sat down with Samuel and I got some frozen veggies to put on it. It helped with the swelling. I spoke to Joseph who was awfully quiet and sitting on Samuel's bed what happened:

Mommy: "Joseph, what happened?"
Joseph: "mumble, mumble, mumble" (softly so I couldn't hear)
Mommy: "Joseph, what happened?"
Joseph: "mutter, mutter, mutter" (a little louder but not discernible)
Mommy: "Joseph, what happened?"
Joseph (exasperated): "I grabbed his legs and he tripped and hit the coffee table."

Samuel is quite conversational these days. He talks about all kinds of things and lets his opinion be known.

Last night (since I started this post last week or something) we went to the Riverwoods with my friend Olga. We met Santa and walked around all the lights. The boys had a good time. It is cold here, but there is no snow. The boys got snow suits last winter and still have yet to use them. There has not been a lot of snow though it has been very cold.

I finished wrapping the gifts last night. Now I have to fend off 2 little boys that are super excited for Christmas. Joseph thinks there are hundreds of presents under the tree. He and Samuel keep looking at them.

I also signed Samuel up for Smart Start Basketball. When I told him, he got so excited. He made a "ooooooooh" noise and smiled. I think he will be confused when he realizes he is not going to be playing soccer.

Tidbits

-Joseph lost his first tooth this week. He now believes in the tooth fairy.
-Samuel got his first black eye courtesy of big brother grabbing his legs and causing him to hit the coffee table.
-Joe got a job in Lehi (looks like we are in Utah for a long time to come...maybe even till retirement).

To catch up...kind of

I thought the boys looked so cute I had them pose for pictures. Joseph likes to pose more than Samuel. Joseph was ready to be done and Samuel liked being outside.


My cousin Leslie was in town last week. It was great to see her. She looks great for being a grandma. She is only a year older than I am.


Fall colors and Joseph. We went up to Sundance last weekend to take in the nice weather and beautiful colors. It was a fun time.


Joe and Joseph walking along the mountain trail.



Yesterday we carved pupmkins. We as in Joe did all the work. They look pretty cool. Joseph chose a large pumpkin that weighed over 30 pounds and Samuel chose a green one. Joseph's is in the middle, Samuel's on the right and Joe's Jack Skelington on the left. They look great lit up.

We have been busy. Joe is working on GIS stuff and is starting to apply for jobs. I have been super busy trying to balance everything. I have class till late on Mondays, so I spend about 30 minutes with the boys before they go to bed. At least we have the whole bed time routine mostly down.

Joseph is doing great at school. He is reading more and more each day and is sounding out words pretty well. He laughed when we looked at the word "know" and he started to sound it out. I told him it was a word that didn't follow any rules like he knows and that it is pronounced like "no." He is sooooo excited to have his birthday party next weekend. It is a Halloween costume party. We made a bean bag toss for it and just have had fun getting ready for it. Thanks Uncle Ernest, Aunt Lydia, Elena and Brandon for Joseph's card. To quote Joseph: "I got cash." :)

Samuel is in a phase where he constantly wants medicine. He explains: "My throat is burning and really hot...I need medicine." I don't want him to have medicine all the time, so I started to give him a placebo. I bought Tylenol that is shaped like candy. Once he took it a couple of times, I substituted the Tylenol with Smarties. It worked just as well for the most part. Now his newest thing is that he wants "tums for my tummy." He is also comes to sleep in our bed early in the morning because "mommy is scared."

Yesterday I took the boys to a chemistry week activity at the library. Joseph and Samuel enjoyed it a lot. They made giant bubbles, watched hydrogen explode, a can collapse, a super saturated liquid recrystallize, a liquid that changed colors by itself, pulled rope, watched a balloon collapse in liquid nitrogen and blow up by itself, and watched a vacuum make a marshmallow expand and collapse once the vacuum was turned off. They LOVED it. Samuel was telling everyone: "The marshmallow got bigger and bigger, then it crumpled." He made the hand motions as he explained it.

Car conversation

Today as we were going to the store:

Samuel: "I looking for temple."
Mommy: "The temple is not over here."
Joseph: "My teacher told me that if you get married at your house you are not married forever, but if you get married in the temple, you will be married forever."
Mommy: "That is why you need to get married in the temple."
Samuel: "I am going to get married."

At the grocery store all was going okay till we got to the checkout. I don't know why, but Samuel decided that he would bite Joseph's shoulder. He hasn't really bitten anyone, so it was a surprise. Joseph screamed. Samuel apologized and gave Joseph kisses on the shoulder where he bit him. It was a strong bite. After we got home, I had Samuel tell daddy what he had done.

What did he tell Joe?

Joe: "What did you do?"
Samuel: "I eat Joseph shoulder."
Joe: "What did you do???"
Samuel: "I eat Joseph shoulder."

