LEVI

I thought I would just say a little about our boy Levi. He is a handsome little guy! He is just about 3 months old now. It is kind of crazy how fast it goes. Levi likes to eat! He is pretty sure that he is STARVING every couple of hours. He eats 4 or 5 ounces now. He is pretty serious about eating time. He makes sure everyone knows how good it is. If something happens and the bottle comes out of his mouth during this very serious time...he lets everyone know how he feels about that too. When I took him to his two month doctors visit he weighed in at 14 pounds! That puts him in the 95th percentile for weight. He also measured 24 inches and is in the 90th percentile for height. He is a BIG BOY! Levi loves to "talk" to us. He can hold a conversation like no other two month old I know. When we took him for his shots he was talking to the nurses. They thought he was so funny. He loves his Daddy and gives him the best smiles. He likes to keep an eye on his big sister Emma. I'm sure he is going to be a handful when he can get up and run around with her. Levi also really loves bathtime. This is surprising because when he was smaller he really hated it. As soon as I put him in the water he starts kicking his fat little legs and waving his arms like crazy! He has the most beautiful blue eyes I have ever seen. Levi used to have some pretty amazing hair. Now he just looks like an old man with a serious receding hair line. Most of his hair has fallen out in the front, but it is still holding strong in the back. New hair is coming in all over the place. I'm not too sure what color it is. I think it may end up being dirty blonde like his big sister. He has a cute dimple on his right cheek and a little bit of a cleft chin. He has discovered his hands and really likes to suck on them. He is also good at blowing bubbles and is so funny when he sucks his top lip in. As long as his tummy is full and he is not tired he is a fun little guy to be around. Levi is getting bigger everyday and it is so much fun to watch him grow!

Double Date

On Saturday, after our primary activity, Ivan and I went on a "double date" with
Emma and her friend Brant. We went to see Shrek in 3D. It was so fun! The kids had a good time but neither one of them wanted to wear their glasses. They are too big for little kids, but they only had one size. It was my first time seeing a 3D movie and I wasn't sure how to feel about it at first. I hate to wear glasses! They bug my ears, they bug my nose and my eyelashes always touch the lenses. I am kind of OCD like that. I wore them though and the graphics were pretty awesome. It was better than the alternative of watching the movie without and it being blurry. Even though we had kids with us, this was the first time Ivan and I have been able to go anywhere without the baby since we moved here and that felt pretty good!
There are two theatres in Williston that are just across the street and through a light from eachother. They are the same name and have the same things listed as playing. The recording said the time that the movies were playing. We just picked one of the theatres and went there. When we got there, there was a group of people standing outside waiting. We read a sign that said that Shrek was playing at 3pm at this theatre and at 2pm at the other theatre. It seemed simple enough to us. It was
2pm and we should be at the other theatre. I tried to explain to the group of people. They just gave me a nasty look and said, "then why does the paper say it is playing at two?" I politely told them that it is down the street. They acted like we were idiots. But, after we started heading to the other theatre, they all followed us. Then of course their kids were way rude and were pushing to get ahead of us. Serves me right for being able to read! haha Some people's kids.

A walk down the driveway...

It was so nice today we decided to go for a walk when Ivan got home. Our driveway is a mile long so we decided to walk to the end and back. On the way we found a fuzzy caterpillar that Emma named fuzzy wuzzy. The birds were chirping, the grass is nice and green now and the wheat is starting to grow. It was a fun time. Emma was excited to have a "race." She was wearing shorts and put on her boots when we told her to get ready to go. Ivan told her to change and appauled she came and told me "LOOK, daddy doesn't think it's cute enough." I let her wear them though 'cause she did look pretty awesome. :) I think we will make a habit of walking down the driveway.

More fun at the park

We went to a really fun park in Williston last week. I wanted to get a couple pictures of the kids in the cute outfits that Aunt Janelle gave them. They weren't cooperating very well so we might try again later. We did have a good time at the park though. The weather has been fabulous! Right around 80 degrees and a little breezy. It has been nice to spend some time outside.



