BYU Cougars

It is official, Holly and I are season ticket holders to the BYU Football games this year. I am very excited to be able to go to the Cougar games again. When I was little I grew up about two block away from the LaVell Edwards Stadium. My cousin Nick and I would paint our faces blue with a white Y down the middle of our face. I don't know if I will be as dedicated as I was when I was a little boy and paint my face but I am definitely going to be a season ticket holder as long as I can. I still can't believe it I am going to all six home games, including BYU vs. UTAH.

GO COUGARS!!!

The Big Move

Well, this is what my garage looked like about a week or 2 ago... a bunch of stacked boxes, both empty and full. It was a mess.

This was our HUGE moving truck that Jeff swore everything would fit in, with room to spare.
Apparently we didn't get rid of enough stuff at our free cycle and to Goodwill because by the end of packing this truck... we were having to give stuff to family and neighbors, sell stuff (our patio furniture... tear.), and leave stuff in our garage at the last minute.

Corbin was infatuated with the truck and thought it was his personal fun-house on wheels. Well, it literally was his house inside it... but not so fun to move it to UT in the rain and cold... He and Samantha had a blast running around in it while it was empty... which didn't last long.

Once that thing was all loaded up and our car was dollied-up to the back for towing (which was also packed floor to ceiling), we spent the night at Jessica's (Jeff's sister's) and had our last supper with my family at Outback. Saturday morning at 5am we hit the road with Jeff's dad who'd so graciously flown into town to help us drive the truck back. It was a LONG 12 hour drive through rain and snow. I've never had to stop that many times (9 total), but with 2 kids, a dog, and a prego bladder and appetite, it was a must. We pulled in to Spanish Fork, UT (Jeff's parents' house and our new home for 5 weeks) at about 6pm Utah-time and let the kids stretch and eat while we unloaded our Tahoe. Then we ate some yummy Chinese and hit the sack.

The next morning in the drizzly rain we drove the truck over to Springville to unload it in our HUGE (good thing) storage unit that we are supposed to be sharing with Jeff's sister Haley. (Sorry Haley... in a few weeks we'll give you more room.) Corbin loved watching his "house" literally get moved from the truck to the storage... he sat in that chair maybe 10 minutes before he couldn't stand the cold anymore and then he hung out in Haley's truck with his cousin Krew and Grandma Tee-Tee for the duration.

Awe... doesn't that picture of those cold mountains make you want to climb into your warm bed? Well, mine is in the storage unit for a few more weeks. Hopefully by the time we get it out the snow will all be GONE! :)

The rest of the day we spent visiting with family and traveling again to Roy for the twin cousins (Carson and McKenzie's) 11th birthday party. It was certainly a busy weekend, but we are glad to be on this side of it. Today, it was just warm enough to venture outside into our temporary backyard at Grandma's house. Corbin (and Yoda) are in love. They'll spend as much time out there as possible, I'm sure. I was just glad to SIT.... and sit in the sun.

Uncle Colton ditched school today because it's his 17th birthday and he felt entitled to that right. So, he and Corbin got in a game of basketball. HAPPY BIRTHDAY COLTON! That house behind Corbin is the one we're living in right now. I'll admit, it's not a bad backyard and it's got a million dollar view! Things are looking up on here!

Moving

I do have pictures... lots actually of a variety of things that I will blog about later, but the camera is downstairs and I'm too tired to go get it and upload the pics. But I have to get this out of my system:

I HATE MOVING!!!!

I figured out last night that our move to Utah this weekend will be the 10th move of my lifetime (including college). It seems to get harder every time because you accumulate more STUFF. I won't lie, this move is not only hard because of STUFF (because the last 9 times I moved it was just Jeff and I or just me), but also the hardest move emotionally for me. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to be starting a new chapter of my life, even if it means braving the snow as an AZ-native with 2 (almost 3) young kids, but it is hard to leave family and close friends with whom we've built a comfy little niche with.

