Home Again, home again

Family pic in St. Tropez. It was windy that evening, but the boys were so happy.

Stella, Liza and Anne.

Marketing in St. Tropez. Daniel was a great sport.

Oma and Opa with Daniel at the beach.

Congrats to Erik on his graduation. (Isn't he cute??)We are so glad that we could be there to celebrate with you!!

Yes, we are here! I can't believe how long it has been since we posted. I have been slow getting back into to the swing of things back here in real life. We had a great trip, but it is nice to be home too. Especially when the family from Germany follows us home and we get to play with them some more!

I am hoping that Scott will write a trip report soon that we can post and then add pictures to it. This weekend, I think.

Daniel took his first steps last Sunday, July 5th !! He walked a few steps to daddy, and he is getting braver all the time. A few more weeks and he will be walking all over the place.

We also celebrated Daniel's FIRST birthday on July 11th. He is growing so quickly. We'll have to give ya the stats next week after his checkup. We had a fun day on Saturday having a party for him. We made a puppy cake and let him eat it- he picked off all the candy and had some frosting. He didn't start throwing it til Uncle Curt laid him on top of the cake and then squished his hands in it. Then he really went to town! See video below:

We did webcam with Grandma & Grandpa Johnson in Greece saturday morning. Both the boys had fun playing with Daniel's ball-popper and crawling around. Nathan has a hard time understanding the whole birthday-present-for-the-birthday-boy concept. He thinks that he has full rights to the new toys. But Daniel is not so keen with Nathan taking over his toys. He really whines when Nathan gets on his train and rides it away. So, time to work on sharing!

Nathan is having fun in the sun- we got a little pool for the backyard, and he has had fun taking toys out to play in it. He also likes putting the slide in to it! And yes, he does wear his swim trunks!! Daniel is more of the in and out type. He likes to crawl over by the plum tree and scavenge for fallen plums. (never mind that they aren't ripe yet!)

We are enjoying the summer, we went camping last weekend up in Heber. Saturday we went to Jordanelle and rented a waverunner for the day, along with a tube. It was a blast, although Scott and I were so sore the next day! We could hardly get out of bed, and were taking turns picking up toys, etc from the floor.

I have been able to work a few shifts this month, it has been so nice that I can just do a few every month. Thank goodness for Scott's great job and his hard work at providing for us! The days after I work are hard, but I think Nathan likes that he can watch TV a lot of the day!

I finally figured out how to do a slide show! Its not very long; we didnt take many pictures this month I guess. Not that we couldn't take many, many more of our adorable boys!!! I am loving being home with them, the days fly by so quickly between playing with cars and legos, and trying to get a load of laundry in or the dishes done without the boys noticing that I am not right next to them. Daniel is getting better at entertaining himself playing with toys with Nathan. Nathan is starting to play with Daniel some, but it usually ends up that Nathan is laying on top of him. Daniel isn't too fond of that!!
We are getting very excited for our trip to Germany/France next week! Yeah for having a seat for both boys on the plane, it will be nice to have the room. I hope that they sleep on the long flight, and that the layover in Detroit isn't too stressful. We have been thru there before, and it is a nice airport. New and clean. And it had several kids play areas. Here is to hoping for smooth traveling...

Here we are....

Time to catch up- here is Daniel walking, kind of, and at his FAVORITE past-time, playing in the pantry. He loves to get the cereal boxes down and help himself to a snack. It usually entertains him long enough for me to get dinner ready or cleaned up. He always looks so mischievious when we say his name and he looks up at us! He is an expert crawler and loves to go around empyting any cupboards or drawers he can. You can always tell where he has played by what cupboards are open or toy baskets emptied! He has figured out waving and clapping, it is quite cute.

I want to try to make a slide show with some of the pictures from this month, I will have to wait for Scott to show me how to do it. I haven't figured that out yet.

We have been enjoying spring, getting lots of jogs in with the boys in the stroller, going to playgrounds, playing in the backyard, eating on the back deck. It is nice to have warmer weather. I am not sure I am quite ready for the hot weather though! Nathan and I played in the sprinkler yesterday afternoon, he thought it was pretty fun, he is asking if we can do it again today! Its a good way to water the grass I guess. Nathan liked taking the hose and chasing me or Scott around the yard trying to get us wet. We planted some lavender plants in the front of the house- I love those plants! We also got some basil for a planter and a couple of tomato plants. I think the lavender and the basil will do fine, I am not sure about the tomatoes.

