I am thankful for...

I know I'm late - but I just don't care - because I wanted to share some things (among many things) that I feel thankful for.

I'm thankful for my helper.

And my comic relief.

Oh, and of course Thanksgiving dinner (ALL of it) because its pretty much one of my favorite things to eat.

Viva la Vida!

So, how was your Saturday evening? Mine, well it was pretty good. I spent the evening rocking out & singing at the top of my lungs along with Coldplay! Ok, so it was a little better than pretty good. It was excellent, fabulous, awesome, best night in a long time...

And of course, because we all enjoy the visual, here's a few photos from the night...

I know this photo may not really capture it, but Katie was excited as well.

Opening song

For a moment the band disapeared - only to reappear climbing up the stairs to perform a song right in the middle of the audience!

One of the last songs played and they dropped all these paper butterflys onto the crowd - very cool.

So there you have it, I updated my blog - happy now (you know who you are, complainers)? And thanks Katie for inviting me to tag along with you to the concert (and share your chocolate cake)...don't forget to wear your T-shirt next time we hang out.

Trick or Treat!

Well, I've been feeling a bit left out of the blogging world since I have yet to add my own Halloween pictures. So in an effort to keep up with my fellow olympic-style bloggers, here's a little glimps of what Halloween held in store for our family this year...

Here's a pic from the first Halloween party I attended. My costume wasn't quite available so I ended up pulling stuff from my (and Stacie's) closets to come up with this...only to learn that my friend Emily also picked to dress the same way. Ha!

This year we decided to go with a theme. Milo picked to be a dragon once he saw the costume and after showing Mason, he had the idea to be a knight to match. What a clever kid! So after figuring we have the trusty steed (Duke of course) I figured the only thing left was the princess. Mason and Milo were so excited about our theme they would give anyone and everyone the rundown of what our whole family was going to be.

And this would be Halloween party #2, and my favorite costumes of the night! In case you can't tell, this is Heather and Jordan - both sporting the most awesome wigs ever.

Now we turn to party #3. Here's one of the games we played, bobbing for apples.


After the kids took turns, we added some extra water and ice - and a new rule: No stems. But in case you didn't know, I don't like to lose...so princess or not, I was getting an apple.

And of course the night was filled with some trick-or-treating, which the boys have been endulging in every chance they get (and sharing a little with me too).

Milo, Milo, Milo...

Sometimes I feel bad for Milo. It seems like he's always getting the short end of the stick. From the day he was born he was stuck with hand-me-down blanket, clothing & toys. And it doesn't just end with using Mason's old stuff...Mason always has had his solo time (like the date we went on) or he gets to pick things first and Milo ends up getting talked into the other option. I explain this because once again I feel like he's been left a little behind. The problem (or lack of) is that he has never cared. Because that is Milo.

See, Milo celebrated his birthday September 9th. And yes, I know - most parents have big long blogs when their children have a birthday. Well, this year Milo's birthday happened to be the day before my trip. So I never really got the chance to sit down and write my Milo tribute. But in not writing it on time I almost feel like that makes it all the more Milo. Because Milo is one of the happiest, most unconcerned silly little boys I know. Everywhere he goes, everyone he meets, it seems like I hear comments about how funny he is and how much everyone loves him. I try to pin down what he does that makes him so loveable sometimes but it's hard to figure exactly what it is. He is goofy. He is messy. He is random. Erik used to say he was a little on the ditzy side. No matter what he does he seems to always be making someone laugh. Just within the last week Milo has done the following things: asked me why animals make different noises and why do we talk different than them, while in the middle of class at preschool he took off his shoes and started dancing to the music his teacher had put on, he told me (after I said he needed to hurry and eat lunch before he left for school) that he had to feed Jack "or else he will get hungry while I'm at school" and sat down and introduced himself to a random couple at an ice cream place. The best thing about all these examples is that each and every time he is so serious. He never seems to think anything he does is out of the ordinary.

So yes, this blog may be a little slow coming - but so is Milo anytime you try to walk somewhere with him. Happy fourth year Milo!

Milo being Milo, of course!

Mason showing Milo the present he got him...

...a new monkey!

And Mason being the helpful big brother.

Fieldtrip Day

Saturday we were invited by our wonderful neighbors (Jeremy and Angie) to visit the fire station where Jeremy works. Milo has been awaiting this day for weeks, constantly asking when we get to go see Germy's (that's how he says it) firetruck. They got to ride around in the truck, check out all the equipment, and of course spray a fire hose.

All the kids put on headsets and talked and listened to each other through them - they thought it was pretty cool how it worked that way.

Another one of the favorite things - the fire hose. The boys circled around time after time, taking turns spraying the water.

