I love nursery,

and I love that Chase loves it.  I love having 2 hours of church that I can actually pay attention to.


I love getting pictures and crafts, especially when they just remind me of Chase.  See, I know Chase really colored this, because it's covered in Orange. 

I love when he sees someone from his class that he recognizes in church and tries to say hi to them, and tell me who they are.

I (sort of) love that he begs all through sacrament to go to nursery, and then runs to nursery when we get out, without even saying goodbye.

And I love when he starts singing "tall, tall, tall" while reaching his hands over his head.  I haven't taught him that song yet, so I know his nursery leaders are teaching him fun primary songs.

When I realized I hadn't heard a sound from Chase for a couple minutes, I knew to expect a messy room.....

I WASN'T expecting the baby powder.  I'm not really sure where it even came from, since we don't use baby powder.

The train tunnel.

Just a funny memory from my past...

Anyone who grew up around Moab knows what I am talking about, for the rest of you, there is a tunnel where the train goes through the mountain just outside of Moab.  I may be way off on my estimate, but I would guess it's about a mile long.  For some unknown reason, it is one of the "hip" spots for teenagers in Moab.  When there was nothing else to do, we would go walk through the train tunnel in the dark.

There is one night in particular that I will never forget..... the night I thought I was seconds away from dyeing.

It started out the same old way.  Trying to think of something fun to do.  When no one could think of anything exciting or different, it was agreed that we would walk through the train tunnel.... again.  This particular night we were able to gather a pretty large group together.

It was tradition to scare the newbies with stories of what to do if a train happens to come through, although I don't believe any of the horror stories that were passed on were actually true, it just added danger and thrill to the adventure.

We also made sure we had a flash light or two just in case, but lights weren't allowed.  After all, the fun comes from walking in pitch darkness, the kind where you can't even see the hand in front of your face.  We casually began our journey.  It was mostly a time for socializing, and you could expect that once in a while some silly boy would sneak ahead of the group and jump out to scare you, but little did I know that this night the boys had something else up their sleeves.

One of the boys, if I knew who they wouldn't be alive anymore, strung together black cat firework and brought them with us, unbeknown to most of us girls.  The boys trailed behind and passed the secret to one another as the girls carried on joking and talking about whatever teenage girls talk about.

The train tunnel is just large enough that only two or three people can walk together.  The boys strategically scattered themselves in between as many girls as the could to get the full effect of our reaction.  Becca and I (I think it was you, Becca)  hardly suspected a thing when one of the guys came between us and joined our conversation.   It was only a couple minutes later that my life flashed before my eyes.

Looking back it isn't logical to think that it could have been a train, but in the moment those fireworks went off, that was the only explanation my mind could come up with.  The extremely loud noise echoing off the walls of the tunnel.... the bright lights...... I had no idea which direction the train was coming from or how fast, all I knew was I was about the be killed, by a train.

I totally forgot all the silly little instructions we had receieved time after time as we would go through the train tunnel.  "Jump off the tracks to the side."  "Lay as low to the ground as possible."  "Bigger people lay on top of the littler people so they aren't sucked under." etc.

I found myself screaming.  I'm not a screamer, I wasn't even sure if I was capable of screaming.  I had often wondered if I were ever to get into a dangerous situation if I would be able to scream so that others could hear me, but in this moment all I could hear was myself screaming.  I squatted to the ground in defeat and tears started streaming down my face.  I wasn't sure how much time I was going to have to endure the terror.

It felt like an eternity, although I'm sure it was merely seconds, and my mind finally became aware of my surroundings.  The train wasn't coming as fast as it should have, in fact, the noise and lights seemed to be slowing, and I could hear the sound of laughter, a bunch of laughing boys.

I was still somewhat confused when the noise died down and the flash lights we had brought started turning on, one by one.  A couple of the girls had followed the advice given and were laying on the ground on the side of the train tunnel, some were just standing to the side, and some of us were still standing there on the tacks wondering what had just happened.   

Whichever boy had come between Becca and I was grabbing my arms and trying to pull me up, apologizing through his laughter.  When they finally understood how badly we were scared, some of them realized that they had taken the joke too far.

I wasn't mad.  I'm not one to hold much of a grudge, but I'm pretty sure we turned around and headed back right then, my legs were shaking all the way.  That was the last time I have ever been in the train tunnel.

This is my little Chaser.....

 

Just a few things I want to make sure I don't forget about my little 2 year old Chaser.

-sings the ABC's and Twinkle Star by himself

-counts to ten.  Usually skipping 5 and throwing 9 in there 3 times in a row.

