Snow Day!

On the 7th of January we had a snow day! It was not a lot of snow, and it didn't last too long, but we enjoyed it while it lasted. On the day's leading up to the 7th, we were getting weather warnings of a storm that could drop 4-7 inches of snow. Then, the night before, they were calling for 3-4 inches, and the day of they were calling for 1-3 inches. We got about an inch, and the trees were covered in ice. We were grateful for moving from Utah because we are snow prepped! Hats, gloves and snow pants for everyone! 

Ezra checking out the snow

This bear hat belonged to Jonathan when he was little.

Bearded burglar 

Bundled Baby

It was pretty windy for the first bit, so Ezra didn't last too long outside. Then he went back in with Jonathan's parents who were visiting us for the weekend. Jonathan, Peter and I went exploring in the empty lots on a street over. Eventually there will be houses there, but until then, we treat it like our backyard. Everything was covered in ice and if you were really quiet, you could hear it all creaking. I stood still for a moment and let Jonathan and Peter go forward and just listened. It was neat.

Peter and Robin 

Jonathan and Peter

It only snowed for a couple hours, and stayed on the ground for a couple of days after. Jonathan doesn't miss the Utah snow at all, but I do sometimes. It was fun to have some snow for a day, even if it was just a dusting.

This is Halloween, This is Halloween

Family of superheros
(Jonathan as Clark Kent holding Ezra as Robin, Peter as Batman, Robin as Supergirl)

A few months back, Peter informed me that he wanted to be Batman for Halloween. It was a cute idea, but I was sure that it would pass in a weeks time and he'd move on to a new costume idea. Buuuuut, he didn't. And I was totally okay with that, because superhero costumes are really easy to pull together, and lots of fun to be for Halloween. It took us a while to decide on which superheros everyone else was going to be (I tried to convince Peter to be Batman and me to be Robin, Jonathan be Spiderman and Ezra a little spider...be he only wanted Ezra to be Robin) but we finally settled on our superhero family for Halloween. 

Superheroes can fly!

We checked out a few Batman books from the library, and once Peter learned about sidekicks and that Batman's sidekick was Robin, he knew that Ezra was going to be his sidekick. Peter initially wanted Jonathan to be the Hulk and me to be Wonder Woman, but with a little convincing, we went with Superman and Supergirl- their costumes are much easier to pull together and less green painting. 

Batman's coming to save the day!

Jonathan's parents were here a few weeks ago, and his mom helped with much of the sewing of capes and my skirt, which was a huge help. The costumes came together great. Jonathan's was by far the easiest. He already had a superman shirt, and he just wore it under a white shirt and borrowed Peter's red tie.

Best Superman Ever. 

We had a ward Trunk-or-Treat and chili cook-off the Saturday before Halloween. Jonathan was gone all day Saturday with a group from our ward cutting trees for people who needed help from Hurricane Matthew. They have been going down the last couple of Saturdays. I'm glad he's been able to go and help other families. The group came back in time to come to the ward party. We had some delicious chili and Peter came home with a huge bucket full of candy, which he shared with Mom and Dad....because he doesn't know that other kids keep all their candy, and I plan on keeping it that way as long as I can.

Batman and Robin
These boys are the cutest. 

We also went trick or treating on Halloween in my brother's neighborhood. His family lives in a development with lots of houses and lots of families. It was fun to go around with them and let the boys go around with their cousins. Lots of homes had fun decorations and there was even a haunted house in the neighborhood. Peter collected more candy and a few glow stick bracelets. Ezra rode around in the stroller and was in a pretty good mood considering he was up way past his normal bedtime. It was a great night!

Happy baby, happy mama.

Halloween was a great success this year. We had a blast and have candy to last us a while. Peter has already decided he wants to be a chameleon next year for Halloween....I'm hoping he changes his mind on that, but if he doesn't I've got a year to figure out a costume! Happy belated Halloween!

Carolina Beach Trip

For Memorial Day weekend, we went on a trip to the beach! The initial plan was to spend three days at the beach with Jonathan's sister and her husband and anyone from my family who wanted to come. But, as we began looking into camp sites, there were no open spots, at least not anywhere close to the beach. Turns out, even though we were planning a month in advance, it wasn't enough in advance for Memorial Day weekend. Everything was booked. So, we went to plan B, which was to drive down to the beach just for Saturday, then drive up to Christina and Big Peter's home, and stay with them and drive home on Monday. 

