The pink hilton

My parents came back to Pennsylvania with us for a couple of days. My dad is originally from Pennsylvania so he took us to see the "old homestead." It was really neat to see where he grew up and to watch his face as memories came to his mind. My dad is the type of person that when he is excited about something it is contagious! We were able to walk around the old property since it is no longer livable, Tera loved it! My favorite part was the remains of his old tree house, they got the wood from the guy who lived in the A-frame so they built it into an A-frame in his honor. It was a long day of driving, especially because we drove 4 hours from DC the day before, but the kids did AWESOME!!! The trip was way to short and I look forward to them coming out again. Pantera told me "I know why Zeke had ear infections. It is probably from a cat. In real life. You see, I am kind of like a doctor."

What a great weekend!

I love seeing my nephews! I got to meet Preston for the first time, he was so happy. Ryan was so sweet to me the entire trip, he just LOVES Zeke! I wish we lived closer...

FOR-EV-ER

Our little family was sealed for time and all eternity on Saturday. I think it was the best day of my life. It is a wonderful feeling to know that you have your family forever. Pantera looked so beautiful. She had the biggest grin on her face when she walked into the sealing room and believe it or not, she was so good for the ceremony. Zeke slept the entire time which worked out nicely.

We were at the church tonight and one of the women told Pantera "I heard you went somewhere special." Pantera replied "Yes, and it is called the temple." The woman said "I bet you looked like a princess." Pantera said "No, I looked like an angel."

Caterpillars

I am so lucky to get to hang out with these two all day!!! Tonight Pantera and I read a book about caterpillars who turn into butterflies. After we finished reading she was hanging upside down off of the bed. I asked her what she was doing and she said "Shh, I'm in my raccoon."

My latest painting. I plan on opening an esty account (yes, just so I can be cool like my sister) and hopefully selling this and other paintings in the near future.

New camera

Pictures with my new camera! I have ALOT to learn about this whole new DSLR world, I am pumped!!! 3 days until the temple. It almost seems surreal to me, I didn't think this day would ever come. Everyone in our ward has been so very supportive and excited for our family. There are several people making the 4 hour drive to come see the sealing. I can not find the words to express how grateful I am for being brought to such a loving, fantastic ward! I really feel that it is mostly because of our ward that we are finally getting sealed, they have been amazing to us. It is funny how we were brought out here for work...

Hand Sanitizer

He looks so cute in shorts. I love those chubby legs and feet! Can you blame me for being "mamarazzi"?

I couldn't resist buying this Hurley shirt for him (especially because it was marked down from $25 to $6), he is such a stud.

The one time Pantera was happy today.

The rest of the day.

I don't know what we are doing wrong. There are days that I don't know what to do with her. Maybe I need to take the parenting advice she gave to my sister when her son was acting up. She said "Is Ryry being bad right now? Just put soap in his mouth and if he is still bad, use hand sanitizer."

I like 'em BIG I like 'em CHUNKY

Ezekiel is getting dorkier by the day...
He would be a great baby model, he even has the pose down.

He loves the song "Big and Chunky" from Madagascar 2. If you start to sing it he smiles and/or giggles and wiggles his feet in circles. He does circles with his feet whenever he is excited about ANYTHING! This worries me a little for when he starts to walk...

Here is the finished product. It looks better in person! I am really pleased with how the painting turned out. Again I LOVE LOVE LOVE OIL PAINT!!! Pantera cleared a wall in her room for her picture (she has an entire art gallery in her room btw) and was very upset when I told her it was for me, not her.

How to learn the gospel

I am going to start painting this tonight, hopefully. This will be my first portrait painting so I am a little nervous. I figured I would post my sketch of Tera just in case I screw it up. I forgot how much I enjoy sketching people, it has been a long time! Wish me luck!

