Keeping Up With the Joneses

Frankfurt, Germany!! Marshall was nominated by the global SAP organization as one of the top handful of SAP programmers in the world to come out to Germany for a week and test one of their products. And since they were already paying for his plane ticket, a week of hotel rooms, and a great per diam, he decided he wanted me to come too! So we are going to spend a week in Germany and I'll explore the sights while he is working, and then the next week we will tour around western Europe. Right now I'm thinking France for sure, and then either London or Italy. Obviously, we are so excited! Neither of us has ever been to Europe and we always talked about it as one of those things we hoped to do "someday", assuming that someday would be a very long ways off. But this just seems like such a great opportunity. The kids are thrilled to spend the time in Delta and grandma already has them signed up for swimming lessons! So please, please, please, if you have any advice about w...

Cabela's had a kid's fishing pond and free fishing so each of the kids caught a trout! They had a blast. Myles keeps saying the fish was happy he caught it so it could come home with him. They even cleaned and filleted them there so now we just have to cook it for dinner!

Today Mason graduation from Miss Julie's Learning Tree Preschool and we are so proud of him! Mason has absolutely loved being in school this year and has learned so much. He had a slow start, which we attribute to the brain injury making him really tired, but the last few months he has just perked right up and has been doing a spectacular job of catching up. He is more than ready to start kindergarten and next year Myles will be joining Miss Julie for preschool!

My AWESOME sister Jessica Edwards is starting a speech therapy private practice and is accepting new clients. She has a Master's Degree in in Speech Therapy and uses the latest technology and evidence-based techniques to treat all sorts of problems. She even is one of just a handful of speech therapists in Utah who owns this really cool device that helps clients see their tongue placement on their palate to see how they form sounds. If you, your kids, or anyone you know could benefit from some great speech therapy, check out her blog at www.utahspeech.blogspot.com or give her a call at 801-494-4262.

After Mason's T-Ball pictures on Saturday we headed to the Sand Dunes near Delta for a little family reunion. We had such a fantastic time with the cousins and grandparents! Sand as long as you could see. . .a little boy's paradise. Mason got a ride on the 4-wheeler and loved it. He said "it wasn't as scary as I thought!" Max got to play with his cousin Aaron. This is his "cheese" face. Grandpa helped the boys bury a hole in the sand. It was the perfect size for Max. Marshall and I borrowed his cousin's 4-Wheeler for a while. It was my first time and at first I was terrified and then I LOVED IT! After the day at the Sand Dunes we spent the night in Delta. Now I know why Mason and Myles love it there so much. . .they get royal treatment! Grandma brought them their breakfast while they watched cartoons. And we caught Myles enjoying a solitary tea party. We came back to Provo that afternoon to have my friends from Canada (Glenda and Gail) over fo...

Cute little Max had his 9-month check-up this morning and did great! Here are his new stats: Height: 29 inches (72nd percentile) Weight: 16.27 lbs (1st percentile) Head: 17.5 inches (24th percentile) We were surprised because it seems like he eats a ton and has really been growing lately. But it seems he has mostly been growing taller! He loves babyfood and will eat 6-9 jars a day, but isn't a fan of bottles and will drink about 18-24 oz of formula a day. Because of his low weight, the doctor did a hematocrit blood test which came back fine. Amazingly, Max didn't even notice when they poked his toe. However, I did find the bandaid in his mouth a few minutes later (ewwww!). When I told Mason and Myles that Max was getting a shot Myles said "if the doctor gives him a shot I'll kick the doctor in the bum" and he was ready to follow through on his promise before I caught him. Lucky Max only got one shot and cried for a few seconds and then went back to his happy se...

Last weekend I flew out to Washington State to celebrate my brother Scott's graduation with his Masters in Statistics and Doctorate in Economics. It was a lot of fun and so nice to spend some time with Scott, Annie, Elaine, and Joyce before they move to Atlanta for his new job with the Center for Disease Control. Marshall's mom watched the kids while I worked Friday and Marshall did a great job with the kids over the weekend. I'm so lucky to have a mother-in-law who is so generous with her time caring for the kids and a husband who is so competent at taking care of everything while I'm gone. Not only did he have a great time with the kids, but he took them shopping for Mother's Day and had the house perfect when I got home. And. . .he was just happy that I had a great vacation. I have the most amazing husband ever.

Mason is on a T-Ball team and Marshall says it is a hilarious event. I've missed his first game and practice, but I guess watching a dozen 5 year olds learn to play is quite funny. Mason enjoyed his first game for a few minutes and then said it was boring. But he looks so dang cute in his jersey. His team sponser is Wendy's, which Grandma and Grandpa Milne should appreciate. They think nothing of driving an hour a couple times a week for their Wendy's baked potato and chili fix. Mason's brothers lending their support.

On Mother's Day I was in Washington celebrating my brother's graduation and I was really worried that the kids would be disappointed I wouldn't be there on Mother's Day. Not so much. When I called in the morning Mason didn't want to talk to me and Myles said "happy Mother's Day. I miss. . .Grandma!" Then at church someone told Myles it was Mother's Day and he replied "I don't have a mother. . .she left." Hilarious. Marshall told me they did save me a piece of french toast from breakfast that morning. . . Luckily they redeemed themselves and this morning I woke up to three cuddly boys, lots of kisses, and some interesting presents, including a grocery bag full of dead dandelions . Mason said "I knew you love flowers so I got you a lot." Myles and Max took the traditional approach and got me the AMAZING bath bombs I wanted but couldn't bring myself to spend $10 each for. I'm going to have wonderful baths for the nex...

This morning before work, Marshall was on a phone call in the basement and I was in a hurry getting ready for work. I left Max in his high chair while Mason and Myles were eating breakfast and I ran upstairs to blowdry my hair. When I came back down this is what I saw--Mason decided Max was still hungry and was feeding Max his babyfood. It was a VERY messy ordeal but both were enjoying it and laughing.