Vet school!

 James, in his official vet school scrub top. He isn't too sure about the purple but he's pretty thrilled all the same!

We Siegs made it here to Kansas safe and sound! The drive was 30 hours of straight driving (we slept for a couple hours in the car. Not too fun) so we were pretty thrilled to get here and stretch our legs! However, now that we have been here for over a week, we can happily say that there are lots of things about Manhattan that we like other than that we are done with our drive. At the top of our list is the vet school that James started this week! Wednesday he started his orientation and every night he comes home with more tidbits of information to help us fall in love with this adventure of his more and more. On Wednesday night we got to to with James to a get-to-know-you BBQ where we stood out like a sore thumb. Out of the 100+ students in his class, maybe a handful are married. Out of those, there was one person with a baby quietly sleeping in it's baby carrier. And then there was the Sieg family with three busy boys who gloried in their time in the spotlight and showed off oodles of cartwheels for all of their gawking fans. Yikes! Whether we are the weird family or not, we sure are glad to be here and are pleased as punch of our wonderful vet-student, Poppy!

 On Sunday, James walked us up to the vet school before church. (On a side note, our ward is made up of nearly all young families who are either affiliated with the school or with the army base nearby. James told me that if I wore my wedding dress to church on our first Sunday he would do my bidding for the rest of our lives. I gotta tell you, I was SO close to going through with the dare! I even had the wedding dress on....but I guess my power against reverse psychology is a little stronger now that I am my 30's.) L: James and the crew outside of the vet school buildings R: a statue given by a vet in Thousand Oaks! Obviously it was meant to be! 

Father's day, 2012

James and his men right after church this afternoon.

 Father's day has come again and I am still surprised! Mason was so excited to celebrate this big day for his Poppy that he was up bright and early and ready for some fun. Sadly, for him, James requested that I skipped getting up early to make him breakfast in bed because we were going to bed so late the night before and he knew that I would be tired. Since I get grumpy when I'm tired, I figured sleeping in (as much as you can with (9am church) was the best present I could give him! At least, that is what I told myself to fight off any feelings of guilt while I told Mason to go play quietly for the next hour before the rest of us got up. Our poor little socialite found this dreadfully boring but quietly kept himself busy with a big pile of books since I told him it was Poppy's Father's day wish. 

Eventually we all got up, got dressed and headed to church where we got to hear Mason sing a fathers day song with the Primary! FINALLY!!!! As if to make up for the lack of celebrating last year, they let each primary child (all 15 of them) stand at the pulpit and say what they love about their dad. Mason fearlessly said, "I love my dad because he takes me fishing." It was the sweetest thing! I love primary!

The rest of Sunday was uneventful but happy enough (minus the major tantrums that Char had about wanting to hide the presents/candy for Poppy instead of giving it to him). At one point, Mason asked James if it was fun being a dad "since you get to make decisions...and boss people around." James had a good laugh but I have no doubt that it is. Especially in moments like this:

Who the heck knows why Char was so bent on hiding James' loot. He should have been crying over the terrible bangs I gave him instead!

Whether it is fun for him or not, we sure love our Poppy!!!!

 Today was McCabe's 2nd day in nursery! Hot dog! It has been nearly five years since we have been roaming the halls at church with a little one, and as much as I don't want him to grow up, we were thrilled to send him off to nursery! Char now likes nursery, now that he has a little brother to show the ropes to. A win all around!

Mason had help filling this out in primary. I love that he said that James is 13 years old, 8 feet tall, and 35 pounds.

I could look at these two pictures all day. How did I get so lucky?

Mr fix it

This weekend our washing machine broke down on us. Boo. In all honesty, we got it used for cheap so I shouldn't have been complaining as much as I was. I was just mildly miffed until we paid a repair man 75 dollars to spend 5 minutes telling me that it is too old to be worth our time. After that I was livid!!!! Luckily, James decided that since he couldn't make it any worse he would have a go at it. And wouldn't you know, after poking around and running a quick errand, he fixed it! Hot dog! I would recommend a handy husband to anyone!  (Oh, and don't use Sears).

Poppy's birthday

In honor of our favorite 30-year-old, our family headed out to Willard Bay on Wednesday to explore the area and attempt to catch some fish. Even though we came up empty handed, we had a ball! The water was warm enough for the boys to wade around on the bank and we each took turns kayaking around the bay. 

L: Char, enjoying his first Snapple. R: James doing all the work, as always.

I can't get this boy to smile when a camera is around but I still think he looks darling anyway

Baby Cabe was a little miffed that his life jacket limited his mobility, especially when a fancy rock came to play.

Everyone wants to be with Poppy on his big day!

I love boys in life jackets. These boys were probably reflecting on the horrors of goat head thorns since Mason stepped on one early on in our day and then proceeded to talk about it for the rest of the afternoon.

