One Year Olds Wrestling

A few months ago I wrote a blog about Dallin and his cousin Caleb's reunion after our vacation to Utah. At the time we couldn't figure out how to upload video, so we only had pictures on the blog. Well this weekend Zane uploaded all our video to our computer (we aren't sure why it worked this time and didn't before) and I finally figured out how to format it. So, here is a funny video of Dallin and Caleb wrestling/pillow fighting while Zane, Aunt Haley, and I referee. It is sure to make you smile.

Fun in the Sun with Daddy

Thanks to Aunt Lindsey, Dallin finally learned to climb the steps by himself.


We didn't have time to go to our neighborhood pool, so we improvised. But really, it is just too hot for only Dallin to be getting wet, so Zane decided to join in too!

And apparently, Dallin thought I should get wet.

And Lindsey too!

I think you are a little too big for this pool Zane.

Sickness

On the way home our vacation, Dallin started running a fever. This lasted a couple of days and then the next day, a rash broke out on his body. The rash though didn't seem to bother Dallin at all. In case you haven't experienced this illness yet, it is called Roseola. I feel bad because we assumed the fevers were from teething, which he was doing, and not a virus, so Dallin still went to church and hung out with his cousins that weekend (we would give him Motrin and then he would act totally normal so we kept doing our normal activities.). Little did we know that he was highly contagious to any kid 3 years old and younger. So sorry everyone!

This last weekend, Dallin was sick again with another fever. Poor baby. Hopefully we have had a share for awhile and can get back to normal. The one good thing about Dallin being sick, is he loves to cuddle with his mommy! It is the only time he will sit still long enough to be held.

Our Goal

A couple of weeks ago, my family had a very special evening when my little sister went to the temple. (To learn more about temples and why they are to our family go here.) Since Lindsey is the youngest, my parents had all their children in the temple with them. You can imagine the emotion and how special this was for our family. For my family, the temple is a reminder of the purpose in life and our goal to be with God again as an eternal family. We had a glimpse of heaven that day.

Not all families get to experience this special moment. We all know that no matter how wonderful parents may be, their children still have agency and can make their own choices. My parents did do many things right though, and so in tribute to Father's Day and well, Mother's Day a month ago, I wanted to share what my parents did to be great parents. Hopefully Zane and I will follow in their footsteps.

1. My parents were very good about having family scripture study and family prayer (and then evening prayer as a family). I remember it most when I was in middle school because I didn't have school until 9 am, but we were up at 5:20 a.m. having scripture study before Jared, the oldest, left for seminary. Having it this early in the morning meant that at times it wasn't the most productive study, but we had a pattern that we stuck with. After scripture study and prayer, some of us got to go back to bed depending on the piano schedule. (Just as a side note to all parents who want their kids to learn an instrument. We always practiced before school. We rotated who had the earliest slot, but by 6:00 a.m., someone was practicing the piano. All five of my siblings play the piano. It is all a credit to my mom's dedication to our practicing.)

2. We always ate dinner as a family. This got hard when we were in High School and busy with choir and sports, but my parents made sure it was a priority.

3. We tried to have Family Home Evening every week. My parents started doing it on Sunday because we usually had choir practices Monday night. Some might not agree with that, but we had it. That was the important fact. Because each of us took turns doing the lessons, we learned the gospel better by teaching it.

4. We have a very open relationship with my parents. As kids, we could always talk to them especially my mom because she was always there with us after school since she put being a mother first in her life. My dad was a great listener and I could talk to him for hours.

5. My parents had high expectations for us. This really came from my mom. We all knew we were expected to get good grades, get scholarships, and put ourselves through college. She was right there helping us reach those goals. (My mom would edit our papers and since I usually finished my papers about 2 a.m., that meant a very late night for her. It also didn't help that she taught seminary at 6 a.m. so she usually went without sleep with me.) I struggled the most in school because I wasn't blessed with the natural intelligence that the rest of the kids were (and I'm ok with this.) I remember crying my junior year because I got a C in pre-cal. I was the only kid in my family to ever get a C in high school. I was so worried about disappointing my mom, but she was right there comforting me. She knew how hard I worked for that C and so was proud of me. Her expectations were that we did our best. To this day, we hurt our mom the most when she thinks we are not doing our best in some aspect of our lives.

6. I could go on longer and talk about how my parents made sure they had a good marriage, watching them take time out of their busy schedules to drive to Dallas for temple trips, watching how they served in their callings, the many family vacations that brought us close together, and all the fun family activities we had. My family wasn't perfect, there were a lot of hard times, but all these activities sure helped!

I think that's long enough. Thanks mom and dad for being great parents and super grandparents!

Dallin the Menace

I left Dallin in the bathroom while I went into my closet to get ready to get in the shower. My closet in connected to my bathroom, so he was out of my sight for maybe 30 seconds at the most. I walk back into the bathroom and Dallin is gone. Panic...My heart starts racing and I scream out his name (I'm a little melodramatic so I immediately thought someone had come into my house and stolen my baby.) I hurry out into the hallway and there is Dallin sitting on the tile floor looking at me like, "What's the big deal mom." I quickly assess the situation- Dallin is holding a piece of glass, nail polish is all over my tile (luckily yellow not red so that my mind didn't jump immediately to blood), and glass is all around him. (Heart racing, breath) I took the piece of glass away, and rush him to the bathroom to start checking him over for cuts. Meanwhile, Dallin's sticky, nail polished covered hands are grabbing at my neck and sticking to my hair. Ok, luckily there were no cuts or any injuries. Next step...washing Dallin down with fingernail polish remover. Dallin really, I only left you for 30 seconds!!!

