the nani family: April 2012

Well, it was a long time in the plans to get to see our old village gang for one last time. We all met when we lived in the Village at the U of U. Our friendships with them all are something we treasure and hope to maintain throughout our lives, no matter how far apart we are from each other. So here we are- the Sonkens', the Rich's, the Truscott's and the Nani's. Trust me, if I have anything to do about it, there will be more posts in the future about getting together.

We met up at the Hogle Zoo on Saturday. It was the most perfect day, sun shining, 80 degrees...if you look at Adam you can see his greasy hair full of the baby sunblock I lathered him with.

Bob and Duncan.

This stone ball is infamous in our family. "Fluid-on-fluid Action." I may just have to post the video from a few years back. Adam was loving being able to see his reflection.

Adam met Duncan for the first time and what does he do? Yes, he checks out his 'wheels'. "Hey, man, nice ride. Lemme get a good look."

Bennett being his adorable self.

Riding the Carousel. Jana said once the ride started, Bennett had a death grip on that pole. And silly Bob and Duncan got on a animal all the way on the inside. If they were trying to avoid photos, they failed.

Hey Adam, check out what Bennett and Duncan are doing...pretty sure they aren't trying to eat the ride. He eats everything.

The best attraction at the Hogle Zoo? Giraffe Pole Dancing. Check out that arch.

"Tips?"

Okay, so Duncan is two and we were all a little curious at Sara's itty-bitty-bump that was super tiny and I asked David if they had mentioned they were expecting. She is a tiny girl and like I said, she had the smallest bump, so we didn't dare ask her. Then, just as I was about to take a candid shot of these two walking, David leans into Bob and oh-so-discreetly asks...nice one, David. Yep. Another Rich is on it's way...from what I heard it's a girl.

Washing off that nasty sunscreen.

Batman pajamas, sword and a keyboard. I have nothing to say about this.

This was taken in 2008. For your enjoyment.

Let the move begin.

Due to some time constraints and the moving company, we decided to move ourselves to Washington. The earliest the movers could come would be on May 17th and we wanted to leave the 11th. David's start date is May 21st, and we want some time to settle in before he is off being all responsible. So what I thought would be movers coming in and packing up has started a massive move on our part to get everything packed up as soon as we can and ready to go. I don't mind. It is a great opportunity to go through your things and get rid of a lot that you don't want. We'll be ready. So this is what I did this morning...remembering that I have an entire house to pack up.

Doesn't everyone wash and clean your husbands Legos for a move? Once dry, David will disassemble, put them in plastic bags and place them gently in his Lego bin (which is full of a nerd's lifetime collection of Lego kits). I'm so...proud?

I have no words for this.

I went to put some laundry away and I came back into the room I noticed that Adam seemed a little bit taller because he was by the window and able to look out. For about a second I was thinking...'hey, cool, he likes to look at what is going on outside'. Then I realized that he isn't THAT tall and noticed that he had figured out he could climb on his toy to get to the window. He's been pretty smart when it comes to using something to get up on the couch or chair, but this was a whole new ball game. Needless to say, the toy is no longer under the window. He's too smart for his own good. I am sure when David sees these photos he will give Adam a high five.

You are my sunshine...

More beautiful sunshine in Logan this week. I couldn't help but take photos of Adam while he was watching his show the other day. He was sitting in the perfect spot, with the sun coming through the window and shining on his adorable face.

Thesis defended, check.

I want to scream it from the rooftops. I want to write it in the sky. I want to call the entire phonebook. I want to ...well, you get the idea. David defended his thesis on Monday and passed with flying colors! David was able to invite his family to watch and I couldn't have been more proud of my husband. I knew a little bit about what his project was about, so I understood a little bit of what he was talking about but I had no clue about anything when his slides would have a long scary looking equation (of which he explained quite easily to all the committee members). I had never before seen him in a professional setting and I loved watching every second of it. He was so calm and collected. He was born to be an engineer. After his presentation, the committee had a quick Q&A for him. Then after that they signed off of his paper and with a few minor adjustments, that major hurdle for his degree was checked off. Just a few more weeks and he is done! Then off to Washington we will go. We are well on our way to becoming responsible adults. Congratulations David! You rock my world.

These are the only photos that I took of that day...and I am okay with that. I love these boys.

Tickle-tickle

Adam does his hardest to mimic us whenever we do something. His new favorite right now is 'tickle-tickle'. No matter who it is, when he sees someone's foot without a shoe on, he will try to tickle their feet just like we tickle his. For awhile he was just tickling, but now he tries his hardest to say 'tickle, tickle, tickle, tickle'. The best part is that it really comes out like, 'ick-di-doo-ti' or some form of baby babble and he raises his pitch about an octave. I love it. He just starts babbling in a high pitched baby voice trying to say 'tickle-tickle'. Oh my gosh, it is the best.

Here he is, tickling my feet. I hope I can get a video someday before it gets old for him.

More photos.