We're leaving our first home we've ever owned (but it's under contract to sell so that is a relief), and all the things that make AZ home for me like: the sunsets, the smell of rain in the desert, monsoon season, thunderstorms, family, friends, city-life, swimming pools, splash pads at every mall and nearly every park, the SUN (yes, I don't mind it), the mountains 2 hours away, the beach 4 hours away, the cabin, the memories.




Utah will hold many opportunities for us though and I have no doubt we will all be happy there. Besides, we have family there too and it really is my 2nd home. So, here's to getting through the next 24-48 hours until we land in Utah. Ready or not.... here we come.

(I may be MIA, missing in action, the next few days, so please forgive me. I'll be back.)

Our Idol Prediction

Although we are not die-hard American Idol fans, we do watch when we can and usually follow every season... especially when there are contestants from UT or AZ. This season has been no different and Jeff and I think we've got it all figured out......
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Our prediction for American Idol Season 8 is:
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Corbin Moss!


Now that's talent! Oh wait... here's another clip:

OK, so you may not have seen this contestant on the show this season... but he just might be there, someday... with 35 million votes and all! He's the Idol at our house. :)

Little Adriana

My cousin Rusty, who is like a brother to me, lost his baby girl last week- April 9, 2008. Adriana was born 5 days before her scheduled c-section as a stillborn. She was an active little thing who moved so much she twisted up her cord too tight and cut off all nutrients and oxygen about a quarter inch from her belly button. Kristina, her mother, found out the following morning at her Dr's appointment when the nurse could not find her heart beat. Adriana Kristina Hathcock is their 3rd little girl and her 2 big sisters are saddened by their loss but proud to be big sisters to their own little angel. Wish we could have met her and seen her full head of red hair. Here is a beautiful video put together by her uncle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWnoCH6QGqw

Easter

We truly had an amazing weekend... for many reasons. Easter is one of those holidays that seems to sneak up on you but when it arrives, you realize it's significant because Spring is here and 1/4 of the year has already passed. Can't believe summer is around the corner.

Our Easter celebrations this year began on Wednesday night, with a visit to the Mesa Temple Easter Pageant, a HUGE production that draws hundreds of thousands of spectators every year. Corbin really got into it this year and even stayed up to watch the whole thing, even though it started at 8pm. Q hung out in the stroller while we saved seats for the young women in our ward to show up... and enjoyed our picnic dinner. It was cold and breezy, but its always fun to bundle up at the pageant to await the warm message.
As soon as the show started Quinton fell asleep on my lap and kept me warm. Jeff narrated the entire thing in Corbin's ear. This picture is from the famous ascension scene at the very end when Jesus Christ has been resurrected and ascends back up to His father in heaven.

Good Friday was exceptionally good for us because Jeff was HOME! (benefits of working at a Christian University.) We spent nearly the whole day cleaning, packing and organizing the garage, our closets, our storage cupboards, and the pantry. We got things ready for our freecycle, (i.e.- giving our junk away to friends and family) on Saturday morning. that evening we had our traditional egg dye. Corbin loved it this year... and he and his dad got pretty creative with two-toned eggs, etc.

This is an art, son, watch and learn...

Corbin was proud of his work and wasn't ready to quite when all the eggs were colored.

Saturday morning, after the pouring rain and our successful (and liberating) freecycle, we attended a good friend Lucas Banda's 2nd birthday party. Of course there was an Easter egg hunt along with a yummy BBQ, bounce house/slide, and lots of good company to visit with... and say our goodbyes to. :(

Caden Albright and Corbin going at it.

Immediately after the birthday party/egg hunt we headed for my parents' house for the annual egg hunt and Easter dinner. Here are the girls (minus Mandy, Sarah, Eizley, and Brittney) in their dresses from my mom.

Corbin, now a pro at egg hunting, found the Easter bunny to be very generous this year.

And yes.... that is Brittney Hamilton, my new sister-in-law-to-be with 2 of my nieces! Jesse (my little brother) proposed to her Friday morning on a romantic hot-air balloon ride on top of the world. (Their big day is August 8th!)

Easter Sunday was fabulous because of its significance paired with the fact that Jeff had no meetings and got to spend the entire morning with us before 11am church!

