Look what I have

These beautiful Lilly's are blooming in my back yard! I took some starts from my mom and dad this spring and I have been worried they wouldn't take or the dog would trample/dig/eat them.
They made it through and they are beautiful!

Maple Mountain

Saturday morning, at 5am, Curtis met up with his friends Brad and Sean from our ward.
They started what would be a 9 hour hike up to the top of Maple Mountain.

At the top they signed a registry, adding their name to the list of those who have concord the trail.

He had a great time and got to see a lot of wild life.

I'm so proud of him. Way to go Curtis!

Papa and Max

Some things will always be in style.
Good solid things like honesty, and trust and caring about people.
It’s qualities like these that keep me aware of who I am.
And what I can give to life.
It’s qualities like these, Papa, that you’ve taught me to value,
through your influence, your example, and your love.
It has made me love you very much,
And has made me very proud to have you for my Papa.

Zoo day

Last Monday, Curtis took off work so we could all go to the zoo together. I had a great time introducing Max to the animals at the zoo. He was most excited about the elephants.

I suggest going early to the zoo if you want to see the tigers active. They seem to sleep most of the day. We arrived around 9:30 and the tigers had just come out of the indoor habitat. The three cubs came right down to the water to play with their favorite toy.

Max's room has been decorated in zoo animals and we read a lot of books about them but this was the first time he has been old enough to grasp that these are living creatures.

If the zoo wasn't great enough, he got to have his favorite lunch too.
It was such a fun day. I'm really glad Curtis took us to the zoo.

3 Years

It has been three years since Curtis and I got married. That can't be right. I feel like we have been married much longer than 3 years.
For our annaversary, Curtis took me to a wonderful restaurant, La Dolche Vita, then we went to a movie of my choice. Of course I chose the most girlish love story available...A-Team.

Any one looking for a great movie? This is it. I was sad when the show ended. I was ready for another 2 hours of entertainment. I can't wait for the next A-Team movie.
Thanks for a great date Curtis. I love you.

Capital Reef

Curtis and Max went to Capital Reef Last weekend for the Stevens reunion. They ended up staying in a suite above the general store.

Max got to play with Isaac for three days so that insured a happy boy. Curtis took Max swimming, hiking, out to ice cream and out to parks. I don't think he missed me at all.

Max fell asleep on one of the hikes.

I'm so happy to have my boys back.

Summer

Summer is here...kind of. We've had a few warm days. We found this Pool pack for $6.99 at smiths. Max and Isaac love to play with the pool...not always in the pool. They really like that they can step over the side so they send most of the time going in and out of the pool. I hope the warm days come back soon.

Congrats Curtis!

Congratulations Curtis!
Curtis received his acceptance letter yesterday. Starting in the fall, Curtis will be attending SLCC to finish his Associates. He choose SLCC because campus is close to his work and he is hopping it will be like the show "community". He would really like to have a Paintball war to get early registration rights.
We are not sure where to apply to finish his bachelors. I guess we will figure that all out when the time comes. We are so proud of you Curtis. GO BRUINS!

Whats new at the Stevens

It has been a long time since I last posted. Two reasons...First our computer broke down and the new one doesn't have card readers so it takes a really long time to get to my photos. Second, we have been working hard with Max.
About three weeks ago, I took Max to his 18-24 month appointment. I had several questions for the Doctor regarding Max's behavior. There were little things that caused some concern. For example: he lies down and watches the wheels of cars for 10 minutes at a time just rolling the car in front of his face; He stopped speaking to me and Curtis but will still talk to babysitters; he will not respond to his name - no matter who calls to him. We have been connected to an early intervention group and have had two specialists to our home. These women have been perfectly wonderful. They play/interact with Max and teach me and Curtis fun and new ways to play with him but teach him at the same time.
There is nothing wrong with Max. He is a really smart kid. He is so smart, he has figured out he doesn't need to tell us what he wants. He just has to hum. Curtis and I know what he wants from that - so why waist time speaking to us?
We are currently working on eye contact. We offer Max two choices, one held in each hand about 6 inches from our face. Once he chooses what he wants we hold the winning item closer to our face and repeat the name of the object two or three times. This brings attention to our face and what we are saying.
Another activity is when he knows he wants something - like going outside. A week ago he would stand by the door and hum. When he would do that we would say things like, "what do you want? do you want to go OUT? Out?" or "should we go out? is that what you want? out? out?" at first he would get really antsy and hum louder and two step. But now he says out when he wants to go out...so we reward him by going out for a little while.
I hope you enjoy the show. This is our happy little boy. The movie kinda drags on. It is over a minute of him laughing but I love it.