Summer Time Fun!

On Saturday Todd hosted a BBQ for some of his classmates in the LFM program. It was a good turn out, and Todd did a good job of cooking all the burgers, and playing host. I bought this kiddie pool for our boys and the other kids to have a blast with at the BBQ. While it was a big hit, I must say that our kids are OBSESSED with water. Sometimes to the point where it becomes a wee problem. I guess that is in there genes though, since both Todd and I were swimmers. I can't wait to enroll them in some swimming classes next month!

Thatcher's favorite part was covering the sprinkler with his mouth and choking himself. He is a nut case.

Notice the little girl in the back, she wasn't dressed for the kiddie pool, but obviously didn't care.

Boston Children's Museum

Yesterday we went to the children's museum. It is probably the best children's museum I have been to. Thatcher and Tagg LOVED it. We took the T and the boys loved going on the subway probably just as much as going to the museum! It was 90 degrees yesterday with probably 100 % humidity. It was hot. After living in Tucson, Todd didn't believe me that Boston could get very hot, but yesterday made him a believer! We had a great day together as a family before Todd starts his vigorous schedule on Monday.

All of us infront of the Boston Skyline

The boys painting.

Playing with the boats and the water.

Thatcher didn't want to stop running from exhibit to exhibit long enough to take this picture!

Playing in Arthur's kitchen.

Daddy living his glory days with the boys.

It was really cute to see how fascinated they boys were by a lot of the exhibits.

Eating ice cream and watching the Seagulls.

We Made It!

It has been 1 week since we have been living in Cambridge, and we survived! :) We moved in to our temporary apartment last Saturday and have been adjusting to city life this week.

We went to church in our new ward, which meets in an old building that has been remodeled. It seems to be a good ward with lots of young families. Thatcher and Taggart are in separate nurseries, divided according to age. There are lots of little boys Thatchers age in this ward, which will be nice for him. Taggy looks like he will have lots of little girl friends, which is okay cause he has his big brother to rough him up enough at home.

We are living in this apartment until next week when we move into our assigned apartment by MIT. We are living in Westgate Family Housing, and it is wonderful to have a HUGE playground steps away from our front door. It seems to have a great family community feel, and ever Friday night everyone grabs their own meat and there is a huge BBQ. There are four other LDS families living here for the summer that we know of, there might be more, we don't know yet. I think we will really enjoy it here. I cannot wait to get our stuff out of storage and make our apartment our home.

I ordered grocery's this week from an online grocery delivery service they have here called Peapod. This will be a LIFE saver here!!! I ordered them one day, the next day there were delivered right to my kitchen table. No hauling two screaming kids to the store, no climbing the stairs with bags of grocery's, what a great idea! I also found another life savor this week, it is called Super Suppers. You really need to check out the website. I went and in two hours made enough dinners to last us the whole month. We don't have a dishwasher (well we do, it is me!) and so this wonderful! I just take the food out of the freezer at lunch to defrost, then cook it, and throw everything away. We don't have a washer or dyer in the apartment so every Wednesday I plan on going down to my parents house and doing laundry there. It is also nice because my Mom watches the boys while I attend my Wilton Cake class, which I love. It is a fun hobby, and it gives me some time out by myself.

Todd is loving school and just finished the first week. He hasn't had any real work yet, just a bunch of leadership activities. The real load comes this up coming Monday. He is really liking his class of 48 students, and after this week he feels like he has gotten to know quite a few pretty well. He is in a team of four for the summer, and from what I hear life is about to get very busy for him.

I have been busy planning activities and outings for my two active little monkeys. I am going to put up flyer's and see if anyone wants to start doing Joy School with me in the Fall cause Preschool here cost about 700 bucks a month! I am starting a playgroup/lunch date with other moms from Todd's LFM program on Tuesday and we are going to the Library on Thursday's for story and music time. For those days that we do just hang out, Thatcher and Tagg are LOVING teasing, wrestling, fighting, and playing with each other. Brothers. It is a fun stage they are going through.

You've got to see this!

I am sorry but when I saw this I laughed my head off. You have to be famillar with Suze Orman. I personally cannot watch her real show without laughing, she is full of it! This is the funniest parody I have seen on SNL in a long time. I love Kristen Wiig, the actress that plays her and Penelope. Hillarious.

KNOCK OUT!!!!

All I have to say is, HOLY CRAP, THIS KID CAN SING! I literally cried tonight (pathetic, I know! ) watching David Archuleta sing his heart out! In the David vs. David match, David Archuleta clearly WON! I cannot wait to see the finale tomorrow night!

