Catching the Potty Train (for real this time)

Warning: This post is all about potty training so don't read it if you have a potty training aversion!

We have somehow succeeded in potty training Tommy. Once a mom succeeds at this feat it's funny how fast other moms want to know how you did it. I was definitely one of those moms a few months ago. I don't profess to be an expert, but I do know how to potty train my own child, so I guess that's worth something. Over the past several months I have read everything I could about potty training. I gleaned ideas from everyone that has ever succeeded at potty training a child. Somehow I put it all together and came up with something that worked for Tommy. I write this in an effort to help other desperate moms. Maybe something we did will help you.

I thought I'd start this post off with a few humorous potty training tips that I found especially unhelpful. Keep in mind that my son just turned two in June and that he is quite, um, let's say independent:

• Give your son one M&M when he goes pee and two when he goes poop in the potty. So, we tried this on our first attempt back in March and it totally blew up in our faces. I didn't know this before March, but apparently there are kids out there that will not be bought or bribed, and I happen to be the mother of one of those kids. When we try to bribe him he defiantly does the opposite of what we want him to. That's a good trait in general, but a little disappointing when it came to potty training:)
• Put Cheerios in the toilet and let him aim at them. My son is more likely to reach into the toilet to eat the Cheerio than he is to aim at it with his pee. He is also likely to think it's fun to throw things into the toilet, and we are trying to avoid teaching him that at all costs. Maybe older boys find that motivating. I don't know, and I'm not going to try it.
• Wait until your child is ready to potty train. Okay, seriously, what does that even mean? How can a toddler make an intellectual decision about when they think they are ready to learn to use the toilet? I know people will disagree with me on this, and that's fine. I'm just saying, don't expect your toddler to come to you and say, "I'm ready to use the potty now," unless you want to wait years longer than we did for him to learn to use the potty.
  
• Let your child run around the house naked. When he pees on the floor he'll be upset and then you can simply teach him where the pee pee goes. Don't judge me, but we actually tried this for a couple of hours and you know what happened? He peed on stuff and I cleaned it up and it didn't teach him a thing about using the potty. I hear this works well for some people, but we didn't find it to be especially helpful.
  

I hope this post has a few tidbits of information and ideas that are actually helpful, unlike some of the advice I received:)

Let's rewind a few months. I started getting a little panicked when Tommy started wearing size 6 diapers when he was about 16 months old. Size 6 is the largest they sell in stores. You can special order size 7, but I really wanted to avoid the cost of doing that. Tommy had shown a little bit of interest in the potty at about that time. I got a potty seat that goes over the big potty and he liked to sit on it and pretend to wipe his bum with toilet paper. He liked watching us go potty, but that was as far as his interest went. In January I found out that a friend of mine in the ward had just succeeded at potty training her 23-month-old son so I pestered her about how she did it. She followed the Three Day Potty Training program by Lora Jensen so I thought we would give it a try. The basic idea is that you put your kid in underpants and give them tons to drink. You stay right by their side the entire day and when they start to wet, you scoop them up and run them to the potty. You never ask them if they need to go. You only take them to the potty when either they have an accident or they tell you they need to go. It worked for her so I gave it a try.

This was back in March. Tommy was just barely 21-months-old. We spent a very long morning running to the potty and cleaning up accidents, but after about six hours he actually got it! I was amazed and so proud of him. He was accident free for the rest of the first day and all of the second day. I couldn't believe it! But, that's about when it started to fall apart. I made several mistakes and take full responsibility, but I learned a lot from it. The major mistake I made was that I hovered too much over Tommy and pushed him too much that he started to push back. I was constantly at full alert, so afraid that he would have an accident, constantly putting him on the potty when I thought he needed to go even though he didn't tell me that he did. It turned into a power struggle, which is the worst thing that can happen during potty training. I was stressed out and so was he. He started having accidents any time I turned my back. I wasn't getting anything around the house done because I had to watch him all the time. He stopped telling me he needed to go, so I started forcing him onto the potty more and more. It was bad. We stuck with it for over a week, but it finally reached a point where I couldn't do it anymore. I broke down one night and uttered the words that moms only say when they really reach the breaking point: "I don't want to be a mom anymore!" It was awful. I was worried I was ruining Tommy. I was worried about giving up and going back to diapers because I didn't want to teach him that it was okay to quit something because it is hard. I felt like a failure. We put him back in diapers and forgot about potty training for a couple of months. I vowed never to try again. I had no idea that potty training was going to be so emotional.

