Happy Birthday John, New Year, And Time to head to MN

It's our last day in AZ.  We have had such an amazing time- mostly spending time together.  Three meals a day, from sunrise to sunset.  This has been a vacation that we will never forget.  I will hold on to all of our time together as 2012 picks up with speed and there are long days that Ryan and I only see each other in passing. 
Ryan and John are getting the car washed and I am cleaning/packing up the house.  Stephen is eating a snack outside on in the backyard and it smells like cleaning solution around here.  :)  Life is great, our ride will be here in 2 short hours as we make our venture back to the freezing MN cold! 
I know one thing for sure, John and Stephen are thrilled they get to see Gamma and Papa tonight!!!! :)  Hopefully the transition back to Nana and Papas house goes well....John into his bedroom with a huge bed, Stephen into his closet pack'n'play bed ... :)

6:08pm, we will be in flight, can't believe it was three years ago I was laboring at United hospital, as we awaited John Roman's arrival. 
Cheers to 2012!!!!

Are you SURE they are sleeping??

Last night, I took John with me to run a couple errands (fill the gas tank on the car, get snacks for the plane ride, etc.)  As we were driving home we talked all about the stars in the sky and how the moon was out....leading into the fact that it was bedtime when we got home.  That is when it got sticky.  John started asking me question after question about Dan's cows.... Dan is my uncle, he lives in Jordan with his wife and four kids on his farm.  My mom has taken John to visit Dan and his cows a few times this past year.  Anyway, I wasn't sure where the cow questions were coming from; we had seen no cows, not seen Dan in a while, not talked about cows/Dan at all....???  John was so sure that the cows were NOT sleeping that we actually called my mom to ask her.  "Gamma" explained that the cows are all sleeping and that he should go to bed too.  The questions ended...until we got home. 
As he ate his bedtime snack, he erupted with more questions about where they sleep? why they sleep? if Dan puts them to bed? do they eat snacks? Etc. 
It was a long night here!!  But, the questions is, Dan, did you get the cows to sleep?!!!  :)

Birthday letter to John

Happy third birthday John!  We can’t believe you are three!  You are getting so big and handsome. 

We celebrated your birthday early this year since we would be in AZ/MN traveling on your actual birthday.  You have grown and changed so much over this past year.

We had a pretty big change this year with the sale of our home.  Mom and I were both a little worried about how the transition would go since you were so accustomed to your room at Ashland.  You proved our doubts wrong though and did so well with the transition to Nana’s house!  Not once did you complain about missing your old room or house.  I think you are just so excited about being at Nana’s, but also, you are maturing and understanding change as well.  When we moved into Nana’s you even helped with Stephen’s transition.  The first few weeks we were there was not so easy for him, but you stepped right up to the challenge and helped sing him to sleep every night….”Ni ni beef, ni ni beef”  it was so stinkin cute!  Stephen really liked it too as he has really started to look up to you as a big brother.  

Speaking of big brother, you have really taken that role on this year.  Lately, there have been occasions where Stevie has been sad and you have been quick to go over and say, “Ok Stevie? Ok?”  Just tonight, Stephen was a little upset when you had a cookie and he didn’t, and immediately you ran to him and told him it was ok and asked him, “You cookie beef?”  You took his hand and led him into the kitchen to find a cookie.  Mom handed him a small corner piece of a toffee bar and you immediately said, “Too little!  Beef like BIG cookie.” …always looking out for your brother! 

Do the (clap, clap) potty dance!  You asked to start potty training all on your own John!  Mom and I were planning on potty training you on our extended vacation down in AZ, but about a month before heading down you got up one morning and said, “No more diapers!”  And that was that.  Since then, you have been outstanding at potty training and have had minimal accidents.  This is mostly because you wanted to do this – you set your mind to being done with diapers, and have followed through.  Your big thing lately has been wanting to ‘stand up’ while you go.  (Dad has to hold you up so that you can make it in)  Just for the record, you prefer briefs and not tidy whities or boxers! 

Another big thing that has become part of our daily lives is you helping out around the house.  “Self!”  Is often heard, meaning, ‘I want to do this myself!’  You really want to be involved and are curious as to how things are done.  A few of the things you like to do yourself lately have been; getting dressed, helping mom in the kitchen (especially cracking eggs – this is done by counting to three (cracking the egg each time) and then squishing the egg into oblivion with one hand into the fry pan, oy!)  You also like getting into the car and into your car seat, moving the clothes from the washer to the dryer, brushing your teeth, buckling your shoes, and the list goes on.  Mom and I have really enjoyed watching you develop and learn to do so many things.

