3 years already?

 Matthew turned 3 on Monday! Where has the time gone? He brings so much joy to our family! He is growing up so fast, I just want to soak in every moment! I am so thankful he is a part of our family! I just love this little boy so much!

                                                                        1 weeks old

1 Year !

 2 years!

3 years!

Here are some things I want to remember about Matthew at 3!

* He loves Mickey Mouse

* He will only go to sleep if he has his dream light and his boo (and usually ends up talking Charlie into letting him get in bed with him)

*He loves to eat! Pizza,yogurt,grapes green beans, raviolis and candy are his favorites!

* He says "thank you" for everything! (so sweet)

* He wants to do everything Charlie does!

* He loves to sing, especially in nursery! 

* He says the sweetest prayers

* When he talks about C.J. he refers to him "dinker" (stinker) not Uncle C.J.

* His new favorite question  is "Why is it called..."

* If he doesn't get what he wants... you had better watch out!

* He tells us all he loves us numerous times a day! 

Traditions (A Glimpse of Heaven)

We got back last week from our three week trip to Texas!

More pictures to come later but...

this was one of the highlights of the trip for me,

watching Matthew help Grandpa Magic make his famous homemade raviolis!

He (Matthew) was so patient, he watched, he waited and then he did exactly what he was supposed to!

Grandpa was a patient too and a good teacher

He "helped" for a good 45 min..a long time for a 2 year

(I can only say 2 year old for a few more days but I'll do it ever day til' then thank you very much) 

We threw Matthew's in the boiling water right away and ate them with butter and fresh grated ramano cheese. 

We ate Dad's Christmas Eve with his homemade pasta sauce!

I've always said it's a little taste of Heaven....and this Christmas I saw a little glimpse of it too! 

We spent the summer growing!

 I can't believe that summer is over, even if it doesn't feel like it here! I don't have many pictures to show for our summer and quite frankly I've felt a little guilty that we didn't do much. But, the more I thought about it I realized even though we didn't go and do a whole lot it's still was a big summer in our house, lots of milestones!

 Matthew has gotten HUGE this summer, he has...

* Is REALLY talking, like having conversations and making jokes kind of talking!

* Started sleeping in a big boy bed!

*LOVES nursery

* Finds the letter "M" everywhere we go, on billboards, semi-trucks,lotion bottles, ect. and says "Look, it my letter"

* Last but not least.... he is POTTY TRAINED!!! He still wears a diaper to bed, but I'll take it! 

 Char Bear has grown up so much too! He is really a kid now, not a baby, not a toddler. It's kind of sad! 

This summer he 

*Learned how to swim and is a total fish swimming all over the pool with no fear! 

*Started sleeping all night, every night in his own bed. Sometimes he talks his brother to come into his bed with him. 

* Can make his own peanut butter sandwich!

* He can write his own name, and can add simple numbers. 

* Has become quite the little artist! 

So happy that I am these sweet boy's Mama! I just love them so much! 

The Whole Fam Damily

We waited all summer and it finally happened. My whole family was together for the first time in 3 years!!! It was WONDERFUL! The boys and I headed to Sac. and stayed with everyone that night, we woke up and went to Gold Nugget Days  in old town and then headed to Kyle and Nicole's wedding. Mom, Dad and Brian went to the temple while the rest of us headed to a local park to help Jesse and Nick cook dinner for the wedding party, family and friends. It was crazy, but Jesse did a great job. Most of the pictures are just from Old Town. Mitch, Rochelle and Brooklyn came to Chico too. It was a wonderful added bonus to an already great day. Oh, and Josh came down a few times while Brian was here. He's just like family so it was great to have him here too! 

 Dad with his flask of orange soda! 

 Char at the Mormon Battalion booth and Matty covering his ears during the gun fight. 

 We always have to hit up Morning Thunder when we are together

 Don't be fool by his face, he really LOVE Uncle Mitch! 

 Most beautiful ladies EVER! 

Mimi is everyone's favorite!

Uncle

I was looking through pictures last night and couldn't believe that I forgot to post about my family's trip to Chico! Well, here is the first part (and the main reason for the trip)! Brian returned about from his two year mission in Mendoza Argentina, in August! I was giddy with excitement driving to Sacramento to go get them. He spent a little longer here than everyone else and it was so nice to have him all to ourselves  It's nice to be able to call him on the phone and chat or Skype whenever I want. It was wonderful to hear all of the stories of his two years of service and see the love he had for the people of Argentina. I sure do love him. I hope one day I can be like him.

This picture was taken the last time we saw him before he left on his mission. 

This picture was taken the day we met them in Sacramento. The boys are wearing their Boco Soccer shirts he got them from Argentina! 

Preschool

My big boy started preschool on Thursday, he was so excited. On our way there he made sure that I was going to LEAVE him there and not stay with him. I walked him in, kissed him on the cheek and he hurried off to play with the giant bucket of dinosaurs. I only got a tear in my eye when he came home with a special award for "being so helpful"!
I think I love it as much as he does. I worked at his preschool before I was even pregnant with him and always knew that Chico Country Day is where my kids would go, even though I taught at other great preschool. This one his the best. His teachers are the best! So thankful that he can be apart of that wonderful program.
He's also already decided who the cutest girl in his class his. Apparently she smiled at him when he told her there were bugs in the sandbox. Ha! I love this kid!

I Love to See the Temple!

Last weekend we headed to Sacramento for a ward family temple trip! It was wonderful to be able to go the temple TOGETHER. A sweet young woman in our ward took some pictures while we we there!

I love, love, love this picture!

When we went to Reno last month we walked around the Reno temple, after we got in the car Matthew cried for a good half an hour because he couldn't go in. He kept saying "like I sing I going there someday, I go IN, I go IN"

Last weekend the temple pres. wife came out and got the children and brought them in the waiting room, talked to them about the temple and showed them a movie. It was the highlight of Matthew's day!