While we were enjoying the area, we noticed that the dumpster across the way was on fire. After a few of us beach-bums called 911 a brave fire fighter showed up to take care of things. However, he was not to be outdone by the forest ranger who responded in lightning speed, jumped in a nearby tractor, scooped up a bunch of the water from the lake and then drove at about 2 miles an hour to the scene where he dumped his load about fifteen minutes later. Who cares if the fireman already doused it?! He's a winner in our book! The boys were thrilled to be in on all the action! 

The ranger in all of his cow-poke glory

L: McCabe, enjoying a snack of sand R: Char, showing us how it's done

After we had our fill of Willard Bay, we drove home for dinner, cake and presents! Boy were our men excited for this part of the day! Mason wasn't eating a bite of food but it didn't occur to me that he was too excited to eat until after the millionth time he asked me when he could give Pops his present.

Once again, the boys were able to pick out exactly what Poppy had been hoping for: a bow and arrow, a plastic frog, and a frisbee. Conveniently, our boys like playing with these types of toys, too.

The pinata was supposed to be James on the kayak with our three boys. However, our week went a little differently than expected and I never was able to finish it! Thankfully, even though it was ugly, it still held candy and still put up a fight long enough for us all to take a turn whacking it.

Even though we didn't do anything fancy, James was happy as a clam about how his birthday went, especially since it meant that he got to get out of scouts for the night! Hot dog!

Happy birthday to James!

James turned 30 yesterday so I thought I would join the blogging world band wagon and share 30 things about James to celebrate.

30 things you might not know about Jamesy-cakes:

1-James's one birthday wish is to kayak from Ventura California to Anacapa Island. Our brother-in-law, Rob, is nice enough to offer to ride along beside him in his boat if James ever actually gets the chance to follow through with his dream. I think he is crazy but I have no doubt that he could do it if he wanted to.

2-James took me to Anacapa Island on our first date. It was a double date with our friends Craig and Kira and we kayaked around the coast with sea lions and scrambled around sharp rocks. Good fun. But my favorite part was watching James climb out of the water and up the 8 foot latter to the dock with our heavy and water-logged kayaks on his back. It almost made up for the fact that I could tell that he wasn't all that interested in dating me at that point. :)

3- James's best friend is Craig Dittman.

4-James loves candy. He has an overall sweet-tooth, but See's chocolate and anything sour and fruity takes the cake for him.

5-Ever since he was little, he has opted for Strawberry Shortcake as his birthday cake choice.

6-James is very athletic. He loves all things active and outdoorsy, but he isn't really into watching any organized sports. I wondered if this type of man was out there.

7-When James and I were newlyweds, James had a little Boston Whaler boat that he loved to pieces. However, a few months before Mason was born he sold it so that he could pay for daipers and other baby expenses. As much as he loved his boat, he loved his son even more. James has always put his family first.

8-James honestly thinks that he has green eyes even though they are as blue as they come.

9-James over-packs for nearly every outing or vacation. Without fail we ended up driving away with our truck full of kayaks, life jackets, camping chairs, five extra pairs of underwear, you name it! Most of the time we don't end up using it all but at least we have all of our bases covered. I on the other hand pride myself on being a light packer until I realize that I have forgotten half of my essentials. Woops!

10-James hates ordering pizza and really doesn't appreciate it when I take my time figuring out what we all want in a drive-thru. But worst of all is the self check-out kiosk at grocery stores. When we were on our honeymoon he tried to buy bagels at a self check-out and got so stressed out when he realized he didn't have a bar code that I laughed so hard. In that funny moment I knew that I the rest of my life would be full of laughter.

11-James served his mission in the Colorado Denver South Mission and loved it. He served as an Assistant to the President and ended up extending at his president's request. Interestingly enough, Colorado and West Virginia  are the only two states in the Union where it is okay to eat roadkill. We obviously were meant to be.

12-James is a blue/red personality and because of that is tremendously driven but also has more integrity than anyone I know.

13-James has ALWAYS wanted to be a vet. James spent most of his childhood taking care of animals and searching for owl pellets. He even saved up his money and bought an owl pellet kit at Natural Wonders in the mall and was devastated when he dissected it and didn't find any rare mole bones like he was expecting. As a result of all of this time and study, he can tell you almost anything about any bird and can name almost any animal (or breed) by sight. Nearly every day he tells me how grateful he is that he gets to make the dream of becoming a vet a reality.

14- When James turned 14 he wanted a great dane for his birthday. Instead he got a standard poodle named Rose. She was his best friend and went everywhere with him. They even did agility training with where they won all sorts of blue ribbons. He was a really cool teenager.

15- James's favorite color is green.

16- James's favorite movies are the Indiana Jones shows. In fact, the only double date that we have ever been on was with our friends, the Van Ordens, where we went and saw the newest Indiana Jones when it came out just after Mason was born. James also loves the Lord of the Rings trilogy and can't resist Nacho Libre. However, truth be told, he has been known to laugh right along with me while we watch my two favorites: Legally blonde and While you were sleeping.

