Spoiled Boys

My boys are so spoiled but I just can't help myself. They are growing up so quickly and soon they won't want to hang out with their mom. We love doing fun things. I am just not good at staying at the house....but then later I complain that I never have any days to relax at home. This summer we are: going to the movies on Mondays, a good deal of 50cents a movie couldn't pass that one up, doing the reading program at the library and attending story time when we can, going to the gym a few times a week, and swim lessons on Fridays. Here are some pics from swim lessons. We go to the Hubbard school, a little more pricey than others but the indoor pools are sooooo nice. They also offer family swim time on Fridays after our lessons.

And this is what happens when it is time to leave the pool.

Disneyland 2010

Our Disneyland trip was so much fun! Here are just some of the highlights and I have more pictures on my facebook account.
Here we are waiting for the Aladdin show at California Adventure. Its a really good show that is ending this August to be replaced with something new.

Joshua eating cotton candy, a love of both mine and his. Joshua was scared riding on the Matterhorn the first time but rode a few more times and now says that is his favorite ride.



One of my favorite pictures of Michael and I. We had so much fun taking our family to Disneyland.

Grandma Connie and Uncle Tayler came with us and it was fun to have a larger group. Tayler loved the rollercoasters but also was willing to go on the kiddie rides with us.

Here is Joshua's excellent driving skills on Autotopia.





An interview with Ethan while riding the Chew-Chew train in bug's land.



They don't have a big parade with floats and lights like they usually do at Disneyland, but they do have a dance crew that comes by on a parade and Ethan got to go out and shake his groove thing!

The long ride home is always sad....but you can't stay at Disneyland forever.

The Races

Grandma and Grandpa came to town to help out with the kids after my surgery and we ended up going to the Nascar races on Friday night. So much for laying on the couch and recovering right : ). We had a blast, the boys loved it and so did I.

Sneaky Snake Ethan

Anyone who knows my kids, knows that Ethan is often a very picky eater. He is also very sneaky, which he probably inherited from his own mother. Unfortunately for him, his parents are smarter than he is sneaky right now. Yes he did get in trouble after this, but its hard to punish him that much when you are laughing hysterically.
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Easter Activities

We have had lots of fun activities this Easter season!! The weather is perfect and it is so much fun to play with my boys.

First, we had an church activity for Easter. We made cute bunny baskets out of milk jugs and had an egg hunt.

Second, we had an Easter Egg hunt with Ethan's school. Each kid probably got about 30 eggs and way to much candy for us to ever eat but we had fun.

Third, we got to watch a conference on Easter morning. Here are my boys trying to follow Mom's rules of staying awake and paying attention.

And Finally we had lunch and another Easter egg hunt at Grandma Connie's. Again we got many, many eggs, lots of candy and a few dollars that the boys used to buy a hungry hungry hippos game.

My "Heart" Ache

Many have been asking us when our next baby will be coming or if we are thinking of having one soon. The answer is we have been trying for 1 1/2 years now with not good results. We do have two sweet boys already that I became pregnant with quickly and easily, so it was somewhat surprising that we were unable to get pregnant after a few months of trying. After trying for almost a year I went to my OB doctor and told him what was going on. He did an ultrasound and found several small cysts on each of my ovaries. It seems that since my last pregnancy I have developed poly cystic ovarian syndrome. My doctor was very optimistic and put me on Clomid for 3 months stating that most people have success on that. Well we didn't. So then my option was to go to a fertility specialist and pay out of pocket or go to another doctor that does surgery for women with PCOS. So we decided to try surgery before going to a fertility specialist. In preparation for surgery this doctor wanted to have another ultrasound done. This ultrasound done last week showed that I only have a few cysts now, but that I have a another problem. A heart shaped uterus that makes it more difficult to get pregnant and stay pregnant. The other down side to this condition is that it is more risky for me to pursue fertility treatments. If I became pregnant with twins there would most likely not be enough room for them both to grow. I am still having surgery next, hoping that it might still help. But I am starting to think that we might not have another baby come to our family. I am so thankful for the two wonderful boys I have. My Ethan is so smart and sensitive, it amazes me to see so much of my personal traits in him. My Joshua is full of energy and still lets his mom hold him like a baby sometimes. No matter what the future brings I feel so blessed for the family that I have and pray for all those have or are experiencing the trial of not being able to get pregnant.

My 2010 Books

*Just Ignore this post* I'm just keeping track of the books I read, so I can remember later if I liked them or not.

1. Nefertiti- Michelle Moran

Good, made me want to know more Egyptian history. Descriptions beautiful and story intriguing

2. The Heretic Queen - Michelle Moran

Excellent, sparked an interest in Egyptian history.

3. Handle With Care- Jodie Picoult

Ok, too similar to my sister's keeper, did not like ending.

4. Innocent Traitor- Alison Weir

Pretty good about Lady Jane Grey. Cried at the end.

5. The Lady Elizabeth- Alison Weir
Good account of Elizabeth and her early life.

6. The Lady in the Tower- Jean Plaidy

My last Plaidy novel was pretty dull, so I wasn't excited about reading this one however it was much better. It gave a new perspective on Anne Boleynn, and made her a somewhat sympathetic character. It also presented the possiblity that she really did not do any of the crimes she was accused of, whereas other accounts usually hint that she probably did.

7. Fishers of Men- Gerald Lund

I was not excited to read a church book, since these are my leisure reads however this book was excellent. The storyline was entertaining and left the reader wanting to pick up the next book in the series to see what is going to happen. My only criticism is that some of the lanuage was a littly wordy and more dramatic than real life. Overall loved it.

8. Rachel and Leah- Orson Scott Card
It was ok. As a story I found it interesting however as a literary work it wasn't much beyond simple. I also felt that the language and rhetoric used was much closer to modern times rather than how it would have been in the old testament time period it covered.

9. Come Unto Me- Gerald Lund

Really enjoyed the plot and the development of the characters in the story, however I find the dialouge a little over dramatic and corny. I'm sure people even living in Jesus' day didn't quite speak like that.

10. Memoirs of Cleopatra- Margaret George

This almost 1000 page book was great. I loved learning about Cleopatra from the beginning and learned so much. I always enjoy when authors include an appendix outline any parts of the story that are fictional and review the facts they made their story from. The last 200 pages got long, or maybe it was just not wanting to read that Cleopatra and Antony get defeated.

11. The Secret Confessions of Anne Shakespeare- Arliss Ryan

Great! I loved this story. The novel is definetly fiction since there is not any information on Anne's life, but it is a wonderful imagination of how her story could have gone. I was really sucked in by the story and wanted to finish. There are some PG-13 moments in the beginning but the rest of the book goes smoothly and reads fast.

12. Faith of Our Fathers- Lynn Austin
Good book with a lot of excitement and anticipation. Easy to read quickly. It really brought to life Old Testament times and made the people seem real.

13. Behold the Man- Gerald Lund
Similar to the first two in the series, good story and plot. Rhetoric and conversation too corny at times. Really enjoyed the footnotes at the end of each chapter providing insight to the scriptures.

14. Gods and Kings- Lynn Austin
Loved the story and the setting in old testament times. Really made me think about how hard it would have been to serve Jehovah, with wicked kings in place.