Random Updates

Just a few pictures I have on the camara that I thought I'd put on here, just because they are cute (well, most of them).

We started swim lessons for Karianna this week. I enrolled her in what I thought was the appropriate class only to find out it was what most might term a "baby class" (that's what Karianna called it at least). Luckily I was able to move her up to a more appropriate class without any problems. Here she is with her teacher, Lindsey. You know Karianna likes you when she starts naming her barbies after you. After the first day of swim lessons, 4 of Karianna's barbies were named "Lindsey", just with different middle names.

A big thanks to my Mom for helping out with the boys and with cars. The boys came with us a few times this week, and each time, it was nearly laughable how red they would get within a relatively short period of time. They were slathered with sunscreen, they are just both so fair-skinned that the heat gets to them quick and they end up with apples for cheeks. They spent quite a bit of time sneaking over to one corner of the grassy area that had a huge spider web...gross. Such boys.

I'm just about 6 months pregnant and have a pregnant belly now-yea! Double yea for the fact that my regular jeans still fit and are still comfortable. Triple yea for having a pool that makes wearing long pants feasible in the Arizona summer. Quadruple boo for having a car that is currently overheating from lack of AC and makes being pregnant in general pretty miserable anytime I have to drive anywhere. In the last week, I have been known to stop at a grocery store just to walk up and down the frozen foods aisle. I don't even pretend to be inspecting various brands of cool whip anymore-just give me the cool breeze, baby.

Karianna has been enjoying helping me out in the kitchen lately, especially with sweeping, mopping, and setting the table for dinner. She helped make a salad a few nights ago and she had a blast giving all the veggies a "bath" and then putting it all together. I am betting her favorite part was samping the bacon bits.

Karianna put this outfit together and then proclaimed that she looked like Dorothy. I wasn't really sure why. But then she told me she had Dorothy hair, and I just think she looks adorable. Nothing special about this pic of JD except he looks good in blue :)

We are just heading into Fourth of July weekend and good times with family! I think the kids love this holiday almost more than any other-those fireworks sure get a kid riled up!

Keys, Keys, Who's Got the Keys?

As I was preparing to run some errands with the kids today, I realized my keys were not in my purse. I don't lose my keys too frequently, so I figured pretty quickly that Jordan had played with them and left them somewhere. We start looking in the general toy areas to no avail. I extend the search to the bedrooms thinking he wandered in one of them with the keys-no luck. I started looking in all the kitchen cabinets, the fridge, even the dishwasher. Nothing! The key to unlock the backyard patio door is on my keyring so I couldn't even go into the backyard to look; I had to hop the fence (23 weeks prego mind you) just to find out the keys were not in the backyard! This is now an hour after realizing the keys were missing and I was getting frustrated. I ransacked every room again-now the house is a disaster area and I still have no keys. Finally, I happen to glance over at the window in the front room; here's a downward-looking picture of the wooden blinds that are slightly opened-can you see the keys on my blue lanyard?

A few minutes ago, Karianna asked me if I knew where her shoes were. I told her in a very calm and polite tone, "You are in charge of finding them-I'm not finding anything else for the rest of the day."

I think I deserved that.

Lovin' the Goggs!

Yesterday our family finally got to go swimming together. Of course we have all been swimming numerous times in the month that we have been in this house, but usually it included other people, a party, or some of us swimming while...uhum...others did yardwork.

Yesterday our little family unit-Jared, Rachel, Karianna, JD, and Jordan-went swimming together for the sole purpose of having fun as a family. We played with the water guns, splash balls, and had a great time watching the kids dive into the pool (in JD's case, we are talking a literal dive). It was just so much fun to kick back as a family and enjoy each other's company.

Karianna discovered the beauty of goggles; she has tried them in the past but the straps bothered her. This year that doesn't seem to matter and she loved finding things on the bottom of the pool. We took a picture of her goggle eyes when we got out-the one pitfall of goggles! JD and Jordan wanted to take pictures too, and it just blows my mind how blue these boys' eyes are! Love these kiddos!