I did learn a thing or two from our first try, though. The most important thing I learned is that different kids are motivated by different incentives. Tommy doesn't care what other kids are doing. He doesn't care what I want him to do. He doesn't care about the rewards. He could care less about a sticker chart. I learned all of this through our first attempt. Some kids respond really well to those types of things, but not Tommy.

I learned that the only thing that motivates Tommy is control. He thrives on doing things by himself. He thrives on doing the things grown ups do. He loves to choose his own clothes. He loves to help me do chores around the house. He loves to help me shop. He just loves to be big, so that's what I had to use to motivate him to use the potty. For weeks before we tried again I told him how babies wear diapers, but big boys wear underpants. We talked about how big boys go potty in the toilet. During the process of potty training I often had to use things like, "When you go potty you can zip up your own pants," or, "You can wash your hands by yourself if we go potty," or, "You can flush the toilet by yourself when you go potty in it." Doing things by himself was the incentive I used the most (although we definitely rewarded him with treats and lots of praise to make the experience more enjoyable). If you have an independent (or stubborn) kid on your hands, this might work for you, too.

Well, with the encouragement of seeing some more friends potty train their children I decided to give it another try. I read "How to Potty Train Your Child in Just One Day," by Teri Crane, which is a much softer approach to potty training. The basic idea of this program is that you throw your child a potty party. You decorate the house according to a theme of your choice, you serve treats, you open presents. In the morning you have your child potty train a doll or stuffed animal and then in the afternoon you potty train the child. It sounded nice, but I didn't think Tommy would really get the whole party thing. Older kids with big imaginations would probably love something like that, but Tommy just turned two at the beginning of June, so he wasn't quite there yet. Plus, you are only supposed to watch potty training videos and read potty training books and talk only about potty training the whole day. I thought that would be too intense for Tommy. But, we took some ideas from that book, combined them with ideas from our first attempt, and added on a few more ideas I got from reading friend's blogs.

Like I said above, we started talking about how big boys wear underpants several weeks in advance. Then one Sunday morning we put his big stuffed monkey in underpants and had Tommy teach the monkey how to go potty. It surprised me how much he enjoyed doing that. I think it's because he had all the control in the role of teacher. After teaching monkey a few times Tommy wanted to wear big boy underpants. He stayed in them the first time for about two hours without an accident, so that was good. I reminded him every few minutes to keep his underpants dry and I praised him every time he said his underpants were still dry. We pretended the monkey had an accident and had Tommy teach the monkey again how to go potty on the toilet. We continued to do this for a couple of weeks. Tommy loved teaching the monkey how to go potty and sometimes he even wore underpants himself. Once he had an accident he wanted a diaper again and I always gave it to him. It wasn't easy. He got upset every time he had an accident. I felt like I was setting him up to fail every time he wanted to wear underpants because I knew he would have an accident and then get upset about it. But, I stuck with it for about a week and gave him underpants when he wanted them, reminded him to keep them dry, and told him every few minutes, "Tell Mommy when you need to go potty." I never asked him if he needed to go. I don't know how other kids are, but if you ask Tommy if he needs to go potty he will always say no. It's like asking him if he's tired. He'll never admit it. So I put the ball in his court and let him tell me when he needed to go.

After about a week of doing this and wondering if it was doing any good, Tommy gave us some encouragement. We were at Stake Conference and he had a diaper on. It was like 11:00 in the morning and he looked at me and said, "Need potty." You better believe I jumped up and took him to the potty! It turns out he had kept his diaper dry all morning and he actually went on the potty when I took him. It made my week.

After that happened I realized that he just needed a little push to really be potty trained. I needed a little push, too. So we removed our safety net: diapers. A few days later (this was just a few days after his second birthday) I told him that we were out of diapers and that he was a big boy and needed to wear big boy underpants. We combined everything we had been doing and worked on potty training most of the morning. We took the monkey potty, I reminded him to keep his underpants dry, I told him to tell me when he needed to go potty. He was accident free in the morning, but only because he held it until about noon and then basically exploded when I set him on the potty without him asking me to go. He wore pull ups for his nap and then had an accident in the evening. After the accident he asked for a diaper and I told him he couldn't have one because we didn't have anymore. It was basically the same thing the next day. He asked for his "sleep pants" (pull ups) a few times, but I told him that those were only for sleeping and that he needed to wear his big boy underpants. He was pretty good to comply.

