The Jenkins Moved

Our buddies moved this morning & we're already missing them!

It's hard to find a family that has children the same ages that play well together & wonderful parents to hang out with & 'baby sit swap' for date nights.

We helped them pack this week & had the kids come play a lot. Last night the whole family slept over as their beds were packed, which was so fun for the boys!

We're going to do a beach weekend with them before they travel to their final destination-Japan.

Alec Swimming

Every summer I put Alec in swim lessons for four weeks (a friend in the neighboring ward teaches in her backyard). This summer he's begun working on his backstroke, side breathing during freestyle & his frog kick for the breaststroke. This week he also began diving on one knee & a swan dive. He loves it so much! He's swim teacher calls him her 'miracle baby' because he catches on so quickly & does amazing. She love to throw him in the deep end & have him tread water, then float on his back. I think watching the American trials for the summer Olympics has certainly encouraged him also.

His favorite is definitely the backstroke (unless you count cork screwing), it's what he does to relax since he hates working on his side breathing. I'm excited that we may have found his niche-something he excels at & enjoys.

We got a 3-month pass to the YMCA so he'll certainly get plenty of practice this summer!

'Brave'

Paul and I were doing a lot of things around the house today (yardwork and cleaning the garage), so we decided to take all three children to the theater and see Disney's 'Brave'. My parents and my brother and his family came also.

Paul held Evy through the entire movie and the boys were sitting on and next to Nana. We were really impressed at how well they all sat through the movie! It was nice to have some family time as well.

At-Home Sick Days

James's stomach bug lasted about 4 days. So of course, on the fourth day Alec caught it! He woke me up around 3 am on Thursday morning because he'd been throwing up. Luckily he's old enough to have run to the toilet so I had no mess to clean! I immediately put him on the zofran & limited his Gatorade intake to one glass an hour & he's not thrown up in two days!

Staying at home all day means we need more things to do around the house. This is the time of year where we'd be out swimming every day, so staying inside feels stifling and, although sick, the boys are going a little stir-crazy. I did cheat & let them pick out some dvds to rent from the library, but we still need activities. So, today we made some moon dough (4 cups flour + 1/2 cup baby oil). The idea was to use it to make tracks of different vehicles & identify them. We then moved on to dinosaur tracks, which quickly morphed into making a volcano (I'll probably never understand Alec's fascination with volcanoes). The boys loved it & it was a simple clean up! Plus the boys were happy, thinking & creative!

Evy slept through it all peacefully. She's going to sleep through anything with 2 big brothers!

One Month Old!

We're so happy to have Evy here with us!

She's currently sleeping about 6 hours a night, 10-4.

She's pretty mellow most of the time & patiently endures her brothers excessive kisses & cuddles, but can have a temper if ignored too long.

We love her sweet little spirit & she's already a daddy's girl, preferring Paul to bathe her & loves her cuddle time with him!

Jamie to the ER

Poor little James was throwing up this morning before we left Utah & continued on the drive home. Poor little guy! Alec was an awesome older brother & gave Jamie any toy he wanted & let him pick out the movies.

We kept trying to get him to drink, but nothing stayed down. When his temp spiked to 101.5, Paul took him to the ER. They gave him some zofran to help suppress his gag reflex & it worked! He kept down a can of Gatorade and two Popsicles! He got to come home straight away with a prescription for more Zofran if it still is a problem tomorrow. Hopefully Alec & Evy don't catch this nasty stomach bug!

Saturday in Utah

Saturday morning we headed to Liberty Park to let the boys play in the stream with their cousins. Lots of family fun! Then, my old friend Kim came with her two little boys. We got to catch up while the boys played. Paul was awesome & watched the older two (Alec & Dominick) play in the stream. Kim & I grew up in fort Collins together & hadn't seen each other on over 10 years!

After the park we headed to temple square, wanting to show the boys where we were sealed. They loved it! James told me, "fanks for getting married. It makes me happy." so funny & sweet! They loved the interactive exhibits especially & liked touching the toes of the Christus statue.

We headed straight from there to Zupa's, an awesome soup/salad/sandwich place (seriously, why is this not in Vegas?!) to meet up with Justin whittaker, Emma & Dan jones. Justin was my housemate/ 'big brother' when I lived in England & Ems is one of my best buddies. It was awesome catching up with them! Wish I'd taken some pictures though...

Kelsey's wedding!

Yesterday (Thursday) we drove from Vegas to Salt Lake City. The kids did great on the drive-Evy slept for most of it & the boys were happy watching DVDs! We stayed up late hanging out at my sister Kari's house (where I painted Evy's fingernails & toenails) before heading to my other sister, Kelsey's apartment where we're staying.

The sealing was at noon at the bountiful, Utah temple. It was so lovely! My grandma & aunt watched the kids outside for us, then it was time for pictures, then off to Heritage Gardens for more photos, the ring ceremony, dinner & the reception. The boys were SO tired, but luckily their meltdown was over before the ring ceremony, seeing as Alec was the ring-bearer!

It was so nice that the venue had an outdoor area for the kids to run around & play during the dinner & reception. The boys had a blast with their cousins (even their new ones!)

Busy Monday!

We took Evy out for a walk to the park today-she slept the whole time, but Alec & James had a blast!

Afterwards, James cashed on the couch whilst Alec headed out to gymnastics with his buddy, Cannon, then to play at Cannon's house until he had swim lessons. Busy day for Alec!

Jamie Russell, Superhero

I think he believes his superpowers blind me-he keeps inching towards the baby.

James loves to kiss Evy constantly. I'm trying to enforce a "only kiss her hair, not her face" rule that's failing miserably.

Alec, meanwhile, prefers to dress as a Jedi with a Darth Vader belt.

Pirate ships

James is a huge fan of pirates at the moment, so I checked out pinterest to get some pirate game ideas. The boys were mostly excited to make pirate ships, so we tried...

Evy & Daddy

Alec got hold of my camera phone & I thought this was a cute photo from his eye level.

James splashing

Playing in a friends' backyard!

Bath Time with Daddy

If I tried to give Evy a bath she screams. Paul claims it's because she'll want to eat if I'm nearby, but I think she also enjoys the one-on-one time with her daddy!

Good Morning

Alec is trying to nurse Evy with his finger...