POOPA GOES HOME, MOVIE NIGHT & GENERAL CONFERENCE
March 30th - April 5th, 2008

On Sunday, March 30th, Poopa, Laura and her friend Justin came over to visit during the evening. Brian was feeling "more better" so we wound up all having a good time together. I don't know what it was about that evening, but we were all in a great mood, and Vaughn seemed to feed off of the excitement, because he was really "on one" the entire evening. Here he is with Aunt Laura obviously sharing a good joke!

We began the evening playing Tri-Bond, which is a really great trivia game. But Vaughn quickly took over and made Aunt Laura give him airplane rides until we were all dizzy! Vaughn loves to play with Aunt Laura, and especially to get airplane rides from her.

Laura is always really great to do this for Vaughn. My favorite is when she lets Vaughn get close enough to the ground so he can touch it with his hands, just like she was doing in the above picture. Vaughn loves this too!

In between airplane rides and horsey rides (which I will show you in just a second) Vaughn took the opportunity to show everyone just how fast he can run. He would wait by the front door until either Brian or I would say, "Ready.....set......go!" Then he would book it as fast as he could into the kitchen, where he would wait again for the go-ahead. I don't know where little kids get so much energy! It made me tired just watching him!

He would have kept up his running for the rest of the evening, but like I said before, Aunt Laura also provided some great horsey rides, which Vaughn could not resist!

Lately Vaughn has taken up to squinting instead of smiling, and the above picture is proof! He was really enjoying himself though!

Next on the list of fun activities was playing "hit the balloon and keep it in the air." Vaughn is obsessed with balloons, so this was a great game for him to play. Poopa also enjoyed getting in on this one.

Justin took the opportunity to show Vaughn how to shoot the balloon like a rocket. Vaughn very quickly picked up on how to do it, and to all of our surprise, he did the exact same thing back to Justin! It was really cute, and pretty impressive for a little kid! I love how Poopa and Vaughn have the same look on their faces!

As payback for being shot at, Vaughn attacked Justin with his hat and anything else he could find. Vaughn was laughing his guts out, and we couldn't help but follow suit! It was a really fun evening! Unfortunately Poopa had to leave the next day, but we were so grateful to have been able to spend as much time with him as we did. Thank you Poopa for a WONDERFUL visit and lots of fun memories!!! We love you!

The next evening, Tuesday the 1st of April, we went over to Brian's parents' house in Springville to get out of the house. Brian was still not feeling too great and needed some fresh air, and Vaughn needed to get out of the house and have some time to play with his cousins. So here are Kal, Vaughn and Lorna enjoying a little bit of ice cream together that evening. Vaughn and Kal were both surprised to see that they were wearing the same shirt. It was cute to see them together like that.

We spent the next few days still taking care of Brian and still recuperating from sickness. Poor Brian just couldn't seem to shake whatever it was that he had. So to get out of the house again, we went over to Brian's parents' place that Friday, April 4th, and watched a new Disney show called Enchanted. The kids got all cozy with their blankets and pillows and cuddled up next to each other on the floor. Vaughn had to be by Kal because they are special buddies. We all really enjoyed the movie, and Vaughn especially liked it. He even pointed it out in the following few weeks whenever he saw advertisements or posters for it around town.

The next day, Saturday, April 5th, was our Church's semi-annual General Conference. It is broadcast on local television stations here, so we all gathered over at Brian's parents' house again and watched it together. It is a wonderful time for us to receive guidance and inspiration from our church leaders. It is also a time to be with loved ones and share our feelings and impressions about each Conference session. Above is Brian's sister Amy holding her nephew Alvin (also known as The Lampateeze) just after he had gotten out of the bathtub. How come she was so lucky?!?!

Alvin proceeded to nibble on his towel while waiting for his mother to get his clothes together.

