t a week before we left, Matty got a monster of a black eye. He was sitting on his knees in one of our dining chairs and somehow it fell over backwards and he hit his eye on the corner of the chair in two different places. I ran over and picked him up and his eye was instantly puffed up and purple. It turned all kinds of colors before it finally went away. At some points it totally looked like he had gotten in someone's make-up.On January 9th, Matty, Eric and I flew across the country to stay with my best friend Faith. She and her family are stationed at Ft. Irwin in Southern California so we flew into Las Vegas and she came and pic
ked us up. It was wonderful being at their house and getting to spend time together. I have now visited them at every place they've been stationed: Ft. Knox, Kentucky (when Faith and I were both expecting our first babies), then at Friedberg, Germany (Faith had just had her 2nd baby and I was expecting my 2nd) and now at Ft. Irwin, where our 4 children had a blast playing together all week. Faith and I have been best friends since 6th grade and it was such a trip to see our babies having so much fun together. Between the two of us, we have a 4 year old, a 3 year old, a 2 year old and a 1 year old. Matty and EmmaRose got along unbelievable well. They would play together from the time they woke up until betime everyday and we never had to break up any fights or arguments. Eric and Hazel got along well because she liked being his little Mommy and he enjoyed all of the food she would give him.
Faith flew us out there for my birthday and it was the first time in about 7 years that we have spent my birthday together. On my actual birthday, Faith and her husband Lane to me out to a Mexican restaurant, which was very nice except for the fact that we had 4 children with us who had no desire what-so-ever to sit still. Eric wanted to wander all over the restaurant and if I woudn't let him do that, he would through a fit or eat crayons. Matty and EmmaRose couldn't seem to stop themselves from turning around and watching the people sitting behind us eat their food. Even thoug
h it was pretty much the most exhasting and nerve-racking meal I've had, it was very nice being with them and I had a good 26th birthday.While we were their, Matty totally impressed some of the soldiers with his Rock Band and Guitar Hero demonstrations. He "performed" Cherry Pie and War Pigs and was told by one of them that he was the coolest 3-year old he had ever met and that if he could go ba
ck and be 3 again, he would want to be just like Matty. He also told him he must have the coolest Daddy in the world. I couldn't decide if I should be proud or hand my head in shame.On January 16th, Faith took us to the Ontario Airport and we flew up to Sacramento, where my parents picked us up and drove us up to Etna to stay a week with them. It was nice to see my family and they boys had lots of fun. One day, Tom and Kristy
took us to a hands-on science museum up in Ashland, Oregon. Matty and Eric both had lots of fun playing there. Eric's favorite part was the trains that were set up. One of the trains only worked when someone would peddle an exercise bike, so I would peddle and peddle and then if I stopped, Eric would point at the train and say "Uh Oh! Uh Oh!!!". It is so cute how much he loves trains.
The museum had a "bubble room", which Matty
loved. There was one activity where you could pull a rope and make a bubble all around yourself. It was pretty cool.
Another thing the boys got to experience was snow. Matty has been in the snow before and really lov
es it. However this was Eric's first time in the snow and he wasn't really a fan of it. Not that the snow they got to play in could really be called snow. It had been on the ground for about 2 weeks when we got there and even though there was about 6 inches of it, it was more like ice and not much fun at all. I just loved the pictures I got of them playing in it though. Matty looks so happy and Eric looks so mad. It cracks me up.
I didn't really see anybody besides my family while we were in the valley, which was actually nice. The boys just loved playing with their Aunts, Uncles, and cousins and they got to meet their new soon-to-be Aunt Heather, who Uncle Jimmy is marrying in September. I think it was love at first sight for Matty. The first time he met Heather he whispered to me "Is Uncle Jimmy going to marry her?" and when I told him yes, he said "I
'm so excited!!!".Eric and Doug's little boy Connor were so cute together. They called each other baby and would talk in their own toddler language with each other and they even shared toys pretty well.
The time went by quickly, as it always does, but at the same time it seemed like we had been away from Michael forever and it was so nice to come back home. I was dreading January 23rd (our trip home) because it meant a 4 hour car ride, a 1.5 hour plane ride, a 2 hour layover, and then a 5 hour plane ride, getting us to Raleigh around midnight. But my sweet little boys were perfect angels and it ended up being a pleasant day. Our plane even got to Raleigh a half-hour early because the winds were in our favor.
Things have been kind of crazy since being back. We had to say farewell to the car we've had for 6.5 years. It was a good car, condsidering how we abused it. After driving from the East Coast to the West Coast, back and forth from Provo to Etna countless times, then back to the East Coast, and then about a year of delivering Papa John's Pizza, bringing both of our babies home, and then about 3 more years of Michael commuting 45 minutes everday to school and work it was finally time to say good-bye. We were planning on fixing her oil leaks and keeping her a while longer, but there was more wrong than we realized and it wasn't worth our money or trouble to keep her. So we are back down to one car now and the Sentra is on her way to Costa Rica. We sold her to some guys who buy
cars up here and put them on trailers and drive down to Florida, where they are taken to Costa Rica and totally rebuilt and sold down there. He told us that repairs that would cost say about $5,000 up hear are only about $800 down there. So hopefully she will be in good hands and have a much longer life! It was so strange dropping her off and leaving... like we were abandoning a child or something.One last picture: my adorable little imp Eric. Is he the cutest thing you've ever seen, or what? After we get his jammies on at night, he'll climb up in the rocking chair and read his Thomas the Tank Engine Books (aka Peep Peep books) to himself while we get Matty ready for bed. He never fails to mealt his Mama and Dada's hearts!
