Bear Lake

Dean and I went to Bear Lake with John's family in July. We had such a great time despite the lack of sleep I'm so glad we went. John couldn't get work off since it was a very last minute trip and I debated going. It's hard for me to go alone with Dean even to small aces that it took all the bravery I could muster to drive alone 2.5 hours and be his sole parent for 2 days. 

We shared a room, which I surprisingly loved. It was so much fun to have him wake me up and crawl into my bed in the morning to snuggle. He did not sleep well our first night, but by the second he was so worn out that he slept great. 

The best part of Bear Lake was the lake. :) Dean loves the water and had the best time playing with his cousins. I loved that the lake is so shallow that you have to walk a long ways before you have any real drowning concerns. Dean loved a spaceship floaty that his Auntie Marja brought so much that he almost looked like he was going to nap on it. 

By day 2 at the lake, he was so exhausted that he was throwing tantrums nonstop so we left. We are so glad we went and grateful that John's wonderful family would let us tag along. 

Tulip festival

Thanksgiving point has an annual tulip festival each spring. I have always wanted to go, but could never justify the high price tag. Thankfully I realized, after a visit with a friend to the petting zoo, that this is a great place to take Dean now that naps are waning. It is a.m.a.z.i.n.g what a difference a year makes with him. He is soooo much better at listening and obeying things like stay close and don't climb on that. We but the bullet and bought a membership for just Dean and I. 

With our membership we get into any area there for free and get anyone else in for half off. We went to the tulip festival 3 times it was that amazing. John came with us the last time and we had so much fun as a family wandering around and letting Dean run and chase the birds. We will definitely be adding this to our list of spring activities to repeat each year. 

Easter

Now that Easter has come and gone, it's probably time to post about our fabulous Easter here. 

We always do an Easter egg hunt with the Van Ormans. John's mom does a great job coordinating the event. This year each kid got to find 15 eggs, plus their special egg that has their name on it that contains a little Easter cash. The cousins gave Dean 1-2 minutes of hunting all alone. It was so sweet and he had the time of his life. I do think any time I tell him we're going to grandma and grandpas house he's expecting an egg hunt, but he'll figure it out eventually. 

I got released from my calling in YW on Easter Sunday as well AND I taught the lesson. It was so, so, so beyond sad to get released, but I'm anxious to see where I'll be serving next. 

Potty Training

First off, let me say that I detest the word potty, but toilet is just soooo hard for little people to be able to say. Dean outgrew size 6 diapers right before our trip to Arizona. We bought 1 box of 4-5T pull-ups and I was determined that once we got home from Arizona, I'd give us a week and then we'd start potty training. 

Well, Dean held his little bladder the entire way down to Arizona and only went on the toilets when we stopped. I took this as a sign that truly he was ready. A week after we got home, I pulled out his "big boy underwear" that he picked out himself, and we began. There is a wonderful woman who has a "how to potty train in 3 days" ebook that my friend Annie sent to me. Her philosophy is that you tell you child alllll day long "Tell me when you need to go potty!" so they learn that you trust them to tell you, instead of you asking "Do you need to go?". Let me tell you, the first day was rough. There was one point in time that Dean was bawling and so was I, so I asked him if he wanted to put on a pull-up and just wait to potty train. He said yes, but when I tried putting the pull-up on, he freaked out and said no and pointed to clean underwear. So ahead we went. 

By day 4, he was trained. He still has an occasional small accident, but he always stops himself from going and finishes on the toilet. We are so proud of him and also soooo relieved not to be buying diapers any more. We still have him in a pull-up at night since he's still a horrible sleeper and we don't want to make it even worse, but I'm totally ok with that.

Arizona

My parents moved from Dallas to Gilbert, AZ in December. We were lucky enough to get to visit them last week. We had SO much fun. We drove down and all things considered, Dean did pretty well on the way down and was a CHAMP on the way back. He didn't cry once during our 12 hours home. We got to see my mom's parents and her two sisters and their husbands while we were there. I didn't want to leave and come back to Utah, which clearly means we had a blast. 

My sister Kat, her husband Jeremy and their 3 kids were there for our first day. We went to the Phoenix zoo and ran the kids around. Dean refused to be in the stroller and walked the 4 miles that the rest of us did. 

Our main excuse for going down was to be able to attend the Gilbert temple open house. It was absolutely beautiful. Dean was scared of the booties they put on to protect the carpet so we carried him the whole time. 

The next day we went to Butterfly Wonderland. It's an atrium that is filled with butterflies. They landed on all of us, which most people thought was cool. For some reason the butterflies on me gave me the heebie geebies. 

We also went to Organ Stop Pizza, which is a pizza place with a FABULOUS, entertaining organ player. We all loved it and can't wait to go back. He played a Disney medley and bubbles came out if the ceiling and a phantom of the opera medley. I was thrilled by his music choices. 

Uncle Tom took us on a boat ride and he let Dean be his skipper. Dean was sooo serious about steering the boat and did a great job. He followed his directions very well and loved being on the boat. 

My mom also bought a blow up kiddie pool. Dean loves splashing so he was in heaven. 

Thanks mom and dad (and everyone else!!) for making our trip so fabulous. Hopefully we can visit again soon!! 

Dean's first dentist encounter

A few weeks ago I took Dean to the dentist for what they call a "happy visit". He got to ride the chair up and down and watch part of a movie while the hygienist showed him first on his hand, then in his mouth what her tools do. He did great and even let her polish a tooth. 

Ever since his teeth started coming in, we've been concerned for one if his front teeth. It looked like it grew in cracked. We learned at the dentist that it is called a fused tooth. It's really 2 teeth that are trying to be one. They are really hard to keep clean in the crack. Upon examination Dean was starting to get a cavity in the back of this tooth in the crack. He said it would just need to be cleaned out a little and then he'd put basically a sealant on the back of the tooth to prevent any further decay in the crack. 

We went in yesterday to get this done. At first Dean was so happy to sit in the fun chair and watch Despicable Me. 

They tried getting him to use gas so he would be more relaxed. 

He didn't like it though and refused to keep the nose thing on. I can't say I blame him. He did great through the drilling and then it just got to be too much for him. He started SCREAMING and thrashing. They had 2 hygienists working on his upper half while I was holding his hands away from his mouth and the dentist still had a hard time. And Dean actually bit the dentist at one point in time. The good news is it's all done and hopefully taken care of until that tooth falls out. The bad news is I'm pretty sure he may be scarred for life about the dentist. 

Merry Christmas!

As per tradition, we all wore our red bow ties to church yesterday. It's fun to be matchy for one Sunday a year and even more fun to hear everyone's reactions to our bow ties. As per what is becoming tradition, we took our picture in front of someone else's tree. In the three years we've been doing this, we've always taken our picture in front if someone else's tree. Maybe that's part of the tradition. We hope you all have a safe and merry Christmas.