Mason 2 1/2 Years Old!

So with the babies due date one week away, I really need to update our blog with information about Mason!  He is really such a joy to be around and I LOVE being his mommy.  I wanted to get a few pictures of him at the park today, but honestly he wont ever look at me when I try to take a picture of him.  So pretty much none of these involve him looking into the camera.  Oh-well.

Fun things about him:
- He has gone from calling us Mommy and Daddy to Mom and Dad
- He loves jumping, running and doing somersaults
- When I ask him if he likes something he will say, "I do mom, I really do"
- He can count to 20 and loves counting his toys
- He can play with trucks for hours - by himself
- He loves books and likes to read 'all by himself'
- When he tells us something goofy he will say he is 'just kiddin'
- We think he is going to love being a big brother!
- He asks for Daddy every morning when he wakes up
- He loves to sing any song, but some of his favorites are Old MacDonald and Twinkle Twinkle Little Start
- He loves talking about his owies
- He is still in a crib and hasn't tried to climb out!
- He is getting more independent every day - he can put on and take off some of his pants, clear his dishes, get his own silverware, put on some of his shoes and brush his teeth (not that thoroughly)
- He has such a happy, sweet demeanor and is very compassionate


Some things that might not be that fun:
- When he is frustrated he always resorts to the phrase 'stop it' which we don't like!
- He is starting to fight naps EVERY day
- Still doesn't have much interest in the potty
- He loves to dump out his toys for NO good reason.... ugh

Easter 2014

Easter was awesome this year as Mason is getting old enough to enjoy things like Easter egg hunts and getting an Easter basket.  We went with the Ball family the day before Easter to their Easter egg hunt and the kids loved that!  Then on Easter morning, we did our own Easter egg hunt and had a spiritual thought about Christ.  We had a yummy breakfast and spent time as a family.  It was nice.  After church we headed to the Wolf's for an Easter feast!  Laurie also organized an awesome Easter egg hunt for the kids where each child was assigned a certain colored egg to collect.  It was perfect.  The whole weekend was so nice.

The Last Few Months

So life has been so fun the last few months.  I say fun because we haven't done anything out of the ordinary but being a mom to Mason has been such a joy.  He is at such a fun age where he is actually obeying me and is basically my little buddy/helper where ever we go.  Our days are often filled with hanging out with friends, going to the park, running errands and just getting things done around the house.  This may seem boring to some but it all makes me so happy.  I love being a mommy and I am trying to cherish this time I have with Mason for the next couple of weeks before baby girl comes!!

Hawaii / Oahu Day 5,6 & 7

Well I can't say much for Sunday and Monday because I was sick Sunday and Terrill was sick Monday but we did fit in some fun things before Terrill got sick on Monday afternoon.  I had a stomach bug that pretty much had me in bed ALL of Sunday.  Terrill now has it.  Poor guy! I feel so bad for him.  Monday morning we headed out to the North Shore.  We LOVE it up there, it's so relaxing and beautiful and if we come back to Hawaii we swear that we won't stay in Honolulu, we will rent a place on the North Shore.  I wanted to stop by the BYU-Hawaii book store to get a sweatshirt because when I went there I bought one and lost it when I got home and I was so sad.  We picked up the sweatshirt and headed to Haleiwa and grabbed brunch at a crepe truck (they had Gluten Free crepes, yay!!). Then we headed back to Waimea Falls and did the hike to the waterfalls.  We wanted to do a harder hike, BUT being sick the day before, I was feeling week and this is about when Terrill started to feel sick :(  After our hike, we headed back to Haleiwa and I got shaved ice and then we headed back to the hotel.  The rest of the day Terrill spent in bed while I read, blogged, got dinner and laid in bed right next to him.  I made him stay in bed, drink fluids and relax!!!

Hawaii / Oahu Day 3 & 4

On Friday we googled easy places to learn how to surf and I found a beach called White Plain's beach which was about 40 minutes from our hotel.  It's an old military beach that is now accessible to everyone.  It got great reviews and there were surfboard rentals on the beach so we decided to try it out.  WELL, we got there and the water was perfect and the waves were slow and rolling.  Perfect for beginners like us,  BUT the rentals were only for military personnel - oops!! We were totally bummed but decided to come back the next day and try it out.  After the beach that day we went to a near by shopping center.  We got some board shorts for Terrill and then I got a mani/pedi while he got ice cream and read.  I promise, I didn't just abandon him.  He was totally fine just hanging out while I did that, in fact he insisted on it! We went to Domino's for dinner and went to the pool at the hotel.  Overall, another amazing day in Hawaii.