Then he full-on started eating the towel! Lampateeze is a very active little guy, and doesn't waste time getting to business. And if the business at hand is eating a towel, then he needs to eat a towel! May I repeat my previous question....why was Amy so lucky?!?!

Lorna took a relaxed approach to the wait for her clothing. She did however decided to wait in comfort and style, with her special blanket draped over herself. She has to have that blanket everywhere she goes. It is so cute that she finds so much comfort in that blanket! Vaughn hasn't attached himself to anything like that yet, and I have to wonder if he ever will.

There were two Conference sessions broadcast that day. Each lasted around 2 hours. By the end of the second session, poor Brian couldn't keep his eyes open and wound up falling fast asleep. I couldn't help but take a picture of him. I knew he was so exhausted from being sick for so long, and needed the rest, and he looked so cute with his mouth hanging open like that!

But then I think Brian's tiredness began to spread to other people in the room. Vaughn went out like a light, and then next to go was Grandpa Higginson. What could be more cozy that falling asleep holding Vaughn's warm little body next to yours? Brian and I are always flipping a coin to see who gets to hold Vaughn at the end of the day, because we know how precious it is to have him fall asleep in your arms. Grandpa was the lucky one that day!

Grandma (AKA Mom Higginson) was exhausted too, and wound up falling asleep in this cute position. She and Dad Higginson had returned from a cross-country seminar trip for Dad's work just the day before, and they were exhausted. The trip is over 2 and 1/2 months long, and involves lots of miles and lots of seminar stops, so it's not wonder both Mom and Dad fell asleep. I think Mom is adorable when she's asleep. She looks like an angel.

Julie, Amy and I were the only ones that stayed awake. I was glad to be able to hear the rest of the Conference broadcast. I prefer to hear it live like that because it has so much more impact that way. Julie looks so intent here. I really love this picture of her!

Later that evening, while Brian attended a special Conference meeting for the male membership of our church called the Priesthood Session of Conference, I took Vaughn out for a special mother-son date. We went to McDonald's for dinner and some time to play in the Play Place there.

Here's Vaughn squinting again instead of smiling. I think it's so funny, and I have no idea where he picked it up!

Vaughn had a really fun time playing on the slide there. He wouldn't go on the bigger slides, but preferred to play on the smallest slide there. It was as long as he was tall! What a funny kid! I think he played there because he got it all to himself, as all the other kids were playing on the big slides. But we had a great time together, and I really treasure moments like those!

Love, Lisa

BRIAN THE INVALID, POOPA'S WHIRLWIND VISIT,
& HANNAH'S BAPTISM
March 23rd - March 29th, 2008

I don't have any pictures of our Easter Sunday because we were all at home taking care of each other. I didn't get sick really with whatever was going around, just tired. But poor Brian really caught something bad that weekend, and spent the next 5 straight days in bed. I had never seen him so sick before! I'm sure it was a nasty flu bug because he had fevers and chills, nausea and headaches galore. I have to admit I liked having him at home, but I'm sure Brian would have rather been at work and feeling better!

We were very surprised and happy when Poopa called us to tell us he was coming into town that weekend. He arrived on Thursday the 27th of March. It was SO GOOD TO SEE HIM!!! Vaughn doesn't get to see my parents very often at all, so he really tried to make a good impression from the beginning. Vaughn took Grandpa Poopa into his room right away to show Poopa "his" new Star Wars arcade. Yes, Vaughn has very calmly and quietly let us know that he is the rightful owner of any arcade that comes into our house. Poopa was totally amazed at how coordinated Vaughn was, and how well he played the game. Vaughn doesn't play our arcades very much at all, but he is a fast learner. He is definitely better than we are, and he's only 2 and 1/2 years old! I don't know whether to be proud of that or to think it's pretty pathetic!