Last week we took a car ride with Daniel in the big carseat facing forward- I wanted to see how he would do, seeing that he will be using that car seat when we fly to Germany next month. It didn't go too well- he cried most of the time, and when we got out of the car, he proceeded to throw up all over my shoulder and feet! We couldn't decide if it was really the car seat, or that he ate too much. We realized he had eaten a BIG dinner between what was actually on his tray and his grazing before and after. I guess we will find out. I think we will just keep him rear-facing til the airplane. We are getting very excited for our upcoming trip- Germany for Erik's graduation, and then on to the beach in St. Tropez!

St. Tropez has been the place of so many great memories for my family. We first went there when I was in 7th or 8th grade I think. We stayed at a campground inland somwhere the first couple of years, and then a British man driving a big American Jeep with Texas plates(not a common site in France!), chased us down seeing our USA license plates on our American van. He told us he had some trailers at a campground right on the beach, and that he wanted to get American military families staying there. So we tried it out, not being too sure when we first drove into the camp- it seemed so crowded! But, that was 10 years ago, and the rest is history! It has been a great vacation for us. 2 weeks together at a trailer just feet away from a beautiful beach...we love our camp Kontiki! Many years we had friends from the ward there with us. I think the year I graduated from high school, there were 10 families from the ward. We had a big 4th of July party on the beach in France! The food is great, the sun wonderful, after the first sunburn! The village markets make for fun shopping; I plan on new tablecloths and maybe a new bedspread, among other things! Not to mention the time spent with family, playing games and laughing together. Many, many books have been read on the beach, along with hundreds of baguette eaten every day! I am excited to have Nathan and Daniel there this year. It will be so fun to play in the sand with Nathan, and hopefully keep Daniel from eating tooo much of it. Hopefully we will have hot weather and warm water this year. And one day with big waves to jump in! I wish it was closer so we could go more often.

Here is Nathan on our 2006 trip, he was 9 months old!

Flower stand at the St. Tropez market. We always go early in the morning to beat the crowds. By mid morning, the aisles are packed with people. By that point, we like to be done shopping and on our way down to the harbor to look at all the multi-million dollar yachts! They are a sight to behold!

2006 family pic on the beach! Time for an update I think, we are missing Daniel and Stella's hubbie Curt from this group of the fam!

Again, St. Tropez, 2006. This is one of the best parts- lots and lots of time with my wonderful husband. I am so grateful for him- he is so good to me! I love him very much. We have so many great memories, can't wait to make some more this summer with all of the fun things we have planned!

This may be one of the other best parts, warm sand and sun to tan my white legs- sitting next to my best friend(my mom!), holding a cute baby! This is what vacations should be like. Here is to 2 weeks and counting....

Picture Update

Just a quick post of Nathan's new Lightening McQueen boots he got for Easter. His winter boots were trashed from 24/7 use, so the easter bunny brought some new galoshes for spring!! Nathan is acting like a soldier in the pictures above.

Easter Egg Hunt with the Johnson cousins.

Daniel after eating dinner... he eats much better if he does it himself, so he is covered with food too by the end of the meal. At least he is happy and fed! He went for his 9 mo. check up this week, and is 23.5 lbs (90th percentile) and 29.5 inches (90th percentile). So no worries as to if he is getting enough food in his mouth! Daniel got the go ahead to eat what he wants, of course, minus the nuts, peanut butter and honey.

We got our jogging stroller/bike trailer, and it was a hit! Scott took the boys for a run up through Daybreak to a park. It sounds like the run went well, and the boys were excited to ride away. Now we don't have an excuse for not running. Some pics from Conference weekend. We had a hard time trying to get a picture of the 3 grandkiddies. But, here are three of the sisters, we just need Anne laying across our laps! :)

This is before a bath for Elsa and Daniel. We thought they would have fun, but Nathan threw a toy at Elsa and scared her, and then Daniel was crying and we just did quick suds-ups for the babies and got out. Maybe they will have fun next time!

Elsa is 14 months old, and Daniel is the same size as she is! But she is one up on him, she is walking everywhere and talks some. It is way cute! Give him some time and he will catch up.

Time to blog

I had my wisdom teeth out yesterday, and have been laying in bed since then with a great-loooking ice wrap around my chipmunk cheeks! I am doing pretty well, thanks to Scott's great nursing care, and taking care of the boys so well! I thought I should take this chance to update our blog. We are doing well, Katie and Casey and Elsa visited last weekend, it was so fun to see them! Elsa is such a cute little girl and it was fun to see her walking around and following Nathan.

Here are some pictures from March:

I made this apron, and love wearing it! Nathan often reminds me to put it on. You can kind of tell I got my hair cut and highlighted in this picture, it was way fun to go get it done for my b-day!

