Gus a roo turns 4

Yes...it's official, he survived his toddler stage and is on to a very interesting kid stage. 

Some current Gus tidbits include his obsession with "Muscle Song," which is more commonly referred to as Viva La Vida by Coldplay.  If you are ever in the car with us or at our home, he will question your love of this song; I suggest you tell him you love it.  One Sunday I got pulled out of my church class because Gus was requesting his class sing "Muscle Song."  The teachers were willing, they just weren't familiar with this tune.  It was awesome! 

We've spoiled Gus and his palette for water.  We have a water cooler, we don't drink tap water; we are snobs.  The other day we were totally out of water, so I quickly filled up his cup with tap water and ice.  When I brought him his cup he took a big swig followed by "Mom, dump this freaking sink water out of my cup."  Snap, we are in trouble, and apparently I say freaking A LOT!!

His best friend is still his elephant, someday we hope he branches out and finds a friend who will talk back to him :)

We had a great time on Gus' birthday, playing with cousins and coloring Easter eggs.  By the end of the day Gus looked completely homeless.  His face was stained with food coloring his hair was disheveled and his clothes were all raggedy.  I took him to Liberty Market to pick a free birthday treat looking straight off the streets.  The looks we got were awesome... I looked horrible too and I can almost guarantee they thought we were homeless and begging food.  It was lovely. 

At Gus' birthday party we had his favorite friend Jessi, make us some elephant cupcakes.  Gus loved them, but was a bit torn when he was required to eat his beloved elephant friends.

We love Gus so much!  He is a great kid, and we are so glad we've been blessed to be his parents.

The smell of Noxzema and Pert Plus will always remind me of my sweet Grandma Nanny.  She is an amazing woman who is so kind and gentle, but tough when she needs to be.  I will never forget when my Grandma was babysitting my family and I tried to sneak my breakfast into the toilet...she caught me and had me sit and eat until I was done.  She taught me how to tie my shoes with patience only a Grandma could give.  Recently she taught Gus how to do #3 with his fingers; I'd been trying to do that for almost a year.  He attributes his #3 success to his beloved Nanny.  It sounds so trite to put my memories of my Nanny into a blog post, but I want my posterity to know how much she is to me.  She is stalwart and brave, hard working and loveable.  I got to sit with Nanny and hear stories of her childhood, engagement and marriage.  It was fascinating to hear this whole side of a person you never really consider as a child.   She struggled, she grew and she is great.  She has overcome many challenges and has stayed faithful in the Gospel.  She has a great posterity of children, grand children and we will all love and miss our Nanny.

Lacy's shower

It's so bizarre that my 8 year old sister Lacy is having a baby...okay she's really not 8, but she still seems so young to me.  It probably doesn't help that she has all over miniature features.  We did a "pop" theme for her shower (soda pop, pop corn, cake pops, jalapeno poppers, Popsicle)  It was to be a wonderful outdoor spring shower, it was however one of the coldest weekends ever and pouring rain.  We still had a great time, we just threw hot cocoa into the mix (I will never complain about rain and cold, I LOVE IT.)  Lacy is adorable pregnant, too bad this picture is blurry.

And just for viewing pleasure...this picture makes me laugh

Spring Break

Playing in sprinklers with cousins...lovely.

James learning a new skill, how to switch out a sink.  He has learned so much living in this house, it's always an adventure.

Also, a trip to Tempe town lakes. 

Then to a park, because apparently paddle boats at Tempe town lakes are $30 an HOUR!!  For reals.  PS, the man in this picture was wearing "Family Guy" pajama pants and was hitting on Kizzy.

We ended the day at Honey Bears, for some delicious BBQ lunch.

A "roadtrip"

In our search for bunk beds, we went on a trip to the Bowles cabin in Heber on a tip that bunk beds were available for our taking... We got Sophie to come along and made the quick trip. Sadly, there were no beds to be found anywhere.  We checked in some ridiculous locations, just because we were sure they had to be somewhere.

James was distraught, and Gus and Sophie tried to act sad too.  It really was fun though, it was freezing and we found little patches of snow.  We did not come prepared for the cold and wind, so we swiped some warm gear from the closet.  Gus looked like a marshmallow, and Sophie just looked adorable.

We did get bunk beds and they are awesome and ready for another kiddo :)

Here's the latest

After a totally unsought prompting, much fasting and prayer our family has decided to do foster care with the hope to adopt.  We're almost done with our classes and should have our license in June making us an open home for kids who need us.  Ideally we would love to foster and adopt quickly, but we are open to whatever Heavenly Father would have us do.  Gus is thrilled to have a new brother, and has his already picked out bedding and toys that are dedicated to his new friend.  We are excited and nervous to see what the Lord has in store for us.  Just an FYI, we've been trying to get pregnant for almost 3 years with no success, so we think this is the route we are intended to take at this time.  We do hope to have more biological kids, but we hope we can be a blessing to someone who needs a good home and they can be a blessing to us.