It didn't take us long to find some things to do in our new home.  Some are planned adventures, others we happenned upon.  I was in search of a Dell store and during an adventure to a mall, we stumbled upon a little "dancing water".  The boys couldn't resist and since they are lucky enough to be boys, they can strip and go...which is what they did.

Garrett has never been one to be shy around water, he ALWAYS jumps right on in.

Eli, prefers the outskirts

and Logan avoids at all costs...except when there is a ball he REALLY wants

So, this is how it usually goes, Garrett jumps right in, Logan finds some random toy to play with and Eli just crawls around putting whatever he can find into his mouth, while desperately trying to escape the water.  They all seem to have fun though, so whatever works!

June 25, 2008

Chipotle is a restraunt that serves burrittos.  Little did I know that I would be willing to stand in line with 3 children and 1 umbrella for 1 and 1/2 hours to get a free one.

This is when the rain finally let up, but Stan and the boys are standing right in the middle (he is in slacks, shirt and tie with his back to us).  Although the rain didn't let up for long because about 11:00 p.m. we were watching this from our basement...

...our first tornado warning, welcome back to the midwest.  The boys were scared, but they did really well, Eli and Logan even managed to remain asleep.

Garrett, Logan and I slept downstairs on the futon the remainder of the night...the boys didn't want to be left alone.  Logan still has issues with rain and thunder, but we'll get over it soon I'm sure.

June 26, 2008

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO LOGAN

We once again have a two year old in the house and life couldn't be any better for this little guy.  He keeps us on our toes, but makes us laugh constantly.  We love Logan

He got a new bike so he can keep up with us on our family walks

Logan immediately hopped on and rode around the house, he was even willing to let Garrett have a turn (with his help of course)

Listening to his birthday phone calls, he loved hearing everyone sing him happy birthday

But of course we know the best part about a birthday is opening the presents

The above picture just cracks me up!  You can really tell Logan is concentrating, notice the tongue?  He gets that from his mommy...kind of funny.  Also can you see the restraint that Garrett is utilizing???  He wanted to rip those presents open so bad, but he did a great job of letting Logan do it....mostly

Eli wanted to see what all the action was about

Logan was really concentrating on this card and it almost looked as though he was reading it, really cute

We LOVE bubbles

and cake (check out this face)

Eli and the boys checking out Logan's presents

Did I mention Logan LOVES bubbles

and Garrett too

We had a fun, simple day celebrating Logan's birthday together

June 28

Happy Birthday to Stan!!!

Stan kind of got the raw end of a birthday...sorry babe.  We didn't do too much, birthdays kind of snuck up on me this year.  We did have presents, BBQ and ice cream cake with friends.

and Eli really just wants to see what all the fuss is about

Eli is a little walker as long as he has a walker...he refuses to step without one.

June 30

We have found COSI, the science center here.  It is HUGE and the kids love it which means, I love it.  We have purchased a year pass and in 3 weeks we've already gone twice.  I'm sure there will be many more days spent here.

Garrett and Logan being launched into space

Garrett standing in line to be shocked and Eli practicing his walking skills

Eli loved this water area and I loved it because I could strap him down and let him play for a minute without worrying where he was off to.

July 3

Red, White and Boom

The city has a HUGE 4th of July celebration with an incredible fireworks display over the river at night.  Stan was on call so the boys and I ventured down for the parade and the fireworks.  I used a permanent marker and wrote on each of the boys arms their names, my name and cell number.  They got some interesting looks, but it was SOOO crowded down there that I didn't want to take any chances.  I'm so glad we went though, fireworks are one of my most favorite things and these were awesome.