So on the third day I decided to change my strategy a little bit. He hadn't told me that he needed to go once and I wondered if this was sinking in at all. He was a master at holding it, but I knew that wouldn't get us too far. I knew he could tell me because he had done it during Stake Conference a few days previous. My goal was to get him to tell me when he needed to go so that I could relax. So I decided to have a really intense potty day with him, and it worked beautifully.

I gave him a ton to drink so that we would have plenty of opportunities to practice going potty. I also set a timer to go off every 10-20 minutes throughout the day. Every time it buzzed it was potty time and we ran and sat on the potty. Sometimes we skipped or walked on our tip toes to the bathroom to make it more fun. We read lots of books on the potty that day (something I vowed never to do) to make it more enjoyable to sit there. The timer wasn't meant to be permanent, it was just meant to give him lots of practice without me being the one to constantly tell him to go. We didn't go anywhere, not even outside. I had lots of inside activities to do and we really just focused on potty training. Every time I needed to go potty that day I made a big deal about it and imitated what I wanted him to do: grabbed my crotch, danced around, said I needed to go potty, asked Tommy if he would help me. Maybe that sounds ridiculous or gross to some people, but the best way Tommy learns is by watching what we do. It was a really long day, but it worked better than I had even hoped. All morning, every 10-20 minutes we sat on the potty and nothing happened. Not one drop. Then finally around 11:30 we were coloring and Tommy jumped up, grabbed his crotch, said "Potty!" and ran for the bathroom. I couldn't believe my eyes and ears! I was so proud of him I gave him a bowl of ice cream afterward.

The next day we continued with the timer, but it quickly turned into a power struggle. He started running away from me every time the buzzer went off and refusing to go potty. I knew this would happen, so we stopped the timer idea. I told him very clearly that I wouldn't make him sit on the potty anymore as long as he told me when he needed to go. It was hard because I was still so afraid of him having an accident! But, I decided that I needed to let go and embrace accidents as a part of the learning process. Either he was going to tell me he needed to go or he was going to have an accident. And you know what? A couple of hours later he was still accident free and he actually told me when he needed to go. He has been completely accident free since the second day we started this (it's been over a week now) and he is really good at letting me know when he needs to go, even when we are at the park or otherwise away from home.

I don't want anyone to think that this has been easy, because it hasn't. He grasped onto potty training within a few days this time, but I think a lot of has to do with the prior training we did in March, plus all the weeks of preparation that led up to him taking the plunge last week. I also don't want anyone to think that I am bragging that my just-barely-two-year-old can use the potty. I'm not. It's his accomplishment and I am very proud of him for it, but the only reason I am writing this post is because several people have asked for it. I hope it helps someone out there as much as other friends have helped me. Also, I don't want anyone to think Tommy is smarter than other kids. I know he is the smartest kids in the world, but that's just because I'm his mom:) I really think any toddler can learn how to use the potty as early as their parents are willing and able to teach them in a way that works for that child. I'm sure Tommy could have been potty trained back in March, but I made several mistakes that inhibited the learning process.

Many people have asked me if I will potty train my other kids early like I did for Tommy. My answer is unequivocally "YES". Potty training is not easy, whenever you do it. It's emotional and it's messy and it's a lot of work. I say do it early and get it over with. From my informal observation it often takes the oldest child a couple of serious tries to get potty trained. I think however old the child is, he's going to remember what he learned the first time. In addition, the parents learn a lot the first time around and it makes the second attempt much smoother. That's just what I have seen with my friends and family members (and myself). So don't get discouraged if the first time doesn't stick. Chance are the second time will be much easier.

I hope this helps someone! If you ever have questions about what we did or if you just want to vent about the woes of potty training your own child, post a comment, send me an email, or give me a call. I know how it is:)

May 2011 Trip to Denver

We got to spend ten wonderfully restful days in Denver this May. We went there primarily because Mike and Hillary had their second child, Jake. We got to spend a ton of time with our new nephew and we got to be there when he was blessed at church. The week was full of surprises, too. Joel received his mission call to Sacramento the week before we arrived, so he was able to go through the temple while we were there. It's big family events like that that make it hard to live far away, so we were so grateful that we were there for Joel and for Jake, too. We loved just hanging out with the Chattertons, playing at the park, and eating all the food in the house. We discovered that Tommy loves cucumbers with Ranch dressing and cheese balls. We also learned that his favorite TV show is "Airplane MASH" and that he is scared to sleep in small spaces (we had to move his bed into the hall the last few nights we were there so that he would actually sleep through the night).

