Corbin is 3!!

Happy belated Birthday to my Corbin!
A few fun facts about Corbin:

• He has grown up so much this past year. 
• He is talking a lot more and is very independent (or stubborn) 
• He decided he wanted to be a big boy, so he pretty much potty trained himself (thank goodness! we tried at 19 months for almost a year and he would still just have an accident almost every day. Once he started pee'ing on people is when I gave up and put the diaper back on. He still always went #2 in the bathroom though. Whew. That is my main reason for potty training so young. yuck!) So he sometimes won't even let me in the bathroom. He does it all all by himself! (which is probably why it didn't work the first time, he likes to do things ALL by himself)
• Still loves his monkeys and cars or trains or monster trucks
• loves to give loves (snuggle, get held, kisses)
• can wear the same clothes as Cooper (whom he calls Pooper)
• is still in Nursery (missed the cut off by 13 days) he loves it of course
• loves going to school twice a week
• says funny things all the time to make us laugh
• loves his milk
• can't wait to start playing sports like Cooper. He tries to be apart of his teams. :) (he is still too young for the leagues)
• one of his favorite phrases to say, "that's what I'm talking about"
• He still has asthma and went on daily inhaled steroids for a while. Now we are just back to the rescue inhaler when he needs it.
• He had to get his blood drawn (3 vials) for some allergy tests and only whimpered when the nurse was fishing for his vein. He is super tough! (he isn't allergic to any of the main household things or outside things, but he had a very high amount of IgE's in his body. So something was bugging him. We have to do more testing to figure out what it was/is)
• He is a great helper in the kitchen. Loves to help cook and clean in there, not so much anywhere else.

So because of working on our floors at our house, we have been staying with my parents for a few weeks. (post to hopefully come later on that). Problem was that we kept thinking we were going to be back for his birthday, then we thought one week later wont be bad for a friend party.... well those have both come and gone. So it's looking less likely on the friend party. I don't know though. This will be the first time I haven't done that for them :( and I already know what I want to do and have some of the stuff. I would just keep it for Cooper's, but it's more of what Corbin likes. So we might have a random birthday party after we get back in our house.
We did celebrate it. We had a little party for him at my parents house a couple of times. Trying to rally everyone up (12 people, mostly adults) gets pretty hard. ha ha. The day of his birthday was actually a very special day. Cody's brother Riley was ordained the priesthood by Cody.  And then that night Riley baptized his wife! Corbin and Cooper love hanging out and playing with both of our families, so they have been in heaven since Christmas. I think they are going to have melt downs once we finally get back in our house. So Corbin had fun on his birthday and the days before and after so that made me happy and feel a little bit better about not having an actual planned out party for him. I was wanting to do the whole, wake up to balloons and streamers in the room. Cody and I didn't get back till 1am the night before his birthday and we had to be dressed and ready for church by 7am so it didn't happen. :(
Corbin's 3 year well is in February so I don't have stats on him just yet. He definitely keeps us on our toes, but we wouldn't have it any other way. We think he will make a great leader one day. When he wants something, he sets his mind to it and does what he needs to in order to get it and is very persistent.
We love you Corbin! (I can't figure out how to send photos on this device just yet... sorry)

Vacation with the Duncan's!

So I am hanging out in our room while Corbin is sleeping.
Amy and I drove up here (resort in Oklahoma) yesterday and our husbands meet us after work here.
So last night there was a big storm here and ALL of the power went out! It was actually really fun! Spooky like on scary movies... Dark hallways with only little red lights flashing mixed in with lightning flashes.... Lots of scarring went on. Ha ha. We are on the second floor, but there is a covered patio right beneath us, so we were able to sneak out our windows and scare our friends parents that were down a few rooms! Ha ha. That was fun.
This morning Amy and I rode our bikes for an hour then ran and did some yoga. Soo pretty! I lost count of how many deer we have seen! And we are right on the lake. The trail we did was through a Forrest area. We were going too fast down one hill and there was a steep turn plus the ground was still wet from last night that I totally bit it!!! I hit a tree! I was not about to ruin my bike so I totally took the blow! Ouch! More on my dignity really. Just a few scratches. I am really glad I was wearing a helmet!! That is what hit the tree, plus my shoulder. Whew. First thing that went through my head was, my bike better have not gotten ruined!! Ha ha. It wasn't! Oh I was so happy. Bumps and bruises can heal, but not my bike without forking out the $$$.
Cody and brad went golfing so Amy and I took the kids to the nature park. We hiked over there and passed the golf courses (from the pic). I knew Corbin loved snakes, he draws them all the time. "look mom, I draw snake!" but I was kinda thinking, well for just being able to draw lines and circles, thats a really good thing to call it. Oh man, I was right. He was Soo happy when the guy brought out some snakes!! I'm surprised I got a good picture because he was jumping up and down so much! Ha ha. He is also very fearless and was petting the head of all of them! Then he started trying to squeeze them! Yikes!
Then we hiked back and did some arts and crafts. That's what I really like about this place is all of the things you can do here! We went swimming yesterday. I'll have to take pictures later when we go.
So hopefully Corbin is almost done napping. Cooper stayed with Amy and Brady and is now making a bird feeder!
I'm ready for some swimming! It's supposed to be 105 today. Hot hot!