Ezra napping on the beach 

We left for Carolina beach around 7:30 am, and got there around 11am. We stopped at a store along the way to get rash guards for the boys and sunscreen. White headed kids burn easily- and so does their mama, and we try to prevent that as much as we can. Jonathan and Peter went into the store and I nursed Ezra in the car and we were back on the road quickly.

Jonathan and Peter making moats and castles.

Peter becoming one with the ocean.

We made it to the beach and found parking pretty quick. We parked about a block away- closer than I was expecting we'd find, and it was way cheaper than I was expecting, so win-win. We grabbed our bags and the boys and found ourselves a great spot on the sand. We changed and sunscreened and headed to the waves. Peter loves them. He loved to sit in the shallow waves and get hit with each incoming wave. He also thought it was a neat feeling when the wave was heading back out to sea and pulling the sand from under his feet. At one point, a bigger wave hit him and he went under for a second and he didn't even get sad! Nicely done Peter. Ezra didn't love the water, but he didn't hate it either. He got wet up to his waist before he protested. We tried to get him to sit in the sand and splash in a puddle, but he did not care for that either. He seemed ambivalent about the sand.

Britt's Donuts and the beach- Win!

There is a donut place in Carolina Beach that is loved by many. And, lucky for us, it opens for the season on Memorial Day Weekend! So, when Ezra was napping and Peter was playing with a friend he had made, I sent Jonathan on a donut run. He came back with a dozen delicious donuts that were scarfed down in minutes. Best beach snack. Also, he had perfect timing, it started to sprinkle about a minute after Jonathan left to get the donuts and as soon as the drops started, people started packing and heading for the hills. I started packing in case the heavens decided to open. The wind started to pick up, almost blowing away the umbrella that was shielding Ezra. I called Peter over and had him hold tight to the umbrealla- not an easy task for a three year old- while I tried to gather things into bags. I was starting to get worried trying to get everything together, keep Peter focused on holding the umbrella, Ezra woke up...and then, Jonathan appeared with the donut bag, and the drizzling rain stopped. The potential rain had sent half of the beach goers home, and made the donut line really short! It was beautiful.

Shark Boys

Peter the Scuba Diver

We were a little nervous going into the beach trip due to a potential rain storm. We had been warned that there was a tropical depression heading to the coast and it was possible that it would start raining at noon and keep going all day. We discussed skipping the beach, but decided that even if we were only there for an hour, it would be worth it. We needed the break and knew that the beach would give us a good restart. We lucked out and had great weather all day. We had the one brief drizzle during the donut run, but other than that, no rain came down. The drizzle brought in some cloud cover and cooler weather, but it was still warm enough to play in the water.

Ezra fell asleep as soon as he got in the ring sling!
Nap attack.

Peter and Jonathan...that boy loves his Dad so much. 

Ezra barely in the picture...sleeping baby.
Peter's face. Ha. 

We stayed at the beach until Peter was done. That kid played hard all day. He made friends with anyone who would play with him. At one point, he finished eating his donut, looked at me and said, "Mom, I need to go find a friend." And he ran off to find a kid playing in the sand. Most of Peter's friends were kids about 10-12 years old and were building something in the sand and Peter would just start building alongside them. I tried to check with the kids to make sure they were fine with Peter playing with them. All the kids said it was fine, one of them said, "Yeah, it's fine. He's cute." Peter thinks he's a big kid.

Peter with a new friend.

Peter's face reaction to crab legs for dinner.

After we were done with the sand and sea, we decided we needed some good seafood before we headed back. We headed over to Michael's Seafood Restaurant. My Dad had recommended this place, he said the chowder was excellent and everything else he'd had there was good. So, we figured we'd check it out. We got the chowder, papaya salmon, and some tuna (I think) with grits. Peter got crab legs with corn on the cob. I was in the bathroom when Peter decided what he wanted to eat. When I came out, and Jonathan told me what Peter was getting, I asked Jonathan if Peter knew what crab legs were, he said, "Probably not, but he'll find out!" When they brought Peter his food, he just looked at it for a bit with big, almost nervous eyes.

