Oxymoron: Family VACATION

As I sit here and ponder the meaning of family vacation, it is with great conviction that I proclaim that a family vacation is indeed an oxymoron. First case and point: it is a lot of WORK and a test of PATIENCE getting four kids (we had our niece Lexi), two parents, 10 pieces of luggage and hundreds of miles later to a fun destination...however the fun hasn't started yet. After forgetting the camera bag in St. George (yes we got the camera back) and lugging Spencer, who ways 65 pounds, around in MY ARMS, at Disneyland, California Adventure and Sea World, coming home completely exhausted, sticky from sweat and smog, dealing with crowds...aka annoying teenagers on field trips...paying 5 dollars for a bottle of water, and spending 100 dollars on plastic souvenirs that were made in China and that will break inevitably two weeks later only after the boys have turned them into weapons of mass destruction. Yes, a family vacation is indeed an oxymoron! However...

What great memories we made, freaking out at the dummy (no not a verb, a NOUN) sitting in the passenger seat, coming home every night to our own house and pool, swimming until 11:00 at night, riding some of the greatest rides in North America and seeing Elijah hardly crack a smile in the pictures. Eating at the best hamburger joint, In N Out Burger, and the list goes on and on...this is why we as parents go through the pain of giving our kids a great vacation. Yes, it is a lot of work for the parents, and maybe our kids don't appreciate it...but they will. They will look back at the times we had at Disneyland, smile and realize what an amazing time we had as a family.

And More...Pic's of CA

Disneyland round DOS
The Pic with the Mick
Tigger and Potter's and Wenzbauer...
I love this picture of the kids...

And Yet More Pictures....

The Potter Family 09'...we kept getting major crusties from other parents who where disgusted that we left Lex out of the picture!
Getting our scared face on for Indiana Jones ride...the first ride of Disney 09
Taking pic's on Main Street...yes the boys looked thrilled
This is the dummy...see above, but it freaked me out, it kept looking at me...it had those eyes...those CRAZY eyes!
Spencer and Lex...

More Pictures

At the famed "Griffith Observatory" Yes folks, Noah made it...he finally made it.
And we finally found the Hollywood sign....long story short, we find it the first time, it wasn't lit up, we find it the second time, it is hiding in smog...gga...
Lexi in all her glory...just kidding Lex, we love ya
Mom and Spencer...
Mom and her five chins, Mr. I and Spencer...I was just trying to do my favorite Mr. I face and it worked, just a little to well.

Pictures from California

The Gang waiting for our turn at Hollywood Tower of Terror...such a great ride.
The boys sitting in the A...we took this picture 6 years ago with just Noah and Elijah...wow how they have grown

Disney 03'
Me and Lexi in line for Star Wars...and the only 2 girls in sight!
The boys...you can't see it but C3PO is right behind them!
It's a small world after all...It's a small world after all...it's a small, small world! Do you have it stuck in your head yet? Good, it has been in mine for 3 days now Dang you Disney!!

Randsom Thoughts...That Really Aren't Funny, But I Don't Have Anything Else to Write About

Because we are heading to Utah tomorrow and school, for the kids, doesn't officially end until Friday, Elijah's teacher gave him his end of the year DVD. It is such a cute DVD and so fun to see each kid grow up during the course of first grade. I got a little attached to Elijah's first grade class because I had the opportunity to go into the class and volunteer on Thursday's. Like I said, it was so cute and the entire family sat down to watch it (okay, Spencer was pouting on the stairs because I got mad at him for changing for the 5th time today and I am NOT joking...grrr, that kid). But there was a song that was on the DVD that was country (you know I HATE country) but it was about watching kids grow up and just appreciating them and I must admit, I got a little choked up. But what was so cute, was Elijah looked at me and said "This song really choked me up the first time I heard so Mom, it is okay to cry..." I guess my kids know me a little too well...

Also, we have had some great dinner's that last three nights. Sunday night, about 8 families who are all here going to Creighton Law, got together and had dinner at the LDS Institute building. We had a great night of chatting and eating...however when we got home the boys were so full of sand (there is a sand pit there) that I had to wash Noah's hair TWICE!! It was disgusting. I guess that is what you get when your kids spend 3 hours rolling around in a giant litter box...at least that is what Jim calls sandboxes.

Monday night was went to some friends house in Council Bluffs and had another BBQ with some other friends from Village Green...it was so much fun to just sit and chat and to break in the Keller's new red BBQ grill. I must admit I was a little jealous of that cute red grill, but in 5 years right? The funniest thing of the night however was the kids were pouring their red kool-aid over the deck and unfortunately one of the twins got nailed with red punch...oh well, it just looked like blood; he just didn't think it was very cool!

