What do we do in the summertime?

It's so hot in Vegas. It doesn't cool down at night either. We have to keep the temperature at 78 degrees just to keep the bill down. I always feel sweaty. I hate it. The kids are playing in the water and eating ice cream to stay cool.

R.I.P. Madi's blankie

We finally retired Madison's favorite blanket. It has been old and dirty looking for at least a year and it is almost three years old. Grandma Mimi bought it for her before she was born. I decided to help her give it a proper burial place. We got her box of special things from when she was a baby. It includes her crib card, birth announcements, cards, blessings dress, baby shoes, first outfit, etc. She helped me put the blanket in the wash and carefully put it in the dryer. I folded it for her and she put it in her box. Yes, I know it sounds a little dramatic, but you don't know how attached she is to this blanket. I just don't want her taking it to school with her. She has asked me about it twice today, but she knows where it is, so I think she is okay. We'll see how she does tonight.

Weekly pics

I haven't had a lot of pictures to post since I have been working. It's kind of sad not to be able to see them every day. I hope this will get us to our goals and it will all be worth it. Here's some pictures of the Lane this past week.

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day, Brant. I want to thank you for being such a good father. There is nothing better than knowing how much their children love their father. It is a joy to see your children light up and run to the door when their Father comes home. He is so good at building relationships with them, even at this early age. He changes diapers, babysits all three so I can take a break, reads, plays, and feeds them. He has them convinced that he loves them more than anyone else in the world and that he is their best friend. I am so thankful that they have such a good dad. Today is a day to thank him for every day that he gives us the gift of having him in our lives.

Long distance relationship

It is getting to be hard to be away from the kids. I am gone four days in St. George and home 3 days in Vegas. I know it's only going to be a short time and I get to see them tomorrow. I wish that it was not so far away.

Biggest Loser Seminar in St. George

Travis is a part of http://www.evazing.com/ so this week they did this amazing motivational seminar in St. George. Filipe (right) and Sione (left) were the main attraction of the seminar. It was unbelievable to see how good they look now. These guys were almost 400 pounds when they started BL. I got to meet them--I actually worked with the people that are working with them. It was a lot of fun. Really inspiring. I figure if these guys can do what they did, I can lose 40 pounds.

How Quickly They Grow

It's amazing how much they can change in a week. That's how long I have been gone. I was home for only a couple of hours on Sunday. They already look so much bigger than when I left. Lane has learned how to climb down the stairs by himself. Madison brain keeps getting smarter and smarter by the day. She never ceases to amaze me with the depth of her questions. We talked about grandmas and grandpas who have already passed on today. Porter is still in his own little world. He just likes to be happy and have fun. He hasn't been as whiny. I think that's due to Dad's strict and consistent discipline. I am so glad they seem so happy and well-adjusted. They were happy to see me, but weren't clingy or crying. They love their Dad and their Grandma takes such good care of them. I don't think they are lacking for nurture, love, and attention.

My First Week of Work

St. George, Utah -- I have been working for a couple of days now. It has been really fun. We have a lot of high expectations. I certainly hope everything works our well. It's fun working with family. I don't think I've spent this much time with family for a long time.

I am so excited to go back home and see the kids. It's so hard to be away from them, but I hope this will be temporary and that we can all live in the same place soon! They have been great. They are having a good time with grandma and they love being with their Dad. Madison told me that her best friend is Dad.

Just Stuff

Busy does not even begin to describe the last couple of weeks. I started working in St. George with Travis today. It has been a lot of fun. I drove over from Vegas this morning. I am so sad that I will not see the kids for four days each week, but we really hope this will be short-term and help us reach our long-term goals.
Since I was going to start working, I got all of the doctor appointments and dental appointments caught up. All three kids had to have shots. It was so sad. But the twins are done until they turn four. Lane has to go back in two months.
We had our Lane family reunion in Sierra Vista, Arizona last weekend. Oh I could write so much about the fun times we had. But, I don't have enough time and can only give it a mention. I did get copies of everyone's pictures put on to my Dad's computer. I am hoping to get something put together in a CD or a book to remember the reunion. It was so fun to see everyone. Something about your cousins takes you back in time to when you were young. We acted as silly and giggly as we did when we were kids. It was great. I don't even think I can put all of the pictures on this blog. I'll have to do it somewhere else.

At the Zoo

The Mini Grand Prix

Brant took the twins to the Mini Grand Prix on Saturday. He always tries to do something fun with them on his day off. I know from reading my blog, it might sound like everyone else watches my kids. That's not true. It's just that when they're watching them, they are doing fun things that we take pictures of. Blogging about getting up, getting dressed, eating, cleaning the house, and shopping just wouldn't be very exciting reading.

Memorial Day fun

Grandma and Grandpa Smith took the kids to Lake Mead for Memorial Day. How cool are they? I can't believe their energy. I would hesitate
to do that. Of course, the kids had tons of fun. They were excited to sport their new swimsuits. I've heard that Grandpa has some more really cool pictures of everyone at the lake--but, I haven't seen them yet. (hint, hint)

Hard Rock Pics

These are the only pictures we took. I swear, we didn't do anything. I spent an hour on my hair and makeup. I can't remember the last time I did that--not even for church. It was kind of fun. I caught up on sleep, relaxed, and spent time with Brant. Brant brought board games. We stayed up playing Uno and Sequence. What fun! I have to give lots of
credit to my mother-in-law. Without her, we could not have the freedom we do. She is so great with the kids--they love her. And, she does so much to help us with them.

This week in review

I feel like I have failed to keep up on my blog this week. There has been so much stuff happening, I haven't had the time to keep up. I have also been trying to get stuff for Father's Day. I took this picture in the backyard for a Father's Day gift. BTW, you can get some really cool cards at http://www.ofoto.com/. This is the best picture of the kids. It was hard to get them all to smile, look at the camera, and hold still.

I have been so busy...I guess it's good. It makes time go by quickly. Lane is growing so fast. He can say hot, dad, and outside. Now, I can't say that anyone else can understand him, but I understand his utterances. He can also sign hot and outside. He pretends like he is signing with his hands--like he is trying to talk. It's really cute, but he's not really saying anything. He is starting to get really squirmy at church. It's the time that you start counting down the days until he can go into nursery.

That's a Fat Mama!

Yeah, that's verbatim what Madison loudly said. We (me pushing Porter and Madison in the double-stroller.) were passing a woman on the sidewalk. I said, "Madison! That is not nice to say." She looked at me liked, "Yeah, but she IS fat. And she's probably is a mom." I had to explain to her that true descriptions are not always nice. I said it's okay to call someone a "hot mama" but "fat mama" will make someone feel bad. No wonder kids are so confused.