Family Pictures 2012

We finally got some pictures taken!!! YAY, what an accomplishment!  Mallory now will not wonder why she isn't on the wall.  I find it hard to believe that my kids are as old as they are.  There isn't anything better than being a mom!  How lucky I am to have my arms full of them!  It just makes sense that God's plan is a plan of Happiness -- because I am so happy and so grateful for that chance!

 These boys are best friends!  One day J who is older turned to E who is younger and said "boy you have a really big head." They are so close in every aspect especially weight and head circumference.

 This little girl LOVES her "Da da".  And He is a pretty big sucker for her!

The funny thing about this picture is that Mallory is often "in charge".  So it is just fitting that she'd be the one driving the tractor. 

Lone Ranger is in the HOUSE!

 What a happy day we had!  Ethan turned three and Mallory turned one all on the same day!  Ok, not really.  They were born two days apart but for the sake of their mother we had a combined birthday party.  Ethan has been talking about his birthday party since John's last birthday last summer.  He was so excited that his birthday in March had finally come.  For a while he wanted to have a 'Cars' themed birthday party but about a month before his birthday he was introduced to 'The Lone Ranger'.  If you aren't familiar it is an old black and white cowboy television show.  Johnny and Ethan LOVE it and will sit there and watch it all day - if I let them of course:).  So Ethan decided he wanted have a 'Lone Ranger' birthday he also kept telling everyone that Lone Ranger was really going to come.  Yikes -- that is a hard one to pull off.  It is a good thing that we live next door to someone who had a Lone Ranger costume.  Grandma Pearson saved the day along with Kevin.  Lone Ranger did come and look at Ethan's face.  He was SHOCKED.  (Like his Mom wouldn't pull through..right)  It was so fun to see his excitement.  Uncle Kevin did such a great job being Lone Ranger.  The best part is that Johnny for the longest time told me that he wanted to be the little ranger.  So we bought him some guns, a holister, and a mask, and of course Grandma Pearson had a little lone ranger costume as well.  John LOVED being in disguise and "tricking" everyone. It was so fun to see him so excited about making Ethan's wish come true.

Look at Ethan's face!  I loved it!  John is holding up two fingers to help show that there are really TWO lone rangers! 

Mallory's Dresses

I love Mallory - she is such a happy go lucky kind of girl. She has just started crawling really well to explore the house. Doing things like opening and shutting cupboards, pulling herself up to the couch, getting in the garbage. When she first started figuring out the moving the knees plus the hands she looked like a new calf learning to walk. Grandma Pearson called it a robot crawl. It was pretty cute, but sadly she has gotten better at it and it is lots more smooth. I just can't believe how big she is getting. To say that is happening way to fast is cliche but...REALLY...its happening way to fast. Why must they grow up -- oh yea, the Plan of Salvation. Oh, well at least she will be my girl for Forever. This picture is of her first Sunday out for Church. My super awesome sister, Tennille got her both of these dresses and I was so excited when she gave them to me. I loved the purple one soo much!

Now she is big -- has hair -- and is crawling. I am still learning how to do her "in between" hair. Any tips would be helpful! Look how cute she is even if her hair is weird! LOVE THIS GIRL!!!

A very merry Christmas 2011

 We had such a wonderful Christmas this year.  We were able to be with lots of family and everyone was in good health.  We had an early Christmas celebration with the Pearson side of the family where we went to Salt Lake to the Spaghetti Factory and saw the lights on Temple Square.  It was VERY adventures which turned out to be a lot of fun even though it was super cold.  The lights were as magical as ever.  The boys loved seeing the big statue of Jesus and talked about it for a few days after.   I don't know why we don't go there more since we live so close.  I love Temple Square.  It has such a wonderful spirit and such great memories.  The boys and Mal did really well for how cold it was too.  There were TONS of people there and lucky enough for us we had enough adults to keep track of all the little ones. 

