Lovell Reunion

This weekend we went up to Idaho for the Lovell Reunion. We left Friday afternoon. Zac was home all day on Thursday, so he was doing the laundry for me. On Friday when I went to pack the clothes, we discovered that Zac left a pen in a pair of his shorts, and ALL of my clothes (including work clothes) were ruined. They had ink all over them. Convenient for him, he only had the one pair of shorts in the load. As were were driving up to Idaho, we get a call from our loan officer saying that we can go pick up the keys and move in to our house this weekend. Too bad we were gone this weekend. Then, our cars temperature kept on rising, so we would turn off the a/c and roll down the windows. By the time we got to Pocatello, it was overheating really bad. Oil had boiled over on top of the transmission, etc. So we rode the rest of the way to Idaho Falls with the heater on full blast, and the windows rolled down. Aubrey did not have fun. When we made it to Grandma and Grandpa Parry's house, Tammi came over and let us borrow her car for the weekend for us to go to the cabin and to Uncle George's for the reunion. Thanks again Tammi, it helped out a lot! As we were driving up to the cabin, Zac and I could smell this horrible smell. I looked back at Eric, he had taken off his shoes, and had his feet rested on each side of the head rest by Zac 's head. Zac told Eric to put his feet down, and Eric told him "Not until you smell my feet". Where does he get this sort of stuff?

We went straight up to the cabin Friday night. The kids had a lot of fun playing with Tucker and Thad there. Eric pet his first dog since the dog attack. Everytime he's seen a dog, he runs the other way. Steve and Sharon stopped by at the cabin on Friday night with their dog, and Eric went up to it and started to pet him. All the guys decided to go river rafting with Steve and Sharon. Zac and I didn't end up going, Zac thought that it would be too dangerous. As Dad was going down the river, he thought, this isn't that bad at all. Just then, he was knocked out of the raft into the river. Devin was able to grab his arm as he was falling out. Nice save Devin. Going down the river at 7 am with the cold water didn't sound like that much fun to me. Now, if it was at 1 or 2pm and it was 100+ degrees out, it would be more pursuasive to go down. When everybody was down the river, Zac ran over to George's and played a round of golf by himself. He came back to the cabin to grab me and the kids. As we were leaving, we went to the gate and it was locked. So we ran up to the Chokecherry gate, and it was locked as well. We had a Sheriff behind us, and he tried all of his keys, but turns out he didn't have one to the gate. We finally found a gate at the other end of Chokecherry that was unlocked. I saw a man riding around on a four wheeler checking the gates, I'm sure he was the one who locked them. I didn't find out until later that the keys up at the cabin also had a gate key. That would have been helpful to know earlier. When we got to the Reunion, they were showing slides of Grandma's family. There were quite a few of Mom growing up. They were a lot of fun to see. Stephanie, there were a lot of your Mom as well, Joan is going to give Grandma a DVD copy of the slides, next time you are in Idaho, remember to ask to see them. We had never seen any of these pictures before. Zac enjoyed watching the slides too. He never met Harriett or Sue, and he kept on telling me how pretty they were.