Jonathan getting the crab meat out for Peter

Jonathan got to work breaking the crab legs and getting the meat out for Peter. Once Peter ate it, he deemed it wonderful. He devoured lots of crab meat, some of the chowder and a bite of salmon and tuna. He ate almost all of the crab meat. Jonathan had to work fast to try to keep up with Peter's fast eating.

Peter tried to use his teeth to get the shell open.

Jonathan and I both liked the food the other person got better than what we had ordered. We both ate a couple bits of the food we ordered and then tried the other fish. Jonathan said, "I like yours better." I was happy because I liked his better, so we switched and both left the restaurant happy and full. The chowder was quite delicious. I'd order that again in a heartbeat. I ended up with the papaya salmon, I wish there had been more papaya, the flavor was too light for me, but the salmon itself was great. Jonathan liked the tuna. Ezra nursed while we ate, so when we were done, we all got back into the car and drove up to Greenville to see the Olsons. The boys slept almost the whole drive to Greenville, so Jonathan and I got some good talking time, which is always needed.

It was a little bit of a crazy day, but it was worth it. We had a fun, Peter got to play at the beach (he's been wanting to go to the beach for months), Ezra met the ocean and sand for the first time, my California beach boy got to get his beach fix, and I had a blast spending the day doing whatever we wanted with no big plans or time limits. And, we learned we can totally do a day trip to the beach....which means there are more beach trips in store.

Get Outta My House

There are some days that when you get to the end of the day, you look back and think, "Well, I did not see the day going like this." Last Friday was one of those days.

The boys and I had been out doing some shopping, and we were driving to Grandma's house to pick up my sister, to bring her back to my house where we would get out and she would take the car back so she could use it while she is in town for the next little while. We had pizza to prep because we were going to have all my family over than night for a pizza party. We drove past our house on the way to Grandma's house, and I noticed a white car in the driveway. I assumed that it was a worker doing something on the barn and didn't think about it any more. We drove and got Allison and came back to the house. The white car was still in the driveway.

Allison helped get the boys out of the car and I grabbed the first load of groceries. We all walked to the house, I unlocked the door, and we went inside. I set down the groceries and went back to the car for the rest of the food. As I left the house, I noticed the white car driving quickly down the driveway toward the road. My first thought was, "So help me if they took my groceries I will cut them." But the groceries were all there, so I grabbed them, took them in the house and started putting everything away.

After everything was put away, I noticed that Jonathan's duffle bag was in our bedroom doorway...strange. Then, I noticed that our laptop was in the duffle bag (which, believe it or not, is not where we usually keep it). I grabbed my phone and called Jonathan as I walked into our room. Within 5 seconds in our room, I realized something was very wrong. Drawers were open, clothes on the floor, and our closet door was closed (we never close it). Jonathan didn't pick up, so I immediately called my Dad and said, "Dad, I think someone just tried to rob us." As I was on the phone with my Dad (for about 45 seconds) I could feel and hear myself getting more tense, emotional and scared the more I described what I was seeing. I pushed the closet door open and our closet window was open, screen pushed out. Suddenly everything made sense. There had been someone in our house when we got home. They must have come in through that window and I just didn't notice the open window when we were walking to the house. We'd stopped the attempted burglary and the individual had fled in that little white car. My Dad asked if we were okay, told me he was going to make a phone call and he'd be right over.

About 5-10 minutes later, my parents showed up. My Dad checked the barn, nothing was missing. Also, nothing was missing from our house. Laptops were accounted for, my camera was still sitting on the chair, tv and Wii were in their places. Passports, and important documents were all in their spots and jewelry was in its box. Soon after my parents arrived, Deputy Grant came by and I gave her a report of all that had happened. She made notes but said it was unlikely they would catch the person. I had a vague car description- white car, 4 door, small spoiler on the back, 30 day tags from SC. I hadn't seen a person, and they didn't take anything. I felt scared, angry, and very unsettled. Someone had been in my house. Someone I did not invite. Someone who wanted to take my things. I kept thinking, what if we had stopped to drop off groceries before getting Allison, what if I had gone back to the car a second earlier and seen the person, what if we had parked differently and I had put it together faster and gotten a plate number, what if they had tried to hurt us? I wish I had seen them or gotten a license plate number, but I am also grateful that they didn't take anything and that they decided just to flee instead of anything else.