 Rog is a sucker for this little girl.  Its super fun to watch!  Our next adventure was Christmas at my parents house which was so fun!  John and Ethan were the life of the party seeing that they were the only kids there.  It was so fun to spend Christmas with them.  The next day we left early for San Diego to visit my sister and her family for a week.  The kids did fantastic on the drive.  It was such a fun trip for our family.  Mostly because everyone slept so well, the kids even did great.  John and Ethan were so excited to see their cool cousins (they are cool cause we get all of their cool hand me down clothes).  They were so fun to watch play.  They were outside playing almost all day and the weather was beautiful.  I couldn't believe how beautiful San Diego was.  I felt like it was the garden of Eden.  I would be tempted to move there if we could buy land with out it costing a hand, leg, foot, finger, elbow and knee.  Oh, and Rog likes his job..... anyway it was beautiful.   We went to the ocean, Balboa Park, the Temple, and tried to go swimming.  We played games, did puzzles, had our first experience at Trader Joes, ate good food, and watched lots of sports.  Thank you ESPN.  It was oh so fun.  We loaded up the car and left Sunday morning to make the drive back to Utah.  I guess I should add the fact that we took Rog's natural gas car which is a five seater.  It was a tight squeeze but somehow we managed to bring back 70 canning bottles from my sisters house.  LUCKY...ya I know.  It was so fun and will be a trip we remember for a while.  Now we feel like we can do anything.....watch out work the Pearson family is on its way with our Chevy caviler! 

 My sister has a "heated" community pool in her neighborhood.  So of course us BRAVE Utahns thought it was still ok to go swimming because it was like 75 degrees outside.  Well Rog being the fish he is grabbed the boys hands and they all ran together and jumped into the pool BEFORE checking the water temperature.  Good story with a bad ending....it was freezing.  Even Rog (who thinks nothing is cold) said it was the coldest pool ever even coolder than a mountain lake.  The boys did not have a good time jumping in.  Good thing for us there was a hot tub close by so we got them warmed back up again quickly.  Mallory didn't get to do much swimming but doesn't she look cute!  I love her swim suit soooo much. 

 The temple was very cool as well.  It was a night that was so foggy.  It wasn't raining at all...the dots that you see on the camera was humidity.  Crazy huh.  There were a few statues of Joseph, Mary, and baby Jesus that we were able to see.  We talked with some missionaries too. It was fun and again it was beautifully dressed up (can you dress up a temple) with Christmas lights. Palm trees are amazing with lights on them.  Early that week Roger and I were able to go with my sister and her husband to do some sealings.  It was so much fun!  We got to go to the Celestial Room afterward and Roger and I couldn't believe how beautiful it was.  It was amazing.  Roger summed it up with "When I think of heaven...this is what I picture it looking like". 

 Below is the only picture I took at Trader Joes.  Did you know brussel sprouts grow on a stalk.  I didn't.  It was a cool little store.  We were on the look out for the monkey and finally found it after I cheated and asked someone where it was. So we got a prize.  LUCKY

 Balboa Park was pretty cool.  It was a lot of walking, only because we got lost.  But they had lots of cool buildings, a cool park, and a trolly ride.  It was pretty good for free!

 They had lots of cool museums that weren't free though. But the outside displays were enough for the boys.  How you like to ride in that thing....not I said the hen.

 Can you see John....he is hugging a palm tree.  oh California.

 THE BEACH WAS SO FUN!  We wished we would have gone there more.  The boys loved it.  We ran and ran and ran.  We saw three dolphins, lots of surfers, and sea shells.  It was beautiful!

 Happy New Years!  My sister hosted a fun party.  The kids loved their party gear and made sure to save them....for future evens which you'll see later.  And no they didn't stay up this twelve....remember I am their mother.

 HAHA.... Isn't this funny.  John loved his party hat....and on our way back he spilled water all over him.  So the result is a naked ( he really had undies on though) party animal.  I wished I could have been the passengers on the other side.  What a good laugh that was.  We had enough electronics to save the day.  But they couldn't use it unless Mal was sleeping cause she would get to board since they wouldn't play with her. 