Here are the boys enjoying the parade

Logan with his mouth stuffed and Garrett making friends (as usual)

After the parade we walked around downtown and listened to the performances for 3 hours before the fireworks which started at 10:15.  The boys did really well considering their wasn't much to do for them

The boys and me just before the big display...they really did well, especially because my boys are usually in bed at 8:00 on the dot.  We didn't even get home till 11:30-12:00ish

 

July 4

We had a great 4th hanging out with friends (once Stan recovered from call).  The boys couldn't last to watch the city fireworks since we were up so late the night before at Red, White and Boom.  So, we headed home, put Eli to bed and had our mini (teeny, tiny really) display of poppers, sparklers and smoke bombs

In the beginning Garrett wasn't too sure about the sparklers, but he warmed up nicely to them

Running through the smoke from the smoke bomb

As we were finishing up the last of the sparklers, Logan heard the city fireworks starting and got scared because he thought it was thunder (since the Tornado warning, thunder is not Logan's friend) and he took off into the garage.  We didn't hear much from him and went to investigate and this is what we found

he had climbed up into the stroller and fell asleep.  It was pretty funny, but I felt bad for him that he was SOOO exhausted.  I've mentioned before how wonderful it is that my boys sleep anywhere and I really think it is just amazing.  When a kid is tired, don't try to stop them!

We went on a little hike to a waterfall in the area

Have I mentioned that my boys thoroughly enjoy the water???

July 11

Fathers and Sons Campout

Stan miraculously had the weekend off last weekend and it happened to coincide with the stake father's and sons campout.  So after he called me, I feverishly packed and within 45 minutes of Stan walking in the door he, Garrett and Logan took off for an overnighter.

The boys dream vacation...sleeping in a tent!

Stan said they had a great time and they were really excited to tell me all about while they were gone.  Eli and I enjoyed some time getting reaquainted with each other and then I had a girls night in with movies!!!

Eli is quite the happy guy, I love it

Showing off his new love...

...standing!

July 17

The Science of Big Machines @ COSI

All the tractors a boy could want, Garrett kept climbing in them and asking for pictures

This is how we roll when it is just the boys and me.  I'm fortunate the boys are great travelers and explorers, otherwise I would be even crazier than I am now

The HUGE bucket

They even had a couple of tractors that they were letting the kids operate.  It was super hot out, so we only stood in line for one.  The mini excavator.  Logan and Garrett each got their turn.  Logan's lasted about 30 seconds...can you see how thrilled he is?

Garrett actually operated and scooped

This is going to be a great year, my boys are at fun ages and we are learning how to cooperate with each other a little more every day.  Garrett is fascinating to listen to and watch.  He really is growing up fast.  He is no longer a toddler anymore, he is a little boy.  He FINALLY listens a little better and understands consequences.  It is so much fun to feel like we can enjoy each other a little bit more.  Logan is speaking more and more each day and he says hilarious things.  He is working on potty training and is definitely a stubborn little fellow.  He for sure likes his privacy, but thinks he is the funniest kid in the world.  He loves Garrett and wants so much to keep up with him.  Eli is awesome.  Super sweet, super mellow and just happy.  He constantly cracks up watching his brothers and he has the greatest belly laugh.  Laughing comes very easily to him and we are excited to see his personality a little more as he gets older.

There are so many more things to do and places to see here in Ohio.  We are excited for the opportunities and many road trips coming up to visit friends in the area.  Have I convinced anyone to come and visit yet?  We're pretty available!

While we were living in the west we decided to make one last trip to the coast.  We drove overnight arriving at Sea World just in time for the park opening.  We initiated Garrett immediately into the big rides...

...he said he didn't want to do it again, but I convinced him to go with me.  After he was over the nerves he really enjoyed the bigger rides.

Eli and Logan were just happy to be out of the car

Stan and Garrett tried their hand at the bungee trampoline

It wouldn't be Sea World without taking in the dolphin show

The boys did really well sharing a bed as we hotel hopped

Eli got stuck in whatever corner we could find, he would sleep as long as the crib was covered with blankets despite how loud it got...we love our good sleeping boys!

Unfortunately we have come to the sad realization that we have almost grown out of a standard hotel room, but we will cram in there as long as possible!

The next morning we left San Diego and headed up to the L.A. area.  Along the way we stopped at the San Diego Temple

If you look close enough, can you see Garrett and I?

That afternoon we made our first stop at the beach, we were in heaven...at least I was so I assume everyone else was.  Nothing better than dirt and water for my sons.

Garrett discovered a new love...

...chasing the seagulls.  I was waiting for him to get pooped on, but it never happened.

