Happy Big 3-0 Boys!

A couple of weeks ago our friend Jared hit the big 3-0 Birthday and it will be Tim's turn next weekend. So, to celebrate, Nicole and I decided to get tickets to the Suns vs. Cavaliers basketball game for the boys' presents. First, we met up in Phoenix and headed across the street to the Diamondbacks baseball stadium where you can eat at a TGIFridays that overlooks the field.

Pretty good view if you ask me. Of course, now the guys want to come back and sit there during baseball season.

Nicole and her Birthday boy.

Me with mine.

The guys enjoying a little pre-game competition of their own.

Both Tim and Jared were pretty excited to get to watch Shaq and LeBraun James play. Here is Shaq at the line.

That's Shaq walking off the court after getting three fouls in the first half. You kind of had to feel bad for the guy with the calls he was getting. He's so big, it seemed that if anyone even bumped into him and fell down they called it against him. Unfortunately, Shaq fouling out both halves definitely hurt the Suns, and they ended up losing. It was still a pretty close and exciting game, though.

LeBraun at the freethrow line.

LeBraun and Grant Hill.

It's too bad this shot is so far away. Steve Nash has the ball, and he was probably my favorite to watch in the game.

Shaq getting in some halftime shots.

Mmmmmm... yummy cotton candy!

And ice cream. Tim's gonna love me for this shot! ;-)

Jared looks like he's enjoying himself!

Happy Birthday Jared! Thanks Nicole for planning this with me. We had a blast!

Happy early Birthday Tim! I love you and am happy to get to celebrate your 30th Birthday with you! I can't wait to see what the next 30 years will bring. :-)

Snow Trip

One of the benefits of living in a town that so adores its rodeo that all children get a few days off of school in its honor, is the opportunity to take a random family getaway in February. This is exactly what we did the last week of February. Right after our baby's anatomy ultrasound, we headed to uncharted territory for our fam - Flagstaff, AZ. WARNING: total picture overload ahead! Your welcome grandparents. :-)

After 4 plus hours in the car, the boys were pretty happy to get to the hotel!

Our little, but growing, family.

Really, who can resist jumping on hotel beds? Not these two.

Snuggling in to watch a movie before bed is always fun too.

All prepared for our snow day. Tyler's such a little guy, that we got away with squeezing his almost three-year-old body into these 18 month old snow bibs. He didn't seem to mind.

Ahh, finally in the snow!

And loving it!

First order of business - make a snowman, of course! The snow wasn't fresh enough to really roll any huge snowballs for a big snowman, but we managed and made our mini-snowman.

Daddy helping to prep some snowballs for a snowball fight.

A close-up of our newly created friend.

The fam on the slopes.

I was sad that with baby on board I'd have to sit out the skiing part of the day this year, but Tim bravely volunteered to be Jay's first ski instructor. Here they are getting their gear on.

This was my buddy for the afternoon, and he was quite content just hanging out and playing with Daddy's ski poles.

The scenery.

A blurry Tim with Jayden next to him on the ski lift. Jayden had a great time skiing and didn't do too badly for his first time. He managed to learn to "snowplow", to stop himself, and kept getting up after several spills. He's excited to take real lessons next year.

Tyler loved trying to make snow angels. (Not quite so easy in hard icy snow.)

And what trip would be complete without a bunch of snacks in the car. Not to mention that the portable DVD player was very much appreciated - by the boys and mom and dad! What a fun little trip we had!

Proud Primary Day

Today was Jayden's first time giving a talk in primary, which is the kid's church class at our church. He was assigned to speak about the important roles of family members. Jay was very excited for today and worked hard yesterday to come up with ideas for his talk. He included what each person in our family does - i.e. Jayden makes his bed to help Mommy, Daddy works and helps him pray, and Mommy teaches him things and makes healthy food - he was intent on including the healthy bit, so I better live up to that. :-) He also mentioned his version of what Colossians 3 teaches, and he definitely wanted to include a baseball analogy too. He practiced hard all day yesterday to memorize it. Granted when he got in front of the class today, he got a bit of the stage fright he's inherited from mom and dad and needed some coaching, but he stayed up there and delivered the entire talk he prepared. We were so proud. What a big guy!

Our boys before church. (Mom wasn't bright enough to not make them face the sun, so Jayden's eyes are watering and Tyler can't even look up.)

Brothers relaxing after church.

Here's our big guy.