Oh dear! Jesse is in that wonderful phase of playing in the toilet. That fascination with water I love to hate. Try getting 4 older siblings to always securely close the bathroom door; it doesn't always work.
So Jesse has his hands washed and shirt changed about once a day from his toilet water endeavors, but today required a bath. He dipped a comb in the bowl and did his hair. At least it was observed by his siblings so he didn't go around like this all day!
Keith promised the boys that we would go camping, so this past weekend we went. After several days of indecision (considering closures for forest fires and bear attacks, yeah, really) we ended up near Canyon Creek off of Young Rd. about 20 minutes before you get to Heber. We picked a spot away from the creek up on the rim with a beautiful view.
The boys found stick guns galore from several downed pine trees. Walter even called one of the trees his store inviting Nick and Noah to come shop for new guns. We hiked out to the edge of the rim and played in the creek a couple of times. And don't forget the dirt! Walter and Jesse were covered in dirt from head to toe within 10 minutes of getting out of the car. They were in little boy heaven being outside and playing in the dirt all day long.
The second day at the creek, Keith challenged the kids to get all the way in the water. . . very cold water. Walter was the first one in, he slipped. Nick and Noah sat in the water, Audrey stuck her head in, but Keith was the only one who completely immersed himself in the cold creek.
Other highlights include watching and cheering for Harry the Caterpillar climbing a tree. (We only issue the death penalty at home in our garden.) Walter praying that no monsters will eat our food. The kids watching a movie in the tent on Keith's laptop (with an inverter hooked-up to a car battery) while Keith and I made dinner. Jesse running under the blankets as Keith and Nicholai folded them. (Just a cute 18-month-old at play!) Audrey (who complained during the ENTIRE trip) actually saying, "We need to camp more." Huh? Really? Yep, she said it! In her defense, we watched 17 Miracles last night and she felt very bad for complaining about camping.
Yes, we are already planning our next camping trip for later this summer. Why? I guess we find cramming a month's worth of work into just a few days enjoyable. I guess it's fun to get away and then you really appreciate home upon return.
I will try to post more pics later from my camera. (Yes, we are still computer challenged right now!)
I am a scout widow, have been for about 8 years now. Meaning, Keith serves in the Young Men's program in our ward and goes on camp-outs on a regular basis. Not to mention weekly activities, monthly scout meetings, and random extras including eagle projects, planning meetings, etc. (I'm not complaining, I focus on a project or two and catch up on any chick flicks.)
This week, Keith went to a high adventure camp near Beaver, UT. Lynn and Larry offered to meet him in Kanab to pick up somethings they needed from our house and take Audrey to their house for the week. Woo hoo! This made her summer! (And saved some of my sanity!)
Which left me and my boys at home. Fun, relaxed, except for Noah's summer school and Nick's cub scout day camp. We enjoyed lunches and dinners with just us. Here we are enjoying mac & cheese with hot dog slices in it for those of us who like that. We haven't worried too much about cleaning, though they did have their baths.
It's amazing how the house changes with two missing.
Yesterday we celebrated Keith's birthday. His birthday as a kid was always a celebration of the beginning of summer, a.k.a. no school! When we were first married it had the same fun as we were in school or I was teaching school. Of course, it is still fun but I know he misses the joyous days of carefree, playful childhood summers.
One of our favorite birthday treats is Joe's. Joe's Farm Grill and Joe's Real BBQ are often selected for birthday dinners and/or lunches as you receive $10 off your meal on your birthday. The way yummy food doesn't hurt either! So Keith stopped by the Farm Grill for lunch (which I heard all about, mmm) and we took the family to Joe's BBQ for dinner.
I meant to snap a pic at dinner, but you know, handling 5 kiddos in a restaurant, it kind of slipped my mind. I felt bad sending Keith to the bathroom with the boys in the middle of his meal, but what do you do? I did try to wrestle Jesse through dinner. It was yummy. We had Keith's own recipe chocolate, chocolate chip cookies for dessert at home. (Which he made, of course. BONUS!) We got the kids in bed, watched Bourne Ultimatum and found the trailer for Bourne Legacy online which comes out in August. Yeah!
When I was a teenager I made a list of qualities I wanted in my husband. Keith had everything on the list, I'm pretty sure he did anyway. (I'll have to look for it!) I love his boyish sense of humor, his athleticism (even with all of his injuries) and his spontaneity. Keith has a relaxed demeanor that makes him wonderful to be around. He is an enjoy the moment kind of person and doesn't mind playing before work. I love his sense of adventure and the fact that he doesn't worry about what other people think. He is my best friend that I can tell everything and anything, and do! He helps me become a better person. And of course, he is the best father to our children.
