Happy day

Scotty and I took a one-day trip to Portland this weekend. We had the opportunity to do my brother's temple work. 

What a sweet, special experience.

There are no words to express the beauty of this day. Thanks to all who helped make it possible.

Other highlights of our whirlwind trip:

• Dinner with my dear friend Char
• Scott's visit with Jason, Kristen, and baby Georgia
• Burgerville
• Gorgeous fall weather and foliage

Due to the time constraints of our visit, we were unable to see other great friends in the area. We hope to head out there again sometime soon. Catch you then!

Dirty Thirty

Happy 30th birthday to my amazing man!

We celebrated with family and Coldstone ice cream cake on Monday. Scotty's schedule is way too busy for anything fun today. Boo. We'll be lucky if we cross each others' paths. We have a little trip planned this weekend, so that will make up for it.

 Thank you so much for all that you do, Scotty! We love and appreciate you more each day... even if you are old.

Personality

Travis is in such a cute stage in his development... even though he epitomizes age two. I feel a need to record a bit about our Mr. T and his personality at this time.

• He now primarily speaks intelligible English (intelligible to me, at least). Once upon a time, he would walk up to you and jabber on and on in his own language. Though I miss the cuteness that was Travish, his English is also simply adorable. There's an innocence and excitement behind his speech that melts our hearts.
• He calls his messy diapers "stinky doom." Yes, he came up with that completely on his own.
• He often bounces his whole upper body for rhythm and emphasis when he speaks.
• He loves cartoons. He sings along with the theme songs and cracks up at the littlest things.
• He stumbles and laughs when he runs. He can be a serious klutz and dives into life head first... literally.
• He tattles on himself. I frequently hear Travis shout, "Mama! Dabis is dawing on da counter!" or "Dabis is spashing in da baff!"
• He is such a snuggle bug. He loves to sit on my lap and cuddle or snuggle up next to me with his head on my shoulder. Travis also gives the longest, tightest hugs.
• He tackles everyone. Even Libby.
• He eats anything I put in front of him. Not only does he eat it, he enthusiastically tells me that it's "dee-yish-is!" (I took this as a complement until he did the same thing with dirty bath water. ) 
• He loves to draw-- as you can tell from the above picture. Every day, he begs me to "color paper!" If he's using markers, he draws all over his face and hands. If he's using crayons, he eats them.
• He also loves to read, especially if he can cuddle on someone's lap. His favorite books of the moment are Brown Bear, Brown Bear and Green Eggs and Ham. He has both almost memorized.
• He absolutely adores Libby. They're becoming great friends. Travis plays with her, "feeds" her, and makes her laugh whenever he can. He calls her "Lala," "Leebee," or "Leebee Deen."
• He is polite! He says, "Peez!" and "sank ooo!" for every little thing.
• He is a great helper. Travis is eager to "keem up" (clean up), whether that means attempting to mop or chucking dirty dishes into the sink.
• He wiggles his fingers-- in a manner reminiscent of baby birds' mouths-- when he wants to be picked up. He sometimes uses the "Trav hands" or "magic fingers" when he really wants something out of reach.
• He is our little Houdini. He seriously finds a way to get into anything! Once he's in, he finds a way to make a mess or get into trouble. Though this can be admittedly irritating, we've reached a point where we just shake our heads and laugh; he's truly innocent about it.
• He sings and hums throughout the day.
• He's a people person. When I take him to the store, he holds conversations with anyone we pass. As we walk away, he says, "Bye-bye! See ya soon!"
• He knows his colors and loves blue. 
• He exclaims, "Ta-da!" when he's especially proud of himself.
• He likes to "dump" (jump). Travis squats as low as he can and then shoots up, arms to the sky, feet never leaving the floor.
• He calls pirates "yo-ho pirates" and most bread products "bagels."
• He called his vitamins "poop" for about 6 months. We have no idea why. We also have no idea why he started using the real word last week.
• He asks for pizza and a chocolate shake for breakfast every morning. And he seems genuinely surprised when I don't give it to him.
• He has no fear of the doctor but is terrified of animals (except bugs).
• He is a total mama's boy. And I don't mind one bit.

Sunday sick day

Our church had its annual Primary Program today. Jamin is a Sunbeam, making this his first year. We were very excited to watch him and share a picture of him in his Sunday best.

Instead, he woke up with a fever and a nasty head cold. 

Bummer.

Linder Farms '10

We went to Linder Farms last night and had a blast! This is our third year of this fun fall tradition.

Squinty Jamin and "Cheese!"-faced Travis:

Libby (in ErgoCarrier), me, and Jamin:

Once we got inside, the boys immediately ran to a giant vat of dried corn:

  

Travis realized this was the perfect moment for his much-practiced "corn dance." Basically, he sings, "Corn dance! Corn dance!" over and over as he stomps in circles:

  

Next, the boys played in an obstacle course:

  

This expression on Trav's face either means that he's saying, "Cheese" or is scared. In this case, it's the latter; he's recently become terrified of heights:

  

After that, they went for a swing:

  

Then, they rode on the barrel train. The barrels used to be painted like cows but now feature spooky stencils:

  

Libby + Daddy:

 After that, we went to the petting zoo. They have the coolest animals:

  

But the pygmy goats were our favorite:

 

  

Travis was a bit standoffish and enjoyed the animals from a distance. He finally got up the nerve to feed a goat, and it licked his hand. That was the end of that:

  

Jamin was thrilled to ride this pony:

 Oh, those lashes. What a lucky girl.

After playing on the inflatables, the boys strolled through the hay-bale maze:

(Jamin may have cheated)

"King of the hay!"

My handsome boys:

 Libby was a bit tired by this point.

 And the dust irritated her left eye. But she didn't seem to mind.

Next up, hay ride:

We had just enough tokens for J&T to ride the barrel train once more:

The wind turned cold during the boys' last ride, so we opted to skip the pumpkin patch and and warm up with some pumpkin chili.  Cook a batch; I guarantee it will become an instant favorite.

You know you had a great time when you're covered in a layer of dust, your kids have dried corn in their shoes (and their diaper... in T's case), your tummy is full of tasty goodness, and everyone crashes by 8:30. Ahh!

Leaves

This is my favorite time in autumn. There's a slight chill to the air that's perfect to enjoy with a jacket and sneakers.

This past week, the leaves began to turn. We play outside each day-- often with a leisurely stroll around the neighborhood-- to take full advantage of this stunning time of year.

 Jamin is our autumn veteran. He runs and jumps enthusiastically, collecting leaves of all colors, making "leaf angels," and initiating leaf fights:

Travis is thoroughly enjoying his first fall on two feet. He laughs as he crunches leaves beneath his shoes, watches them fall from the trees, and digs them into piles:

This is, of course, totally new to Libby. She happily squeals while examining the leaves, clapping them in her hands, and swishing them around in her mouth (before I pick them out):

What a fun season to play and explore!

It's been a year...

Today marks one year since my brother's death. Many people have asked how I'm doing, so I decided to share here.

I'm okay. It's hard to think about what he went through and what could have been (again, useless... but it just comes up). And I miss him. We were very close growing up and became distant when his struggles began to overwhelm him, pushing away those who loved him most. We were beginning to rebuild our relationship when he died. That aspect of grieving remains pretty raw. 

While I'm still coming to terms with his life, I am completely at peace with where he is now. That comfort overshadows the hurt. All is well, and more good things lie ahead. Stay tuned. :)