Service and 7 months

Oh its Friday and blogging time again already, boy the weeks sure seem to go fast, really that's a good thing since we're students right? Don't blink though, my boys are growing up so fast! Colt Buddy is 7 months old today!

I keep thinking he's working on teeth but we haven't seen them yet.
Saturday was a super lazy day for us but we were still fighting the lingering sicknesses and Isaac was catching it. Sunday I went to the 1st and 3rd hours of church (church with no kids...that was unbelievably peaceful) and Isaac did the middle hour then went back after ward to help with things. When he came back my Good Samaritan had that wry little smile on his face as I asked him if he wanted me to make him a plate of nachos (I know, hardly Sunday food, but just to get something in his tummy before naps) and he said "Ya, only thing is the missionaries are coming too." (4 of them not just 2) He is so good, he knew they didn't have anywhere too eat, so he invited them over. (He thought I would just make them nachos too-but A: we didn't have enough stuff for that and B: back to the fact it is hardly a meal) I frantically started peeling potatoes for some soup and thankfully I'd been to the grocery story Saturday and we pulled it off. (He always offers to help after he does things like that but really it's in everyone's best interest for him to stay out of my way...but help with the kids more-and that counts!)
Then it was back to the grind of school and work, Monday we made sure to have some St Patrick's Day fun...We made some treats for the missionaries, for a gal I visit teach, and for our Home Depot friend Cheryl. I had a hard time getting a hold of ANYONE to get the treats too but...we tried, (and eventually had some success) And trying to track down the missionaries we found out about fire trucks at the church.

Whoa! Of course I went and took a picture. It turns out it was an electrical fire ...or something. I finally got a picture of the popcorn popping blossoms.
We like to read the scriptures, Cannon loves them, but they are hard sometimes. Like after reading David and Goliath I get questions like "Why is he a giant?" Okay, I can handle that but "Why did he chop his head off with a sword?" Dang the scriptures are pretty gruesome! It's good for us to read out of the Old Testament once in a while though, its certainly not my strong point! After David and Goliath and several discussions of the chopped off head we had to make a change! We turned our focus to King Benjamin, and what he taught us: Service! So I told Cannon we would do a service project. Well when I told him we were going to the store Tuesday he asked "To buy some service?" So cute but I realized if I told him we were going to do a service project I'd better hurry up to prevent more confusion, so Wednesday morning we made it happen! How cute is this?

I was so proud of him. He was great. We picked up garbage across the street from the church, it is a really busy road so no in action pictures -well kind of one, (below) but- I was busy holding his hand (and the garbage bag) -Colt was strapped to the font of me- all of the sudden just typing that I'm thinking Oh Ya, no wonder I woke up with a sore back the other day. Hmm. Oh well. Anyway Cannon was so SO CUTE! I loved it. He asked me "Why don't people pick up their own garbage?" Great question buddy, but we just talked about how they should but since they didn't we had a chance to do service and that him helping made Mom really happy and Dad really happy and then I said "And who else?..." Totally fishing for "Heavenly Father" but instead Cannon said "Abinidi! He will be so proud." It was darling. With our project I thought I might as well teach him a scripture to go with it...so we worked on "...When you are in the service of fellow beings, ye are only in the service of your God." SURPRISE! "Beings" really just sounds like "Beans" if your almost 3 it was hilarious to Cannon so then of course we went the rounds "Not beans like beans you eat, its beings like people." But he'd laugh and every time we'd practice the scripture I'd say "When your in the ........., of your fellow....." and he's say "service" but then "beans you eat!!!" and laugh...pretty much every time. Oh well we had fun and I was very VERY proud of him. We did find this big stick I made him wait to pick it up until on the way back to the church but he got to carry it to the dumpster all by himself...he was really disappointed we had to throw it away.

