Whoosh

This post will be all about pictures, a picture explosion. I am indecisive and couldn't decide which ones to post, why not just post them all?
46 days and 500 pictures later (no I am not posting all of them!), I am back in California. The trip to Utah went by way too fast. I came home with one boy who can mostly walk, (he prefers crawling). He can also go up and down stairs. Another boy that is laughing and almost rolling over.It was so nice having lots of people around to hold babies, they didn't seem to mind one bit!
Last Friday two of my sisters came for a sleepover and to help me work on a quilt I'm trying to finish for Jake. Jake came home with the fabric for this quilt he wanted me to make for him. He drew up an altered pattern on some graph paper. I quickly got to work...and then got sidetracked, and then got babies, and then realized it's almost 3 years later! It will be done in time for a Christmas present!

My niece Sabine also joined the sleepover

This past Tuesday my mom, dad and I were able to go to the Draper temple. Thank you sister Emily for babysitting! Unknown to me, smaller temples don't rent the clothes...ack! Now I know for any future visits.
Jake left right after work on Tuesday and arrived in Utah around 2am.
We spent Wednesday and Thursday at my parents house. Thanksgiving was at my parents with just my immediate family, 25 people! We were even missing about 6 people. That's what you get when there are 8 kids, their spouses, 14 grandkids. I made a pecan pie and rolls and helped with various other things. I love cooking for a crowd, I think it's fun and exciting.
What an exhausting day. Xander fell asleep in the bathtub. You can't see the water but he kept rolling half his face into it. Wish I could have let him sleep.

Friday and Saturday was spent with the Stevens. Friday we gathered for family pictures. We took them outside so it was quite chilly.

Jake and his siblings.

"Jesse, let me tell you how it's done, I've had a lot of experience"










One of the highlights of the week was blessing Alexander and his cousin Jesse. I am so grateful for the Priesthood in our home and that Jake is able to bless us in so many ways.
I have to say, thank you Anne for this outfit. It was perfect for this special occasion!

Xander was blessed by his daddy Jake (if you didn't figure that out already)Jesse was born the end of July. It was so fun to be able to bless them on the same day.

He was blessed by his dad Cameron. It was so nice to see Cam again. We haven't hung out since before Kaleb was born!Thank you so much to all of our family that was able to come and support us on this special day.
After the blessing we had lunch and just squeezed in as much family time as we could.



















Sadly, after this we had to pack up the car and head home. We had to tie the stroller to the roof of the car since we had more stuff than we came with. It was an uneventful drive and we only had to stop a few times. We arrived home around 6:30am exhausted. The boys were ready to start the day. Kaleb was excited to see his wooden truck. He seemed unsure of what to do and where to go, or where he even was. Church didn't happen but I'm excited to go next week to see everyone. Now if only I can find the will to unpack and clean up our mess.
Thank you again to all our family for letting me stay with you and putting up with loud, puky boys. We love you so much and are so grateful for you and for all you've done for us.
I miss you already!

Why Follow the Norm?

It's hard to believe that I have been in Utah long enough that it is almost time to go home. Less than 1 week and Jake will be here! This has been a really fun trip (I can't really call it a vacation). I am so grateful that I was able to spend this much time with my family (Stevens included in that). It will be hard to leave and go back to my boring cubicle of an apartment. Although I'm sure the boys will be glad to get back in their element and have a routine again.
Here's a few more pictures from the past couple weeks. I need to post them now before they never get posted because next week is going to be a crazy busy week with all the family, lots to do.

Kaleb is a bit different of a boy. Give him cars and trucks and he doesn't roll them on the ground or make car 'vroom-vroom' noises. Kaleb spins the wheels. He loves anything that spins. It is so fascinating to watch him learn and grow and see curiosity spinning the wheels in his head.

Why eat chili with a spoon when you have fingers!? Straight to the bath for this messy guy. His hair still smelled like chili after his bath. By the way, Kaleb loves chili and will eat several bowls of it before I decide he has had enough.

Little drummer boy. My dad knew how to quickly win Kaleb over. Show him how to use a drum. My parents were saying how they missed their little quiet apartment in France, then showing their grandson how to beat on a drum. Hmm, do you think they really miss the quiet?

My niece Jasmine is now living at my parents house. It has been fun spending time with her. She is a huge help with the boys, whether I want it or not. Yesterday we went and picked up a huge bag-full of walnuts. Now we just have to crack them all. That's a lot of work just for the little nut you get at the end. I don't know why but I find it interesting that walnuts have a soft shell protecting their inner hard shell.

Grandpa and grand-kid #14

Kaleb is pretty much walking now. He'll walk across a room and then pause with a reflective look on his face as if he is thinking, 'what am I doing?' then he'll quickly drop back down to four-wheel drive. He has mastered stairs and mostly walking. Utah is a good place for him! He did fall down the stairs last week at the Stevens. We were both shaken and scared more than anything else. It did take him awhile to get his breath again.
This is kind of a long video with me trying to showcase Xander laughing, which he does until I pull out the camera. I also captured Kaleb walking. I realize I am a horrible cinematographer. The video is not only shaky but it goes all sorts of directions also.