Milo showing the size of the fire hoses.

Our trip ended with the biggest excitement of all - a call came in and off went the firetruck and ambulance, sirens blaring.

Thanks neighbors for sharing your adventure day with us!

Hello School

So I survived!

I only include me the statement because I don't think it was really something Mason or Milo worried about at all. Carpool is fine (no kids forgotten yet), Mason loves having two recesses and a lunch at school. Such little things to excite children...the other thing Mason is loving about school is the fact that he has a brand new alarm clock that wakes him up each morning. Oh, if only these things could be so exciting when he gets older (I will try my hardest to remind him just how much he loved them, but I don't think it will weigh in very well in the teenage years).

And through this whole first week of school here's my favorite memory...

The first day I took the traditional "first day" picture, as seen here:

That night I FINALLY cut the boys hair - something that had needed to be done weeks prior. The next morning as Mason was leaving for school his thought was this..."Mom, can you take another picture of me? That way I can have one with my haircut." (He thought his hair looked too messy the first day.) I think he's such a funny kid, the way he thinks about things I wouldn't even think about. So here's the second "first day" picture:

Goodbye Summer!

So today we said goodbye to summer as we know it. We drove about two hours out to the Bonneville Salt Flats for the first day of Speed Week. This was our first year out - visiting for a special occasion. Frank (Erik's dad) has a friend who bought and is racing a car this year, all in memory of Erik. Frank will be out there all week helping out and preparing the car for the races. Today was the technical day - they had to wait in line for hours to get everything checked out and get their "ok" to race. So after that was all over, we headed out to see what all the excitement is about. It was crazy to see up close and personal all the different race cars and stuff that are out there. Here are a few pics from today:

Notice they are both smiling. They didn't look like this in the car ride over.

The biggest fans!

Mason tried to get Wendall to let him drive the four wheeler. Wendall is a little smarter than that, Mason.

Me and Wendall, the best racer out there. Thanks Wendall for making this all happen!

week in review

My life for the most part has been pretty normal lately. Well, normal for me anyhow. Each day I try to think of something fun to do. This serves multiple purposes of course. It keeps us all busy and it keeps the boys from breaking toys over each others heads - or whatever other nonsense they end up doing when they are inside the house together for more that about 30 minutes.

So besides the "normal" stuff, here's a few exciting things that happened.

The first excitment came Tuesday at Thanksgiving Point. I had just finished eating lunch at the Trellis Cafe with my mom and the boys (had a very yummy spinach salad) - and we were walking through the entry area when I looked over and saw Elder Uchtdorf. I know this may not be so exciting to some people, but he is pretty much my favorite apostle if I'm allowed to say that. I have always been excited to hear his stories because to me his life (and accent) are so different. Anyway. At first I could not believe my eyes, I tried to ask my mom what she thought so she said I should listen while he was talking to see if I could hear his accent. So that was probably weird for a minute. Us and his family were about the only ones in the lobby and he was walking off to the side talking on a cell phone. Not exactly a situation where you can be sneaky and sly, but we tried. Well, I am not good with akward situations - or with being brave - so of course I left without saying anything. So I didn't talk to him and I have no cool picture to show, but it was still neat to me.

Next we go to Wednesday evening. I decided, no I was coerced into thinking that it would be a good idea for me to attend a softball game. Not to watch, to actually play. Let me briefly give you a history of my softball skills. The last time I remember playing was gym class in middle school, of which time I always had a fear of the ball created by ideas that I would be the one kid in class to be hit in the face with it. For this reason I made sure to stand in far outfield where I could pretend to play. I also tried my hardest to be at the end of the batting line. But of course I remember all these things but then think to myself, "Oh that was so long ago. I've practiced T-Ball with Mason many times and I'm not too shabby. How hard can it be to keep your eye on the ball and swing the bat into it? I can do this no problem." Bad idea. I should have listened to my memories instead. So we start off by throwing the ball around to warm up, then we divide into teams. Ok, so this was more like a practice I guess since we only had six players on each team. First I am outfield. No biggie since I had just warmed up catching and throwing a ball. Well, I am sorry to say that even with all my "I can do anything" attitude I still never caught a ball. Although in my defense I'm not sure if one really ever came to my area. So I'm playing thinking this is not too big of a deal. Then my team goes infield. I suddenly realize that with only six of us I will most likely get a turn to bat. So now here's what I'm thinking - "Oh no, what have I done? Why am I here? I have no idea how to hit a ball." Then my can-do-it attiude kicks in, "Hey remember how you practiced with Mason? Just keep your eye on the ball and it will be easy." Wrong again. I was the loser who just kept swinging and swinging but never making contact. Not too bad you think, three strikes and you're out anyway. Nope. Remember that this is more of a practice, so everyone's being nice and letting me try as many times as I need. Woohoo. I get to stand at the plate while everyone watches me for as long as it takes to hit the ball. Then I would hit the ball, run to first, only to realize that it was a foul therby making me run back and start the whole wonderful process again. Yes I did finally hit the ball, three times in all. And here are some things I learned that night: 1. hitting a softball with a bat is not that easy if you haven't done it in like 15 years. 2. Practicing T-ball and toss-the-ball-lightly with Mason does not work for adult games. 3. If Mason's sporting future depends at all on my ability to help teach him, he will do much better trying soccer than baseball.