17- James loves fishing, especially in the ocean. Out of all of the Californians that I know, he took advantage of living by the ocean the most.

18-When James was three, he accidently got hit by a baseball bat and had his head crushed in.Thankfully, with a Priesthood blessing, surgery, and a helmet, he was able to mend just fine and hasn't had any side-effects from the accident since....besides that he got accustomed to being pampered with a nightly head and back tickle. He still loves that. Half the time, just when I am drifting off to dreamland, James will ask, "Can you tickle my back/head?"

19- When James's is sick he wants to be snuggled up on the couch in a "couch taco" just like his mom would do for him when he was a little boy.

20-James loves 80's music and has an amazing amount of memorized lyrics under his belt. Actually, he knows the lyrics to all sorts of songs which makes it tricky to sing a song around him with out him heckling me about making up the words.

21-James talks to his family almost every single day.

22- James isn't so into watching tv or movies. However, recently we have taken to watching shows on Hulu at the end of the day to unwind from our boys. He still isn't a huge fan, but at least he gets a foot rub out of it. However, when Wipeout comes on he ROARS with laughter. Slapstick never gets old.

23-When I was still working, James would get up at five to warm up our car so that I could drive to work in comfort.

24- James LOVES finding camping gear at DI. It is a sport that he has perfected over the last couple of years. We probably have ten tents in our garage if anyone ever wants to come camping with us.

25-James loves to read. Up until several years ago his favorite books were the James Herriot books about the country vet. Sadly, he has since read a biography on the author and found out that most of his stories were either not even remotely real or extremely exaggerated. Poor Jamesy.

26-James hates to plan things in advance. This is especially true when he is on vacation. It makes him feel trapped.

27-James just finished all of his coursework for his masters program! Not only did he earn straight A's but he also learned to love biochemestry. He worked so hard and we are so proud of our favorite nutritionist!

28-James is a great public speaker. When I first met him he was teaching a class on member missionaries in our singles branch and I was so impressed with his abilities. Of course, it helped that I thought he was good looking!

29-James would give the shirt off his back to anyone and loves to serve others. I have watched him quietly help countless people over this relatively short time that we have been together. In fact, what sold my dad on James was when my dad heard from the people he home teaches that James stopped to help someone with car trouble on the side of the road.

30-James makes me laugh almost effortlessly. Though he is incredibly sharp and witty, James claims that I laugh hardest when I am laughing at him and I suppose he might be right. Thankfully he gives me opportunity to do this every now and then doesn't mind when I nearly pee my pants at his expense.

Manhattan Kansas, Here we come!

Aria took these pictures of our garden a couple years ago.

The mail brought happy news on Tuesday evening for our family! James got accepted to vet school at Kansas State University! James has wanted to be a vet his whole life and I am so grateful that Heavenly Father helped his dreams come true! Hot dog! As soon as we found out, we decided to go out on the town to celebrate. But after driving up and down looking for something that sounded good (and by good I mean worth dealing with three wiggly boys while dining), we decided to get some treats at the store and eat dinner at home. 

So to summarize, we got into vet school and celebrated by cruising Main Street. We Siegs really know how to party!

Homecoming

I love this picture even though it is pretty blown out and fuzzy. I love that Mason looks plump cheerful like he did when he was a baby.

A scouting camp out has stolen Poppy away again this weekend. Boo. I usually throw myself a pity-party when James has a lame camp out with his deacons but after talking to James last night and hearing how miserably cold he was, I feel way worse for him. Having him gone again reminds me that I didn't post the pictures of his homecoming from Kansas. The boys were so excited to see him, (and since we get them up to use the bathroom before we got to bed anyway) that we pulled them out of bed at one in the morning for hugs and promised presents. When my dad would come home from traveling when I was little, he would wow us children with fancy trinkets from the area he visited as well as from his hotel stays. The unveiling of the gifts made even a shower cap exciting! It was fun to see James present similarly lame gifts to our boys and watch their reactions. Our room was so dark so the pictures are terrible but I love them so much I had to include them on here. 

The first gifts of the night were the wrapped disposable cups from his hotel room. I love how obviously bummed Mason is. The best part was seconds later, Mason and Char were acting like they were thrilled with them!

Char, closing his eyes while he waits for the green light from James

Mason had high hopes for his next gift

James told the boys that these peanuts were special $400 peanuts.

L: if you look closely, you can see Mason's new CTR ring that he got from primary on his finger. He sure is proud of that thing! But this will probably be the only picture you see with him wearing that since he loses it every other minute. R: McCabe thought that his bag of peanuts were especially fun to clutch.

The big hits of the morning were the gummy candies that James found at a gas station. Even though we eat the same candy here in Logan, just knowing that they came from another state made them especially tasty.

Charlie was THRILLED with the gummy sharks that James found for him.

Char is pretending to be a ferocious shark while he snacked on one of this candies.

We love our Pops.