Monsters

Dallin has a new favorite book "The Bears and the Great Big Storm" by Paul Bright and Jane Chapman. When he finds a book he likes, he will obsess over it until we have read it multiple times a day for weeks. I bought this book from Scholastic because it teaches kids not to be scared of thunder storms. The daddy bear in the book keeps saying to his kids, "There's no such things as monsters" when his kids come into his room scared of the thunder storm. The bears also see shadows on the wall which they think is the monster. In the end (warning, spoil alert) the shadow/monster is only the next door neighbor Moose who needs a place to stay.

Dallin learned two lessons from this book: There is such things as monsters and a moose is scary!

Dallin, who had never been scared of anything, will not go in his toy room alone because there is a monster/moose in the closet. Before going to bed, we have to check in the closet, behind the dresser etc and show that there is no monster.

The funny thing is, he loves the book still and adds his own special, scary sound effects when I read it.

My Helpers

Zane put together my new Shelf Reliance can storage shelf a couple of weekends ago. I was so excited to get everything organized the next day that I recruited some helpers that were spending the day at our house. Dallin's cousins Drew and Sam had a great time helping Dallin and I fill up the wagon full of cans, pull the wagon to my bedroom closet where the shelving unit was built (weird place I know but it was where it fit best), and help me put the cans in the shelves. They had a great time helping.

The Assembly Line

I handed a can to Dallin or Drew and they gave it to Sam who put the can in the wagon. She had the easiest, most relaxing job.

Once we pulled the wagon into the closet, Sam and Dallin handed the cans to Drew to put in.

They were great helpers, well except when Dallin and Drew wanted to "help" so much that they pulled cans from my nicely organized shelves over and over again just to see them roll. If you aren't interested in food storage, I still highly recommend getting a shelf like this. It can provide hours of entertainment (which is another reason why its in my bedroom closet and not out in the open.!)

Mothers of Boys

Anyone who is a mother of boys has experienced the following traits of their boys: energy, aggressiveness, jumping, running, and the need to get dirty! Along with those traits, Dallin is mischievous. Everything is a game, and he is always trying to see how far he can go at something before we stop him. For example, while Zane was distracted in the hallway at church, Dallin seized that moment to pull his hand away, reenter the worship service in the very back and make it to the stand where the speakers were at a full sprint with his dad chasing after him. Quite a picture. The only reason he lost the race was the unfortunate trip which gave Zane time to get him. If it weren't for the fall, he had Zane beaten.

Mothers of boys will also agree that the best moments are when they stop the running and jumping to be sweet. I love the hugs and kisses (the hugs come with so much force that they can knock you down) and I especially love when Dallin is sweet towards others. Dallin's cousin Samantha is six months younger than him. That six months though is huge between them. Within this last month, I think Dallin realized that Sam was a real person and not a baby. Before, if he was playing chase with his boy cousins and she was in the way, she would get toppled over like she was invisible. Now though, they are friends. Sam does this scoot on the ground and Dallin will sit down next to her and scoot with her. He gives her hugs and kisses and they play with toys together. Ahh, how it warms my heart! I decided I can handle the energy and jumping if I get some of those sweet moments in between.

Really Cool Hair

No one can beat Dallin's bed head!

Love of My Life

As young girls we all have fantasies of the type of guy we are going to marry. In Young Women's (church youth group) we all remember the list we made of what we are looking for in a husband. I'm sure my list was really good with tons of spiritual qualities and personality traits. As a young 20 year old girl though, I apparently had a different list in my head.