I'm glad Allison was there with me. She kept Peter's attention off of Mom being scared and helped him with lunch and kept him occupied while I talked with the deputy. The deputy was also awesome with Peter and talked with him a little bit- they exchanged names and he asked her about her day. Allison stayed with me once everyone left while I made pizza dough for the family gathering later that day. After the dough was made, we all went back to my parents' home. I didn't want to be alone at the house with the boys. I feel very lucky, but I still feel very unsettled. I now check all the windows before I leave the house, and feel very anxious every time I come back home from being anywhere. I'm still pretty jumpy with random sounds, and if any car pulls up in our driveway, I walk straight out.

I also feel a level of confusion...I mean, you drive up to this house...

And you think, "Yeah. That's the place. I bet they have loads of things I could sell and make bank." This tiny house with the paint peeling off the sides. I bet he was a little disappointed when he got inside. Also, probably didn't help that we still haven't finished unpacking our bedroom, so it's a hot mess in there anyway. Anyway. So, that was how my last Friday went. Attempted burglary and police reports. But, we did end the day with a successful pizza party, the dough turned out great (usually Jonathan is in charge of the dough, but this time I made it), everyone had fun, and we got a bunch of the Gleaves family together. So, like they say, All's well that ends well. But, if I see that car again, they are getting a rock in their window. 

The Critters of the 17 Acre Woods

A couple of things I'd forgotten about life in the south- it's humid, and bugs. There are so many more living things that we get to see on a regular basis. Some of them I love, and some of them I really really do not love. They frequently get into my house. Sometimes they get in because Peter brings them in, and sometimes they find their own way. It's exciting.

Lizards and Toads

These are some of Peter's favorite critters. We saw a lizard on the window one of the first days we lived here, and have since seen them most days. They hang out on the side of the house, the fence and the shed. Peter tries to catch them, but when they move he gets nervous and freezes and they get away. Jonathan caught one the other day and Peter held it for a second before it escaped. Then, the next time Jonathan tried to catch it, the lizard bit him. So, now Peter always asks if it's a biting lizard. 

Spot the lizard!

Peter has also discovered toads, and he is better at catching them. The other day he surprised Grandpa with a bucket of toads that he has caught with Jonathan. So then, a couple days later, Grandpa came to our door with a toad in a bucket for Peter. Grandpa handed it to Peter, and it got loose, which happens frequently. But this time, it jumped through our open front door and into the living room, behind the dryer. Grandpa got it out, but it was an exciting couple of minutes. Haha. Then, Peter was playing with the same toad outside for a few minutes, and it got away from him and escaped through the fence. Peter started sobbing. He wanted to keep the toad forever. Poor little guy. Luckily there are always more toads. 

The Crawling Ones

Peter is also expert at finding inchworms, caterpillars, roly polys and earthworms. He pronounced it Anchworm for a while, but he's got it now. He keeps asking me if they can be his pet. He tries to convince me that they like to be in the house because they don't like the wind. Not a good enough reason. So, they always get to live in the plant by the door. He's put at least ten inchworms in that planter. He's also killed a number of inchworms, on accident. He'll say, "Mom. He not crawling. Why he not crawling?!" So we've had many talks about how they have soft bodies and we need to be really careful with them and let them crawl onto a finger and not be picked up. I think they have a higher survival rate now. 

One of Peter's pets he brought me.

Caterpillars have been a more recent find. They were confusing to Peter at first. He asked, "Mom, what's this?" I told him, "It's a caterpillar." Peter replied with, "But it's not green!" I'm not sure why he felt it had to be green, maybe because the inchworms were green? But he finally accepted that they were indeed caterpillars. One day, Peter found one and let it crawl up his arm as he walked to the mailbox with Jonathan. When they got home, Peter said with a sad voice, "Mom. I lost the caterpillar." Jonathan just smiled and told Peter to turn around. The caterpillar had crawled up his sleeve (the outside), and around his torso and was on the side of his shirt by his other arm. He was thrilled to learn it wasn't lost, and added it to the plant, where all the crawling bugs live. 