Yea for Karianna!

Karianna had her kindergarten assessment about a week ago. I wasn't too worried about it before the event actually occurred. After was a different story. We attended the testing session that included the school's accelarated preschool program. These kids are doing stuff I rarely saw from beginning first graders. I didn't know what to think about Karianna's future at this charter school after comparing her assessment responses with theirs. I hate these types of assessments all around. I do not understand how someone can get a full awareness of Karianna's readiness for school in one hour, simply by giving her a paper and pencil and asking her to "write all the letters you know". I could gripe about the actual assessment for a long time, so if you want the details you can call me. Lets just suffice it to say I did not think the assessment was age appropriate, accelarated curriculum or not. Anyhow.

Regardless of how I thought the assessment went, I was so proud of Karianna for sticking to it and trying her best! I was also ready to go to battle with the school and request that they retest her one-on-one instead of in a AIMS situation. However, I called the school and got Karianna's results-overall, they said she did absolutely great and she is just fine to continue at their kindergarten in the Fall. Yea!!!! I just figured after seeing their preschoolers that the baseline for admittance would be unattainablely high. I couldn't quite figure out how I would tell Karianna that she couldn't go to kindergarten after all; she would be disappointed about not getting to use a lunchbox. Thankfully I don't have to consider that any longer, rather I can now get excited with Karianna about the official start of school in the fall! Working with her thus far from the mom perspective rather than the teacher perspective has been awesome and I'm excited to support Karianna in her schooling.

So in commemoration of Karianna, here's a great skill she learned a few weeks ago that I finally caught on film-she can take Jordan out of his bed on her own. Very useful on mornings where I don't want to get out of bed. I can just call for the two older kids to come out of their rooms and then ask Karianna to get Jordan. Just awesome. Not sure if Jordan agrees with the awesome factor, but you win some, you lose some. :) Click on the picture to see Jordan's true reaction.

Father's Day 2009

Sunday was a very busy day for our family between church, visiting grandparents, and doing our own celebrations for Father's Day! I love Father's Day. I love making the day special in little ways for Jared, just to let him know how much we truly appreciate what he does as the Father of our home. I think not having my Dad here has made me view Jared in a very all-encompassing light; he is thee man who watches out for me and the kids, who takes care of us in every possible way, and who provides for our needs. That is such a huge responsibility and I was struck on Sunday with how much time and energy actually goes into that committment. My Dad did the job beautifully; so does Jared, and I know he learned from his Dad as well. I love the Fathers in my life and I am so grateful our home has a strong, valiant, and righteous Father figure in it. We love you Jared-Happy Dad's Day!

I let Jared sleep in until 10:30 (holy crow, that's probably present enough!). While he slumbered, I laid out a pretty decent breakfast spread for the family, including Jared's favorite breakfast food, crumb cake.

The kiddos presented him with their uber-cool cards and we had a wonderfully relaxing morning morning together. After church we headed to the Lautenschlager's for dinner and had a great time hanging out together! We love that we live so close to both of our families, it was excessively nice to go home at the end of the night with a 2 minute drive as opposed to a 55 minute drive! All in all, a great day and I hope all the Dads out there know how much they are appreciated and needed.

Best Buds in the Making: Part 2

Karianna and JD were doing some quiet time together before bed. At some point, Jared and I found them sitting together, sharing blankets, and just acting like mature, responsible, quiet, loving children. They must have been in some abnormal, hypnotic state or something, so I took a picture before they could break out of it. Some days I feel like all I do is break up fights or referee play time between these two. I love these moments when they prove to me that they really do love each other and love spending time together.

Best Buds in the Making

We are finally seeing the positive spoils of having two brothers share a room. JD was dead asleep when I laid a wide-eyed Jordan in bed with him. For a while, Jordan was so intrigued with listening to JD's heart beat that he didn't move a muscle. When Jordan did wiggle enough to wake him up, JD wasn't grumpy at all. He just smiled at Jordan and hugged him closer. It was cute enough to get the camara and record it for future days when girls and sports get in between brotherly love! When I asked Jordan to lay down, JD just leaned his cheek against Jordan's head and smiled a very content smile, like, "Yup, that's my brother and I sure do love him".