Through the military we came across some great tickets for Legoland, so we decided to try that out.  My kids were a little small for most of the cool rides, but they loved all the objects made of Legos, it was amazing the detail they can create with Legos

We also enjoyed the fun rides

Eli is the happiest traveler ever!

We couldn't forget Disneyland and California Adventures

A visit with Mickey?

I've never seen Mickey dressed this way before, but I guess as long as you have the right head it doesn't matter what you wear.

This trip to Disneyland we made sure to watch the parade and we are so happy we did.  The boys absolutely loved it.  We were able to snag a spot where there wasn't anyone allowed to sit on the other side of the street so they got ALL the attention.  It was so fun

Logan and Garrett LOVED the characters

although it appears that Logan is terrified in the above picture, he's not...he is attempting to smile for us, gotta love the cheesers our boys call smiles!

I think we succesfully wore the boys out.  Despite our best efforts we couldn't keep Logan awake.

Yes, thats right...Logan fell asleep while we were walking out to the car.  We thought the churro would help keep him awake, but it was a no go!

What great times we have as a family! 

May took us back to Kansas City for Stan's graduation from medical school.  It was also a nice place to stop and relax awhile before resuming the drive to relocate our family.  After a 10 hour day of driving (Cheyenne, WY to Kansas City, MO) we stopped ourselves at the Great Wolf Lodge.  The boys were so excited and HAD to go exploring...

we arrived and got settled in just in time for storytime at the clock tower.

The morning could not come fast enough for these two water lovers, can you find Eli?

While Garrett was off riding the waterslides, Logan would patiently wait for him at the bottom of the slide

This place is fantastic for water lovers

As we left to go to the other hotel there was a race car outside...how perfect for Garrett

the driver was funny, because he didn't want Garrett to get too close because he was scared that Garrett would ruin the paint job on his car.  I just found it funny that he would bring it to show off, but not want anybody too close to it.

Stan and Lucile, Stan's parents, came from Utah for the graduation so while Stan was busy with graduation stuff and dad Stan was busy with historical stuff, Lucile and I played with the boys.  We went to Deanna Rose Farmstead where the boys couldn't get enough of feeding the goats.

Lucile, Garrett and Logan

Lee, Raina, London and Scarlett drove from Minneapolis and joined us later in the week.  We went to T-Rex Cafe and had rice crispy treats while sitting under the giant jelly fish

The kids received dinosaur shaped rice crispies along with mini m&m's and red and blue frosting to paint their dinos

The kids hard at work

Random shot of the main building on Stan's campus

Graduation day we took the kids to the morning baccalaureate and brunch, thankfully, Kendra a good friend of mine, watched them later so we could attend the graduation ceremony in peace.

Walking to catch the shuttle bus over to the services

Seeing daddy

Stan and the kids

At graduation Stan was also officially promoted to a Captain in The United States Air Force

Here he is with his other Air Force classmates and the commissioning officer

It was really a neat experience to have his fellow classmates stand and appreciate the commitment the armed forces classmates have entered into.

We are really proud of Stan and the hardwork that it has taken to get to this point.

After graduation we made the final stretch of our drive to Ohio.  At one of our stops to fill up and go potty there were some motorcycle riders filling up their bikes.  Garrett wanted to take a look and one of the riders let him take a closer look.

We loved this guy and we LOVE nice people who are kid tolerant!  Garrett thought this guy was the coolest man in the world.  Maybe one day Stan can be as cool.

We FINALLY arrived in Ohio, only to wait for our stuff to be delievered.  We went through U-Pack (ABF) and we arrived a little earlier than they did.  The boys were excited and nap time came and we still had no moving truck to get beds out of so this is how nap time proceded....

...I love that my boys are such great nappers.  They nap in strollers, the airport, them parks, and on floors.  It sure makes life a lot easier when you have one who can fall asleep anywhere!

We also attempted to plant sod in our backyard...when we arrived it was all moss and mud so.  We had to till, but didn't want to wait to ge the lines marked, so we did it by hand and shovel

Garrett was a big helper too

We picked up some sod in our "truck"

Logan loved it

 It took us ALL day and most of the night, but we now have grass...hopefully now we can just promote growth!

