Good Times

Croz went to his friend Sam's birthday party on Sunday, and was pleasantly surprised with a pony ride! He was whacking away at the Thomas pinata, played a little Bingo, and won some prizes.



We are on the go these days. Always have something we're doing, whether it's taking Munga or meeting someone somewhere or dinner with family or friends. I feel a bit of the single-mom syndrome since D isn't around much. I don't have much to complain about and I know it will pass, but it gets old really fast. I love the line from Ben Harper's song "Crying Won't Help You Now" that says, "Lonely just doesn't look good on you somehow..." it may sound a bit blown out of proportion to say that the boys and I are lonely, but in a way it's true right now... lonely in its subtlest form I guess.

Sweet Tayter Bug is still in the NICU. Mirjeta is amazing. She keeps plowing through... while she goes to be with Tayt we've had the pleasure of having Tavi come over several times. He is one cutie of a guy. Croz told me the other day that Tavi is his best friend.



What I do when we're watching Tavi is I strap Lennox on in the Bjorn, throw Tavi and Croz in the wagon and haul the three boys to the park. I wonder if some people driving by see me with a 3 yr old, 19 month old, and a 9 month old strapped to my body and think, 'Welcome to Utah...' well either way the park is the place to take them. I was able to see Tayt again, got to snuggle and hold him. I love him! He is getting older and more aware and it's killer to witness Mirjeta stay for hours with her baby and still not be able to take him home.

I set up a tour at Taffy Town recently; had some friends w/their kids come along. It was actually extremely cool to hear all of the factory factoids. If I'm remembering correctly, I want to say they were telling about bags of sugar that they use that are thousands of pounds and their secret taffy ingredient is egg whites. That way they don't have to use the old-school machine to twirl taffy to incorporate the air into the taffy. Hair nets rock.



The tour guide may or may not have started to wig out with how many questions I was asking. Also he may or may not have been afraid of me when I started inquiring about job positions there because I think it would be so awesome to work in a taffy factory. Actually I just want to learn the secrets of the Glade family and eat free taffy. Each section on this machine has a little scale that weighs the candy into 5# bags and then they get dropped through the floor down to the main level where they're boxed.



Fresh caramel apple taffy! And we also got to sample their new hot chocolate and frosted cupcake.



My guys. What more can I say? I sure love them. I am a very lucky mom! Crosby is so imaginative (Pisces, go figure) and has many many questions all throughout the day. I try to be patient with the questions, but... for instance. Today as we drove on a dirt road we heard a rock ricochet somewhere on our car. He asked about 6 different questions about that incident... What was that? A rock. What happened? It flipped against our car. Why did it do that? It just... did. Where did the rock go? Um, maybe on the road with the other rocks. Well, where did the rock GO? Um, maybe in the grass. He has to know everything. And then he has to know everything about EVERYTHING! I know it's a good thing for him to be inquisitive but by the end of the day I kinda have a twitch. I am in love with just about everything Croz says. He was kicking some bark dust at a park and I called him over for something and then he said, "Okay mom I'm going to go back and kick all those cornflakes." This morning he was asking what a heart is and he put his hand over his chest (he thinks a chest is called a tummy). I told him how your heart pumps blood throughout your body and beats quickly. He said, "Oh, so our hearts are butterflies in our tummies."



Have had some real fun with yard sales lately! Been a little tradition last two weekends where my mom, Audrey, and I creep out nice and early to do some scouring. Have had a lucky streak! One of my favorites was the cutest (and clean!) grocery cart with a big Tupperware full of fake foods and pots, pans, and cookware. $3!



Saturday morning having a blast with his new toys! I said, "Guy, are you making some food?" to which he replied without looking up, "These are specially baked, always baked," and "I'm always baking foods."



Lennox! Jiggaloo Jiggaloo Jiggaloo-Do. Eating up every second I can find alone with this one. Just when we thought he was lots of fun, he becomes even MORE fun to be around. Just happy, funny, squishy, loving. Really I find it extremely sad to watch him grow up as I realize how fleeting each moment is. It is just downright disturbing that his year mark will be coming in October. So... before I burst into tears... like I said... just ENJOYING him!



So happy for swim season! We got to finally break out the swimsuits and Crosby was ecstatic. Karin and I met up to swim and went to the BEST place.



There are no pics of Arthur and Croz because they were off sliding on the pirate ships... Karin and I had our babies trying to trade off keeping our eye on the 3 yr olds. Lennox was relaxing in the shade. Abs of steel.



Crosby was going down the pirate slides nonstop. He was having the time of his life. So I got to fit in some one-on-one Jigga time which is EXTREMELY rare. He was so tired and his warm little body fell right asleep in my arms in the shade.