Enough to melt my heart. This is why I am persisting in the whole room sharing thing. We have an extra bedroom that is doubling as the office. Sure I like my office space. But deep down, I always wanted my kids to share rooms. I did my whole life, and although we had frustrating sisterly moments (they can attest to that...) we also had some of the best conversations and memories of my life. I want that for my kids and tonite, I saw those seeds planted in JD's bed. I love my boys!

Birthday Party a la JD and Elizabeth!

As is custom, we threw a double birthday party for JD and cousin Elizabeth (who turned 4!) on Saturday. This was a good birthday party in my opinion because it included a very convenient pool and a barbecue! It was a first get together at the new house-at least from a party standpoint-and as I've send before, having guests right after you move is SUPER because you have a great excuse for a messy/disorganized house. I have to throw a thanks out to Becca though because she said she thought our house looked great. That's always nice to hear when you feel like you have so much work to do! Anyhow, off this tangent...

We started off the party with presents for JD and Elizabeth. JD definitely loved opening his presents, especially when he hit the last one-a huge T-Rex.
He also got some fun pool toys and a bunch of ocean animal pictures that I laminated (they will eventually turn into a border for his bedroom).
We gave Elizabeth a barbie movie that I hope she loved! I personally enjoyed watching all the kids group-open the presents and I also enjoy the fact that the cousins are SUCH good friends, even the little ones. It's so fun to watch Logan and Jordan play together. Kaitlynn plays awesome with everyone, whcih is amazing. And after most of the guests left, Karianna and Makayla disappeared into their own play-world. At one point they emerged from my bedroom in Jared's clothes...Karianna had Jared's underwear on under one of his big shirts...I love it! Back to the party...

After presents we let Jared entertain us with his uber-cool barbecuing skills. When the kids finally got the message across to the adults, we let them donn the floaties and dive into the pool. I say dive because JD almost managed it-I wish I had that on film! It was pretty cool! So fun to watch all the kids playing together, and when I say kids, I mean the men as well :) JD did have one sad moment where he dove into the side wall in order to avoid jumping on Kaitlynn. He bit his lip but was fine after a few minutes and jumped back into the fray-literally.

Once the cool air descended on most of the kids, we did cupcakes for the birthday kiddos. I got to use my cool cupcake trees! Just in case anyone is wondering, these things fall over when placed on a refrigerator shelf. Becca and I opted to do fun cupcakes: we used a pudding/cool whip frosting recipe that we found in a Kraft magazine ; it tasted like mousse and I will never go back to regular frosting again! We then let the kids decorate their own cupcakes with mini oreos, cookies, and marshmallows.

The creations looked so beautiful that Kaitlynn and Elizabeth couldn't bear to eat theirs-that's dedication to the craft! All in all, it was quite successful and I really enjoyed throwing this all together with Becca's help.


After the party festivities ended, everyone hung out as long as they could, just chatting and letting the kids play. I think the last of the crowd left at midnight. Thanks to everyone who came, and if you couldn't make it, we missed you! I just love hanging out with my family, and doublely grateful that I have reason to say that. Happy Birthday JD and Elizabeth-can't wait till the double party next year!

It's a Monday.

While running errands this morning, JD very randomly said to me, "Jesus loves me." I asked him who else Jesus loves, and he told me the following: "Jesus loves Nana. Jesus loves Jordan. Jesus loves Daddy. Jesus loves my mommy. Jesus loves Sis. Mack." Long pause. "Jesus loves pumpkins." Don't know why for the last one. But I loved this conversation. Sis. Mack is his nursery teacher and does a GREAT job teaching the nursery lesson on Sunday. Yesterday's lesson was all about who Jesus loves, and I was just tickled to see that it stuck with him.