 Mall did really well.  Probably because she got her binki a lot of the time.  Normally she only gets it in bed, and now she doesn't have it at all.  It saved the day for us for sure!

It was a fun trip.  We got home with a day left of our vacation to recover before real life began.  That was probably the best part.  We didn't have to hurry at all!  Rog drove the whole way...isn't he the man!  And I managed the snacks, I am really good at that!

In the mind of a four year old

It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that I don't mind eating baby food. I love the texture and taste especially of oatmeal. So usually when I am feeding Mallory and she doesn't eat it all I finish it up. I didn't realize that Johnny who has been watching me had come to his one conclusion why I would do such a thing. Below is our conversation. Let me set the stage a bit. Roger is feeding Mallory some applesauce. It is just a jar of natural applesauce that I always buy, nothing too special. The boys want some too so Roger gets them some and eats some in a bowl as well. This is when the conversation started. John - "Dad, why are you eating baby food? Only moms eat baby food". Roger just laughed because he thinks its funny that I eat Mallory's left overs as well. Me - " Why do only moms eat baby food Johnny?" John - "They eat it so they can grow babies in their tummy." It makes sense right? He is so smart!

Falling into Fall

We had such a fun summer and have loved every minute of it! Fall has been wonderful though. There is something about fall time that just seems so great! Its the smell of colder mornings, leaves changing on the mountain, school starting, football and little league soccer, picking our harvest, preparing for winter, and bundling up and watching General Conference. We have had a pretty good start to the fall and its been the busiest one yet! Johnny started school which he loves. He can't wait to go each time! He also played soccer. He LOVED it, of course. Roger was able to coach his team which made it all that much better. It seems as though he is growing up so fast and leaning things quickly too. Ethan isn't far behind him! Watching John play soccer with Dad on the field wasn't Ethan's favorite. He was so sad each game when I told him he couldn't play. Truth is though I am sure that he would be as good as some of the other kids out there. It was a struggle for him. All in good time though for sure! Ethan is now a big boy -- (not wearing diapers) and is amazing Roger and I with it. He hasn't wet his bed once which is completely opposite from John. It has been fun to watch him feel so much bigger when he puts on his new big boy undies. Not to mention that it is super cute! Mallory is just getting smarter everyday too! She is in the suction cup hands stage and can reach anything. I am convinced she has magical power to pull the objects closer to her because she doesn't even roll over yet. She is experiencing her first ear infections as we speak and is still rather pleasant compared to our other experiences with ear infections in babies. She just keeps getting more and more fun each day!  WE LOVE FALL TIME!!  

First Day of School

John's Soccer Team

Growing Bigger ---TOOO FAST!!

LOVE THIS GIRL!  Eating baby food now - might be allergic to rice??

I just couldn't resist -- She is so patient as well, I couldn't ask for a better baby!

First ride on the mower.  Roger pulls John and Ethan around in the trailer when he mows the lawn.  They sit there for a good chunk of the time .  There definitely is a magic between boys and trailers and tractors.

You can't say Fall without BYU Football right?  One game for me.... lots for Rog!

After General Conference on Saturday we went for a hike -- I had good intentions but we just ended up in our backyard.  We had a super great time together though.  It was so magical .  The sun was just right, the leaves were crunchy, and it smelt amazing!

The boys loved playing on the secret rope swing, throwing rocks, and they were brave enough to walk across the water without any help a few times.  I wouldn't' do it cause its so cold!

And then Ethan fell in the water....poor guy needed some extra love.

OH, the harvest!  Boy have we had a fun year of harvest.  We got lots of apples and pears from some neighbors down the road so we made lots of yummy stuff.  We also have a BA-GILLION (that means a lot) of tomatoes, peppers, jalapenos.  We have had fun trying to master uncle Ken's salsa.  Sometimes I feel like a little squirrel running around looking for acorns.  Harvest, harvest, harvest!

Rog making a big ole pot of salsa.  7 quarts and 52 pints.  Some would say he is addicted!

Can't forge the hay wall.  Like I said harvest, harvest, harvest!