Of course an exciting week cannot be so without good food. Thursday I had a wonderfully yummy breakfast with some friends at a resturaunt I've never been to - later my sister informed me it was featured on a show on Food Network. Later that day we celebrated the 24th. A holiday to remember the pioneers who settled Utah - to me it's like another 4th of July; business closed, BBQ's, family and fireworks.

So there you are. The week's wrap-up you might not have wanted, but you got anyway.

camps and holidays and museums, oh my!

Ok. So I feel like it's been so long since I've posted I have to decide what to actually post about. I guess that means we've been keeping pretty busy. My biggest adventure recently was girls camp. I, along with a handful of other adults, took all the young girls (12-18) in our church for a little week-long adventure in the mountains. When I was a young girl this was sometimes refered to as "rough camp". It cannot be called that any longer without lying. This place was built with youth and family groups in mind. Everything was organized and kept very clean. And although it was not as nice as home (public bathrooms, waiting in line to shower, bugs, dirt & wooden bunkbeds) it was a far cry from tents and outhouses. So beyond the fact that I had to sleep in a sleeping bag and learn how to balance my dirty clothes, clean clothes, towel and shower supplies on only one hook in the bathroom I had a very fun time. I don't even think I got a single bug bite thanks to my constant application of bug spray.

And for the visual interest...

I got home from camp the afternoon of the 4th and have been busy ever since. Here's a few more photos of some of the fun things we've been doing.

Milo loved to swing the sparklers in circles, while dancing around and making rocket/airplane noises.

Mason's sparklers ran out right as I was about to take the picture. Either that suprised him, or he was upset at the fact that he could no longer try to light items on fire. And by "items" I am refering to the trees, plants, sparkler boxes and whatever else seemed exciting to watch burn.

Mason, Milo and Lightning (Milo's spiderman cheetah) enjoying the view from the waterfall at Thanksgiving Point.

We invited a friend of Mason's with us for a trip to the Dinosaur Museum. This week the museum was celebrating it's birthday. They had some fun extra activites and crafts for the kids to do. Here they are showing off the face painting they got.

Milo wanted to take his picture next to this dinosaur painted on the wall.

Well, not as exciting maybe, but just as eventful to us - today was Erik's birthday. I tried to take the kiddos to Erik's favorite restaurant. But since Erik always got bored with things, there's no real restaurant that stood out as THE ONE. So it ended up being a toss up between Wallaby's (brisket, pulled pork & mashed potatoes) or Taco Bell. Taco Bell is definatly a long-running favorite of Erik's, but Wallaby's tastes just a little better. So I let the boys decide. Milo said he didn't want food, Mason said he loves Wallaby's. Easy decision with no fighting - excellent. So we ate lunch there then I took them to pick out a balloon to take to the cemetary. The boys get kinda bored just looking at grass and giant rocks with writing on them, so I figured taking a balloon would add a little excitement to the trip. Mason picked out a Happy Birthday balloon with Lightening McQueen and Mater; Milo's had Elmo on it. And even though Erik was never the guy who liked flowers as gifts, I took him some anyway. Mason, the big kid, tied his and Milo's balloons - then they both proceeded to try to jump over the strings while the balloons blew around. Typical monkeys.

Later in evening I attended a BBQ that some of my old co-workers did as a fundraiser for our family. It was a great turnout and a lot of fun - they had food and live music. It is still amazing to me at all the people involved, that want to help out, that I don't even know. There are just so many nice people in the world, and I feel so fortunate to know so many of them. So thank you to everyone who planned and helped out tonight - and everyone who showed up to hang out!

Happy Birthday Mason!

Today Mason officially turned the big SIX. Here are some things that happened today to remind me that he is getting older and more, I guess you could say mature.

This morning I missed a call on my cell phone from my mom. She wanted me to call her back she she could wish Mason a happy birthday. I just handed the phone to Mason and told him to call her. No problem. It's not that he hasn't been doing this for a long time, its just that it still makes me laugh at how easy he maneuvers the cell phone (and all other electronic devices).