Bug boy with his caterpillar 

The Flying Ones...with Stingers
One less fun critter we find on the regular are wasps and bees. I find and kill at least 4-5 wasps per week inside our house. I think they are getting in the eaves of the roof and coming though the pull down attic door. Sometimes they get in because the front door is open, but we find them most often in our closet where the attic door is. The first one that came into the house flew up to the top beams in our living room which is far higher than I (or anyone else- 20 feet, or so, ceiling) can reach. I called my mom to see if she had any wasp spray. Luckily she did, and she came over with it. I kept an eye on said wasp with a shoe in my hand, ready in case he came down lower. He was not going to hurt my babies. My mom arrived with spray in hand, I threw a sheet over our couch so it wouldn't get covered on spray fall out, and I shot that wasp dead. I kept the spray and have since used up the whole can and bought a second one. Peter has gotten used to it and he'll spot them for me, or if he sees me go for the spray can he says, "Where's the wasp mom?!"

As of recent, we have had a new variety of wasp come visit us. These new guys are HUGE. They are probably the length of my thumb and they do not die easily. I have to spray them a bunch of times. And their faces look angry. They creep me out. My mom thinks they are European wasps. We've had three so far get into the house. I've killed two and Jonathan got one. We have learned that Jonathan stays a lot calmer than I do when one is in the house. We'd run out of spray when the last one got in. I kept the boys in our bedroom while Jonathan threw an empty salt container at the wasp to get him down from the beam, and then, wielding a poster tube, he managed to hit the wasp against the window and kill it. Goodness. It's been exciting.

The Birds

One of the more fun flying things we see are cool birds. There is a pond on the property and we get some cool visitors. So far we have had ducks, geese, hawks, turkey vultures, lots of cute little birds and a pair of blue herons. My dad doesn't want the geese there, so he always chases them away. Peter saw him once, and since then Peter asks about different types of birds, "Grandpa want these ones?" Haha, he's keeping an eye out for Grandpa. The herons are by far our favorites. They are beautiful. They fly in, land and stalk fish in the pond. We've seen the heron catch fish from time to time. 

Not the best picture, but you can see him a little on the bottom edge of the pond.

Snake Scare

Peter and I went out to get the laundry in from the line and I looked down and saw a little snake! I almost stepped on it. I wasn't sure what kind it was, but I know we have copperheads and other poisonous snakes out here. So, I snapped a photo and sent it to my dad. I called and asked if he thought it was a copperhead or if it was safe. He wasn't sure from the picture (fair, I didn't get too close when I took it), so he came over with my brother to look/kill it. I kept an eye on it as it slithered along, and let Peter look at it, at a safe distance until they arrived. My dad wasn't sure if it was dangerous or not, but we decided it was a "better safe than sorry" situation. They killed the snake, and Peter cried. We took turns explaining to him that it could have hurt him and that we were trying to keep him safe, but he was still sad for a little while. We haven't seen any other snakes since that one, but our neighbor, Graham, said he saw a snake swimming across the pond...so they are there. 

Baby snake

Mice and Squirrels

Just over a month ago, I found a bunch of mouse poops on the counter. I told Jonathan I thought we had a mouse and he informed me that he'd seen one, that very morning! He saw it run under the couch! And then he and Peter tried to find it, but it disappeared! And he didn't tell me! Gah! So, we set a trap, and caught it! But, then when we had the Wheatleys and Olsons over during General Conference weekend, they said they heard some scratching behind the oven! Jonathan pulled the oven out and sure enough, mouse holes and Jonathan saw a mouse running back into the hole! Gah! So, we reset the traps, and caught two more mice. Jonathan blocked up the holes, and we haven't seen anymore. Soooo, hopefully we are done with the mice. 

About a week after the mice issue had calmed down, I heard more scratching...above. Jonathan and I had both seen a squirrel climbing up and down a pole outside our kitchen window. I mentioned to my Dad that I thought we might have had a squirrel living in the ceiling. Then, the next day, I for sure heard that squirrel. He was running back and forth. It was pretty loud, and I was a little worried that the squirrel would fall through one of the roof panels and into the house! Peter was sleeping in his room, but Ezra and I were in the living room. I grabbed Ezra and went into our room, just in case the squirrel did fall into the living room. I called the 'rents, and let them know that there was indeed something running around in our attic space. I heard him once again after that time, but I haven't heard anything since then. Dad said he read that squirrels didn't like nesting in loud places, so Peter's noise levels may have been a blessing in us not having a squirrel roommate. 