A few things you enjoy right now.  First, taking care of Sabo.  It has always been your job to take care of sabo over at Nana’s and now that we are staying there you have taken ownership of that job.  Walking him and feeding him and telling him to go to his bed are all your jobs….poor little sabo has gained about 10 lbs since you started feeding him!  (Sabo is supposed to get one scoop and four dog nuggets in one meal…this is usually doubled because you do one scoop for you and one for beef and then usually throw in a few dog biscuits for good measure!)  However, sabo has really enjoyed all the playing outside with you and Stevie.  The second thing you really enjoy and have taken to is technology.  It is so amazing how quick you have picked up on technology that is brand new to the world and that mom and I don’t even fully know how to use.  One such thing is Gamma’s iPad and Papa’s iPhone.  It only took one time and you quickly understood the touch screen technology.  You flip through the apps and find the games you want like there is nothing to it!  You have even purchased a few things…..  Lastly, you have really enjoyed ice skating this winter.  Nana has taken you a few times, and Mom and I went with you as well.  This last time that we went, you brought your new hockey stick and pucks and shot the pucks into the net while on skates! 

We can’t wait for what this next year brings and are so blessed by you each and every day John!  You have a great smile and can brighten up anyone’s day!  Happy third birthday son!

Love Mom and Dad

Christmas Day 2011

John woke up bright and early, and Stephen was up a bunch during the night.  Ryan and I were afraid for how we would all get through the day …

We held John hostage in his room as long as we could.  Eventually, we had him wake-up Stephen and they walked holding hands into the living room to see if Santa came. 

Santa left a note and he ate ½ of the cookies they set out for him.  Obviously, the boys ate the rest of the dried out cookies ;) while I read the note Santa left them; explaining how he has been watching them, giving them things to work on, and encouraging them each on accomplishments they have done this year.  He also explained that the gifts with green wrapping paper are Stephen’s from mom and dad, blue wrapping paper are John’s from mom and dad,  and the red polka dot paper are the one’s Santa brought for them. 

This is when a bit of the fun wore off for John.  I think the excitement was too much??  He was excited as he opened each gift, but then 2 seconds later, he looked at it, said “me no like this” and threw it. :/  Stephen on the other hand was in his element!  He was exclaiming wow! each time he ripped a little paper off his gift, and wanted to play with each gift after he opened it. 

1/2 eaten cookies and Stockings!

Christmas 2011

John kindly leading (still sleeping) Stephen to the gifts. 
It was super sweet!! <3

Stephen loves dogs, specifically Biscuit. 

SJ surveying the site- a dog in each hand, content for now. :)

Ryan reading John his new Mickey book. 

Stockings??  What that?? 

WOW!! COOL!!  (HAHAHA)

 Stephen carefully pulling each gift out. :)

Curious George book!

Yep, TOO TOO TOO much! 

 Stephen holding a beading toy... the bow? Classic!

John helping open his toy. :)

 Uno Moo!! 

John was thrilled he got a gift with COWS involved! ;D

 Ready?? GO!

 After all that, Stephen just wanted his "puppies" (AKA, Animals)

 He even lined them up.  (notice the elephant)

The boys got a bunch of gifts:

John:
Under Armor shirt, Remote Control car, Play-Doh, water toys, finger puppets, Mickey dishes, Uno Moo, plastic animals, books, light up glow toy, Play-Doh fun factory, Jacobs’s ladder, bug catcher, no-mess paint set, flashlight and more.

Stephen:
Under Armor shirt, remote control car, Play-Doh, water toys, finger puppets, Mickey dishes, plastic animals, books, light up toy, no-mess markers, flashlight, a race car set, wooden beading set, and more.

Clearly, they were both very blessed! And, Ryan and I are even more blessed to have them in our lives.  We love you boys, Merry Christmas. 
We had lunch and put the boys down for naps at 12.  I was hoping they would sleep until everyone got to our house at 4.  Ryan and I cleaned the house, got the food ready and showered.  4PM came and went, and both boys were still sleeping! We knew they were exhausted!  SJ woke up a few minutes before people started arriving. 

We had the Beach’s (Conan, Chrissy, Christian, Isabelle, Katie, and Abby), Jackie, William and Lisa Lawler over.  It was a full house of fun!! J  We had a dinner of ham, salad, potato casserole, corn and buns.  Everything turned out prefect- yummy!  Dessert was pumpkin cheesecake and apple pie.  Delish!  We all sat around and chatted, the kids played with their new toys and ended the night by singing Christmas songs on the couch and a blessing before bed.  Simple, great company, memories made- done!

