Once again time is getting away from me and I can't believe another month has passed. That is probably good since it means we are one month closer to being done with Abe's third year of medical school and closer to being done with boards so that we can see Abe again. May was busy with Abe having an odd schedule at work on top of full weekends with all sorts of fun activities. Why we feel the need to fill all available time I don't understand. I'm hoping for one nice quiet weekend at home so I have a chance of getting some cleaning done. Here is a little video of Ethan when the cleaning bug struck him. One morning he jumped out of his chair after breakfast and told Taylor that they needed to get cleaning. This NEVER happens so I had to catch it for posterity.

One weekend the ward had a father-son campout and Ethan had a wonderful time. For weeks he talked about the "no girls allowed" camping trip. It was a little rough on Abe but Ethan had a great time and can't wait to go camping again. I felt kind of bad that Ethan couldn't roast marshmallows and eat them since he can't have the sugar in marshmallows so I set out to figure out how to make homemade marshmallows with sweetner that the kids can have. They were a big hit. The kids love to lick the bowl.

Ethan was playing on a soccer team and had games on Friday nights. That poor kid wanted nothing to do with the games. It was a little frustrating because Ethan spent the whole time trying to get off the field and Taylor spent the whole time trying to get on the field. She loves to dribble the ball around and is pretty good at it. She would get so mad when I would drag her off the field while trying to chase Ethan down to get him back on the field. Ethan got a trophy at the end of the season, as all the kids did, with a boy on it playing soccer. One day he was looking at it and asked me if I thought it was suppose to be him. I said I didn't know and asked him if he thought it looked like him. He matter of factly said "No, he isn't running back to his mommy."
Another weekend we took the kids to a children's museum. It is a fun place and the kids had such a good time. They both loved milking the "cow".

I also spent a weekend in NC at my friend's wedding. Abe was so sweet to stay home and watch the kids. It was wonderful to have the time to visit with friends without having to chase the kids around. Adult conversation is so great and so are wonderful friends. I actually had the time to visit multiple friends and even wander around the mall without anyone whining.

Last week the kids and I went to Richmond so I could work for a couple of days. The kids loved their time with my parents. Ethan asked if we were going to stay there for forever. I'm sure grandma would eventually stop feeding him everything he asked for and eventually he would want to head home. On Friday we went down to North Carolina with my family to bury my grandmother. She passed away in mid-May but it took a little while to finalize the arrangements for the military burial. It was a nice chance to visit with family, some of whom we have not seen in many years.

The kids were good on the trip since we divided them up between the different cars. After the burial we went out to lunch with the family to grandma's favorite restaurant by the beach. And then we took the kids to the beach that my grandparents used to take us to when we were little. It was a nice trip down memory lane. The kids loved the beach. I wish I had pulled out the camera but I was just too busy having a good time in the ocean.

The next day we went to an aquarium. Ethan and Taylor's enthusiam was just adorable. Taylor loves the word "fish" and she just couldn't say it enough. She didn't like to get very close to them and didn't want to take her eyes off them when I tried to convince her to sit down to take her picture. I love how she gets perfect ringlets in the hot, humid North Carolina summer. The rest of us just looked like we were melting and she looks adorable. Taylor is the biggest fan of holding Ethan's hand. He puts up with it pretty well but isn't nearly as excited about it as Taylor. He is a pretty good sport though.

Like I have probably said before Taylor is my little mama. She loves real babies and baby dolls more than anything (well other than Ethan). She walks around church saying "baby, baby" and chasing anyone carrying a baby carrier. When she sees a baby in a book she holds out her hands and says "hold me baby". The whole trip to North Carolina and back she had her baby doll with her. She would hand me the baby while I drove and hand me this sweatshirt and say "baby night night" so I would have to wrap the baby up and she would bounce the baby and say "sh, sh, sh". Oh I just love that little angel.

