California Adventure

On Friday we spent the entire day in California Adenture. Ammon was big enough to go on a lot of the rides, so that made it fun. We didn't think we would stay there all day but it kept us entertained. The only thing we had done in California Adventure before was the Bug's Life area, but this time we hit everything that Ammon could ride which included the river rafting ride and the Flying Over California. By the time we got in the car to head home the boys were EXHAUSTED so they quickly fell asleep and we had a nice calm ride home.

A Day in Disney!

DisneyLand was tons of fun. It was amazing to wake up in our own beds and find ourselves in DisneyLand just a few hours later. Ammon and Peter both loved the rides as did Andy and me. It was great finally letting our hair down and just having fun as a family!

Getting to Yuma

The drive between Las Vegas and Yuma was very uneventful. There is NOTHING out there. But to make it interesting the roads do curve a bit and there is a long stretch that has ups and downs making Ammon feel like he was riding a roller coaster. After breakfast in the condo, and filling up with gas on our way out of town, we were Yuma bound and made pretty good time. I think we left around 10:30 in the morning and arrived about 4:00 PM. We stopped once for lunch.

When we got to our neighborhood there was a man driving away. He turned around and ended up at my house about the same time I did. Turns out he was from the ward and, although we weren't planning on people coming by to help us until 6:00, he had just decided to drive by anyway. Robert is his name, and he and Andy were able to unload the truck and have us all ready to unpack well before the moving party was scheduled to start! It was great to have things so quickly situated.

Later that night the Bishopric stopped by and chatted for a bit. Andy had met one of the counselors brothers when he EOD'd. The brother is a BP agent and attends the ward Andy went to last time he was here.

Our first night in our new home, Ammon and Andy both spent throwing up. It was pretty miserable! Fortunately they seemed better in the morning and by mid-day they were both doing fine.

With so much unpacking already done, Wednesday was open for us to get some errands out of the way. We went in search of the truck rental place to return our moving truck. We made a few wrong turns and spent some time wandering around. We couldn't find where we were going, but we did meander past the DMV (or MVD as it is named here) which was useful since that was the next place we needed to go.

After a while I looked more closely at the map Andy had given me and realized that the map wasn't to the truck rental place at all, but to the MVD. DUH! No wonder we were struggling. We ended up calling Budget, and fortunately for us they were relatively nearby. We ditched the truck and headed off to the MVD where we registered the Elantra for two years and both got AZ driver's liscenses. The whole registration process here was a lot cheaper than in UT, so we were glad about that.

We did a little exploring around Yuma and found a place similar to Jordan Landing (only bigger, I think) called Yuma Palms. That is where we found the Sprint store and switched our numbers to AZ numbers (as well as Susie's and Mom's. That was a mess!)

By the end of the day we were ready for bed and excited to wake up the next morning to head out to DISNEYLAND!

Driving Out of Utah

The first day of our move we drove to Vegas where we were able to spend the night. Las Vegas shouldn't be too bad of a drive but somehow it dragged on forever. By the time we said all of our goodbyes and stopped at the store and came back for the grill and finally got on the road, it was already 3:30 in the afternoon.

We weren't three minutes onto the freeway before Andy mentioned that they had a strange noise on the right side of the truck. We pulled off the road at the Bangerter exit and we just had to close the door on Ammon's side a little better. No big deal, but one more delay to our already delayed trip. It seemed impossible to get out of Salt Lake County! Finally we rounded the point of the mountain and we were really on our way.

We stopped at the park in Fillmore and let the boys play for a while. We had dinner in Cedar City and we stopped in Mesquite for a quick visit with my Grandparents who were heading north to Salt Lake and eventually on to Idaho. All in all, the trip took over 9 hours JUST to get to Vegas. We were exhausted by the time we got there and so grateful to Katy and Jeremiah for hooking us up with a nice condo to spend the night in. We went to bed and tried to rest up for the second half of our drive the next day.

The Final Goodbyes

Monday came fast! It was a long day of loading the truck and getting EVERYTHING finished in terms of packing, but somehow it happened. A special thanks to Derrick and David along with David's friend who made the loading job TONS easier by helping out. My mom helped a lot with Peter so I could get things done and Peggy ran lots of errands so that we could keep our noses to the grindstone. Dad had a hard time breaking away from work, but was able to sneak out in the afternoon and then suddenly there we were ready to say goodbye. It ended up being an impromptu farewell party. I feel bad that Joey and Jeremiah were working so we knew they couldn't come by, but I wish I would have called Rebecca and Krista to see if they wanted to come over since all the other siblings were there.