Overall, the weather was pretty chilly while we were there! It rained and hailed quite a bit. It was a nice break from the constant bright sunshine we get in Phoenix (and I mean that in all seriousness). Tommy somehow conned Grandma into going for a walk with him in the pouring rain.
Tommy played a great game with Grandma where he would do something really fun and then he would fall down on the ground. In this video he was hammering nails, but he did the same thing when he played with the Marble Works set or with Legos.
He also loves to paint, especially with Grandma's cool brushes.
We tried to get lots of pictures of Rachel, Tommy, and Jake together. Rachel and Jake are moving to Indiana later this summer so we don't know when we will be together again. Rachel is just crazy about her cousin. Tommy loves her, too, and considers her his best friend. Actually, scratch that. Tommy considers her dad, Mike, his best friend. There is just something about Mike that Tommy has always adored. (Sorry I didn't get a picture of Mike or Hillary this time. I guess our attention was pretty focused on Rachel and Jake when you guys were around.)


So the first time I held Baby Jake I was in the room with Tommy. I knew he wouldn't be too jealous because he has seen me hold other babies and toddlers before. I held Jake for about five minutes and then Tommy started throwing toys. He didn't throw a tantrum, but I knew that he was a little bit upset. I asked him, "Tommy, are you upset that Mommy is holding Baby Jake?" He put his head down and nodded. Then he looked up at me with the cutest puppy dog eyes, held out his hands, and asked, "Tommy hold Baby Jake?" Turns out he was upset that he wasn't holding Jake rather than that I was! He is so precious. I had him climb up next to me on the couch so he could hold Jake.
He was extremely serious the whole time he held the baby. He didn't crack a smile or wiggle or say much. It's like he knew what a precious little package he was in charge of. In the video you can see him give Jake a few little loves, but other than that, he sat still for a good ten minutes holding the baby. He is going to be the most amazing big brother.

Grandma bought a sandbox while we were there. It was just barely big enough for Rachel and Tommy to sit in it, but they had a great time playing. Tommy has been asking for a sandbox ever since we returned home.
Tommy had a great time wearing Grandpa out. And Grandpa was a great sport to wear Tommy out.


One of the funniest things that Tommy learned in Denver is that soccer is played naked. Let me explain. On the second day we were there Tommy and I went to the park where we saw a bunch of teenagers playing soccer. It was a beautiful day so a bunch of them had their shirts off. Tommy kept pointing to them and saying, "Nakey. Need bath." Yes Tommy, they are naked so they can take a bath. About a week later Grandma and Grandpa took Tommy to Walmart to spoil him a bit and they bought him a soccer ball. He kept telling them, "Soccer ball nakey," but they didn't know what he was talking about. They took the box and the plastic off the ball thinking that he just wanted the ball. When they got home Tommy showed Ben the soccer ball and said, "Soccer ball shirt off." We all had a good laugh and then played "Soccer Ball Nakey" in the backyard. Tommy now calls the game of soccer "Soccer Ball Nakey," but he doesn't always have to take his shirt off to play now. It's amazing how fast kids learn and how much they absorb just by watching other people (for better or for worse).

We were so delighted with a surprise visit from Stephanie while we were in Denver! She is at school in Rexburg so we don't get to see her nearly often enough. She was sweet enough to drive all the way home so she could be there the weekend that Joel received his Endowment and Baby Jake got blessed at church. Tommy loves his Aunt "Stabby" and so do we.

Tommy loves ice cream. He takes after his mommy that way. At first I thought it was so cute that Tommy wanted to sit with his Uncle Joel at the table, but it didn't take long to realize that he was really after the ice cream:) Tommy loves Joel, but he loves ice cream a lot, too.

The last day we were in Denver we went to a park where there were dinosaur bones to dig for. It was really hot that morning so we packed a lunch and brought our camping chairs to the park intending to stay for awhile. Within an hour or so the weather changed so dramatically. Dark, thick clouds rolled in, it started to rain, and we even saw a few funnel clouds. Did you know that Denver gets a lot of tornadoes? I didn't until this trip.

We had such a great time visiting our family in Denver. We love you guys and we miss you! Tommy talks about his cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents on a daily basis now. He talks about going to "Drampa's" house all the time. We look forward to seeing everyone again soon, even though we are getting more and more spread out!

