"Young boys should never be sent to bed,

Instead of playing peek-a-boo, Truman Plays,
“Where Me Go?”
I love this phase, when Children are learning to speak.

What a Weekend!
We were so busy, and usually so much busy-ness is hard on the boys, but they had a FABULOUS weekend! (Probably because it was so full of wonderful things!)
Here is a short travelogue:
The weekend kicked off on Friday morning, when we had a neighborhood Easter egg hunt at Discovery Park. What could be better than finding eggs at a Park?
Then we were off to “Famous Daves Steakhouse” in Layton to Celebrate Grandma Phillips Birthday. We had delicious dinner of ribs, brisket, corn bread, BBQ chicken, corn…it was fun to all go out and be together, let the kids play and to honor my mother-in-law.

We drove up to Logan from there. Where we fell asleep quickly, anticipating the next day…
Saturday Morning, started off with Dying Eggs at the Phillips House, then we got ready and went to “Baby Animal Day”. It was the perfect place for our city slicker boys. As we were walking around with the Phillips Clan, I heard the conversation of Christopher with his siblings, saying… “at one time or another we probably had all of these animals at our house…”
“Yea, we didn’t need to go to baby animal day, we had our own baby animal day, everyday!” What a chuckle!
Truman was so enthralled with the animals, he kept trying to feed them grass and hay, and was so excited to be at a farm.

Tucker on the other hand, was more interested in the tractor rides, and dying easter eggs, he just wanted to quickly pet the animals, then was ready to move on to the next thing.

After baby animal day we went up to the River, (Christopher’s parents property) and the boys had a great time up there.

The kids always end up spending a majority of the time in the sandbox or playing in the water.

It was a relaxing day, and Tucker made a stepping stone to put next to his tree, (Truman will make his next time).

We enjoyed the Easter Egg Hunt. It was fun to watch all of the kids, they are getting older now, and can do it by themselves.

In fact Sophie and Tucker were racing each other to get the most eggs, and kept tripping into each other and spilling their baskets, then gathering their eggs up again.

And of course no Phillips Easter gathering would be complete without the rolling (or throwing) of the eggs. We went up the big hill, and threw our hardboiled eggs down.

By this point the boys were exhausted, but having so much fun they didn’t want to leave, but it was time for our drive back to Utah County.
When they woke up, they were back home in their beds, and the Easter Bunny had visited our home.
We enjoyed our Easter Morning as a family, and then off to Church. Where we loved watching all of the children filled with Sugar try to sit reverently and listen.
After Church, we went to my parents. The Hunsakers, Candace, Amy and Eric were all there, and we enjoy a delicious dinner, and then dyed easter eggs together.


Truman and Tucker got a Disney Sticker Book that they have LOVED, and wanted to play with continually. We finished the night off with a Tetris Nintendo Tournament.

I think Eric was the champion, although I am not quite sure —

I was dying easter Eggs with Truman, who kept pulling them out, and saying, “Done Yet?”
The boys are exhausted today, but I know they had a grand time. We were surrounded by the people we love all weekend long, and the boys had so many fun things to do, they didn’t want it to end. I don’t blame them, I could l have enjoyed this weekend a little longer too!

I had an older brother. I am a second child. I know how Tricky they can be, (yea, that is right Ryan, I still remember those tricks you played on me) Take a look at this chain of events…
Picture one, Truman is trying to open up some “choc-yet”, and is distracted

Picture two, Truman is still working on that foil, and Tucker spies something he wants in little brothers basket (a pink tart easter candy):

Picture three: Truman finally gets that chocolate, and Tucker is enjoying his candy as well…
Picture four: Truman realizes, and complains, with his mouth full of chocolate, that his pink candy is missing…and I think Tucker doesn’t feel too bad about it…

PS- I didn’t realize what was going on, I was just trying to get both of them to look at the camera. Obviously I was not successful…

This week has been an incredibly busy week for me. Things usually don’t get this crazy, and there has just been alot of things happening, and due to this, I have not gotten to the grocery store yet.
Everyday if you ask Tucker what he would like for lunch, he will say, “meat, cheese and mustard sandwiches”. We’ll a few days ago, we ran out of cheese…
Tucker said Mom, “I guess I will eat a mustard and meat sandwiches.”
We’ll today we ran out of lunch meat…
So Tucker had a mustard sandwich.
He said it was delicious.
I don’t think I will be trying it anytime soon.

Yesterday was my Mother-in-Laws Birthday, and there are many reasons why I admire her….here are a few:

-She is happy, first thing in the morning when she wakes up.
-She is very compassionate.
-She can whip up a meal out of nothing
-She is a fine Quilter
-She wants the best for everyone.
-She is an amazing Chocolate Maker
-I know that if my children are ever sick, I can call her for medical advice.
-She raised an amazing son, who I get to spend eternity with.
-She loves her children and grandchildren unconditionally…

Happy Belated Birthday, We love you!