I will finish up with Abe and my favorite Ethan quotes of the day. The kids went to a new babysitter today. Well actually not new because she watched Ethan when he was younger but they haven't been there in a long time. The in-home daycare has 3 girls near Ethan's age and they are all just adorable. I could tell when I dropped Ethan off that one of the girls was into Ethan because she kept trying to sit near him and he would move away and she was VERY giggly. This is little scary since this girl is probably just 2. The babysitter sent me an email today and she said that all the girls had taken a fancy to Ethan. She told me that they were often fighting over who could sit next to him. So Ethan says "Girls, there is only one Ethan and I can only sit in one chair." I love his reasoning. The babysitter also mentioned that she was having a discussion with one of the girls about how we don't always get what we want. Ethan chimed in and said "Yeah, cause my dad really wants a truck and he can't have one." Such a perceptive child. I just love this pictures of Ethan. He is such a cutie!

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I grabbed the camera today when Ethan and Taylor were working on the dishes. I just love these little helpers. (And yes, Taylor does have her pajama bottoms on her head while she works. It was my attempt to distract her during a fight she was having with Ethan because she wanted to wear his pajama bottoms around her neck like a scarf. She loves her accessories. And no, no one was harmed by the butter knife.)

"Tank ou, Ehan"

Taylor has gotten to be so chatty lately. I just love to hear her little voice and all the things she says. The other day Ethan handed her something and she said "Tank ou, E-han" (thank you Ethan). It just melts my heart. Ethan was always so verbal and had a great vocabulary at a young age. I assume I'm not alone but I definitely always wondered if it would be hard if Taylor wasn't the same way. But she has been just as verbal as Ethan so it's nice to know what her little mind is thinking. Of course she is very opinionated and strong-willed so we have some battles. She was saying "bite" very loudly today in church when the sacrament went by and let everyone know that she wanted some.

Ethan has some chores that he has to do and he isn't a big fan. He always asks if Taylor is big enough to do chores and we tell him that no he is on his own. Well today he was unloading the silverware in the dishwasher and Taylor LOVES to get into the dishes while Ethan is taking his time unloading them. So we decided to get Taylor to hand Ethan the silverware and he put it away. It was the cutest thing ever to see them working together. Of course Taylor was able to go from the drawer to the dishwasher and back before Ethan could put away one utensil. She was kind of showing him up but he loved having the help. I think Taylor is going to be my little helper. She is such a little mother some days. I just love the moments when they are getting along and helping each other. It is the sweetest thing and makes my day.

Thankfully April is Over

I already mentioned that April was a busy month and we were all over the place so when my grandmother got really sick and we decided that we needed to go to Richmond as soon as possible Abe joked that it was because I just had to get one more trip in before April ended. If only that were true. By no stretch of the imagination could this be called a vacation. My grandmother went into the emergency room on the day that we finished our cruise with shortness of breath and has since had 3 heart attacks that leave her a little weaker and a little more confused each time. At 92 there isn't much they can do for a bad heart so we knew it was time to spend some time with her while we still could. Ethan was so sweet when I told him that great grandma was really sick. When I told him we should do something special for her he suggested we paint her a picture. I asked him what kind of picture would make her happy and he said he would paint her a rainbow. To begin with it actually looked like a rainbow until he decided that he liked the green paint A LOT and so he over did it with the green. The picture was just perfect and grandma loved it.

We went to Richmond on Friday afternoon and I got to spend a couple hours with grandma every day. Those are some long, quiet and emotionally draining days. Abe was so wonderful to watch the kids while I was gone. He got to understand how much fun it is to chase them both around a completely unchildproof house. He will never ask me again why I don't consider a trip to my parents' house a vacation. We also had a chance to visit with some of my siblings that I don't get to see very often. It wasn't a great reason to get together but it was nice for the kids to get to visit with their aunt and uncle and Abe and I really appreciated all the help with the kids.