Later that night, Joseph "accidentally" locked Samuel in the bathroom as he was washing his hands. Joe had to take off the lock because Samuel did not know how to unlock it. Fun times. :)

Joseph and Samuel

Joseph is really enjoying school and has enjoyed his homework so far. He does not like to trace letters, but all the tracing has helped his handwriting. He has made some friends at school and is excited to go every day. Samuel points out the school anytime we go by it. He is getting better about not crying when we take Joseph.

Samuel is a funny little boy. He likes to eat onions (I just can't relate). He also likes to dip things in his drinks to "clean them." For example, today:

Samuel: "OH Goodness. I need to clean my pepperoni (puts it in his milk)."
Samuel: "It is clean now (puts his hand in his milk and then proceeds to eat it)."
Samuel: "I need to clean my onion (repeat the above)."
Samuel: "It is clean (repeat above)."
Samuel. "Mmmmmm."

My sentiments...gross. At least he likes it.

Random Joseph quote

I know that my Joseph is a thinker. He will often ask questions or make statements that are out of the blue. Tonight was one of those times. As we were driving back from football practice:

Joseph: "Marriage is hard, huh mommy. You have to work hard not to break up."
Mommy: "What makes you say that?"
Joseph: "It was just something I thought of."

I wondered why he mentioned this and he said that he had been thinking about it. I asked if he had friends with parents that broke up. He said no. He then said that he wanted our family to stay the same, with me as his mommy, Joe as his daddy, and Samuel as his brother. I hope he doesn't stress out about the what-if scenarios that I did as a child.

Homework

Joseph was enjoying his homework before dinner. During his dinner prayer he said, "We thank thee for homework."

This was prior to his breakdown and not wanting to write any little a's.

Kindergarten

Joseph started school on Wednesday!! He is having a great time so far and seems to be enjoying his teacher. He comes home excited and saying that he loves school. His teacher is really nice and he says he is making friends. There is a kid from his soccer team in his class and I visit teach a sister whose son is also in the class. Joe walks him everyday and picks him up.



What a handsome little kindergarten boy!

Samuel of course misses his brother and Joe says he screams when they drop Joseph off. Samuel's conversations now consist of him saying:

"I go school too."
"I need school supplies."
"I need go my class."

It is crazy that we have a child in elementary school. Time does not slow down at all!

Samuel's comment

Samuel saw his picture and said, "Shhh. Quiet." I guess in this photo he was telling daddy to be quiet. Joe verified that is what Samuel was saying in this photo.

More pictures

I figured out why I could not upload big batches of pictures. These are all from our Canon Rebel, but blogger did not want to load more than one at a time. As you can tell, there is no order to the pics. I just put some up.


My beautiful family at Amy's wedding in front of the Logan temple.


Mommy and Joseph dancing. He is a little jitterbug. :)


Ryan, Adam, my handsome Joe, and Grandpa Rankin.


I took off my shoes because my feet were killing me. I also took the kids off to the side where they would not be in the way of the pictures. I sang songs for them so they could run out some of their energy.


Samuel giving his big brother a hug. They love each other, even though they may get into a lot of little fights.


Samuel kissing the iguana at the zoo. He wanted to touch it. And yes, he did kiss the glass as Joe informed me. Gross.


The zoo had lots of dinosaurs and they scared Samuel. Samuel is clinging to grandma for dear life. :)


My mission president made a quick trip from work to the temple to say "hi." We chatted for a bit. It was fun to catch up.


These pictures wouldn't be complete without pics of the bride and groom. Here are Amy and Michael with Mom and Dad Rankin.


MacKenzie and Joseph playing at the temple fountain. They couldn't quite reach it, so they climbed up a little to touch the water.


Grandma came and stayed with us for a couple of weeks. She stayed to help out with the boys while Joe went back to New Jersey to help finish up the stairs he worked on this summer. She is sooo good with Samuel. He listens to her like he will not always listen to us. She is the Samuel whisperer.


Me and my boys. They are so cute and I love them so much. They were excited to be at the temple, even though they could not go in just yet.

Samuel Conversations:

Mommy: "Did you have fun in nursery?"
Samuel: "Yeah."
Mommy: "Then why do you cry when I drop you off?"
Samuel: "I like mommy."

Mommy: "Samuel, your feet are dirty."
Samuel: "No, they are clean toes."
Mommy: "We need to give you a bath."
Samuel: "No, I clean. Joseph get bath."

Mommy: "Yellow car." (a game that they played a lot in Jersey with Chrissy)
Samuel: "I not play that game right now."

Samuel: "I have poopy." (what he says at bed time to prolong going to sleep)
Mommy (after checking his diaper): "You are clean. Go back to bed."
Samuel: "I fart. It poopy fart."
Mommy: "It was just a fart. You are still clean."
Samuel: "I want clean diaper."