**DON'T GROW UP**



We all know that when it rains it pours. All in one day these three things happened: I realized my wedding ring wasn't just misplaced, but LOST; we found a raccoon in our garage, and Cam joined the Navy.

I suppose the raccoon should have been the least of my worries but I made it the #1 worry. I never felt one way or another about them but I now am quite terrified of the little buggers. Long story short: it was in our garage for four days. It believed our garage was its home. It knocked things over, clawed out the rubber lining on our (new) garage door, and spooked us out for days.

Jon helped us set a trap with a peanut butter sandwich but morning after morning when we'd open the garage the trap door would be shut, sandwich still there - like he was playing a trick on us!

Well I could go on and on about the stupid raccoon but I was VERY mad at it. I was scared to even go outside because I thought it would attack us. My fears were a little out of hand but finally on Saturday Cam and Auds took matters into their hands and Auds, the brave one, figured out how to corner it because it was weak after 4 days with no food/water.



Four of us joined forces as Cam showed up with his magic sword to usher the raccoon into the cage. Knight in shining armor. We were SOOOOO HAPPY to have him out! And yes we took these guys out to dinner. Was the least we could do.



Okay... despite them being mean, territorial, and spooky... YES they are cute to look at. Jamie named him Fred and then shortly after making friends with Fred she and Jon and Susan hauled him up to the property to shoot him. Thank you! I am extremely relieved he won't be coming back.



My bro! I am so proud of him. He and Audrey have finally gotten their answer on what direction to take and for now it's the Navy. They are headed to San Diego soon.



We all know how sad it is that they won't be in Salt Lake but dwelling on it won't do any good. I'm going to miss them terribly. At least San Diego feels (and is) soooo much closer than Cleveland! We hope to cherish the times we can spend together 'til they have to leave. I have a feeling though that once stationed in SD they might be getting frequent visitors :)

Christina took me to Mazza for my birthday, bless her soul! I sure love my friends. This one's a keeper ;) We have the best times; the best talks.



We had the most DELICIOUS lunch! I hadn't been to Mazza for so long. Anything you order would be amazing but if you want something that's pretty classic and not too "ethnic" then you should try their chicken kabob. It is out of this world amazing. Same goes for their fries... yes I know it's bad to order fries from a Middle Eastern restaurant but trust me on this one.



We took two steps across the street and ran into the coolest girl working at Caputo's - gave us LOTS of chocolate samples; Madagascar was my favorite. Then she highly recommended we buy a Happy Hippo and it was actually incredibly tasty!



When we were at Sabita's the other day I passed her room and right outside of it she keeps this corkboard plastered with pictures. To be totally honest I've always loathed it for some reason; like it was junky to me. As I've come to know and understand this woman better over the years, I viewed it in a different light the other day, like a work of art.



Still looking for my ring. I hesitated to announce such horrible news on something like a blog, but it's just life. A weird thing has happened... my life has been so full that I haven't really had much time to look for it but also when I think of beginning the search, I immediately get sick to my stomach. So I keep pretending away the fact that it is possibly lost and gone forever. I know I should bring all things to a halt and hold an enormous search party but I am TERRIFIED that it won't be found. Stay tuned for hopefully a happy ending to this story :(

On a brighter note, Fourth of July is already here! I cannot believe this is the 4th of July weekend... time is flying too fast. Always like to get a little festive for the 4th... how bout them apples?!

Disjointed

That would sum up how I feel lately! Living and loving our lives, but a little all over the place. Though life is a little busy at times for our taste, we'd rather be busy than... something else. There are many scary, sad, and difficult challenges going on in the lives of several people I know as well as people I know who know other people suffering. It is wild how much is going on right now. A few months ago I started writing names of people at the bottom of the calendar in our room. Names of those who D & I would like to pray for. This list not only has been carried over for months (meaning no progress for their problems) but unfortunately the list has grown substantially. I truly feel humbled now writing this as I try to send my good thoughts and sincere prayers their way. It is hard to stomach some of the events - some very serious and some thankfully not as serious - that seem to creep their cruel way into the delicate lives of us mortals. I can only have faith that there truly is a plan and trust in the Lord and cling as closely as possible to His spirit.

On a lighter note, I suppose I will jumble together some thoughts and pictures as of late in order to stay on top of this interesting life we live... Aunt Jessie outdid herself once again by giving Crosby yet another ethnic outfit to add to his collection! She picked it up in India last December and it has been in a drawer for quite some time. She recently requested some snapshots of Croz in this getup. It is a beautiful outfit and I adore the way he was so thrilled to put it on!



