Yes, We're Still Alive...

I suck at blogging right now. What more can I say? :)

But we've been doing some fun stuff with our families this past month, and I thought I'd better post them now before I forget. As always, the boys have been thoroughly loved and spoiled!

A few weeks ago, my parents had Gavin down to spend the weekend with them. I decided to take him down on Thursday night and stay until Friday, and then Ty and I left that night so Gavin could have his special weekend alone with Nana and Poppy. :) That Friday (when I was still there), we had a blast! We took the boys to Build-A-Bear in the mall, which was so adorable. They both helped "build" their own bears, and then Gavin named his Max and Ty named his Jack. (Unfortunately, I don't have pics of them right now, but I'll have to post one soon!) Then, that night, my parents spoiled us and took my boys bowling for their first time. Gavin has always wanted to go bowling, but it's just so expensive that the closest he's ever gotten is Wii Bowling! :) As expected, the boys had a blast. Fat Cats had a stand that the boys could put their bowling balls on and then push them down, and the boys loved it. It was so fun! So thanks Mom and Dad, we had a great time! (More pics below...)

Oh the excitement!

(This was before we figured out they had the stands for little kids...)

Both boys loved watching their balls roll down the lane (and when I say roll, I mean crawling VERY VERY slowly! :) )

Strike!

(See his ball all the way down there at the other end? That awesome stand resulted in some strikes and spares, which made for some happy boys! :) )

After I left, Gavin did all sorts of fun things with Nana and Poppy - bike rides in Poppy's bike trailer, driving trucks in the dirt, playing at the park, and eating at McDonald's. Again, he was thoroughly spoiled and loved every second of it. So thanks Mom and Dad for giving him such a great weekend! He is still talking about it!

Then, this past weekend, we went up to Idaho because Greg's brother Mike and his family were coming in from Washington to baptize their son. It was such a great weekend to see the entire Swenson family - it has literally been YEARS since every single one of us has been together (and it may be years until we are all together again! Who knows?!) Gavin and Ty were once again spoiled rotten. Grandma and Grandpa put on an Easter Egg Hunt for all the kids and our kids had a blast (although the majority of the eggs that they picked were the real ones, not the fake ones filled with candy, so I think that left them a bit disappointed. I guess it's a good thing the Easter Bunny will return in a couple weeks!).

Tyler searching for eggs

Gavin checking out his loot...

Then, we all got together for family pictures yesterday. I'm sure it was hilarious to see all of Greg's siblings taking beautiful pictures with their kids, and then our family struggling to even get a shot of everybody looking at the camera! Aww, the joys of having young kids! Below are some side shots of what an adventure we had taking pictures!

Tyler's favorite pose - burying his head in my shoulder.

Now that Ty is looking, Gavin's not! (Not to mention Greg's arm pulling his pants in bizarre ways!)

This one doesn't look too bad - of course, with our luck, the photographer didn't get us at that exact second!

Last one! Oh, but Ty is looking away and Greg's tie is doing something bizarre. Seriously, why do we do this again?! :)

We then went to our nephew Marc's baptism which was a really neat experience. We don't get to see him or his family often where they live in Washington, so it was fun to be part of something that we didn't think we would be. We then drove home on treacherous roads, but fortunately made it home alive! :)

Oh, and one more highlight of the trip - Grandma and Grandpa's new dog Sophie! The boys loved her, if you can't tell from this picture of Ty...

Wow, we are seriously spoiled with some great family! :) Well, until next time... Whenever that may be... :) -Ash

Still Trying to Catch Up

I'm not feeling so "anti-blogging" this week, so I figured I'd better catch up on some other things while I'm in the mood! :)

First of all, will somebody please tell me what happened to my baby?! I don't know why I've been in denial about this for so long now, especially since Ty no longer has a bottle or a binky, and can talk like crazy, but I've just still been struggling with it. Because of this, I wasn't even considering taking him out of his crib for another 6 months - why would I? That's the last shred of "babyness" that I have left! (Except for diapers, of course...) But starting about a month ago, he was just sleeping miserably at night. He would toss and turn, crying all the time, even when I would put him to bed. Finally, I got wondering why he was acting this way, and then it dawned on me that maybe it was time for a toddler bed. "Toddler bed" - oh, those words about made me want to cry - my baby is NOT a toddler, I was thinking! :) But based on my claustrophobia, I started sympathizing with Ty and worrying that he was feeling trapped in his crib. So I gave in... And he LOVES it. He sleeps so well now, and never complains about going to bed! But still, it was a sad day!

Also, last Friday, I had my first piano recital with my current students. I've taught 30 different students over the years and I have to admit, this set of students has been the best I've ever had. They practice faithfully, and when they don't, they're actually honest with me about it! :) So I was really excited for the recital, and as expected, it went great! I was so proud of everybody. But now, I have to admit that I'm glad it's over - it was a lot of stress and I'm relieved I don't have to do it again for another 7 months! :)

And last, our old house in Logan is for sale! And no, we're not moving back into it. Ha ha! But we found it online and it was really fun to look at what the new owners have done with the inside of it. (Although I have to admit, it was kind of hard to see those pictures. It brought back a lot of memories...) So here's a link if you want to check it out: http://www.utahrealestate.com/863330. When you get to that page, click on the "More Photos" tab. It looks really cute - I'm glad to see they've taken such good care of it!

Well, that's all for now. Hopefully ya'll won't have to wait another 2 weeks to hear from me! :) -Ash