Ammon had spent the night with Carolyn and Kylie and spent the whole day playing with them (HUGE help while we packed) and then Katy checked Carolyn out of school so that she could come watch Ammon drive away in the truck.

The hardest part of moving away was separating Ammon from Carolyn and Kylie and taking Peter away from Isaiah just as they are getting to an age where they really recognize and know each other. The other thing that is just really difficult is leaving my sister Katy, who has really become my best friend these last years. Of course it was hard to leave all of the siblings and cousins and parents, but Katy and I have spent a lot of time together as our husbands have been busy with their various jobs and projects. I am sad to be so far away from family!

Anyway, we said our goodbyes which confused everyone because we were saying goodbye to everyone at the house - and it was a final goodbye for most. But we were meeting Danny and David at Smith's so that they could take Ammon out for one last cup of hot chocolate while Andy and I ran into the store to get some road-trip food so people were getting confused about what was going on. Eventually we got it all figured out and said goodbye to all and then headed over to the store.

We actually ended up going back for our grill, which we almost forgot. We are glad for the time we took at the store because Derrick remembered and called us about our grill just as we were starting up the vehicles to drive away so at least we didn't have to turn around and come back from the freeway or anything.

Derrick came back and helped rearrage the truck enough to get the grill on it and then we were off and really on our way to our new life as Arizonians.

Hello and Goodbye (All In One Breath)

On Sunday we had another hectic day with church and then straight to Andy's parents house were we started cooking our meal and waiting for a Shadel family gathering. Kara and Dale hadn't seen Andy since he came home in January and it was the last time we were able to see them before pulling out Monday afternoon so it was a quick hi and bye altogether. It was great to share one last meal with them before we left though, and I am glad that Ammon had a chance to ride to cars with Will one more time.

Welcome Home!

Andy came home on Saturday April 26th. Everything since then has been a fast-paced blur of stuff so I am just going to post it piece by piece. Obviously we were really excited to have our family back together again. We picked up Andy from the airport and went straight to his parents house for lunch. From that point we went home to pack fast and furiously until dinner with my family (adults only). After that we went and packed some more.

Andy and I did take a minute to sneak out and go to the Cheesecake Factory. Unfortunately I had been sick to my stomache and the food did not agree with me at all. I spent most of Sunday swearing that I would never go back EVER again. Suddenly I am not so sad to be moving away from the Cheesecake Factory. LOL.

Despite feeling lousy, it was nice to get away and spend a few moments alone with each other after such a long separation and before such a frantic life change.

Crazy Change of Plans

It started last week when Andy's apartment went from being $300/month to $400 to $500 and then $550. The landlord Andy was working with kept changing his story and it seemed pretty fishy. We started brain storming and came up with some other options for him but in our rushed conversation, something in his voice caught my attention and I suddenly realized how miserable he was at the thought of moving to Yuma without his family. Andy and I were chatting during his lunchbreak and I think I realized that our family needed to move down to Yuma together about two minutes after he went back to work. I started contacting a couple of people I know in Yuma who I thought may be able to help me. I figured that pulling together something in less than two weeks was a longshot at best, but I should at least look into it. By the time Andy called me after work, I had promising information from both of my contacts. I asked Andy what he thought of us all moving down together and he was immediately on board with the idea.

One of the leads we had on a house was from my friend Crystal who was getting the info on the house across the street from her. It was our favorite of our options - the one we were hoping would come together for us. And it did. By 8:00 that night we had made a deal with the landlord and our move was set in motion. The picture above is not the house we will be living in, but a picture that Crystal sent me of a house like the one we will be living in.

It has been a crazy week since then. It is hard to believe that in five short days I will be driving away from my life as a Utah and into my future as an Arizona resident. There are lots of things I am looking forward to about Arizona and lots of things I will miss in Utah. What an adventure life can be.

A Day at the Zoo

On Friday Ammon, Peter and I went to the zoo with Peggy and her uncle, Graham. We met his niece and her daughter-in-law Nicki along with Nicki's three little girls. The zoo was crowded so it was slow going by the time we all got through the ticket line and even into the zoo. Ammon was adventurous and ran away on his own several times.

The first time I lost him it was just Graham, Peter and me waiting for the others at the playground. I pulled out the camera to get some picture and Graham offered to take a picture of Peter and me. (see picture posted above) In that 20 seconds it took, I lost sight of Ammon. Apparently Ammon decided that he should go find the train station. I was on my way to report him as missing when I found him wandering around trying to figure out where the train had gone to.