He was staring at the trim, running his fingers along it saying, "These remind me of train tracks-"



It was one of those short and sweet photo shoots ;)



Whose hand might this be? The hand of an 8-month-old baby!! Who hates grass.



Lennox makes the most agonizing face when any part of his body touches grass.



The kitchen floor will do just fine for this Jigga Man. Right now D has promoted him to the title of Jigga Magoo. And nothing's changed... he is still our joy. He is growing way too rapidly. He is the best-natured, two-toothed, coolest cucumber of all time!



Mirjeta had invited me the eve of my 30th birthday to come to IMC's NICU and hold Tayt as my gift! I was ecstatic and stayed for a while as we talked, vented, and cried. She is being carried through by a higher power and I know it. Her strength and ability to endure this hardship confounds me! But Tayt continues to grow stronger and she continues to carry on.



On June 3rd, 2011 our dearest Vee passed away. 96 years old, having been in the hospital for 3+ months with a blood clot in his lung... Bless his soul! Hope he could feel how dearly loved, admired, and revered he was. D & I have considered it a real privilege to have logged some great visits with Vee and the memories are forever! There's the annual summer trips to Panguitch, of course, which were some of the GREATEST times! There was 2004 New Year's Eve when D & I had been in Vegas for a concert and decided to forgo a Vegas New Year's for a Panguitch one. C-Stop pizza and snow gently falling. "Well I'm goin' to bed and you just find a bed and when you wake up I'll find ya in the mornin'." In October 2008 we took Croz down for his first road trip to Bryce and stayed with Vee. I remember Paul Hatch coming over and eavesdropping on he and Vee's convo for what seemed like HOURS. It was one of the most entertaining things I've ever heard and a side of Vee that I'll never forget! Vee would tell us about all of the items in the fridge to eat... that we could help ourselves... "But I'm not gonna wait on you," he'd firmly say. Then in the morning he had poached eggs waiting for us. And when I locked my keys in the car and he called the sheriff right away... invited him in for food...

And then our last sweet moment with him alive on Easter Sunday of this year... so happy to have looked in his eyes and told him we loved him and gave him a hug... Vee, you will be greatly missed.



We had a caravan to Southern Utah for his funeral last week, and D & I were so glad we were able to make it. The service was excellent and all who participated paid such an excellent tribute to him. Then at the cemetery the scene gave me chills... his truck parked right next to his grave. It was as if he was there watching.



Like my mom said, "This is a Vee kind of day-"



Cousins.



As if one death wasn't bad enough, my mom's uncle passed away on June 7th. I wish now that I would have known Don better because all I'm hearing is how incredible and fun he was! I hope he has found peace.

Here we go on a lighter note once again... Crosby's toilet paper towers. They are his passion.



Speaking of passion, there has to be some behind this pretty scene. I have to take shots of D's concoctions once in a while. I love the way he throws things together in the kitchen and they turn out delicious AND very pretty on the plate. Mmmm, breakfast!



These are some boys who love their Nan.



Well I am either in denial or maybe it hasn't sunk in yet, but I think turning 30 should be fun. And it was!



It all started with my nerdy desire to create an event on Facebook. What kind of event? A patio movie night, of course. Oh and throw in that I happened to turn 30 that week and turn it into me throwing a (sort of) birthday party for myself ;) I have to watch Moulin Rouge at least every other year since it's one of my favorite movies and so it was fantastic to have these awesome people to do it with! Caitlin wins craziest face.



Nothing pleases me more than those who humor me for photo shoots that last way too long. Not to mention props. Love you all! Kiss kiss.



Tile jobs all over town + 40 hour work weeks + Biochemistry and writing. Can we say busy? So we take what time we can get with D for the moment. This string should end soon we hope but it is still hard.



At Lennox's "sprinkle" the Worthen gals gave us these TOO.CUTE.FOR.WORDS. pjs. I thought it would be Falltime before they'd fit the boys. Not the case! So glad I remembered them and immediately started brainstorming backgrounds for those awesome colors. I love these pajamas with a passion. I will be incredibly sad when the boys outgrow them. So I will post a few of my favorites from different spots and if anyone who reads feels inclined to let me know their favorites, I would love it! I want to know opinions! I had wanted to take them up the canyon today but didn't have time...

Summer?

I've been living in Salt Lake for a long while now, so you'd think I'd clear from my head the notion that Summer begins when May begins. It's fun to pretend like summer is here though. Crosby insists on shorts every day now - rain or shine, D and I are still snuggling under our down comforter, and I still can't bring myself to put Lennox in short sleeves most days. I really appreciate the rain and actually like it. It's no fun when you're a kid though; Crosby's ready to get OUT!