After lunch we planned to see the movie Kung Fu Panda with some family. We got to the theater and the most excited words out of Mason's mouth were, "Hey, Indiana Jones! I want to watch that movie." The cartoon about cute animals that fight the bad guy just wasn't as exciting to him as I thought it would be. (Milo however did like the movie.)

For his birthday we went to dinner (Mason's choice of course) with just us. As the boys were waiting for me to make some phone calls before we left they started drawing some pictures. When Mason finished he handed me a folded paper and asked me to take it to the restaurant and give it to him after dinner. There was a beautiful picture with a blue sky, sun and car driving along. Inside the card said something like, "To Mason - I love you - love mom" (all spelled correctly this time). So basically Mason made me a card to give to him for his birthday. What a funny kid.

So HAPPY BIRTHDAY MASON! You are officially old enough to start first grade, strong enough to pour your own milk & mature enough to take care of your mom. -- Now if only we could get you to stop shooting your straw wrappers at everyone :)

I feel like for once within the last 10 days I can finally relax. As most of you know today we celebrated and remembered Erik (and his crazy, accident prone life). Getting to today has been so crazy and busy with all the planning, choices to make, phone calls to answer that I feel like it's kept my thoughts other places. I know it's all happening, but it just seems so weird that it almost seems hard for me to comprehend. It might be a mix of being busy and tired, but I feel a little spaced. It's probably what's helping me. I definatly don't think I'm holding together so well all on my own. First of all I have a wonderful family around me. They have all been here to help keep me company, take care of the boys, clean my house, or any other random errand I've needed done this past week. Second I have great friends. All the sincere offers for help and the thoughtful words of encouragement and love really help me out. And last, but of course not least, would be all of the prayers and blessings that have been sent my way. I am so thankful that there are so many people out there that are praying for our little family. Even though it is not a tangible thing, I feel like right now it provides us with the greatest help I can ever ask for. The only way I can think to explain how I've done everything is to say its just not all me. So keep them coming if you don't mind - especially for the boys. They still seem to be handling this all so well, but of course being their mother I worry about them every day. They are wonderful, they are entertaining, and most of all they are so loving to me. I tell them I'll take good care of them, but I know that they are going to be what keeps me going too. Nothing like a hug from little arms to make you happy!

We love you Erik!

Erik Mason Rudy, after a strong battle with leukemia, passed away peacefully at his home in American Fork on June 10, 2008. Erik was born on June 21, 1979 in North Richland Hills, Texas to his parents Frank & Missie Rudy. He lived in Keller Texas until high school graduation. From there he moved to Idaho to attend Ricks College. After serving an LDS Mission to Juan Pessoa, Brazil he moved to Provo, Utah where he met the love of his life, Emily Toy. They were married on January 19, 2002 and sealed together for eternity on February 22, 2003 in the Bountiful Temple. He graduated from Brigham Young University in 2004 with a degree from the Communication department - with an emphasis in business management. Soon after graduation he formed his own auto sales business. In his business he always looked more to providing people with what they wanted instead of just selling them a car. His regards to others feelings was one of his greatest traits. He was always genuinely interested in not only a person’s life, but their loves, hopes and dreams. In his own life his greatest love was his wife and children, Mason Dax & Milo Parks. He was a very thoughtful husband and father. The well being of his family was always his first priority. He is survived by his wife and two sons, his father and mother, sister Heather Erickson, his grandmother Carol “Oma” Mason, and many wonderful family and friends. He loved and often reminisced about all his nurses, PA’s and doctors at both Utah Valley and LDS Hospitals. We thank you for all you did; you gave us added time and incredible memories with him. Friends may call Friday evening at the American Fork West Stake Center, 500 North 700 West, American Fork, Utah from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Funeral services will be held Saturday, June 14, 2008 at 11:00 a.m. at the same location. An additional viewing will be held one hour prior to services. Interment will be in the American Fork City Cemetery. Condolences may be sent to the family at http://www.serenicare.com/. Donations can be made at Mountain America Credit Union to the Rudy Family Donation Account to benefit his wife and children.

happy & married

My little sister Stacie got married on the 17th. We were worried about rain - but it turned out to be a wonderful sunny day and everything was beautiful! Erik was a groomsman and Mason was the ring bearer. He was so cute in his little tux.





He took his responsibility very seriously - we prepared him by showing him other ring bearers on youtube and telling him how he was picked because Stacie knew he was a big boy and he would do a good job. He made sure to let everyone know he was picked instead of Milo because he was older and wouldn't cause any problems like the ones he saw on youtube.





Mason, Stacie & Emma (the beautiful flower girl)





As you can probably tell from Milo, it was very hot and tiring during picture time.





And here's the whole family!