I really think that was the highlight of our week. I can't think of much else. We did a little FHE on Thursday with a recent convert that Isaac home teaches, its March Madness-that is always fun but sometimes its embarrassing to be a Cougar fan (I tell Isaac that every time after they lose.) Oh and preschool was here this week-I only remembered that because I'm eating the left over treats as I type.
Here's a little brothers bath:

And Colt had these weird red spots one night, I sent this picture to Grama asking here opinion, luckily they were cleared up the next day but he spit food all over when I tried to snatch a picture to send her of the cleared up version...silly kid- at least he was happy, well, and better!
Monday night I couldn't sleep, as I lay in bed I dreamt up -while awake- a quick trip home, to leave Friday for Grampa's birthday just be gone a week it would be so fun, we've found cheap tickets on flying Allegient only 10 days out before, oh, my mind went wild! I started packing in my head and everything. Isaac was...okay...with the idea when I mentioned it Tuesday morning but I caught him a little off guard, but I was still set-until I looked up tickets and they were super expensive :( not going. It was big bummer and let down after my surprisingly enjoyable sleepless night. In the words of Cannon "Maybe another time." And how I always answer him "Ya, maybe another time."

Saturday we took Cann Man to the Lowe's kids kids workshop (kinda cheated on Home Depot right?) Anyway he made a birdhouse, and they hung it in the tree outside our apt.  (Isaac said it was packed way more kids than HD, I just stayed in the car with Colt who was sleeping.)

Then we headed up to the res for our bike ride. We are on a mission to get in as may fun bike rides as we can before it gets too miserable and hot. As we were loading the boys in the trailer I noticed Cannon totally looked pale. But we figured, he was just riding and he would be alright. It turned out he fell asleep and really it just got worse and worse.

He was so sick. I hate having sick kids! It makes me feel so inept as a parent! I just want to help them, and make them feel better but I haven't been able to so far. Colt wasn't too far behind Cannon on getting it, he just didn't fight me on medicine as bad.
Sunday sick as can be I asked Cannon what he wanted and he said "I just want to play with Colt." Melted my heart. Its been a bummer that so many of our friends (all that we ever did stuff with) moved away but I guess maybe it's helping my boys to be better friends with each other so for that I'm thankful. Cannon had several naps Sunday and every time he woke up he would think it was "tomorrow" and ask if we got to go to the beach. We had decided to go to the coast for spring break and Cannon was very excited. Tuesday night it seemed like everyone was good enough to go so Wednesday morning (not early) we headed south. Colt didn't travel very good and they freeway ended up being closed in Hattiesburg so it took us a while to get there! Before we got there Cann said "I'm ready to go home." We said we hadn't been to the beach yet and asked why did he want to go back and he said "I'm just not sure about it, and our apartment is nice." Funny kid! ("I'm not sure about...." has kind of been the phrase of the week) Where we really messed up was not getting him to sleep though. No nap (well maybe the final 20 minutes of driving) after he'd been so sick. It made for an awful night plus we forgot his medicine so Isaac made a 1:00am Walmart run, and we decided in the middle of the night it was only going to be a one night trip! Anyway, lets get to the good parts.
Mississippi beaches might be man made...but this is what I love about them, they are empty!

 

Empty except my cute boys!
Isaac loved feeding the birds...

See the ship off in the distance, Isaac pointed it out to Cannon

To which he said "Is that the one that Jonah got on?" We'd read that story recently, I love how sensitive his little spirit is to the things of God, and his perfect faith, I need to be more like him. I was coughing at dinner one night and he said "Mom needs a blessing!"
Aren't these two cute? Just taking their equipment to the beach to build...a road or something. 

 

We'd had visions of peacefully biking along the beach, and up over this cool bridge then playing in the sand some more...yeah, Colt wasn't buying it. We went, we took pictures, we high tailed it out of there!

I may or may not have told Isaac I never wanted to go on "vacation" again. To grandparents only! Where upon arrival we get extra help with the little monsters :) I'm not serious...but kind of... the truth is: I've never liked traveling. My Grama Frei used to tease my Grampa mercilessly about not going anywhere or doing anything. She'd say "If he mentioned, we'd been." Honestly, that sounds perfect to me, a mention of it is ALL I NEED!...just show me a picture. Poor Isaac, we really are polar opposites in that department (and most others too but opposites attract right?) but I'll tell you one thing we both love, we love listening to byu speeches while we drive, we listened to some really good talks. One was an Elder Staheli talk, he had some great quotes. One was about our "irritants" to obedience, I liked that. The other thing he was talking about was prayer here's his analogy: "Prayer is as essential to a righteous life as food and water are to our daily sustenance. Taking this analogy one step further, if we had to live on the sustenance and the frequency and intensity of some of our prayers, many of us would be much thinner than we are today." My fight with fitness or lack there of is a story for another blog! But I got a good smile out of that analogy.
I think that's about it. A couple quick Colt updates: He is LOVING reading books...turning the pages and exploring the flaps. I made the other boys a milkshake, I know its against the rules but maybe he got a taste and he was SOLD. It was pretty funny. Isaac got his out of the freezer and Colt saw it and was having a fit until he got to taste it. Really I say milkshake and  it had a little ice cream in it but I tasted it and all it tasted like was the banana I put in it to me! That kept me from eating it! But it really was mostly fruit so...we let him have a few little tastes. He's also getting really quick with his hands and grabbing stuff. I loved watching him explore the sand too.