 Auntie Lisa and Stephen

 Ryan and Stephen playing peek-a-boo after dinner

 Lisa giving Isabelle a pedicure....

 and the Patrick boys were very interested

.... hmm, maybe they can give me one! ;D  KIDDING!

 Ryan reading to John

 Isabelle playing with Stephen. 

Thanks Aunt Jackie- the boys love their new Thomas Train set! :)

 John cuddling with Christian. <3 

 He sure looks up to all you Beach kids. 

Singing Christmas carols together followed by a beautiful, very heart-felt blessing from Chrissy to end our Christmas celebration.

Christmas Eve 2011

We woke up Christmas Eve morning, had breakfast with the Beach’s and they headed for their night at the Polar Express.  We hung out with the boys; they hadn’t had the best night’s sleep last night, so we put them down for a long nap.  I layed down with SJ and took a nap myself.  When I woke up, Ryan was just pulling in the garage.  He opened the mud room door and said, “It’s Christmas Eve!!!  We need to get festive- we only have 16 more until the boys are grown up!”  HAHA Yes, Ryan was totally right.  He bought a little tree, stockings, lights and stocking stuffers.  As we sat in the living room while the boys napped, we chatted about how Christmas growing up was one of the biggest things we looked forward too.  We had a huge parental guilt session –we thought we could get away with skipping Christmas gifts.  Needless to say, I headed to Target to buy a few more gifts so the boys could still have Christmas. 

I got some Christmas activities and came home to Christmas music on the radio, and the boys were all ready for a fun night!  We made so many memories.  Ryan and I had so much fun- we each did our own  “projects” with the boys.  It started by making toffee bars- this is a huge Patrick tradition.  Well, honestly, Jana makes them quite often! J  So, for Christmas, we needed to have them!

As I baked the toffee bars, Ryan put on a fireworks show for the boys.  It was really fun! They really liked them a lot!  I was a bit unsure how they would react to the noise of the fireworks….but, my (very smart) husband got ones that pretty much just sparkled, they didn’t make noise.  Yay!!

While the second pan of bars baked, Ryan called the boys back to the back yard. Santa had come! Santa stopped by and dropped of one gift for each boy. John was a little freaked, but Stephen was thrilled! HA.  We dressed our little elves and next we made ornaments.  I got little green wooden trees and had the boys’ finger paint ornaments on them and then glue little green pom-poms onto them.  After they finished this craft, it was time for more fireworks!

Then, it was time for a little “cookie” decorating.  I made a double batch of the toffee bars, and had the boys frost one of the batches.  We made Santa cookies.  We sang some Christmas songs and the boys headed for bed.  Ryan and I have a long night of wrapping ahead….

Toffee bar dough! NUM NUM NUM!!!

 Toffee Bars, DONE!

Santa came while we made toffee bars! He wanted to help get everyone in the spirit! ;)
I sure LOVE Santa- He rocks!! HA

Our little chicken nuggets. LOVE THEM!

Christmas jams 2011

Christmas jams 2011 
(Yes, SJ's eye was bruised.  I know.... I knoooowwww.) :(

Watching the fireworks! :D

Craft time now!  The boys made Christmas ornaments. 

More crafting!

Stephen's on left, John's on right

 Making Cookies for Santa!

 Sprinkles are a MUST!

REJOYCE!!  JESUS IS BORN!

THE POLAR EXPRESS!

I have heard from many people how when we are in Arizona we need to go to the Polar Express near Flagstaff, AZ. After realizing that tickets to the PE are sold out way in advance, I bought some off of CL from a lady in AZ.

We left Sedona around 1pm for our 5:30 boarding time. We knew we would be very early, but we would need to stop for a bathroom break, dinner, and a Target stop for a couple things (laundry detergent, lotion etc.) We got directions from the concierge at Seven Canyons.... who is clearly a native to Sedona area. His directions consisted of us driving through the canyons!!! I will be the first to admit it, I was freaking out. The drop off on my side of the car were enough that I was sick to my stomach, I caught myself holding my breath as we rounded most of the edges. Actually, for the most part, I had a no one talks rule while Ryan drove. I made it clear that we would be taking any other way home-- long, short, I didn't care. I just wanted free-way! HA

The drive up to Flag was very tense and we never did make our planned stops. We were in Williams at the PE before we knew it. So, we had a (fancy) meal from The Golden Arches and headed for the train. As we looked for parking, Ryan and I quickly noticed that almost all of the kids had their jammies on (even some of the parents- and, yes, that was too extreme for me! lol) We had them wearing matching Christmas sweaters.... and they didn't every even notice they weren't wearing jams like everyone else. :) I ran in and got our tickets while the boys finished eating. We all did quick potty breaks and then headed for the train!