Mommy: "Samuel. Do you want a little brother?"
Samuel: "No. I baby."

Picture Blog

I discovered that there is a small splash park at the Riverwoods shopping center. Joseph would watch the timing and play with the middle fountains.

Joseph stacked these letters and they did not topple over. I was impressed. You can also see Samuel's tower in the back.

We have discovered that Samuel is quite the little architect. He built this on his own and does this often.

I came home from work one day and this is how I found Samuel. Grandma Rankin had tried to get him to nap, but after a couple of hours she gave up. Once he wasn't being forced to, he put himself down for a nap.

Samuel's super tall tower. He likes to build them as tall as he can, and sometimes has patience when it crashes. It fell after he placed the block after this.

Joe took the boys to a small museum in the middle of no where and this is Joseph posing as a frontiersman.

Daddy, Joseph and Samuel looking at fossils.

Joe, Joseph, and Samuel with Fred the Bison.

Just so you know, with work, it is hard for me to get on here as often as I used to and write. To catch up: Joe and the boys got back. Grandma came and stayed with us for a few weeks and Joe went back to New Jersey to finish a project he started. He came back this past Thursday, and his mom left the same day to go and be with Alison and Ryan. Amy got married. Here are some pictures from all those times in no particular order (Joseph is helping me choose them).

And we're back

I met up with Joe and my boys in Denver a couple of weekends ago for my newest nephew's baby blessing. It is great to be back with them again and to see family. :)

Things are busy around our house. We are trying to get things organized for when Joe's parents come to stay with us for Amy's wedding. It is crazy that the summer has flown by. Joseph starts school this fall. He will be in kindergarten. Wow. Joe starts classes this fall at SLCC. Hopefully he will receive credit for some of his BYU courses for the certificate he hopes to get.

Samuel talks a lot. He also has a lot of attitude for a 2 year old. He continues to be a light sleeper like his dad. He and Joseph like to confront each other over the littlest things. Sometimes they are great together and other times, they are at each other's throats.

The other day we went through their old clothes. I was saving some for the future grandkids. Anyways, Alison is due soon, so we decided to contribute to their baby's wardrobe. Joseph got this sad look on his face. He said, "But I want to save some of these clothes for when I have babies." We saved a small bag full of clothes that he helped me choose.

The boys finished their summer reading program at the library and got a free book a piece. They are excited about it. Samuel loved that they gave him cinnamon bears as a treat. Both boys love to be read to and were super excited when we unpacked one box of their books from the storage unit. Joseph kept running out with different books and exclaiming that he remembered this book or that book. Samuel joined in and would carry books to the room. He mimics his older brother a lot.

Countdown

In less than 2 weeks I will see Joe and the boys again!!! I am soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo excited. It is lonely without them around. I do get to read lots of books and now do homework with my intro to interiors class. It will be nice to have a car again too. It is nice to walk around to different places, but it has been so hot. Can I just say that I am grateful for Skype. I get to "see" my boys everyday. :)

Getting to New Jersey

We made it to New Jersey last night at 8 p.m. It was a long 2 days, but we are here and we are safe. We didn't really stop too long anywhere and only slept for a few hours here and there, but the boys did surprisingly well, other than Samuel vomiting a number of times on our first full day and once yesterday. We are wondering if he is motion sick, but even if he isn't, our car smells like vomit. We are happy and excited to be here. I will be sad when I leave on Tuesday, but at least I will have a few days to relax before I leave and Joe and the boys stay. It will be sad to be away from them for a few weeks, but it will be good for them to be here and spend time with their other grandma and grandpa.

There was some crazy wind and some crazy thunderstorms during our drive. One flash of lightning blinded us for a few seconds as the thunder shook our car. We must have timed it perfectly. Can I say that currently, Iowa and Ohio are beautiful. I also love, love, love Pennsylvania.

and also...

Samuel likes to eat raw onions and loves, loves, loves him some lemons (along with the rind).

End of the world

I know that there is a religious group that predicted it would happen yesterday, but I am referring to Joseph right now. A couple of weeks ago, when Joe was watching the boys, they were watching soccer. Joe left the game on and then went to take a shower. While he was showering, the soccer game ended and a movie began. As Joseph described it, "it had a lot of shooting and it was about the end of the world." Well, Joseph had nightmares about it for a few days. We have talked to him about it and tried to get him not to worry about it, after all, he is 5. The night before the so called rapture was supposed to occur, Joseph said this in his prayer, "I ask that there won't be an earthquake and that the end of the world won't happen." So everyone can thank Joseph...though we made sure not to tell him that someone had predicted that yesterday would be the end of the world.

Speaking of prayers, Samuel repeated his first prayer the other night. I think he likes doing it because now he has started to repeat words when other people are praying. He is napping right now. Church is not at a fun time. :)

In a couple of weeks we are driving out to New Jersey so Joe can help his parents around the house. I will fly back and work while my boys and Joe are gone. I am going to be so alone without them till after their soon to be born cousin's baby blessing. :P Not much else is going on here. I need to go and cook dinner. I will post pictures of Joseph and Samuel's marker fight later on.