In other news, we are officially at war with our old landlord. :( It is quite frustrating and stressful; it gave me a gallbladder attack today (we don't really know if its my gallbladder, its just what we call these "attacks"). We are really hoping it gets resolved soon, just frustrating with a capital F. Too bad I don't have an episode of Wipeout to watch tonite-that would be relaxing.

We are also at war with bugs. We have had 3 ant invasions in the last week, all in different areas of the house. We have also killed numerous (and I do mean numerous) cockroaches in the last few days-most of them originating in our closet! And we're not talking miniscule insects, these suckers at 3 inches long on average. I hate bugs. We are fogging the place this week and if the problem continues, we'll have to investigate the more expensive route of pext control. Whoa, I just typed pext. That was weird. Too bad I'm too lazy to hit the delete key and change it to pest.

Thankfully we are no longer at war with naptime! Woohoo! It dawned on us yesterday that we have a fairly comfortable camping cot; I used it for nappers when I was doing daycare. We pulled that out of the garage on Sunday and out of pure desperation for a 3-kid nap, had JD sleep on it in our bedroom. It worked like a charm! JD stayed on his cot while Jared and I read next to him in our own bed; he played quietly with his animals, read some books, and then fell asleep with no coaxing. It was great! Karianna and Jordan slept in their own rooms and all was quiet on the homefront. The same results occured today and I am doubly happy because not only do I get some mommy-time, I get to stick to my tried and true schedule as well! Yea for small successes in mommyhood!

Finally, I have to note how much Jordan seems to have grown up over the last week. He talks all the time; he only has so many words he says clearly and purposefully, but he talks all the time as if he knows exactly what he is saying. He is starting to say some two word phrases as well, which is so great! He understands so much, it is amazing to me. Whenever he hits his head on something (which is a lot), he'll put his hand on his head and come up to me whimpering-very obviously telling me he got hurt. He'll come up to me and say "poo poo" when the time is right (which again, is a lot). He picked up the desitin yesterday and pretended to apply it to his diaper area. If I ask him where something is that he misplaced, he'll run directly to it. I can ask him to get something for me or clean up a certain toy and he's all over it. Today his toy lion was under the table, and he moved 3 chairs so he could crawl over to it. On Sunday, he showed me that he gets when it is prayer time-he just folds his arms when he sees someone start to give a prayer. I know these are all little things, but I just love to see his little brain working. Jordan still looks so young to me-most people don't believe me when I tell them he is 16 months old. So it is nice to see him growing so much on a mental level!

We did have a fun weekend celebrating Elizabeth and JD's birthday; I'll post about that later. For now we are surviving and trying to focus on the good things of life!

My, what big lips you have!

I'm not sure if it gets much better than this! I also love how he fell asleep on his pillows with his blankie on-just adorable!

The Beauty School of Karianna

Jared spent some quality time with Karianna last night. "Quality Time" as used in the previous sentence means "succumb to your daughter's girly whims and allow her to style your very boyish hair however she pleases". What a good sport!

2 Brothers + 1 Bedroom = Chaos!

The first week of JD and Jordan sharing a room went wonderfully. They slept during naps, during the night, and the giggling and talking was cute because it ended after 10 minutes or so. This is totally not the case anymore and its driving me nuts! They boys still go to sleep right away at night, but I am assuming that's because their room is pitch black so Jordan can't see the goofy faces JD is making, and its too dark for JD to venture out of his bed and throw toys in Jordan's bed.

Naptime is a different story all together-that's the "driving me nuts" part I previously mentioned. My kids have a very regular daytime routine, and I don't like diverting from it. That's all gone to pieces now that the boys spend their two hour nap talking, laughing, and trashing the room. Yesterday JD took all of his clothes out of the dresser and threw them into Jordan's bed. Jordan thought that was hilarious. Jordan spends his naptime rocking his pack and play back and forth, causing it to bang against the wall. I work with the discipline, and although I'm not giving up yet, I wonder how much of that is actually sticking once I leave the room.