Updates

So I'm sitting up at the school just waiting in line, so I figured I'd do a little update.
Copper is 4 and 1/2. He is still learning so much and is very self sufficient. I started them on a chore list this summer and they both love it and do so good with it. Hurray! Corbin is 2 1/2 and is still just a big boy. They look so much alike and are similar in some ways but total opposites in others. Cooper is my make sure everyone is following the rules and Corbin is more oh let's explore this! So to give an example, swimming. Copper has to teach himself. No one is allowed to tough him. Which actually makes it easy on me. He stays on the edge if he can't touch, unless he feels safe with his floaties and nose goggles. Corbin almost drowned at a work party for Cody because he decided he wanted to swim again. We had taken off his swim vest because we were done and now eating. Seriously scary! The couple who lived there both ended up jumping in to save him. Cody and I were inside grabbing food for the boys. He was no where near the pool when I left. He has learned how to be sneaky. Like quiet good sneaky!! You would think he learned his lesson. Nope he tried to get in another time! Crazy kid keeps our lives interesting that's for sure! Ha ha. I love them both so much and their personalities and looks mirror Cody and his younger brother. It's always fun when Riley is around because Corbin is like a spitting image of him. And Cooper with Cody. Cooper is such a worrier too, just like Cody. He worries about everything and has to have a plan laid out for the whole day. If something goes different from the plan, he has so many questions as to why. Ha ha. He is really into magic tricks and superheroes right now. Since we did the superhero birthday this year we are thinking about highering a magician for next year. He'll love it! So if ya know any good ones, let us know! So I put Corbin back in pull ups probably about a month or so ago. He's been potty trained for about 10 months and still having accidents way to often! After he pee'd on his nursery teacher's lap, I gave in. I HATE diapers. Hate them. He knows how to go to the bathroom on his own. He just is so stubborn and wants to only go when he wants to. So you can guess his accidents were when he was playing and didn't want to stop to go. So when I first put them back on it went way down hill. Just pee'd all the time in them except like 1 or 2 times a day. He even poo'ed in them 3 times! And that was never an issue for him. But now, he has been keeping them dry ad telling me again when he needs to go. He drinks SO much that he pees SO frequently. I think that was also part of it. Like this kid will pee 4 times in 2 hours! He's asked for underwear and I of course said yes... Then he pee'd in them. So no underwear till he stays dry for a while! Corbin is really learning a lot. He is talking non stop. We still have troubles understanding what it is he's saying sometimes though. :) ravvy is one of his best friends. Those two wrestle all the time. I need to video it. He is so good at letting him in and out when ravvy needs to go potty.
Cody is doing really well at work. He is getting more and more responsibility and bigger jobs to work on. He is actually the lead on a project right now and oversees a few people! I'm so proud of him and all of his hard work to provide for us. On top of that he is helping me with a whole list of handy man work at home! Because I get board and like to do projects! :D I can't believe we have almost been married 6 years. So Cody is working with the YM right now as the first counselor. So that meant he got to go on high adventure!! Then rode their bikes up and down a trail covering about 150 miles and did service and camped. He was pooped! Ha ha but had a lot of fun! I'm really glad he is in YM.
I guess it's my turn. I went back to school about a year ago to get some prerequisites done. I got my associates of arts in general studies back in 2007. I worked really hard and have made straight A's and got into the respiratory care program!! I am SOO excited! I start on August 27th and will graduate spring of 2014. It's going to be a long hard road. We have prayed and prayed and really feel like this is the right step for our family to take. (my dream has always been to work outside of the US in the medical field. And with Cody's job having contracts out of the US for different lengths of time, I can really see that happening!!) I am really excited about this field too. Both boys were born with breathing problems and bad asthma. I like the fact that I could be in the ER one minute giving CPR to a patient and them the next be in the labor and delivery making sure a brand new baby is able to take his first breath. I know there is going to be a lot of heart aches. Not only at the hospital but the different schedule at home too, but I am ready for them and so is Cody. He really supports me at school and steps it up a lot while I'm busy studying or am in class. Cooper will have a harder time adjusting then Corbin will. Corbin is a VERY social kid (like to the point of just sitting down with a random family and acting like its his!) Cooper lately won't even let me go for a run without having a fit and BEGGiNG me not to go. He will start preK this fall so it will be hard but good for him. I was even in Nursery when he was. Oh speaking of that. I am the primary president now. I am Loving it! I love being in there and watching the kids learn and grow and sing. I have great counselors which I am so thankful for as I am going to need that when school starts. We just finished having our pioneer day party. I think it went great! We made butter, played relays, had watermelon seed spitting contests, water fight with sponges, and a snow cone machine!! The kids had a blast and it was really fun to see it all come together! It all went smoothly..... except for the 5 year old who decided to skinny dip in the pools with the sponges!! Ha ha. At least it wasn't my kid! Ha ha. :D
We had a family of 8 stay with us for a week. They lived in our ward 3 years ago but had moved to Florence, Italy! It was lots of craziness and fun for that week! Ha ha. But I really enjoyed having them here and learning about Italy. You can really learn a lot about someone when you live with them! Ha ha.
So this summer the boys and I have enjoyed library time, lots and lots of movies, playgroups, build and grow at Lowes, swimming in our above ground pool, playing with friends, painting, mini vacations, parades, and just having fun with each other! :D
Thats all I can think about for now. :D

