April

April started off with Spencer participating in his first Home Depot workshop building a wooden Easter bunny box. It was crazy busy, but we had fun and it was super cute watching him and Nate work together to hammer the nails, paint, and put stickers on.

By now our weather was inconsistently nice so when we had sunny days we were at the park soaking it up! Conference weekend was nice, but windy so we took Spencer's kite to the park to try it out.

We also made it out to the Lake Owyhee Glory Hole after church one Sunday. It was cool but a little bit scary too. And the drop down the side of the dam was frightening!

One of the last weekends, Nate had a group meeting for a class ALL DAY Saturday so Spencer and I drove up to Lucky Peak to check out the Rooster Tail that only spouts water for a limited time during exceptionally high water years. It took us like 2 hours to get through the traffic of the driving tour, but it was neat to see. Just wish we'd have had a chance to park and get out and walk around.

Our free bowling passes started at the end of April. We've already been a few times and generally take my nephews with us. Spencer could care less about actually bowling and just likes to "play" the arcade games. Turns out I'm the worst bowler out of all the little boys and I usually lose to all 3 of them. My goal is to break 100 before the summer's over! In my defense, they get bumpers and I don't ;)

And here's just a crazy picture of our crazy boy with crazy hair before his summer haircut.

March

Here it is almost June and I am way behind!! Figured I'd better catch up before baby Birthday Cake gets here or I might never get to it!

So here's our March recap.

Nate was sick for like a week and after going to the doctor we discovered he had a sinus infection and almost a double ear infection. After taking almost a whole round of Amoxicillin, he broke out in head to toe hives for 3-4 days. Its still up for debate whether the hives came from the medicine or the black walnut tree he cut down in the rain, but I think its safe to say he will not be taking Amoxicillin ever again just to be safe.

One weekend we also took a little day drive down to Twin to check out Shoshone Falls since we heard it was running at its highest in like 20 years. It was definitely the most impressive I'd seen and minus the traffic to get down the canyon, it was enjoyable! Afterward we even stopped for a pizza buffet which of course made it even more worth the trip.

my glamour shot ;)

And now for some Nate and Spencer moments:

March 16

Nate said to me, "you look like your sister when she was 9 months pregnant" (I was 5..thanks Nate, ha)

March 18

The other night Spencer said to me and Nate, "you are the best girl and Nate in the world!" I asked if he meant we were the best parents to which he said "yeah, parents!"

March 23

We were at church and I was talking to a friend who'd recently had a baby boy. Spence ran up to me and looked at the baby in the car seat and excitedly asked me, "mom, did your baby pop out?!"

One Saturday I went with my mom and her friends to watch the play Dirty Dancing at the Morrison Center. Nate was in charge of Spencer so naturally he took him to the Sportsman's Expo at the fairgrounds where they hung out for quite a while! At one point Nate said he was carrying Spencer on his shoulders while Spencer ate a lollipop. A guy with a cup of beer walked by at exactly the wrong second that Spencer dropped his sucker. Nate heard a 'plop' as the sucker landed perfectly in the guys cup. Luckily he was a good sport and just laughed and said, "he's probably not gonna want that back."

March 24

Nate was joking about sitting on me when Spencer pipes up, "Nater, you can't sit on mom because you're too fat and will KILL her!!" 

February

February was pretty exciting for us as we found out baby #2 is another boy!!! To say we were surprised is an understatement! We were all convinced it was a baby sister! But alas, he makes grandson #6 on the Oakes side and we couldn't be more thrilled, just surprised! Reasons for believing he was a she:

• Spencer was certain
• not nearly as sick
• cravings were totally different
• broke out badly
• and some other reasons I can't think of right now

We played lots of pickleball which meant Spencer got to hang out with his cousins a whole bunch. He also memorized the 2nd Article of Faith for primary and then when the time came for him to stand up in front of the primary and recite it, he did it all by himself (twice) with no prompting or help whatsoever. It was adorable and I was so proud and teary eyed!!

21 weeks!

Spencer stories:Last nights conversation with Spencer...
Me: tomorrow we'll find out if you're gonna have a baby brother or sister! What should we name it if it's a sister?
Spencer: um, birthday cake!
Me: and if it's a brother?
Spencer: smoke stack!

Feb 17 - So last week our garage door jammed and broke. Like a good husband, Nate asked me if I had a house key before he left the next day. I was sure I did. Well after being gone all day me and Spencer came home and learned that I had a house key...to my parents house! The broken garage was locked and so was the back sliding glass door. I have hated the fact that we have a dog door ever since we moved in...until the day I sent my 3 year old in through the dog door to unlock the sliding glass door and let me in.

