I love my family

I normally don't do these "journal-type" entries, but today I am proud and happy.
My AMAZING and TALENTED Mother came to my ward and did the 'special musical number.' She played a piano medley of Armies of Helamen, I am a Child of God and Come Come Ye Saints. She did the most amazing job! This woman is one with the piano and I am in constant envy (supposedly I was good once, too... dang it!). It is ALWAYS a treat to listen to my mom play. One of my fondest childhood memories is sitting and listening to her play. Whether she was practicing for something, composing or writing something or just playing for fun, I LOVED it. I can still picture me downstairs in my room, sitting on my bed and being mesmerized by her far off (cause she was upstairs on the other side of the house) music.
Today I was proud. I was proud to show off my mom and show off her talent. So many people came up to me after sacrament meeting and told me how beautiful her song was and how talented my mom is. It made me happy and it made me proud.
After, we headed to my parents ward where my also AMAZING and TALENTED Dad and Brother (Curtis) sang for their ward's 'special musical number.' It was Awesome! They sang Be Still, My Soul. CHILLS!!! It was great for a couple reasons. First of all, it sounded amazing. Their voices blended so beautifully and it was a super powerful song. But moreso, it was so awesome to see my dad and Curtis up there together. It's hard for me to explain, it was just cool. It made me proud.
Singing around the piano (yes, we were one of those families) is also a favorite memory. We still do it EVERY chance we get. I can't think of a time when we're all in town together that we don't sing around the piano (Christmas is the BEST). My mom has written a bunch of songs (some appropriate and some not so much) and those are our favorites to sing. Call us nerdy, and we'll beg to differ, but music has been a binding influence in my family. I think it is something that we all have in common and share. It's not uncommon to hear my parents bust out some cheesy song they sang together in Highschool madrigals and that tells me everything is and will be okay. We sing, not to sound good or to impress, but we sing to make ourselves happy and feel better. We sing a lot and it's fun... and funny.
What an AMAZING family I have been blessed with. I was born into an incredible family who genuinely loves and supports one another in anything and everything, despite our differences. And I have been blessed to have an incredible little family of my own, who I love and adore more than anything else (and who, BTW, can't carry a tune... none of them).
I love my family.

Dave on tap [First day of 'Medicine' rotations]

"I think today could most likely be the very worst day of my life."


*It's turning out that residency is all it's cracked up to be. It's gonna be a SWEET 4 years!

For mature viewers only

After the kids' bath and putting lotion on Tol, this is what I found when I walked into Addi's room:

She basically told me that she had already gotten herself ready for the day (and that the glasses helped her 'see better').

Then she FREAKED OUT when I got her dressed.

Beach Babies!

At the DAYBREAK BEACH

it was a HAPPY 4th!

We had a super fun and eventful 4th of July. Dave had it off this year so we totally lucked out and got to spend it all together.

First up was the Riverton parade and carnival the night before. I have to say that Dave was not looking forward to the parade, but once we were there he thought it was awesome. You definitely get a sense of the community and the pride therein. And, we didn't know this til we got there, but my bro, Curt, was in it. Pretty sweet!

Here he is showing his sweet skills and here are Addi and Tol watching the parade. They were mostly interested in how much candy they could get.

After the parade we walked to the carnival and blew $25 in 20 minutes. Owell. The kids had fun. They went on a few rides and we met up with Curt and he and I went on "The Orbitor." Why do I subject myself to such things? I used to love that ride and for the past 5 years or so I've HATED it! It makes me sooooo sick. Yet, I still go on it year after year. It was nice to have someone to go on it with this year (that wasn't a total stranger). Dave won't go on it with me. However, you should see Curt's arm- I was squeezing it so hard that I broke the skin with my nails and now it is all scabbed over. Sorry Curt!

The next day (on the actual holiday) we went hiking up to Donut Falls in Big Cottonwood with Jess and Curt. It was super fun and the kids did a great job. My kids LOVE Uncle Curty and Auntie Jess so much! I'm so glad they made the trek with us. They were a ton of help... and great company.

The littlest hiker and the king of the mountain.

On our way up and Curt being extreme.

That night we headed to Park City for dinner at Eric and Mindy's and to see the PC fireworks. I didn't take one picture of those festivities. OOPS! Owell.

The 4th has always been one of my very favorite holidays. It is so much fun, but more importantly it makes me sooo grateful to live in this amazing country where I am FREE to be me! Thanks to all the men and women who have fought, and are still fighting, for MY freedom.