Eric was brave enough to try the kids zip line with the coaxing of Zac. Eric, Tucker and Thad all went and played a round of golf with Zac and Nathan. I don't think they made it through all the holes. They would let the kids drop their ball on the green and hit it into the hole. Eric was the only one who would do this. Tucker and Thad were more interested in the bugs. After lunch the kids went down the water slide. Eric had so much fun going down with Kalli. Poor Kalli had to carry the sled that they rode on every time up the hill, and then Eric would plop down in front. I think Kalli only got a front row sit one time. Tucker finally said that he would go down one time, then he realized that it was fun. Aubrey stayed and played in the bottom of the pool the entire time. She finally got brave enough to venture out into the middle of the pool instead of by the walls. Zac took her down the big slide about 5 times. She loved it. She would laugh all the way down. They had so much fun at George's. When we got back to the cabin later that night, Nathan decided to take Eric, Tucker and Thad on motorcycle rides. Eric was the only one who enjoyed the entire ride. Nathan took them down to the beach, then back up the mountain to the Springs, then back to the cabin. Tucker screamed the whole time. Zac and Devin decided to drive our car back to Provo Saturday night. They weren't able to leave until about 9 or 10 pm. They wanted to leave when it was cooler outside and hope that the car wouldn't overheat. They were able to make it back to Provo by 2 am. When they got back home, they called Dad's cell phone to let him know they made it back alright. Dad then came downstairs were I was sleeping, and instead of talking to me, he put his face about 1 foot away from mine, and touched my shoulder. I rolled over to see his face inches away from mine. I screamed so loud. He was just wanting to tell me that Zac made it home safe. He then thought it over and decided that it probably wasn't the best way to talk to somebody at 2 am. Aubrey was up after that. In the morning we went back down to Grandma and Grandpa Parry's house to get ready for Matt's Missionary Homecoming and Derek's Missionary Farewell. They both gave really good talks. However, the kids were so exhausting from this weekend, that we decided to head back as soon as sacrament was over. They were really good in the car. The fell asleep almost instantly, and didn't wake up until Brigham City. I put in Toy Story on their T.V.'s and by the time it was over, we were in Orem. So they did really well. Aubrey was up at 4 this morning though. Zac was really good about getting up with her since I had to go to work. When I left this morning he was still up with her.

We got our appliances delivered today at our new house! Dad is watching the kids while Zac puts in our blinds on the windows and waits for the delivery truck. They said that they would be there between 7 am and 1 pm. Really? They couldn't narrow down the time frame at all? When they came, they were starting to hook up our dryer, and found out that the builders put the wrong kind of hose. They put a connection for a stove/range instead of a dryer. So now we need to try to get the builder to fix this. I wonder why nobody noticed this before? Zac is going to start moving boxes into the garage. Dad and Devin have this week off to start moving things into the house. We are really excited to finally be on our own again.

My birthday is tomorrow. I will turn the big 25. When we told Eric that it was going to be my birthday, he told me that I need to make cupcakes for my class. He is really set on making cupcakes. Whenever there is a birthday in his preschool/daycare they have cupcakes. On Wednesday, his school is going to Raging Waters, so I will be going with him. He had so much fun on the water slide at George's he is going to have a blast at Raging Waters.
Earlier this week I met the U.S. Attorney. He was finally sworn in. However, my meeting with him couldn't have gone worse. I was sitting in one of the Assistant U.S. Attorney's Office's going over cases when two men walk by in suits. The AUSA said "Hey, you're here! How are you?" So the two men walked into the office. I just turned and asked how they were doing. I didn't even stand up. Then one of the men start talking to me. I interrupt him and say, "I'm sorry, I don't know who you are." He then proceeds to tell me "I'm Brett Tolman, I'm the new U.S. Attorney." It was awful. Then he asks for my name, I tell him who I am. He then says, "I have heard about you about 5 times today already, I hear you are doing great work, and we need to get you on board with our office." (I'm a contracted employee not a federal employee) So hopefully my first impression of me being cold with him won't last. In my defense though, Brett Tolman is only 35 years old. He is the youngest US Attorney. He is tall and skinny. I just thought that they were some FBI agents. That's about it for our week!

5 Years down, eternity to go!

That is what Zac wrote on the card when he brought me flowers for our 5th year anniversary. Our anniversary was on Friday. It was a pretty busy day, we got to CLOSE ON THE HOUSE! Although, we can't move in yet, they told us that it will be ready to move into on Wednesday. We closed a little early because our "lock" was going to expire this week. We won't have the funds transferred until we get our Final Occupancy Letter.

For our anniversary we had Nathan and Bobby watch the kids while we went out to a dinner and movie. As soon as we left their house, I looked at the thermostat, and noticed that our car was overheating. Luckily, they live by a Sears, so we pulled into the parking lot and Zac wanted to loosen the cap on the radiator just a little to relieve the pressure. As soon as he touched it, it came off and tons of fluid came bursting out everywhere. We bought some antifreeze, and ran the heater the whole way to SLC. It was 100+ degrees anyways. By the time we got to Texas Roadhouse, we were so hot. We then went to see Pirates of the Caribbean 2 at the theater by Nathan and Bobby's house. It was really nice just to have a night out without the kids. Zac bought a thermostat for our car the next morning and was able to fix the problem.

