My Birthday Boys

Jonathan and Ephram celebrated their birthdays a couple of weeks ago.  Ephram requested crepes for breakfast.  Jonathan is our resident crepe maker, so he had to cook his own birthday breakfast.  He's a good sport and will always do what Ephram wants as part of his birthday celebration.  He did get his own birthday cake though.  Ephram made a chocolate pudding pie and Jonathan got impossible pie.  As a birthday activity Ephram decided to order pizza and watch a movie.  He has never had a birthday party and I don't do parties until they are 8 (I used to do them all the time, but changed that before Ephram got one).  He really wanted a party.  I compromised and let him invite friends to enjoy pizza with us. 

 

 

Treat Your Husband Like a King

Last weekend Jonathan and I attended a LIFE convention in California.  (If you are curious what LIFE is, leave a comment and I'll share more information--but know for now that it is a leadership and personal development company).  One of the speakers shared a list of 20 things that wives can do to encourage their husbands.  She said that if we want to be treated like Queens, then we need to treat our husbands like Kings.  I thought that was good advice so I am going to share her list.

My King!

1. Initiate a good time in the bedroom
2. Email and A-Z list of the good things about him
3. Scrapbook his dreams
4. Ask what you can do for him
5. Cook for him
6. Do his chores for 1 week
7. Forgive his failures quickly
8. Write him a note on the bathroom mirror with a wet erase marker
9. Take care of yourself
10. Let him be his own boss
11. Praise him
12. Initiate a great time in the bedroom
13. Buy his favorite soda
14. Have a "Yay, Daddy!" party with the kids
15. Talk nice about him to others
16. Be his advocate to the kids (you can tell what a wife thinks about her husband by what the kids say)
17. Don't keep score
18. Greet him at the door wearing lingerie
19. Protect his time
20. Stop what you are doing when he comes home and welcome him home

Jonathan already treats me like a queen--he is my #1 fan and supporter.  He is a great father and husband and friend.  I'm so grateful that he is mine. 

Ephram turns 6

I can't believe my little blondie is 6!  We celebrated his birthday yesterday.  He got some squinkies, cars, a gumball machine and a roll of quarters. 

Instead of birthday cake he requested birthday fruit, so I put a candle in an apricot. 

Jack and Lola came over.  Lola made a "future missionary" sock monkey (super cute).  He also got a new pocket knife. 

Jack teaching about the "blood circle"

Ephram will get some time with my parents next week. 

In case you were wondering, yes, it was Jonathan's birthday, too.  He's celebrating in Cedar City.  He decided to make a fishing trip and will have to tell you about his birthday when he gets home.  Happy Birthday to my 2 July birthday boys.

Jonathan Makes Parfaits

I love it when Jonathan fixes breakfast.  It doesn't happen very often because he hates getting up early, but when it does it's always a treat.  Sometimes it's stuffed french toast, other times it's shape pancakes, this time it was fruit and yogurt parfaits.  Super yummy!

January Date--Under the Sea

As part of my Christmas present to Jonathan I put together a year of date ideas.  I found my inspiration on several blogs and from friends.  The ideas is that there would be no more asking "What should we do tonight?"  I gave him 13 envelopes--1 for each month and the last filled with random ideas in case we got an extra date night. 

Our first date actually happened in February because of some sick kids and a lot of other activities going on.  Jonathan and I met at the new aquarium out at the Wild Life World Zoo.  In this month's folder I included, the description of the date, a BOGO coupon and a scavenger hunt for us to complete.  After walking through the aquarium and completing the scavenger hunt we ate dinner at Dillon's. 

I CANNOT get this to turn the right way!

Some of our favorite exhibits included the giant turtle, the tree frogs, the penguins, the axolotl, the eels, the rock fish, and the seahorses. 

One of the reasons I liked this date is because we were kid-less--it's a different experience to go as a couple.  And of course, I always love spending time with Jonathan!

Ugly Sweater Party

Jonathan and I were invited to an Ugly Sweater Party by some friends in the ward.  The kids and I went to the Goodwill to find some ugly sweaters.  Anything that I picked as ugly they thought was cute.  I finally settled on a pink sweater with turquoise birds and glitter branches for me and and ugly golf sweater for Jonathan.  The night of the party, Ephram came up to me and said "That's not ugly!"  It's just the beginning of the differing tastes of parents and kids.  We also found an turtle neck for Jonathan to wear and a wig. 

At the party we visited with other ugly sweater wearers, ate food, and played a fun game of thrift gift exchange.  Jonathan and I made out with a lot of junk gifts!  A lot of it will go back to Goodwill, but Jonathan likes the toaster oven and the kids love the singing frog.  It was a fun night.

Jonathan's Appendectomy

We came home from our camping trip on Sunday and the whole drive home Jonathan suffered from a stomach ache.  Then all day Monday the stomach ache continued.  He was nauseous, had heartburn and the pain kept getting worse.  He started suspecting his appendix.  We googled the symptoms and they were everything he was experiencing.  But we decided to go to bed and take care of it in the morning.  Only an hour later he was up saying that the pain was keeping him awake.  He went the emergency room (I stayed home with the kids and slept).  I got a phone call later from Jonathan saying that it was his appendix and that he had to have it removed. 