Tuesday night we were very excited to see our friends Tatie and Kyson (okay that isn't really their names but that is what Spencer calls them) Katie and Tyson Beck. They are just great people that we have become friends with while here in Omaha. Tyson is a dental student (yes, dental and law students CAN be friends...haha that is little Village Green joke) and Katie is pregnant with their first baby and works at a dental office...I sometimes feel more like her older, much older, sister but we have so much fun together. Okay, I am like closer to her mom's age than I am to her, but we get a long so well! I just figure I am way too immature for my age and Katie is really mature for her age, so we meet somewhere in the middle! Anyway they just got back from Florida and so we had to get caught up before we left so we had dinner with them. Nothing funny happened...I just wanted to tell you about it, so stop thinking I always have to entertain you...heehee

I guess I am telling you all this because....well, I don't really have anything else to say and I was thinking how much fun we have with our friends that we have made here in Omaha. There are many that I haven't written about but still just as important to us. It has been a great 9 months...some lows, some stress, some sadness, but a lot of highs, to many giggles to count and simple happiness.

Happy Mother's Day Mom...again just two weeks later

A close up of my Mom's Mother's Day gift

Just another picture of it...so think of where you can hang it!

The next generation...

So I was kind of on the ball for Mother's Day this year, I just however thought of it late. But a friend of mine introduced me to the craziest store in Omaha. It is antique dash old stuff dash junk store dash I love it store. Okay, in real people terms it is a store that has everything from demolished homes and businesses. It has doors, gorgeous old doors, cabinets, counter tops, nuts and bolts, trim, tubs...everything, EVERYTHING that you can rip out of a home, is there! Well I found this great old cabinet door and thought of my mom, I don't know why I just did. And thought it would be great to add "Jones, Established 1961" in vinyl...so here you go Mom, a fun little present for a wonderful mother!

Just Some Pic's...because I feel like it, OK!

The Boys playing in the sunset in Cape Cod...the low tide on the Atlantic is amazing and we had so much fun playing in the shallow water...but I don't think the crab that we kept playing with was having that much fun with us.

Sitting on the steps of The Old Dutch Church in Sleepy Hollow, NY...we had this creepy old guy walk up to us in the cemetery (the cemetery that inspired "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow") and start talking to us about different graves and stuff...however I kept expecting him to rip off his head and start an evil ghost laugh...like I said, he was so CREEPY!!

Rockefeller Plaza baby...it was about 90 degrees about 100 % humidity at 11:00 AT NIGHT...we had just finished dinner...I know our 'cones and rods' were all screwed up, no wonder nobody ever sleeps in this city!

The boys sitting on a duplicate of Lady Liberty's feet. Seeing the Statue of Liberty for the first time with my own eyes was awesome and I couldn't help but wonder how the newly immigrants to the United States felt...such a wonderful sign of hope!

On the fairy out to Liberty Island and then off to Ellis Island, which I loved. The history and the stories there are humbling and it made me realize how blessed we are to live in such an amazing country...I hope it always stays that way.

I just wanted to share some pictures from our trip to New York and Boston with you. I guess I have been thinking a lot about how much I loved this trip and can't wait to go back to two of the most amazing cities in the world. I think the funniest thing that happened to us while on this trip is that whereever we went, we would make a spectacle of ourselves because we had three boys... and you know that is crazy when people walking in the streets and sitting on the subway in NYC stop you and say "oh my! three boys...what a hand full!" They have no idea!

New York Revisted

The Potters in The Sacred Grove...it was simply amazing.

A replica of the home Joseph Smith lived in when he had the First Vision... and I complain how small my home is!

Jim and Noah on his baptism day at the Susquehanna River, in Harmony, PA (just before Noah's confirmation).

The Potter brood...

I love this picture...Noah being baptized in the Susquehanna River (just before Jim performed the baptism)

Papa, Noah and Nana in Harmony, PA, 2008. This is the memorial for the Restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood.

We have been reading the Doctrine and Covenants to the boys every night and last night we read the section that tells of Joseph Smith's martyrdom. When I looked up at Noah he was crying. It was such a tender moment that it made me get chocked up. It hit me that he has walked where Joseph walked and he has felt the sacred feelings of the Sacred Grove. I know that Noah has a testimony of Joseph Smith, that he was a real boy who earnestly prayed to Heavenly Father and that he did see Him and His Son. Noah knows that it isn't just a great story but in fact it is true because he has been there and the Holy Ghost has told him it is true.

A Fish Named Spencer

Spencer showing me how he jumps into the pool.
His "I am diving in" pose.
Ummm, your guess is as good as mine...
Oh dude, what a classic pose from a classic boy.