So, Devin finally shaved his beard off. When Eric saw Devin he said "Devin, did you eat your beard?" We started laughing, and now Eric really thinks that Devin ate his beard. Eric even drew a picture of Devin's beard during church and gave it to him. He keeps on telling me that eating a beard is gross. So I found out last week that Eric is bilingual. He knows Spanish. When I was at Lagoon with him, he turned to me and asked me for milk in Spanish. The only word I understood was 'por favor'. Eric's teacher told me what he wanted. She said that he asks for everything in Spanish. Yesterday when I saw him I said "Buenos Dias Eric" He then started talking to me in Spanish, I have no idea what he was saying. Then, Aubrey a couple nights ago, went up to Devin and Zac and said "Olah" and waved at them. She also said, "Where did it go?" It's amazing how fast they learn. Whenever we ask Aubrey to show us her teeth, she pulls the face that's in the picture.

Weekend Recap

This whole past week Aubrey has had a really bad cough along with a fever. Thursday night she kept on grabbing her ears and screaming. So Friday morning I took her into the doctor. She has bronchitis and an ear infection. Her oxygen levels were borderline for having her go to the hospital. We had to get a humidifier for her, and the doctor put her on two different medications. She is doing great now. She didn't cough at all yesterday, and she hasn't been in pain with her earache.

On Wednesday Eric's daycare went to Lagoon. I decided to go with them. When I showed up, they only had two adults for 15 3 year olds! They told me that in all the past years, almost every 3 year old parent shows up, so they've had way too much staff. So this year, they were counting on the parents showing up. I was the only parent. So I got to be in charge of 5 three year olds for the day. I'm grateful I showed up. Eric was really excited that I got to ride the bus with him. The kids had a lot of fun. I even took 10 three year olds on Rattlesnake Rapids by myself. As I was walking up to it, everybody kept on telling me that the kids were going to get wet. Really?! When we got off the ride, they were all soaking, but they loved it. It was so hot out, that the water felt good to them. With the exception of the shortage of adults for Lagoon, I was really impressed with how organized the daycare is. They made every child take a drink of water before every single ride, or they couldn't go on the ride. On the bus ride home, all 15 of the three year olds were completely asleep within minutes of leaving Lagoon. It was great watching all of their heads fall forward, waking them, then they would fall over to the side.

Our house is almost finished. They told us that we would be closing today, but that's not going to happen. Zac and I went out there on Saturday, and they still hadn't poured any of the cement, etc. So it is still up in the air.

Last night we went over to our friends Aaron and Melanie. Aaron is Zac's old roommate (I knew him from when Zac and I were dating), Aaron at the time tried to talk Zac into joining the Utah National Guard with him. He kept on saying how great it is, they pay for all your school, and really, when is there going to be another war? Zac kept on telling him no. Then a couple years later, Melanie moved into our Student Ward, I became friends with her, her husband was over in Iraq for a year. We didn't know that this was Zac's old friend. When Aaron came back from Iraq, we had them over for dinner, and had a great time catching up. Small world. They had a baby right after I had Aubrey, so we were celebrating their son's 1st birthday. The kids had a lot of fun playing in the water. Aubrey was really excited that she got to fill up the pool. Aaron has 2 big dogs, we tried to take Eric over to them, but the dog ran over to Eric and jumped on him almost knocking Eric down. That didn't go over too well with Eric.

Final Walk Through!

So this morning we were finally able to do our final walk through on the house. The builder told us that his goal was to have everything finished by Monday, July 17th. So hopefully, we will be in a new house by next week! He told us to go ahead and turn on the power and water, so that they can check all of the electrical to make sure everything is up to code. Pretty exciting!