So, that's the critters we've met recently. Toads, lizards, snakes, creeping bugs, flying bugs, birds, mice, and squirrels. We've also had tons of spiders in the house, fire ants outside the house, I found a caterpillar in our closet last week, dragonflies got into the house twice and there are 3 bumble bees that live in holes by our front door. Good times. There have been many times I've questioned moving here, especially during the mice and squirrel incidents. I've learned that although I grew up in the country, I am not a country girl. I am not a lover of creepy bugs or things that can hurt my kids. But, then I remember the herons and how Peter's face lights up when he finds an inchworm and how he is learning about so many different things and then I'm okay with it. Although I'd love to find a way to keep them all outside. Haha.

Nelson Family Update

I'll write a short update first and see if I have time for anything else afterwards. All the boys are asleep now (Jonathan included). I know some people would say, "You should be resting too!" But sometimes I think it is better for me I write some things down instead of sleep- get it out of my mind. Sure I'll be tired, but I'll have some memories stored. So, I'm writing and eating some Easter candy...none of which made it into baskets...because it was that kind of a night (I also spaced the Women's Conference address...good thing I can listen to it later online), and because I was trying to finish up a church talk because my brother is the bishop (leader of our congregation here) and asked us to talk in church today. I'm glad Peter is too young to know about Easter baskets, because he wasn't sad not to have one. Maybe we'll do it tomorrow, that can be our family tradition. But in the meantime, I'll eat some chocolate eggs and let you know what we've been up to.

We decided to move back east (I don't think I even wrote a post on that decision). So, we packed up, sold a lot of things and drove out. We made it across America!! We took 5 days for the trip, staying at various friends and family of friends along the way. The boys did surprisingly well and we saw some neat things. We stayed with my parents for about a week as we got paint and floors into the house we will be living in for the next bit. It is looking pretty great now, although we still have some projects we are working on.

The best news is Jonathan got a job!! He's a lucky charm. He will be working as the purchasing man for a Chinese textile factory based in South Carolina (about 30 minutes away from our house, so we don't have to move again!). Most of the workers speak Chinese, so Jonathan will get to use his language skills everyday. Their goal is to transition from Chinese workers to American's. So, Jonathan will also help in cultural differences and how to work together. We will really really miss having him home everyday to help with life, but it will be nice to have an income again. Also, another Jonathan update- he shaved his beard! My dad said that it might help in job acquisition as many people in the south equate beard with redneck. I'm pretty sure Jonathan would have gotten the job even with the beard, he'd spoken with them before and they really liked him, but we thought we'd better be safe. He looks good, and said he might grow it back sometime, but take a beard break for now.

Ezra, Peter and beardless Jonathan
These faces are my favorites.

We both spoke in church today. I spoke on how we can improve our lives by following Christ's example, and Jonathan spoke on the Atonement, justice and mercy. The talks went pretty good. The boys sat great as we switched speaking and sitting with them.

Peter: He is having a little bit of a tough time adjusting... again. We know from the last moves/Ezra's birth to expect about a 2 month transitional period where he is extra cranky and emotional, and boy are we getting it. Overall, he is doing great. He loves playing with his cousins, seeing Grandpa and Nainai, and playing with his Uncle Ian and William. He loves being outside to play and seeing the birds by the pond. There are just many more tears than a "normal" day and more foot stamping when we ask him to do things. It's exciting. He's also been really lovey to us, extra snuggles and hugs. So it's nice and hard at the same time.

Peter at the church Easter egg hunt

Ezra: He is growing and growing. He is in 6-9 month clothes for the most part. He is getting better at grabbing things. He is still super smiley and happy. He has developed the love of falling asleep not while being held. He will wiggle and squirm and then I can put him in his swing and he will calm right down and close his eyes. He is currently napping in the swing. I love that thing. Quick Ezra story: Today he was dressed up for Easter- and super adorable, as was his older brother and I was going to get an Easter picture of the family when we got home from church. So, naturally, Ezra pooped out his entire outfit- giant diaper explosion...it was terrible. And, naturally, I'd forgotten to pack an extra outfit. So, for the remainder of church, Ezra wore a zip up hoodie and shorts that I didn't know I had in my bag. He was pretty stylish. I learned my lesson to take pictures as soon as they are in their cute clothes and not to wait for any diaper explosions.

