Memorial Day

Monday, May 31, 2010
Dear Max
Happy Memorial Day! We had such a fun Memorial weekend. It was so nice to have some extra time off and time to spend with our family. We were lucky enough to have Grammie, Papa and Uncle Geary, Aunt Jali, Daniel and Natalie all come down to our house. Everyone arrived on Friday evening, the most touching thing was when Daniel came through the door the two of you were so excited to see each other, you walked right over to each other and threw your arms around each other! I have never seen anything like it. The connection between you and your two little cousins is just amazing. I wish we could see them more, but so grateful for the time you do get to see each other, and so glad that you don't forget who each other are between visit! You two immediately started playing cars, a favorite pass time for both of you. It is so nice to have an older cousin! Daddy and I got a break from pushing you around in your car!

But you are such a good little equal opportunity player, that you wanted Daniel to have his turn too - It wasn't as easy for you to take the role of pusher, but somehow you seemed to manage!

And when you got sick of the red car, you headed to Mickey's Airplane! This was a little easier for you to push Daniel around on.

After staying up way too late visiting...oh by the way, you were all in bed, it was the adults that stayed up way too late visiting! We awoke on Saturday morning, the boys (Daddy, Pappa and Uncle Geary) headed over to the gun range for some target practice. The girls and kids headed to the park. You and Natalie LOVED the swings... I think the two of you would have stayed for days had we let you.

After the park and target practice. We got a babysitter for the kids, and the adults headed to one of Daddy and my favorite restaurants... Hot and Juicy Crawfish! It is the best! We were so excited to show Pappa, Grammie and Uncle Geary and Aunt Jali one of our favorite places.

Here is the before picture

And the after picture...

We look like we enjoyed our dinner!

Look at those Crab Legs! YUMMY!!!

Auntie Julie is so brave...she would touch it, but wouldn't eat it! CHICKEN!

Same goes for Auntie Andrea... brave enough to make jokes with our food, but not to eat it!

My FAVORITE!

After the restaurant, Pappa and Grammie came back home to take over for the babysitter. And the rest of us went down town to see a show and hang out on the Las Vegas Boulevard. It was so fun to have some adult time with family and friends.

We woke up Sunday and packed up our bags to drive back to St. George, we wanted to spend the next part of our weekend with our family in St. George. When we arrived we spent some time over at Aunt Kathy's. It was so fun to see her, she couldn't believe how much you had grown. We enjoyed a lazy Sunday.

Monday we spent the day swimming and having a pizza party with our family. You still love the water! You were not as brave as you have been in the past, but still enjoyed your time soaking in the water!

You and Natalie as you prepare for the pool...

Getting in the water...

Our Family

We finished our Memorial Day visit with a visit to Grandma Trenholm's then it was good bye to our family till next time. It was so fun to spend time together! We love our family and we love you Max!

Mommy's got it all wrong!

Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Dear Max,
So Monday was a big day! You started your first day at Preschool. I've been so nervous for you. Hoping that you will like the school, you will like the kids, the kids will like you, the teachers will like you. Just praying every moment, that everything will work out. Leading up to this day, it was just so hard to believe that I would be dropping you off at school, and wouldn't know a single sole there taking care of you! But I guess the truth of it is I didn't know Jaime when you started going to her house.... So of all the weeks for Daddy's schedule to be flipped, this is not the week I would have liked it to happen! Daddy has been going into work at 3:30 in the morning, so I have taken over the morning duties this week. Daddy has your mornings down, getting himself dressed, you dressed, your lunch made, making his lunch, feeding you breakfast and getting you to the babysitters on time. It's quite remarkable to me that he is able to accomplish this every morning... cause it has absolutely rocked my world trying to pull this off this week!

I dropped you off at your first day of school on Monday, we walked in and you were so excited, looking all around and eager to go into your classroom. Until I left...you cried...and cried... I then left...and I cried and cried. I cried the whole way to work. To be honest, this was not the first time I cried about this. The truth is I have been crying for a week leading up to this. But I knew I had to be brave! After school I picked you up, by far the highlight of the day. You were so excited to see your Mommy. However, as soon as we got to the car, you gave me the silent treatment! What's this!?!? Are you mad at me? Tuesday, we were at it again, up early, got dressed, lunch made out the door, got to the school, dropped you off and more crying... I left your classroom and headed out to the lobby, Shelly, the administrator said, "it's going to be ok, he will get use to it, and he calms so quickly" All I could think was... "stop talking to me, I need to run to my car so I can cry!" This is tearing my heart out! Still the highlight, picking you up at the end of the day, until the car ride home full of silence... Where is my little boy? This morning, we were at it again, dressed, lunch made out the door. Then as I'm driving to school it dawns on me... you must be thinking... "This lady is an IDIOT! When Daddy dropped me off, he never took me here! Does mommy not realize that this is not where I go?" A big change with more change never goes over well! Only a few more day's and daddy will be back on morning duty and hopefully this dropping off will go much better for the both of us! Oh, and I'll be honest, it also dawned on me this morning, that they don't give you breakfast at school...and we haven't had breakfast Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday morning... Maybe that is the problem, maybe your just hungry! Oh My! I'm not good at this!! Daddy! We need you back on morning duty!!