Thank you again to all of my family for putting up with me and the boys this past month and a bit. We have had a great time being here. We will miss having the family around, it will be hard to be alone in California again. I am so grateful for my amazing and wonderful family and for all their love and support.
Next post will be about December in California!

Boooring

I don't actually have anything to write about this past week. I didn't even have any pictures from this past week - is that possible!? I quickly grabbed my camera and took a few pictures, and a video of the boys. I will take whatever opportunity that I can to show off some of the cutest boys ever. I am a little biased.
Alexander spits up, throws up, spews, urps, whatever you call it, he does it pretty much constantly. I have been trying to contact his doctor and doctors here trying to get things taken care of so he won't have to be screaming in pain any more, poor guy. It was recommended to me that I take him in for an X-Ray of his stomach, and he could possibly require surgery. That has been pretty much my week. The past few nights sleep has been pretty much non existent since Alexander decided he will only sleep if I am holding him upright against my chest with his head on my shoulder. I hope things can be resolved quickly.
He is still such a sweet baby and has started to laugh a little. He loves bath time so it seems like he too will be getting one once a night just because. Right now he needs it though. He stinks like sour milk all the time, I wonder why :-)
Kaleb is just Kaleb. He is so sweet and fun to be around. He is such a mellow child. It is really noticeable when other cousins are over and they are running amok, here and there. Kaleb will be sitting in one spot playing with a diaper wipes container, or other such thing. He loves the leaves and dirt and will just sit in the yard in one spot for quite a long time transfering the same dirt or leaves back and forth. Today my brother was moving things out of the house and he propped the door open. Kaleb saw his opportunity for freedom and booked it out the door. By the time I ran out there I had images of him cruising down the street. He was just sitting so serenely within feet of the door because he found dirt that stopped him in his tracks.
Kaleb has pretty much mastered the stairs and sidewalk curbs, etc. He loves being in a house with some many stairs. So many new places are open to his exploration.

We have thoroughly been enjoying our time here in UT and I think my parents have enjoyed getting to know their #11 and #14 grandkids (I think so, or hope so anyway). I wonder if they miss their quiet serene apartment in France.
Both kids are having a simultaneous meltdown...guess that means adu until next week.

Beavers and Ducks!

...well, lions and ducks anyway. And kudos if you can name the movie where "beavers and ducks!" comes from.
What a fun filled weekend this was. A lot of pictures quickly overloaded my camera. Be prepared, I'm warning you, this is a picture overload blog post,

Thursday evening we went to the Stevens for a short visit.Kaleb loves Tucker and sometimes you don't know who is chasing who

It's a big world out there

Friday we were able to go to Shawna's work and trick-or-treat to the cubicles. It was fun to see where she works and meet her coworkers.
Kaleb was so excited to be a duck. It was one of his first words (if you can decipher between that and truck)
As soon as we tried the costume on him he was jumping up and down "duck! duck! quack quack quack"

Aunt Shawna and Kaleb

Grandma and Xander the lion

Afterward we went for lunch at a really yummy Greek restaurant..Raygan was also with us - why don't I have any pictures of you!? She was wearing the coolest witches hat ever!

Saturday morning my parents picked us up on their way to Salt Lake. We had the opportunity to witness my 9 year old niece Nile being baptized. She listened to the missionary discussions and accepted the blessing of being baptized. I am so proud of her and this decision. I know she will be greatly blessed because of it.

My Dad baptized Nile
My Dad, Nile, my sister Michelle and her hubby Alan (Nile's parents)

Next we went to Michelle's house to enjoy a Halloween family get together...

4 generations of amazing women

Here's an overload of the fun that ensued...

Sister Emily and son Sammy, Mom, sister-in-law Mari,
sister Michelle and her son Lucas in the front

Kaleb loved the leaves and couldn't get enough of playing in them

Two of my favorite boys...I really missed having Jake there




























Trick-or-treat time!
It was such a perfect evening weather wise...not too cold...ahh
We first went next door to the church for trunk or treat. I think it is a fact as far as I know. No matter where you are the gospel is always the same truth, and there will always be trunk-or-treating.

Ella the elephant, Nile the witch and Lucas the, uh?? well, he did have a light saber and a red cape, I don't think it was Little Red Riding Hood, just not sure...

TRICK-OR-TREAT!
Whenever I tried to get Kaleb to say "Happy Halloween" or "trick-or-treat" he would just say "quack, quack, quack" I guess that works just as well.

brother-in-law and sister with their kids Sammy and Ella.
Ella is the funniest little girl and I think her mom could write a book with the funny things she says and does. Tonight she loved trick-or-treating and was running between houses laughing maniacally.
At one house she was riding on Dad's shoulders and a gentleman commented about how she got a ride. Dad said, "yeah, she ran out of batteries"
Ella "I don't have batteries!"










I guess I should close now and rock this crying baby in my arms.
I hope you all have a good week and don't get sick eating too much candy.