The second time we lost him was just after we got to the giraffe's. The day had warmed up and I had several people throwing stuff into the bottom of my stroller. The wheels were starting to rub against the side of the basket so I bent down to rearrange things. When I looked up Ammon was gone! I assumed he had gone ahead of us and into the building for the giraffes. I went in and didn't see him. Peggy followed quickly and I stayed downstairs to watch the doors while she went upstairs. I was so surprised when she came down without him. We had NO idea where he could be.

The five adults all split up looking for Ammon. Peggy was the one who actually found him. She had been calling his name and a zookeeper beckoned her over. Ammon had found his way in to where the zookeepers were taking care of the giraffe's and he was hanging out with them. It was probably a pretty fun little adventure for him, but the day was getting late enough, and I was getting tired enough of him running away that we decided to head home at that point. It was fun though, and I am glad we went.

Afternoon Outdoors

The other day Katy and Jeremiah were busy with some house building things so Mom and I had fun watching Kylie and Isaiah as well as Ammon and Peter. The afternoon weather was pretty nice so we spent a good portion of the day outside.

Ammon and Kylie had fun on the bikes while Peter and Isaiah played with the toys cars. It was a great afternoon! We love playing with cousins and are going to be sad about living far away from them.

Picnic in the Park

Earlier this week Katy noticed that we would have good (80 degree) weather for a day before a storm blew in bringing more snow. She took the initiative and organized a picnic in the park for us to enjoy the good weather before more of the white stuff frosted the air and covered the ground. It was quick because we were working around nap and school schedules, but it was fun to let the kids get out and enjoy the outdoors together.

Peter had never been on a swing before and he was absolutely delighted! I was amazed to hear his laughter - he is rarely that deeply excited about anything. He was adorable!

Ammon had a grea time too and enjoyed running around with Carolyn and Kylie. What a fun afternoon.

A Day in the Life of Ammon

Last week Katy called, and, as she often does, had a great idea for something fun to do with the kids. We took them to the Riverton Library for reading time. The stories were all themed around birds, and she read some cute ones. Between books, the librarian led them in some fun, more active rhymes and songs. Everyone seemed to enjoy it. One thing that I thought was so cute and unexpected was that both Peter and Isaiah got into the music and started dancing all on their own. It was a fun (although slightly tiring) morning.

In the afternoons Ammon goes to South Jordan Montessori. His classes are Monday - Thursday from 12:30 until 3:30. He LOVES it! He does all sorts of fun things there. Lately, he has been reading BOB books which are complete books full of three letter words that can be sounded out. It gives him a great sense of accomplishment to know that he can read an entire book all by himself. The other thing he has been particularly interested in lately has been music. They started a music class once a week and he seems to really enjoy it. When he has been angry or disapointed about things lately he has told me, "I need my music." I turn it on for him and he calms himself right down and decides to be happy again. It is really cute that a four year old has learned to self-medicate difficult emotions through music.

The picture above is Ammon and classmates waiting patiently as their parents pick them up in the cars.

Happy Birthday Peter!

I just can't believe that my baby boy is one year old now! It has been a fun year getting to know this little guy. I have felt strongly that he came into my life very specifically to get me through this year. It has been a transistional year with Andy's job changes, and Peter's calming influence and powerful spirit has helped me through a lot of the rough spots.

Peter is sweet. That is really the best way to describe him. He is mellow, mild, easy going - however you want to say it - it boils down to him just being a sweet heart.

He likes pizza, chicken, beef, cheerios and chocolate. He does not like most fruits or vegetables (very different than Ammon who did not like meat, but LOVED his peas and corn). Peter will eat cooked carrots, though, and even will chomp on an uncooked carrot every now and again.

Peter adores his big brother. They are starting to have more and more fun together. His eyes are always glowing when Ammon plays with Peter.

Peter is not walking yet, but he is an excellent crawler! He can stand up by himself really well - he just doesn't see the point in taking wobbling steps when he can jet around so quickly on his hands and knees.

The only thing he really knows how to sign is "done". He puts his hands in the air and says, "duh, duh". I really need to show him more Signing Time - I know he would catch on so quickly if I do.

Peter loves his water bottle but could care less about juice or milk. He mostly still likes to nurse and I personally don't think he eats enough regular food. We're going to have to work on that one.

I just love my precious boy and am so glad we had the chance to celebrate his little life. Thanks to all of you who came to his party!

Crazy Day!

It just seems like today has been crazy. This morning I went and bought some furniture on a killer sale at ShopKo, of all places. It was an ORDEAL! That place apparently had a lot of sales that people were interested in because it seemed like everytime I turned around someone was asking about a different sale item they were looking for. Also, when they put something on sale, I think they stock about 1 ea of that item. Every person who was looking for something was basically told that it was all out. And this was happening about four hours into the first day of the sale.