The surgery was Tuesday afternoon.  It was a 3 incision laparoscopomy (is that how you say it/spell it?).  He had to stay in the hospital for the rest of Tuesday and all day Wednesday and came home late Wednesday evening.  He is in a lot of pain and can't lift anything for 2 weeks, but should be back on his feet and moving around soon. 

The kids were able to visit Wednesday morning.

I feel blessed to live close to family.  My mother-in-law was able to take the kids so that I could spend time with Jonathan at the hospital on Tuesday.  My family has been available to help, too.  We also belong to a great ward.  I've gotten several calls from members of the ward checking on us and seeing how Jonathan is doing.  Another thing to be thankful for is that this didn't happen 4 weeks earlier when Jonathan was still in Uganda.  Jonathan also said that the hospital staff was great (except one of the doctors) and they took good care of him.  We are glad to have him home and on the road to recovery. 

I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home

After 63 long days, Jonathan is finally back with his family.  He had an awesome experience teaching leadership education in Uganda and has grown a lot.

The kids and I spent Friday  morning preparing the house for his arrival.  We cleaned and organized and made a welcome home sign.

Then the kids stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Mecham while I picked Jonathan up at the airport.  A friend told me that military people will spend the first night with their spouse before joining their family and that is what Jonathan and I decided to do.  The kids were very glad to see their dad and we've been trying to spend as much time together as possible.

The hardest thing for me while he was gone?  Not being able to talk with him.  And kiss him.  I'm glad he's home!  Hopefully we never have to spend that much time apart again.

A Big Yellow Plane Took My Man Away

The song really goes "A big yellow taxi took my girl away", but I thought my title fit my situation better. This morning we got up super early and took Jonathan to the airport. He's on his way to Uganda for 9 weeks. He's making a stop in Denver first to help bless his best friend's baby, then on Wednesday he makes the flight to Africa. What an awesome experience for him. He gets to teach the teachers there about Leadership Education. You can follow his adventures here.

I have been mentally preparing myself for his absence since January and think I'll be able to survive. I'm blessed to have a lot of friends and family around who are worrying for me and are willing to help. I'm going to miss him, though. And so will the kids. I made a countdown sheet and have a list of a bunch of fun activities to distract them when it gets too hard.

The next line to the songs goes "now don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got till it's gone?" I hope that it didn't take him leaving for me to know how lucky I am to have him in my life.

I love you, Jonathan! You'll do an awesome job.

Happy Fake Father's Day!

Jonathan is leaving for Uganda this week and he will be gone for Father's Day. We decided to celebrate Father's Day a few weeks early. The kids made cute cards that look like a shirt and tie. We found the idea here.
We also made a picture collage to go in his wallet.
Another gift that we made was for him to use in Uganda. We filled a bag with paper notes of love and a poem that said "When you are feeling down and blue, read a note from us to you, it should hopefully make you smile, and make you happy for awhile."

Jonathan wanted Puff Pancakes for breakfast and chicken tortilla casserole for dinner. The kids rubbed his back. I'm glad that we were able to pamper him before he left. We love you, Jonathan! Happy Father's Day!

A New Sword and Shield

I have this history book that is filled with crafts and other activities from almost every notable era in history. Corbin and Braedi like to look through it and find something they can do. I don't really like the book because they always want to do these complicated projects that require too much of my time and we don't always have all the materials. I try to be supportive, but I'm not much of a crafty mom. After our trip to the Estrella Wars Corbin started looking through the book again to find a sword and shield. We didn't have time to work on it that day, and the next day I was going visiting teaching so I told him to ask his dad to help him. When I came home Corbin had almost finished the shield and was going to make a sword. AND he did it on his own (with a little modifications)! Then he and his dad had a sword fight.

Happy Birthday Ephram and Jonathan

Four years ago, minus one day, Jonathan went to work and prayed that I would go into labor so that he could get out of work. This was when he was working nights. Around 2:00 AM I woke up with regular contractions and called him. He was so excited! I packed up the kids, took them to his mom's house where he met me, then we headed to the hospital. I was in "mom mode" and barely felt the contractions, but walking from the car to the hospital was tough--I had to stop several times and concentrate on my breathing. We got checked in and a few hours later Ephram was born.

When we first found out that I was pregnant and the doctor told us my due date, Jonathan was so excited--it was the same day as his birthday. The only thing he wanted that year was for the baby to be born on his birthday. He got his wish. And for the past 4 years they have celebrated together.







Ephram got a lot of cars and Jonathan got some spending money.

This year Ephram chose to go bowling for his birthday activity. Jonathan usually lets him pick. Here are some fun pics of us bowling.

And just a couple more pictures. The first is of Ephram when he was a baby and the second him with one of his new cars. They grow up so fast.

An Afternoon at the Temple

Jonathan and I had a lovely afternoon at the temple. Like most people, it's hard for us to make a plan to attend, but finally we made time to go. Jonathan's mom said she would watch the kids--it's so nice to have family near that are willing babysit for that long. We decided to do inititories. I like hearing the promises and remembering my first time going through the temple. It hardly took any time, so we stayed a little longer. We sat in the lobby and read and discussed our thoughts and experiences. I love the spirit there. I hope we can make a better effort to attend more often.