The next evening Poopa offered to get pizza for dinner. We couldn't refuse, and even Brian was able to muster up enough appetite to eat with us. The poor guy was still feeling not-so-well, but I guess pizza is the best medicine for him. While we waited for the pizza to cook (we got Take-n-Bake from Papa Murphy's) Poopa, Laura and Vaughn played Yahtzee together. Vaughn LOVES to roll the dice, and luckily Laura and Poopa were very patient to let him help them.

I LOVE THIS PICTURE!!!! I don't remember if a joke was told, or if they were just laughing at Vaughn's cuteness, but it doesn't matter. I LOVE THIS PICTURE!!! Poopa looks so cute! And Vaughn is showing some major double-chin as Laura kisses him. Can life get any better?!?!

I have never met a person who enjoys their food more than my sister Laura. Let me explain that before it sounds really bad. Laura has the best facial expressions in the world while she is eating food she loves. Here she is showing us how a real woman eats her pizza. Laura is my favorite person to eat with because she makes me really enjoy my food too. I think that's why whenever I'm around Laura I want to go out to eat with her. She just makes it a really fun experience. My favorite is when she takes her first bite of the food and stops, rolls her eyes up into her head and sighs. It's just too much!!! I love you Laura!!!

Here's Brian, Vaughn and Poopa tanking down. The pizza was unusually good that night for some reason. I don't think it's because we were all hungry. It just tasted excellent. And Laura had us try a new root beer, and I wish I could remember the name of it because is was DANG GOOD root beer! Laura, if you read this and remember what it was called, please call me!!!

After the pizza dinner Vaughn decided to get in a little more play-time with Poopa. He got out his little music-making push toy and used Poopa's legs as a bridge to go under while he pushed it around.

Poopa was great to let Vaughn do that over and over and over..... I think Vaughn would have done it all night if Poopa hadn't gotten tired and gone to bed. Thank you Poopa for the wonderful pizza!!! Brian still talks about how good it was! And as a side note, Vaughn said the word "cheese" for the first time that day. I honestly think it had something to do with the magic of that pizza goodness!

The next day, Saturday the 29th of March was a very special day for my younger cousin Hannah Oviatt. It was her baptism day. Here she is with her mother Kelly and her father Gary. And it stinks that this is the only picture I got of her with her parents because for some reason I caught them off guard, and in between smiles while other people were taking their picture. They were smiling for every other picture, and they were all very happy that day. So just to let you know.....they were smiling! Hannah looked gorgeous in her baptism dress, and she was in a bright and cheerful mood that day.

After the actual baptism took place, I caught my Uncle Wane with his daughter Jessica playing around. Wane has the most quiet sense of humor. He doesn't show it off, but he is HILARIOUS! I just turned around, and there he was with a pair of pink shoes on his ears. What a nut! So I had to get a picture of him for the record.

Back at Uncle Gary and Aunt Kelly's house we had a nice luncheon. Hannah, Vaughn, Autumn and Prairie had a good time playing together while we all finished eating. Hannah brought out some bubble gum and started blowing bubbles for Vaughn. He became completely mesmerized with those bubbles. He kept asking Hannah to blow more bubbles so he could pop them.

She was very willing to do so, and to say "thanks" for her kindness, Vaughn gave Hannah a kiss and a hug after EVERY bubble she blew. He was so happy!!! And I just about died watching it all happen! Hannah has always been VERY sweet to Vaughn. She loves to play with him and watch over him whenever we are up there to visit.

I know I say this about a lot of pictures, but this could be one of my favorite pictures of Vaughn EVER. He was in pure heaven playing with Hannah and popping bubbles. He couldn't stop hugging her and laughing. I CAN'T TAKE IT!!!! And I think I'll end with that picture. How could I top it anyway?!?!

Love, Lisa

FROM PARTIES TO PARTY-POOPERS!!!