We also have a little Monkey See Monkey Do going on, Colton will see a silky on the floor and pick it up and put it in his mouth. So far he seems unimpressed and would rather his bink. Thank Goodness.

Ok I think that's all...

Great News! They won it!

  Pics Via

I'm so happy for them! Cannon asked if they were going to "tie the hoops up" because they were the champions-so cute- I'd shown him pictures of cutting the nets down. Friday I found a link to listen to the St. George radio guys but no such luck Saturday, finally and somewhat reluctantly I just went to the ward activity (Pinewood Derby) knowing there was nothing I could do about that game whether I got to hear it/see it or not. There however, I had a stroke of genius and text my dear friend Courtney, and she text me back with updates throughout the rest of the game! It was great! Cannon and Isaac were racing away with their prize derby car. (By the way the CO2 cartridges and mouse trap he had dreamt up were a bust so Saturday morning they ripped the mouse trap off the back, filled the CO2 cartridge compartments with penny's Cannon painted that baby and off they went Saturday night)

They just kept winning and winning in their division. (First they let the cub scouts go then its open to anyone with a "legal" car) Cannon won the legal division, well we thought he took 2nd, (that was him showing me "2" ??? fingers in the top left pic) but then we found out Nick really had illegal wheels. So he won and got the cute little medal Colt's playing with in the collage. Then it was the no rules and guys in our ward are crazy! They have so much fun with it. This year one car had an electric motor in it, but not to be passed was the car that built bumpers off the front end so no one  could pass him. There was Wagon train looking car where the guy had swiped his "wagon wheels" off a pully that had ball bearings and everything. It wasn't fast though...but then again wagons usually aren't. Anyway it was a really fun ward activity and I was in an extra good mood cuz my girls won!
We also went for a bike ride up around the reservoir, Colt got hungry/tired toward the end which is never a good thing but other than that it was great. Beautiful weather, then it turned freezing cold the first of the week and we had to hide inside. I was feeling WAY TOO cooped up! But we lived to tell about it, I mean I pretty sure I should have been admitted to the looney bin but Isaac wasn't around to turn me in so...I'm still here. I try to keep the blog positive but rest assure Cannon and I have had better weeks! The scoot is legitimate, and he's recognizing it can be quicker than rolling. I said he was scooting before but that might have been more like squirming around. I think this video is from Saturday night but the kid just gets quicker and quicker every day!

Some funny Cannon quotes...
Me "Hey Cann can you grab me Colt's binky?"
Cann "No, I'm too busy." oh brother! he also says "Are you serious?" kind of a lot, I think he might have got that one from Ann, it sounds just like when she says it. And he says a pretty dramatic "Oh my gosh!" Speaking of drama, we have a story book called Llama Llama Red Pajama, and the punch line in it is when the Mama Llama says "Please stop all this Llama Drama and be patient for your Mama!" Well Colt was fussing about something and I that is what Cannon spouted off to him. It was so cute I loved it. Now if he could just heed his own advice!
Colt loves shoes (and chewing on them, gross I know I try to stop it while I'm taking them away Cannon is sneaking him a new one) and his new favorite place to play is in the books...disaster pending, so far he's only ripped coloring books...

And this morning we snuck over to the children's museum. We were going to go last night to celebrate Isaac's big midterm being done but naps took too long and we didn't get there. This morning I think every elementary in Jackson was there. YIKES! But it was fun, and even more fun was watching the drilling going on outside when we left.  

At the peak of my orneriness Tuesday I grabbed my Elder Eyring book, knowing I need a little something good. This isn't exactly what I was looking for but I sure liked it. "...  you, and I, and all of our Father’s children will someday know that being with God is being home. And that everywhere else, however beautiful it may be, will be a place where you long for home." It was a little perspective for me, sometimes I long for home as in Southern Utah (This might is probably the longest we've been gone and no trips really planned either-no wonder I was onery-) but it was good to remember that really even there isn't home. Back with Heavenly Father is home, so the goal, GET THERE!! Oh and probably get a trip planned too because that will just make me happy :)

At 6 months old, you'd think Colt would have made the blog header by now!...I've got to get on that!

