Island Park, Idaho

In July, My sister drove from Washington, my parents drove from Utah, and we drove from Colorado all to meet up in Island Park, Idaho. We really missed having my brother and family there who live in Kansas. We had a great time letting the kids play, eating good food, seeing yellowstone, hiking, and just spending time together. I am really glad that we could enjoy the time we had as a family. We stayed in a cabin in Island Park, and enjoyed the beautiful surroundings.

Kid Stories

Daniel

A few nights ago after putting the kids to bed, I heard a knock on the kids door.  I opened It to find Daniel standing there.  I asked him what he needed. He said “ I am not tired, I have zero sleep Mom”.  I let him get up and color pictures while I sewed. 

Last weekend was general conference.  Daniel has always looked forward for conference.  He was excited because this year, the holiday of general conference was on the same day as Easter, which meant there were two holidays in one day!! For a few years, I have prepared little prizes/activities/snacks for each of the 12 apostles and first presidency as they speak.  Daniel really looks forward to these things.  I think that if I ever neglected to do that, he would be REALLY upset!  This year on Saturday morning, Daniel wanted to decorate for conference. I told him that I didn’t have any decorations, and I asked him what he wanted to put up.  He said a picture of President Monson.  Well, we didn’t have one, so we found one online, he colored it and we put it up right above the TV in our family room.  He also colored a picture of President Eyring and a picture of the first presidency.  He was very happy that we finally had decorations to hang up.  

Daniel has loved preschool this year.  He has learned  a lot, and I am so grateful for his teacher and the many things that she has taught him.  He starts kindergarten in the fall, and he is really excited for that too.  I am excited for him, although I am a little nervous to send him to school.

Daniel still loves to play with cars. He often has a car in his hand vrooming it around.  He also loves to play pretend.  There are many times when he is a crab, a bird, a dog, a police man, a superhero, or something else.  I am glad that he has such a fantastic imagination.

Daniel does such a good job at playing with Luke.  There isn’t much better than watching them play roar together, or Daniel getting luke to laugh. I love that!

Joshua

Josh’s favorite toy is his 25 foot red extension cord. A few nights ago, he had it plugged in in the bathroom on the main floor, it went through the kitchen, connected to another extension cord, went up the stairs to another extension cord, and then to a radio that was plugged in in his bedroom.

Today I found his red extension cord plugged in in my room, coming out, down the stairs, (with lots of cords on the stairs), and in the family room.  He LOVES his cords. He even has his own cord box to keep them all in because there are SO many!

One of his favorite things to do is to play power. Pretty much that means to plug things in and get things to light up.  He and Daniel often do this together. there are always cords everywhere in our house.  He is pretty good at cleaning them up because I tell him if I have to clean them up, then I will put them up high so that he can’t reach them or play with them anymore. 

Josh is incredibly independent. He doesn’t usually want help. He is a pretty stubborn, strong-willed 3 year old.  I am learning how to handle this personality because it is so much like me.

Luke

Luke took his first step a few nights ago.  He will now take 1 or 2 steps if I set him up just right. He will stand for several seconds at a time, but I think  he would rather crawl.  He crawls because it is faster and easier. 

Luke loves to play chase with anyone.  We like to play around our white chair.  He will follow, and then he waits for you to scare him. It is also fun to hide behind a corner, wait for him to come around and startle him.  Every time he laughs and smiles really big. He is such a happy kid.

Luke loves to play outside. He enjoys crawling through the dirt and grass.  I will be grateful when he walks so his pants stay a little cleaner. He also enjoys playing in the rocks in our backyard. He recently started climbing up the ladder on the playset in the backyard.  That is a little scary.  He loves going down backward on the slide. 

Luke has been a picky eater for a long time.  He still is, but I recently figured out something to help him: a fork.  He has always loved holding a fork and dinner and playing with it, but he has figured out how to stab food and eat it.  He has figured out how to feed himself off of the fork.  And now he will eat better! Hurray!

Luke has a little red car that he likes to push around the house.  He crawls and pushes. He is pretty fast.  He also has a pretty good arm.  He likes to play catch/push the ball.  It is so fun to play with him.  He has the greatest laugh, and it always makes me smile to hear him giggle.

Mom Visit

My mom was able to come out to visit for a few days to help out. It was sure fun to see her, the boys loved having grandma here!

Daniel helping Luke to walk

Grandma and Joshy making muffins together

checking out the drill

can't have a grandma visit without books!! (I think half of her time here was spent on the couch reading books to my boys)

Daniel and Josh truly get a long so well. I am blessed to have such great kids.

I think grandma is hiding candy in her hands and they all want it

February

These pictures are from back in February...

nothing better than popcorn and a teepee

the kids got fun dips for valentines day, Luke wouldn't leave Daniel alone because he kept wanting more and more tastes!

Easter and Conference Weekend

The kids loved dying easter eggs, I think they were more excited to eat them though

This is what Luke did while we did eggs...crawled and smiled

This is the kids watching veggie tales on their pretend TV.  they found an old dvd player and with their great imaginations used it to watch their show in between conference sessions

The best activity we had during conference was cool scissor, paper, and tape.  The boys were entertained with that for almost an hour.

Here are the collages that they made all by themselves.

We have been trying to fix the Hot Tub, and in the process we have filled it and emptied it a few times.  Saturday during the priesthood session, the boys found all of the mud from the emptying of the hot tub.

all three of them had a BLAST!!

They don't all sit together very often or for very long

Luke's 1 Year Pictures

I took Luke's One Year Pictures last week. I had a hard time getting him to stay so I could take a picture, but we had a bit of success.He is such handsome boy, we love him to death, and I am so happy to have him in our family!!