Who are all of these kids, and why are they calling me Mom?

Happy Mothers Day!

I am grateful for my mother and her love and support throughout my whole life. I truly appreciate all she did and does for my brothers and I. I am constantly learning from her example. I love to be Thatcher and Taggart's mom, they are two of my greatest blessings, and I never knew you could love two rambunctious little boys as much as I love them. I hope everyone has a restful and wonderful Mothers Day!

Yippy!

Congrats to my brother Jonathan and his fiance Rebecca who got "officially" engaged last night! We are so excited for them and I cannot wait to have a sister in law! We have been out numbered for far too long! It has been really great getting to know Rebecca these past couple days and Jon and Rebecca make such a cute couple. My boys absolutely adore her, and so she is going to make such a great Aunt! They are getting married August 23 in the SLC temple, and we are excited for their big day. Yay!

Where we have been...

It has been almost one month since I have blogged last...YIKES! We are still alive and doing very well, but we do not have our camera with us here in Rhode Island and life is pretty much in limbo land right now, so there has not been much to blog about. I cannot believe that we have been here for one month, and we have two and a half weeks to go before Todd joins us. Time has gone by really slow! Here are a few things that are keeping us busy!



Every day the boys and I (when weather permits) pack up the stroller and go for a four mile walk. It has been really good for a number of reasons, and what started out as a desperate attempt to get two active kiddos out of the house has turned into something I really look forward too. We walk two miles one way to a little playground and the boys play for about a half hour and then we walk back. During the walk I either listen to my ipod or talk to Todd (I LOVE my new blue tooth, a definate MUST for phone talkers!) The daily walks have been great exersise and it has been great to get outside in this beautiful spring weather.

I am taking a Wilton cake decorating class on Wednesday nights and it is a blast! I really like it and I am hoping to get good enough to do wedding cakes for a little extra money on the side. One of the best things about my class is sitting and listening to my instuctor speak with a thick Rhode Island accent. Whenever I come home I have to readjust my ears to the accent around here. Last night she was talking about almond extract and was pronouncing almond ALmend, saying Al like you would a guys name.

I have also been doing this while I have been here. Let me tell you, this workout kicks my bum! It is really hard, but really fun. It has great music to it, so it is almost like my own private little dance party every night. It is great to kickbox when you have had a day fighting toddlers to get them in the car, eat, take naps, pick up toys, ect ect ect.

And yes I have been enjoying the last couple weeks that I have access to a DVR...

Bring it home David, it is in the bag...

Three words...twice. Best. Show. Ever. AND What. the. freak?! I cannot handle these future flashes anymore!

So pretty much that is what we have been doing over the last month. Right now my brother and his soon to be fiance ;) (more on that later this weekend!) are here this week with us and it has been really fun having a full house. We miss Todd and we are excited for him to make the drive from Tucson to Rhode Island and be reunited on the 24th. We are VERY excited and anxious to move to Boston and get this party started!

This is really funny. I love this new girl on SNL. Everything I have seen her do is hillarious. We all know people like this.

Welcome Back....

It has been too long. We missed you.

"Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore..."

Well we made it! Last week was Todd's MIT LFM Open House. We drove from my parents house to Quincy Ma, and grabbed the T there (the local subway system). It was a two day long orientation of sorts. Several times I was on the verge of tears, but we got through it! We are really excited for this new adventure, but it definitely is a change of life for us. It was really great to go to the campus and see where we will be for the next two years. It is a interesting campus, where there aren't any real bounders so to speak, it just looks like part of the city. During the Open House they had several activities planned for the SO's (significant others) of the students and I got to meet several of the wives of the class of 09. It was really nice to get a lot of questions answered from girls who knew first hand. Basically in a nut shell they told us to get ready to be a single parent for two years, not a shocker to hear, but it still is a big pill to swallow. I met some of the other wives of the class of 2010 and there are a couple other stay at home moms, and one funny thing is all of us have boys. We have already talked about starting a playgroup, and I offered the idea about doing a playgroup/lunch date every week like we did in Tucson, so I am carrying that tradition to the east coast! We got to tour our prospective residencies Westgate and Eastgate, (if you want to see where we will be living click on the words and look at the pictures and floor plans) both are on campus housing. We are going to have to sublet an apartment for the summer at either one of these places and then we will find out in May where we will be living for the Fall and Spring semesters. Overall it was good to go and see what life will be like for the next two years. It will be interesting living in the city with two kids to say the least. I am sure I will have many crazy/ funny stories and adventures so keep posted as I fumble my way through this! Today Todd goes back to Tucson to move us out of our house, finish work, and tie up loose ends. The boys and I will stay here in Rhode Island until we meet back up at the end of May and make the big move to Cambridge!

