May in Review

May started out with Linden gone. He left the morning of April 30 to leave for his internship in Richland, Washington. For his internship he will be working at a Nuclear Power Plant for eight weeks. I spent the morning moping around, thinking about how much I was going to miss him while he was gone and how hard everything was going to be without a husband and father around to help with things like bedtime.

After moping for the morning I got busy. I had told myself that one morning of moping was all I got. We had a crazy first week without Linden. At times I felt like I was barely surviving. Thank goodness for a great support system of parents, in-laws, friends and siblings.

Early Friday morning (2:45 am) of that first week I woke up to the sound of someone jiggling the back door knob and knocking on the door. My first thought was to go get my phone and dial 911. As I headed to get my phone I was hoping that the police could get there quick enough for me to keep the kids safe while I tried to keep whoever is outside from getting in. As I was walking down the hall to get my phone I heard it start ringing. As soon as I heard the phone ringing I knew it was Linden. He had decided to surprise me and come home to visit. He caught a ride with a couple of other guys from Idaho Falls that are also working up there. They dropped him off and Linden spent the next fifteen minutes trying to wake me up so he could get inside. He couldn't open the doors from the outside because of the child safety locks we have. I was quite relieved that I didn't have to call 911.

We had some pictures taken of the kids the Thursday before Mother's day. They turned out really well. Here are some of my favorites. Thanks to Gina Nelson for a great job on the pictures.

My three beautiful children!!!



Anton loves to ham it up.







We had a hard time getting Zackary to smile like he normally does. I love it when he shows off his adorable dimples. Combine the dimples with his gorgeous eyelashes and adorable eyes and we are expecting him to be a girl magnet in a few years.





Isabel was a bit sleepy and we only got one really good picture of her with her eyes open.



Somehow Isabel twisted the pacifier in her mouth and then fell asleep.



May 18-20 Anton, Zackary, Isabel and I went down to Utah to visit Aunts and an Uncle and Cousin. We drove down on Tuesday to Ogden and had a great time with Aunt Claudette and Aunt Brook.

While in Ogden we went to the Dinosaur Park. We spent most of the time outside, but the little time we did spend inside in the museum I got a couple of pictures. This is one with the boys wiggling while they sit by the T-Rex skeleton. Anton's reaction to it was, "It gives me a scary." (I think the unusual wording comes from him translating the Spanish way of saying it into English. Yeah, he really is learning Spanish.) Because it gave him a scary we had to talk him into sitting there for a picture. Zackary also decided that he needed to be "scared" because Anton was.



The boys sitting by the triceratops skull in the museum.



After we got outside we were enjoying walking around the trails and got several photos of the different dinosaurs. There are ambient sounds playing via various speakers outside and as we were walking past the T-rex it happened to growl. Anton was hesitant to be walking past it in the first place. When he heard the growl he jumped about four feet away from the dinosaur. I had a really hard time not laughing, he looked so cute. Don't worry though, I quickly comforted him and explained AGAIN they were just pretend.

This one truly did give Anton a scary and we couldn't get him close to it. Hence, we just got the picture with Aunt Brook and Zackary. I don't remember the name of the dinosaur.



A safe dinosaur for a photo op with Aunt Claudette, Isabel, Aunt Brook, Zackary and Anton.



We miss Papa!!!









We really enjoyed walking around seeing all of the differnt dinosaurs. What the boys enjoyed most though was the playground. It had been raining off and on all day, so the slides were wet but that didn't deter them. Needless to say their pants were soaking wet by the time we left, but they had a blast.

Thanks for taking us to the dinosaur park Aunt Claudette!!!



Tuesday night we stayed at Aunt Claudette's and Aunt Brook's. At bedtime Anton and Zackary decided they were going to sleep in Aunt Claudette's bed. We found them there, at the head of the bed, playing with the pillows.



The next morning we headed down to Woods Cross to visit Aunt Annikka and Ella. Ella is one month younger than Isabel and slightly bigger. I couldn't resist this "stop taking pictures and pick me up look" from Isabel.



The two cousins yawning together.



After visiting with Aunt Annikka and Ella for a little bit we headed down to Provo to visit Aunt Leonora and Uncle Kevin. Kevin wasn't quite off of work yet so we went to the Bean museum with Aunt Leonora. While there the boys saw, Elephants...



...and Lions.



They had fun looking on the display down below.



We saw lots of different ducks and so MANY different animals from around the world. The boys really enjoyed it. We will have to go again when they are a little older.

Again, we had to talk Anton into taking a picture with the scary animals, like bears.



After spending Wednesday night at Aunt Leonora's and Uncle Kevin's we drove back up to visit Aunt Annikka and Ella and Doug again on Thursday. After that visit we headed to Pocatello to say hi to Aunt Misti and have a delicious supper that she made for us. She also gave the boys these cute bunny masks. Anton insisted on wearing his several times throughout the next week, including when I went to the polls to vote in the primary election the following Tuesday.



My mom saved this outfit that I wore when I was a baby. I had Isabel wear it once and made sure to get a picture. It is a bit worn out and I don't think it would last for another wearing.



We finished out May by attending Dani's graduation. Congrats, Dani!



And also John Niel's graduation. Congrats!



We were blessed to have a visit from Linden over Memorial Day weekend. And again I cried when he left. I think I cry more each time he leaves. We miss him and truly want him back home with us, SOON!!!