Like I said, I was there for furniture. And apparently, so were most of the other people there. Anyway, long story short, it took me a total of many phone calls last night and three trips to the store just to get someone who was able to tell me whether or not they had the pieces of furniture I wanted. I wanted 5 items - the bed, two night stands, and both dressers (not the mirror). I ended up with 4 of them, but not until after being told that they were all there, then that only 2 of the items were there, and then back to having all of them but one of the nightstands. It took me two trips with Peggy's explorer to get the boxes all home from the store. Fortunately for me David was home and able to help with the loading, transporting and unloading - including driving home with a box set on top of the explorer with nothing keeping it in place other than David's careful driving. What an adventure! I still need to see if I can track down my 5th piece, but I just didn't have a second to breathe for the rest of the day.

Lucky for me, my mom had the boys for the whole time of the furniture adventure. But, it took me a lot longer than she or I had expected. By the time I got home it was way past Peter's nap time so we got him into bed and then Ammon and worked on Peter's birthday cake for tomorrow. Ammon seemed really hyper today and wasn't the easiest to deal with while I was focused on everything BUT playing with and entertaining him.

By the time Peter woke up it was pretty much time to eat. After dinner I was ready to go to the store. I forgot to mention that the pudding I needed for the cake I was making turned out to be cook-and-serve instead of instant. Oh - and it was needed to cover the already sliced layer of bananas. Ooops. I hurried and covered the bananas with whipped cream so they wouldn't turn brown and then had to wait until later to get out to the store. So finally, after dinner I am ready to go but I can't find 1) my keys and 2) my son! Ammon had gone outside and disapeared. I honestly thought he must have gotten my keys and was waiting in the car for me. My back has been acting up again so Mom carried Peter out to the car for me so I could head out, but no keys and no Ammon. I went back inside to look for my keys - (probably not the right priority, I know) and I did find them downstairs on the table where I had left them. As I was headed back upstairs I heard the doorbell ring. I was pretty sure it was Ammon, but I was surprised that he actually was being delivered home from the neighbors because he had wondered all the way to the end of the street.

After he was sufficiently scolded and spanked and sent to his room etc etc, we finally piled into the car and headed to the store. It was there that I really started to realize that I had had it. Ammon was still hyper and I was just trying to survive. Nothing major happened at the store, it was just one of those days shopping that you wished you were anywhere else!

Once we got home I stuck them in a bath. Peter slept about 2 hours later than normal because I hade messed up his nap schedule by being gone this afternoon, and Ammon was so extra-hyper that I was hoping a bath would calm them down. I was expecting bed time to be a beast. I was pleasantly surprised, however. Both boys got out of the bath and went to bed (about 40 minutes later than normal) like angels! They have been sleeping blissfully ever since.

I, on the other hand, have been frantically trying to figure out how much pizza I need for Peter's party tomorrow. There are going to be 26 people + 4 - 2 + a possible 4 + a possible 2. So that makes 28 - 34 people. But 14 of the 34 or 12 of the 28 -30 are kids. Of the kids 4 of them are old enough to eat pizza, but are only 1 so they won't eat a ton. Anyway, how do you calculate that? I try to be conservative in my estimations and I suddenly panic that it's not nearly enough. Then I try again and am sure I am going to have half of it left over! Oh well, Andy called and helped and we figured out what to order and it's probably way too much, but it's what we're doing.

And now it's way past bed time, ShopKo is closed and I am realizing that I still only have one nightstand, that finding the other way going to be a longshot anyway, and that the sale ends tomorrow, but tomorrow I am single handedly throwing a pizza party for Peter, which is already sounding a little daunting! Aack! So I have no idea if I will get anymore chance to track it down tomorrow than I did today.

Thanks Andy!

What a nice surprise! Thanks so much for the pretty flowers. Ammon was thrilled to answer the door and see such an unexpected delivery. I have noticed them many times throughout my day and, as Ammon would say, they "make my heart happy". I love you!

I Love To See The Temple

Being a full time Mom AND Dad for the past 3 1/2 months has been a big job. I seriously LIVE for Peter's naps because that is the only reliable down time I get. Unfortunately, since the time change a few weeks ago, we have been hit and miss on our schedule. Tuesday was one of those days where nap time just never happened. And by midmorning I was seriously going out of my mind. Ammon has school at 12:30 and even though it is only two minutes away I loaded the boys into the car before noon. I had no idea what I was going to do with them, but somehow the idea of Ammon and Peter both seatbelted and unable to touch me was very appealing.

