We wanted to surprise the grandparents with current pictures of the kids....

Mercedes Elise

Lincoln Maxwell

Cooper Alan





Oh so much fun!

Pulling teeth is actually MUCH easier than getting a "happy" picture of Lincoln.  We've been passing the flu back and forth between me and coop and linc, and maybe he still isn't feeling great.  But then, he seemed pretty happy for the rest of the day.  I think that he just has something against photographers who aren't named "mommy" or "daddy".  Do you think that he'll be more cooperative when he's three?  We sure hope so.

oh suzannie....

Tonight on our way home from "erranding" (snacks for our long drive from Wal-Mart and gas from Costco), Mercedes tried to explain to Cooper how to blow a bubble with gum.  

She reminisced about her aunt Suzannie teaching her how to do it.

Suzanne and David in Midway last December.

We talked about how great aunt Suzannie is.  

This is why we love her!

That convinced Mercedes and Cooper to list all of the people they love.

Cooper said, "I love everyone in Utah and Washington, except for the girl who pinches my cheeks."

I'd forgotten until then, that he has complained before about a little girl in his primary class at church who pinches his cheeks.  

I asked who she is, since I know a few of the kids in his class and wondered.

Cooper on his 4th birthday.

"Her name is Melissa.  I don't like that girl, just everyone else."

I thought of Cooper's adorable chipmunk cheeks, and understood how someone would be tempted to pinch and pinch.  

Personally, I like to kiss them every chance I get.

My imagination took off at Mach 5 and I saw lines of girls to come... ones who will fall in love with those adorable cheeks.  

Sometimes I wish that he could stay 4 forever.

bye bye BOB, you've served us well

Even though we're not 100% over the latest bug to visit our home, we're all very excited for our upcoming adventure.  We'll be visiting family in Utah, and then bringing a few family members back home to Washington with us!  Hip Hip Hooray!!!

Brent's been complaining lately about the rise in gas prices (the drive will cost us almost double in gas as it did just a few months ago), so I sold my wonderful Bob Duallie Revolution Stroller (Cooper mostly rides his bike now and we still have our single jogger).  The cash will completely cover the cost of the drive!

No more complaining Brent!

Just so you know, Brent doesn't complain about much.  He's a very patient husband.  He doesn't complain when the house is messy, or when I neglect to make a hot dinner, or when I want to sleep in on Saturday morning and he gets to be in charge of the kiddies.  He mostly just complains about money, because he does not like to spend it.  He likes to save it.  It's a great quality that I'm grateful for in him, and that I'm trying to acquire for myself.  He's not quite Ebeneezer Scrooge and I'm not quite Eva Paron... we're getting better at meeting in the middle.

I'm taking a break from a crying two-year-old who is cutting his last molar (for a while - yay!) and wants to be held non-stop (he's down for his nap right now - thank goodness!) and the piles of laundry waiting to be washed and put away so that I can pack our bags, to eat a yummy salad and do a bit of venting.

The icing on top of the "visiting family" cake is that it seems (according to the 10-day forecast) to be much warmer in Deseret than it is here!  We're ready for some sun, some high 50 degree / maybe even 60 degree temperatures and a whole lot of catching up with family and friends.

a very wet march, in pictures

We spend most of our time inside,
and I seem to spend most of my time
building train tracks.
Cooper likes them to make "circles."
We take them down at night
and put them up again in the morning.

See that heating vent in the lower right corner?
Cooper's favorite place.  Just like I used to during
the cold winters of New Jersey, Coop
sits on it when he's cold.  He's always playing with cars
and or trains.  Tracks are not always necessary.

Brent before some ball he had to go to.

Probably the reason Cooper gets sick the most.  He doesn't
love veggies as much as the others.  This is Lincoln
sneaking orange pepper slices before dinner.  If he picked
up a red or yellow one, or a piece of broccoli, he'd put it back.
Kind of like picking out your favorite kind of candy at
Halloween, right?  He was CHOWING down.  We dipped
our veggies in a yummy yogurt-avocado dip
that Mercedes made in the blender for us.

Mercedes taking Cooper's temperature.
I spent a good hour trying to get him to drink some
medicine.  Mercedes talked him into it within a few minutes.
What a girl!

Cooper is finally venturing off of the couch today.  He's been laying down for the past four days, poor guy.  His cough has turned more meaty, (rather than like a seal) and his eyes are less full of goop.  He's definitely over the worst of it.  Lincoln, however, has red swollen eyes, a baby seal bark, and a fountain coming out of his nose.  At least we know what we're dealing with this time!  And Lincoln drank the tylenol right down, thank goodness!  So unlike Cooper (who only agreed to take it a few times), he won't be quite as uncomfortable.

Welcome Spring!

our favorite author

We are big fans of Dr. Seuss here in the Bethers household.  Mercedes loves rhyming books and always has.  I love to read fun stories.  The boys just love to be read to.  In honor of the great Seuss's birthday this month, we did our best to make green eggs (and substituted pink pancakes for the ham).  

Mercedes came home from school with instructions, and I thought that it would be a fun and easy dinner.  Easy?  Not so much.  I was picturing scrambled green eggs in my head, but those are not the kind of eggs illustrated in the book.  It's really hard to turn the whites green while leaving the yolks yellow and unbroken while frying eggs.  Most of my attempts actually turned into green scrambled eggs.  The kids, who love eggs, didn't think that the green looked to appetizing.  Even Lincoln, who will usually try anything, wasn't fond of the green eggs.  

Pink pancakes don't look too appetizing either.
This one is slathered with maple syrup.

I think that this was my first and last attempt at green eggs.  It's more of a "brent" project anyway.  He loves to experiment in the kitchen.