My best friend roped me into a blind date in June of 2001 because another guy, who already had a blind date lined up, was trying to back out with the excuse that he couldn't drive up to South Jordan, Utah from Provo because of some sand that got in his eye from working construction. My best friend told me she would line me up with someone if I would drive up with this guy who of course was Zane. (I'm really not sure how driving up with him helped with the sand in his eye...still a mystery.) Zane showed up at my doorstep and during the 45 minute drive up I made some pretty harsh judgments (please don't judge me for my immaturity.) He told me he served a state side mission for our church (apparently I was only impressed if you went foreign), wanted to be a seminary teacher (didn't every return missionary want to be a seminary teacher until they realize how hard it is to actually become one?), went to UVSC, now UVU, (I apparently had the opinion that UVSC wasn't as good as BYU), and he was definitely going to go bald in the future. I immediately wrote Zane off as someone I wouldn't like to get to know further and anticipated the blind date.

Once we got to my friend's house, Zane went with his date and I went with mine. Unfortunately for my date, Zane was funnier and the life of the party. We were always laughing at the same things and I became intrigued. We said goodnight to our dates and then drove back to Provo together. On the drive home we talked non stop. (Zane is a fabulous listener and if you know me well, you know I love to talk.) When we got back to Provo, Zane suggested we finish our conversation over pie at Village Inn, the only restaurant open that late. Three hours later and a sore voice, he took me home.

The next day I learned that a very bad tropical storm had hit the city I'm from. The emails coming in from family were all about riding in boats to get around the neighborhood and service projects gutting out flooded houses. I didn't pay attention to much though because I was on cloud nine where the weather was wonderful happily anticipating my first real date with Zane that next weekend. Thank goodness I got over my shallow, immature side and realized Zane was everything I always hoped I would find in a husband.

Thanks for eight wonderful years sweetie and thanks for planning a much needed little get away last week to celebrate our anniversary!

Holiday Celebrations

The best part of our Christmas holiday was Zane having two weeks off of work! This meant our holiday was full of lots of family time including extended family, playing games, eating wonderful food, traditions such as playing chimes, and projects around the house. We all enjoyed the break from life and spending time together.

Christmas started for Dallin a couple of days before when a package arrived from Grandma and Grandpa Turner. Dallin didn't notice the presents so much as the excitement of a box with peanuts! I let him play with it for a day before I had to toss out the peanuts. I couldn't handle the constant mess anymore!

On Christmas Eve, we went to my parent's house for our usual Christmas Eve feast and Christmas program. This year we invited our friends the Sudeth's to join us. We always play chimes on Christmas Eve and my brother Jared out did himself this year by adding harmonies to all the music. Although it is hard to keep some traditions going as more grand kids come along, we have fun no matter what we are doing.

Dallin understood Christmas more this year. When he came out of his bedroom and saw his new car and presents under the tree, he grinned from ear to ear. Still the best part for him was hanging out with daddy all the time. He is constantly saying now mommy, daddy, mommy, daddy with a huge smile on his face like he can't believe daddy is home playing with him all day. It is great to be loved!

Dallin's Great-Grandma made all her great-grandchildren a blanket this year. (23 blankets... impressive!) This is Dallin's along with Lightning McQueen and Crush from Finding Nemo hidden under the blanket. (Cars and Finding Nemo are his favorites.)

Dallin playing with a toy he got from his grandma (sitting next to him.)

Showing off his new ride that Santa brought

Being mischievous while daddy watches football

Getting daddy's attention by tackling him which turns into a tickling fight

Tired out from another long day of playing with toys. (Notice the movie case. Dallin's newest fixation is to look at movie cases like its a book. Back in August when we made our road trip we were trying our hardest to get Dallin to watch a movie. Now we try our hardest to distract him from the TV.)

During Zane's time off, he built shelves for all the closets to make more storage space. When he starts working, he gets in a zone. It was after midnight a couple of nights before he agreed to quit and come to bed!

I was sick with a sinus infection over the break. This is me trying to rest. Dallin would have none of that and decided to tackle me with hugs every time I closed my eyes.

Besides projects in the house, we also cleaned up the leaves outside. Dallin was a huge help...well except when he was jumping in the leaves!

What a fantastic holiday and a wonderful break from the busyness of life!