By Sunday grandma had gotten her strength back from her last heart attack so she was back to her normal self. It is such an odd experience because grandma can't remember why she is in the hospital or that she is even sick. All she kept saying was that the doctor said she was going home on Monday (but no one else would ever confirm that). Even though we had some rough times it was wonderful to sit with her and chat about things and let her know how much we love her. On Sunday before we left town we brought Ethan and Taylor by the hospital to see grandma. We had a little chat about how he needed to be really happy and nice in the hospital and he did wonderful. It is such a nice hospital but I worried that he might be spooked out by the whole thing. When we got in the car on the way over I told him where we were going and he said with such joy, "Yeah. Taylor did you hear that? We are going to see great grandma." After we said our goodbyes and left the room we got half way down the hallway and Ethan said "Are we going to see grandma here again?" I said "no she won't be here at the hospital when we come back". And then he said "maybe I should go say bye to her again" and we did. He is such a sweetheart. Grandma looks kind of angelic in this picture but that is because I didn't realize that I had something on the lens of the camera. She did actually come home from the hospital today like she wanted. Maybe it is better that she doesn't know how short her time might be. The whole weekend has made me very thankful for my faith in knowing where we go after we die and that our family will be together again. Please keep her in your prayers.

A Whirlwind Month

Where did April go? We have been so busy that I don't know if I'm coming or going. I haven't been good about keeping up with our blog so this will be a marathon post. I hope you are ready.



Though it feels like ages ago we had a nice, low-key Easter. Taylor and Ethan both really got into hunting for Easter eggs. Though Ethan seems pretty disappointed when he realized that not all the eggs had a treat inside.

That Sunday afternoon the kids and I drove to Richmond because I had a 3-day training for work there and my mom watched the kids while I went to work. Thankfully the kids are great for grandma and they had a nice time. We stayed through Friday in Richmond and went to the zoo there.

Late Thursday night Abe came into town and on Friday morning we drove up to Washington, DC for a stake temple trip. The temple trip was on Saturday but we went up a day early to see the sights since Abe didn't have to work on Friday. It had been amazingly hot all week but of course on Friday it got cold so we, and every other tourist in DC, decided to hit some museums. Ethan loved the Natural History Museum but the crowds were overwhelming! We didn't know it was the Cherry Blossum festival, spring break for a lot of kids, and just crowded. We had a nice time walking around but the kids were done pretty quickly.

On Saturday we went to the temple. The stake Primary had planned a huge Primary activity for the kids so they could learn about the temple and so parents could go and do sessions. Abe and I took turns watching Taylor and had a wonderful day. The Primary kids were in small groups and Ethan struggled a little being left in a group with no one he knew. But his wonderful group leader spent a lot of time with him and Ethan finally got into it. Of course at the end of the day I asked him what he had done, hoping or expecting some wonderful, insightful response, and all he had for me was a list of what I had packed him for his lunch. But over the last several weeks little thoughts and comments have come out that make me think maybe he did get something else out of it. The Primary Presidency told me that one Sunday he raised his hand and told them that he had heard the voice of God in the temple. I think he was referring to the overhead speaker in the visitor center but it was cute.

Saturday we drove back to Richmond, since we had left a car there, and then Sunday we drove back home in time to make it to afternoon church. The kids did not have any patience for church after sitting in the car for 4 hours in the morning so it made for a long afternoon also. I had to work a couple of days that next week and at the end of the week I left for a cruise with my mom and the kids. We drove down to Jacksonville, Florida for a 5 day cruise and it was quite an experience. Overall the kids were good in the car but it was just a long ride for everyone.

The trip was a lot of fun and we were very appreciative of my mom taking us but boy 2 kids are a lot of work in a small space with little sleep. Taylor didn't do well at night. She woke up constantly from all the loud sounds and the squeaky bed and who knows what else. She got so used to being up that she started acting like it was time to get up. I would feed her and she would jump out of my arms and start running around the room saying "night night" in this sassy way that let you know she was not going night night any time soon. We got to the point that we would just push her around the boat for hours to keep her from keeping everyone else awake. She loved it but it make mom and I exhausted. So if we all hadn't been sleep deprived it probably would have been even more fun.

Taylor's favorite spot on the boat was the planters filled with round stones. She would take them out, line them up and then put them back. She is pretty easy to entertain.