Lack of summery weather didn't stop us from attending our zoo date. A group of friends who used to work at Dan's back in the day all decided to get together... some with kids and some sans kids. Erik & Alysa brought Callan, Mirjeta & Jared came with Tavi, Steph brought Tyler as her date ;) I've missed them! Too bad I didn't get pix of everyone. Here's the trio of us girls.



Crosby wasn't loving the spitting dinosaur. Neither was I.



Every time I observe the gorillas my heart sinks :( It is quite fascinating that just by looking at their faces you see how intelligent they are. Did I hear someone say wasted potential? Seriously... I'm planning on making friends with them soon because they might rule the world someday and gain back some justice. Wow we must look like big-time idiots.



D's beanie epitomizes our lovely ever-changing Utah climate... cold one second and hot the next.



Croz was fond of trying on hats



My 30 days of Bikram just ended. I thoroughly enjoyed making it to as many classes as possible and taking in one of my favorite sources of solace... I hope I can consistently revisit practicing Bikram, as I love it dearly. But for now, back to dancing in the kitchen!

My dad's Brazilian friend Dalva was staying at my parents' place so D & the boys & I went twice to visit with her. She is awesome. She is animated. She is loving. She has something to say every millisecond! I loved "talking" to her, even if my dad had to translate every word. Since Portuguese is a mixture of Spanish and French I was banking on understanding some of what she said. C'etais tres difficile. I was incredibly impressed with my dad, though! He knew EVERYTHING she said. His language skills were flowing like mad. I very much enjoy listening to and watching people speak different languages. Communication is fascinating. She was the cutest lady and kept saying how much she loved Crosby and that he was full of love. She would point to Lennox, who was crying both times she saw him, saying he's the nervous one. She kept looking at D holding the boys and saying that one of the best things you can ever have is a man who loves and takes good care of his children. I hope we see her again someday...



Cam & Auds are officially moving out of their Cottonwood Heights home :( We have loved our visits there and I cannot BELIEVE it's already been two years since they moved back to Salt Lake.

Cousins.



I was acting all nostalgic Saturday night, taking pictures as if they're moving away from us forever. It's just hard though because they still don't know EXACTLY their next destination and #1 that's been outrageously difficult for them but #2 I keep feeling inclined to savor every moment with them before they potentially go somewhere really far away. I can't think about it too hard; Cam holds quite a large part of my heart.



And who holds a large part of Crosby's heart?

Brig.



Well, each one of them really... they are the only cousins he gets to see on a regular basis and he loves them so much!



We all went over for a farewell movie night in their huge beautiful backyard. All snuggled in our chairs with our blankets and sweatshirts. Eating peanut M&M's, popcorn, and blueberry ice cream watching Despicable Me.



Nan & Grandpa with all of the grandkids.



Sunday morning I went crazy with the zucchini bread again. Baking, that is. I just have to have aromas filling the kitchen! I made some to freeze, some to give away, then we were off to church. Then to Sabita's to make her a birthday dinner (her favorite stir fry), as her bday was on the 20th.

Monday we took Sabita on errands. Then had a playdate at Colette's place; they just got a new tramp & invited Croz over to jump with Stella and they had a blast. Lennox slept the whole time down in their basement. Colette has this gorgeous home and when I walked into her kitchen I was overcome with the most delightful citrus scent. There was this sleek silver contraption on her counter with a soft blue light in the middle, steam slowly escaping out the top. An essential oil diffuser. This is now on my list of things I probably will never get but really want. It was magnificent.

In our ward they're trying something out called "Nourishing Neighbors." They leave out cute little take-out cartons with a name & phone number. They're names of older folks in the neighborhood who could use a dinner & a visit. So I grabbed a certain one, feeling like I should take that one. The problem is that it sat for at least a week or two and I started to feel horrible, so on Tuesday since I was making chicken noodle soup I called the number and told the lady I'd be by with dinner... I was so glad I chose her! She ended up having a history with my Great Aunt Fay and other family members. We sat in her living room having a nice visit. She was a lot of fun to talk to and I guessed her age to be 75 or so. She said she just turned 90. I was in shock. She wants me to bring Croz & Lennox in the summer to visit.

