Goose

Maverick was named after Top Gun.  When Chris first suggested it I thought he was a weirdo and immediately shot it down.  Especially when he pointed out how awesome it would be to have another kid and name it Goose.  Fast forward to the middle of the night after Mav's birth when he and I were awake in a hospital room getting to know each other.  All of the names I was partial to didn't seem quite right and Maverick just fit but there was no way I was having another one to be his wingman and had the brilliant idea of getting Mav a dog in a couple years to fulfill that role.  Chris was all for that and when his buddy's dog had puppies last month Goose came to join our family a lot sooner than I had planned.  At least he is really good at entertaining Pais all day long and making Hunt the most popular kid on her softbal team.

Rub a Dub Dub

I made it six weeks before Chris left me on my own with all three kids at bedtime. I'm extremely spoiled.  Especially considering originally the plan was he would be going back to the rig a week and a half after Mav was born.  I don't think I would have survived that.  As it was the first time he left I started to panic but luckily I was pleasantly surprised  at how easy that night was.  For the first time ever Mav didn't cry during his bath.  I was able to get all three of them bathed, hair braided, and even got to enjoy watching them all play together on the floor before they went to sleep like angels and I had an extra 15 minutes all to myself before Chris got home.  I felt like a rockstar and was quite proud of myself for handling this whole three kid thing without any major casualties.  Well it was a good thing I took pictures because every time since then has been mass caos but at least I have the pictures as proof it is possible and someday may happen again.

Stinking Goats

This is one of those stories were I share one of my faults and weaknesses.  Typically I try not to share these kind of stories because who wants to admit when they do things they shouldn't but this one besides making me reflect on my parenting skills also makes me laugh really hard.

Huntley recently started playing softball which means we spend a lot of time at the park.  The other day we were heading out the door and I had to take care of the animals.  During the day we stake the oldest goat out to eat weeds and the other goats stay near the tied up one.  When we first got them we were just letting them roam but after my tulips, the Christmas lights and several other things fell victim to them so now we keep them tied up.  Maze also needs to be tied up but we only have the one stake.  I didn't have enough time to tie Maze and put the goats back in their pen so I figured the goats coud wander the two hours we'd be gone and if more tulips were sacrificed it was worth it to not have Hunt show up late.

As soon as I got to the park my neighbor called saying the goats were in her yard and wondered if I wanted her to catch them.  I told her not to worry about it since they aren't the easiest to catch.  By the time we got home they had moved on even farther and were a couple miles down the road.  We drove down there and for the next 45 minutes I proceeded to catch one goat and put it in the truck only to have it jump out and run away by the time I could get the other one.  Luckily Chris got home from work and relieved me from the impossible task of goat wrangling.

Now here comes the part I should be ashamed of but can't help but laugh at.  The next day Pais was quietly playing with her farm animals when I heard her say "get in the damn truck you stinking goat."  Apparently she was reenacting our goat wrangling of the day before and in my frustration I must have let some words slip out I didn't mean for her to hear.  I guess I really need to start watching my language or better yet my husband needs to quit buying me animals.

Easter Weekend

Saturday morning we went to our town Easter egg hunt.

They had different areas of the park split up by age so Chris took Hunt and I took Pais.  This is why all the pictures from now on are only of Paisley. 

Paisley's hunt was pretty easy.  They had eggs scattered all over the grass of the baseball field so it wasn't too hard to find anything.  What was hard was convincing her to pick any of them up.  There was only hard boiled eggs and after picking one up and realizing there was no candy she was confused.

All of the other kids were too so instead of your typical mad dash it lasted awhile and I think I like using real eggs better.  Now I just need to convince the girls to let me throw away all of the eggs they found that are taking up space in my fridge.

That night we colored our own eggs to add to the collection.

This is how Huntley felt about that.

Not really but she was very concerned about turning her finger blue.

Sunday morning the kids woke up and found their Easter baskets.

Typically we do that on Saturday too but since this year their baskets were full of conference entertainment we did it on Sunday.

The rest of the day we took it easy and enjoyed listening to our church leaders.

Chris listens best with his eyes closed.

And we got more snow that day then we did on Christmas.  

Wonderful Weather

This winter was definitely a great one to have a baby.  With so many warm days sprinkled throughout the past few months we've been able to still get out a lot and not go stir crazy from being stuck inside. 

At three weeks old Mav was able to have his first adventure to the river.  We bundled him up and went for a walk while the girls had races, looked for treasures, and climbed all over rocks.

It was so nice out Pais just wanted to lay in the sun and was extremely upset when we had to come home.

Afterwards we came home and made popcorn.  I plan on Mav taking after his namesake and being the best popcorn maker ever so we introduced him to the basics until we can get to Utah and let grandpa take over his training.

On an Adventure

A couple weeks ago Chris went shed hunting and found the biggest horn of his life.  Too say he's been obsessed with finding sheds ever since would be an understatement.  This led to a fun filled family activity trekking around the woods.

We start off like three little ducks lined up in a row happily marching along.

Pretty soon the ducks get tired and want to be carried.  Which lead to our first "oh crap, we are outnumbered" moment.

Then to add to the excitement, the dog meets a porcupine.

And somehow we miraculously make it back to the truck.

No wonder Chris has reverted back to solo adventures.

10

10 years ago Chris and I were in Jackson Hole on our honeymoon.  I love Jackson Hole and I love him so it was a pretty great week.  During that time we imagined what our lives would be like 10 years from now and planned how it would be so great to go on an Alaskan fishing trip to celebrate 10 years of marriage.  As the years went by and a few kids came we changed our minds and decided the perfect way to celebrate 10 years would be by sitting by ourselves on a beach not having to do a thing.

Fast forward 10 years and we've actually reached the much anticipated milestone in our marriage.  Life has happened during that time, we moved during the past year, job loss, and the minor detail of being attached to a baby, so there was no way to make our trip happen this year.  Chris being the amazing husband he is (amazingly crazy!) channeled his inner Johnny Lingo and bought me three goats for our anniversary.  He was pretty proud of himself for making me a three goat wife.  He obvious didn't remember the movie very well because it was cows and Mahana got ten but it's the thought that counts.  And I'm sure this summer when I can lay on a lawn chair in my yard doing nothing because the goats will eat all the weeds, I'll be more grateful for the goats than a Hawaiian vacation.