E-mail update that my mom sent us in Mexico. Since we use blogger for journal purposes, I have included it.

So,Harleigh and me are like this now. She calls me Nanny, but maybe not with a capital n. She did her best to talk Dylan into a good attitude about his impending nap on the way home from school, but he saw right through it. Luckily, I had a surprise incentive up my nanny-sleeve, and the nap was a s-nap. I had called Shelly and made arrangements to go to her house and see any small animals she might have around. She only had big ones for the most part, but we saw chickens, petted the horse and Dawson even got a short bareback ride. Dyl wanted nothing to do with those infernal country animals at all, but I think the next time the Fitz's hire a hand, it will be Dawson. They had goats, cats, horses, sheep and sheepdogs, and one rumored big white thing that guards the property and all living things on it. I wasn't impressed, because I never saw it, but I think it is like Colonel Flagg on M*A*S*H--everywhere but nowhere. That's the point. She says he roams around the whole of the property and guards everything. We did see his leavings in with the big sheep--non-farm animal leg parts lying helter skelter in various stages of decomp. I think I'm with Dylan.
We followed up the red-neck activity with a trip to McDonald's and the play land which is no more. Emma didn't seem to mind. She wandered around with a basketball eating fries off the floor and taking drinks randomly from various cups. (gotcha) She put a whole hamburger away and a bunch of fries. I got her water though, so the whole meal wasn't bad for her. What kinda kids order the dinner salad with grilled chicken on the top ? What?!? Are you kidding' me? It's unnatural. That's what Daw and Dyl wanted so they split one. Made me feel right guilty about my quarter pounder with cheese and fries. We were sitting in the play land, and the noise was one decibel lower than A Freight Train A Comin'. so I hadn't heard the car alarm on the Tahoe. I did finally notice the blinking rear lights when I saw the crowd assembling to try and turn it off. That darn Emma--so sneaky--always trying to undermine my Nana-cool. I had fun for a while though--just far enough away to hit the panic button when people started to walk away, then turn it off again. Simple pleasures. . .
Jeff and Mall came down tonight to figure out why the lights in the garage won't come on, and why the garage door wouldn't go up. Simply a breaker issue said Jeff, and fixed it. I had to man my strong nana arms a couple of times today to get into and out of the garage. That sucker is latifreakin'da heavy, but not to worry--it's all fixed now, and I'll use a hotpad tonight... Hope you're having a great time. Love--nanny

Since we use blogger as a journal, I have added the e-mail updates from my mom, that we got in Mexico.

Ole! Hope y'all are having a great time. We had a great couple of days. Emma started to get upset after Relief Society on Sunday realizing that her dad was not going to join us for Sunday School... We spent Sacrament meeting out in the foyer because there wasn't a pew on the side left, and we needed containment, so we opted for the entire hall. At least that was Emma. The boys sat quietly and Dawson did activities with Aunt Mallory and Dylan did activities with me. I couldn't believe that the nap thing could actually come off as you predicted. 3 out of 4 of us had a great nap on Sunday afternoon, after which the big family joined us for dinner. Jeff and Mall tried out a new recipe this week: bread sticks-- a big hit. One of the boys mentioned them again today. We ate them all. Mom brought cheesy broccoli and infamous jello salad, and the roast and spuds with gravy were good, too. I couldn't find another can of C.of Mushroom, so I added one mushroom and one C of Chicken, and damn it was good. Speaking of Damn, That's what Dylan said today at mom's house when Dawson 'accidentally' squirted him while watering the plants for her. Damn Dawson. The boys took to crushing the cans like, well, you know. They just took to it. The possibility of squishing each other's hands was so enamoring, they did all but a few of one bag. Then when they came in, they announced they had also swept the garage. Mom called tonight to say how great the garage looked. How 'bout that, huh? Hannah and I did a speed cleaning of the floors and bathrooms, and the chandelier in the living room, and I threw a loaf of moldy bread away, and every other nutty muffin--we ate the odd ones and we're still here to tell about it. At 7:15 this morning, I was awakened to Dawson screaming for Dylan to come tell me he needed wiped. I asked him what he thought might happen at kindergarten if he needed wiped and he said he wasn't planning to poop at school. Hmmm. It's good we have a few months to encourage him that most boys wipe themselves. Dave does, right? Randy does, and I think Jeff does. But I'm still working on Will. We were at mom's by 9:30. Top that will ya? We came back but it was 12:10 when we got here, and Emma was sound asleep in her car seat, unbeknownst to me because her mom said she NEVER sleeps in the car. La ti freakin' da Liarmouth. I got her in and in the bed, but she slept around 10 minutes more was all. I got her down a little later, say 3:00, and she slept about an hour. But she was anxious to go to bed tonight, and it was probably about 8:15 when she made her intentions clear. She wasn't even interested in much milk, but you wouldn't believe what she put away for dinner. Leftovers from last night's dinner, and she really chowed. The boys have taken a little dip in the hot tub each night before bed, and we've read a couple of stories each night, tucked them in like little Mexican Riviera burritos, and never heard a peep again. Piece of freakin' cake. Don't worry about us. Oh yeah, Audrey came up for a couple of hours today. Toward the end, Dawson kept coming in and asking her if she wasn't about to leave? Haven't you stayed long enough? How soon are you going? Stuff like that. He told her I was there to play with them not to visit with her. It was pretty funny. As she left, (she was about at the end of the house) Dawson yelled 'Bye and slammed the door. We all laughed about it. Out of the mouths of babes. . . so there you have the first report. We're all still alive...All still pumped...Still making plans for the next day...enjoying your great bed at night. You really tape Deal or No Deal??? Love mom

