Buster's 2

Dear Buster,

Every once in awhile when I'm holding you before you go to sleep, and you lay your head on my shoulder and let me rock you while I sing to you, I pretend that you are still just like this: 

 Remember how you were such an easy boy for me on your birthday two years ago? My water broke at 6:00, but contractions didn't start until 9:30, so you gave me plenty of time to prepare the house, the kids, and arrange for a babysitter. So considerate of you. Then after a calm six hours of labor with only two pushes your sweet body entered this world.

 My only complaint of the whole experience was when you decided to quit breathing for a little while, and scared the living daylights and of the nurse in the room. Poor nurse. But not me. I wasn't scared. I knew you were a gift from Heavenly Father to me, and I knew you would breathe again, because you were mine. You were ours.

But now here you are. Two years old! Wow, where has the time gone? We thought and thought about what to name you, but Buster was sure the right name. You are tough. It takes a lot to make you cry. You get knocked down and laugh. You swallow grapes whole and don't even blink an eye. You are our Buster. 

I love all the things you say now. The little sentences you say: 

"Uh leediton" (Please leave it on)

"Top!" (Stop usually said to Warner)

"Whadanoise?" (What's that noise) You say it just after hearing a train or a car, and stop abruptly whatever it is you are doing and says it. It's so cute. 

"IohU" (I love you)

"Toose me" (Excuse me)

"Peese!!" (Please)

"Uh shoes on" 

I love the funny little quirks about your personality. You loves shoes. You wants to where them all night. In fact, you might not cry when you fall or are pushed down, but you do cry when we take your shoes off at the end of the day. First thing you do in the morning when you wake up is find your shoes and bring them to me and say "Uh shoes on". 

Buster, you are easy. You were such an easy baby, and so far you are such an easy toddler. When you do get in trouble it is usually for throwing something that shouldn't be thrown. When you are scolded, you don't cry, you simply stick out your bottom lip and look down, holding perfectly still for a few seconds. It's the cutest thing, and always softens us up instantly. 

Buster, you love to sing and to dance. You love your ABC's and love to color just like your older siblings. You'll often scribble on a piece of paper, then bring it over to me and start going "Ohhh" with this endearing tone. 

You also love bath time. You sure do get crazy in there.  Jumping up like a frog and trying to come down straight on your head. Crazy kid. You'll say "Mom! Watch". And then you'll do some crazy jump in the bath splatting water all over the bathroom. Thanks a lot Buster. :) 

I love you so much Buster. You make me so happy. I'm so grateful you are a part of our growing family. Happy Birthday son! 

I love how his hands are in his pockets in this picture. 

I need I need. . . I mean I want I want.

I dream owning these items:

A Macbook Pro - Mainly for doing fun things with music/recording and family videos. I love making family videos, but it takes me millions of years on my old PC to make one. Premier shuts down every 5 or ten minutes, sometimes deleting all of my hard work. I have to be seriously motivated to make any sort of video these days, because I know it will take forever on my slow computer.

A sewing machine - I want this for so many things. Making my own curtains would be one. Halloween costumes, and other fun projects.

A Tablet - I'm no apple snob, so I don't really desire an I-Pad.  I think apple is a little over priced, and while my kids are so little and accidents happen I'd actually rather have a screen that can't be shattered. So, I don't really care which one I get, as long as it's a tablet of some sort. I mostly want a tablet to help Liv with violin, because there are so many cool music apps out there for helping to read music, metronomes, tuners etc. I would also love a tablet to be able to do face time with grandparents and parents and loved one's. I know some grandparents that read stories to their kids through their I-Pads. How cool is that? I'm missing out here.

This Wheat Grinder - I like to make my own bread, and I have so much wheat from dry pack canning, but have no grinder to grind it. It's so much cheaper and healthier to grind your own wheat. I really need this.

There. That feels good. I feel one step closer to owning these items. :) Saving starts today.

Family Tree

Tonight for family night, we talked about family history. I started out by telling my story. I said "My name is Jessica Hoopes Brown I was born on . . . in the city of . . . " then I asked Liv and Warner and Jaron what their stories were. We purposefully kept our stories short (20 seconds or less). The kids loved saying their full names, their birthdays, and where they were born.