Emma loved the rocking dinosaur...she rode it a little like a bull!

Ivan had to help her on the digger because it was HEAVY!
Emma was lucky enough to get to go back to the park on Saturday for Lexi's birthday party. Lexi is our friend Mandy and Logan's little girl. She just turned eight and is getting baptized next month. They rented two big jumping castles and the kids had a blast!

Yesterday we took the long way home from Williston and saw some very pretty farms. We also checked out the Sakakawea Lake. It is huge! It is actually a reservoir and is the 3rd largest man made lake in the U.S. We crossed this same lake on our way to Bismark last month for Stake Conference.

A day at the park...

A few weeks ago we had a really fun time at the park. We took the sidewalk chalk that Emma got for her birthday with us and played some hopscotch. The pictures were too funny not to share. Ivan said he had never played before so Emma showed him how and he took a turn. Apparently he thought that you had to jump as high as you could and go as fast as you can. I was laughing so hard when I took the pictures and even harder when I looked at them again at home. It was fun to watch Emma play hopscotch. She learned how on an episode of Curious George that we watched. I was shocked that she just got up there and knew exactly what to do. She was pretty good at it too. I think that we are going to get her an indoor hopscotch mat. They have one at Walmart. It is just a rug that you can roll up and put away. It comes with bean bags which is nice so you don't have to throw rocks in the house! It's nice to find something fun to do indoors while it is so cold here most of the time.

Emma's Birthday and Easter

I didn't have the pictures from Emma's birthday because they were on my dads computer. I got them this weekend so I thought I would write a little about Miss Emma. We had a fun time for her birthday this year. I can't believe she is already four! We were going to go to the zoo on her birthday which was a Saturday. The weather ended up being bad that day so we planned to go on Friday with just Ivan, Emma and I. Then...Ivan had problems with his flight and wasn't going to make it in time for the zoo. We were both so disappointed. Then my mom called and said she decided to take off work and we would just go to the zoo. Trisha ended up coming and bringing her kids too. Hailey was a little upset about being pulled out of school 'cause it was free time and they had to work hard to get it. Trisha convinced her she could have a really fun "free time" at the zoo. She is a funny girl. Emma was so excited to have the kids come! Caden is basically her favorite person on the planet. It was a little cold outside that day but we all had a good time. Emma was in kind of a "mood" that whole weekend and wouldn't smile. She is a stinker! We ended up staying late at the zoo and had to pick Ivan up at the airport on the way home. We didn't have a seat for him so he sat on the floor between me and Abby. He is such a good sport. Abby thought it was fun to have him sit by her. She is the cutest baby I have ever seen!






On Saturday we had a party at my moms for Emma. It was fun to have the whole family together. We made it into a birthday party/Easter party. We had an egg hunt in the family room, dyed eggs, made "crowns" out of pipe cleaners, had a yummy lunch, and opened tons of presents. Emma stayed up way late the night before and was super grouchy. She wouldn't even blow out her candles. She told me she didn't want to have a birthday...she just wanted to play. She had stayed up late because Ivan had just got there and she wanted to be with him. It's hard when you haven't seen Daddy in over a month, you have a new brother, you are living at Grandma's, and Mommy had surgery and isn't very much fun. Emma was COMPLETELY spoiled again. Grandpa bought her the new Curious George movie which we have been waiting for to come out. He also bought her a cabbage patch doll with crazy hair to play with. Grandma had already bought her a cool monster thing that has velcro eyes, ears, noses, mouths, and arms and legs that you can switch around. She got sidewalk chalk from Caden and was so excited. Hailey got her one of those little furr real dogs that you pet which she loved! Matt's kids gave her an awesome Barbie that can either have a fancy princess dress or huge butterfly fairy wings. She also got a super soft giraffe from the zoo and some binoculars and a butterly net. Ivan and I took her to build-a-bear where she picked a girl monkey and dressed it in jeans and a t-shirt. We also let her get a princess t-shirt for her which she said was it's jammies. It was fun to go and do that with her. She liked the part where she got to give the monkey a "bath" the best. They have a little table you put it on and blow off all the fuzzies and brushes that you can use too. After having Easter and a Birthday in one weekend we had a car full of stuff to bring home. The Easter bunny brought Emma a lady bug kite, bubbles, some books and lots of candy! Levi got some books and bubbles and lots of candy too but he said we could eat the candy for him.