"....when you believe."

We rented our house today!!! We are really excited and relieved to have this done and we are grateful we found a nice family to lease our home for two years. Ever since we decided to apply to MIT we felt a little worried and scared about all the many details that it involved, from getting accepted, selling or renting our house, to finding housing when we arrive in Cambridge. Everything has been falling into place and it is really neat to sit back and watch miracles happen. Todd and I have a strong testimony of miracles, and we are grateful for the little and big miracles that we have witnessed in our lives lately.
Since our house is now rented the boys and I will be technically moving this Wednesday. We will be staying with my parents in Rhode Island until the end of May when Todd will meet up with us. Todd will be busy finalizing details here in Tucson and working.
We have really enjoyed our time here in Tucson. I have made some wonderful friends, who I love very much. We have loved our ward (which just split today!) and the memories that we have made here. Thatcher has some sweet little friends here, and I know it will be sad for him to leave them. We hope that we can all keep in touch and stay connected, good thing there is blogging, that is all I have to say!
So the next couple days will be busy busy busy with packing and goodbyes and then it is a start to a brand new adventure!

Lovebird Tag

I was tagged...again. I decided to do this tag because Todd and I will be separated for about seven weeks pretty soon and I was feeling sentimental.

1. Where did you and your husband meet?
We met on October 24, 2001. We both entered the MTC that day. We didn't get along great a first, but over time became good friends. Here is an interesting/funny story about us from our missions. Todd and I went to our first city together and we were on a train for about eight hours alone! In fact, before we left our mission president told us that we were to be companions that day and to not let each other out of our sight. I didn't speak Italian as well as Todd and felt very scared and unsure being in a foreign country all by myself. The whole day Todd looked out for me, translated for me, found connecting trains that we had to go on, and carried ALL of my luggage for me. I remember thinking in my mind "I want to marry a boy like him someday".

2. 1st thing said...
Probably something like "Come stai Anziano Bishop?" (How are you Elder Bishop?) or "Are you Jewish?" I used to think that Todd looked like Moses from the Prince of Egypt. I also used to sing "dradle dradle" when he walked by.

3. 1st date...
Our official 1st date was when I went to Texas for his homecoming and we went to a Play at the community center. Even though it was our official "first date" we had already said I love you, held hands, and talked about marriage. I never said our story was typical!:)

4. 1st kiss...
December 22, 2003.

5. Long/Short Courtship or engagement?
Okay, like I said we have a interesting story, not typical! :) Todd got home from his mission in November and we were engaged in December and we were married in May. It was fast. Here is the thing I always tell people...we served together for about 13 months. at least 9 of those months we saw each other everyday for at least two hours, plus meetings, church, ect. Todd had seen me mad (and yes, even at him!), happy, silly, grumpy, sick, pms-ing, ect. We saw each other in a variety of situations and got to know each other really, really well. When we fell in love, the only thing missing from our relationship was the romantic part, so we had a relatively long engagement to figure all that out.

6. Where did you get engaged?
The same ski resort that we kissed for the first time. It was December 24, 2003. It was a special date to us. He was really nervous, even though he denies that. He got down on one knee and asked me to marry him, and I laughed. Typical. Then I asked him if he had prayed about it, and once he told me he did I said yes. I knew we were going to get married, I had known for a while, but I wanted to make sure he prayed about it. I guess I felt like he was really young, which he was, and didn't have as much experience in life as me and I didn't want him to regret that. But he doesn't. Turns out I am all the life experience he needs frankly! :)

7. Where and when were you married?
The Salt Lake Temple, May 15 2004.

8. How did the Reception go?
There were a few hitches here and there, but we were really so happy we didn't care until after it was all over! :) We had our reception at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and it was GORGEOUS! I LOVED my cake and decorations.

9. Where did you go on your honeymoon?
We stayed a couple nights at the Inn at Temple Square then stayed a few nights at a condo at the same ski resort we got engaged!

I tag anyone who wants to do this!

Can it be, is he really THREE??

Happy Birthday Thatcher!
Thatcher's birthday was actually on Easter Sunday this year and so he had double the fun! We went to Chuck E. Cheese's on Saturday night and ate pizza and played and played. He woke up to not only the Easter Bunny's goodies, but also birthday presents! We also celebrated his birthday today for playgroup and had a Buzz Lightyear party. He had a fun time!! I can't believe that he is three years old, he is such a little joy in our lives and adds so much fun and spunk to our family! Happy Birthday buddy, we love you!

