Geesh, its been awhile. What have we been up to... we've been canning tomatoes, salsa, chili sauce, sweet and sour sauce, vegi soup, peaches, green beans, MORE tomatoes, pickles.  Thurm planted SEVENTY tomato plants. He's CRAZY for tomatoes.  And we've been CRAZY with tomatoes running out our ears. I went to Idaho for a week to spend with my mom and sister-in-laws. We did fun sewing projects-Christmas pillow, pillow cases, and boy's ties.
Quinn started pre-school. A girl in my ward traded me a few months of preschool for a photo package.  Quinn LOVES it.  He is a little sponge and its good for him to be around other children.  Quinn gave up his nap about a month ago. He takes the occasional nap when he's really cranky, but overall is done. The bonus that came out of it though is that he is asleep by 7pm. I put Jens to bed at 6pm and then start Quinn's routine after that. So Thurm and I have our evenings alone which is so nice!  We decided to read a book out loud together.  That's been fun other than Thurm doesn't like the author--guess he can pick the book next time.  Any suggestions? I put a table in our bedroom and have all my sewing stuff out. Its awesome because I can sew every evening and don't have to clean it up.  Thurm's been reading to me while I sew.
Quinn has been really into witches, dragons, monsters, etc. He likes to pretend he is witch (dragon, monster) and it gives him liberty to be naughty.  Creative little loop hole he found to the system.  Quinn wakes up in the morning and waits till he hears Jens talking and then goes into his room and puts on a show. Its awesome because it gives me an extra half hour to sleep in.  Which is really lazy of me because they don't get up till 7am and thats totally reasonable.

Jens is growing up!  He is 15 months. He loves to read books.  He is constantly bringing me books to read him and cries if I don't.  He's figured out that crying gets Quinn in trouble.  I usually don't see what happened and can only judge based off how loud Jens is crying.  It'll be nice when Jens talks and can defend his side.  He LOVES his blanket. And he is finally starting to cuddle and enjoy being rocked.  I think my babies always associate sleep with those things and think its a punishment to be cradled. He's also getting good at entertaining himself.  He will wander around the house for an hour entertaining himself.

My ward's primary program is in three weeks and it still isn't put together. I put my chorister in charge and its really stressing me out that the kids don't know the songs and we still haven't figured out the structure of it.  I'm not good with waiting till the last minute to pull it together. I like to be planned well in advance.

Cute little cousins!  I am so sad they won't grow up together!  His parents moved to Florida : (  

What's Cooking

French dip and grilled zucchini marinated in Italian dressing.

Strawberry pie with a cream cheese layer.

Jalapeno poppers-filled with cream cheese and wrapped in bacon. 

The boys loves to wrestle with daddy. And daddy LOVES to wrestle with them.  

Quinn can still make Jens laugh more than anyone else.  

The other day Quinn was supposed to be in his room going to sleep.  I went around the corner and caught him mid-"SNEAK" with a hilarious sneaky face.  The second he saw me his face changed to "oh no, I'm in trouble!"  These pictures are just a recreation and not nearly as funny.  

Alturis Lake

Quinn cracked his head open on the driveway.  I had to shave a spot so the bandaids would stick. So the next day we just shaved the rest.  

I've been thinking about what it means to be dedicated. Specifically dedicated to the gospel of Jesus Christ. I've been reading about the pioneer Willie Handcart company that crossed the plains to Salt Lake. If you don't know the story, the short version is that they didn't have wagons, they walked and pulled their food and personal items in a handcart. They left Iowa way too late in the season and got caught in the middle of snow storms in Wyhoming. Out of about 500 people, 50-something died.  Which it seems like a huge tragedy and church members talk about this pioneer party frequently because of the heart wrenching stories.  But its actually pretty miraculous that ONLY 50-something people died.  Would I walk across America in snow, no shoes just rags wrapped around my feet, a handful of flour to eat per day?  Or would I be one the few that joined the first settlement we came across because it was too hard and possibly deadly? Would I give my life for the gospel.  I'd like to say that I would...

Last Sunday one of my primary teachers passed away.  She had a pulse Sunday morning, but wouldn't wake up. They life flighted her to Salt Lake where she passed away. Her daughter, also one of my primary teachers, called substitutes to take their classes before leaving for Salt Lake. In the middle of a fatal emergency she had the presence of mind to make sure her primary class had a teacher. If I did anything, I'd probably just call the president to tell her I wouldn't be there and pat myself on the back for doing that. I was just so impressed with her dedication to her calling.

Maybe some more thoughts on this later....

Gorgeous morning light in the countryside of Rupert.

