Ryan is at such a fun age as far as our conversations go. He’s talking a ton – which makes it really fun. I love hearing new words and phrases!
Today’s morning discussion went something like this:
Ryan: “where daddy?”
Me: “Daddy’s at work.”
Ryan: “uuuggggg. Again?”
Me: “Yep, he’s at work.”
Ryan: “daddy home later?” [a comment from a child with a traveling father!]
Me: “Yes, he’ll be home later.”
Ryan: “good.”
Nate & I went on a date on Saturday night and it was wonderful! I love one-on-one time with my boys – especially when we’re out doing something fun. I feel like new personalities come out of both of us and we’re able to just have a good time. I have to say - four year olds are pretty awesome.
Wes was gone for a good chunk of Saturday so by the time he got back, Nate and I were ready to leave but we weren’t really sure where we were going! When Nate and I went to Phoenix in February, we got snow cones at the zoo. For some reason, Nate thought that the only way we could get another snow cone was to go back to Arizona! Lucky for him we just had to drive up Green Valley Parkway. We didn’t have enough time to wait in the mile long Purple Penguin line so we tried the snow cone shack on the corner of GV Pkwy and Horizon Ridge and it was great! The owners are a darling Father/Son team and they were so cute with Nate. Lets just say he was beyond excited about a snow cone.
After our delicious treat, we headed to the Henderson Pavilion for a production of Cinderella with the Thompson girls & Papa Marz. I wasn’t sure if Nate would like it or not – especially after a marathon day [5K, soccer game, driving range] and the show started at 8pm which is about an hour after his usual bedtime. But I took him anyway and he loved it. He said, “mom! there are real people up there right now – it’s not like a movie!” He was entranced & didn’t want it to end. However, when Cinderella and the Prince smooch in the 2nd act – he covered his eyes and was ready to go. He does not approve of kissing these days!
One of the highlights for Nate was seeing Councilman Papa Marz announce the show! He was on stage introducing the LV Shakespeare Company and their production of Cinderella. Nate and Daisy were waving their arms in the air yelling “papa! papa!” They thought it was pretty neat.
Our stake did another wonderful Fun Run this year! It’s a really fun morning to run/walk with not only your friends/family in your ward – but also in the Stake.
We ended up doing the 5K race [well, we cheated a little at the end. It helps when you practically grew up in the neighborhood you’re running through so we took a short cut. It was quite warm and we had a soccer game to get to!]. Wes and I tag-teamed the boys . . . and walked with our friend Christine. The kids loved it – Carter, Nate & Brejden walked/ran the whole thing.
Little Ryan was pretty cute. He wanted to keep up with the big kids soooo bad. He would start running as fast as he could and then he’d come back to the stroller panting, saying “break. break.” Then he’d want to run again. He did pretty well for a 2 year old!
It was a fun morning! Great tradition. I didn’t actually run/walk with these great ladies but we definitely chatted a little!
I really like Easter. It’s a fun holiday as well as a special time to reflect about the Resurrection of our Savior.
Nate loves to doorbell ditch. He’s asking me quite regularly if we can go – so Easter seemed like a good time to “Easter Egg” a few houses. Ryan had to stay in the car for the first house – but then Wes was super dad and hauled both kids to the door while I remained in the get.away car.
Growing up, we made this Easter Bunny cake every year. I love that my mom has carried on the tradition with the grandkids. They had their annual Easter afternoon at her house making bunny cake and dyeing eggs.
EASTER was a nice day. The Easter Bunny found our house and the kids were beyond excited. I liked the Easter Bunny because at least with our boys, there are ZERO expectations. They simply thought the bunny would hide a few eggs – Nate forgot about the Easter Basket part. I love it when they are truly surprised. The bunny was exceptionally nice this year and brought actual gifts, too. He somehow knew that we desperately needed another children’s tennis racket so Ryan could participate in our nightly tennis session on the driveway. He also knew that we really needed another scooter around here since we basically live outside this time of year. I love that bunny!
Easter dinner was at my parent’s house. We had absolutely perfect weather today so we were able to eat outside. We had a fun group – Gma & Papa, the Thompsons, the Whiteheads [family friends] and Aunt Kara and Uncle Allan. As always, my mom put on a great dinner and it was nice to spend the evening outside.
