If You Aspire To Drive A Truck, Make It A BIG Truck!

Ever since last summer Lucky Dragon has been looking forward to the next round of Demolition Derbies. He also loves to watch "Blaze" on TV and is constantly talking about Monster Trucks. So to celebrate him and the last weekend that he is an only child, I took him to the Monster Truck Rally.

I told him two days before and we went to buy him some noise cancelling ear muffs. After that he could not stop looking at the calendar and figuring out how long it was going to be until he and I were going!

The day of the event he could not contain himself with excitement. AS we walked up to the Vivint Smarthome Arena he did not believe me that we were not watching  basketball..."This is where the Jazz play!" Even after I reassured him I went to the correct place he said, "Well, it looks like a Jazz game to me." He was finally convinced when we walked in and he could see there was dirt where the basketball floor usually goes. Somehow we lucked out again and were sitting very close to the front. Lucky Dragon was a worried a bit about that because when we sat that close at the Demolition Derby we were pelted with rocks, mud and dirt throughout the whole event. But it worked out really well. He saw all of the trucks lined up and ready to participate and he loudly announced (because he had ear muffs on) that "When I grow up I am going to drive a MONSTER TRUCK!" With his eyes widening for emphasis.

Waiting for everyone else to arrive and sit down so it can start!

Grave Digger

I decided that he and my brother, Trevor, must have spent some quality time together on the 'other side' because this kid loves things that I never really grasped onto like Trevor did--rodeo, demolition derby, monster trucks...I guess I am safe for now because it is kind of fun to watch the destruction and my little guy's joy becomes my joy. But I draw the line at WWF wrestling, that is something I won't be promoting! haha.

He chose "his" truck, the Grave Digger, and we cheered for the Grave Digger throughout the night. It was amazing to see the things they do with those large vehicles and then race with smaller vehicles too. They had Matchbox replicas of all of the participants and Lucky Dragon was SO pumped to get a Grave Digger version. When he went to buy it the store clerk asked what he wanted and he simply said, "My truck." As matter of fact as possible, as if she should know that no other truck mattered but Grave Digger! He has slept with Grave Digger, told us multiple stories about what Grave Digger did and did not do. We were also really surprised that Lady Hiva had purchased some other Monster Trucks from a local thrift market and when we looked for them after the Rally we saw she had bought several of the other teams! HA! We had NO idea!

He was SO proud of HIS Grave Digger

It was a really fun evening to spend with my little man. He truly makes my heart happy. I am not sure he understands the drastic way his life is going to change in a few days, but at least we have tried to help him know that he is loved. He even talked me into doing "donuts" with the shopping cart (with him in it) as we went down the aisles yesterday. Then he would score me on how well he thought it was done!
 
(and if I was to admit it, I, too, am looking forward to Demolition Derby season again...mostly to watch the wreckage...much like I enjoy watching Hockey solely for the fights! The demolition is way more entertaining than the Monster trucks. But I am not really admitting that at all.) 

At one point one of the Zombie's arms fell off...that was a bit funny! (and ironic)

They Are Always Watching

They are always watching...

I know that sounds a bit ominous, but it is true. When we are out and about we are constantly on a stage for people to see and judge. This was apparent for me as a leader,  an LDS Missionary, as a representative of BYU-Hawaii and in a career as a Foreign Service Officer and now as an employee for the LDS Church. It is nothing new to know that people watch how you react, how you carry yourself, how you treat others.

However, with all that practice of knowing people watch it was never more acute than yesterday when I realized how much my adult-like three year-old watches.

Utah has received a whole bunch of snow the last few days (it makes me wonder why we thought we wanted to live here haha) and as we are preparing for the new arrival into our family in a few days we have been going back and forth to the storage unit where all of our stuff is being kept. Apparently the storage unit management does not believe in snow plows because the last two times we went there is about a foot of snow between the storage unit buildings. We had made a "quick" trip to drop off some empty bins and as we were driving out I noticed an older man with his small blue car stuck in the snow.

So I got out into the ankle deep slush and mud sighing to myself that I was wearing my nice wingtip work shoes. As if that is all that mattered! I pushed and pulled and then borrowed a shovel to get the man out. The whole time frowning about the fact that I am wearing nice shoes that have NO traction and are surely going to be ruined. SO much for trying to help others...

It wasn't until later in the evening that I realized how much it impacted my three year old Lucky Dragon who must have been watching from the car. As he and I were shopping for groceries he told me, "Dust, when I get big and you and Mum get stuck I will push you out to safety." I was touched by that comment and could see that he was internalizing what had happened.

Then as we were saying prayers with him before he went to bed he was praying and after he had thanked Heavenly Father for all of the many things he was thankful for,  Lady Hiva asked him if he wanted to bless anyone. He said yes, "I want to bless that old man in the blue car that was stuck." So he did. Hopefully that nameless old man felt loved somewhere by a genuine little angel.

As he crawled into bed he said to me, "Dust, I am so proud of you for helping that old man today."

Suddenly my ruined shoes did not matter so much. I was glad that instead of a bad example, at least this one time, my little guy saw me do something I may not have thought was a good idea and had done grudgingly a bit...but it made a difference to my Lucky Dragon that was watching. Made me want to be better person all
over again.

Year In Review--2016

2016 has concluded! It was a year of change--as they all seem to be with us! It brought to us another move, two houses sold and most of all we made it to 2017 with Lady Hiva still being pregnant!

Our Lucky Dragon continues to liven our lives and makes us laugh with his humor and adult-like logic (hard to argue with a three-year old that has flawless arguments...#gone are the days of saying 'no' and it is followed without a stream of questions). He always looking for someone to talk to and laugh with. He loves to spell and do "number tricks" (addition and subtraction). He tries to read and his first three sight words he recognizes are Costco, Joy and Dip (from the road signs when he and I are running). He is constantly asking what big words mean that he hears us say and will try to use it too. No wonder he sounds like an adult. He is excited for the baby to come and tells everyone that he has a sister in mum's belly. He, for some reason, in the last few weeks has stopped calling us "Momma" and "Dustin" and now calls us "Mum" and "Dust." He considers Mongoose, our vehicle, to be part of our family--even requiring we tell Mongoose we love her and goodbye when we walk away. He likes to name other things as well, the Black rental car is named "Tire," the white rental car is "the-car-with-no-name," the ghost in Pluba's house is name Don Gurr (Pluba did not think that was funny when I looked up Don Gurr and he is buried the the next town 25 miles south of where she lives), and the snow man is named Stoppy Snow-mo. (He then required us to bring gifts of Gold and Myrrh to Stoppy Sno-mo. "Mum, was supposed to bring Frankincense but she stayed inside in the warm so Stoppy Sno-mo only gets two gifts instead of three).

Lady Hiva's life has been busy with a three year old and a high risk pregnancy. We are so thankful for all of the prayers, positive vibes, support and love that people all of the world have given to get this baby here! This pregnancy is the 2nd longest we have had--only after Tau'aho. We have been taking it one day at a time. Lady Hiva--much to her embarrassment--sits in a wheelchair when we go somewhere for long. But hey! It worked. For Lady's health they had the C-Section scheduled for 15 JAN, which would be 4 weeks early. Today we went in and they decided to move it up another week, so we will have our addition next Monday! YAY! Hopefully she will not be required to be in the NICU too long.

I was given a promotion and we moved from Provo to SLC. It is kind of nice to be working downtown--I can almost convince myself that I live in a city for a minute when I am down there. We are living minimalist style in a really SMALL apartment with all of our amazing items stuffed into a storage unit. It makes us miss our beautiful remodeled home in Provo, but none of miss that I had a 3 hour commute a day. The look for another home in the SLC area is ongoing.

We have much to be thankful for. This year had tears and laughter, it had joys and surprises, it had challenges and problems, but throughout it all we had help and people that loved us. Here are some highlights:

JANUARY

• January was filled with trying to find activities for a busy toddler. Luckily there are plenty of hands on museums in Utah for families to enjoy.

FEBRUARY

• Flowers and love kept the snow from being depressing in February. It was so great to use valentines as an excuse to have fresh flowers and celebrate each other.

MARCH

• We went down to watch Kahuku girls rugby play in Las Vegas! It was fun to see our niece Lila really enjoy the sport--it was also good to get out of the cold for a few days. 
• We visited Hoover Dam and Antelope Island on some out-door trips. Lucky Dragon named the Buffalo at the front gate of Antelope Island "Bob" 
• We Volunteered for the Provo City Center temple Open House 
• It was Lady Hiva's Birthday! 
• We had Easter Egg hunts with cousins

APRIL

• Nothing celebrates Spring like a tulip festival. Thankfully, Thanksgiving Point in Lehi has one to enjoy.

MAY

• Dustin switches jobs to SLC
• We celebrate Mother's Day 
• We go fishing a few times--one of Lucky Dragon's new favorite activities

JUNE

• Summer is coming in full force! We fill it with outdoor things to do 
• We went to the Manti Pageant
• We hiked through Zion's National Park
• Lady Hiva joined 30 teenage girls for a week of camping in the mountains
• Celebrated Father's Day 

JULY

• Celebrated 4 JULY--US Independence Day
• Celebrated 24 JULY--Pioneer Day 
• Took Lucky Dragon to a demolition derby and he was SO excited!
• Celebrated Lucky Dragon's Birthday--he was so Excited about that!
• Made a Trip to Disneyland. 
• The Pregnancy journey begins!

AUGUST

•  The trip to Disneyland Continues
• We finished reading the Harry Potter books again as a family
• Visited the Harry Potter Park in California
• Lucky Dragon starts Preschool 
• We celebrated our anniversary! YAY! 8 years in the books!
• Dustin's birthday
• Lady Hiva had a cerclage put in to keep the baby inside longer
• Lucky Dragon did his first rodeo

SEPTEMBER

• We found out that we were having a GIRL!
• Went to Swiss Days in Midway, UT
• Attended the State Fair (such an American thing to do!)

OCTOBER

• Halloween was a month long event--Boo lights at the Hogle Zoo, Scarecrow Festival at Thanksgiving Point, and other random autumn activities around the area
• We went to Cornbelly's in Lehi as often as we could. 
• Went to another demolition derby because Lucky Dragon could not stop talking about the first one. He made us stay for the entire 5 hours of it!
• We made our own Halloween outfits and wore them often!

NOVEMBER

• Visited Midway and Heber again by driving over the Wasatch mountains from Utah county. 
• Christmas celebrations commence!
• Had Thanksgiving with Grandma from Hawaii

DECEMBER

• Found as many opportunities to see Christmas Lights as we could: random neighborhoods, Temple Square, Ogden. 
• NFR for the second year in a row to see Lucky Dragons hero, CoBurn, ride
• Another trip to Disneyland to see all of the Christmas lights. 

Here is to celebrate 2017!

Christmas Village in the North

It has been an interesting week as the Christmas Season winds down. We have tried to see as many Christmas Lights as possible. We have found some really festive streets throughout the Salt Lake Valley. It makes me wonder if they have to agree with decorating for Christmas before they bought on the street...maybe we need to find a street like that to live on! 

The Reindeer at the mall

One night we were out on the Freeway coming back from one of these light seeing trips and our back tire blew! Ironically we were just pricing out tires an hour before that and here we were on the Freeway in the cold changing a tire. I am glad we didn't roll or that Lady Hiva was not by herself when it happened. Blessings  I guess...so we got those new tires! HAHA

He wanted a photo with "Mongoose's new tire!'

The doughnut we drove on for a few hours 

Lady Hiva also found a Lego Advent Calendar. Everyday we have counted down until Christmas with building a Lego scene, day by day. Lucky Dragon loves it. He looks forward each evening to choosing the right drawer and building it together. We love it. 

We even made a trip to Ogden, just north of Salt Lake City to see their Christmas Village display. It was fun to be there. They have a firework display of lights in each tree and there were about 50 different little cabin-like huts, each decorated with a themed version of Christmas. 

We had fun walking around and exploring it all. It is fun to see how much Christmas spirit exists in people.