On Saturday we got our boards from a local shop with a great price for rental's, loaded them up in the Jeep (so glad we upgraded!) and headed to White Plains.  I was so excited!! A little nervous being that I am 26 weeks pregnant but I knew it would be okay.  When we got to the beach it was pretty crowded because it was Saturday, but we found a spot and headed out there.  Originally Terrill and I went out together but we kind of went our seperate ways while we were out there.  It was so much fun trying to figure things out.  Here is why it was fun and not scary - the waves were small, constantly rolling in, the water was shallow and there was practically no current.  It was the perfect, most intimidating place to learn!  I was able to get up and stay up a total of 3 times which I was proud of.  Terrill did the same. Let me tell you, it was quite the workout.  I was exhausted and I would only stay out for about 30 minutes at a time because I didn't want to keep squishing the baby.  Terrill was more determined than I was and stayed out much longer.  Mid-afternoon we headed back to our hotel to get ready for our anniversary dinner.  Terrill planned a wonderful evening.  We went to the Hula Grill for dinner and then a comedy show afterwards.  The restaurant even had a gluten free menu which was really nice.  Dinner was amazing and the comedy show was even better.  The comedy was pretty clean and kept us laughing for 2 hours.  How could you not love that?  I am so lucky to have Terrill.  He treats me so well.  I only hope he can say the same of me.

Hawaii / Oahu - Day 1 & 2

Terrill and I had the amazing opportunity to go to Hawaii for our 5 year anniversary!  Our anniversary is actually in March but I wanted to make sure when we went I wasn't too pregnant to do some fun things!  We arrived in Honolulu on Wednesday at 2:00.  We got our car (upgraded to a Jeep and it was so worth it), checked into our hotel and then decided to walk down to the beach.  If there was one thing we learned the first day was that Waikiki is WAY too crowded.  The beach was insane.  We jumped in the water and tried not to swim into other people.  Needless to say we didn't stay at the beach too long.  When we got back to the hotel we decided we should drive somewhere a little more quiet to go to dinner.  We found a sushi place with rave reviews about 30 mins away.  It was so nice to see the countryside a little and enjoy a delicious meal!!  After dinner we headed to the grocery store to get things for breakfast every morning.  It was a late night but so nice to be on an endless date with each other!!

The next day was pre-scheduled for the Polynesian Cultural center.  So we headed to Laie early to do a session at the temple.  That temple is SOO beautiful.  We also drove by where we used to live.  It was for sale and Terrill and I dreamed that there might be a way to buy it as a rental property since it is duplex and housing up there is super hard to come by, BUT it was selling for $695,000.  I don't think so!! oh-well, it's fun to dream.  The Polynesian Cultural Center was a blast.  The shows were awesome (although the night show was way to long). The activities at each of the villages were my favorite and the Luau was really fun too and we sat next to a really nice family from Canada.  Another late night and we were exhausted but it was so much fun!!!!!

John's Homecoming, Visit and Mason's 2nd Birthday!

John is home from his Mission!! He came home on November 6, 2013.  It was such an exciting day! That morning my sister and I took the kids to get haircuts.  Then we headed over to the airport with my mom.  We were all so excited and each time a missionary came down the stairs we would get really excited only to realize it was someone else's missionary!  Finally he came down and it was so wonderful to see him in person!! We all gave big hugs and took tons of pictures.  He looked a lot older and seemed so happy!

The rest of the week was spent catching up with him, going to the temple, eating family meals together and just enjoying each others company.

After we left, my mom and brother flew out here to see all of my moms family.  On Saturday November 16th, I threw a little party for him where I decorated the house in Canada themed things and posted tons of pictures from his mission.  We had a great dinner with some appetizers specially from Canada.  The whole night was awesome.  The rest of his visit was packed with a ton of fun outings.  We went to Santa Cruz and saw the Monarch butterflies, Beach, San Francisco and the Jelly Belly Factory.  I was exhausted by the end of each day to say the least, but it was a lot of fun! We also played games and John even made fresh squeezed orange juice for us from oranges from my neighbors tree.  Overall it was an awesome visit and we missed having him around.