Pantera gave away her first Book of Mormon on Sunday night. One of Jess' coworkers was over and she started giving him the 3rd degree about religion. She said "Justin, do you go to our church?" He told her no. Jess jokingly told him that he should in front of her. We had a copy of the B of M on the table with a restoration pamphlet in it. I pulled her in the kitchen and told her that she could give it to him if she wants him to learn more about the gospel. She was very excited about this because she loves Justin. A couple minutes later she brought him the book and said "Here is a Book of Mormon. Read it ALL. That way you can learn the Gospel!"

Easter

Apparently Pantera thought everyone was saying "Crappy Easter" so she took it to heart and was a big stinker! She wouldn't even smile for pictures. This is my favorite holiday so it made me very sad, oh well.

Luckily my boys will always smile for me. I made Jess wear a matching tie!

Pantera Gardener Babysitter

Zeke like this picture because if you zoom in you can see his studly teeth!!!
I have about 4 more years til he thinks this is gross. "Green eyes like me!"

We had a great conference weekend! We got to go to an Easter egg hunt on Saturday afternoon and Pantera got to see the Easter bunny. On the way home she asked "If Easter is about Jesus, why do they have a bunny?" Very good question. She was so excited when she saw the Prophet speak. She calls him "Thomas as Monson" it cracks me up everytime she says it. She is making plans for us to all attend next conference together so she can "Hug the prophet, but we can't sit on his lap, those are the rules!" She listened very well, I still can't get over it.

The neighbor brought her over a visor. She wants me to call her "Pantera Gardener Babysitter" when she wears it, only she doesn't actually babysit she informed me. This reminds me of Isaac Johnson and makes me miss that "Puppy Big Boy."

Tera Tales

Good thing she is cute eh?

Zeke can sit unassisted now. Until you tell him he is a big boy then he gets excited and falls over.

These are in the garden, I thought of Meredith when they bloomed.

I find this picture rather ironic, you see Zeke is so quiet and tame like a bunny and Tera, well Tera gives me alot of BULL%&*$!

More Tera stories...

She has been quite a little pill this last week! She threw a HUGE temper tantrum when I was getting her in bed the other night, she ended up throwing her sippy cup and denting a wall! I didn't realize that she left a dent until after I finally got her to sleep. The next morning I told her that we would have to pay for the wall because this is not our house and that it will cost alot of money. She says "It's ok mom, you'll just pay for it." I told her that since she broke it, the only way we will have enough money is to sell her toys. This upset her all over again and she told me to "get lost" and then she said "I am going to cut off your head with scissors!" The whole scissor thing really bothers me because she is so sheltered (we don't have TV and she is not allowed to talk about killing, or to play with pretend guns etc.) I have no idea where she got this from!

So I start taking toys and she is ok with it, until I get to her stick horses, she has 3. I told her that we need to sell 1 to have enough money. She FLIPPED! I gave her the choice: sell 1 stick horse or the trampoline, she chose the trampoline. Then she changed her mind so I took "Blackie." Then she tried attacking me to get him back, so I locked him in the bathroom. So she is screaming and saying "He's scared, Blackie I'll get you boy, I'll get you out, she can't do this to you!" She then proceeded to try to pick the lock with a paper plate. Unfortunately Blackie will be "sold" to goodwill later this week.

Jess and I tell her almost every night that we need alone time and she needs to go to bed. I left her at a friends house so I could get my PA drivers license. She told me before I dropped her off "I will miss you mom, but I just need some alone time with Lindsey!"

My dad's birthday is coming up so I have been trying to figure out what to get him. I asked Pantera and she got very excited saying "This is perfect! We can get Beardie a toy dinosaur!"

While Beardie is special to her, no one will ever take the place ofher Aunt Meredith in her heart. She always speaks so kindly about her, yesterday she said "I can sit on Aunt Meredith's lap, can I? Because I am her granddaughter, am I?" And her is another classic quote about her Aunt "Ruff Ruff, my sister, my uncle, my friend."

Tera was talking about Sassy to one of our friends on the phone the other day. She said "only we don't have her anymore, we had to take her back to the Relief Society. You know, the pound."