Awwwwww

Sunday, May 23, 2010
Dear Max,
Today was a special, special day at church. It was.... YOUR FIRST DAY IN NURSERY! I was so nervous for you, but so excited for you too. We have been talking about this big day for awhile, but who knows if you really knew what you were getting yourself into. Sister Wolfe, was all prepared for your arrival. Each of the kids have their pictures on these sheep, when you arrive you take your sheep and put it up on the chart, that way they know who's there and it helps with pick up too, but we will get back to that. You went right in, found your sheep, put it up on the chart and walked right over to start playing with the play dough with Brother Cramer. You never looked back. So Daddy and I were brave and walked right out. All during Sunday school we kept looking back at the door to see if they were coming to get us, but as each minute went by we became more and more comfortable that you were ok. I must say, it was so wonderful to sit, listen and enjoy the lesson. Awww is the best way to sum it up. I'm angry with myself for all those years prior to your arrival, that I did not take more advantage of not having to wrangle and worry about a child disrupting the lesson. It was so nice to have this freedom back. I have a whole new respect and love for the nursery workers. I wish I would have understood what it meant to the parents, when I was a nursery worker. I hope the nursery workers know what it means to us. As blissful as Sunday school and Relief Society / Priesthood were, I will say as soon as the meetings were over Daddy looked over to me and said. READY!?! Yup! Daddy said "It's like Christmas morning, I have that giddy excitement to go get Max and see how his afternoon was!" I thought that was the perfect explanation.

So, it was our first time picking up a child from Nursery. Apparently you are suppose to take the sheep off the wall hand it to the nursery worker and they will hand you your child. Well, Max took one look out the door, saw his Daddy and I and he was out. I will say we were so excited to get him that we just grabbed and went. Tony handed the sheep and we were on our way. Meanwhile back in nursery they had the sheep and was looking for Max. Suddenly one sister came down the hall and said... "Oh good, you have Max!" Day one and they thought they lost you! Next time we will be better! It was our first time! :) I had a chance to talk with your nursery leader Sister Wolfe after church, she said you did really well, you LOVED singing time (I knew you would!) and said that you did really well participating and getting along with the kids. I'm so proud of you and so happy you had such a great time. You had rosy cheeks, which to me is a great indicator that you played hard, learned and had a good time. It's hard to believe that you are ready for nursery, but we are so happy that you continue to grow and remain a happy little boy. Max, we are so proud of you and love you very much!

Getting ready for church

On our way!

A happy Nursery Boy

Showing us your art work
(It's upside down, but we got the point)

Half the day in St. George the next half at Home

Saturday, May 22, 2010
Dear Max,
This morning we woke up at Grammie's house. It's always so fun to enjoy time with Grammie and Grampie, my favorite is breakfast at Grammie's kitchen table. I love the crispness of the morning and the view from Grammie's dining room table is amazing. It's home. After breakfast Daddy and I took you on an ATV ride around the neighborhood. You love riding the ATV and make the vroom vroom sound the entire time we are riding. It's really cute!

Vroom Vroom

After our morning ride, we went over to Grandma Trenholm's. Your uncle Mark drove in from Colorado. We don't get to see each other much, so it was super fun to spend a bit of time with him. You warmed right up and enjoyed Uncle Mark showing you pictures of your cousin Jacob and Aunt Jill on his camera.

You and Uncle Mark looking at pictures

You laughed at the ones of Jacob pulling funny faces.

Grandma kept saying, I can't believe that my boy's are here. She was so thrilled to have everyone there. So I had to get a picture of Grandma with her boy's.

The boy's with Grandma

Giving Kisses good bye. Until next time. Love you Grandma!