Watching fireworks at grandma's house

Quinn & I got our faces painted after we went swimming one evening.
I thought Thurm would get a kick out of the mustache. He did. 

Awesome book mobile that I copied off of Etsy. Sold for $75 and I made it for 50 cents!

Thurm's first tomato of the season, July 21st. He was ecstatic : ) 

Quinn-Funny Quotes

Quinn says hilarious stuff all the time. Recently he said that he was "Drinky" for some juice. He knows the word thirsty, but had a momentary lapse I guess.
Thurm teaches the lesson in priesthood and Quinn has watched him prepare. The last few Sundays Quinn has told me he needs to prepare his lesson. I give him a book and he sits down with a pen and looks through his book. Its pretty cute.

Jens One Year Old!

My sweet baby Jens turned one! The only thing we did for his birthday was let him eat cake and sing happy birthday to him.  He actually didn't care that much about the cake. I thought he'd love the sugar, but he wasn't that impressed.  He took his first steps about a month ago, but hasn't decided its his main mode of transportation. The week of his birthday he took about 20 steps each day, but again, still crawls alot of the time. I think he decides if he'd rather get their quick, he'll crawl.  He is the NICEST, SWEETEST little boy. He is happy and goes with the flow. The only time he's really cranky is when he misses naps or is late for naps or bedtime. We are a sleepy family.  He says mama and dada and means it, I think.  I say Quinn and he starts looking for his brother. He loves our food and isn't impressed with any sort of baby food.  He wants chicken with a mushroom sauce, not green beans.
He just makes us all happy. We love him and can't imagine life without him.

Quinn-3 Years Old

Thought I should document Quinn at three.  He is really smart. I hate to brag, but he is way ahead of alot of the kids his age. He understands pretty much anything we explain to him.  He is starting to ask a MILLION questions like "mom, what do dogs eat? Why do birds sing?' And he'll ask over and over until we have given him a satisfactory answer. We really should be quicker learners and just give him the lengthy explanation the first time.  He is very logical and reasonable. Ever since he was able to understand, we have been able to reason with him. He would begin to throw a fit and we could calm him down and talk to him till he understood what was going on.
He LOVES to read books with us. And again, while we read he has lots of commentary and questions.  He likes to talk and sing is usually only quiet when watching a show. He makes up his own songs, lyrics and melody. His songs usually have a beat, and alot of times a syncopated beat.  He's always on key and makes up great tunes. He's just really musically talented and I'm excited to see how that develops as he gets older. He will do anything to get out of going to bed. His favorites, which I always fall for, are "I'm hungry & I need a drink." He has gotten sneaky about it and after we go to bed, we can hear little feet running around on the main floor getting into food, toys, etc.
He loves to be outside, especially with his daddy.  He could be outside all day long and be happy.  He makes "cake" out of water and dirt.  He likes to cook with Thurm & me in the kitchen.  He used to be a mommy's boy, but about 6 months ago, he started to prefer his daddy. He started catching on that Thurm is the fun one and that all mommy does is cook and clean. He even prefers daddy to put him to bed now.
He does NOT like getting eye drops put in his eyes. He is finally through the terrible twos!  He has slowly been becoming a more obedient, nice boy the last six months. Getting a new brother last summer really threw his life into a twist.  But he can be very gentle and older-brotherly with Jens now. Quinn teaches Jens and saves him from getting hurt or getting into something he's not supposed to.  It's so fun to watch them interact now.
Quinn has been "running" like his daddy the last few months.  He runs down the side walk about two houses down to a yellow sign and back.  He does stretches before and after he runs.  Occasionally he'll just break into a stretch, its pretty funny.
He knows how to turn on the TV and VCR (yes we have a VCR, all my Disney movies are on VHS) and watch a show.  Usually he asks me, but sometimes he'll sneak off to watch.  He would watch TV all day long if I let him.  His favorites are Dora, Diego, Sid the Science Kid, Wonderpets, and Backyardigans.
He is really loving and loves to be held.  He gives hugs and kisses without us asking. He started sucking his finger last year when Jens was born and is still doing it.  He dresses himself most of the time and almost always has something on backwards or inside out. Its been funny seeing his outfits. He tends towards shorty-shorts that are supposed to be jammies.
He loves to make his daddy laugh. All he has to do is make silly faces and daddy will laugh.  He can make Jens laugh more than anyone else too.

Quinn's 3 year old photo shoot on his birthday.  What a silly, fun, sweet, energetic, nice, smart, loving boy.  We are so blessed to have him in our family. 

Sleeping with wild abandon : )

Irises from the back yard...I just love the color.

Quinn's 3rd Birthday!!!

My friend Debbi made this AWESOME cake for Quinn. She's a great artist. 

A couple of clowns!