Quick Trip to Utah

In April Tommy and I had the chance to go to Utah for a few days. Tommy loved playing with his cousins and Grammy's doggies and I loved being able to relax and see the people I love.
Tommy called Sammy "Black" and he called Kodex "White". He had no problem getting right down with the doggies, letting them lick his hands, and giving them loves. It's a good thing he has Grammy's dogs to visit because he won't have a dog of his own for a very long time:)
I love this picture of my mom playing with her grandkids. I can't imagine her being happier than she is when she is surrounded by those little ones.
Grammy and Tommy had lots of good times at the park together while I took some much needed me-time (went for a run, attended the temple, met my girls for lunch). Tommy showed off a little and and climbed up and went down everything at the park. I guess they spent several hours playing together. He was one tired little boy! Thanks to my mom for watching him all day, although I know she is thanking me for the same thing.
It's hard to get three active kiddos to look at the camera at the same time!
Tommy loved playing with his cousins, Jarom and Makayla. He is finally old enough that he plays with other kids rather than just next to them, so it was really fun to see the kids interact with each other. Jarom is about 2 1/2 years older than Tommy, but the two of them got along so well. They both love to play ball, and Jarom is really gentle with little kids, so they had lots of good times playing together. Below are a couple of videos of the kids playing ball together.

Here are some pictures of the family. Aren't we cute?

From left to right: Jarom, Jamie, Wes, Makayla, Ricky, Sadie, Carson, Crystal, Tommy. We missed you, Ben!
Do you see what I had to put up with growing up?
Me with my sisters-in-law, Jamie and Sadie.
Here is a video of Tommy doing his nightly ritual of beating up the largest man in the house. It wasn't quite as good as jumping on his daddy, but throwing pillows at Carson was pretty fun.
The weather was great the first couple of days we were in Utah, but then it got REALLY cold and snowy. I'm talking like 30 degrees cold. I was planning to run a half marathon at Thanksgiving Point that weekend, but when I woke up to this, I chickened out. I run because it's fun, but running in snow, wind, and 30 degrees? Not fun. So I didn't do it:) Maybe we'll try for a half marathon again this summer.

April in Review

Wow, April 2011 seems like the longest month in the history of mankind. Maybe it's because it followed March 2011, the worst month the world has ever known. April didn't seem extremely long as we went through it, but now that I am looking back at how much happened in the span of 30 days it doesn't even seem possible to cram so much into such a short period of time. Let's look back on the month, shall we? After our trip to San Diego we celebrated Easter, and then we went to Utah for a few days. We did a lot of hanging out at home in between the big things.

We went to the zoo a couple of times before the really hot summer days set in. The day we went when I took these pictures was a perfect zoo day: overcast and cool, not crowded at all. Tommy and I had a great time getting up close and personal with the animals.
We went on a family hike in Estrella Park (again, before it gets too hot). We only hiked for about 15 minutes because it was windy and chilly and Tommy wasn't really in the mood to walk. We ended up carrying Tommy on our shoulders pretty much the whole time, but it was still really fun to get out and see nature.
It actually rained in April! That's not something we see very often in Arizona, so we relish it whenever it comes. The weekend it rained was actually very cold. I think we even turned our heat back on for a night or two. The best part of the rain was the double rainbow that arched all the way across the sky. That kind of thing is so rare it even made it onto the front page of the newspaper here. I am always amazed at how things like rainbows bring people together. We were at Wal Mart when it first appeared. It literally brought people together in the parking lot. Complete strangers started talking and pointing and laughing as we all enjoyed the beautiful sight together. It was pretty spectacular.
Here is a picture of Tommy just hanging out with Wrinkles, eating a sucker, looking cool.
Easter was awesome this year. I think I was more excited than Tommy was about it! We dyed eggs together Saturday night. Tommy had so much fun "painting" eggs that he threw a bit of a tantrum when we ran out of eggs and dumped out the colors. He had a blast the next morning looking for the eggs and the baskets that the Easter Bunny hid. He needed a bit of help, but he caught onto the idea really quickly. Easter morning was so beautiful. We made a huge breakfast, complete with delicious cinnamon rolls, and shared it with some friends. We ate a ton of food and talked a lot about Jesus, so I would count this Easter as a raging success. We even made it to the Easter Pageant at the Mesa Temple which was a great experience for us this year. Tommy even watched a little bit of it!

And last, but not least, here is my favorite video of all time: Tommy and Daddy washing my dirty floor. Here is the story behind this video: We were outside and Ben was using a rake to do some yard work. Tommy wanted to help so badly, but it was getting close to bedtime and I didn't really want him handling a rake, so we all came inside. Tommy was about to throw a royal tantrum when I asked him if it would make him feel better to help Daddy wash the floor. He nodded his head, so Ben and Tommy got down on all fours and washed my floor. Then Tommy kept slipping so I took him upstairs, where he threw another fit until I promised he could help me do more housework. What an amazing little boy! I've got to put him to work more often:)

Lighting Ben on Fire

Before we got married (back in July 2008), Ben had a Bachelor Party, like many men do. Unlike many men, however, there were no immodest women and no alcohol at this party. It was tradition in his group of friends to watch a dumb movie (the dumber, the better), to eat lots of food, and to drink lots of rootbeer. It was also tradition for the bride-to-be to crash the party and do something silly in front of all the guys. As a graduate student in chemistry, I knew my performance had to involve fire. I found this video and thought I would finally post it on our blog. I'm so grateful that Ben still married me:)

Gentle, Loving, Energetic, and Sometimes Violent

Those are some adjectives that I think fit Tommy pretty well. He is so sweet most of the time. He loves hugs and tickles. He loves to pet Wrinkles and tuck him into bed. He loves to see babies at church and at the store. I have often heard Tommy described as "big, but gentle."

On the other hand, he has a ton of energy and he often goes a little crazy between dinner and bedtime. Ben does a great job wrestling with Tommy or taking him in the backyard to run around and play. Our boy loves the park more than anything and would probably live there if he could.

I made a little video comprised of four different clips of Tommy to illustrate this dual nature. He is such a fun little boy and we love him so much.

Tommy is also very organized. He loves to line things up straight. Here is a video of him helping me organize my pantry.

Our San Diego Getaway (and how we can never seem to get away from trouble)

Last weekend we gratefully left town to spend some quality time with the beach. All we really wanted was time together as a family relaxing and playing together. As you can see by the millions of pictures we took, we had an amazing time. We drove into San Diego at about 2:30 pm, checked into our hotel, and headed out for the ocean. We played in the water and the sand until until the sun went down, spending about 3 1/2 hours total at the beach. Our family has been under a lot of stress and pressure this past month so it was amazing to be able to sit, relax, have fun, laugh, and get a little bit dirty. One day when Ben makes it big we dream of actually living in San Diego paradise. We can always dream big, right?

Tommy and Daddy played a lot of ball ball, of course. That little boy has a pretty amazing throw. Tommy loved being able to run around and have lots of freedom while he played in the sand. He was covered from head to toe in sandy goodness by the time we left. I am happy to report this year that Tommy's swimsuit doesn't reach all the way down to his ankles:)

Tommy was a little bit afraid of the water this time around. I think it was because it was a bit chilly on his little toes when we first dipped our feet in. We played Ocean Tag with him, which he loved. The rules are that you run into the waves as they break, touch the water, and then run away as fast as you can so the water doesn't "tag" you again. Hauling 35 pounds of Tommy made it difficult to outrun the water, but it was fun anyway. That game wore Ben and I right out while Tommy begged for more.

After we watched the sun set we headed back to our hotel, intending to return for another glorious beach day the following day. This didn't actually happen, unfortunately. We woke up Saturday morning with high hopes of eating breakfast quickly and getting back to our sandy paradise as early as possible. Ben left to get McDonald's for breakfast. He returned to the hotel without breakfast and without our car. Awesome. At this point we didn't know what to do. The front desk hooked us up with a mechanic and a tow company. Our car always seems to die on us on roadtrips. Next time we are renting a car!

Ben has an old roommate (Jake) that lives with his family in San Diego so we gave him a call to see if he could help us. Bless his heart, he dropped everything, drove 40 minutes to pick us up at the hotel, drove us back to his house, and gave us a place to stay that night. He and his wife, Michelle, were so good to us. They have a daughter, Lizzie, who is just a few months older than Tommy, who loved having a little playmate around. The kids played, the adults chatted, we got to listen to Conference. Once the kids were in bed that night the four of us adults went out and lounged in their luxurious hot tub and ate ice cream. It was amazing. We got up early the next morning and drove back to Phoenix without any more trouble from the car. What a miracle.

This is Lizzie and Tommy playing at the park together. Look at those blond little heads!

Even though the trip didn't go exactly as we had planned it, we still had a great time. We are so blessed to have such amazing friends who are willing to drop everything to lend a helping hand. We were able to relax and enjoy our time together, which is really what we were after. And what a blessing that we were able to get our car back quickly and that it ran (and still runs) perfectly fine. We hope we can return to San Diego soon!