He has a strong testimony of the gospel. I LOVE his sensitive side. He likes flowers and animals. He embraces responsibility. Keith is a gentleman; I adore the respect he has for women and marriage. I trust him as much as I love him. I look forward to our time alone. He spoils and indulges me, understands my wants and needs better than I do myself sometimes.
I love Keith and I love being Mrs. Bergen.
So, last week Audrey had her first dance recital with BE School of Dance. In true fashion, she still needed a pair of tights which I ran to the mall to purchase. I left her with instructions to get everything else ready, dance bag, her lunch, so when I got home I could do her hair and make up and we could make it to dress rehearsal on time.
When I returned, I walked in the door to find Audrey scrambling to put her lunch together, still in her pajamas. (I don't doubt that she jumped when she heard the suburban pull into the driveway.) Ugh! We needed to leave in 15 minutes. I wanted time to ready her especially since she insisted on wearing foundation and I hadn't matched her shade yet. (This is one of those times being a Mary Kay Consultant comes in quite handy!) She finally came upstairs about 10 minutes later. (I had loaded some dishes in the dishwasher, advanced the laundry - putting in a new load and changed a diaper!) I applied her make up as I planned, match her foundation perfectly. Her hair, well, it was in a bun, not my forte. We were running late by 20 minutes. We picked up the carpool and were finally on our way.
I admit it. It felt good to be late. Nostalgic. Running late is almost a tradition. I wasn't worried. It added a sense of excitement. Besides, 95% of the time dress rehearsals run late. As was the case with this one I discovered when I asked Audrey when she came home for her dinner break.
It was a beautiful recital. Lots of little ballerinas. Audrey performed with her level 3 ballet class and her intermediate lyrical class. She did great! And she loved it. I'm bracing for next season when she wants to audition for company. Oh dear...
On Memorial Day we ended up going to one of my favorite places, Usery Pass Park. This place is full of childhood memories for me, cowboy breakfasts, hiking to the windcaves and even hiking with our beloved family doberman, Ty.
We had a rough morning deciding what to do and on a last ditch effort on our way out of town I suggested Usery. So with that, we satisfied those who wanted to hike and those who wanted to go to the park without going too far out of town. Plus, we enjoyed the wonderful reprieve from the heat we were blessed with this weekend.
Isn't it amazing that the one who whined about going hiking all morning about a quarter of the way up the trail said, "This is fun! We need to get active like this more often!" But the best comment from the hike came from Noah who announced, "I want to be a lizard." Why? So he can run on the rocks and not worry about slipping. Gotta love that boy's mind!
Today we hiked to the sundial. They changed the trail this year! It's hard to believe, but for some reason someone doesn't want people on the top of that hill! Ah, but we know the way. We enjoyed the view, found some favorite landmarks and identified surrounding mountains.
We made it all the way up and down the little mountain without a scrape. But of course, Noah AND Walter tripped and fell, scraping their knees in the little parking lot by the car. We went to a playground near our hike and enjoyed our picnic. Right in front of our car, between the parking lot and the playground was this dove in it's nest. Carefully positioned in the cactus, it didn't move as it watched us watching it, obviously on it's eggs. You would assume it was the mother but it had bright blue markings on the beak, head and around the eyes suggesting to me it was a male. Just another reason why I love this park, the opportunities to observe wildlife.
Later in the afternoon, we went to the junior high school pool, bought a season pass (half off this weekend) and enjoyed a refreshing dip. For Family Home Evening we drove out to the Gilbert Temple to see the Angel Moroni which was recently placed on the top of the spire. (We also discussed why he's there.) We ended our evening with dinner at IHOP. The kids earned free meals for doing something at school and the coupons expired this week. Quite a fun-filled day after all!
We are eternally grateful for everyone who has sacrificed their lives for our country! We don't know how blessed we are nor can we comprehend the hardships of war. Thank you.
This sweetheart of a babe finally got tubes in his ears. He went through too many ear infections and rounds of antibiotics. (Along with essential oils.) Our ENT (ear, nose, throat Dr.) knows us well. Bergen's could rack up frequent flyer miles in his office. Between Keith's brother's family and our family our ENT has performed at least a dozen surgeries. He always says, "I consider myself a conservative surgeon, and we could wait and see if things clear up, but you are those Bergens. In this case, I recommend surgery."