I started driving, having no idea of where I was going when I started thinking about the temple. I might have been thinking of Katy's house - she has a triple temple view which is amazing! And then thinking about how I will be almost four hours from the nearest temple. I realized that while I am so close, I should take advantage and go see it. So that's where we went. Ammon was excited to see the temple and look up and learn about Moroni. We talked about what temples are for, who gets to go inside and what we do inside. I let the boys get out of the car and play on the grass for just a few minutes and before I knew it, I had a cute picture, a good experience, a much calmer demeaner, AND it was school time. Yay!

A Fun First

We were at the dinosaur museum the other day, and Peter had his first ice cream cone! What a lucky little boy - Ammon's first icecream cone was a cheap McDonald's vanilla cone. Peter had yummy strawberry icecream! As usual, Peter didn't seem any more excited than normal, but he kept a death grip on his cone and wouldn't let it leave his hands other than to slowly eat it. He loved it. Of course! Who doesn't LOVE icecream!

Being Groovy

On Saturday the boys and I went out to lunch at Wendy's. It was a nice change of pace for us - we got kids meals, but there was no play place so we actually all sat together and ate. Of course there was music on in the background and both Peter and Ammon started bouncing to the beat. Pretty soon Ammon was totally into the dancing and he started doing disco moves at which point he said to me, "Look Mom, I'm groovy!" I guess they learned about "groovy" dance moves at school. What a riot!

Back Yard Fun

These pictures are out of sequence since this was actually the Friday before Easter. Ammon had already been out of school the day before due to Spring Break so we were needing something fun to do. Aunt Rebecca came to the rescue! She went out to the backyard, cleaned off the slide for Peter and built a fire. Peter was so happy to be outdoors and to conquer the slide!


I knew Daddy would be proud to see Peter going down head first! (Although it makes for an interesting landing since Peter hasn't spent a lot of time outdoors and is still aprehensive about that scratchy grass!)


There was lots of fun for Ammon to rediscover in the backyard too! We are just so excited for the weather to be warming up and make this outdoor play so pleasant!


Ammon's favorite part of the day was eating smore's! We also had delcious hamburgers that Rebecca grilled up for us. It was a really great way to spend the afternoon. Later that night we were able to go to cousin Kate's birthday party! What a fun day.

We Miss You Daddy!

The only thing that could have made our holiday better was if Andy had been here. We missed him a lot. He wanted a picture of the boys in their new clothes. I wasn't sure whether or not I should buy them - it seemed like a lot of money. Andy's response was, "If they were girls you wouldn't even question whether or not to buy them Easter outfits. Just get them!" So I did, and aren't they cute!

Easter Morning

Instead of doing baskets, the Easter Bunny got Ammon a toy wheelbarrow and a pail and shovel for Peter. But they still were appropriately filled with fun goodies and easter presents. Ammon was just giddy with excitement that the Easter Bunny came. The Bunny always hides the eggs we dye and so he had fun hunting them down. We had daddy on the phone for a lot of our morning when we first went up and found what the bunny had left us. Then Grandpa Joe helped Ammon find the eggs that weren't as easy to locate. We had breakfast, put on the new church clothes, and went to church.

After church Ammon and I played the new game he had gotten. It was fun. Later in the afternoon Katy and family came by for a while. That ended up being lots of fun. Grandma Lynn did an amazing egg hunt in the backyard for the kids. There were probably close to 75+ eggs. The eggs in this hunt were plastic eggs and each child was assigned two colors to find. It was an absolute blast!

Later we had a nice dinner and put the boys to bed. It was a great Easter.


Ammon had fun discovering goodies in his wheelbarrow. We especially liked the game he got.


Peter got a toy phone in his pail. I wasn't sure if he would like it - he likes real phones, but so did Ammon and Ammon never cared for the "phony". But Peter was THRILLED with his new toy and had tons of fun playing with it all day.


Ammon was in the middle of his egg hunt when he somehow realized that he had a chocolate bunny. Well, you can see the delight on his face!


Peter enjoyed having candy too! Here he is chomping down on a whopper.

Dying Eggs

Saturday evening was time to dye the easter eggs. Ammon helped with the whole process starting with putting the white eggs in the pot to boil them. He helped put the colors in each of the cups and then helped add the water (I did the vinegar). He LOVES dying easter eggs and had so much fun doing it just the way he wanted to. You can see that he pondered very carefully just what color to use for each egg.


He was also very careful because he didn't want to break any of the eggs. Dying eggs is serious business - at least to Ammon, and he did a wonderful job!


All that careful, hard work paid off! Ammon was quite pleased with his finished product. After they dried, Aunt Rebecca helped him put stickers on his eggs. Then we put them away in the refrigerator where the Easter Bunny could get them to hide.