After church and naps the Easter bunny arrived yet again in our own backyard! Corbin had a blast crawling all over the yard looking for eggs to throw around. He had no clue why but sure looked cute doing it.

Corbin was excited to find eggs filled with candy as well as the real eggs that we dyed. "How did that Easter bunny get in our house?"

That's a full basket of sugar!

The family Easter photo.

This year's Easter was especially memorable because it's our last in Arizona. Corbin was also very enchanted with the entire Easter story and asked us to tell him "that story 'bout Jesus" again and again. In fact Jeff and Corbin laid on the couch for almost 45 minutes on Friday retelling the entire Easter pageant. Sunday we watched the Testaments and he got to see more of those scenes when the "bad guys" (Roman soldiers) are mean to Jesus and then nail Him on the cross. But then a look of relief crosses Corbin's face when he again hears that Jesus was resurrected and rose from the dead.... that He lives still. That simple truth is the reason we celebrate Easter and the real reason we find death not to have too much sting in this life, because we know that because of Jesus Christ's Atonement, Crucifixion, and Resurrection we too can live again both spiritually and physically after this life. I don't know of any other knowledge more comforting than that.
In light of this we found out on Friday that my cousin Rusty and his wife Kristina, who were expecting their 3rd baby girl lost her. During Kristina's last doctor appointment (before her scheduled C-section this Tuesday) the nurse and doctors couldn't find the heart beat. An emergency c-section was performed and little lifeless Adrianna was born, still-born. They were able to spend lots of time holding her and admiring all her red hair. Her big sisters got acquainted with her and lots of pictures were taken. Rusty and Kristina have kept an amazing outlook and I can't think of a better time of year to be reminded of the purpose of life and death.... even after such a tragic loss the hope of life hereafter brings a comfort that otherwise would bring doom and gloom to such a good family. Needless to say they are in our prayers and thoughts and we're sad we'll never know little Adrianna!

Q's milestones

Our little "Q" seems to have gotten the message that there is a new sibling on the way... in the last 3 weeks he has all of a sudden "bloomed" in his development.

(You know you're jealous of his Buddha belly... hey that takes a lot of work to grow one of those!)

His new and favorite "tricks" these days are:
* Crawling (at church one day he just DID IT!)
* Clapping (especially when we sing pat-a-cake)
* Jumping in his Johny Jump Up
* Pulling up on anything and EVERYTHING (including the toilet, which his older brother accidentally leaves open for him.)
* Saying ma-ma, da-da, baw (for ball), yoh-da (for Yoda, whom he loves to chase)
* Signing please, more, and milk
* Waving hi and bye-bye (with a backwards wave--looks like he's waving to himself)
* Nodding his head (dancing) to any and all music
* Yelling (singing) when he hears others sing
* Trying to eat anything he can get his hands on (fuzz off the floor, paper, ice cream, etc., etc.)

It really shocked me how he went from a baby to a near-toddler in like a week. He just grew up like literally before our eyes as he reached a new milestone nearly everyday for the past 2-3 weeks. I guess the 2nd born has a lot more motivation than the 1st born... he's gotta keep up with his big brother. Besides, he'll be 10 months old this week!

Here are a few fun videos showcasing Q's new skills:

Jumping

Singing
This video also shows off Corbin's new skills of singing and playing the piano at the same time. He now knows all the words to I Am a Child of God, his favorite nursery/FHE song, and Twinkle Twinkle and he sings both all by himself. He tells me, "Mom, I need to practice the plano (piano), can I sing you a song?" Of course, as soon as Quinton sees Corbin going for it, he has to join him at the piano and he quietly "sings" back-up.

Crawling
(Sorry this isn't the greatest footage... but it seems that whenever they see you with the camera they won't perform. You get the idea.)

Laughing
(This is a funny clip of Quinton's giggles. Sam and Corbin were running from room to room and Quinton would lay in the middle of the floor and giggle that gutsy-giggle over and over again. He loved it! I finally got a little clip.)