Dad's birthday cake. Cannon helped me "make the dirt" but the excavator didn't show up until dad said he was on his way home! Cannon was pretty much beside himself with excitement. (Trust me I know its not that great but  he's two so...) He wanted to come in the kitchen and just touch it soooo bad.  "I just need to see if it matches this one." He'd say holding up one of his excavators, and I can't remember the others but he had new reason to touch it about every 2 seconds.

It Broke!-from trying to "run" it-  no surprise, it ended up on Cannon's plate...really quickly! Also not surprising. Isaac told me it was "a really good cake" he ate 1 bite, I did send the last piece with him in his lunch Monday!
Saturday was a beautiful day so we went for a bike ride! And it was just as fun as Isaac's smile here implies!

The boys did awesome in the trailer too! Colt looks a little nervous in the picture above but I just love that it shows him holding Cannon's hand. It's what he does every time when he gets in, he's game to go but there's just something comforting holding on to brothers hand.  For me, its been a while since my rear end has sat on a bike seat. YIKES.
Sunday Isaac finished up conducting and I finished up sharing time. YAY for the last Sunday of the month! Mondays are long with Isaac having a late class, I had the sister missionaries over, that was hard because Colton is definitely in the I'm going to scream my guts out if you dare set me down stage, so cooking was an adventure, I finally went out to the car and got the little carrier thing then he tried to do back bends out of it to see what I was doing. Oh brother. Tuesdays are long with a late class too,  we did the leftover thing, that made it easier. Wednesdays I think aren't going to be as long but I forget that Isaac has church meetings so they are, (actually this week I had a primary meeting too so we played switch-a-roo on tending and it was a fun little break for me) but anyway Thursday we went to preschool and Cannon did good, I even got to sneak away for a few minutes, that's a big deal. Isaac took Cannon home teaching with him. And he even said the prayer at one of the houses. (Actually he said the dinner prayer when the missionaries were here too and one of the sisters said "Tell me you have that on video" but I haven't done it, it just seems irreverent or something. He says "Dear Heavenly Father, we thankful" pause "we thankful..." and he goes around the room and says we're thankful for every person with these cute dramatic pauses and goofy way of smacking his lips while he's thinking, of names or what else to say...) Anyway, it was super cute that he prayed at this inactive sisters home and prayer for her and her husband specifically by name! And now its Friday! What a whirlwind!
Hmmm what else? I mentioned its the cardinal sin to set Colt down, here's the evidence...

And this isn't even when he's beet red because he's too mad and screaming to hard to breathe....
So in fairness how bout a cute picture of him? Grama sent me some stuff and in the package there was a bag of tootsie rolls for Cannon, I let Colt play with them...until he opened them! Mischievous little turkey!

Its state tournament time in Utah! This has got to be the year my girls win it right??? But DesNews isn't streaming it this year, at least not yesterdays game. That was a huge bummer for me.
We were talking about Tip Dog (Ky's dog from when we were kids the other day cuz Cannon's always asking questions) I said something about how no, he's not at Grama's or Uncle Ky's because he lives with Heavenly Father now. Cannon asked "How come he lives with Heavenly Father?" I said "Because he died." Cannon asked "For his sins?" ...
It was cute and really he knows that Jesus died for our sins so we can live with Heavenly Father again. So...you can see how the almost 3 year old might try to piece that one together.
I also had occasion (actually it was unfortunate...I'll explain) to remember remember one of my favorite President Eyring talks its called In the Strength of the Lord. (link here) My favorite quote is "The test a loving God has set before us is not to see if we can endure difficulty. It is to see if we can endure it well." I really like that, cuz everyone is going to have to deal with cruddy things, everyone! But he starts the talk by telling us about counsel he once received that when we meet people we should treat them as though they are in serious trouble...and we'll be right more than half of the time. I hope I can remember that, I hope it will help move me to action, because I think of nice things I could do for people that might brighten their day or lighten their load, often, but I'm terrible about not acting on those impressions. I don't like having had someone on my mind for the past few weeks then finding out later they were struggling, I need to do better.
Until next week....