So here's a few options. I could just nix JD's nap and have him do quiet time with Karianna. Problem with that is, he still needs that rest time, whether he sleeps or not (and ever since we moved and he's had a somewhat quiet atmosphere, he will sleep). I could have one of the boys sleep in a different room. Problem with that is I don't have a place for Jordan to sleep since we are crib-less, and Karianna won't remotely tolerate the idea of JD sleeping in her room. Don't want to rock the boat too much!

The option I tried today was the hardest for me: I changed the routine. ARGH! I hate doing that! I had Jordan go down for a nap on his own from 11 to 1. We did lunch, play time, and story time all together from 1 to 2. Then JD went down for a nap on his own from 2 to 4. Jordan usually does a second nap during the day and sure enough, he started drooping again around 3. Although I didn't plan on it, I risked putting him in his bed from 3 to 4. When I went into the boys bedroom to quietly lay Jordan down, I found JD asleep. He didn't stir at all while I laid Jordan down, and 40 minutes later, I haven't heard anything from both boys.

Success!

Question is, how long will it last? Time will tell!

I Expect a Full Summary When You Are Done

Just Kidding! There are, like, 10 new posts under this one-other than little random things I"ll eventually add, our blog is up to date-which is probably more meaningful to me than anyone else, but that's the point, right? Should you be truly interested in the Lautenschlager Family's last month of life in general, scroll right on down-the pictures are worth it if anything! Have fun!

Build-A-Bear Workshop

After our ultrasound appointment on Friday, Karianna and I were supposed to go to the Suffington Bear Factory with some of our Phoenix friends. Unfortuneately, we didn't leave the doctor's office until 11 AM-which is exactly when the tour was scheduled to start. I felt really bad, as I knew Karianna was equally looking forward to seeing her friends and to seeing how a teddy bear is made.

The contingency plan was to go to Build-A-Bear workshop. I have never been there and though Karianna might enjoy building her own bear from head to toe. My thoughts were right on target-Karianna had a blast! I was impressed with how kid-centered the place is. Karianna was grinning ear to ear as she kissed the heart, "bathed" her bear, and selected just the right outfit. Anyone who knows Karianna knows that was her favorite part, future fashion designer that she is. Everything is somewhat expensive, so we had to limit the number of things Karianna could get. In any case, the end result was beautiful, as was Karianna's reactions to every step of the process.

When we got home, I found a coupon for 10 dollars off any build-a-bear purchase of 20 dollars or more....darnit! Next time around I suppose! I had a lot of fun with Karianna and I'm truly glad she enjoyed herself as well!

The Big Ultrasound!

On Friday we had the important doctor appointment-the one where we find out what we are having in October! I am so very excited to say we are having another girl-yea!!!! This time around, I was really set on having a girl. I am ready to use all my dresses and headbands again! I love my boys, but a girl was defnitely appropriate for baby #4. I could never quite discern if my strong feels were directed by the spirit or by my own desire to have a girl. Thankfully, the two coincided and baby Sara Grace is on her way! Karianna came with us to the appointment and was quite intrigued by the ultrasound. She saw things before I could recognize them-ribs, spine, arms, etc. The ultrasound tech waited until the very end of the ultrasound to tell us that the baby was a girl and Karianna kept asking every minute or so if it was baby Sara or Joshua...I kept telling her I didn't know yet and shooting glances at the tech :) I am glad Karianna was there with us and that she is so excited for her sister to arrive!

I am still due on October 19th based on Sara's measurements; on Saturday I officially packed away all my regular clothes and unpacked my maternity clothes. It's funny because it has only been in the last 2 weeks since we moved that my belly has finally popped out. If I were being honest I would say I am glad to finally look as if I am expecting a baby, especially now that I know we are being blessed with a girl! Here's a pic of the ultrasound-I have to give kudos to the tech because this is the best ultrasound pic I have ever gotten! You are beautiful already, Sara Grace!

We Have Arrived!

To the land of awesomeness, that is. We got a very unexpected check in the mail the other day, and since it was unplanned money, I finally gave Jared permission to go buy his barbecue. He has been coveting the thing since we got married but I never felt like we could excuse the expenditure. Jared has been in heaven-barbecuing pretty much every night. We have discovered that barbecued corn on the cob is awesome; it is equally fun to have people over for barbecues and share the love! I'm personally excited to discover various grilling recipes and investigate how the grill fits into our food storage plan. Life is complete now-we have arrived!