SpongeBob Emma Pants

My baby didn't get her first teeth until about 11 months, and she has had 2 enormous top, front, teeth since then. They have a huge space in between them, and they are very visible when she smiles. I think they are adorable. Yesterday Dave was picking up some of the kids' crap and held up a coloring book with SpongeBob's face on the cover, he said, "Who is this?" It looks just like my sweet baby.

It's official! Mall and Jeff are hitched. The sealing was beautiful and perfect. It was a great feeling in the temple this morning. When we came out, we had to get the kids' dressed in their monkey suits for pictures. It was not fun trying to keep the boys from rolling down the hill in their tuxes, but we mostly succeeded. Emma had some serious attitude and kept throwing herself down in the flowerbeds. She did not want to have her picture taken and bawled the whole time. We finally got pictures over with and went back to the hotel to have naps! It was glorious. I am very sunburned and it is making me extra tired.

Tonight was one of the best receptions that I have been to. You know the wedding is going to be fun when the D.J. plays AC/DC in the church. We danced all night. Dawson was pretty funny about dancing. He kept watching this little girl dance, but when we told him to ask her, he refused, and turned beet red. After about 20 minutes, he couldn't sit still any longer and went over and asked her to dance. They were damn adorable. He put his arm on her hip, and they rocked back and forth to the music. Dawson twirled her, and then brought her back to the starting position. It was so cute. About half way through the reception, we had some trouble when another little girl wanted to dance too. They worked out an agreement and each girl got every other dance. It worked out okay, until one girl didn't want to let go. They started arguing and pulling on Dawson's arms. The poor kid looked petrified, especially when one of the girls' said, "fine, I'm going to tell my brother!" We settled it by making Dylan dance with the other girl, which he hated. He only likes to dance with me, or another adult that can swing him around. At the end of the night, Dawson came up to me and said, "My feet are killing me." But he had a smile on his face and we all had a great time.

Circus Circus...Circus

Dave flew in to Vegas this morning and I was so glad to see him. Besides being an extra set of hands, to help wrangle the chitlins, he is my absolute best friend, and I miss him when we are not together. I love his guts, and we have so much fun together. Almost 10 years ago, we honeymooned in Vegas, and have since returned several times for quick weekends of gambling, food, and the stuff my children won't want to read about after I am dead. This weekend is a little different though, with the kids' tagging along, so we went from the airport, to Circus Circus.
We spent a good portion of the day riding rides and playing with the kids'. They had a great time, and we enjoyed spending time as a family. Emma was so funny on the carousel. She clicked her tongue, (horse noises) the whole time and thought it was so funny when she would see herself in the mirror. The boys' really liked the Pirate Ship, and the Sponge Bob ride. My parents took the kids' on some rides, so that Dave and I could hit the roller coaster, and other adult rides with my sibs. It was a good time.

We went to the Temple with Mall, tonight for her endowments. The Vegas Temple is beautiful, and about as far away from the Strip as possible. My Dad used his TomTom GPS to get us there. He has all these voices downloaded to give the directions and we had Al Pacino get us most of the way there, and then decided it was appropriate to have the voice of God, guide us in. When we pulled into the temple grounds it said " You have arrived my child." and we had. It was a very special evening, and I am glad she is going to be a part of our family.

Today was so fun! I love spending time with my family. We went to the MGM Grand this morning to see the lion exhibit. The kids' loved it, especially Emma. She was on Hannah's shoulders and was just going nuts with her sign language. She was frantically signing cat, and happy. It was pretty cute. We hit the M & M factory too, and had fun with the little 3D movie. Dylan didn't like it, because his glasses didn't fit, and he was a little freaked out about the giant M&M walking around.

We ate lunch at the In and Out Burger, but I am not sure what the big deal is. I didn't think it was spectacular, it just tasted like a burger. Everyone got t-shirts though, so they were happy.