-Love to help with the dishes.  This basically trumps ANYTHING, including treats or rides in daddy's truck.

-Also loves going for rides in Daddy's truck

-Still has an obsession with cycles.

-Can never get enough of walking through a cycle store.  He can be found running here and there saying, "Look at that cycle!  Look at this cycle!" over and over.

-Loves to go to the Library for the toys, not the books.

-Loves smiths so he can ride in the car cart.

-Loves to swim, but can't stand the chilly water.

-Loves to drive over train tracks and through under passes.

-Either wakes up really happy or really ornery, there is no in between.

-Talks about going to Stansbury all the time and "wants to buy a house a Stansbury".  (Stansbury is where our soon to be new house is located!)

-Loves french fries and can pick out a fast food restaurant whenever we drive past one.

-Loves McDonalds for the slides, not the food.

-Is still very picky, but is getting better at eating a variety of foods.

-Loves the grilled pineapple at Tucanos, even more than I do.

-Feeds and takes care of his stuffed animals.  Especially Ray and his pig.

-Still has an attachment to DeeDee and is the quickest way to calm him down.

-Talks about his baby brother all the time.

-Loves to read.  His favorites are Chicka chicka Boom Boom, There's a Monster at the End of this Book, Sam book (Green Eggs and Ham), The Pig Book (If you give a Pig a Pancake), and Incredibles.

-Loves watching Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Big Bird, Elmo, and Motorcycles on youtube.

-Can eat 2 whole pieces of pizza in one setting.

-Loves Nursery and asks to go all through sacrement.  One Sunday an older lady sitting in front of us turned around after sacrament meeting was over and said, "Would you get that kid a drink and to nursery!?!?"  (She was kidding, of course.)

-One day several months ago while walking through the church parking lot we came upon some melted spilled ice cream.  Daniel said, "Watch out for the ice cream."  Chase to this day still says "Watch out iceam!" when we get to the church parking lot.

-He doesn't walk anymore, he runs or jumps or hops his way around.

-Loves Arrows.  This is our conversationg pretty much anytime we are driving down the freeway through Salt Lake.

           Chase, "Momma find some arrows?"

           Me, "Sure, let's look for some arrows."

           Chase- "There's some arrows!!"

           Me "Sure enough!"

           Chase- "Look!  More arrows!!"

          Me " Yep!"

          Chase- "Look!  Some more arrows!!!"

          Me "Yep!"

          Chase- "Look!  Some white arrows!"

          etc.

          etc.

    This continues until we get off the freeway.

-Loves to be outside and HATES coming in, no matter how cold or snowy.

-Gets excited about new clothes.

-Loves to jump.  On trampolenes, on the floor, couches, bed, or jumping off of things.

-Is shy at first, but warms right up to about anyone.

-Is a daddy's boy.

-Is very ticklish, especially when tickled by his daddy.

-Is obsessive about the vacuum and the "huse" (hose).  Asks to tickle it everyday, and it always ends up being a fiasco when the vacuum has to leave his sight.

-Loves to help mom and dad clean, but hates to clean up by himself.

-Is easily Glued to the T.V. when there are commercials or previews, but rarely will sit to watch any part of a show.  (But likes to have his favorite shows playing in the background while he plays.)

-Loves going to scouts with mom, and all the attention the 8 year old boys give him.

We're busy.....

Trying to make this little beauty our new home.  It has been, and will continue to be a very time consuming and exhausting process- probably mostly due to the fact that we are in a bit of a hurry.

If all goes well with inspection and financing, we will be deep cleaning (foreclosure) and moving 4 weeks before the baby is due, so it doesn't look as if things will be getting less busy for us for a long time.

Just wanted to update on what we've been doing.  More details to come as things become more official.  Wish us luck!

Family time.

Sometimes we have a hard time thinking of something we can do as a family that we would all enjoy.  Usually we sacrifice and do something for Chase and we end up bored, or we do something for us and Chase ends up screaming.

But every once in a while we find the perfect thing that fits us all.  For Chase just getting outside and being able to run free, choosing whichever direction he wants to go- is a good day.

For Daniel, getting outside and spending time together is a good day.  Especially if we end up on a farm where he can teach us what it takes to run a farm and tell us stories from his childhood days of farming.

For me, a good day is just being together and being able to play with my camera.  I don't have very willing subjects to play around with so when I can talk them into holding still once or twice for a picture, that makes a good day for me.

What do you do when your bored and trying to save money?

Wander around the pet store...

It entertained this kid for an hour....

And he would have kept going if the store hadn't closed.

Wish I would have thought of this a long time ago!