We were in car C and we had 2 chefs -- clearly they got the memo that they were going to have a rowdy train car! We were surrounded by so many great families, and we weren't the only one from out of state, there was a family from Georgia, Tennessee, etc. We sang a couple Christmas songs, were served (huge) cookies, hot cocoa, saw Rudolph fly by, went through a magical tunnel, read the book, The Polar Express and finally made it to the North Pole!! We waved at everyone, saw where candy canes are made and then Santa visited all the kids! He gave every good child a bell. Yes, John and Stephen both got one. ;)

We really had a wonderful time. Seeing the excitement in the kids’ eyes was the best part for all the parents. The kids got to be kids ... not one was shhhing them, telling them to sit, or be quiet. They got to stand on their seats so they could see, laugh loudly, (and there were many tears from the little ones too!) But everyone was in the Christmas spirit, and no one got raddled by the pure chaos.

If you plan to be near Flagstaff/Williams, AZ ever during Christmas--- this is something you don't want to miss!!!!! I give it a 5 star rating! :)

Mom and John on the Polar Express

Mom, Stephen and Bup on the Polar Express

Huge, Huge cookies!

ONLY on the PE do they SUGGEST  the kids climb on the seats... :)

Santa visited us!  He gave the boys bells. 
SJ was a bit confused, but John knew the meaning, he was pumped!

As the train was getting closer to the station, the noise level on the train was quickly getting louder and louder. It was less of the laughter and playing, and more of the crying and whining. By the time the train stopped, our kids were both a hot mess. We each took a kid and bee-lined it to our car.
As soon as the van started, the panic set in for the canyon road we probably needed to drive on. We couldn't simply mapquest directions on our phone-- there is no reception, and if you did get some it was spotty (not reliable). We were lost after the first 30 miles. Ryan stopped for gas and I ran across the street to a hotel to find directions. The lady assured me that the only way back to Sedona was through the canyon. She could tell my face was green with fear, and tried to give me a pep talk about how we would be fine! Then we went to Walmart down the street, I got the things we needed and a snack for the boys --so they would be eating and not talking -- while Ryan drove and I panicked.
We got instantly turned around. And were lost almost before we started out. We stopped at a (very small town) gas station and got the head nod that we were headed in the right direction. We kept driving, every time the road had a decline, I (kind of...) kindly reminded Ryan to slow down!! He had enough of my reminders, and I just wanted out of the car. Eventually, I had some cell reception for about 2 minutes, and I thought we must be getting closer to the canyon road, so I called my mom to say that the road through the canyon lasted about 45 minutes, and I would call her when we got out-- if she didn't hear from me, she had my location and to send help!! (Extreme?? I still stand by my answer, NO.) She for sure thought I was nuts, Ryan thought I was nuts, and the boys weren't fazed by the car ride. We drove and drove for hours! We never did end up on the right road- lol. I was so relieved, but it did take us about 3.5 hours to drive a 1.5 hour drive. We clearly took the round-about way. I was so happy- I am not going to lie, I was beaming with happiness.
****The next day, on our way to Chapel Rock, we accidentally drove a little of the Canyon Road. As we were driving, it felt like squad car after squad car was passing us. Then, up ahead, we could see there was a commotion going on. A big SUV had gone over the canyon road the night before!!!! I just KNEW we shouldn't have driven on it! The SUV was almost in the shape of a ball, and was black from char. It was un-recognizable. Very scary for me-- I am not a fan of the roads that are sheer drop offs on the side. (**puke**) I was sick to my stomach seeing that SUV being pulled up over the canyon edge as we drove past. I said a prayer in my head that our family was safe and to send angels to the family/people that were riding in that SUV.

Sedona

Dad here (Ryan)  
We took a vacation within our vacation to head to Seven Canyons Resort in Sedona.  The drive to Sedona was absolutely amazing!  The desert turned into mountains which turned into canyons full of evergreens and wild life.  The views were spectacular!  We stopped just before Sedona to let the boys run a little bit and catch some of the canyon views.

The boys had fun at the rest stop climbing on rocks and getting their ya yas out.  While we were driving down into the canyon, Caroline was driving and was getting a little tense on the winding roads that were covered in fog....with cliffs dropping off on the sides hundreds of feet into the deep abyss, Caroline finally said to the non-stop talking boys - "Boys, Mom can't talk right now, she needs to focus on driving!" To which our son John said in a very informative voice, "Mom, you CAN talk, you have one mouth on your head!"  Duh Mom!