Catch up

Yesterday we went to a safety check on our carseats. They had a firetruck. The boys got to sit inside, but we didn't have much time to get a good look around. Joseph is still in his soccer stuff. He is getting much better at playing the game and enjoying it lots. The team we played yesterday was a challenging one. The coach had someone in the box (not supposed to) and also had a few kids who were pushers. My kids did great. Joseph even got pushed from behind and fell hard on his knees. He got right back up and started running after the ball.



These are the Easter baskets that the Easter bunny left the boys. They were very excited. :) Easter was nice. We had fun hunting at a friends on Saturday and then with the fam on Sunday. This past week Joseph and Samuel both found a couple of eggs that were missed on Easter Sunday. It is funny because Joseph regulates how much candy he eats, but Samuel would probably eat until he makes himself sick. In fact, he asks for "dulce" quite often.



Samuel likes to push around strollers. This pink stroller is his friend's, Eliza's, and he will not let anyone else play with it if he is around. He loves to ask for her and wants to see her often. Aunt Amy was nice enough to take the boys to a hot tub and since then, they want to go more. She took them again yesterday with Uncle Michael and last night, Samuel found his swim diaper and walked around saying, "Samuel go swimming."



Samuel and Eliza "looking" for Easter eggs. Samuel ate every piece of candy after he found an egg, as you can see from the picture.



I took Joseph on a mini date. We had been telling lots of jokes, and I saw that Divine Comedy was doing their semester end show. I decided to take him. Well, it was crazy. They had 60 tickets available for a 7 o'clock show and then 60 more for their 9 o'clock show. Granted, this is in the evening, around Joseph's bedtime. Well, the line to get tickets for the 7 o'clock show was too long. I decided to take him to the 9 o'clock. Well, after waiting in line, we could finally purchase tickets. One of the workers said they had 1 ticket to the 7 o'clock show. I asked if I could have Joseph in my lap during the show. They said that would be fine. Then, instead of charging me for the ticket, they gave it to me. I asked if I could buy something so that we could be seated early versus waiting in the insanely long line that was still waiting to be seated. The lady who gave us the ticket walked us to the door and told the ticket taker to let us in. We got to sit right in front and we got to do it for free. To top it off, they were throwing out glowsticks. They had a huge ball of glowsticks. Joseph got up and was trying to catch it. The guy acted like he was going to throw it further back, but in the end, he tossed it to Joseph. All in all, I don't think Joseph got most of the humor, but we still had fun.



Here is a picture of daddy after Samuel finished decorating him. Samuel put each sticker in the spot he felt was best.



Last year, Joe took Joseph to Big Guy/Little Guy at the library. Joe said it was not very good, but Joseph really wanted to go again this year. It was a cowboy themed event, so Joseph wanted to wear this shirt. Here he is riding his horse.



Joseph also practiced lassoing the bull. All in all, he had a great time. He even told me that he learned to like mustard and ketchup together on burgers. All the kids got to choose one "free" book (you pay for 2 tickets to get in). Anyways, there were hard cover books and Joseph chose a Pokemon book that was paperback. He likes Pokemon because of a video game he has played. At least he liked it, right?

Life is starting to settle into a pattern of sorts, but we have so much to do. Happy mother's day to all of the wonderful women in the world who serve family and friends! Joseph and Samuel let me "sleep" in this morning. Joseph also gave me stuffed animal and had picked some dandelions for me. During one of the talks at sacrament, a sister was talking about how her little boy cups her face in his hands on almost a daily basis and says, "you are a good mommy." Joseph heard that and turned to me and said loudly, "I love you mommy!" Samuel then said, "I ruff you." Sweet moment.

Samuel to his pound puppy at bedtime:

"Are you okay?"
"You sad."
"I love you."
"Hi. You soft."

It was so adorable.

...and we're back...Happy Easter!

Happy Easter to all! It is great to remember that our Savior gave all of us a reason to hope. I am grateful for the atonement and for the opportunity to live with my family for time and all eternity.

We finally have internet at our house. With work and trying to keep up around here, I hardly have time for getting on the computer to blog. Just some updates:

The other day Joseph asked me what would happen if he couldn't make it in kindergarten. He was worried that he isn't smart enough. To make him feel better, I let him know that I couldn't count or anything when I went. He was appeased because many of the things that I didn't know how to do he does.

Their last week of daycare was last week. All of the teachers said that we have the sweetest boys. I agree, but part of me thinks that they just want us to keep them there. Joseph and Samuel will be staying with friends till Joe's job finishes on Friday.