While we were there, Eric was playing with our car keys. They have a remote on them to open the trunk, lock and unlock the doors. He was over by the car and kept on opening the trunk, and closing it. I got worried that he was going to slam his fingers in the trunk door when it was closing so I told him to stop. He slammed the trunk closed and asked, "What?" I asked him, "What are you doing?" He then smiled and said, "Trying to get the keys out of the car." Yes, that's right, he locked the keys in the trunk of the car. The car was locked as well. So with the help of some of the construction workers, Zac was able to use door shims to pry the door slowly open, and stick some rebar (is that how you spell it?) inside the car and push the trunk button. This took about 45 minutes. We really need to make a copy of the key.

So this weekend we were finally able to find an entertainment center that we agreed on. Zac and I have two completely different tastes in furniture. This store had real wood furniture for not a lot of money. We bought it unfinished, so we can pick what color of stain to put on it. We were also able to get some barstools for pretty cheap there.

Zac played in the federal golf tournament this past week. The U.S. Attorney's Office hosted it. Zac's foursome was with the Assistant U.S. Attorney, the SLC County Prosecutor, and a co-worker (He was suppose to have Judge Warner on his foursome, but he ended up having a hearing). They came in 2 under par, but the winners came in at 14 under. However, Zac was able to do a lot of networking. The SLC County Prosecutor really was trying to pursuade Zac to work with him during Zac's 3rd year of law school, and he could get hired right on after he passes the bar. They had a lot of fun, and a lot of good food. Zac's hoping he played well enough that he will get an invite next year. It was great for me though, because Zac was playing, they let him "work my shift". So I was able to stay at home without having to take any leave. Zac was getting ready for the tournament, and realized that his golf clubs were actually my Mom's. Zac kept on telling me that there was no way he was going on the course with "Ladies Clubs" in front of all these people. He ended up taking them. Zac took his last final for the summer classes this past Saturday. He got a 98 on his final. He has been doing really well in school.

4th of July

We had a great 4th of July weekend. On Saturday, we decided to let Eric go see the movie Cars. We went with his cousins, Tucker and Thad. I thought that since Eric will sit through a movie at home, he would be good at the theater. Zac decided to stay home with Aubrey, we knew better than to take her. We only made it about an hour into the movie before we had to leave. Eric had discovered the stairs with lights, and really enjoyed standing on the rail that was in front of our seats. Later that night we went to Stadium of Fire. Dad stayed home and watched Aubrey while Zac and I took Eric. Eric was asleep by 8pm on our laps during the whole show. (John Millburn, we saw you looking for your seats. We were sitting below you.)

On the 4th, we went to the parade. Zac's cousin Brian spent the night to save our seats. The parade seemed to go by pretty quick this year. We had a lot of shade, and the kids sat almost the entire time. Aubrey was really cute, she would wave at everyone, and would dance to the high school bands. The provo fire truck stopped right in front of us and turned on their hose. We were soaking wet. This poor kid next to us was asleep on the blanket, and woke up dripping. After the parade, we went to Zac's Uncle Cory's house for lunch and to hang out. The kids loved playing with the slip 'n slide.

At night, we went to Dad's house and had another BBQ with everyone. After the BBQ they decided to do fireworks. (It is only 5:00 pm) This is the way that we did fireworks all growing up, when it was still light out, so that the kids wouldn't have to stay up late. The little boys had a lot of fun watching the fireworks. Dad left late last night to go to NYC to see Justin and Lisa.h Nathan and I had to work early this morning, so it was actually pretty nice to have all the fireworks finished by 6:00pm. Bobby had made really cute matching outfits for Aubrey and Norma, but all of my pictures of them together turned our blurry.

Happy Birthday Mom!

July 3rd is Mom's birthday. She loved going to the cabin...these were the only pictures I could find of her at the cabin. Probably 99.9% of the time she was the one behind the camera. (Mom is holding Andrew)


This is one of my favorite pictures of Mom. (That's Tucker kissing her)



Even with her being so sick, she always wanted the grandkids around her. She had Eric sit in her lap every day. She would help Tucker learn how to write and recognize the letters. (The picture below is with Thad and Tucker)

I am so glad that Mom was able to be with me when I had Eric. She had just found out weeks before that the cancer came back. (This picture is the day that Eric got blessed.)


Happy birthday Mom! I love you and miss you!