"Hop in MY van"

This here, folks, is the reason for Tol wanting to work at a USED car dealership rather than a new car dealership. Why would you want to sell new cars when you could surround yourself with beauties like this one everday?

This is our neighbor, Brandon's, van. He bought it for work and when he came rolling up in this thing it was like Christmas for Tol. The econoline is a paradise for Tol. It has buttons and switches for things Tol hasn't even imagined before now. It has mood lighting, a TV, a CB radio and a really old stereo with "knobs and funny buttons."

Brandon and Jenn are so freakin great to Tol. They always entertain Tol on his daily visits and play in the van with him. Brandon has even been known to have breakfast in the van with Tol. They are the greatest neighbors EVER and they are great friends to Tol.

The other day, Brandon surprised Tol with his own set of keys to the '86 Econoline equipped with an ignition key, a key to unlock the doors and a FORD keychain. Christmas Part II. Tol has pretty much been living in the van ever since and he won't let the keys out of his site. Everywhere we go, the keys come with.

His routine goes like this: he gets out of bed in the morning, pulls dirty clothes out of the hamper and puts them on, grabs some breakfast and takes it to the van to eat it. He then plays in the van, coming into the house every few minutes to tell us the shuttle is leaving and that we better "HOP IN MY VAN", until I go pry him away from it. This is our pattern. He comes in for meals, his nap (yes, he STILL naps), and that's about it. OBSESSED!

Hopping into and driving the "shuttle" or "van" (depending on the day).

Posing next to the Rosary Beads... the coolest and most fitting [and only]) decoration in the van.

After Tol was introduced to this piece of machinery, he went from wanting to drive an RV to wanting to drive an '86 Econoline when he turns 16. Brandon and Jenn, if you hang onto it for another 11 years, you'll have a buyer.

Tolman turns 5!

My little man turned 5 on June 17th and we brought in his 5th year with a BANG!!
The night of his birthday we had a family party with Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles. Tol originally wanted to go miniature golfing, then last minute switched to swimming. So that's what we did. We went swimming, opened presents and had cake and ice cream at the clubhouse.

Family Photo!

We can't get Tol out of the water and we can't get Addi off the steps.

Tols is getting warm by the fire while blowing out his candle and Curt is getting warm in his towel. It was pretty cold getting out of the pool.

Tolman got soooo spoiled! Especially from his Grammy's. He got lots and lots of cars (surprise!) and some super fun pool toys. Even Addi scored some presents thanks to the Lamborn tradition of getting presents on your bro's or sis' birthday. One year when he was about 10, Dave got a brand-new T.V. on his sister's birthday. I guess that's what you get when there are only 2 kids in your fam.

Friend Party @ the park!

Tolman got to invite 5 friends (plus their sibs) to his friend party this year. The sad thing is, 2 came down with the swine flu just a few days before... sad!... but we still had a great time and his friends are all better now. We went to Tol's favorite park and played on the playground, ate pizza and a SPONGEBOB cake, opened presents, busted open a pinata and then ate LOTS and LOTS of CANDY... and then played some more!!!

Here is Tol swinging at his fishy pinata and Addi trying to get the hang of it.

Tolman just loves his little friends. Thanks all you guys for helping to make Tolman's birthday so fun and special. And thanks for all the fun presents!

WOW! I can't believe Tolman is 5! How time flies. He is turning into one amazing little man. He is constantly blowing me away with how much he learns everyday. He is the best big brother in the world. He loves Addi so much and is always watching out for her, even when she is not very nice back. He is very sensitive to other's feelings. He doesn't like to see anyone sad and does everything to make people happy. He is very affectionate and is constantly telling me how much he loves me. He gives the best hugs and kisses and has promised me that he will STILL give me hugs and kisses even when he grows up.

Tol, I love you all the way up to the moon, to the sun and stars, then back again 100 times over and then some.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Tol's Pre-School Program and Graduation

Tol did a FABULOUS job on his Pre-School program. He sang and danced so well! It had a 50's theme which I was a bit worried about because he doesn't like to dress up, nor does he like a lot of attention. But like I said, he did great!


And he graduated from Little Learners. He spent 2 years there and we are going to miss it. Tol loved his time as a little learner and all his teachers (especially Miss Debbie). They were all so great! Tol learned and grew so much (too much)!

We are actually doing another year of pre-school while holding off kindergarten for another year. So we're doing another pre-school next year and hope we like it as well. We'll see...