As I have been reflecting on the last 9 months of our lives I have decided that whole reason we came to Omaha was that I could be even more stressed out (Relief Society) and for Spencer. He has grown up so much since we arrived here in the Cornhusker state. He has made a ton of friends and has had the best experience at Christ Child Pre-School. One of those experience is swimming lessons every Tuesday for the last 4 months. He was sad that today was the last swim day so he MADE me take pictures to document this day. I tried to get him to do some of his newly learned swimming posses and this is what he came up with.

All I Want For...hmmm, Memorial Day? Is My 2 Front Teeth

Yes the tooth...ohh that tooth.
"I vant to suck your blood"....The next Edward...oh gag!
Elijah...you just lost your two front teeth, now what are you going to do?

Well I couldn't use Christmas as Christmas is like 7 months away so I had to pick the next best thing...Memorial Day. However, I don't think these two front teeth will be in THAT quickly...so maybe Fourth of July? Oh goodness I am missing the whole point, the point is Mr. Elijah has lost his two front teeth! What a monumental moment in a child's life...wow what is next? Driving, voting, retirement? Anyway Elijah was very excited to find 50 cents under his pillow...don't you long for the days when 50 cents actually excited you? He was anxious to put his 50 cents in his piggy bank but then quickly asked if he had to pay tithing on it? Hmmm, I think the tooth fairy is tax exempt...

"Mom Your The Best...But Only When You Do What I WANT You To Do"

Not a great picture of me but a great picture of the boys in St. George (aka land of the old crusties that have nothing better to do than be grouchy)
Bringing home Spencer to his three brother's...2004
Okay I think I found the worst pictures of me but the look on Elijah's face is priceless...his first Do'h 2001
Halloween 2001...Noah was Steve Erwin, Mom, big pregnant fat lady.


Isn't that the truth...sometimes I feel like my children only love me when I do what they want me to do and hate me the other 99.99 percent of the time. What they don't know is every night I pray for them; for their health, for their safety, for them to NOT fight over the Wii today, just one day is all I ask for. As I send them out the door to the great unknown world of elementary school, I wonder if they will understand what will be taught to them, if their friends will be nice to them or in Spencer's case, he will finally decide that urinating outside is NOT a cool thing nor an environmentally "green" way to water the neighbors plants.

They don't know that I loath doing laundry and hope everyday that the laundry fairies will become real out of my imagination and wash, fold, and put away our laundry (much to my disappointment, they never become real...but still hoping). They don't know that I hate cleaning the bathroom...okay, I don't mind cleaning bathrooms, but I hate wiping up urine five feet from the toilet, really, really is that hard to pee IN the toilet (at least I know it isn't Spencer's urine because he pees outside). They don't know these facts because I simply don't tell them.

Being a mother has a lot of monotony...beds, cleaning, folding, washing and every other boring cleaning term used, and trust me there are a lot, just to describe every day of every week of every year when you are a mother.

However I love it, I love that Spencer had to come climb into bed with me to fall asleep. I love that Elijah gives the best "bed-hugs" and must give me one every night or he will have bad dreams. I love that Noah gets a little upset when I don't read to him every night...I love to read to him because he loves it. I love that fact that we eat every night together as a family; whether it is chicken nuggets or bacon wrapped turkey stuffed with stuffing with cherry pie for desert. I love taking the boys to baseball games, the zoo, to the store, to a restaurant, to the movies or just driving in the car. I always love hearing the funny little funnies they say and laughing about it with Jim later that night. I love traveling with the boys and experiencing firsts together...First time to New York together, first time to Boston, first time to Disney World together...we have had a lot of firsts together.

I love my boys and I love being a mother. I love that it is looked upon in the Church as a divine calling. I love that it is sacred and I love that it is hard and most of the time I want to pull out my hair but I love it...I love it because I get to be a Mom with the best Dad ever. I love that they have a Dad who isn't afraid to go to law school at the age of 36. I love that they have a Dad that isn't afraid to play the Wii and look a little nerdy yelling at the t.v. I love that they have a Dad that isn't afraid to show his love for his boys and he isn't afraid to tell them that he loves them. But most of all I am glad that we are doing this whole blind parenting together.

I am grateful that I had such a wonderful Mother's Day. I think I have finally realized that maybe Mother's Day isn't about big gifts, a big breakfast or a big break from Motherly duties but to recognize the little things...hugs, kisses, and smiles. Thanks boys for all 3 today!

Mr. Spencer Zoo-Who

Okay, today, was a good day! First I woke up tired and with kids screaming at each other that quickly turned to crying because one kicked the other and then the other had, HAD, to retaliate and make the other cry...got it so far. Then I had a call about some problems with this and that and well, typical relief society stuff, are you with me so far?! My house was a mess, my kitchen was piled up with two days of dirty dishes, laundry needed to be done and oh ya, it was POURING buckets outside. Why, WHY do days start out like this...