Kind of foggy, but this is the view heading into Sedona.

We finally reached Sedona and stopped to grab some groceries.  If you've never been, the town is great.  It is a small canyon town that has a river running through it with beautiful cottonwood trees along the river banks - their stark white bark contrasts the red canyon surrounding the city and is made even more beautiful with the hundreds of Christmas lights that were up. 

AT LAST we reached the gated entrance to Seven Canyons and pulled up to the guard.  I told the guy our names and he looked at the list...."You aren't on here" he said.  A state of panic came over Caroline and I.  Having just driven 3 hours with a 1.5 and 3 year old and it now being 9 at night, we did not know what to do.  After some investigation we discovered that we had a communication error and had come to Sedona a day early!!!!  The nice guard told us of a few hotels in town that we could stay at, and we reluctantly turned around.

We passed a few local establishments and settled on a chain hotel.  We checked in and got all of our things unloaded only to find out the mini fridge did not fit all our food we purchased at the store...Fortunately, the staff was really nice and said they would cook our frozen pizza (the one item that didn't fit) for us while we swam.  The boys were ecstatic to swim and we headed out to the outdoor "heated" pool.  Now, let me tell you, this certainly did not feel heated to me!  After dipping our toes in, we opted for the hot tub.  The boys splashed on the top step of the tub and had a great time.  Afterwards, we headed to our room for some tub time and pizza.

The boys found the ice bucket pretty entertaining.

After pizza the boys were pretty wound up from being in the car all day and were being boys - jumping and chasing each other around.  Unfortunately, we had adjoining rooms and our neighbors didn't think the boys playing was as much fun as we did.  They ended up complaining to the front desk.  FORTUNATELY, for us, the ladies at the front desk were both moms and understood our situation.  We offered to move rooms, and the hotel thanked us by comping our stay! 

The next morning we finally headed into Seven Canyons.  We were allowed to have an early check in since they felt bad that we arrived a day early.  After getting our keys, we drove to our private villa and headed to the park across the street before even going in.  The resort is a grouping of 25-30 private villas that are surrounded by breath taking canyon views and an amazing golf course.  The resort itself sits about 10 minutes outside of Sedona and is surrounded by national parks and serenity.

Finally, we were able to get into our villa.  WOW!  What an amazing place.  Our villa was a three bedroom, 3.5 bathroom beauty!  The villa was constructed with every detail thought out and embellished with the most ornate building materials and furnishings.  The entryway led into a vaulted living room with a state of the art kitchen in the background.  Off the kitchen was a gorgeous outdoor eating area, equipped with a gas fireplace, grill and TV.  There was a spa outside on the private patio, with comfortable lounge chairs and reading nooks crafted into the walls.  We all shared the master bedroom so that we could keep tabs on the boys.  John slept on some extra pillows in the walk in closet and Stephen slept in his pack in play near the gas fireplace, which he enjoyed.  The bathroom floors were all heated, and each tub had a small flat screen TV mounted near it...another thing the boys loved, oy! 

We are so thankful to my parent's friends, Pete and Liz, for letting us use their timeshare and are not sure how to say thank you for such an amazing experience!

Below are a number of pictures of the villa.

The playground was right across the street from our villa

The boys eating lunch at the table...note that we put towels on the chairs!

A picture of the kitchen with doors in the back leading to outdoor eating area

The patio, with canyons views.  Caroline and I saw an amazing shooting star out here one night!

More of the patio

We had such a great time in Sedona. The first day, we swam in the hot tub (we turned the temp down in the days so the boys could swim).  After that, we headed out to the Polar Express, about a 2 hour drive from Sedona

This is the view from Chapel Rock... it was beautiful, with this over the top mansion that (in my opinion) really took from the natural beauty.

  It was great to spend so much time together as a family.  On our last day we headed into Sedona for dinner and found a great clump of stores/eateries along the river and amidst the cottonwood trees.  Everything was lit up for Christmas and was so pretty.  We found a family friendly joint and had some burgers and fries before heading back for our last night.  All of us crashed early and enjoyed the warmth of the in room fireplace.

I almost forgot, before heading back to our place, we had promised the boys ice cream in town.  Since the place we went for dinner didn't offer any, we got into the car to find somewhere else.  We were hoping the boys would forget about it and fall asleep.....no, no, John reminded us and we ended up stopping at a Walgreens - the boys had a great time eating ice cream cones outside on a bench!

What an experience!

Thanks again Pete and Liz!