Who needs cake when you can eat MEAT!

Little Charlotte turned 2 last month. Don't you love the balloons, necklace and drool? With Charlotte's allergy to milk, eggs and wheat, birthday cake was not a possibility. But don't feel too sorry for her... This girl can put away as much beef as an adult. Her favorite is brisket. So her exciting birthday dinner was brisket, with lime daquari ice from Baskin Robbins. She was in heaven!

And big brother Scott picked this special pink ball to give to her... Like the 1,000 balls in our house are not enough:

Gammy must be so pleased...

It has been about 1 1/2 years since Gammy (my mom's mom) passed away, and we are so fortunate to be able to enjoy her beloved grand piano. Scott and Charlotte LOVE the piano, so this is a common site (I'm referring to the kids sitting at the piano, although Scott in only underwear is also pretty common). It must make her so happy to be involved in yet another generation being introduced to music:

Easter Sunday

After a wonderful morning at church, we came home and Scott could HARDLY wait for Grandma and Grandpa to show up. He just sat out on the driveway with the bunny ears on he made earlier, trying to patiently wait...

I did manage to convince him that the Easter Bunny was like Santa in that he only comes when little boys and girls are asleep. So he miraculously took a nap without much complaint! Then once everyone was awake, the Hunt began:

And I did try desperately to get an 'official' Easter picture of both in their cute clothes, but Charlotte was not a very willing model. So pictures posing with the candy will just have to do:

The Neighborhood Easter Extravaganza

In our neighborhood we have a wonderful Easter egg hunt at a local park on Saturday. It is sponsored by a local realtor and some local businesses. Scott and Charlotte loved it, of course, because there was lots of candy involved. The best part was one of the sponsors was a restaurant called Costa Vida (which is the same as the hallowed Cafe Rio for all you Provo-ites), and I won a free dinner in the raffle! I'll take that over Reese's peanut butter eggs, although that is my favorite Easter candy ever...

Here is Scott trying to wait patiently for his turn to get eggs:

Charlotte thought she had to open each egg and eat the candy immediately before picking up the next egg:

4-year-old rite of passage

Scott experienced a special moment yesterday, an experience many grown men remember with fondness and sweet nostalgia... That experience is, a first exposure to Silly String. Aunt D (aka Cindy) send an adorable Easter package to Scott and Charlotte. It came Saturday and we dove into the presents on Sunday. For Scott, the highlight was clearly the Wacky String (as is labelled on the can). The button on the can was a little hard to push for him, so rather than firing the wacky string, Scott preferred to be the target. So he stood on the lawn and I sprayed all 250 feet of silly string on him.

A close second to the Wacky String was a bunny PEZ dispenser. Life doesn't get much better when you are 4.

As for the almost 2-year-old in our house, her most exciting gift was a pink satin purse (same material as the trim on her beloved blankie) and the card with the bunny on it. Charlotte spent much of today and yesterday walking around with her lovely purse and the card, saying, "Bunny! Bunny!" Here is one of those moments in action:

Thanks, Aunt D!

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:

The Evers Family Snowball Fight

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So you think YOU can dance?

Dancing has never been a big thing in our house. Last week, Scott was playing on the computer when I put the Beach Boys on (the greatest Christmas CD of all time). It usually requires several bribes and usually some tears and tantrums to get Scott off the computer, but as soon as he heard the music, he came running downstairs saying, "Wait, Mommy! I want to dance too!" Like that was what I was doing with out him - yeah, right. But Scott, Charlotte and I probably spent the next 45 minutes or so just gettin' down to the Beach Boys! And now it is sort of a daily ritual around 5pm as it gets dark and the lights turn on on our tree. Check out Scott and Charlotte's sweet moves:

And they also think the Singing Snowman at 13168 Grandma and Grandpa's house is pretty cool to dance to also:

And obviously this dancing talent runs in the family. Just check out my niece, Elle, as she goes crazy for the Dora song.

A Proud Moment

So Scott, Grandma and I were sitting on the couch the other day, and he burps. He knows to say "Excuse me", but naturally he thought it was hilarious and giggled and said a bunch of random stuff - anything OTHER than 'excuse me'. Being the diligent mom, trying to teach my son a lesson, I continued to pressure him on this. "You know what to say after you burp. Say it!" Then, a pause... And here is what came out of his mouth:

BUSTED!

Grandma couldn't stop giggling...

729 Baskets!

A few months ago, the City of Roseville Recreation department came out with their fall/winter catalog... I was SO excited because Scott is now old enough to try some of the little sports camps for tots. In September he did t-ball. It was once a week for 4 weeks. I'm pretty sure I was more excited about it than he was. He was clearly NOT interested in listening to Coach Sarah or following her instructions. The playground and slides at the other end of the park and kicking dirt were way more exciting. But I will say that the highlight for Scott was running the bases, because each of the bases had a number. As a matter of fact, he threw a minor tantrum when we had to stop running bases and move onto hitting our first week.

Then in October, we are doing basketball. I think he is a little more into it this time. Still, listening to Coach Sarah and following instructions are not his strong points, but by week 4, he did make noticeable progress. I guess that's all I can hope for at 3! And he has been keeping track of all the baskets he has made at home and at practice. I think when this video was taken during week 3, he was up to seven hundred and something. Silly kid...

Our Cute Family

We took some professional family photos last week... We finished with 200 pictures, two grumpy kids and one bloody lip from a face plant on the concrete. But amazingly we got several great pictures that made it look like Scott and Charlotte were actually having a good time! The secret was to throw Scott's sippy cup as high in the air as possible. Apparently if you are 1 or 3 years old, that is hilarious.

Charlotte: "I'm outta here!" (3 seconds before the face plant...)

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had so much fun with the Evers family at the beach this year! Here are some of the highlights:

Just like Uncle Jeff...

Scott gets this from Uncle Jeff... Everytime he got a new toy, he had to sleep with it in his bed. Scott is expecially excited about his new Chutes and Ladders game because "it has 100 squares!"

Scott's Thankful Turkey

This is by far my favorite calendar that Scott has made in preschool. The feathers of the turkey are the 5 things he told Miss Kathy that he is thankful for. Not "My mommy", but "My mommy's hair". I really should not have been surprised. That cute kid has been obsessed with playing with my hair from the day he was born...

10 Years Ago...

10 years ago today was a pretty special day for the Evers family... I don't have a picture from the actual day, but I thought I would include my favorite picture of our family. On November 1st, 1997 we were sealed together in the Oakland temple. It was a day I will never forget as long as I live! Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

Hallelujah! A Successful Halloween!

For the past two years, Halloween night was the scene of many tears and tantrums in our house, all involving a little boy who didn't want to wear a costume and certainly did NOT want to give strangers at the door candy. This year, it was a Halloween miracle! Scott finally realized that wearing a costume = getting candy. So I think we will never have to convince him to dress up again. He willingly wore his Buzz Lightyear costume for the ward Trunk-or-Treat party, preschool, and Halloween night. And Charlotte was pretty cute as a little ladybug. She was an excellent trick-or-treater and had a death grip on her bucket of candy. She actually went to sleep with the bucket in her crib...

(I was a giant M&M)