Happy Birthday Isaac and half birthday Colt

6 Months! Time goes so fast (except for when they are growing inside of you)
More Valentine fun...

 

We made dad an excavator shirt to match! He was totally a sport and wore it ALL DAY Saturday too...under the hoodie shown below :) and see that bike he's working on. We named her "Plum Beauty" it was mom's valentines present. A craiglist deal ($20) that was just what we were in the market for: a cheap bike I won't have any heartache parting with when we move on.

Look at this little Momma's boy :) I love it! (no shortage of pictures of him this week)

Deep in this death grip with no hope of escaping except for one lick at a time is a Nilla Wafer! Hmmm a Cookie Monster, once again, Momma's boy :)

Truthfully Colt's had a bit of a rough week. Sunday night he got a soccer ball to the face (dad) and later a basketball to the nose (Cannon), I was so upset with him but later realized I tap things with my foot to inch them closer to Colton all of the time. Cannon was just trying to help him reach the basketball and following what I've modeled. UG. Then later in the week Cannon was running around with the baseball potty seat on his head. (Rest assured I have NOT modeled that one, why did that seem like a good hat? Anyway it was in the goodwill pile and after this I got my tail in gear getting it to the good will. Its gone!) Anyway Cannon tripped on the stool that was in the middle of the floor the seat flew off his head and got Colt right in the nose, first bloody nose. Poor little guy. Here I tried to get a picture of the red mark on his nose...as you can see there's  little red spot but he's not really any worse for wear.

And I know this next one is a terrible picture but it's the moment I was trying so hard to catch, these boys love each other and love to laugh and squeal back and forth, I love it, it melts my heart every time (until Cannon just starts screaming for fun too long too loud and so on, also pretty much every time)

Sticking with the bike theme...look what dad got for his birthday!!! We're so excited! I had been looking at those seats that go behind the bike above the tire, type things, but Isaac mentioned this...done, it doubles as a stroller, that actually folds up small enough to fit in the car :) We're pretty excited! (And say "Hello" to Craigslist for the old double stroller!)

Isaac really didn't even know what day (of the week) his birthday was, he just doesn't get excited about stuff like that-at all. So I told him me and the boys were going to celebrate... and he can just go along with it. So when Cannon asked to go to the Caterpillar dealership, he took him! Such a fun dad! And here's the excavator cake in progress...not going to make any pintrest walls boards with this baby...but the family journal? Check!

Hopefully it wont break...(again) and I'll get a picture of the real deal tonight. Don't hold your breath.
Really Isaac is very busy with school but he's spent his birthday...drum roll please...serving! Because someone needed help moving. He's such a good example, and such a good guy, and love him TONS!

Happy Valentines Day!

 

Well we had a ton of fun with Grama and Ann while they were here, I see the pictures and laugh remembering the conversations. Ann is a character, and my little echo, any tone of voice I used with Cannon or name I called him (i.e. "Son") it was a sure bet I'd later hear her use it. It was hilarious, and she's such an accurate echo that there's a chance I sound pretty annoying to Cannon...often. I however don't call him "dog" ever! But that was a fun game they played too, apparently Cannon makes a pretty good puppy.
Ann wanted to come to Mississippi for her birthday and get "lots of presents" so with the dollar store and JCPenny's $2 clearance (and Grama's money) we tried to accommodate :) she got to open a little present pretty much every day and she was so cute, "Thanks Cannon! I LOVE (wove) IT!!!" She would say EVERY TIME, it was darling.

Saturday we went down to the rodeo grounds because the Dixie National Rodeo is was in town. It might have been a little bit more cool if we'd known where we were going or what we were doing, I'm pretty sure there was a parade we missed but saw parts of later. We saw lots of cool tractors though and some horses and donkeys...good enough.
Sunday Isaac had to conduct and he was just as happy as could be, his speakers showed up, there was a special musical number etc... when he got home I said "Yeah, you were such a happy camper because you weren't fighting the battle in the benches!!" Ann plus Cann's friend Jeremy in front of us...it was a recipe for disaster. Anyway. Monday the museum is closed so we hit up Chuck E Cheese. I knew the primary kids LOVED it but I was afraid it was going to be geared too much for the older kids. Not at all, it was perfect for Ann and Cannon, they had a blast! We had gone to a carousel that's in the furniture store here first, totally unnecessary! They had one at Chuck E's, and even Colt got in on it. It was just a good time!

