Mom, why am I four now?

Thomas turned four.
He was so ridiculously excited that he woke up bright and early.  6 a.m. early.
We all headed out to the kitchen for some chocolate donuts, fresh fruit, and chocolate milk.  His breakfast of choice.  While eating breakfast Thomas was completely surprised and SO excited to receive his birthday gifts.  We just had to tease him a little bit, with his gifts, and it was totally worth the reaction we got from him.  The face he made was priceless when he saw his new green bike.  The one he has to go and see every time we go to the store.  He was in heaven and couldn't finish his breakfast.  He rushed us all out the door for an early morning bike ride around the block.  Even some races over at the church parking lot.  Shortcut.


All morning we made preparations for his party that afternoon and played superheroes.  His favorite activity of choice.  He told me he wants to be a power ranger and a transformer when he grows up!


After quite time and 2 trips to the store for balloons we were able to have a little celebration with friends over at the church.  We have all made some really good friends here in Logan and we are sad to be leaving them.  We decided to have a silly photo booth with our friends, now we have lots of fun pictures to remember all of our friends by.  It was simple and pretty low key.  Just a fun party with chocolate cupcakes, balloons and some of our very favorite people.

The party only continued over at our house with super hero masks and bubbles galore.  Then to dinner.  Thomas's favorite place to play and eat.  McDonalds.  Both of the boys were having the time of their life climbing through the maze and sliding down the slides.  Lewis was jumping off of everything.  Luckily we have had no broken bones yet.  After dinner we headed over to the local baseball field to watch a little league baseball game.  One of our favorite summer evening activities.  The boys played catch and wrestled with Big Daddy more than they watched the game, and had so much fun doing it.  They giggled and laughed until exhaustion.  They came home and both of the boys fell asleep during the bedtime prayer.  Too much fun and celebrating I guess.

Thomas loved having it be his special day.  Even though he kept asking me, "Mom, why am I four now?"  None of my answers seemed to satisfy him.  I really just wanted to tell him that I am not sure why he is four either.  I really wanted to tell him that he should still be my newborn with big hands and stinky feet.  That he should still be my little baby with an ice cream swirl in his hair.  My little guy that used to kiss me every time I would take him into a dark room.  My little curly haired toddler that would raise his arm in the air and yell, "to infinity and bleyond."  Not my determined four year old that wears a spiderman costume everywhere.  Not my four year old that now rides a bike so fast that he can beat me in a race.  Not my four year old boy that knows so much more then I do.  Not my four year old boy that dreams of being on a "real team."  Not my four year old boy that loves ramen noodles.  yuck! But, he is four now.  He has taught me a lot in the last four years, and even though I can't believe that much time has gone by, I feel lucky to be his mom and to get to celebrate his life with him!

TU-TU

 

Haven't had the chance to go to the Logan zoo?  You are missing out on some amazing animals.  Thomas loved the peacocks and Lew the turtles.  He conveniently learned how to say turtle (TU-TU said with a growl) that morning and was so excited to see them at the zoo.  Even if he wouldn't say it once while we were looking at them.  Silly Silly boy.  It was a fun outing with good friends.
These two are quite the team.  They rule the roost and have become quite the friends.  Their differences are apparent but, sometimes seem to only make their bond closer.  I love sitting back and watching them learn and grow together.  

Destiny

A few weeks ago Daniel spoke in our sacrament meeting. 
He started out his talk saying, I know that this church is true, I know that I love my wife and I know that I am going to die in a plane crash. 
It was dead silent.
Few people get his sense of humor, especially in formal settings such as that.
He went on to tell people it was a joke... but, that he definitely has a fear of flying.
He has been flying a lot lately and it has been super stressful for him because he feels like he has awful luck when it comes to flying, and there is always some sort of crazy turbulence or freak storm.   
I like teasing Daniel about it.  I always thought that he was over reacting.  Something I like to call the Packer Paranoia.....
UNTIL last week. 
Daniel and I flew out to Erie, to look for housing. 
We were so excited to have a "romantic" getaway as a couple, all while taking care of business. 
We took the boys to Rexburg to be spoiled with attention and love from their favorite people and we woke up bright and early Monday morning to start our journey. 
We checked in, went through security, watched some CNN, waited in line with a lot of business men and as we handed over our tickets to board we were told they had over booked and that we weren't going to be able to make our flight. 
Daniel's look said it all, "see I told you I am bad luck.
We went back to the front desk.  30 minutes later we were told that there was no possible way for us to fly out that day.  We were going to have to wait until the next morning to go.
I had woken up far too early that morning to hear that.  All of my appointments to view housing were going to have to be rescheduled and I was going to only have one day instead of two to secure a place for us.  I was scared and tired and I embarrassingly sat down on my luggage and cried.  It was at that moment that I finally believed Daniel.  
They must have felt bad for me because we were generously reimbursed and Daniel and I headed to a gourmet breakfast at IHOP.  The reimbursement had changed our moods and maybe our chocolate milk was spiked because we had so much fun at breakfast.  Man we are funny! 
Needless to say, Daniel's "bad luck" didn't last for long.  We were able to fly out without any problems the next morning and made it safe and sound in Erie that afternoon.  We were able to find the perfect place for our family within a few hours on Wednesday and it was very clear that we were to live there.  It had been so much easier then anticipated and I wanted to laugh at my sad self a few days earlier crying on my luggage.  "oh ye of little faith"  Everything just fell into place and we are so excited!
It was so fun to fly with Daniel and think about our new adventure as a family.
It was so fun to feel like Daniel and Sadie again.
It was so fun to hold Daniels hand while racing to our next flight.
It was so fun to race in the freezing cold air while looking our over Lake Erie. 
It was so fun to finish a whole book in two days. 
It was so fun to eat dinner and not have someone eating off of my plate or wiping their fingers all over my new shirt. 
It was so fun and definitely not our time or our destiny to crash.   

Our Master

Daniel has officially become a MASTER.  A double MASTER at that.
Friday he graduated with his MSHR and MBA.

We are so proud.  Seriously.  He has worked very hard.  Met all of his goals.  Achieved so much.  Learned a lot.  Become quite the professional.

These last two years have been tough on our family but, we have grown so close because of it.  We have learned a lot about what really matters to us and how to prioritize our time.  Putting each other and our children first even when we have so many other responsibilities and things to do.  I will forever cherish these years in Logan. 

As I walked into the Utah State Spectrum, where graduation was held.  I immediately become overwhelmed with all of these emotions.  Emotions of gratitude.  Happiness.  Growth.  Change.  Love.  Hard work.  I could hardly contain it.  As soon as we saw the graduates walking into the building these emotions came spilling out.  Then Thomas wrapped his arms around my neck and told me he would take care of me and everything would be alright.  It only made the tears spill a little more. 

When I told Daniel I cried.  He said, "I guess it is good one of us felt some emotion, because I just didn't want to be there."  Which proved to be true, after two hours of name after name being announced Daniel jetted up the stairs and we all ran away from there early. 

Then the "real celebration" began at a favorite park in Smithfield.  Daniel requested fried chicken, sodas, and some salads. SO all wild and crazy like that is what we did.  Spent a relaxing evening with so many loved family members that came to support Daniel on his special day.  Thanks everyone who made the trip it meant a lot to us.  Thanks Lizzie for all of the pictures.