We then talked about the importance of remembering who we are and where we come from. I shared a story about my Grandpa Pope, and how when he was out camping with my beautiful Grandma he scared off a huge grizzly bear with a 32 caliber pistol. The bear came back one more time, and after being shot at again was scared away once and for all. My Grandma and Grandpa slept peacefully through the night, but when the sun came up they heard a rattling outside their tent. They were sure the bear was back, but low and behold it was just a pesky squirrel. They knelt in prayer and thanked the Lord that they were safe.

I asked the kids what we learned about Grandpa Pope from hearing this story. Together they decided that

1. Grandpa Pope was a brave man.
2. Always wash and put away your dishes when your camping (they had left out their frying pan unwashed) and
3. That Grandpa Pope was a prayerful and grateful man.

After the story we made our own family trees. I tried to see how far up the kids could get all on their own. They made it all the way up to their great grandparents. Well, Olivia did at least, Warner just made it up to Buster, but he's a work in progress.

I've been thinking a lot about Grandpa Pope lately. In primary we have been singing the song "The Armies of Helaman". It makes me tear up every time I hear the primary kids sing it, because this was the song that all of the Pope grandchildren and great grandchildren sang at my grandpa's funeral. I remember before the funeral when they told us we were going to sing that song thinking it was kind of a random musical choice. I didn't really see the connection or sentiment, until at the funeral when we, all 100 plus of the Bill and Margaret Pope posterity sang the first two lines of the song.  "We have been born as Nephi of old, to goodly parents who love the Lord. We have been taught, and we understand, that we must do as the Lord commands". As I felt and heard the voices of all of us, singing those words, I knew and felt how true those words were for us. We had been taught by goodly parents who loved the Lord, and they were taught by goodly parents who loved the Lord. Their was never a family gathering where my Grandma and Grandpa Pope did not bear strong testimony to us of Jesus Christ, and of their love for Him, and also of their desire and blessing upon us that we would follow Jesus Christ and endure to the end.  My Grandma would always say "Salvation is a family affair, and I don't want any of you missing from my table in heaven!" As a teenager, those were some of the words that kept me anchored through rough times. As an adult, that example has inspired me to live up to the heritage that I come from, and to try to bear testimony often to my kids, and to try to follow Jesus Christ. I'm a far cry from my Grandparents, but at least I have a mark that I'm aiming for.

I realize there is so much power in our ancestors, in knowing who we are, and where we come from. I feel so grateful for the people I am related to, both on my side and on Jaron's side. They are a great bunch of people. And tonight, I felt inspired that I need to share more stories with my kids about the wonderful people they are related to, and hopefully they will set their mark high too.

It's kind of ironic that my grandpa scared off a grizzly bear, because I always thought of him as a big, cuddly, grizzly, but more like the Baloo the bear kind of grizzly that has an itchy back, and sings, and smiles all the time. Oh I miss him.

Grandpa Pope holding baby Warner, the day he was blessed in my parents house on Quail Run in Provo, UT. This picture was taken in May of 2009, three years before my Grandpa passed away.  

Boating

I'm drivin the wheel. . .I'm drivin the wheel. I'm drivin the wheel. Sorry Dora moment.

We had a fun day today taking this boat for a test spin before Jaron takes it out in the field on Wednesday to do some work on the Cedar river.

We drove it from Culon all the way around Mercer Island and back.

Wow the houses some people live in. I kept wondering who lives in them. I like to tell myself, that "those people" are probably too busy working crazy hours to enjoy their houses or their families, but the truth is they're probably just Microsoft retiree's, who are 40 years old, running non profit organization's to help better the world, all the while living the dream in their 20 million dollar home. Not that I think you need a 20 million dollar mansion on a Lake to live the dream or anything, but I digress.

The kids had a blast, and I just kept praying that every time we turned the boat off, it would turn back on. It gave us a little trouble at the beginning and my brain couldn't quite stop thinking of horrible images of us getting stuck with three little kiddos out in the middle of Lake Washington. We would run out of water. They would get cold. They would get hungry. They would start whining while Jaron and I rowed the boat back in to the nearest shore. Why does my brain have to do that?

Well this Silver dream is no stingray, but it did the job and we happily made it all the way around Mercer island. And, when I wasn't worrying about us getting stuck, I really was enjoying myself. How could I not in such a beautiful Seattle day.  

We ended the day off with a few burgers from 5 guys. Nothing ends a day quite like 5 Guys Burgers.

The kids were asleep before we could say uncle. That means it was a good day.