As we were leaving they still asked to go to the museum which made me happy because it's far more educational than an arcade but it was still closed. Tuesday morning we dropped them off at the airport at 5:00 in the morning...only to hear the phone ring as we were driving away, they had canceled their flight! YAY a bonus day for us! And we did head back to the museum!

And really they got on a flight later that night but it was fun bonus day for us. Grama had to find someone to cover work for her the next day, and it was a little rough on Ann who is really not quite 4 and had been away from her parents for a long time (Cannon doesn't make it 5 minutes!) But anyway: Fun! Wednesday we hung out with Jeremy and Thursday we went to a Valentine party preschool.

Thursday our neighbor also came over to work on family history that was pretty cool. The missionaries found her. As we were visiting I mentioned something about David H. Cannon how that is who Cannon is named after and that I'd learned about him in a project I did for seminary. She said "You went to seminary?! Are you an Evangelical?" I smiled and said "Well, what is an evangelical?" She said "Someone who's completed seminary and can preach the word of God." I answered. "You're dang right I am!" I know what she meant was a little different but by that definition, I'm in. And I felt fine because "We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth." Anyways it was really fun to help her, its hard though, a lot of the record keeping for the African Americans wasn't as good. :( Bummer.
...and now its Friday....Sigh...our cookies are in the oven, time will tell how many of the little Valentine projects I have dreamt up in my mind actually get done.
Happy Valentines Day!
Oh and a couple more things, today I was trying to reinforce some good behavior and praising Cannon with things such as "You're such a good boy, your a great helper..." and so on then he pipes up and says "I be a stinker real good." Yes bud, you do! Praise all I want, the kid knows the truth! And during a family baseball game this week (in the living room which Cannon is getting too big for) Isaac informed me that Cannon really was faster than me. NO WAY! He can just take the corners around the island (our bases) better!
Somebody just helped himself to the computer...resourceful little guy but still! 

Isaac's been dreaming up his pine wood derby car, when Cann says it it sounds like "dirty car" he's always asking "Dad, can we work on the dirty car?"

And here's little cutie Colt, he kind if got neglected in pictures this week with me trying to catch all if Ann and Cannon's fun. He's such a good fun kid and as long as he's not tired or hungry (or as long as I'm not so rude as to walk past him without picking him up...) this smile is it! He's a happy guy!

This is what happens when I find excavator shirts at target for $1.50 -of course I bought them!

I try to share my testimony-at least somewhat-here on the blog, but I'm not really into saying Hey I shared my testimony in church (in fact I'm probably better at talking myself out of that event than I should be but...) anyway this past Sunday I did, and there is a blog worthy story that goes with it, I'll get back to it...so hear me out! First though we have to back track to Friday. Friday I went back over to Heathers, I don't know what its like to have a sister (neither does Heather for that matter) but we both know what its like to have a great friend! It was such a fun extra bonus getting to catch up with her even though it had been YEARS since we'd seen each other, we didn't miss a beat! It was great. And the truth be told I don't know her husband Nate all that well, but its like I do, as though even he and I had been great friends from so long ago. ....I Guess it has been 13 years. AHHHH how does that happen, I guess this is how we get old right? Anyway. I know Heather is not crazy about pictures of her kids on the internet but I got special permission :) They are so cute! And they were ALL extra cute with Colton.

That afternoon while I was doing more catching up with old friends Grandpa Ison got to come home from the hospital! That was good but, getting comfortable was a challenge. One of the other missionaries had a chair that they were going to let him have or borrow or something and they were supposed to bring it by that afternoon. But for some reason they didn't. So Grandpa was just hanging out in his normal office chair or he would try to lay down in the bed but it wasn't working, Isaac tried propping cushions and pillows up all kinds of ways and it just wasn't working. So that night I told him, to just go buy a chair. We'd seen some for a good price at Kroger (the Kroger there is way more than a grocery store!) Anyway...so after monkeying around all evening Isaac took off at 9:30 or 10:00 at night. He bought a chair that he was happy with, pulled it apart into pieces so he could fit it into our car then came home. He set it up and was happy with it. Grandma didn't want us to buy it, which I understand because it was for them and whatever, but I was fine with it and it was our idea and I don't think we should decide how they spend their money so that was my take on it. Well Grandma snuck $$ into my diaper bag, which actually I saw her do, but I just thought I would take it back out, but then sneaky Grandma helped us load up and I'll be danged if that diaper bag wasn't the first load she took out! I told Isaac, "Your mom just put money in my bag and now its out in the car!" He said "Lyndi, its not worth a fight." I just thought to myself I wasn't going to fight or even argue I was going to just sneak it back out and (of course NOT get caught) and not mention it. Anyway, I didn't win. We loaded up and drove through the night again. We got to Memphis about 7:30 and stopped and visited at Ryan and Sarah's. We had so much fun. She made breakfast, the boys played, it was just fun, its always fun. Isaac said he was wide awake and didn't need a nap (I had driven a little stretch and he'd napped) but the longer we visited the heavier his eyes got. We ended up taking the boys to a really fun park (called Shelby Farms for anyone who might visit the Memphis area, we really liked it)