The kids did their annual easter egg hunt in my parent’s front yard and ate a lot of candy tonight.
Happy Easter!
For a few months, here’s what we were looking forward to from March 31 - April 4:
Grandma & Grandpa G flying all the way across the country to visit the healthy Las Vegas Griffeth family. We were going to go out and do some fun, new things that we’ve never done on their LV visits. Have some relaxation time at home . . . Get a few projects done around the house with Grandpa G . . . Go out with just the adults to a nice, peaceful dinner . . . And enjoy 4.5 days with Grandma and Grandpa G.
Here’s what really happened:
Nate, Ryan & I got sick and were pretty miserable so we weren’t going to be much fun. On top of that, Wes’ cute grandma in New Mexico [Doreen’s mom] recently had a stroke and has been in the hospital for almost 3 weeks & she wasn’t really getting better [she can’t pass the swallow test so she hadn’t eaten in 13+ days]. Being the wonderful daughter that Doreen is – they landed in Vegas on Friday night and on Saturday morning Robert & Doreen jumped in a rental car and drove for 9+ hours to Albuquerque to surprise her mom in the hospital with a visit while we recovered back here in Las Vegas. Doreen was able to take care of her mom all day – it turned out to be a day that meant a lot to both of them! They made the 9+ hour drive back to Vegas on Monday, just in time for Café Rio and Nielsen's. Wes’ dad has a weak immune system and so it was good to get him out of our germ infested house for the weekend, too!
While they were in New Mexico – we worked on the Easter crafts that G&G G. brought the boys. Every time Ryan finished an egg he held it up and yelled “ta-da!”
We ended up with one full day with Grandma & Grandpa G. We decided to throw all of our fun, more adventurous ideas out the window and spent the day at home!
Grandma brought the kids a box full of 28 easter eggs. Why do I know how many there were? Because we had countless egg hunts! Nate never tired of hiding and finding eggs. Luckily Doreen is the most energetic grandma I know and will play and play and play with her grandkids. When it was Ryan’s turn to hide the eggs – there was always a jackpot in the shutters.
Doreen & I took the kids to the park for a bit and the rest of the time Nate kept Grandma busy with board games, card games, baseball, egg hunts, etc. He loved it. Grandma is a trooper.
One of Wes’ favorite things to do is work on a project with his dad. Robert & Wes still managed to get a house project done! They got rid of our hideous track lighting [now I just need to get rid of the UGLY pendants] in the kitchen and added canned lighting in the kitchen and family room. It looks fabulous and we can actually see! Thanks Robert & Wes!
[since this Vegas visit wasn’t quite what we all thought it would be – we’d LOVE for you to come back this fall!]
That’s one of Nate’s favorite books so I thought it was appropriate to record our last 3 days. They’ve been rough.
But, it’s made me realize one thing: I’m thankful this doesn’t happen to us very often! Yes, we get our fair share of runny noses and coughs but we are hardly ever WIPED out like we have been. Nate started us off with a 103 fever (so sad to watch your kids endure a fever!) He slowly developed a cough and runny nose to go along with it. Ryan started running a fever – luckily not quite as high as Nate’s and got a cough. I did get a few hours of snuggle time from both boys – the only time they stop moving is when a fever wipes them out! But then I got hit with bronchitis, fever & pounding headaches. Luckily Wes felt alright so he could take care of all of us! He was awesome.
Feeling crummy is bad enough – but then having to miss all kinds of fun events because of it makes it even worse. I feel bad for Naters in that category. He had to miss his good buddy Jake’s superhero birthday party, his first soccer game, our play.group Easter Egg hunt, etc. AND . . . conference weekend is one of my favorites of the year and it was not so fun this go around!
I think the boys and I are slowly on our way to recovery but are still quarantined so we don’t spread this ugly sickness. I forgot how nasty bronchitis is. Wes has a sore throat – we’re hoping it stops there and he doesn’t have to endure what the rest of us had!
We’re planning on being all better to enjoy at least the end of spring break.