March 16th - March 22nd, 2008

We began this week with a fun party over at Brian's parents' house. Brian's brother Robert busted out some old face-mixing equipment and invited a group of friends over to join in the fun. The equipment hooks up to any television set and allows you to take a still shot of one person's face, put it up on the screen, and then take another shot of another person's face and splice them together. It sounds weird, but it is one of the funnest things I've ever seen or done. It takes a bit of setting up, so we don't do it very often. But when we do, we all really enjoy ourselves because it is such a rare and HILARIOUS treat! It's just too bad I didn't take any pictures of some of the spliced faces! (SIDE NOTE: The above picture is of Vaughn laughing at some of the faces that were being put together).

This is a picture of Robert's friends Heather and Christina. They were flipping through some magazines trying to find faces to splice with. It's really fun to also take stills of bodies in magazines and then put your head on them.

Brian was the best at finding ridiculously funny poses of people in magazines. I don't think I've EVER laughed as hard as I did that night. And I am proud to say that Brian was the person everyone wanted to splice faces with. He really made the night fun!

Little Lampateeze took the opportunity that night to do some serious cuddling with Christina. He just went for her from the moment he saw her, and wouldn't be taken away. He doesn't usually do things like that, so it was really precious to see him. The best was when he put his head on Christina's shoulder and just laid there. We were all very jealous!!! It is the treat of a lifetime to be able to cuddle with the Lampateeze!

While we were all face-mixing we had to give the kids something to keep them busy, so Brian's sister Linda busted out some Popsicles. It was the perfect thing! Here's a shot of Vaughn and Kal just staring off into the distance as they enjoyed their Popsicles.

It was cute to have all the kids sitting up at the counter eating together. They were all interested in each other's eating habits. Here Kal and Lorna are seeing how much of their Popsicles are left compared to Vaughn's.

I think this is probably my favorite picture of all time because of the face Lorna is pulling. I don't even know how to describe it! I asked the kids to all smile, and this is what happened! I'm laughing so hard right now I can barely breathe!

Vaughn does not eat Popsicles, he licks them to death. I thought he looked very handsome here.

I just can't get over some of the faces Lorna was pulling. Maybe she was jealous that she wasn't invited to the face-mixing portion of the evening, and felt the need to prove how good of a face she could pull! Vaughn looked like he had been surprised by something. And Kal was the only one who looked normal.

Again, here's Vaughn just licking away while Kal and Lorna are really chowing down. You know how whenever the Dark Ages are depicted on television that people are always gnawing on huge drumsticks of savory meat? Well, that picture came to mind when I saw how Lorna was eating her Popsicle here. ADORABLE!

And then it was Kal's turn to pull a funny face. I think he was pointing out how all the red was gone from the top of his Popsicle, and how much he wished there was more of it! I'll add that Vaughn's tongue looks pretty adorable! It was a really fun night, and we were glad to be able to share it with family and friends!

The next afternoon, Monday the 17th of March, Laura stopped by to say "Hi." I love it when she just stops in for no reason. Actually, there is usually one reason she stops by, and that's to play with Vaughn! I don't blame her. If I had to go a day without seeing him I would probably explode. Here she is showing Vaughn how to take pictures with her cell phone.

Vaughn LOVES to take pictures with Laura's cell phone. Laura knows this, and it's usually the first thing they do together when she comes over. It makes Vaughn very happy, and it usually gets Laura a hug or a kiss from Vaughn! P.S. I LOVE this picture of the two of them!

The next day I got the gardening bug really bad and decided it was time to get the garden set up. My wonderful neighbor had tilled the soil the week before, so it was all ready to go! Here's how the garden area looked before I got working on dividing it up. Vaughn enjoyed just throwing dirt around and getting dirty!

I first divided up the area into sections using old railroad ties, 2 x 4s, large sticks, cinder blocks, and anything else I could find. Then I set up the sprinkler system that my wonderful neighbors had built for me the year before. Have I mentioned that I have WONDERFUL neighbors?!?!

