I took this bucket full of cherries that we picked and made a cherry pie for Jeremy on Father's Day.
I know, it is not pretty, but it was delicious! This is definitely going to be a new family tradition. I can't believe how easy it is to make cherry pie. I have never made a fruit pie before, is that crazy? I stick to banana cream and pumpkin. But I ventured out, and I loved it. What orchard can we hit next? Peach, apple, apricot? Bring it on!
We went for the bounce house again..
only bigger.
The batman masks were a hit!
Jeremy's amazing cake... bravo!
The practical gift from Mom, a swim towel.
I love the gift opening audience. You can practically read their thoughts. This stinks watching him open his presents. Why is it not my turn? Can we go back outside and play?
After the party Sam and Spencer played in the bounce house late into the night. They tried to have a sleepover, but instead they tried lots of tricks on the slide and climbing wall.
Two brothers hanging out together!
We went to the Idaho Falls Zoo this weekend, and I thought it was an adorable, cute little zoo. Sam was the only one brave enough to go into the petting zoo, which is amazing considering his fear of animals.
Look at this baby camel! This just sums up the whole zoo for me, so cute and calm and relaxing.
Spencer liked this fake tiger better than the real one.
You can see the real tiger was a little disappointing. He was really lazy and covered in mud.
We got to hang out with the newlyweds, Sally and Colt. Here they are riding off into the sunset on their moped. Hmmmm, where are you helmets? 
We finally put two trees in the backyard. I had no idea how happy trees could make me. I would have done it a lot sooner! I was scared to get rid of our big beautiful rectangle backyard. I was afraid trees would pose a problem for our big soccer games that could happen, or the Olympic size pool we could put in. Ok, our backyard is not that big, but really after the disaster of a yard we had at our Utah house I just wanted a nice, flat grass backyard. These trees just make me feel so happy when I look out my windows. Sam loves trees, and can't wait until he can start climbing them. He was very sad the first day when he found out it was not an apple tree. Apparently that has been his dream for years! I love looking at them out my kitchen window, I love looking down on them out the upstairs windows. Hooray for trees, hopefully more to come some day!
I'm sorry, but it's true. You see I have this thing about reading books about climbing Mt. Everest. I love them, can't get enough of them. So years ago I happened upon this book about this kid Bear Grylls who climbed Everest when he was 23. Fabulous, loved the book. Minus the rough language, it is one of my favorites. I have read it several times. Then a couple of years ago I discover he has a show on TV, Man vs. Wild. It is this crazy show about surviving in ridiculous places nobody will ever go, but there is the guy that I fell in love with through this Everest book. And, he is adorable. Right? Am I right? And now all these people are in love with him, and I just want to say, I loved him first, before he was famous. And that means something, right? Now they are selling his book at Costco with a new picture, and i just want to say I prefer the old one. And yes, my love affair waned a little when he showed us how to survive by drinking his own pee, but really, that could come in handy, right? And he lives on a converted barge with his two boys on the Thames river, and his wife is obviously a saint. So, you can all love him too, but remember who was there first. Got that? 
I have been kind of feeling weird about Mother's Day. There are just too many people that need to be celebrated. I think this is supposed to be my day, but what about my Mom? What about my sisters who are moms? What about Jeremy's Mom? What about all of my friends, grandparents, aunts, etc.? I have been wondering just who this day is supposed to be special for if we are all supposed to be taking care of each other. Yesterday I overheard this conversation, and then I knew the whole thing is completely out of control.
Sam was talking to his friend across the street, a girl that is his same age. I heard him say, Hey Annabel, Happy Mother's Day! To which she politely and excitedly responded, Thank you very much. Then he said, I am going to go make you card, and ran inside.
What a wonderful day!! Spencer did so well, and I was really impressed with him. It was interesting to sit back and watch my son's special day. I should have been taking more pictures, but instead I just soaked everything up. Spencer said he was going to be brave today, and he really was! Big crowds can be hard for Spencer, and he he worked really hard to respond to everyone that wanted to talk to him. We are so grateful for everyone that came to participate. Thanks for your support and all of your help!