However, Mr. P who is studying for his last final of his first year of law school saw the pain, anguish, boredom and monotony in my eyes and decided that he must take matter's into his own hands. Yes, he singlehandedly made all my dishes go away, laundry vanished and made the rain stop...okay he didn't do one of those things but he suggested we go to lunch. I love lunch and it is even better when it is with Mr. P.

And yes, it gets better. After lunch I went to volunteer at Elijah's class, like I do every Thursday and when I went to check in, the ladies at the front desk told me that Spencer got into the Zoo Kindergarten! He will be one of 17 kids in the NATION to go to school at the Zoo. How cool is that! I was so excited but even more exciting was the fact that all his friends and buddies got into the zoo as well! What a great day...okay well, the house is still dirty, the laundry still needs to be washed and folded and well, the dishes did get done by yours truly but the rain...well, it did stop.

Our 12th Anniversary Of The Day Jim's World Was Never The Same

Our little Yankee Family in 07...my how we have grown
One of like 3 of me and Jim but I do love this one of us...
This was taken a few years ago...summer of 02, I remember because I had 2 babies
When Noah was blessed!

Ya, a long title but so fitting for the anniversary of when Jim proposed. It is such a cute story and few people really know it so I thought I would share it with the people who already know it and those who don't care!

I was working for The Downtown Alliance and our office was in SLC. It was a Friday evening about 3:00 ish when Jim's mom, Jolene, called me at my office and asked if I would go to the tinder box and pick something up for her. I didn't think anything about it because Jolene was always buying stuff at The Tinder Box. And since I was already downtown it wouldn't be a problem. Well, I walked the 3 or 4 blocks to CrossRoads Mall (which btw is NOT even there anymore a piece of our history is forever gone). I walked into the Tinder Box and before I could even say anything the sales lady grabbed me and said "it isn't ready yet" I thought this was rather weird and said to her "Umm, okay ya I am here to pick something up for Jolene Potter" and she said "ya, it isn't ready yet, come back in 15 minutes." Weird but whatever...so I gave her my "you are really coockie" look and walked out. I walked into the poster store and looked at posters for the next 15 minutes...When I had had my fill of pictures of places I will never go or bands that I never liked, I walked back to the The Tinderbox only to be greeted by the same 'weirdo' sales lady but was handed a box. Again I have her my best "what the crap is this all about" but the look I got back was one of weirdness and happiness. I was handed a box with a Lilly Put Lane figurine and an envelope.

The Lilly Put Lane was of a cabin and the envelope had a clue in it that read "When we first met at the cabin.... second clue go to the video store"

The Video Store handed me the box set of Star Wars (which we watched as our first date...yes, it was a very long, long first date) and another envelope and in it clue number two that read "We weren't sure what would happen...third clue go to See's Candy"

See's Candy hands me a box of chocolates and another envelope and in it, it reads the third clue "But we both wanted to SEE...go to Memory Grove"

Holy Crap, I was smiling from ear to ear but I really still had no idea what was going on. I didn't think Jim was going to purpose because you see, the previous night, he broke up with me...yes HE BROKE UP WITH ME... I just thought this was some elaborate way of saying he was sorry!

But I ran my little heart out to my work, yelled that I was leaving early and bolted. When I got into the car to drive the few blocks to Memory Grove the song "Everything She Does Is Magic" by the Police came on and the line that stuck out at me was when Sting sings "Ask her if she will marry me some old fashion way..." What the...is Jim going to ask...no, we had looked at rings two times but I did tell him he had to pick it out. And I DID tell him I didn't want to know when he was going to ask and I DID tell him that he would have a better chance of me saying yes if he made the whole proposal thing amazing! Hmmm, the clues were stacking up.

Well, I got to Memory Grove and Jim was so nervous I couldn't really read him very well. But we chatted for a few moments as we were walking and we came to the Greek thing-a-majig at the Grove when he handed me the fourth clue which read..."Now Ann Marie, will you Marry Me...and he said it with my hand in his shaking hands and gave me the most beautiful ring I had ever seen...

Of course I said Yes and then we had to go home to show off the ring...Little did I know that the ring had come the previous day, the day he broke up with me, and most of his family already knew. Little did I know his sister was there taking pictures, following us, the whole time. Little did I know that when I showed up at the Tinder Box the first time, Jim hadn't gotten everything lined up yet...When I walked in he was hiding behind the counter telling the sales lady to get rid of me...That is why I love Jim, he thinks of everything, and he always makes life a lot more fun, filled with a lot more laughter and filled with so much love! Thanks Mr. P, I love you!