Work has been keeping me super busy. I need to get back to updating student files, I just haven't had time. I have met a lot of prospective students and graduating seniors this past couple of weeks.

Random

Funny tidbits:

Joseph: "What did BYU say to the U?"
Mommy: "What did BYU say?"
Joseph: "Give us your dollar money!"

Samuel as I am putting on hose for work and with a huge smile on his face:

Samuel: "Cool. Cool feet."

This morning, Samuel comes in carrying 2 triangle blocks:

Samuel: "Triangle. (putting the 2 blocks together) Look, square."

Samuel also likes to talk about himself in the 3rd person:

"Samuel stuffy."
"Samuel sick"
"Samuel go nigh-night."

If we are asleep and he wants us to get him something:

Samuel: "Samuel hurt down there. Samuel poopy."

He actually is not hurt and doesn't have poop, but once we are up he then says, "I want milk." What a little trickster.

Why am I still awake?

It was a super busy day. Get the boys to a friends, go to work, work on some projects, go to an ME EN class, help students, go to Capstone lunch, go back to my office, help students, go to Capstone to look at projects, get my ID card, go to my office and work on projects, leave work to pick up kids, pick up kids and go to the library for Joseph's last class, go pick up Joe, put gas in the car, come home to get ready for the soccer game I am coaching, go to the store to pick up treats for my team, go to the game (we lost by a number of goals), get home and pick up gift and Samuel and go to a friend's baby shower, come home and give the boys a bath, get things ready for daycare tomorrow, get the boys to bed and now I am winding down. I need to get to bed.

Samuel

Samuel talks a lot more. When I took him to the night clinic, he recognized that we were going to the doctor's office. As we walked to the room, he started to cry and say, "no doctor, no doctor." He cried and cried till the doctor left the room.

Every night, when I go to put him to bed, he says, "mommy lie down too." Yeah, I have to stay in bed till he is asleep.

Yesterday, he was indoors most of the day and then he said, "Go bye-bye." I took him to the library because we had a movie waiting on hold for us. We got the movie, checked it out and then I was trying to leave. He said, "No, go get book." We went to the children's library and he picked out a few books. After I gave him one of the books to look at it in the car, he said, "Like it book." I told him we were going to go to the store and he said, "go costco." We passed in-n-out and he said, "want french fries (dent dies)." Then he started to talk about "tatsup."

He is using his nails to "make line" in daddy's mouse pad. I asked if he was still sick, and he said, "no, Joseph still sick."

He recognizes the way to certain places. When I took Joseph to martial arts on Wednesday, as we made the turn in the direction the place is, he said, "karate class." I was practicing some stuff with Joseph yesterday and Samuel started to mimic it. He would kick and say "sa" which is what they say when they kick at the class. I am going to miss my cute boys everyday.

Coughing contest

So last weekend I developed a sore throat and had a fever. Samuel seemed to have the same thing earlier this week. We have both been coughing a lot. Last night, Joe brought him to the room to sleep with me in the bed. He woke up around 1 or 2 amd wanted milk. I gave him some kid's tylenol and milk and then we both spent the next half hour coughing. Today we have been coughing a lot and on top of that, Samuel got a high fever. I took him in and he has an ear infection. Joe heard both of us coughing and said that it sounded like we were having a coughing contest. Those were my exact thoughts last night.

In other news, we went and signed the closing docs for our house. We should fund sometime next week. Also, I got a job at BYU as an undergraduate advisor for mechanical engineering. It should be a fun job. :)

Here's a picture of Joe's family together. This is the first time in 2 years that all of the siblings have been at one place at the same time. I think it will happen again in July because Amy is getting married then. Kind of crazy to think that only Joe's youngest sibling will be unwed and that she is getting closer to graduating high school.

The Rankin cousins together. Notice that the only girls are Joe's sisters. Rankins are good at having boys. Maybe Alison will have another girl to add to the mix of grandchildren, seeing as Mackenzie is the only girl so far, and Adam and Meredith are having a boy this time around.

Samuel is talking more and more each day. He no longer says magilk and uses chocolate milk. He loves to race around on his "cycle." He is now in a big boy bed. Unfortunately, that means that he can get out of bed when he wants to. Last night he slept in bed with me; I just hope I didn't get him sick. He also says "stuck-ed" when something gets caught somewhere. He loves to sleep with Samson and Ribbit (his bear and frog), as well as piggy car. Samuel also has a sense of clothes that he likes to wear. His favorites are: a shirt that says stay cool, a hoody with a pumpkin, dinosaur socks, and pants.

Joseph is starting to take martial arts classes and is enjoying it. He also starts soccer in a couple of weeks. I get to coach his team...yeah, we will see how that goes. I have a training on Tuesday night and I have contacted all of his team members. We also registered Joseph for kindergarten at Provost Elementary.

We are closing on our house in the next week if all goes well. It will be nice to have our own place again.

