The Petersen Family

My sweet husband is the Scoutmaster of our ward and as we quickly found out soon after he was called, being in charge of scouting in the Farmington 21st ward is no simple task. I could tell by the way the bishop went on and on about the blessings we would be receiving because of Tyler's service that this was going to be an involved calling, one where I may begin to wish my husband was home more. But actually, even though we do weekend campouts each month of the year (yes, even in the winter), multiple meetings weekly, and have very involved, persistant, and wonderful parents, Tyler totally loves his calling and I love that he loves it and can do something that comes naturally to him: hang out with 12 year olds.

Anyway, the January campout is always the Klondike, if you've never heard of it ask a boy scout and you will get some great stories I am sure. Troop 1199 took off for it last weekend, which left Cole and I with 3 days to fill without dad around. So, I did what I wish I could do every weekend and I went home to Neola! Don't get me wrong, I don't love Klondike weekend because Tyler leaves, that part stinks. But if he's going to be gone, I might as well spend it with loved ones (and extra babysitters!).

Before we all took off, Tyler and Cole had some bonding time in the tub. Tyler taught Cole how to blow bubbles (he's a little afraid to get his head in the water so we're trying to help with that) in the water. Cole thought it was the funniest thing he'd seen all week, here he is laughing at daddy.

They would take turns, and when it was Tyler's turn Cole would push his head in the water like so:

We said farewell to dada and drove out to the greatest place for a grandkid to be: grandma and grandpa's. They had a TON of snow, and thanks to dad's efforts in making some terrific four-wheeler trails through the fields, we were able to drag the sled behind the quad and have a ton of fun. Tegan came with to ride with Cole while I drove. Cole just couldn't be happier than he is on a four-wheeler. This is before we took off and before his face was frozen.

This is after riding around for an hour and after the face is frozen. Although he couldn't smile or talk, he had a blast! He couldn't decide if he liked driving with me and going super fast to throw Tegan off, or riding in back with her.

I just thought this was a great picture. He was sitting in front of me while I drove, and I hopped off to put the sled on the back so we could head in. He didn't move one inch, he was holding on and looked like he was frozen on for good! He usually turns around to watch me, but he didn't even turn his head. It cracked me up.

He sure loves his grandma and grandpa. He loves to help with whatever you're doing on the kitchen, and he's becoming a good little stirrer and pourer. It's fun to have him right up there with me learning about it all. Here he got to make cookies with grandma! This of course is his favorite part, as soon as you start putting things together he insists on a "taste!!".

Saying cheese, ready for a snack. He loves to have his snack on a stool on the kitchen floor, both at our house and grandma's. Sometimes I feel like I'm feeding a puppy because I put the food in a bowl then put it on the stool. Funny.

It was a great weekend at the grandparents, then I came home to beautiful flowers! I loved them so much I wanted to share...

These are just some extras from today I wanted to add. We were hanging out with our buddy Will, and the boys noticed these empty tubs and decided they made a perfect boat. They played in these for a good half-hour, 45 mins. They wanted their snack in there, and I had to make them get out so we could head to school. It was so cute!

Cole thought it was funny squishing down inside and shutting the lids...until he realized he couldn't un-stuck himself. MAMA! HEP!!!

Coming up next: big belly pictures!!

We've had some great things happening lately! We won a major award, had family over for several days (which really is a wonderful thing, not just saying that :)), and we've been doing some fun things on top of that. I was excited to get our my pictures from the weekend to share, then I realized after spending 4 days with them, I only got one shot :( How do you remember to get the camera out and take a picture when something is happening? It's like the last thing I think of sometimes. Anyway, I did find some other fun pictures from things we've been doing that are blog-worthy.

Tyler piggy-backing Cole and Will (I watch him twice a week, his mom watches Cole while I teach). These boys really play hard together. And Cole thinks Will is his big brother and has learned so much from him. I'm glad he's such a well behaved kid!