Well, that is how I feel about it. Now that the Earth Day celebration is over we can get into it. I think this whole green movement is completely nuts. Wow, I am really going to get it for this one. Let's start with the grocery bag thing. What kind of hoax is that? They are charging us for reusable grocery bags that are going to save them money? Do you know how many of those bags I would have to buy in order to take home all of my groceries each week? I love plastic grocery bags. I recycle them over and over again. I could name 100 things I love to do with plastic grocery bags. They are fabulous, and I won't give in....yet. Why do they make hybrid cars so ugly? Why are "green" light bulbs so fluorescent? I think they use fluorescent lights in prisons and torture facilities. Ummm, maybe talking about torture isn't "green" enough these days. Don't even get me started on the last two states I have lived in charging me to recycle so I can save them money on their landfills. Then they have the nerve not to empty my recycling box that I am paying for because I didn't sort my milk cartons properly. Ugh! Now, lets move on to green cleaning supplies. I don't want to buy them. They are more expensive. Everybody is doing it. Ugh. I can't help it. I bought some.
This stinks. Well not literally, it smells fine. But, it doesn't work half as well as my green apple Palmolive. I miss my Joy. You know what I mean? So, after a going through this giant bottle for a couple of years I will go back to my other dish washing soap.
I just bought these last week. I couldn't help myself!! The pink one is a grapefruit spray from Target. Yummy. It doesn't say anywhere on the bottle antibacterial. So, I am nervous. And the other one is a green bleach spray. I am a sucker for bleach products. I have boys, remember? Hopefully I will have better luck, and look I can save 50 cents on my next green purchase! Spencer had a great day. Jeremy picked him up from school and took him out to lunch. He had popsicles at school for his birthday treat. When he came home I let him open some of his new presents, which just happened to be a slip n' slide and a new swimsuit! When you have an 80 degree day in April you have to take advantage. Then we headed off to POJOs, some version of chuckee cheese, but with bumper cars! Then we came home and opened presents and had cake. And the cake, it might not look too exciting, but that is pretty impressive considering the ingredient restrictions we had to work within. We were all happy, and Jeremy saved the day once again!
When I started my blog about a year ago I wasn't sure what direction it would take. I knew for sure that I was not going to talk about some things that are just too close to my heart. I have changed my mind. I have wanted to talk about this on my blog for some time, but wasn't sure how to. For most of you, this will not be a surprise. But, I know there are friends, and maybe even some family that this will be new information. April is the month we celebrate Spencer's birthday. April is Autism Awareness Month.
About five years ago Spencer was diagnosed with PDDNOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified). We really didn't know what that meant at the time. Since then we have learned that PDDNOS is on the autism spectrum. About two years ago he was officially diagnosed with Autism.
About five years ago my heart started breaking. So many pieces have broken off I don't think it will ever be back together again. My sweet boy is trapped behind this wall of autism. We are tyring to chip away at this wall to help him emerge. Every day is a challenge. Every day we fight the battle. Some days we see glimpses of Spencer come out from behind the wall. Those moments are so wonderful!
Thank you to everyone who has supported our family. Thank you for loving Spencer!
We had a lovely Easter weekend, and a very busy one. The weather cooperated, and we were able to have a great time with 15 kids running around for Easter Dinner. I hope you all had a nice holiday too!
Spencer has been asking us lots of questions about coconut trees. So, I decided we better check it out for ourselves. The boys were so excited, they couldn't wait for Dad to get home to open the coconut! A fruit with milk inside? Unbelievable! A year ago today we were on our way to Hawaii. I thought a little coconut party would be appropriate.
One of the things I love about my blog is that I can show my family moments from our life instantly. We end up with a lot of serious bed head at my house because of baths right before bed. Sam usually gets the best because he got the thick Wismer hair. This week has been kind of nuts. Super busy, nonstop craziness. I did take the boys on our first family bike ride where both Spencer and Sam were on bikes without training wheels. Hooray! It was kind of fun, and kind of not fun. Not only do you have to teach your kids how to ride a bike, but I guess you have to teach them bike safety and etiquette. Whatever! Thank goodness our neighborhood is so flat. We hit one little hill, and complete mayhem! I guess I forgot to teach them how to brake too. It was definitely a little nuts, but fun, and mostly nuts. Matthew was in the trailer behind my bike. I kept telling the boys to follow me, and then Matthew would say, follow me too! Jeremy and I cleaned out our garage this weekend. When we were going through the garage we found this lone piece of wood. We both looked at each other wondering why we had it. Then we realized, at some point we decided to save this piece of wood for fuel storage. We really had to laugh out our brilliant plan. I'm sure our family would survive a winter on that!
Yes it has been windy here, but that is not why his coat is blowing. He is moving fast! I'm not sure why I was so scared to teach my boys to ride a bike. The first time he got on the bike he just took off like it was nothing. Of course the stopping and starting took some practice, but now he is happy riding all over by himself. So lovely!