anyway Isaac stayed behind and got a good nap on the couch for a couple hours. We stayed and had lunch there and visited some more, we were having a blast but the day was slipping away and I knew I had piles of laundry ahead of me so the boys would at least have clean church clothes so we finally left. (All the while money is still in the diaper bag, but I was just using a different little bag for most everything that had the pump and stuff  in it because Colt goes on a major nursing STRIKE every time we travel anywhere at all.)
Then comes Sunday, and I had sharing time to teach and Isaac got out the door with Cann man and I was shortly behind him with Colt and my load of stuff and the regular diaper bag. So we got to church, I apologized to Patrick-our company for dinner from the week before and we settled into the meeting. And I did decide to go up and share my testimony. I just thought Cann would follow me, because that's what happens if I ever have to leave to change a diaper or something, anyway I just handed Colton to Isaac as I walked to the pulpit and thought Cannon would be on my heals. But he never came. When I got back to my seat I found out why. Cannon had got into the diaper bag and found the money Grandma had stashed and was passing it out! Sister Wing handed me $40 as I sat down and said "Forty bucks was all I could talk him out of." He had the rest fanned out nicely on the floor and one in his hand that he'd carefully rolled up, he wouldn't give it up either, until I traded him for a pack of fruit snacks, little does he know that's the most expensive pack of fruit snacks he'll ever eat. It was hilarious. He had people all around us laughing. Brother Marchant teased "Yes, Tender Mercy! I knew I came to church for a reason today." It was just funny and oh how I wish I had a picture to go with the one in my mind. Oh well at least its documented now! So if  you weren't at church Sunday...I guess you should have been at ours :) it could have been a profitable trip for your soul and pocket book!
After Sunday I can't think of anything exciting until Wednesday. (Laundry Laundry and more Laundry trying to play catch up is not exciting.) But Wednesday night late Grama and Ann came! SO FUN! I really should have told Cannon it was going to be Thursday, at 9:00 at night when we were going to get them Cannon said "I've been waiting ALL day to see Ann!"

Its been a little chaotic, that's for sure, but so fun! We have a Children's Museum here that I'd heard good things about. They put a little one in St. George too and the kids had a great time at it over Christmas. My understanding is that it was free but they are going to start charging or something. This is random but I thought that's totally what my bro's should do with the $$ Grampa Great gave them for Christmas. (About that me not deciding how others should spend their money HA!) But I really think that I just THOUGHT it and didn't say anything but then I realized WAIT! That's what we should do with the money Grampa Great gave us for Christmas, buy a pass for the one here! So We Did! But we waited until Ann came to maximize the use :) So far she's been here 2 days and we've been twice. They love it, and its something to do inside, so Grama and I love it too!

In other news, 
I went visiting teaching Thursday, I am so humbled! Sometimes I complain or grumble about our "little" apt but it is a palace! And this gal, a fairly recent convert, is just thankful for all the ways the Lord has blessed her. WOW.

And Colty Colt, Little Britches, Mr. Big stuff,  IS SCOOTING! Slow down little boy your growing up so fast.

   

And he's pretty much a champ about any baby food I've given him so far. I just ease it in with the cereal and so far so good. (I'm still leery though... we'll see...) I always mention how great of a sleeper he is, Cannon is still up 1 or 2 times a night, so little sleeper is a welcome change. I've been telling Cannon he can watch an episode (2 actually) of Thomas if he sleeps through the night. The bribe has been surprisingly successful! YAY!

That's all I can remember...for now anyway!