Luckily, he had a cancellation and Jesse had his surgery within 5 days. I had already given him time to see if his ears would clear up. I felt that mom guilt when our ENT came and told me surgery went well and that he had to drain a lot of fluid out of his ears. Jesse still had drainage 4 days later.
I think he has had a lot of fluid in his ears for about 6 months. He doesn't complain much about anything. I would have to be very observant to detect a possible ear infection. Even just waking in the night for 15 or fewer minutes would be a signal of an infection. He doesn't say any words yet, but since his surgery his baby babble has increased. (Why did I wait? We are those Bergens!) Jesse is so mild and sweet and his happy little demeanor has returned full swing. I know his vocabulary will develop in no time! His smile is bigger now too!
I love this little guy!!!
Ahhh... everyone I know from Arizona loves rain,especially during our warm weather. What do we do?
Play in it of course! The boys waited until it had slowed down and the thunder and lightening had stopped, but then it was out in the mud. Brings back my childhood memories of monsoon storms, even if it is only May.
When we were first married, a girlfriend in my ward offered to teach me how to make jam. Strawberries were cheap that season. I bought the berries and she came over and wha-la! A new standard in the Bergen household was born! Homemade jam was the only way to go, no store bought stuff here, well, rarely, at least.
We were hooked. Keith enjoyed it so much when we ran out of that first batch he said, "Teach me how to make it!" Okay! (The same thing happened after I baked pies.) So ever since then, Keith heads up our jam making. We watch for the sales, usually at the end of the season. Really ripe fruit makes tasty jams. We love Superstition Ranch Market. You can almost count on 25¢ a pint strawberries every spring. Perfect for jam.
So this is what kept Keith up late the other night. I had hulled most of the 24 pints. (That really is the hardest part about making jam.) We like the Sure-gel low surgar recipe in the pink box. Another one of our favorites is peach made from Utah peaches. Hopefully, we'll add some later this summer.
B.K. (Before Kiddos) this would have been a 3 year supply, now we're lucky if it lasts a year. Audrey has already eaten at least 6 pbj's.
This morning I woke up to the sound of my boys helping themselves to their breakfast cereal. Not an unusual occurence, but it was a little earlier than usual. I was glad they were up and getting ready for school. And then I heard the dishwasher open, the clank of dishes and silverware and I knew my boys were eating on dirty dishes. (One of them was already humming as he chewed.) Now, the dishes are done. See my dirty dishwasher working?! The stack of pans on top are clean and drying. :)
I didn't have the heart to tell them. Totally justified by the thought that it wouldn't hurt them, I let them finish eating and never mentioned it. (In fact, it wasn't as bad as the time Keith did the same thing when we were first married, only the cat had likely licked the milk out of the bowl!)
So here is one of my motherhood struggles: having enough energy at the end of the day to clean the kitchen before bed. When I do it after the kids have gone to bed it takes less than half an hour. In the morning however, it takes about 2 hours. I swear. Last night I was just craving a little "vege-out time" and I was asleep in my chair in less than 20 minutes.
I just had my blood work done and discovered my vitamin D is low, so maybe that is why I'm so tired. (My cholesterol is high too, but that's another post.)
Maybe it's just a house full of five kids.
Well, my resolve is stronger to get the dishes done every night, stronger than my resolve to get up before my boys, at least.
It won't hurt them, right? And I can't be the only one!
Okay, so consider this my before. I finally unpacked all, well, most, I think, of our pictures and artwork.
I realized my blank walls were contributing to my crazier than normal state. (I admit, my normal is kind of crazy!) I still feel unsettled. My mind keeps thinking of our next move, like this one is temporary- though we plan on being here for years. I think that's what living in boxes for a year and a half does, along with moving twice within 8 months. (No wonder my blog has suffered!)
Just unpacking everything was therapeutic. The kids came home from school and said, "We forgot we had all of these nice things!" We never really understand how much everything impacts them too.
I will do my best to post a tour as we decorate. Although, we haven't remodeled, yet. We have plans for some decent projects like moving half of the stairs. But not this year!
We have a new running joke in our family. Each of one our boys has a favorite sauce. We think they could survive quite a while on their sauce of choice alone.
Nick loves gravy. Noah's sauce of choice is ranch dressing. Walter licks his ketchup off his plate, oh dear.
If we had to pick a sauce for Jesse right now it would have to be vanilla yogurt. At least his has some nutritional value!
This will make blogging so much easier for me, I might even post weekly! I could even read everyone regularly too! So now, I will check my phone for recent favorite pics. Yay! I know I'm so technologically-challenged. Feel free to laugh. (Michelle, I know you already are!)
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