Nathan and Scott went to "Thomas & Friends at the Circus" at the E-center last month. I think Nathan liked it. Then they went to McDonalds for dinner, where Nathan just played the whole time. Great time for him!

We went to the last BYU basketball home game with Stephie and Curt. Nathan looks so different in this picture. He always has a great time with the Wengels. Daniel had fun til the end, and then was so tired, he fell asleep during the last few minutes, even with the crowds yelling. (It was a close game vs. Air Force that really came down to the last few seconds!)

Playin' in the toy baskets!

Nathan and Daniel playing in the kitchen. Daniel is soo opportunistic when any doors are open. He loves standing in the pantry and pulling cereal boxes and granola bars down to the floor. He loves it even more when he gets food to spill and eat! He also likes the fridge when its open, he will take bottles off of the bottom shelf in the door and suck on them.

Doesn't he look proud of his handiwork?

Boys hanging out!

on the move...

This video compilation is a little late, but here is Daniel crawling and the two boys playing outside.

Daniel is now into everything, he especially likes to empty the lid drawer in the kitchen and try to pull the garbage can out from under the sink! Why is it they always want to get into the one cupboard you don't want them in?? I would rather he pull pots and pans out instead of trash!

February Family Update

FUN at the PARK!

Time to update on what is keeping us busy! Sorry for the monstrous post- I figure I have time to do it today, so its gotta cover alot!

Daniel:

Swinging in the backyard swing- he loved it! Crawling around at the park!

Daniel has learned how to crawl! It happened fast- a couple of weeks ago he took his first steps ( I don't what to call it!) and moved forward. Now he is all over the place. So we are babyproofing now and trying to teach Nathan that Daniel can't play with his small toys! Now that he has mastered crawling, he is pulling himself up by the toy bins, chairs, the dishwasher. He is not sure what to do at that point, so he often falls over and starts crying! Daniel has also decided that baby food tastes good- he will swallow the food now instead of just spitting it out. He still prefers to feed himself or have what we are having, so maybe we will progress to table food quickly!

He is so proud when he stands up! He just laughs and smiles until he falls down.

Nathan:

We went to Cabela's on President's Day- a great outing for Nathan! He loved seeing the fish and all of the animals.

He has worn his army uniform everyday for at least part of the day since we got it from Oma and Opa. But, I have been able to wash it! He is also learning how to do some chores around the house- feed the cat, pick up toys, put clothes away and taking out the trash. More than anything, his new chore chart is a reminder for us to have him help do the chores. Legos are still the cool toy, we play with those daily! He is wearing his Stormtrooper jammies below (really his Christmas pj's!). He has worn them every night practically, and already has holes for his big toes to poke out! I guess he only needs to outfits- army uniform and stormtrooper jammies.

I LOVE the warmer weather- Nathan is having fun playing in the backyard, its great for him to get out and run around. I have had fun picking out the dead leaves from the flower beds and seeing the tulips coming up! It is really exciting! I am excited to plant a few things this spring and watch them grow! Hopefully we have some success here in Utah. It was easy in New York to grow things; it rained so much that we just threw some seeds down and we had a garden!

Playing in the sandbox with Landon today, another warm day!

Liz and Scott:

We have started running (sporadically at this point, i.e 1-2 runs a week!) and plan on running the Berlin Marathon this September. Dad will be finishing his 50th marathon (yea! We are proud of him!) there and Scott and I will join him. It will be awesome- I did the 1/2 Marathon my Sr. year of High School with dad, and it was great. The Marathon should be cooler- 40,000 runners is motivating! The roads are closed for the runners and there is music and lots of spectators, both good things when running 26 miles.

I also started working again. I had my first night last week and it went well. I am working with an agency and plan to pick up 2-3 Med/Surg shifts a month. It was certainly nice to go to work and just be done the next morning without worry about working the next night or worrying about the politics. It will be interesting working at the different hospitals in the area. 12 hour night shifts are long- I did 8-hr shifts in NY and that seemed a lot quicker than the 12 hours! Thank goodness for a wonderful husband who let me sleep all morning and most of the afternoon the next day!

Scott's job is going well and he is working hard to get more audits done each week. He is also working with the Young Men in the ward. I think he is enjoying it. He made a photo slide show of Daniel for me this week- I will see if we can post it on the blog. It made me cry- seeing how quickly these children grow up!

Yesterday for my B-day Scott took me skiing. I was a little nervous, because I hadn't been since 2002 when Scott took me to Alta on one of our first few dates! Brighton was great yesterday- not busy at all and the weather was perfect. I am really not used to such good snow, it was always icy in Garmisch! I hope that we can go at least once every winter. I really like skiing, I may not be a pro, but its fun!