This was our last weekend in Pleasant Grove. I am glad we were able to spend it having so much fun! We left on Sunday for Corinne where Emma got spoiled with more birthday presents from Grandma and Grandpa Mills. They got her lots of books and a cute shirt with butterflies. For some reason she really likes butterflies lately.

A name and a blessing...

We had a wonderful time this weekend in Utah. We started our drive on Thursday afternoon and drove to Bozeman where we spent the night. On Friday we drove the rest of the way. The kids were amazingly wonderful in the car, (hope I didn't just jinx that), and the weather was very nice. We had enough time that we were able to stop and say hello to a few good friends. We stopped at Honeyville first and visited with Ivan's old co-workers and showed off the baby. Then we went into the floral shop and said hello to Mama Donna and The Jewel. I love those ladies! They were in full swing for Mother's Day and I just wanted to throw on an apron and get to work. I really miss working with flowers...but not as much as I would miss staying at home with my kids. We got to Pleasant Grove Friday evening. Josh and Trisha were already at Grandma's house with their kids. Hailey and Caden were anxiously waiting outside for Emma to get there. Hailey let me know that we were late because we said we would be there at six...I think it was maybe 6:30. Emma had a ton of fun playing in the backyard with the kids. It was nice to see grass! We still just have dirt at our house.
We blessed Levi on Saturday at my mom's church. We had a lot of family that were able to be there. We had opening and closing prayers and songs and Ivan asked his dad to give a short thought. Butch did a great job at inviting the spirit into the meeting. After the thought Ivan gave a beautiful blessing. I am so grateful to have the Priesthood in our lives and in our home. There were a lot of great men in that circle and I am glad that each of them were able to be there. After the blessing we had lunch at the Barlows. It was FANTASTIC as always. My dad smoked beef and pork, we had fresh fruit and veggies, watermelon, potato salad, rolls and lots of other yummy treats. Janelle made a delicious pasta salad and Marjie brought her yummy Strawberry Cheesecake dessert. Trisha made her famous pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. She said that the recipe makes 80 cookies...they were nearly gone by the end of the night! The weather was wonderful on Saturday. There was plenty of room for the kids to run and play and the adults had a nice time visiting. It was nice to be outside!






On Sunday Ashley took our family picture again. We figured we better get one with little Levi in it. Emma was so tired from the weekend and was NOT cooperating. We will have to try again in a few months. We also took my friend Brandy's family picture. I love that girl and her cute little family! After pictures we headed to Corinne. We met at the park and Emma got to play with some more cousins! For Mother's Day we bought Marjie a webcam. When we got to her house Ivan got it all set up and downloaded Skype. We have really loved talking to my parents on Skype since we have moved and thought it would be great if we could talk to Ivan's parents as well. We tested it out by calling Dave in Washington. All of Marjie's kids were at her house on Mother's Day except for Dave so it was fun to get to see him. We only saw Dusty and Brandee for a minute, but it was good to see them. It was also really good to see Melissa and Klade and their cute kids. It makes me wish we lived closer so Emma could play with Aubree more often. They are so cute together.
We spent Sunday night at Butch and Marjie's house and started our drive at 6am the next morning. We had great weather on Monday and enjoyed our ride home...even if it was 15 hours. I drove the last half so that Ivan could work on some homework that is due this week. One more class and all he will have left is his thesis! I am proud of him for working so hard...he hopes to be finished by Christmas! He would like to teach a class or two at the college in Williston but doesn't have the time right now. He is hoping that next semester he will be able to do that. Anyway, we had a great weekend. Thanks to everyone who helped out!