The Big Move: The New Home

We have now been in our new home for 2 weeks-time has flown by! It is quite amazing to think we live in a home that we initially saw as nothing more than the Lautenschlager's second house that they were rennovating. If you had asked me a year ago if we would be living here, I would have given you a resounding no. I like having our own niche in the world (okay, in the major Phoenix metro area), and I didn't think I was willing to change that. But the Lord had other plans, and here we are, thoroughly enoying being in Mesa, close to family, and in a cozy, comfortable home.

The home itself is smaller than what we were used to; just one story and much more compact. We thought this would be a huge concession, yet we are pleasantly surprised that we are loving the smaller quarters of this house. It has made unpacking go quicker, that's for sure! I like having the kids closer to us at nightime, and it's easier to let the kids play in different areas of the house without worrying about someone falling down the stairs. I am really enjoying having a pool so far too-it has been a lifesaver for my pregnant belly and the kids are minding the strict pool rules quite well! We love living closer to family; it has been great to have frequent visits from cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents! The kids have already grown used to this and wake me up every morning with a chorus of "Who is coming to see us today?" We don't particularly like Jared's commute to work every day, but we are hopeful that will change soon. In the meantime, we are way grateful to a colleague who carpools with Jared. Church is going well; the kids are loving nursery and primary, although they are way smaller than our old ward. I think I am still trying to feel 100% comfortable in the ward I grew up in, but I think that will come with some time.

So thus far, everything is going smoothly. I am excited to unpack the bookcases this week, especially the kids' preschool-ish bookcase. I'm semi-hoping to get a few pictures up on the walls this week and having our couch delivered on Monday will be a welcome addition to the home. We are very grateful to the Lautenschlagers for making this move possible! On the way light side of setting up a new home, Jordan has already selected what he considers to be the best seat in the house. No one knew what that was for a long time-the only clue we had was the dark black circle on his head. We soon figured out that the circle was soot-his favorite seat is smack dab in the middle of the fireplace. Hee hee, I took a few not so clear pictures before blocking it off from all possible toddler access points. Welcome to the new home Jordan-glad you like it!

The Big Move: Things I Have Learned

Here's what I have learned over the course of the last few weeks in a new home:

1. Teaching two boys to share a room is a process. It still cracks me up to hear JD and Jordan laughing at each other during naptime. JD seems to think whatever is in Jordan's crib should be in his bed instead. Thus, I have found Jordan's binky and his blanket in JD's bed on multiple occasions. Thankfully, JD understands the beauty of a give and take relationship: he takes Jordan's binky and blanket, and he gives Jordan every stuffed animal in the room....all part of the process.


2. Cox stinks. It took 2 weeks to simply ascertain whether or not Cox could provide services to our new address. They couldn't find our address in their system even though there's a Cox box in our front yard.


3. Having an easy access pool when you are pregnant is amazing. I am ready to market my own line of pregnancy water aerobics.


4. It was a mistake to seat Jordan next to the garbage. If I don't get him out of his booster right when he is done, he goes "dumpster diving". I wasn't sure whether to laugh or screech when I found him trying to drink leftover juice from the empty can of green beans.


5. Kids think not having any furniture in one room is a perfect invitation to go crazy. Monday's couch delivery can't come soon enough for me!


6. Karianna is way protective...of her bedroom! She has been a nazi about keeping her bedroom door closed and locked all the time so the boys can't go in there and mess up her precariously organized toys. It is rather funny to me, and if it ever gets annoying, I remind myself that this reaction to the move is better than other reactions she could be having.
   

I'm sure there are more things I could add to this list!

The Big Move: See ya, Phoenix!

Heres' a post I wrote right before we moved...