Then I decided I would plant the beets and Swiss chard portion of the garden. I decided to first put down some landscaping fabric to help with controlling the weeds. It was the first time I had attempted this, so it took forever, and I think I could have gone about it in an easier way, but you live and learn I guess! So finally after many hours of work, the garden was divided, the sprinklers set up, and the beets and Swiss chard planted with landscaping fabric to block the weeds. Pretty good for a day's work! I'll mention that Vaughn was very helpful handing me seeds and fabric pins.

That evening we had a church party to celebrate the founding of our Relief Society. It was a very fun evening with a birthday cake made to represent each month of the year. We got to sit at the table that represented our birth month, and at my table was this red velvet cake! (My birthday is in February). YUM! I felt pretty lucky!

This is a yearly event that is held world-wide throughout our church. It is pretty important because the Relief Society is the oldest women's organization, and I think it also has the most members of any women's organization in the world. The Relief Society was founded on March 17, 1842 in Nauvoo, Illinois. Initially 18 women were present when it was formed, and now the membership of this organization has hit 5.6 million women in over 170 countries around the world! Pretty impressive, huh?

The motto of the Relief Society is "Charity never faileth." I truly believe in that motto, and have experienced the blessings of having my sisters reach out to me in times of need during the last several years. It is a wonderful organization to be a part of. I instantly have friends of all different ages and backgrounds. I enjoy their friendship, their knowledge and wisdom. I also enjoy our activities together that leave me feeling enriched and uplifted. I am also provided with many opportunities to serve the women around me, and that is my favorite part of all!

During the evening we had a group of women read parts of a skit depicting the history behind the Relief Society, and how it has grown and changed throughout the last 166 years. It was very interesting and very informative. Quotes were taken from women that had lived in each decade or "era" leading up to 2008, and it really helped me to feel connected with the women who have belonged to this organization from it's beginning.

That Friday, March 21st, Brian and I celebrated our 6-year anniversary! It was so weird to realize we have been married for six years. It seems like it has gone by in the blink of an eye. But it also feels like Brian and I have always been together. Brian is the best thing that has ever happened to me, and I am forever grateful that he asked me to marry him. It is the greatest blessing in the world to be married to my best friend. And besides, he's dang good looking too!

Brian's sister Julie was very gracious to watch Vaughn while we went out to eat that evening. It was very short notice, and she jumped at the chance to help us out. Vaughn really enjoyed the time with his Aunt Julie, and didn't really want to go home when we came to pick him up. Can you blame him? I mean, Julie is really fun! And by the way Julie, you look great in this picture!!!

The night of our anniversary we decided to just grab a bit to eat and come home because we both felt really tired. We found out why the next day when Brian got very sick! He had been feeling a little weird by the time we got home from our anniversary dinner, and then by the next morning he was pretty ill. Brian never gets sick, so this was quite unusual for him. Here he is on our couch trying not to throw up! What a way to spend an entire Saturday!

I did my best to try and entertain Vaughn that day, even though I didn't feel great. But at least I felt better than Brian did! We got out Vaughn's train set and tried to come up with some new track designs. This worked for about 2 minutes, and then Vaughn realized his favorite play buddy wasn't joining in the fun. (That would be Brian).

So Vaughn decided to try to entice his daddy to play with him by lying on top of him and patting his face. Brian had a heck of a time keeping the ice pack on his forehead during all of this.

Vaughn tried everything from giving Brian kisses to doing weird dances in order to get Brian off the couch. He just couldn't get anything to work!

Then he resorted to "spazzing" on Brian. This would make even the strongest man's heart melt. Poor Brian kept saying, "Lisa. I can't take it anymore!"

This is where Vaughn finally started to realize that Daddy really wasn't feeling well enough to play. It just about broke my heart, and Brian's too. But eventually Vaughn settled for Mom, and we were able to keep ourselves entertained while Brian tried to rest.

I think I'll end on a positive note with this picture again. Do you see why we love this little guy so much?!? He is just too much to resist! We love you Vaughn!

Love, Lisa