Scott Turns 4!

Wow! What a fun day! This is the first birthday that Scott has REALLY been excited for and completely understood what a special day it would be... We have been counting down for weeks until TODAY - February 26th!

The big event was his first real friends birthday party at one of our favorite places called BounceU. BounceU is just a fun place with lots of giant inflatable bounce houses and slides. This is pretty much what all 12 cute kids, plus a brave baby (Go Heidi!) did for an hour:

Here are a few of the photos from the bounce time:

Getting ready to BOUNCE!

Scott and 14 month old daredevil, Heidi

After bouncing, we went into the party room where all the normal kids ate pizza, and the pickiest child on the planet (Scott) ate goldfish crackers and root beer.

Then next came the cupcakes with blue frosting and candles and Happy Birthday song... I'm pretty sure not a single kid ate the cupcake part, but this was a common site:

Next came the presents... The kids started observing politely from a distance, but we started like this:

And ended like this:

Then after Bounce U, we drove home to find a few more presents from 13168 Grandma and Grandpa and Mommy and Daddy. And here was the grand finale:

And as soon as he got on the bike (before knew about the helmet) he said, "I need a helmet so I can be safe!" Thanks, Dora...

Thank you 2919 Grandma and Grandpa!

So many fun birthday surprises! Here is Scott opening his gifts from his 2919 Grandma and Grandpa. Yes, his pajamas are on backwards. I am just grateful they are on:

What you may not know about me...

A couple of weeks ago I received one of those "Tag, you're it" emails from one of my most wonderful friends (I did it, Keri!) asking me to answer a few questions about myself. So here are my responses!

Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. Human Anatomy TA (ask me about the time I had to use a turkey baster to keep the cadavers moist...)
2. Statistical consultant for the Men's USA and BYU men's volleyball teams (BYU won the national championship after my research. I like to think I deserve at least SOME credit.)
3. High school math teacher (I was paid less than $5/hour to teach pre-calculus. Sad. My students made more working at Jamba Juice.)
4. Statistician for Intel (I just danced around in the bunny suit in the clean room, like the old commercial.)

Four movies I would watch over and over again:
1. Tommy Boy ("Fat man in a little coat" just never gets old)
2. Rudy (I cry each time!)
3. Napoleon Dynamite (I love that my sister-in-law is from Preston, ID and her sisters and mom are in the movie! Sweet!)
4. Christmas Vacation (Some families reenact the Nativity on Christmas Eve. We watch Christmas Vacation.)

Four places I have lived:
1. Lake of the Pines, CA (Go LOP!)
2. London (with my wonderful roommate, Liz)
3. Tierra del Fuego, Argentina (Off the southern tip of South America, further south than the penguins.)
4. Westfield, NJ (America's best kept secret: NJ is beautiful, other than the Turnpike.)

T.V. Shows that I watch:
1. The Office (Favorite episode: the basketball game)
2. Oprah (Yes, I am a girl)
3. Dora the Explorer (not by choice)
4. Charlie and Lola (I'd watch it even if my kids didn't)

Four Places I have been in 2007:
1. Maui (without kids!)
2. Cary, NC (To the SAS mothership)
3. Pasadena, CA (For the Syphi Family Christmas Extravaganza)
4. Boston, MA (To see Cindy and watch the crazy Sox fans)

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Pumpkin pie (Fall, Winter, Spring, or Summer)
2. Chicken Madeira from Cheesecake Factory (I'm counting down the days until the CF opens in Roseville)
3. Fillet Mignon (Although I really hate the name of the restaurant, Ruth's Chris Steak House serves the most amazing fillet...)
4. Pumpkin pie, again (Food of the gods)

Four places I would like to be right now:
1. Shopping (anywhere)
2. Italy (with Drew as my tour guide and translator)
3. Tahiti, in one of those bungalows over the perfect, turquoise water (with Polynesian guys in a canoe bringing us fresh tropical fruit each morning for breakfast)
4. In bed, since it is 11:30pm (But when else can I work on my blog?)

Things I am looking forward to in 2008:
1. Christmas with the whole Evers family together, hopefully in Mom & Dad's sweet new house
2. Going back to West Point in fall for Drew's 15th reunion
3. Trip to Maui (already happened!)
4. The day when BOTH kids sleep through the night!

Anyone learn anything new about me?

Aloha!

I can't believe my son is not yet 4 years old and he has been to Hawaii 3 times already... I think when I was the same age, I could only claim than I had been to Elko, Nevada 3 times. How things change... Mom and Dad took all the Evers kids and grandkids for another fabulous week in Maui. The plane ride was actually less of a disaster than I expected, so that was a great start for the vacation. Thank goodness we had lots of fruit snacks and 3 DVD players, one for each kid.

This trip was quite different, though, compared to the first Evers family Maui trip. The first time we all came, Scott was only 3 months old. We could pretty much go anywhere and do anything and he just slept. But this time, with 3 mobile grandkids, our days were spent hanging out at the pool and working around nap time.

By far, the highlight for Scott was the waterslide at the pool. He would have slid on that thing 24/7 if we let him. I was actually quite proud of how independent he was with his little life vest on. He could do it all by himself, which was nice since I had to spend most of my time with whimpering little Charlotte who wasn't crazy about the water.

Here are a few photos from the trip:

Scott, Charlotte and Elle

Drew and Ryan in their Scuba lessons

Charlotte teaching Elle about her favorite place

You can't teach this sort of thing...

Charlotte is such a girl. Yesterday when we went to the gym, she wore her sunglasses and beads and took her purse filled will all sorts of interesting treasures. She looked quite lovely: