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