I have been working (only mentally) on improving my chicken noodle soup. I had only made it once before by combining two stellar recipes and it really turned out despite how intimidated I was to make it. It's the kind with those thick noodles and a murky broth. Red potatoes. I made a HUGE batch this time, so was nervous on proportions but threw stuff in anyway and didn't meticulously measure. I don't know why I do such things when I could risk wasting a batch of soup meant to feed 16+ people. Maybe because it is so outrageously daring. Ha! What an exciting life I lead. Anywho, the soup prep took a good part of the day mixed with the duties of young ones but I was loving making it. I made a big batch of breadsticks as well and took dinner to our downstairs neighbors. It was the day of the U2 concert and so I was allowing myself lots of caffeine and lots of loud U2 music with reckless abandon. When my mom showed up to watch the boys she must have thought I was quite the strange one as I'm divvying up bowls of soup for people while frantically saying, "I haven't even tasted the soup!"

Jigga making chicken noodle soup and dancing to "Get On Your Boots!"



The U2 concert! This has been the date D & I have been waiting for! Steve bought tix for us about a year and a half ago but due to Bono's emergency back surgery/recovery, they had to reschedule the tour dates. So **MAY 24TH** has been this big blinking light of a day to look forward to for SO long!

The album below is the one D bought me the month we started dating, in October of '98. I love the B-Sides part of it. It takes me back; we would have U2 and Led Zeppelin playing in my parents' living room into the wee hours night after night. This was our "getting to know each other" time that I'll never forget. It is where my soul squared away a place for D. We did nothing but talk for hours and hours and hours night after night while everyone was sleeping. There was this kind of building up; for an entire two months we didn't hold hands. We didn't kiss. We just talked and gave looks. It was magic, and so was the music.



Needless to say... ECSTATIC!!!



I love my bro.



Seriously I don't remember ever being so revved up for a concert. The crowd was electrically charged. They walked out so close to us. I was screaming 12-year-old girl style.



In heaven.



I kept thinking how some guy was singing so loud and I'd turn to look at D and it was him! Everyone was singing/screaming so loud the entire time. Blake & Steve were dates.



They played some great songs that I never thought I'd hear at a U2 concert, like Zooropa, Miss Sarajevo, & Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me



Toward the end Bono had the coolest mike suspended from cables or something. At first it was red and then they turned it sparkly to match the stadium-sized disco ball for "With or Without You." It was the GREATEST show; we absolutely loved every second.



We've loved each other a long time & U2 reminds us of that ;)



Wednesday morning we met at the park with the Daveys! Arthur and Croz had the greatest time chasing birds with sticks. Running free, digging in the sand, sliding and swinging. Karin and I got to chat some while tending to the needs of the teeny ones.



Wednesday night I escaped with three of my buddies to a movie out at Jordan Commons, which was a nice diversion. So refreshing to laugh and talk no boundaries with the girls!

Thursday was Jiffy Lube day, more Sabita errands, and yardwork day. I finally pulled some weeds and worked 'til 9 pm pruning laceleafs. I've been wanting to for days and weeks on end. It's just that this entire week Lennox has barely slept in the day. It has been truly exhausting because housewise I can't get anything done. I don't understand how he went from 2 or 3 solid naps per day to zero. I know teething is playing into it, but he's got to be exhausted...

Friday we spent the day at Cam & Audrey's helping them move. Croz had a ball playing on the tramp and walking barefoot outside all day. Everyone pushed really hard and got almost all of the moving done; most of it to their storage unit and then the rest to my parents'. I can't believe they're going to be EVEN closer... living at my parents for now. I am afraid we could get used to this!

Friday was Claire's birthday too so we all booked it to the park to have cake & ice cream and open presents before the rain came pouring. Happy #6, Claire!

It is a true delight to be this boy's mom. He is acting older...



... and wiser. He asks lots of questions. If we're going to the store, he needs to know which store. If I mumble something he has to know what I said. He asked me the other day: "What is time?" and "Do you know how much the kitchen weighs?" as he held up a ruler :) He's still a sucker for anything construction!



I've been telling him that as soon as we clear off the patio we can get his sandbox out. He's been helping me work in the yard... he asks for tools and gloves and likes to look for worms. He LOVES to run free and that is the one thing I regret... I wish he had more opportunities to!



Lennox likes to think he's helping in the yard ;) He has made it clear lately that he despises being away from his family. He has to be where everyone else is, preferably within a five foot range of his brother, who he worships.



Finally that first tooth emerged... can you see it?! He's had bubbles under his gums for a while now, poor guy



He will chew on most anything. We can't get enough of this Jigga; he is a roly-poly ball of giggles and drool.



Even though he's teething and probably doesn't feel great, he always manages to smile continually! He is the most pleasant, sweet baby. His eyebrows are starting to crack me up. Very animated.



Speaking of eyebrows, I am here to present (drumroll) ... Mini-D!