Adam woke up from his nap yesterday super happy. He usually wakes up in a good mood and I hear him chatting it up with his little friends in his crib. Which, by the way is so funny. He really thinks that he is talking and says his mumbles so matter-of-factly. When we are playing, he looks at me with a serious face and just 'talks'. The face he makes says, "you should really understand all that I am saying to you." Anyway, I love that he wakes up happy. Rarely do we get a grumpy Adam. It's so fun. I had to grab my camera. He is learning to say cheese...and when he does say it, the crinkled face he makes is one of my most favorite things.

House Hunting in Washington

I can't explain how excited I was to go to Washington. I had never been there before and from everyone was telling me, it is supposed to be beautiful. The plan was for me, Adam and mother in law, Janet, to go and look for a place to live. About a week before we left, David had turned in his thesis to his committee and was able to take a few breaths before his defense (which is on April 16th) and he suggested that we go without Adam. The idea was nice for Adam because he wouldn't be dragged around for four days, but the thought of spending all that time without my little man was hard to swallow. In the end we thought it would be best for him to stay at home and I had to go without him. Before this, the most time I have ever spent without him is about 12 hours. I don't think I have ever missed anyone as much as I missed him. Thank goodness for Skype and cell phones with picture/video messages. By day three I completed broke down bawling because I missed him so much. But with all the driving around and full days, it was good the wasn't with us. He wouldn't have been able to nap or get out and play much.

Now to the fun parts of the trip. We flew into Seattle on Wednesday afternoon, picked up our rental car and drove down through Tacoma and back up to Silverdale where our hotel was. We had the wrong address for our hotel and what should have been a quick stop to check in before we headed out for dinner ended up taking about 2 hours. Janet and I had eaten breakfast (which was not much) and nothing else that whole day, so it is easy to say that we were STARVING. After we checked in, we went looking for a place for dinner. That took about another half hour or so. We just couldn't find any place that looked good to us. Then Janet said, "I would give anything to find a Red Robin." Just then I turn the corner and there was a Red Robin! Janet and I both agreed that that meal was the best tasting meal we have had in a long time. Mmmm.

On Thursday we started the hunt. We went to a few that were okay, then we went to one apartment complex and were very impressed with it all. It just 'felt' right. We went to the waterfront in Port Orchard and had lunch at this adorable bakery. They had fresh made bagel dogs. I love bagels, I love hot dogs. Together they are even more delicious. I do plan to go back and take David after we have moved. Such a cute place. We decided that night that the apartment we had found was the one we liked and on Friday we went to look one more time to be sure. Again, we both felt like it would be our new home for the next year or two. That was on Friday and that was also the day I was having such a hard time with being away from my family. Put that together with a guy at the bank who was really rude to me and I just wanted to go back to our hotel, Skype with David and Adam and just chill. Janet was really great and didn't mind that the rest of the day was spent relaxing on the couch of the hotel and watching a movie or two. We got Red Robin that night, too. Oh, and the one cool thing we did was go to the Tacoma Narrows bridge to take some photos. David has always had a thing for bridges and especially the Narrows one. I took the photos for his enjoyment.

Then Saturday we rode the ferry over to Seattle and wanted to see Pike's Fish Market. Well, we got lost again and ended up not making it there. We went to the airport and flew home. That night I went in and grabbed Adam out of his bed to get in a good cuddle with him. It was a great trip, but it was even better coming home to my little family. Having Janet along for the ride was so much fun. I can't thank her enough for all her help. Oh, and here is a photo of Mount Rainier. That day the sky was clear and so blue. The weather overall was amazing there. It rained, but nothing terrible, which I know is pretty rare this time of year. I love where we are moving. I can't wait to explore it.

"Can we discuss the different shades of green?"

Easter time! I love Easter. Last year Adam was still pretty young so we didn't do much as far as he was concerned. We were pretty strict on no sweets for the little guy his first year so he didn't even get a piece of candy. This year we bought some eggs and put some chocolate Teddy Grahams inside. He catches on to things pretty quick and he was able to figure out when he picked up an egg, that a treat was waiting for him inside. He also has a short attention span and the egg hunt ended pretty quickly. We left the eggs outside in case he wanting to come back...a few hours later he did, but all the ants had also figured out a treat was inside the eggs. I think I about died when I saw that Adam was chewing on a plastic egg covered in ants. I am not sure if he ate any...don't the black ones taste peppermint?

Then we dyed some eggs. Aunt Kaira was so sweet with Adam.

Now to explain the title of this post. Soon after the egg dying began, David, Cory and Kaira started a conversation about the technicalities of the dye. David had taken Cory's egg out of the green so he could use it. Cory had wanted it to sit longer and David was sure it was a green as it was going to get. He said to Cory, "Can we discuss the different shades of green?" And it began. I am not sure how, but egg dying had become a serious discussion...something that would only happen with David and Cory. Kaira got really into it, too. Check out how they have the same mannerisms. It was awesome.