Joseph quotes

We were leaving our car with the dealership. The driver was bringing us home:

Joseph: "We live in the basement. If you want, you can come in and visit us." (I need to talk to him about inviting strangers into our house).

Yesterday after daddy left for PA:

Joseph: "I would be so sad if daddy passes out while he is gone." (Passes out means passed away).

In a prayer while daddy was gone:

Joseph: "Please bless that the time will pass super, super, super, super, super, super duper fast so we can see daddy again."

Great Grandpa Azro Goodwin Rankin

Early Monday morning, we lost a beloved family member, Azro Goodwin Rankin. He was a remarkable man. I was so blessed to become part of his family. He welcomed me into the family with open arms. Joseph's middle name was to honor him, Azro, and Samuel also has part of his name, Goodwin. The brief time that I knew him, he was always so kind and gentle. It didn't take long to for him to make anyone around him feel like they were important. He recognized God's divinity within us and was a man of faith. He always wore his wedding band, even after losing his wife, honoring the love that he carried with him till he left this mortal life. He always wore a smile and laughter was an essential part of his character. Even when we saw him at Christmas in the hospital, he eased the pain of us seeing him there by making us laugh. We love you grandpa and know that you are reunited with your wife. We will see you again one day. Thank you for your life and example.

Up to date updates...

News in our life:

-We heard back on the house that we are interested in buying. It is a nice cute home that has an unfinished basement for Joe to work on. All the schools are good from elementary to high school. A few nice things about the house: central air, newer windows, newer roof, new kitchen cabinets (even if the kitchen is a small eat in type), and a super nice landscaped fully fenced backyard with large garden boxes. We had a few offers in, but this is the one we are planning on. It is in southeast Provo and has an awesome view of the mountains.

-Joseph is really big into playing the wii. He loves to spend so much time playing, that we have had to put time limits on him, otherwise he would sit in front of it ALL day long. At first we told him 2 hours was his limit, but he felt it was too short, so he asked for 144 minutes. We told him he could play 120 minutes and that made him happy. :)

-Samuel is a little chatterbox. He likes to talk and is formulating sentences like crazy. Not all of them include proper verbage, but he is putting things together. It is funny because the other day, Joseph wanted a snack. I told them we had popcorn and Joseph said that would be a good one. Samuel heard we were having popcorn and he started to say, "popcorn and pickles." Yep, he is his mother's son. :) He loves to snack on pickles, just like his mommy. Right now he is walking around saying, "piggy car. hide it?" He can't find his piggy car because he hid it. I don't know where it is either. His favorite songs are the "itsy bitsy spider", "the abc song", "the snowman song", and "twinkle, twinkle, little star." He sings along. I need to record the abc song because he only does certain letters and then kind of grunts for others.

-I have read a lot of books on my nook. Some are free samples and others were free books. I read one called "Fools Rush In." It is a cute story with very religious sentiments. I read the second in the series which I purchased. It was a little farfetched in my opinion, but I liked it. I decided not to purchase the 3rd book and am going to check it out at the library. Joe said I could spend more money getting books, but I like owning the hard copies of books for a library of my own. It is super nice to have because I can read it in the dark. Lately I have had to lay down in the room with Samuel so he can fall asleep. It helps him settle in easier and now that I can read, I don't get irritated with the time it takes. I have also set up a mommy decoy in the room. It is a bunch of blankets set on Joseph's bed to look like I am in the room sleeping. It has worked for the most part and he has started to sleep through the night again. I think he is starting to get afraid of the dark.

-Joe is working ridiculous hours at work. They are hiring someone else, so that will be nice for him. He will hopefully get to be home more often at night and on weekends. He is keeping himself busy doing things at home. Samuel likes to sit with his daddy and he usually falls asleep on him if it is nap time. Joseph loves to share his video game passion with his daddy. It has been quite the bonding experience for both of them. :)

I am trying to take more pictures. I need to learn how to not be afraid of my rebel. It is soooooo nice and the pictures that it takes are awesome.

Long time no blog...

Joseph at preschool during their Valentine's day lesson. He also got to make a magic 8 ball at the library. He was worried at first because he didn't want me to leave him, but he had a great time and is looking forward to going tomorrow again. They are making pancake people.

Samuel watching Joseph work in his maze book. He likes to do them.

Samuel playing with the toy that Aunt Amy gave the boys for Christmas. He was trying to get the car that went around and this was the face he would make when he would miss.

We are still trying to find the house that will suit our family best. Joe is working hard and long hours and I can't wait for him to have a little more free time. Joseph is excited to play with his daddy everyday on the wii. Joseph's favorite character on most games is Yoshi. Samuel likes to have a "troller" and he pretends to play too.