Well, the situation could have been a lot worse. Instead, Dallin and I are using nail polish remover as a body wash and my tile is clean and sparkling (from where I might have missed some drops of yellow nail polish) and also smelling like nail polish remover. If you see me without toe nail polish it is because my nail polish is now stored on the highest shelf in my closet where only a ladder can reach it, and I may be too lazy to get it down.

Here is the list of messes/catastrophes my adorable one year old menace has made:
1. Cell phone thrown into the baby pool full of water
2. Objects that should not be getting wet thrown into my bucket of soapy water (Dallin woke up from his nap early and I hadn't finished cleaning the bathrooms. I thought I could hurry and finish while he played with toys near me. Never again!)
3. Hand soap container thrown onto the floor and spilling soap (luckily it was also on tile so that part of my bathroom is really clean.)
4. Dropping the bottle of dishwasher soap on Zane's stomach while he was trying to fix the drain on the sink (Dallin was trying to show off his good aim and strong muscles.)
5. Climbing up on the flour and wheat buckets in order to pull down cereal from a higher shelf dumping it on the floor
6. Climbing on the dishwasher while I try to fill it, opening up the dishwasher container where the paci's are kept, and pulling one out (This one I actually think is brilliant because he sees me putting his paci into the dishwasher and figures out a way to get it back out again!)
7. Putting teaspoons or anything close by into the mixer while I'm trying to bake something
8. Spilling flour everywhere as he tries to "help" with the baking
And this was just this weekend!

Lessons I have learned:
Dallin is learning some knew skills. He can climb, reach, move objects around in order to find things that I thought were hidden in the back of a cabinet, and pretty much find a way to get anything that I do not want him to get into. I thought my house was baby proof. It now needs to become one year old proof!

Is this normal for a one year old little boy????

Climbing up

There it is, my paci!

Favorite Aunt and Uncle

It is great to have younger siblings who love to play with your kids. A year ago I wrote a blog about my younger brother Clayton changing a diaper (number one not number two). He needed lots of help! We also have a couple of funny pictures of him holding our babies and looking so uncomfortable.

Baby Dallin and Clayton a year ago.

Now a year later, Clayton is working at a nursing home changing diapers and bathing people who can't take care of themselves. He is majoring in nursing at BYU and this job gives him experiences and pays better. I can't believe the differences in him now. He actually picks up our kids and changes their poopy diapers like it is no big deal. Hmmm, is he now ready for the next big step in his life??? All you single girls out there you better hurry. I don't think he will be around much longer!

Clayton deciding to join the boys in the bathtub. He is definitely still a kid at heart.

As I have mentioned a couple of time, my sister Lindsey is leaving for a mission soon. Since I have a spare bed, she sleeps at my house a couple of times a week. I have loved spending so much time with her and she is a huge help. She plays with Dallin and does dishwashers without even being asked. We are sure going to miss her when she leaves, but we are so proud of her.

This is our attempt in getting all the kids together with her.

Dallin and Lindsey swimming

Dallin flying between Lindsey and Clayton

Vacationing at Lake Travis

Every year we do a Shurtliff family vacation with my parents and all my siblings (of course we bring the in laws along too since they are the fun ones.) This year my dad rented two condos at Lake Travis in Austin. One condo held the three siblings who have kids, and the other one had my parents and my brother and sister who were in town from college. I think my younger brother and sister were grateful they were with my parents because no matter what time we went to bed (midnight or one a.m.), we still had a wake up call at 6:30 or 7:00 a.m. whenever one of the kids woke up. No matter how hard you tried to keep your early riser quiet, when one kid woke up, the whole house was awake.

Besides the lack of sleep, we enjoyed talking, playing games, golfing, boating, swimming, Ultimate Frisbee in the pool, and eating lots of yummy food. Amazing enough, we all still like each other after spending a week in close quarters together! This is our last big get together before my sister leaves for her mission, and it was a perfect way to make lots of memories before sending her off. Vacations are hard because it takes so much work before and afterwards, but the memories make it all worth it.

Thanks mom and dad for putting this together. We had a great time.

Here are some of the highlights.

Couldn't Be Prouder

As luck would have it, Zane's CPA award ceremony in Austin was the same weekend my family was vacationing in Austin. I'm not sure if we would have gone otherwise, but I'm so glad we did. Zane has officially been a CPA for a couple of months; however, I really enjoyed watching him walk across the stage, shake everyone's hands, and get his certificate. I admit, I shed a few tears. This was a huge accomplishment for Zane and I couldn't be prouder of him. Way to go sweetie!

(Sorry about the poor photography. The lighting was horrible and I couldn't get close enough for a good picture.)

Zane shaking the CPA Board members' hands (far right)

I'm not sure why Zane didn't pull the certificate out of the envelope. Trust me, it's really in there.