I am not good at growing things.
If you need me to teach them how to talk, yes. I can do that. But unfortunatly plants don’t talk, nor do they need to learn. (Unless maybe you live in Little Shop of Horrors)
But What they do need is someone who can take care of them.
With our house, we inherited a beautiful garden. Marj was incredible, and had the greenest thumb I have ever seen. She spend hours in her yard everyday. I am lucky to have inherited such a exquisite place….the only problem is, I am not a plant whisperer. I actually am a Plant Killer. I was able to keep mostly everything alive last summer, and now I am watching the spring flowers burst through the soil. Lets hope that our yard will look some what similar to what it did when we purchased our home last year! Here is a picture of what it looked like then. In a few days when I get the last flower bed cleaned out I will send you a picture of what it looks like now. Hopefully it is a similar oasis.

Tucker is getting so Big, and independent. Here is Tucker and my conversation this morning:

Tucker: What can we eat this morning for Yunch? (He always calls Breakfast Lunch….)
Me: What would you like for Breakfast?
Tucker: You know those things that are flat like pancakes?
Me: You mean Waffles?
Tucker: No, they are flat, and you get to put frosting on them..
Me: Oh you mean Toaster Strudels
Tucker: Yea, I am going to make them for you. You go to bed, and sleep, then I will bring you it…It can be a surprise.

What a fine surprise, Now all I have to do is teach him how to use the oven…. 🙂

Today is my nephew, Issacs birthday, and Truman just adores him. Issac is a little over 2 weeks younger than Truman, but just towers over him in both his height and weight. Truman just thinks the world of Ikey. Any time anyone says a prayer, Truman thinks that is his cue to say his own prayer, which usually sound a little something like this.

Heavenly Father,

Ikey Doh-Doh

Bless Food

Bless Dad

Bless Tucker James (because right now, Truman only calls Tuck by his full name “Tucker James”)

Ikey Doh-Doh

Jesus, Heavenly Father, Amen.

We’ll we pray in the morning, over the food 3 times, then our good night prayers, we hear about Ikey at least about 5 times a day. Usually at some point in the day, Truman will ask, “where Ikey?” or ask if Issac is doing the same thing he is doing, such as, “Ikey Quiet Time?”, “Ikey eat food?”

The Funny thing is, When Ikey and Truey are together, because they are at this age–they don’t really play together, they don’t even really pay much attention to each other, so it is so interesting to me how much he talks and thinks about his cousin. It will be fun to continue to watch these sweet boys grow up together, I am sure over this next year, they will begin to play more and more with each other, and get to know each other better!
Happy Birthday Ikey, you’re the apple of Trumans eye!

The boys have been in the car alot this weekend, with all of the traveling we have been doing. Tonight we went up to Ikeys Birthday Party in SLC, and on the way home, the boys were getting uncomfortable, and I was trying to think of some ways to occupy there attention.
I told them a story of a beautiful princess duck who falls in love with another young duck who is an excellent swimmer. (the duck theme was inspired by a duck that flew in front of our car…) I wove a tale that I felt like was entertaining. After finishing this story, Tucker wanted to tell Tru and I a story, this is how I remember hearing the story:

Tucker: Once there was a bug, and it was next to a dog.
Then the dog ate the bug, and the bug couldn’t get out.
So then the bug pushed his way out of the dog’s poop hole, then a duck came, and he pushed them over, and the dog landed on the bug, so it killed him.
Then a superhero came and got the bad guys, so there skeletons popped out.
Then a penguin came, and got the superhero, and his skeleton popped out, then because he was a superhero, the skeleton went back in again.
THEN, the superhero went back and got the bad penguin, he pushed him in a hole.
The End.
(Big Smile)

When I heard this, I was trying to hold in my “inner giggle”, how did we go from “duck love” to “poop holes” and “skeletons”? I could never tell a story like this, my brain doesn’t work this way. Thank goodness these boys have a father whose brain once told stories similar to this, because I was grossed out. Little Boys Brains, what crazy thoughts must bounce around in there.

We just returned from a wonderful conference weekend at my grandparents Cabin. For me, Conference is a wonderful time to be surrounded by family, unfortunately, the cabin is not the ideal setting to um, listen to conference.
I love being at my cabin. I love the environment, I love the memories, I love seeing my boys experiencing the joy that comes from being at the cabin (that is a post for another day) and most of all I love the people that gather there. There is nothing like family. It is fun to chat, and enjoy the company of good people.
But the fact that there are so many people, (I think this time Rosemary counted 29) and that was without my Mom and Dad(whom we missed greatly by the way), and also, that everyone all seems to end up in the same small space, around the TV or in the Kitchen… and with so many little ones, it makes it difficult for me to intake all that conference entails. We have a living prophet, and apostles that share their inspiration for what WE need, and that is heavy, and wonderful. But truthfully, when at the cabin, I must use every fiber of energy to listen to what is being said… And to be honest, on Sunday Afternoon when listening to conference at my own home, with only 2 children around, I have to use all that same energy. Basically, what I am saying is that listening at the cabin is an exhausting experience. Thank goodness we live in the age of “technology”, where we can go back and listen to the podcasts.
But you know, even thought I was not able to intake everything that I wanted, as I look back over the weekend, with men attending priesthood session together then stopping for ice-cream for the woman, the easter egg hunt, the laughter smiles, and associations, I would not have wanted to spend the weekend anywhere else.