Who Says Gas Can Be Dangerous?

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right? I'm not sure that statement is totally true. Maybe it should be "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, or else really paranoid." What brought this on, you might ask?

I think we've all heard a parent tell their child "You're killing me." What percentage of those parents do you think really mean that? My conclusion is .0087%. Don't worry about how I arrived at that number, it involves a very complex algorithm. My point being, 2 days ago I said those words to Josh - and I meant it.

A couple nights ago Katie and I were sitting together reading, when she asked (multiple times) "Ugh, what is that smell?" Being self conscious I scooted over. She seemed to think that it smelled like "an old person's home" - whatever that means... Shortly after we went to bed not thinking anything of it. The next morning I had to get up early to go to school, so I set my alarm for 7:30 - OK, so it wasn't that early...

I don't remember the last time I slept that well, and it was unbelievably hard for me to wake up the next morning. I felt like I could've kept sleeping for... eternity... Judging by the look in Katie's eyes, she was singing kumbaya around my campfire. Josh also slept well that night. He also took a 2.5 hour nap an hour after waking up in the morning. Is anyone connecting the dots? Katie did - at noon.

Come to find out Josh, ever the playful child, found a new toy in the form of our gas stove. We're not even sure how long it was left on, but we're guessing at least 15 hours. We all came to realize that natural gas is a very good sleeping agent. I however, do not support it's use. Trust me on this, Benadryl does the trick just fine. Needless to say, our nightly routine involves a bath for Josh, a drink of milk, brushing our teeth, reading a book, saying our prayers, checking the stove, and then going night night.

Holy crap, are we lucky to be alive. Don't worry Mom, soon we'll have detectors in ALL of our rooms. Hopefully this post will save some lucky reader's life, right?




Here is my random montage as well. Most of the pictures are from our recent trip back to Utah. Josh is the funniest little kid. He now loves to climb up on things, play in the water, make funny faces, play the piano (including turning it on and adjusting the volume as high as it will go), give high 5's, low 5's, high 10's, low 10's, smell flowers, call most everything "ffff" or "ssss", run around, fake laugh to get others to laugh, and as previously mentioned - turn on the gas.

We're home

We have been away on vacation for such a long time! It was so much fun, and I don't think we're quite back into the swing of things, but it's good to be back. P.S. Thanks to our great family and friends for making our stay in Utah so good. There's a lot we want to blog about, so I guess we'll take it one blog at a time.

Josh turned one in June, so my dad was kind enough to take his one year old photos. I was really happy with how they turned out. (Along with the other non-one-year-old photos....) Thanks dad.Me with my wonderful parents. Hmm, who do I look like?

By the end of our trip, Josh had adopted everyone into his group of favorites.
It was hard to leave.

Josh with our buddy, Jeff Brown. Josh loved him! He followed him around and loved going to him, which is big for our reserved little guy.

I Used To Think I Was Smart....

My little brother Matt forwarded me an email. Typically I hate forwards, but I felt really silly after this. I want to verify that I'm not the only moron. I guess I got a little cocky thinking that I was smart. I was waaay off!

Below are five questions. You have to answer them instantly. Don't think about them too much, just answer.


1) You are participating in a race. You overtake the second person. What position are you in?


Answer: If you answered that you are first, then you are wrong! If you overtake the second person and you take his place, you are second!


2) If you overtake the last person, then you are...?


Answer: If you answered that you are second to last, then you are wrong again. How can you overtake the LAST Person?


3) Very tricky arithmetic! Note: This must be done in your head only. Do NOT use paper and pencil or a calculator.

Take 1000 and add 40 to it. Now add another 1000. Now add 30. Add another 1000. Now add 20. Now add another 1000. Now add 10. What is the total?


Answer: Did you get 5000? Wrong!

The correct answer is 4100.


4) Mary's father has five daughters: Nana, Nene, Nini & Nono. What is the name of the fifth daughter?