After an adventurous trip to Wal-Mart

We are slowly getting settled...Logan is working on potty training, hopefully with much success in the near future.  April pictures are soon to follow.

Well we've moved, left, and come back again.  Life never seems to slow down with these three boys, but we are enjoying it.  Things are slowly starting to feel more normal and slowly (VERY SLOWLY) starting to get unpacked.  Yes, that's right...1 month later and we still have boxes.  We are living normal lives and living normal life doesn't leave much time for unpacking.  We only have about 10 boxes left, but those boxes seem like they are going to take forever! 

I'm trying to update here, but its going to take awhile, so I'll quickly fill you in on the details.  We left Utah mid-May and started the cross-country drive to Ohio.  We stopped in Kansas City for about 5 days participating in graduation events.  Stan graduated May 17 and the next morning we left for Ohio arriving late Sunday night.  We spent 2 weeks in Ohio before leaving to Denver where we joined the Kimball family for a week long reunion.  We drove with them to Salt Lake City where we stayed for 1 day before heading to Las Vegas, NV for a reunion.  We are home and here to stay.  Stan started his orientation at the hospital today and has to start acting like a real doctor next week.

So here goes the pictures for the month of June

We met the Kimball family in Denver for a family reunion

We went to a Dinosaur Park...they even had a REAL dinosaur

ha ha ha...this thing gave us a good laugh!  Poor little horse

So the "museum" was a hike up the hill looking at the rock and real tracks

The group listening to the speech about these tracks

The kids "listening", Scarlett and Aidan look great...one day my kids will hopefully look at the camera and smile

Garrett taking a closer look at the rocks

The house that we stayed in had a Karaoke machine, so EVERYONE was FORCED to participate...some more willing than others

We spent time at The Denver Museum of Nature and Science. 

The kids dressed up as astronauts

Everyone Loves Bubbles

 And Puppets

Ryan loved the piano

Considering Eli essentially spent the whole week in a stroller, he did awesome!

It was a fun museum that we easily spent hours in

Another day was spent at Water World, you can never go wrong adding water to a vacation.  We were able to secure tables at one of the kiddie pools, which was awesome because we were able to take turns watching the kids while they played so we could go ride the big waterslides.

Logan spent about 2 1/2 hours knocked out in the stroller...it was great!

There was never a dull moment, we spent another day at the Denver Aquarium.

Logan in a random tunnel

Eli making it through ANOTHER day in the stroller

An attempt at a family picture

 This is why we don't take family pictures!

The last big outing that we had with the Kimballs was to Elitch Gardens.  We got there at opening, rode all the rides we wanted and then took off in the early afternoon.  Its a small, but fun park.

The ferris wheel

Kiddie Rides

These types of rides are still Garrett's favorite

It is one of those rides that goes up and takes the kids to the top and then drops them slowly to the bottom.

Random Photos at the Denver House

We were about 25 minutes outside of Denver up in the mountains and every day we were visited by this fox and another gray fox.

Eli LOVES food

Bathtime

We had such a fun time with all of our family running and around and doing nothing together.   Thanks mom and dad for all you do!

We rode with the family back to Salt Lake where we were dropped off at my families house.  We spent two nights with them in Salt Lake before we headed down to vacation at Lake Mead.  Before we went to Las Vegas, we spent an evening at temple square.

Here's Garrett after falling in the reflection pool...

...he wasn't very pleased.

We headed down to Las Vegas on Sunday, but had to cut our trip short and we returend to Salt Lake, Tuesday, because my brother (who was to be joining us in Vegas) was hospitalized and turned very critical.  As a family we felt it was more important to be with our brother and his wife, so we returned home, but unfortunately I wasn't able to get any pictures.

One day while back in Salt Lake we took the boys along with Jayke and some neighbor boys up to the splash pad.

Garrett wants so much to be like the big boys

Eli found a buddy to crawl around with

We had a good time with the family, despite the circumstances and were thankful for the opportunity to be with them together at the hospital.  We love our families!