The time has come to hit the road! Two years in this Phoenix-nearly-Anthem house; they have been good years and we have grown a lot as a family. When we moved to Phoenix, I was just barely pregnant with Jordan. We had high hopes for a new job, a new area, and a new ward. It was also the farthest we had ever moved from our family, which presented another realm growth-we had to rely on ourselves and our ward more than we were used to.

As a result, we made some wonderful friends in Phoenix and grew as a family unit, which went from 4, to 5 and a half. Jared and I both saw changes in our jobs, some good, and other trying. We both progressed in our masters degrees-I even finished mine in May. Jared had several testing experiences with various designations and certifications; it has been a great learning experience for both of us, and I am so proud of his hard work. JD started nursery in Phoenix and grew to love it; he was never a cry-er, nor the calmest kid in the bunch. He only sustained one injury in two years-a long scratch on his cheek that has yet to fade away. That's somewhat successful for our rough and tumble boy! Karianna started primary and had a wonderful time in sunbeams, and the CTR 5. She loves the primary songs and participated in her first primary program! She has memorized half of the articles of faith and her knowledge of the gospel has grown. Jordan was blessed in our Phoenix ward; he spent his Sundays with Jared while I spent my time in primary-either teaching, leading music, or serving in the presidency. I learned so much in those callings, especially the latter. I knew I loved working with children, but serving the primary invites a special love for the children of God. Those were special experiences. Jared found a calling he loves-serving as the financial clerk. He particularly loved his experiences serving so closely to the Bishopric. His testimony grew as a result, as well as his appreciation for those who are called to serve a ward family. Both of the older kids discovered movement, tumbling, ballet, tap, and swimming classes in Phoenix; most went over well, and the ones that did not (cough cough, JD...) were put on hold until maturity kicks in. In two years, we never had a major fall down the stairs or over the pony wall. We had tons of bloody noses, ER visits, and family nights. We were common visitors at the library, the park, and the rec center...and the McDonalds play area. We made lots of friends, with whom I hope we will remain in contact.

All in all, our two years in Phoenix were wonderful. We certainly had our hard times and struggled with the decision to move. But the time has come-boxes are packed, the carpet needs to be cleaned, and we pack the moving van in less than 48 hours. Although I am sad, I know good things lie ahead and we are looking forward to those experiences. The kids, bless their hearts, have been so wonderfully helpful in our preparations to move. Here's how they have used their time over the last few days-pictures that make me so grateful for wonderfully resilient kids who don't seem to be fazed by the idea of moving! You'll notice how Karianna is using the couch as a slide before it headed off to Goodwill. The kids made great use of the empty bookcase-all three played on it for a good hour! Karianna also showed off her artistic talents on the box lids; her pictures really were amazing and it makes me smile everytime I see them!

The Last of The Erickson Graduates

You know you really love your brothers when you are willing to sit in the rain-on bleachers-for nearly three hours with 3 small children, who were all wearing shorts because everything else was packed, and who were equipped with one small, broken umbrella. Oh, and I was foolishly wearing flip flops that had no traction. And Jared was under the assumption that he wasn't going to get wet. At all. Yup, that's definitely love, or at least a very strong tolerance!

With all that being said, I was actually quite excited to go to Red Mountain's graduation to see Robert and Stephen graduate a few weeks ago. I was even excited to deal with the weather-it was better than 110 degree temps and the blaring sun. The kids were way excited to attend graduation in general, and they had a blast. The highlights of the evening: hearing Karianna yell "Rock and Roll!" anytime the audience broke into applause-you can imagine how many times that happened; watching the random beach balls get tossed around the graduating class until a teacher confiscated them; not watching any streekers, thank heavens-guess the rain was good for something; successfully managing the kids after the snacks only last the first half an hour; and of course, watching Rob and Steve get their well-deserved diplomas!

We are so proud of you guys! Two graduates who finished with amazing academic records, great high school experiences, attractive-ness, and, best of all in my opinion, strong values and a willingness to stick to them. That last one is somewhat hard to come across these days, and I am so proud of my brothers and how cool they are in that sense. So great job Rob and Steve, we love you tons! Congratulations!