Getting Ready

So we've been packing a lot lately, a couple hours each morning. We are probably half way packed, maybe more. I have a schedule for each day since we only have the mornings to pack. Friday will have the most since we have to pack food and last minute stuff then. That day is my birthday, so Justin and I are trying to find a day when we can actually celebrate my birthday. So far he is working most of the days after we move in. We'll find a time though. We did get to see our new place today, and not a place similar. We were so excited! They put in new carpets, and the place looks wonderful! We were plotting out furniture and such, and the only room we couldn't really figure out was our bedroom. It is a lot smaller than we are used to, and so we are trying to figure out how to fit our bed and dressers in there.

The kids have been playing great together lately. It is so cute to sit and watch them! Their favorite place is in the blankets. I have several shots of them on different days just playing in the blankets. At least those are easy and quick to clean up!

Hazel has started crawling. She is learning still and is hesitant right now, but if you give her sufficient motivation she will slowly make her way over to it. I have a video on Picasa, but its too much to download here. So here is the link:http://picasaweb.google.com/JustDaCrooks/August2009#5373230652196312578

We bought a washer and dryer this past week. We got a really awesome deal on the set. They are about five years old, but look in new condition. The previous owners took great care of them. They had no problems, but they were offered a nicer set by their neighbors, so that's why they were selling them. When we went to pick them up (with some awesome help from a friend), they had some dogs and four goats that Levi loved. They even let him feed the goats!

So the real adventure begins! We are packing like crazy, and getting every thing ready to move. We won't be able to connect our tv or internet until a week after we move in, so it'll be a little before I update my blog. We have plenty of help thankfully. People from our ward and family are being gracious with their assistance!

The Aftermath

Well we got a definite answer about the place we want to move in to. We were approved! So we will be moving August 29th. It is a place in south Corvallis, a little closer to OSU for Justin. However, it is a 3-bedroom, 1.5 bath duplex for only $10 more a month. It has a larger yard area, a park literally in our backyard, LDS managers, and wonderful neighbors! We are so stoked!! I already know some of the other people who live there (from church), and they are already welcoming us and one has even offered her old piano as a housewarming gift. I am just so excited, I am even looking forward to moving all our stuff!!

So my brother had his fourth child, another boy! His name is Kristopher Thomas Carleski. He weighed 7 lbs. 13 oz. and was just as cute as a bugs ear! He was born August 8th, 2009.

Levi has had some good play time with his cousins who return to Chicago tomorrow. He loves all his cousins so much, I think he will be sad when they go home.

Hazel is teething again. But she has been trying to make the best of it. She is overall a happy baby, but in the evening she is quite whiny and trying. Nothing a little Tylenol doesn't fix though. She is my little sweetheart. She is learning to clap, wave, and say Mama or Dada. It is so cute to watch them learn so much in so little time.

The kids are learning more and more to play together. Levi loves his little sister, and tries every day to play with her. Sometimes he has been a bit rough, so we have to explain she doesn't play like that yet. He just has a hard time seperating playing with his other cousins and playing with Hazel. He does try to help a great deal, sometimes more hindering than helping, but at least her tries.

We have been trying now for about six months (hardcore about two months) to potty train Levi. He is as stubborn as a mule however. He sincerely doesn't mind being wet or soiled. Since June we have done underwear or pull-ups, and he still doesn't care. We've tried treats, reward incentives, charts, stickers, reminding him every ten minutes, taking him when he wakes and before bed, Cheerios in the toilet, giving him a book, offering special underwear as a reward, cold showers for mistakes, tons of encouragement for a good job, and several other tactics. Nothing has worked. They all have worked for one or two times, then nothing. I don't know how to get through to him. He knows when he needs to go, and when he has gone... I mean he's 3 and a half! But he just doesn't care. Oh, one day, one day I will have a break through.

So we went to the Scandinavian Festival again. Levi loved it, and Justin loved the food. Next year is the 50th anniversary, so Justin wants to dress up. I promised we'd dress the kids up... who knows we may have another little one by then (no I'm not pregnant... thank goodness!). But it would be fun seeing the kids all dressed up.

We also had our family pictures taken, the whole Carleski clan. My brother's wife had her baby just in time it seems! So here are our spoils from that adventure.

That's all from us! Hopefully I will get to post again before we move.

The Vacation

So we made it back! Both drives ended the same way... with Hazel screaming for the last hour or so. Overall neither of the kids were bad. On the way out there we left at 7:30 PM, and by 9:30 both kids were asleep. Levi woke up a couple times but would go right back to sleep. He woke up for good at about 5:30 (6:30 Utah time). Justin was sleeping, so Levi and I were able to have some cute conversations. I drove for the first four hours (Corvallis to Boardman, OR), the Justin drove for the next four hours (Boardman to Boise, ID), and I completed the drive with the last six hours (Boise to Lehi, UT). My back, knee, and neck were throbbing by the time we arrived. Below is a picture of the sunset in Idaho that I got to see. Justin said it is the only beautiful thing in Idaho.

Once we arrived Justin's sister let us sleep for a couple hours, while Levi and his cousins played. They had a decent sized house with a good sized backyard. So that was nice for the kids to play in. Here is where the kids got a hold of the hose and were attacking each other. Levi decided to spray his uncle. The whole thing was funny, until we realized Lincoln was crying (as you can see in the picture).

Jessica and Braydon had a trampoline, something that up until now Levi has been afraid of. But once we let him get on and be on alone, he did alright. If any adult got in with him and jumped he would immediately got to the edge and hold on. But alone or with other little kids he had a blast. I think it actually taught him how to really jump. Before he would just crouch down and spring up, only making it maybe a half inch off the ground.