The worst part of the trip...the plane ride home.  Since we had gone up to Salt Lake from Vegas, we had to get back to Vegas to catch our original flight.  So...we booked flights down to Vegas that arrived at the airport at 9 in the morning so we left our homes at 6 to get to the airport in Salt Lake in time.  Things go smoothly and all are relatively happy.  Our flight wasn't scheduled to leave until 5 p.m. so after rechecking in and getting something to eat we decide to take naps.  Naps go well, all are happy.  Everyone wakes up around 3.  When we wake up we find out that our flight has a 3 hour delay and won't be leaving until 8 p.m.  Imagine this, we have a plane to ride, a crew to work the cabin, but no pilot to fly the plane...that was what happened.  They were apparently understaffed.  So, they had to fly a pilot in to fly our plane.  When the pilot arrives, the crew is now off of work, so now we have no crew and a new estimated time of departure of 9:15.  Well new crew arrives and now the co-pilot is running over his maximum daily in flight time and has to get special approval to fly the plane.  It was a joke.  We finally leave at 11:00 p.m. arriving in Ohio at 6 a.m!  24 hours after we originally left for the airport in Salt Lake.....it was a mess!!!!!!  The plane ride was disatrous b/c the children only wanted to sleep..only problem is, Eli only likes to sleep in his CRIB...which is great at home, but not so great on a plane at 11:00 at night.

Needless to say, we are home and all is well.  We had a great time with our families.  Hopefully soon, I'll get to April and May pictures!

Just Loving Living Life

Easter came upon us early this year and needless to say, there was STILL snow on the ground...and lots of it!  We spent the Friday and Saturday before Easter at a house in Eden with the Asay's.  There was a lot of game playing, movie watching and snowmobiling.

This was Logan's first experience and clearly he loved it.

He just loved anything that had to do with the outdoors

Of course we had the traditional dying of easter eggs and an easter egg hunt (moved indoors due to the snowy fields of Eden)

Jayke, Garrett and Tim were among the many egg dying participants

The Saturday Egg Hunt

Eli was a happy non-participant

The "big boys" enjoying the goods

Logan loved having Tim's dog Tink around

Sunday afternnon we spent with Stan's sister's in-laws so the boys had another easter egg hunt

Aidan, Ethan, Logan and Garrett in the final stage of hunting preparations

And they're off....

We had a lot of fun spending time with the Lewis'

Aidan turned 4 this year and to celebrate he took his cousins to the children's museum at the gateway.  The boys LOVED it and only wished they could have stayed longer.

Logan, Garrett and Aidan learning good hygeine

Dress Ups

Even boys enjoy a good round of dress up!

We tried to tough out the cold at the zoo a couple of times

The boys favorite exhibit

We spent a good half hour watching the excavator put dirt in the dump truck...it was quite exhilerating (the sad thing is, I'm really not joking, we literally watched this for 30 minutes)!

This must be the best place at the zoo to take pictures, we actually waited in line to take this picture!

My favorite spot to take a picture at the zoo...

...the stroller (a place of peace and harmony, most of the time)

One night a week we try to have Family Home Evening...an evening free from tv, sports and activities...to spend with each other.  We have a lesson, activity, treats, sing songs (the boys love it).  One night we learned about Noah's Ark and the boys built arks.

Logan and his ark

Garrett with his ark

Eli didn't get to build an ark, but he enjoyed being there anyways

Random Sunday morning photo

It is quite a challenge to get all these kids looking AND smiling at the camera at the same time...any tips?

This is how our family bonds over dinner

Logan

 

Garrett

 

Garrett Performing

    

Needless to say, we are never lacking for entertainment at our house.

Happy New Year!!! 2007 was very busy for us, hence the AFTER Christmas Cards (also known as New Year Cards)! We had a lot of unexpected change and happenings this past year. The end of April we moved from Kansas City, MO to Midvale, UT. All of us made the move, Stan, Garrett, Logan and I along with 6/9 of yet another boy fetus.

Eli Stanley Kimball was born 2 weeks early on Aug. 9, 2007 and weighed in at 9 lbs 2 oz and measured 21” long. A little known fact about Eli is that he was also born almost exactly 13 ½ months after his brother Logan arrived here on earth. Eli is now 5 months old and is a great kid. He thankfully is sleeping through the night! He is learning how to eat solid foods and is just recently with great effort becoming a roll overer.