Happy Easter!

We had a wonderful Easter this year! The boys woke up bright and early to their Easter baskets, and an egg hunt. It was so fun and cute to see both boys finding the eggs. They looked so cute in their little Easter outfits! (I didn't get a picture of them in them, Taggy decided to have a run in with the toilet when we got home before I could snap a photo of them!) We had our good friends the James', Adams, and Gardners over for Easter dinner. Most importantly we remembered the resurrection of our Savior and we are grateful for this miracle that happened so that we can all be reunited as friends and family.

March Madness: American Idol!!

Okay, I got his really fun idea from my friends Sara's blog! I always love doing the March Madness brackets with my Dad, brothers, and Todd, but inevitably I always loose because I am not a die hard basketball fan and pick teams that I like to win, like BYU. So I thought this was a fun version of March Madness because you all know I am a BIG American Idol fan and can actually make some pretty accurate predictions I think! So, for all who would like to participate post your predictions and there will be a prize for the winner!

The rules are as follows:

A. Anybody can play!

B. You have to enter before this Tuesday show, March 17th at 5 pm.

C. Post your prediction for:

1. Top 10
2. Top 8
3. Top 6
4. Top 4
5. Top 2
6. Ultimate Winner!

D. Scoring is as follows:
* One point for each correct answer for round one (top 10)
* Two points for each correct answer for round two (top 8)
* Three points for each correct answer for round three (top 6)
* Five points for each correct answer for round four (top 4)
* Ten points for each correct answer for round five (top 2)
*30 points for correctly predicting the next American Idol!

Good luck!!

The Happiest Place On Earth!

We had a BLAST at Disneyland. It was SO fun. The boys LOVED it. It was really great to get away and have such a great vacation with our little family. We spent the first two days at Disneyland and the last day at California Adventure. We rode most all of the rides, saw both parades, saw the fireworks, ate some yummy food, and had a great time! At the end of the day we came back to our hotel room and colapsed! It was awesome.

MIT!!!!

Todd got into MIT!!!!! YAY!!!! We are REALLY excited and I am so proud of him. So it looks like we will be Bostonians starting in June. It is going to be a busy couple of months, but we can't wait for this new adventure!

I will post Disneyland pictures later today...just wanted to post the good news!

Updates!

I have had a lot of comments from friends and family that I haven't been updating my blog as much as I usually do. To put it in a nutshell these last few weeks have been INSANE. I really have felt like a single parent and have had to adjust to a schedule where Todd has been at work from dawn to late at night. He also went out of town this past week to Curacao. If you have never heard of this island in the Caribbean, you aren't alone. When he told me over the phone where he was going, the day before he left, I thought for sure he said Carousel, and I was amazed that there was a country with that name. I made him take the camera, so I will post pictures of his vacation, I mean "business trip" soon! :)

Some updates on the fam are:

Thatcher has been saying some hilarious things lately, and I find myself laughing at him all day long. Or that is what if feels like anyway. So either he has gotten really funny, or I am seriously adult deprived and I am reverting back to life as a three year old. We had stake conference this last Sunday and as we past the freeway entrance that we usually get on to head to church, Thatcher noticed and asked me where we were going. I told him we were going to church. "NO we aren't!" he told me, and I explained to him that we were going to a new church today, a big church and I explained Stake Conference to him. He obviously didn't like what he was hearing. I then see him in the review mirror shaking his head and as he rolls his eyes and says, "Taggy, we aren't going to church". So obviously my three year old think that his mom has completely lost it, good thing I have him around to help me along my way! :) It was like he was telling Taggy, "oh geez Taggy, Dad is out of town and Mom is completely off her rocker!" After we pulled into the parking lot he saw the Stake Center and exclaimed, "this isn't MY church!". After going over one more time how this is a new, big church, and how we are going to a big meeting with LOTS of people to hear the Stake Presidency talk to us. As he got out of the van he said, "I just want to go to nursery, not to a big meeting"...oh no. So after a melt down in the parking lot because I told him there wasn't nursery today, we made it inside. He cracks me up!

I have still been working hard on my goal for this year of loosing weight (Loosing Weight in 2008!) and I am happy to report that I have lost about 30 lbs.!! I am really excited that I can do this right now for myself so that I can be a more healthy mom with more energy, which I have already noticed. I have actually really got into my new way of eating and counting calories. It is like game, and I really love it.

The last little update is we are heading to Disneyland tomorrow! We are really excited! This is the first family vacation that we have taken by ourselves with our little family. So, we will have lots of pictures to post when we get back!