2 Hair cuts

I took the pics of Ryan and he took the ones of me.

Walkathon Take 3

As our third year participating in the Angelman Syndrome Foundation Walkathon, we helped out a little more earning ourselves some nice volunteer shirts. And with over 300 people participating, it was a much larger event than in the past. Another blessing was that it was the lone day of sunshine in the forecast for the week. It was a beautiful day and happy moment of connecting with others. Evan gave out lots of hugs and Natalie and Sarah were a big help as well.

11 on the 11th in ‘11

1. Evan has learned a new skill today. He can now climb those boards on the right of the picture and get into the top bunk. He’s thrilled. I’m not.

2. I went swimming! (in case you can’t tell, that’s my swimsuit hanging over the edge of our shower rod.)

3. Evan was “hiding'” while Ryan…

4. …ran up and down our little hallway “driving” his truck.

5. This is Ryan’s “robot hat” that was once his Easter basket from Aunt Ari and Uncle Jimmy.

6. And what do you do when you are working and didn’t take enough pictures for 11 on the 11th? Let your two year old have the camera. Sometimes he gets some good shots.

7. His room.

8. Evan’s bed. That Evan broke. Forcing us to transition him into the bottom bunk. Yay!

9. Another shot of him on top. (I’d already pulled him down like 3 or 4 times by this picture).

10. A blanket.

11. The floor. His chair. His shirt. His toy. Interesting composition don’t you think?

Day of Sun!

We were able to spend the majority of Saturday enjoying fun things outside or at least away from our house. First we drove up to the site of the Angelman Syndrome Foundation Walkathon in South Jordan. We will be part of putting the signs up on the day of the walk and wanted to be able to be part of figuring out how its all going to work. So we were outside for a good hour.

Since we were so close, we wandered over to the Living Planet Aquarium and spent about an hour and a half looking at fish, playing in the water, watching the penguins, and running around.

Then we stopped at Thanksgiving Point Gardens on the way home and walked around the Tulip Festival. We met two amazing sisters there to walk with us and had a grand time just being outside looking at beautiful flowers and enjoying the sun. The gardens are 55 acres and they say there are about 250,000 tulips.

We had a great day.

Throwing Sticks at Gunlock

Scenes of the Oliver & Ryan Adventures

While I didn't get to enjoy the adventure as it happened, I did enjoy hearing about what they did. The following are my favorite stories or sayings about Ryan during their weekend trip.
1. Oliver was trying to press some plants he'd collected in a windy desert area where there were several other campers/hikers gathered. Ryan had wandered off a distance playing with the dirt/rocks/whatever he could find. A black dog from a nearby campsite decided that Ryan was some smallish animal that he was supposed to chase down and it began to run full speed at Ryan. When the dog was about 5 feet away, Ryan put his hands up near his face like paws and growled at the dog. This caused the dog to pause, but not completely stop its hunt. Luckily, the owner had caught up at this point and the black dog had only had a short time to have jumped on top of Ryan. This encounter has caused a bit of hesitation toward dogs. "The black dog scared me."
2. Ryan and Oliver got to go swimming! But he was nervous enough that he has been heard saying, "I don't like swimming. It scares me."
3. He has come home saying "Yes" instead of "Yeah" or "Yep".
4. Oliver was taking a picture of Ryan and said "You're such a ham." Ryan told Oliver, "You're cheese! HAHAHAHA!"
5. They found some sand dunes. Oliver could barely pull Ryan away from them.
They had a good time. Oliver did lots of nature things like bird watching, plant collecting, and just exploring. Plus they got to visit Oliver's grandma and spent some good personal time together.

Singing

I know that one reason I have this blog is to view myself as an amazing writer that inspires others to amazing things. I also know that I've never been a good writer. I love music. I love songs. Partly because I feel that the writers of songs have been able to put into words and then create music that can reach the soul better than anything I've ever had come out of my head or mouth.
This weekend, Ryan & Oliver went on an adventure which I'm sure we'll share shortly. That left Evan and I at home together. It also meant that it was a much quieter time than I've known for a while. Ryan has grown to be a chatterbox, and so I was home to be the sole speaker for a few days. I know that Evan does make noises and communicates in his own way, but it led me to moments of just needing to say something and not knowing what to say, I found myself singing. This use to be a regular thing, me bursting into song. I realized that has been a bit stifled since Ryan learned to talk and say, "Mommy, no singing!"
I was told once by a roommate that I sang in my sleep. My sister told me that our parents had once told her of a time when we were in our room asleep and I was singing and she was laughing. I didn't realize that songs were such a part of my life. I don't think I will ever call myself a musician, but music touches me and I enjoy it.
I found myself trying to communicate with Evan through song often this weekend. During church, we found ourselves laying on the floor in the cultural hall(it was smooth and cold on Evan's skin) I started singing to him hymns that I was thinking about. I feel that sometimes my testimony is the same as the words in the hymns. I sing the boys songs at bedtime, often Primary songs that are soft and calm.
I used to have a goal of memorizing many of the hymns. I hope that Ryan will learn to love the songs sung in Primary and will sing them too. I would love to see some sort of recognition or something come over Evan when I start singing. I can dream about that for awhile.
I love music. I love that someone came up with a way to say things more beautifully than I can.
This is one that usually gets sung every night to my children and I feel these words now as my husband and youngest son drive home safe to me.
I have a family here on earth.
They are so good to me.
I want to share my life with them
through all eternity.
Families can be together forever
through Heavenly Father's plan.
I always want to be with my own family,
And the Lord has shown me how I can.
The Lord has shown me how I can.
-"Families Can Be Together Forever" by Ruth Muir Gardner