Logan is now 18 months old which is perhaps the most celebrated age in our household as he is now “old enough” to attend the nursery at our church for 2 of the 3 hours we attend! Last year at this time I wrote about how mellow, happy and nice Logan was…and then he learned how to walk! Logan is great at terrorizing Garrett (which Garrett also willingly gives back) and screeching at will. We love the child, but would prefer a few more words to his limited vocabulary to replace the blood curdling scream he insists on using. J Logan is slowly increasing his spoken words and is very rapidly adding to his sign language skills, he loves his brothers and is proving to be quite the humorous child.

Garrett is a 3 year old. He still moves at one speed (run) and is developing an amazing imagination. Every inanimate object is brought to life. Just this year we learned of his imaginary ghost friend named Soda. Soda makes an appearance every once and awhile and is apparently great company…until you forget him at the store that is 30 minutes away and just when you are getting home Garrett realizes that he left Soda, the imagined ghost, sitting on the floor of the store and insists bawling that we have to this moment return to get him before somebody takes him or he gets lost (oh wait, that was with his monster friends and don’t worry we didn’t return to get them and they were fine). Great fun! Garrett is very strong willed and thinks he is always right about EVERYTHING. He still loves singing and dancing and has an amazing ability to remember the words to every song. He has even started singing the instrumental parts. This kid keeps us on our toes and is helping me figure out new and improved methods of parenting!

Stan was our cross country traveler in 2007, which also helped inspire our move back to Utah. He was gone for two months at a time completing rotations at different hospitals offering ENT residencies to try and get a feel for the programs. We moved to Utah in April, he rotated here in May and then traveled for June and July. He then came home Aug. 2nd and on the 9^th delivered Eli. The end of the month he took his second step of boards and was off traveling again on the 30^th for another two months. He arrived home just in time for Halloween. It was a busy 5 months! We are glad to have Stan home and only anticipate one more month of separation before graduating from medical school in May!

2007 was an interesting one for me as I discovered what it was like to be a single mother. The boys definitely missed their father, but no one missed Stan more so than me. In Oct. I took a last minute flight out to San Antonio to get some well needed R&R and visit my husband. I was able to leave Garrett and Logan with grandmas and Eli and I had us a nice time. I am also attempting to play the piano again. I’m sure I enjoy it much more this time around when practicing is a luxury! I am always looking for and trying out new recipes. I am kept busy most days with these darling boys. I am trying to perfect my wrestling moves, artistic drawings, and my negotiating skills.

We have loved this time we’ve had to be here in Utah by our family. We know we are blessed by the Lord and watched over always. We hope this letter finds you well. We value your friendship and miss you dearly. We pray that 2008 will find us able to visit family and friends more often. May 2008 be great for us all!

Love,

Stan, Lynnsey, Garrett, Logan and Eli Kimball

 

We are still around, just can't get to our pictures at the moment.  My computer has decided to have a corrupt profile while at the same time having low memory (we need an external hardrive to store all these pictures I take).  So I'm stuck in a bind with nowhere to unload my full memory card on my camera, but when I do...you'll be the first to know.

Garrett just finished up a gym class provided by the school district.  It was his first time participating in an "organized" class.  He did a really good job and was super cute doing all of the activities.

Stretching and Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes

Making a goal and Chasing the hula hoop

Making Popcorn out of the balls

Balloons and Team Cheer

Garrett really enjoyed his class and I enjoyed watching him interact with the other kids.  The first couple of weeks they wanted the parents to stay close at hand to help out where needed and when I tried to help Garrett the first week he told me to go away and sit down on the chairs...he is quite the independent child!

Santa Clause is in town and we were there to welcome him and eat the breakfast he provided!!!

Logan was a little aprehensive about the mascots.  He wanted to see them, but didn't want to be by them.  GArrett is all for them though

Santa has a new sleigh this year

Garrett and the big fella himself

Garrett was so excited to have Santa around...he kept running around saying, its Christmas, Its Christmas Time!!!  Holidays with kids sure have a way of bringing the magic back!

Stan and his boys hanging out on the bed

If We're all Lucky I'll find some time to post the Halloween pictures that somehow were forgotten in the craziness of holidays!!!