Answer: Did you answer Nunu? Wrong!
Her name is Mary! Read the question again!


5) A mute person goes into a shop and wants to buy a toothbrush. By imitating the action of brushing his teeth he successfully expresses himself to the shopkeeper and the purchase is done.

Next, a blind man comes into the shop who wants to buy a pair of sunglasses; how does he indicate what he wants?


Answer: Like you, he has to open his mouth and ask... It's really very simple…

Vacationing

The past week Katie's family has been here visiting us. We've hung out in the city, and also visited Washington DC & Gettysburg. Here are some pictures from the past little bit:

I made this cake for a fund-raiser Katie helped put on for the Young Women. I made 4 separate cakes for this, and it must've weighed 10 pounds. The cardboard base it is sitting on had a width of about 2 feet and the length was a little longer. Yes, it's a volcano...

Josh got some alphabet magnets for his birthday, and he loves playing with them!

While in DC Josh and I took our first trip to McDonalds together while the others were out seeing the sites. He got his first Happy Meal - chicken nuggets. You can see his initial reaction. In the end he seemed to like it though.


Arlington Cemetery.

The Temple in DC.


Gettysburg. This is on top of Cemetery Hill where most of the Union artillery was located.


Trying to entertain Josh on the ride home. It was a tough job.

Fun Fun Fun

We had a lot of fun this past little while. The Saturday of the 31st we celebrated Ry's birthday and had some friends over. We ordered chinese, played, ate homemade oreos (instead of cake at Ryan's request) and ice cream, and had a great time. And luckily for us, Josh's birthday is just a few days later, so we got to celebrate all over again. For his official birthday, we just hung out as a little family. It was a bit stormy, so we headed to the Children's Museum, which was a blast. I've gone before, but Josh was too young then. I think his favorite thing was the super-sized connect four game--we had to literally pry his hands away. We also made him a little birthday cake, took his shirt off, and let him go at it. He mainly stuck his hands in the icing and then tried to get the icky stuff off his hands. It was like watching a cat with tape stuck to it's paws...pretty funny. I helped him take a few bites, and he eventually poked and prodded his way into his birthday cake, so I didn't feel like it was a total waste!

This last Saturday we had our "official" birthday party for Josh. Haha, well luckily the Yoshimura's showed up so we weren't all by ourselves. (Most of our friends were gone, so just for the record, the lack of attendance is not because we're uncool). Haha, I guess I should take some of the blame, since I sent out no invitations....Anyway, it turned out to be a blast! We met in Central Park at a little water park, and Josh and his best buddy Mac went right for the water. -Mac and his parents Cory and Noa moved into the ward a little while back, and Josh absolutely loves Mac. They're two weeks apart in age, and Josh observes everything Mac does and learns from him. He also tends to kiss Mac, which is surprising because our child tends to be reserved...best friends forever, I think.- Anyway, back to the water....No fear, I tell you! They were good examples for the big kids who were scared of the water....:) I love this first picture with Mac--I can hear him thinking, "Bring it on". To make a long story a bit shorter, we all decided to spend the day together and went to the toy store FAO Schwartz and played on the big piano (only $250,000), went to Nike Town (five floors....lots of fun), and then went to a nice restaurant on South Street Seaport. The boys were like zombies near the end of it, but it was worth it.

We really miss our friends and family back in Utah (and everywhere else), but I tell you what! Days like this remind me that New York City is a lot of fun. In fact, if any of you want to experience it, we've got a great deal on a place to stay....

Sorry, these pictures are not in order....

What a brave little boy...
Ryan blowing out the candles on his oreo.
I guess this piano was in the movie "Big". Cory was appalled that I've never seen or heard of that film.We couldn't resist getting our picture with Harry, Hagrid, and Ron in their Lego form. My brother Jeff would be going crazy for this kind of opportunity!

Checking out the competition at the park.

Happy Birthday Baby!!

Josh did not like the fake raft going over the fake water...I have to admit, it was pretty intense.