Ezra loves his thumb.

Robin: I'm also adjusting to living back in the South. Everything is simultaneously familiar and foreign. Buildings along the roads have changed and areas have grown. I get lost half the time when I drive because I don't have mountains to guide me and I didn't drive most of these roads when I lived here as a teen. There are people at church I've know since I was 11, but I haven't spent time with them since I was 18, so they don't know me and I don't know them, but we both think we do. I've been away longer than I lived in this city and the person I was when I left is not the person I am now. I am usually a visitor here, but now it is my home and I have to figure out where I fit in. But, I love it. My "yard" is full of trees and birds. We had a good rain yesterday and today, and I love it. This is a good spot for us right now. We'll see what comes next in life.

Taking selfies while we wait for Jonathan and Peter

Peter Panda Turns Two

While we were in North Carolina, we threw a birthday party for Peter. It was a few days before his actual birthday, but close enough to justify a party. His great aunt Deborah (my Dad's half sister) has a birthday close to Peter's so we threw them a joint party. Deborah made chicken cordon bleu for dinner, and Peter chose dessert...which means I chose dessert because he doesn't really know what that means yet. The gang came over for dinner, presents and dessert.

Dinner was good and everyone ate all they could. It was fun to have everyone over one last time before we headed back to Utah. We'd told Peter that it was his birthday, and he connects candles with birthday and will sing you the song, but his understanding wasn't much more than that...until we brought out the presents. He definitely understands presents. He's really good at waiting until you tell him he can open one, which is nice...learning patience young...at least with gift opening.

Best focusing face ever.

Book baby and his little feet

 He got some great gifts. Deborah gave him the most adorable little high top sneakers. They are still a bit too big, but he'll fit into them soon. My parents gave him lots of good travel gifts. He got a "Very Hungry Caterpillar" backpack with crayons, a small coloring/sticker pad, a book and little stuffed animals. He also got a cute outfit.

Deborah, Vivian, Peter and Robin

 Vivian likes his stuffed animals and Peter (after a minute or two) did a good job switching off with her so they could both hold one of them at a time. They did a great job of trading the animals.

It was a fun little party. It was great having a party with lots of family around. Peter was a happy little guy and had fun opening his presents. 

Peter reading his alphabet book, he likes finding letters he knows

Borrowed headband from a cousin...
If we ever have a girl, she will be adorable.

Peter with his excellent new backpack

New shoes and backpack...he's a cute one.

After presents were opened, it was time for dessert. When my mom asked what I had in mind for dessert, I had no idea. As I thought about it, I decided that cupcakes were the best idea, they are small and cute for kids. I wanted to decorate them somehow, and because Peter loves animals so much, I thought it would be fantastic to make the cupcakes into animal faces. I toyed with the idea of doing a jungle theme with lots of different animals, but that takes lots of things and quite frankly was more work than I wanted to do. Then, I came across a panda cupcake and I was sold. It was perfect. The tutorial we used did mini-cupcakes, so we followed suite and they were excellent. Click here for the tutorial. They were super easy to make and turned out adorable. The tutorial says to use sprinkles for the mouth...I tried that for a couple and nope, those sprinkles were tricky and small, so instead we just used a tube of black frosting from the store...way easier. They turned out most adorable. 

Pandas!

Panda close-up.

When Peter first saw the panda cupcakes, he flipped (in the happiest, most excited way possible). He didn't identify them as pandas...he called them dogs, but still, he knew it was an animal, so it works for me. He was super excited though. He pointed and needed someone to pick him up to see them. He loved them, which made my day.

Peter Panda with his panda

Not sure what to do about these flames in front of my face...

Starting a little bit of blowing...he figured out what to do eventually.

He ate just a bite and was done....good thing we made small cupcakes.

Vivian loved them!

Gleaves tradition birthday poster

Finding balloons

I'm two!

Happy Birthday little buddy. You are a smart little boy who loves to be with people and explore. You are loved very much by your mom and dad. We are so grateful for you and the happiness you have brought into our lives. Everyone who knows you loves you. You are a happy cuddly boy and we are glad we've had you for two years. I love coloring and dancing with you. Your dad loves wrestling and reading books with you. Keep growing up. Keep learning and remember you are a son of God. Make good choices and love everyone. We love you kiddo!