Friday and Saturday we packed in more fun, family, and friends. Most of the time I forgot the camera, but here are some pictures when I remembered! We had fun taking the boys to BYU campus. They loved the bookstore, we are kind of bookstore nuts. Jeremy and I frequent bookstores for date night, and we take the boys whenever we need to get out of the house. They are becoming experts at perusing the aisles and finding the books the are interested in. The BYU bookstore has so many memories, and it is fun to share that with them, especially the candy counter! The BYU art museum has a great exhibit for kids right now showing the art works from the I Spy Books. They had a great time playing at Connie and Dave's house as always. Thanks! We got to have an adult sibling dinner, a real treat. We got to eat Cafe Rio for the first time, thank you Anne and Dave! I was able to have lunch with one of my dearest, sweetest friends in the world. Thanks Heather! We got to have Dinner in Salt Lake with Jeremy's Dad, and amazing dessert! Obviously, a great trip all around. 
Wow, it has been too long since I last posted. Now I have all these posts I am anxious to get out! We had such a great Spring Break week! On Monday we went to the Discovery Science Museum here in Boise. The boys loved it, each one going off on their own and doing the experiments. Ok, Matthew just liked pushing all the buttons that he could find, but Spencer could have stayed there all day. He was fascinated with everything there. On Tuesday we went to the YMCA to go swimming. I was kind of bummed because I am just not ready to get into pool mode yet. But, I was surprised again at the independence of my children. Sam and Spencer could go on the water slide without an adult, and the place was loaded with lifeguards. Matthew is practically ready for the Olympic swim team so he was off on his own too. Fun! On Wednesday we headed off to Utah, in a blizzard of course. We just can't avoid them on road trips. Thursday I took the boys to the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving point. Another great outing, and this time I remembered my camera. Here are some of my favorite shots. Spencer was the ultimate tour guide and made sure his brothers saw everything and kept moving. Am I becoming obsolete?
Matthew didn't know what to do with his dripping wet hands, but apparently his head needed some blowing!
My favorite shot of the day. I told the boys to act scared!
Spencer captured this shot of Sam, I love it!
Matthew has gotten go on some fun lunch dates with Jeremy and I this year while his brothers are at school. He is always a great kid to take with us because he will eat anything and love it. Today was no exception. Jeremy took me to get some Pho, a Vietnamese noodle soup. Matthew loved it, and he could not get enough soy sauce. I finally had to hide it, and then he kept saying, hey where is the soy sauce? I need more soy sauce! This was especially cute because he kind of has a lisp.
I keep finding Matthew in the bathroom with crusty, spiky hair because it is filled with hand soap. He goes in there a couple of times a day and "washes" his hair. It is kind of driving me crazy, but it is pretty cute too. This kid is just a nut. He has been the best two year old I have ever had, but I am getting nervous for his threes. He has to disagree with everything I say, and loves to torture Sam endlessly. He just walks around the house creating disasters. I just figure there could be worse things than soap in his hair. Like the pencil drawings all over my walls...
For some reason my kids speak perfectly good English (well, for a 7, 5, and 2 year old) until these three phrases come out of their mouths. They are heard so much in my house they should be put into the Evans family dictionary or engraved on a plaque in our Family Hall of Shame.
1. Nuffin. This is used mostly when being asked, "What are you doing?" Nuffin. Hello?!! First of all, the word is nothing. And second of all, that is an outright lie!! You are doing something and you just don't want to tell me. Drives me crazy!
2. I don' wanna. This is used mostly when they are asked to do just about anything. Something happens to the t's in my house when my kids need to do something for me, like put your shoes on, or finish getting ready for bed.
3. But, Mom. This is used all the time, mostly by my oldest. This is always said in a whiny voice and Mom turns into the longest word ever. But, Mooooooommmmmmm. I keep telling them my first name is not But. Seriously, people!!!
So, have we mentioned before that everything in our house--including, in this case, two of the lovely heart valentine balloons Molly put up this weekend--eventually ends up being used as a lightsaber? I thought the photo was cool, but obviously the boys weren't sitting still for me.
-Guest Post by Jeremy
Sam had his first Karate Belt test on Friday. He is now an orange belt! He is the one on the left. This has been such a great activity for Sam, we are so proud of him!
In the morning Matthew likes to turn his sleeper into a super hero cape. I love to watch him run around the house and fly with his cape flapping behind him. 
