Um, I didn't know life could be so good! I just copied and pasted this whole post from my sister's awesome blog! And now I get to claim it as mine! Yay! Our last flight out to VA in February, we got bumped and scored four free ticket vouchers, so Lils and I took a girl's trip out to Virginia! Dave was amazing and worked from home while taking care of E and Baby No. They were a handful, but he made it through! (He's also excited for his own boy trip with Ebay in the fall, going to a BYU football game) Let me tell you. I was so excited for this trip and actually for the airplane flight as well. It was just me and Lils. We talked about life, read books, watched "Princess Dairies" and chowed on treats. It was so fun!

Our trip out to Va did not disappoint! I was so happy to see my sister's little baby boy. He is so sweet and chunky and deliciously creamy! I love him so much. Ella was a little princess. Every time I saw her I had to just grab her and kiss her. She has the best hair and is just darling. I loved spending time with my great Mom and Fabulous Dad! It was wonderful to hang out with my two younger brothers and my sister. They rock and we had a great time!

And now the low-down from my sister, Lorel:

While they were here we went to the newly renovated Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (what else would a family of artists do?), had a girls night, game night, spent a day at Kings Dominion (best amusement park ever, and home to the new Intimidator 305), went to the Hanover Tomato Festival, and made the Lorel and Lenore's Greatest Hits cd. We always manage to have a hilariously fun time, and come out of each visit with a few good stories.

Here are some pics from the art museum. By the way, for those who live in Va, please visit this museum. It is pretty amazing and one of the best art museums in the nation. Sorry the pictures are not great quality... I had to copy them from my brothers facebook page.



And my all-time FAVORITE part of my sisters' visit - making the Lorel and Lenores Greatest Hits cd. We had the briliant idea to make a cd for Dave (Lenore's husband) of us singing 3 great songs. Dave hates it more than anything when we sing together. Especially when we "harmonize." We are not good at all. We know we are not good at all... and do it to make him crazy. Craig thinks we are hilarious. Dave thinks we are horrible/funny. We think we are THE BEST! (Dave goes crazy because he actually has a wonderful singing voice).

My brother, Cordell, is big into music and has a little recording studio in his room. So he let us use his mics and we just sang our little hearts out. Lenore and I seriously could not stop laughing, and at some points were literally rolling on the floor. I think I even peed in my pants a little (come on, I just had a baby). Cordell was dying because he hated it. And Craig had to hide his face in the carpet.

The three tracts on our CD are:
1. Don't Stop Believing - Journey
2. OMG - Usher
3. Dreams - Cranberries (the song that started our love of singing together)

I posted the last song on my blog originally... but it is just too horrible and embarrassing to keep up. So all of you subscribers are lucky/not lucky because you still get to listen (I think that is how it works).

This is Dave. My sister Sara has a sign in her bathroom that says "Parenthood is like slowly being pecked to death by chickens." That statement is now a little more real than it was 5 days ago when Lenore left with Lily to Virginia. It has been just Me, E and Rose the Nose. Here is what I've learned:

1.) Silence should not be cherished. It should be feared. Someone is playing with a permanent marker and the clock is ticking.
2.) Food in a child's stomach multiplies in volume and stink. I don't care what they've eaten - when they toss their cookies, prepare yourself for Thanksgiving.
3.) Breakfast, dollar-store, tasty lunch, banana-bread snack, swimming for 3 hours followed by 2 hours of cartoons doth not a grateful child make. You want gratitude? Try a 3 hour bedroom timeout.
4.) Cheerios + Milk + 2 hours creates a chemical bond stronger than super-glue, nay, stronger even than Wesley and Buttercup's love from Princess Bride.
5.) "Man was not meant to be alone..." Uh, yes. This statement is 100% true.

I love my kids!