Our 8th anniversary was Monday. Amy and her friend Mike came over to watch the boys. Joe and I went to Thai Ruby for dinner. We got there early, so we didn't hit the Valentine's day traffic at the restaurant. We went to try and watch a movie, but there was nothing interesting enough for us to spend a lot of money on at the theater. We came home earlier than we anticipated and I got to put the boys to bed. Samuel is struggling with sleeping again and refuses to stay asleep if we try to lay him down on his own. We almost bought a washer and dryer but opted to wait till we have a house. I guess this is why I haven't really blogged, there is not much to say.

Samuel and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day...

Yesterday was not the best day for Samuel. Apart from having a fever on Friday to starting a family prescription for whooping cough, he had a number of bad falls. I was outside cleaning yesterday and he went to the backyard with his grandpa. At one point, he slipped on ice and hit the back of his head (injury number 1). I checked him and then let him play some more. He and Joseph came to the front yard and started to run around. As he was running on the sidewalk, he tripped and face planted (injury number 2). He got a big goose egg and looked kind of like a klingon from Star Trek. The bruising is now turning into a couple of black eyes (I will post pictures later). I dislike head injuries because they make me worry. I checked his pupils and then watched his behavior throughout the day. He napped briefly about 45 minutes later in the day. Well, before his nap, he went to play with the kids upstairs and was running around. He stumbled and hit the side of his head (injury number 3). I checked him again and he seems okay. For all the bad stuff that happened, last night he was in a fairly good mood. He slept all night but now has a slight cough that started yesterday. I wonder if his equilibrium is off because he has a head cold...anyways. I hope that he won't have another day like yesterday. Poor kid.

Cute phrases and more from the mouth of a 2 year old (on the 20th)

Samuel now says:

"Ewww...ewwww...dross." (gross for those who don't speak Samuelese)
"Cool." (That just started late last week, it is so cute to hear him say it)
"Wow."
"Read it book." (We have to work on word order)
"Moo." (If he sees pretty much any animal except a dog, snake and pig)
"magilk" (strange word meaning chocolate milk)
"Oopies" (I say oopsies a lot)

He is also very adept at yelling when not crying or screaming.

Santa gave him a teddy bear from Build-a-bear that is named Samson. He hugs it at night and gives it "tissies (kissies)" and says his name.

Other things he does:
-Likes to have his hands and feet traced. He then proceeds to say "happy" which means you need to draw a smiley face in it. He also likes you to do this with moons, hearts, and stars and then he will say, "happy moon" or "happy star" or...I think you get it. :)
-He likes to draw circles himself. He will then ask you to repeat the above action.
-Has an issue where he thinks that the world is his canvas and proceeds to color it as his little artistic eye sees fit (which means mommy needs to go and scrub the fridge or the floor).
-Loves to play with Joseph but likes to declare that everything is "mine" which frustrates Joseph at times.
-Enjoys it when daddy tickles him and will prepare himself for it.
-When it is time for bed he will run to daddy and try to stay in his lap.

Birthday present

Joe got tickets for me and a guest to go to Guster. He didn't obligate me to take him, but I wanted him to come with me. :) I know he likes Guster just a little bit. It was this past Saturday at In the Venue in Salt Lake. It was a fun concert after the large lady in front of me moved down and I could actually see the concert.



My view for the first bit of the concert. I had to encroach on her personal space a bit so she would have to dance elsewhere. My plan worked. After she moved, the girl next to me that was also being blocked by the dancing woman, leaned over and said, "You can finally see the concert too!" Yeah.

The concert was enjoyable and I really liked the music. I recognize some Guster songs and it was fun to hear some of their new material. They are fun to listen to and they are fun to watch. Their stage interchange is entertaining. For instance, they had a new band member and the crowd was asking for a song called "bury me." Ryan Miller asked him if he had even heard of the song and he told them no. They then turned to the crowd and said, "we will play the song, but Luke has to sing it" and they did just that. He didn't know the words but made some up. During the encore, the Luke played a Red Hot Chili Pepper's song and Brian Rosenworcel sang to it. He sounded terrible, but it was funny.

Thanks to my husband for the nice night and thanks to Esteban for babysitting the boys. One of Joe and my first dates was to a Guster, John Butler Trio and John Mayer outdoor concert in Park City. Good times. :)

Back in Utah

I have a lot to catch up on. Last week we flew home to Utah. Not that we really have a place to call our own yet, but we are trying to get back into a routine. The boys ended their trip in the same outfit they started it in. I thought it was cute and so did lots of people at the airport. After our flight back, a lady stopped us and said that I did such a great job with both boys alone on the plane. Can I tell you that I was disappointed that neither of my flights had a movie or tv. Joe's did. :P I had hoped to have some more on board entertainment. At least both flights we had our own row and the boys were pretty good. Joseph was so excited to get back to Utah because Santa left a picture of the presents he left for him in Utah. Once we boarded the plane, Joseph started to cry a lot. I asked him what happened and he said, "I don't want to leave New Jersey." It was cute. I am grateful that we were able to go.