After returning back to Las Vegas, Daddy had to go to work, it was a quick turn around at the house, so Daddy put up the safety gate at the door, so he could leave the door open and carry our luggage back and forth without any little people (you) or little doggies (cooper) escaping. Daddy headed off and I started to put down the gate, when Cooper saw a open crack and took off! The two of us called for Cooper, "come back Cooper" "Want a treat Cooper" nothing would lure him back in the house. Suddenly I saw him bolt down the street. Typically if we close the door and act like we have gone inside, this will make him fearful of being left and he will come back to the house. Not this time. I waited for awhile and then got nervous. So I packed you up in the stroller and grabbed Cooper's leash and headed out. I walked the neighborhood, we couldn't see him anywhere. I talked to the neighbors that were out and non of them had seen our little, white puppy. I continued to call for Cooper and you were doing the same. Nothing. I had to make the worst call of my life, to your Daddy. He said, I'll turn around and come back now. I was devastated. How could I have lost our dear, sweet Cooper. I walked out to the busy street, with fear in my heart. Please don't let me find Cooper "pancaked" if you know what I mean. He was no where to be found. I started heading back towards our street, when suddenly a little white fluff ball came bounding out from behind some bushes. I grabbed him and put him on the leash, I called your daddy to let him know that everything was ok, and headed back for the house. Oh! I was so mad at Cooper, but so grateful that he was safe and back home. I can't imagine how sad our family would have been without our dear sweet Cooper!

After this big adventure, we all needed a nap! We enjoyed an afternoon snooze. When we woke up we had made arrangements to go downtown to see Mommy's childhood friend Kim. She was in town with her sister and some friends for a girls weekend. She had not met you before, and was looking forward to seeing you. It was so fun to see Kim and for the two of you to meet. It's so fun to see old friends and just pick up from where you last were.

After meeting up with Kim and Sandy, we decided to go meet Daddy for dinner. He was excited for our visit and to show you off to his co-workers. You were a hit as always! We went over to Chipolte for dinner, we sat out on the Patio, it was such a beautiful night. The weather was perfect, we were the only ones out on the Patio, the food was yummy and the company was unbelievable! You were in the silliest mood. You have started repeating everything we say, so of course Daddy and I are having a lot of fun with his. We'll spell daddy by saying D- and then you repeat and so forth. It's really fun. Well last night Daddy started teaching you to say "how you doin' it was hilarious. You were laughing just as hard. It was such a fun night. We dropped off Daddy and then you and I drove on home. You fell asleep on the drive home, I carried you to bed. What a great day! We love you Max!

Dr. Hill Memorial Golf Tournement

Friday, May 21, 2010
Dear Max,
Today we had the opportunity to participate in the Dr. Hill's memorial golf tournament. It was a special day, and a great way to remember Wade. I'm so grateful for my 2nd family, for my sister's, brother's and 2nd mom. The time I get to spend with them is always so fun. I miss Wade so much, I know this day is created for him, but it's day's like today that I wish so much that he could be physically be here enjoying the day with his family and friends. I know Wade is proud of his family, each one of them, and can have peace of mind knowing that he raised 4 happy individuals. What a family! I feel lucky and so grateful to have gotten a slice of my life inspired by Wade. I love you Hill Family!

My favorite Hill family picture. Those are some happy faces!

Daddy got an early start on the greens, but since I wasn't playing in the tournament, we went out a little later, so we could be there for lunch and the prizes. Prior to heading to the golf course, we stopped by Sunset Elementary. They are celebrating their 25th Anniversary. Both being alums of Sunset, Heather and I decided to attend the assembly and remember how "orange and yellow blend together...to make our school stand for ever." Grammie has taught at Sunset for 24 years and was in charge of many of the weeks celebrations including the assembly. It was fun to see our previous teachers and principles of the school.

Heather and I both commented on how big the auditorium felt when we were kids attending school. As adults...not so much!

Heather and Max at the assembly

We then headed over to the Tournament. Here are some pictures from the day.

Daddy teeing up.

My sis's Heather and Heidi cruising around the course.

Takes your breath away! How lucky are we to witness views like this!

Prior to heading out on the course. Daddy and Wayne

Chris, Daddy, don't know and Wayne

In the carts and ready to go....

Should they be standing in the "pits"

Back on the greens

Meanwhile, Grammie, you, Ba (Grandma Hein), Heather, Heidi, Molly and I hung out on the patio. Eating lunch, enjoying the view, the conversation and great company. The weather was unbelievably perfect. What a great day!

Enjoying some water from the straw....

Makes for a happy boy!

Giving Kisses to Ba

It was an amazing day! I love you Wade and miss you everyday! Thank you for your family, I love them so much!