Taylor's favorite activity is following her brother and climbing stairs. And on the boat she had a lot of stairs. Unfortunately she doesn't understand why she can't take the stairs standing up like everyone else so you have to watch her closely. Taylor was such a hit on the boat. Anywhere we went she had people talking to her. She is such a social little girl and loves to watch people and wave to them all. At dinner one night the hostess came over and started playing with her and said "Oh I just love this little girl. Look at how many people are watching her. She is our favorite." It was not uncommon for 4 or 5 waiters to come to the table during the meal to play with her and Ethan. On the last day a man came up to me and was telling me about how at the beginning of the cruise Taylor had been waving to him in the dining room. He was so excited. It was funny. But she is a cutie!

Ethan had a great time at the waterpark. I was a big fan too since I could just sit in a chair and watch him play :)

Ethan had a blast though. Sometimes I think once you become a parent you stop thinking about what is fun for you and fun becomes finding things that your children love. If that is true then I had a lot of fun because Ethan was in heaven. I don't know what was his favorite because he will never pick just one thing but he always asked to play minature golf but it was hardest to pull him away from the pirate ship playground equipment they had at one of the island we stopped at. Carnival owns a private island in the Bahamas and they have built all sorts of things on this beautiful island. We played at the beach for a while until we discovered this park area and Ethan never wanted to go back to the beach. Taylor on the other hand is my beach girl. This was her first time ever going to the beach and she couldn't get enough. She had no fear of the water and got her first taste of sand. She may stick up her nose at the NC beaches we are used to after experiencing the Bahamas.

Poor Ethan got so tired from walking all the time that he asked to ride in the stroller and hold Taylor. Sometimes they are so sweet together.

I love this video of Ethan trying to play putt-putt. The course is on the top of the ship and it was so windy.

Spring Break

We spent some time in the Smokey Mountain National Park and it was just beautiful. It would have been nice to be there when all the leaves were out or in the fall but it was still pretty. I love this picture of Taylor and Abe. She loves her daddy.

Below are some wild turkeys that were hanging out throughout the park. Ethan had big plans for getting a bow and arrow and catching one. Where does he get that from? Definitely not my side of the family.

Ethan's favorite activity of the trip was the go-karts. He thought he was the coolest thing ever. I loved the look on his face when he would come around the corner. I never could quite catch the look as they sped by. He still talks about how fast he went.

That grin says it all!

While we waited for Ethan to finish with the go-karts Taylor found her favorite spot. How could you not buy ice cream from this cutie? Taylor loves to wave and say "hi" or "bye bye". It is just adorable and strangers love it. Sometimes as we are leaving stores she will do her little beauty pagent wave and say bye to everyone we pass. She is so friendly.

Kennedy, in the sunglasses, is Taylor's favorite toy. Taylor loves babies but she especially loves Kennedy. She always wants to check on her, hug her and see her. Poor Kennedy takes the "love" pretty well.

I think Ethan fights us on about 75% of all pictures we try to take. Sometimes we just give up.

We took a nice hike up to some waterfalls in the Smokey Mountain National Forest. It was a lovely walk but it would probably have been prettier when the trees have leaves. Ethan wasn't too happy with how cold it was near the waterfall. I think he was hoping for some swimming but it was really chilly. Abe got a real workout pushing both kids up the mountain.

On the last day of our trip we went to Dollywood amusement park. It was a cute park and they had tons of rides for the kids. We swaped kids with our friends so that we could all ride some of the rollercoasters. I was impressed with Ethan and Taylor for their bravery on the rides. Taylor had no problem on the teacups and even rode some rides with Ethan by themselves. They are just an adorable little couple sometimes. Abe took the camera with him while I had the kids on the ride so all the pictures I took were on my friend's camera so I haven't gotten them yet. If they turn out cute I'll post them later.

This is the last picture of the day. I think we all felt the same way. What a long day! It was fun though. I love seeing Ethan having such a good time. His enthusiasm is contagious. As always, the vacation was too short and we are once again back into the grind of having Abe out of town and life being busy. But Abe is enjoying this rotation and the doctor he is working with. I'm so proud of him! During a very busy day during this first week the doctor told Abe that he was really happy to have him helping him. I would guess that most medical students just add to the work that the doctors have so I thought it was a great compliment.