Costa Rica--House

So we rented a house while we were there. Loved it! We are going to do this from now on. The house was in a great location and was perfect for some seclusion/relaxation time. The living room wall consisted of 4 window doors that you could slide all the way into the wall. So it left it completely open to the back patio. Beautiful view! And the reason we chose Atenas, Costa Rica is because it is voted the best weather from National Geographic. And it was!! Like 80's during the day and like 60's at night. Cody and I slept in the master bedroom. It had a hot tub in the room!! And in the bathroom the double shower had a window that opened all the way so you were "showering outside" Way cool! Don't worry, we were secluded enough that no one could see.

Here we are in the living room with the doors all they way open.

Those windows are the master bedroom and hot tub.

The boys... Cody and Brad

 Hammock time!

 Part of the kitchen.

This is me opening the doors.

 Standing on the edge of the infinity pool

They had a stone wall in the living room.

 Every Friday they have a farmers market. It was perfect for us to go and grab some fresh fruit, vegetables, and bread for the week. This was the first morning we were there. This is one of the things that I love about Cody. When we travel we like to really see how the locals live and experience as much of it as we can. I felt like we stuck out like a sore thumb. I was so glad that both Amy and Brad are fluent in Spanish!

Cody and I buying some fruit on our own! The mangos and platinos fritos were hands down our favorite!! SOO good!

Amy and Brad

Eating breakfast at the farmers market

 The bank was guarded by a few men like this. We had to take off our glasses and hats and have them look inside our bag before we could enter each time. We think this guard had a crush on Amy. :D

Amy's favorite spot

Brad's favorite spot

Cody's favorite spot

And mine!

The same day we were on a drive to one of the beaches and saw a group of people looking over the edge. So naturally we stopped and did the same thing. This is what we found! Crocodiles!!! and lots of them!! I didn't post all the pictures but there were a ton on both sides of the bridge!

We think he was the Big Daddy! ha ha. He was HUGE!

The first beach we went to we were all running from the waves thinking these were big.... little did we know,by the last day of the trip we would be playing in 12 foot waves!!! I have decided I want to live by the ocean! If we ever get that opportunity, you can guarantee we will take it!

Toes in the sand! Not all of the beaches had sand like this. Some were part of a rain forest and some were regular sand too.

I love this picture of the boys!

Palm trees are my absolute FAVORITE! I love them! On one of our drives we were driving by palm tree plantations for like 30-40 mins! I was in heaven. They are so beautiful to me. So I never knew there were so many different kinds of palm trees.

 This is all the same day. We visited a Mariana. So pretty!

We went to dinner at a local Italian restaurant in Atenas. They had a volcano pizza! So it's a pizza with another crust on top. Oh, so everything is outside and in the open, the tables, the kitchen, everything (because the weather is perfect all year round) so we could see her making our pizza. So she put it in the dutch oven and when it came out it the top crust made a huge bubble. She poured some red sauce over it and cut a little whole in the middle. Steam started coming out and with the red sauce running down it looked like a volcano!! Cool looking and yummy tasting!!

So there are a ToN of pictures and it takes for EVER to load them.... so i might post some other things in between these posts.

Costa Rica - Pacure River tour

Cody and I went to Costa Rica with our good friends Brad and Amy Duncan. We had a blast!! We rented a house in Atenas (which according to National Geographic is the best weather in the world!) And it was.... perfect the entire time. I'm so glad that we went with Brad and Amy because they both speak spanish and that sure made EVERYTHING so much easier! Cody and I were there for half a day before them, so we got the car and house keys and navigated just fine without them, but it was so nice having them there!

We were there for 9 wonderful days and 8 peaceful nights! So I have a TON of pictures for our memories sake. :) Thank goodness for close family and Skype! We missed our boys but loved having our alone time with friends to go out and have fun. And have fun we did! I think we only spent one half day relaxed at our house. ha ha. We went on a lot of tours and just exploring! (I'm so glad Cody is like me in that way on our vacations. We like to relax, but we like to explore and have adventures more)

There were so many tours that we wanted to try. So what do you do? Start with the ones you want to do the most and keep going until you can't go anymore! Then start again the next day. Some of them were all day tours. (Like the one I'm actually writing this post on.) some of them will probably be out of order. We got there Thursday and it was either Friday or Saturday that we did the water rafting.

So our first adventure: Pacuare River White Water Rafting with Class 3 and 4 rapids!!

We were on the river for 4 solid hours. That means 4 hours of constant paddling, laughing, rapids, getting wet, getting bumped off, laughing, rapids, enjoying the jungle view, swimming, and more laughing, and rapids!! Its a tie between this and surfing for what we enjoyed the most! 

 A bus took us to where they served us a traditional breakfast made by some locals (p.s. all of there food was SO good!) Then another bus took us on a toured guide to our start spot. We learned a lot about pineapples and the local people. Did you know that you can take the head of a pineapple, cut it off, bury it in the ground, and a new pineapple will grow!? So cool. And their pineapples.... delish!

We lucked out and got the BEST guide! Seriously! He was having us do things that no one else was doing.(I'll explain some later with some pictures) Otto was his name and he is the captain of the river rafting team. He was totally showing off... and we loved every minute of it!

I wanted to sit up front (I thought it would be more fun) and it was!! So Cody and I were in the front then another couple that went with us (to make it a full boat, but they were really fun so that was a plus too!) and then Amy and Brad were in the back with of course Otto filling in on the caboose. (I'm sure he was doing all the work!) :)

So Otto was like, ok Julia go a head and sit in the middle in the front. He's the boss so I complied. The next thing I know, we are heading for some rapids!! So keep in mind Cody and I have never gone white water river rafting before. I was terrified and loved every minute of it! ha ha. Does that even make sense? By the way, in case you didn't know, Class 5 is the highest for rapids. So here's me in the front. The only warning he gave me was to close my mouth! ha ha

Here is a picture of some of the scenery. Just in case you were wondering, they have a guy a certain spots that takes pictures for you and you can order them afterwards. They also had guys in kayaks for in case someone falls out during a rapid... uh hum.... Amy. ha ha.

So when you are in front, you set the pase for the strokes for those behind you and Cody and I had to be at the same pace. Well some times Otto would say paddle and we'd be in the middle of a rapid and my part of the boat would be in the air so I wouldn't have any water to paddle, but I didn't want to mess everyone else up, so I would paddle the air. Brad kept calling me out on it. ha ha. "Julia, when he says paddle he means the water!" ha ha. 

Ok, so some of the stuff he would have us do, (besides taking turns riding in the front. Brad rode it like a bull!) was at the bottom of a rapid, like in the picture bellow, he would turn us around so we were facing that divot, (I don't know what to call it) and he would say paddle hard! So we would and we would get right up in front of it. It creates this current so we didn't have to paddle but would be just sitting there at the bottom of the rapid with the water pretty much rolling in on us. So cool!

He would have us lift our ores and say Pura Vida when we finished a big rapid.



Notice where Amy is sitting in this picture?

She got bumped out right before we hit a class 4 rapid!! Our tour guide went from all fun and games to serious! Both Cody and the other dude were able to rescue her just in the nick of time!! So as soon as he pulled her in it was time to paddle for the rapid. So she got to sit up front with us on this one! And got bounced around quite a bit. It's funny. I'm laughing as I type this because I'm remember how much fun we had!

You can barely see her in the next 4, but she's there! ha ha



Isn't this so pretty!! There were a lot of these water falls! Just gorgeous! He steered the boat so we got drenched by it!

In this spot we got to get out and swim. There was a little waterfall so I had Cody kiss me under it. ha ha. Cheesy but I loved it! :) Just a beautiful jungle. They had these really big pure blue butterflies and some canaries. And because we were in the Jungle it did sprinkle on us a little and some light rain. But we totally thought it made it better. 



At the end Otto was doing another one of his tricks for us and bucked Cody off! Otto was so excited he gave me a high five! ha ha. He had been trying the whole time to get him to fall out. Cody had a ball!
 Our expressions just tell the story of each of the pictures it's self. If we go back and any other vacations we take we want to find a river rafting tour. They are just so much fun! They had a two day one, next time we'll do that!
After this we took the bus back and they cooked us a traditional lunch and did a slide show of the pictures. Then another bus drive to our car. The drives were all so beautiful. You see every possible kind of tree. From jungle to evergreens to palm trees. Lots of mountains too. Perfect day!