Our boys were very excited to see the tree and presents when we got back from New Jersey. Some of Samuel's new words include: tree, stocking, Santa, and presents, plus open it. They learn young. :) At least he is saying "thank you" more often.

With Grandma Rankin on our last day in New Jersey. We got a picture of her with the boys and the collage that Joseph and I made. It turned out really nice and pictures just don't capture the thought Joseph put into the placement of the pictures.

Our last family home evening with Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Chrissy. Joseph loves family home meetings and learned a new game.

Samuel playing with homemade play-dough. That is another new word. He wanted them rolled into a ball and then he would promptly squish them and want it rerolled into a ball to do it again and again.

Joseph and Grandma baking gingerbread cookies. We couldn't eat the ones on the house because they were too hard. These turned out super yummy. Joseph's favorite shape was the bear.

So this came after the one below. Joe noticed that the gingerbread house had gnaw marks on all of the kisses. We then noticed that Joseph had chocolate all around his mouth. You can guess the rest. Samuel enjoyed sucking on the candy. Joseph gnawed off more chocolate.

Notice all the little teeth marks. It was funny to find it this way.

Joe wanted me to include this picture. It is a face that Samuel gives Joe when he is about to do something he knows he shouldn't do.

Joe giving me a look as he is browsing through photo albums with his parents and the boys. I wonder where my boys get it? ;)

Samuel on top fo the table during a game of Mormon bridge. It is a fun game that we played with rook cards. Grandma Rankin is hooked on this game. Joe liked it too. We played it often. Samuel liked to help me by pounding his little fist with the number of bids he thought I should win.

Grandma, Chrissy and the boys watching Home Alone 2 in Cranberry, Pennsylvania. We went to visit Great Grandpa Rankin. He was in the hospital so we only saw him once briefly. I don't think he will remember that we were there to see him. We love him lots.

While we were in Jersey, a big snow storm came through. It snowed and left about 2 feet. They declared a state of emergency and closed the roads. We were eating dinner at Michael's house (Amy's boyfriend) and left right before the roads closed. On a sidenote, the dinner was amazing. Thanks to Michael's family. They are super nice and really good cooks. :)

Joseph with one of his presents on Christmas morning. The dragon and characters were from Grandma and Grandpa Rankin. The smile on his face was huge when he saw them. Samuel got some play food and a sandwich game. They both got pajamas which the boys enjoy.

Joe with some of his gifts. Joe's parents gave us the starting of a 72 hour kit. It is nice to have some stuff...now I just have to put packs together for all of us.

Samuel in front of the tree on Christmas morning. When I came out, he was saying, "presents, presents, open it."

Samuel helping Grandma bake. He was playing with the flour and repeating, "cooking, cooking." He likes to "help."

Here is a picture of the collage Joseph and I made. You will see that there is a little boy kneeling and looking at baby Jesus. There is a wreath around Mary and baby Jesus on another part. You can see wise men following the star to Jesus. The star is actually a snowflake that Joseph liked and said could be a star. You will notice Santa coming out of the temple plus lots more. Joseph "decorated" one of the trees on the collage. It has red ornaments. The word joy is in gold and Joseph said it was because of the song we sing at church (and he would sing it as he said it) "Joy to the world, the Lord is come."

Aunt Chrissy and Joseph with the completed gingerbread house before Joseph gnawed on it. They added the kisses.

Amy helped Joseph with the house before the kisses were added. Here is a before picture of it.

Ernest and Lydia with my niece and nephew. It was a lot of fun spending time with them. Joseph and Samuel enjoyed meeting their cousins for the first time.

These pictures are not really in order. This is a picture at a rest stop in PA. Ernest was meeting Joe's dad to give us back after our visit. :) Samuel and Joseph loved climbing the hill. Getting down was tricky, but they did it.

The cousins watching a cartoon together and snacking on popcorn. What cute kids!

Joseph, Samuel, Elena and Brandon helping Uncle Ernest collapse the bed in the morning. They were having a lot of fun as it rocked them back and forth, hence the reason it needed to be deflated.

Joseph walking with Elena to the house on our first day there. I thought it was cute that she was letting him help her even though they had met not more than 2 hours before for the first time. Brandon is right behind them.

Grandma Rankin and Samuel. He enjoyed playing the piano and would find a reason to sit there. He would actually pat the bench next to him, look at me and say, "sit down, sit down." He is really wordy these days.

I have lots more pictures, but they are on Grandma Rankin's laptop in New Jersey. I need to get copies of them. I should have brought extra memory. As for some of the gifts I recieved...I finally got a Canon Rebel!!!! Yay!!! I have been wanting one for years. Now I have to learn how to use it. I also got a nook with some books. I read North and South, the Lost Hero and started Vanity Fair. It was a great Christmas.