At the pool this afternoon, Hannah and I took the kids' into the hot tub to warm up, and this older guy and his wife were in the hot tub. Hannah sat down on the step, and had Emma in her lap. Emma's legs were not even submerged, and the old guy said " I thought you were the smartest girl in this pool, until you brought that baby in here."
Then his wife piped in with, " Don't you know that you can boil a baby in a hot tub?"
I explained to them that it was my baby, and that she had been hot tubbing since she was in the womb, and that she gets in our hot tub at home on a regular basis. Thank you very much.
I was very kind with them until they would not let it go. Then I said, "Well, if she boils, then we will have something for dinner." That prompted multiple comments from my brothers and sister about how we ought to throw some potatoes in the hot tub, to compliment our boiled baby, ect... Eventually they left the hot tub, and we had a delicious dinner that night. I would have to say though, I prefer my baby barbecued over boiled.

Are We There Yet?

Our drive to Vegas this morning was pretty hairy. It took me about 45 minutes to make it to Heber to pick up Jeff, and then over an hour to get to Provo, for Hannah. In my pre-trip planning, I going to be in Beaver at least, in the first 2 hours, especially since Dave wasn't going to be driving with us. He doesn't believe in the '10 miles over,' speed limit rule, that I follow.

We put Hannah in the back, to entertain the hoodlums, and she did a good job. She is a good sister to me, and endured a lot during those 7 hours. It is funny how car trips come in stages. The first hour, everyone is excited and talking, then it starts to quiet down, and you watch a movie, or listen to some music. The breaking point is probably different for every family, but about 2-3 hours into a trip with us, and we are at the threats/swearing/delirium stage.

Vegas was so nice when we finally got there. I had a hard time keeping the clothes on the boys as we raced up to our hotel room. We were all ready for the pool, and that is where we spent the rest of the day. It was beautiful.

I'm working this weekend, so I can spend this next week in Las Vegas. Interestingly enough, I think you can tell what kind of day you will have by your first patient. My first patient of the morning was brought by the ambulance due to the fact he was wandering around downtown with nothing but a women's thong on, and muttering to himself......... bring it on.

Addendum: 5 PM- I only have a couple of hours left on my shift, yea! and I am just getting rid of the above mentioned patient. He had to be on the monitor for observation , but 10 hours later he is now coherent. I was in the process of discharging him and he accused me of stealing his work boots. He said that he distinctly remembered wearing his boots into the hospital. I said, "No, you were wearing that (pointing to his black and pink lace thong on the floor), and one sock." He was pretty indignant that he would have to leave with only hospital slippers on, but I pointed out that I had given him some scrubs, and that had drastically improved his wardrobe situation. Two more hours!

Today was a great day. We are headed to Vegas for a week on Monday, so the boys helped me clean the house really well, and do a ton of laundry. I always get ornery when I clean, because I feel it is a fruitless labor. I had to strap Emma in her high chair, while I mopped, so that she wouldn't slip on the floor, or track crap onto it, but then she just threw pieces of her string cheese all over the floor. The boys had to keep walking on the floor to tell me important "secrets", i.e "Tell Dylan, I get the blue plate for lunch." Anyway, I did my part.

It got pretty warm, later in the morning, so we went outside to play. We were so happy to see some lawn poking through all the snow, so we decided to play baseball. Both boys love to have the waffle ball pitched to them. I make Dawson stand at least 10-15 feet away, because he aims for me, and he can hit really hard. Dylan decided to field for Dawson and stood behind me, staring at the clouds and smelling his mitt. He said that his mitt smelled like Lake Powell, which I attribute to being made out of the same material as his life jacket. Anyway, Dawson missed a few balls, and Dylan kept razzing him, yelling at him to hit some balls to him. Dawson got really frustrated and started to hit the ground with the bat when he would miss. I went over and we had a little talk about how it was supposed to be fun, and I said, "sometimes I don't get every pitch perfect, we just have to be patient with each other." So we continued playing, and when Dawson missed another ball, he came running up to me and gave me a big squeeze around the legs and said, " I am sorry you're such a terrible pitcher mom."

We had our usual movie night, and watched 'Surf's Up,' with the boys', then Dave and I watched, 'I Am Legend,' which I quite liked, although I was a little nervous going to bed. I checked the doors a couple of times.

April Foolz

I have really enjoyed cooking lately, and experimenting with different types of food. My family has also enjoyed it for the most part. This morning I was trying to print out a new recipe from the computer. Dawson wandered in and asked me what was coming out of the printer. I told him it was a recipe for dinner. He thought for a minute, and then said, "sounds more like a recipe for disaster." I started laughing and asked him where he had heard that. He then broke out in a full song, including jazz hands, from an episode of the Backyardigans. What a kid.

By 9:30 this morning, I couldn't have been more ready to drop the boys off at school. This is how the ride to school went.
Dawson says "Mom, there is a spider in your hair! April Foooooools!" then Dylan say the same exact thing. Then Dawson says "Mom, there is a snake on your head! April Foooooools!" then Dylan says the same thing. This repeats over and over for 15 minutes, then I hear them giggling and Dylan says" I got a good one Daws. Mom, you have some hair on your head! April Foooooools!" and then mass hysterics. I was feeling pretty sorry for the preschool teachers.