Both Justin and my parents were sealed in the Provo Temple, so we thought we'd visit since we were so close. Levi loved seeing the temple, and Hazel seemed indifferent (tired). We were surprised by how many people stopped to tell us what cute kids we had. One lady even asked where in Oregon we were from because her daughter goes to school out here. We then got talking about the Portland Temple and how beautiful it is.

We were also able to see Justin's older sister Nia while we were there, and at her place she had what they call a 'Splash Pad'. Basically it is a bunch of fountains doing fun stuff for the kids. I know that they all had a blast, and Levi loved playing with his cousins.

Hazel loved the trampoline too. Only what she enjoyed was sitting there while you threw balls at her. Even if they hit her in the head she would just giggle and giggle. I got some on video, but you'll have to go to my Picasa website for those. (You can also go to my Picasa for all the photos)

Just me and the Haze spending some cute time in the backyard! Actually I realized after I took my shower and decided to just leave my hair down that Hazel has not seen me with my hair down at all since she has been able to recognize me. When I first held her she just looked at me all confused until I started talking, and then you could see she all the sudden knew who I was.

Justin and Braydon were able to make it out to play some frisbee golf while we were there. A nice break for them. We were at a park in the center of the course, but all the boys decided to follow their dads anyway. Justin was also able to play some raquetball with Nia's husband Skipper while we were there. Skipper taught him a thing or two about the sport too! Justin came home and just couldn't believe had bad Skipper beat him. Apparently Skipper takes the sport very seriously, and Justin said he thinks Skipper was hoping for more of a competition than he got.

Here at the Splash Pad again, eating their popsicles.

We were also able to attend Nia's baby's blessing (Sophie). Here we are after church. Right before we left I found some fabric that I wanted to make into a dress for Hazel, so I got on it, and with help from my mom I was able to finish it before I left. I also made a tie for Levi to match. These are the outfits I made. The tie wasn't so bad, so I might make some more later.

For Bentley's (Jessica's son) birthday we gave him a beachball sprinkler. Levi loved it and he would fill his mouth with the water and run at Justin to spray it on him. It really was funny.

Another treat was when Hazel was able to eat her first cupcake. She didn't get any frosting, just the cake. Justin was worried and swore she was on a sugar high afterward, but she didn't seem much different to me. She was cute though, and loved her cupcake.

While on our trip, we couldn't miss the Conference Center and Temple Square in SLC. We hit up the conference center first. I was amazed by the size, the structure, the artwork, and pretty much everything about the building. They have all the original artwork, like the one below (which is the largest painting in their collection). I can't remember it's size but it really was huge! On the rooftop the created the scenery so that you could get a feeling for what it was like when the pioneers came from Wyoming over the Rockies into the Utah valley. So all the shrubbery and such on the roof made you feel like you were on a hillside, not a roof. It was a neat experience.

We also went to the Church Headquarters building and went to the top. I got some great shots of the temple, and you could see anywhere in the Utah valley for miles. After that we realized that it was much too hot that day to keep the kids out too much longer, so we went by the SLC temple, took some pictures, and then headed onward to lunch.

That same day we went to the Bingham Copper Mine. It is the world's larget open mine, and the largest man-made hole. Let's just say it was HUGE! In the picture of us, you are only seeing maybe a fourth of the arc of the mine pit. Not to mention how far down it goes. The next shot is of us standing by a tire of one of the dumptrucks they use. It is 12.5 feet tall, over two tons, and cost $25,000 a piece. Each dumptruck has six of them. The top of the dumptruck sits about ten feet or more taller than the tires, making these machine massive beyond anything else! As far as we could see it looked like they had a fleet of 50 of them for the hauling.

Levi was able to play on some Power Wheel ATV's with his cousins. They had three identical ones for all three boys to play on. Levi seemed to really have fun. We just let him go in a park to keep it safe for all.

For those who know about this place, you won't be too surprised by my thoughts, and for those who have never been, I strongly reccomend you GO! It is called Thanksgiving Point, and it is just north of Lehi, UT. It has a dinosaur museum, an IMAX, a farm with petting zoo and hayride, an art museum (for kids and adults), and a massive garden (for kids and adults) with the world's larget man-made waterfall. It was wonderful! We went when they were having a special and paid only $2 a person per place (it is regularly $10 a person per place) so the dinosaur museum was packed. There were easily about 1000 kids, and maybe a few hundred adults. However, the gardens were wonderful! They had a Noah's ark at the kids entrance that was a huge water play structure. Levi had a blast. Then they had a maze and some tunnels that he enjoyed. From there we moved on to the adult part of the garden which was enormous! They were beautiful to boot! Justin thinks it is the largest garden in the world (but not really).

Our last stop befor heading home was a picture of all the Crook grandkids (minus one... Jocelyn). We were excited that we could all be together and see one another. It is nice to get everyone together and just have fun!

Our drive home was broken up. We left Wednesday at about 1:30 in the afternoon. I drove from Lehi to Boise again, and then Justin drove from Boise to La Grande, OR (about a three hour drive). We stayed there over night at a friend's house. I wanted to keep driving, but Justin and my kids insisted (they fell asleep) we stay. So I gave in and stayed. We left early the next morning and I drove the final six hours home. We had many stops because both kids were restless most of this drive. One stop was at Multanomah Falls just east of Portland. It was nice to have a pretty break!

We are glad to be home, even though we had loads of fun and it was great to see so much family! I think Levi is happy to be back, and I know Hazel is thrilled to be home again. Road trips sure aren't what they used to be before we had kids!

Well that's all from us. I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of a new nephew, so I'm sure you'll see his picture next week!