This was from a few days back, hanging out at the mall with "Gomma and Sis-teen". Cole had a great cheeeese going on, until my camera took too long and he started to get distracted:)

Tyler and I got a well-deserved date night to his work party. They rented out Fat Cats, so we had unlimited bowling and unlimited food! It was super fun. They also held a hula hoop contest, the first one was just for the boys to compete against each other. We convinced Tyler to do it, although he claimed he had never done it before, and they gave them a couple minutes warm up time. He was a natural! He kept it going for the entire practice time, and I was checking out the other guys and they were really struggling. I thought that $25 gift card was ours. So here he is "practicing"...

...and then they start the competition. I think he realized he actually had a shot to win, because he started out a little too fast and IT FELL within the first 15 seconds!!! It was tragic. And if yours fell you had to stand there and watch the other contestants until there was a winner. So here he is, waiting for someone to win...

...but the night started looking really promising when they began the drawing! Everyone that came got their name put in for some great prizes, ipods, iphones, stereo stuff, $100 gift cards, etc. As they started drawing numbers, our friends started getting some really great stuff so we were feeling like our turn was coming. But nothing was happening. They got down to the last and most expensive prize, a 32" Vizio lcd. And they called OUR NUMBER!! We were so excited, it was like we had just won a car or something. So here we are with our prize.

Even though we were overjoyed by our good fortune, we really don't need another tv. After much thought and negotiation, we decided to return the tv and get something else with the $ that we've had our eye on, so we got a Wii and a Blu-ray. We definitely compromised because I wanted to get the money and do something fun like go on a mini-trip or spend it on the house, but Tyler really wanted to keep the tv to replace the older upstairs one. So we did end up taking it back, but used it for something that didn't sound boring to Tyler :) I felt it was a good compromise.

Now to the wonderful weekend we just had with my family! Mom, Christine, Shane, and Tegan came Friday night (Shane's birthday!) and we went out to eat to celebrate the big day. Then we had a sleepover that night, then Christine stayed on till Sunday night, and Mom and Tegan stayed until today. We really love having company and wish they could come and stay more often! Cole loved it too, every morning he wanted to go downstairs and wake everyone up. Here's the one picture I got of Tegan reading to Cole.

We also went bowling with some friends Saturday night, it was Cole's first time! (It looks like we go bowling a lot, but really we don't). He loved rolling the ball down and seeing the pins fall. His favorite thing was the air blower though! Hilarious.

I'm still feeling good and feeling her move around a lot more lately. I can tell she's getting bigger and stronger! I'm also getting bigger and think next week is going to be the dreaded week of moving into maternity pants (boooo). As comfy as they are, I despise those panels. And they fit so weird on me. oh well!!! Worth it.

Our baby girl.
Cute leg shot. Look, she's crossing her legs at the ankles! What a lady.

Look at those fingers! I wanna kiss em.

Want to kiss those toes too. Those are definitely daddy's long toes.

We just found out this morning and we couldn't be more excited. Everything looks great, she has fingers and toes and ears and a nose. She did a somersault during the ultrasound which was pretty cool. I hope she looks just like her daddy, but more feminine of course :)

The funny quote from the day came from the ultrasound technician, she was trying to determine the gender and kept saying how she thinks it's a girl, but she couldn't tell. It didn't sound very convincing, plus I was watching the same screen and kept thinking I was seeing boy parts but couldn't tell if it was just a hand or arm or something. Anyway, after saying, "well, I THINK it's a girl" for the third time I asked her, "How sure are you? Mostly sure, kind of sure, or not very sure?" Because I don't want to tell family and everyone it's a girl if she's just guessing and then it ends up not really being a girl (which I guess could still happen you want to look at it that way). Well, I think she felt like I was questioning her "skills", because she quickly replied, "Oh, I'm probably 50% sure, just like anyone else would be." ! What does that mean?? I'M 50% sure it's a girl and I'm not trained! I thought that was great, I had no reply. But luckily, baby girl flipped around and gave us some good shots after that where she sounded very sure (probably more like 90% now) that the baby is a girl :) Tyler and I were laughing about that on the way home.

Cole watched the screen very intently, I was surprised how interested he seemed. Now when you ask him where the baby is, he lifts up his shirt and points to his belly button and laughs. He's going to be a great big brother. I hope they become great buddies just like I was growing up with Parker. Can't wait for May!!