January

I already talked about the rest of our Arizona trip and trip home which occurred at the very beginning of January, and beyond that not much happened. Nate started what was supposed to be his last semester of grad school, but thanks to Boise State the're gonna drag it into the summer with one last class!
I quit my job, at least working in the office, and switched to only working at home a few hours in the morning and evening. It is so convenient and I've loved being home hanging out with Spence! It's also given me more time/energy to cook more and prepare for baby birthday cake.

Cute Spencer stories:

Jan. 7 - Spencer looking out the window "whoa! it's snowing like a mile an hour!"

Jan 9 - When I let him watch TMNT on YouTube before bed, "Yes! Yes! I'm gonna dream about YouTube!"

Jan 21 - This morning Spencer and I were watching Nate and the neighbor push a car out of the snowy cul-de-sac. Spencer says "I love watching this!"

Jan 28 - Spencer yelling at Nate this morning: I wanted to watch a boy show and you started a MAN show!!

and a Nate one too:
Jan 22 - I was feeling crappy and eventually ended up in the bathroom over the toilet. When I finally came out my wonderfully supportive and loving husband said "next time can you close the door?"

Museum of Ancient Life

On our way home from AZ we planned to spend the night in Orem and good thing because the snow was coming down by that point. There was even a semi that had tipped over and was blocking all but the left lane. We were thankful to get to stop!

The next morning we took Spencer to Thanksgiving Point's Museum of Ancient Life (the reason we had planned to stay in Orem in the first place). It was awesome and even more awesome, we got in for free thanks to our membership to the Discovery Center!

Spencer was in heaven seeing all the fossils and doing all of the activities, I wish we had had a little more time to spend at the museum because there was just so much to see and do and read! But we will certainly be going back next time we are down there!

December

December started with me getting to witness the birth of my sister's 4th boy (only 13 days late)! It was empowering and encouraging and here's hoping I have the strength to go all natural with this baby!!

the whole fam after baby Olly's blessing.

Spencer also had his 3 year check up. The doctor told us he has eczema on the backs of his knees and to stop bathing so much (not really, but he did say bathing every day could be making it worse, too bad this kid loves showers and baths and any time he hears them on he starts undressing). He also told us Spencer was a "very advanced talker" which was sort of funny. The conversation was something like this:
Doctor: Now normally I ask about their vocabulary and words and pronunciation but just sitting here listening to him, I'm not concerned at all. He's a very advanced talker.
Me: Great, now can you tell me how I'm supposed to get him to sleep in his own bed all night?!

looking grown up at the doctor!

meeting Santa at the ward Christmas dinner

My brother and his wife who have been living in South Carolina came for the week before Christmas so we spent a lot of time playing pickle ball, Ticket to Ride, sledding, and just hanging out with them. We also were enjoying all the snow we were getting as it was way more than usual!

on the hill behind Hillside.

brave enough to try it solo!

with uncle Brayd.

Nate and Spencer shoveling/playing in the snow...again

Christmas morning we had a mini celebration at home where Spencer was spoiled with dinosaurs, dinosaur puzzles, dinosaur shirts and everything else he had wanted. We then went to church at my sisters ward where they blessed their new baby. Then we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening at my parents eating and opening more presents!

checking out the ultimate light display up Quail Ridge

Spencer dressed as a T-rex chasing everybody

Heaton and Nate pickle ballin.

can't forget Nate's Christmas mustache ((shudder))

Matching Christmas eve Santa jammies!

Christmas morning with some serious bed head!

The day after Christmas we got up nice and early to start our looong drive to Tucson! We took Brayden and Madison with us to Salt Lake so they could catch a flight back to S.C. that night. Madison was even great when Spencer puked, she'll be a great mom ;) Brayden on the other hand needs some more practice...

not too happy, the morning we left for AZ

The most eventful part was in the middle of nowhere in southern Utah when Spencer announced he had to poop and it was coming now, there was no waiting for an exit and by the time we pulled over, it was too late. Thankfully, Nate and I just laughed as we cleaned up a ginormous mess. I will also never travel without wet wipes every again, even if we don't have kids in diapers!!

We finally made it to Tucson about 3am Tuesday, the 27 and we were never more glad to have a couch to sleep on! I took only like 5 pictures, I was too busy enjoying the sunshine. But here they are:

cousins watching cartoons in the morning.

learning to ride his scooter at night in warm Tucson.

the Moeller fam as of December 2016.

We had so much fun with family and sunshine! We visited the ostrich farm, while the men went hunting the girls took the kids to one of my favorite traditions - a Rubios lunch at the park while the kids play, played yard games and had a fire with smores, went to the Mesa temple to witness the Alldredge sealing, hiking in the rain at Catalina State Park, at more that I've already forgotten! We love getting together with this big crew and only wish it happened more often!!