03/28/2007 Newsletter

3-28-07

NEW MINI-VAN

We bought a new mini-van this month. We had tax returns and some other extra money coming and we both felt like it was right time for us to buy a larger car for our family. We looked at three cars initially, the Toyota Sienna, Honda Odyssey, and the Dodge Grand Caravan. The Odyssey was our favorite of the three, but they are quite pricey, so we decided to look a little more closely at the Dodge Caravan. We went to a dealership that had a great deal on a 2006 Grand Caravan and they showed us a 2006 Chrysler Town and Country that they had just gotten in. It had power doors and a power lift-gate, heated leather seats, and automatic Tri-area climate control and it was only 1800 more than the Grand Caravan we were looking at. Since it had everything I wanted in a mini-van and the leather seats that James really liked we decided to buy it. Its been nice to have all the extra storage that a mini-van offers and the extra seats so that John doesnt have to squeeze in between the two car seats when he wants to come somewhere with us. I think it will be a really good car for us.

DISNEYLAND TRIP

On Friday the 16th James and I were writing each other on the computer and he mentioned that he didnt want to be at work and I said I didnt want to be at home and so we thought wed go on a road trip to test out our new van. James mentioned Disneyland in the list of places that we could go and of course I latched on to that idea. We hemmed and hawed around whether to actually go or not and we called John who was in Texas with Jeffery to see if he wanted to go with us. I think the clincher for making the decision to go was that I found a hotel right across the street from Disneyland that someone had cancelled their reservation for so the rate for the room was about half the normal price. That and John finally decided to come with us too. So we packed up the car, bought a new plane ticket for John, booked the hotel room and finally set off at 9:00 pm. Less than 24 hours after James and I had the initial conversation about where to go, we were walking into Disneyland. It was crazy and fun to just make a snap decision like that. Seth was really excited when we told him where we were going. We picked John up from the Santa Ana Airport that night and we spent the rest of the weekend enjoying Disneyland together. John bought Seth a Peter Pan hat and himself a Captain Hook hat and there were many great battles fought between the two of them. Jacob loved the carousels and the play area in Toon Town where he could crawl around a little. The whole trip was a whirlwind and tiring but we had a lot of fun and it was a nice break for all of us.

SETHS UPDATE

Seth has been working on not wetting his bed this last month. Its been a little frustrating, because I dont think he even feels it when he pees at night. Weve found that if we can get him to drink more during the day instead of tanking up right before bed he tends to stay dry. We have a long way to go before he will really be night trained though. Its been fun to watch him get better at problem solving and using logic. One of his new favorite phrases is That doesnt make any sense. When we told him that we were thinking about going on a road trip, he automatically said that we should go to Disneyland. When James asked him if we should go somewhere else like Zion National Park, Seth said, That doesnt make any sense Dad, Disneyland makes sense. I wish I had had a tape recorder for the whole conversation because it was really hilarious. Seth also likes to dress up. He has about 6 or 7 different hats that he wears to be different characters.

JACOBS UPDATE

Jacob learned how to stand without holding on to anything. One day he just pushed away from the couch and stood there for a few seconds. He also took his first step by accident. He is still not very interested in walking, but learning how to balance is a good step in the right direction. He also has at least one of his back molars in and is working on the others. We found out that he has some springtime allergies when we were in Disneyland. When we walked out the first morning his eyes got all red and teary and his nose started running like mad. Luckily, we found out that the Emporium at Disneyland sells medication and we dosed him up with some Benadryl as quickly as we could. He spent most of that first day asleep because of the medicine. We also found out that he is not as good of a traveler as Seth was at this age. Jacob doesnt like to sleep in the car and would rather be crawling around than stuck in a car seat. He did pretty well, but we had to stop and let him out a few times. Thats something we never had to do with Seth. Another big milestone for Jacob is that he learned how to nod his head to say Yes. Its been nice to get some sort of communication from him about what he does or doesnt want.

FUNNY STORY ABOUT JACOB

We were getting ready to go to Hannah's baptism and I put Seth in the bathtub. Jacob had taken a bath the day before so he didn't really need one and I had him all dressed up in his Sunday clothes to go to the baptism. Jakes likes to be in the bathroom whenever anyone is in there and I let him play around in there while Seth took his bath. They were having a good time so I ran downstairs to get something. Pretty soon I heard Seth yelling at the top of his lungs that Jacob is in the Bathtub. At first I thought he was just saying that Jacob was in the bathroom, but then he kept yelling and laughing about it. I ran back upstairs to find that Jacob had pitched himself into the bathtub, fully clothed and was having a great time splashing and playing with Seth. He was as happy as a clam! I was laughing at him and scolding him at the same time. It was really cute, but it made us a little late for the baptism. Needless to say, I've kept a close eye on him in the bathroom since then.

JAMES AND MIEKKA

James has been working hard lately. His company is going through some rocky times and we dont know exactly what will be happening with this job in the next year. Several people that James works with are already jumping ship in the wake of some rumors that they might be closing the Utah office. We are praying to know when or if we should start looking for something different. So far we feel like we should hang on and see what happens. We are enjoying the warmer weather and James has been paint-balling and I have been working a little in the flower beds and taking the boys for bike rides and other outside excursions.

Love James, Miekka, Seth and Jacob