Way to go, TOL!

It's a small world afterall... in Yellowstone.

We quickly learned the difference between "Vacation" and "Family Trip." 2 days after returning from our cruise, we took the kids to Yellowstone for a quick trip. We had a great time, but it was a little exhausting. The kids, Tol especially, don't love long rides in the car. That combined with the portable DVD player issues made for a long ride.

We broke up the drive by stopping at BEAR WORLD. The kids loved that. We saw lots and lots of bears, and buffalo, moose, elk, goats and deer.

Tol and Ad also loved the petting zoo and rides. It was pouring rain by the time we got on the rides, which was a bit of a bummer, so we got soaking wet!

Okay, I thought this was crazy so I had to throw it in. See that guy with Addi? So last summer, Kristen and I went to the James Taylor concert. It was a great, yet pretty chill concert. It was at USANA and everyone was just chillin on their blankets enjoying the tunes EXCEPT this group of people that were up dancing. This one kid caught our eye. He was adorable. Kristen and I developed a crush (and I can say that because he was around 17 or 18). So that was that. THEN, the following week, Dave and I were up in Park City and as we were in line for the Alpine Slide, I spotted this kid. I knew it was him, too, because he was wearing a J.T. t-shirt. Of course I said something to him and that was that. Okay, so THEN I was at a wedding earlier this spring and YES, he was there. I could've spotted those dance moves a mile away. JK. Okay, so he's obviously in this picture with Addi which means I ran into him at Bear World as well! Right when we pulled into the parking lot I saw him getting his picture taken with the bear out front. WHAT THE HECK?!! So I introduced myself and talk about SMALL WORLD. Not only did I run into this kid everywhere, but we had like 10 other connections. One of his relatives is married to one of my relatives, his dad grew up playing basketball with my dad, his grandparents are great friends with my grandparents and then we both scored high on the whole "do you know so and so" game. I guess I should say his name is Max and he was darling. He is now on a mission and I hope my new friend is doing well out there.

Alrighty, moving on.

Yellowstone itself was great. My dad took me and my 2 sisters there every year growing up and I loved it. It was a super fun tradition. This trip brought back lots of great memories of those days.

My kids were blown away by Old Faithful. They thought it was super cool. And I didn't realize that Dave had never seen Old Faithful, either, so he was pretty amazed as well. We also saw all the hot pots and TONS and TONS of buffalo. In fact, we saw so many buffalo that Tol had had it with buffalo and told us we could no longer stop to look at them, point them out or talk about them anymore. NO MORE BUFFALO!!

So here's another crazy coincidence: Back before Dave and I had kids, we babysat 2 little boys, Jamey and Patrick. I met their mom because she was client at the first salon I ever worked at. Anyway, we became super close to these 2 boys. We were so sad when they suddenly picked up and moved to Texas. At the time, Jamey was 2 and Patrick was 9 months. We stayed in touch for a while, but the last time we saw (and talked to) them was 4 1/2 years ago when they came to visit. Since then I haven't been able to track them down.

So I'm sitting in the lobby of our hotel in Yellowstone with Addi and walks in James, the dad of Jamey and Patrick. Again, WHAT THE HECK?!! It turned out they were on a crazy road trip and stopped there for the night. It was so great to see them! Jamey and Patrick were HUGE and of course, had no idea who I was. sad. We were leaving Yellowstone the next day and their next stop was SLC so we met up with them for dinner at the Red Iguana (our FAVORITE mexican!!).

Oh, and how can I forget to add that this adorable family is responsible for Tolman's NASTY bear. They are the ones who gave it to him as a baby gift. I had to show them what they've created. Thanks guys!!

Dream Big, Aim High

This happened a while ago, but thought that it was too classic not to share. It is just a small example of how we teach and instill in our children to dream big and aim high.
At Dave's graduation they did something called a hooding ceremony. It is when 2 people, both M.D.'s drape the hood part of the regalia over the graduates head. It was cool when a son, daughter, brother or sister of an M.D. graduated because their doctor relative did the hooding. (Am I making any sense at all?)
After the ceremony, my grandpa told Tolman that when he becomes a doctor, his daddy could hood him. Tolman quickly replied, "I'm not gonna be a doctor. I'm going to work at a dealership." ...a USED car dealership at that. He doesn't want to be tied down to one type of car. He wants to sell ALL makes, models and years of cars.
So forget the education fund, all we need to save for are some nice white slacks, a few sport coats and some bling.
That's my boy!