4th of July!

This year we celebrated the Fourth of July a little different. Instead of the usual barbecue fare and John setting off illegal fireworks and almost blowing up the neighborhood (not really, it just feels like that to a girl from NJ), we went fishing in Crouch, ID. It was so much fun! It was a beautiful day, we packed a yummy pinic lunch, Adam threw up (maybe not so much fun), Adam caught his first fish, Logan lived up to his nickname "loganthor" and swam in the cold creek, we went on a beautiful nature walk, had story time and nap time, roasted marshmallows and almost wasn't let out of town because of the "famous" annual Crouch 4th parade! Aaron told a white lie to get a police escort out and all was well       .  Telling the officer we have a child with a  high fever isn't a total lie when one child has been throwing up all day right? I think having Logan passed out helped convince him too. Excitement aside, it was a great day. We got home and put the boys to bed. Before we went to bed ourselves, we were able to catch the rest of the Caldwell City fireworks show from our very own backyard. 

Summer

     Where has the summer gone?  In the beginning summer always feels like it can sprawl on forever, and then that last week hits.  This summer has been yet another blur, but it was packed with lots of fun!  The boys have become best buddies and it is so fun to watch them play and interact together.  

     Adam is a great big brother (most of the time) and he will be starting his second year of preschool this year.  I signed him up for soccer over the summer to see if it would pique his interest.  He liked it for 2 1/2 practices and then he let us know he wasn't quite ready yet :).  I signed him up for piano lessons as well that will start in September, so we will see how that goes.  Over the summer we started giving Adam an allowance for his chores and he has been diligent (with just a few reminders) in making sure he gets them done throughout the week.  After our family home evening lesson about tithing he asked every Sunday if it was time to pay tithing.  The night before Fast Sunday I helped him get his tithing ready and we placed it on his nightstand so he wouldn't forget to take it to church.  It was so cute how he carefully tucked it into his scripture bag and I loved the sweet expression on his face when he walked up and handed his very own tithing to the bishop.  It was a neat moment, I was really proud of him.  Lastly, Adam has been really interested in sea creatures.  It's been a lot of fun borrowing books from the library and learning about a new sea creature every night with him.

     Logan is 3 months and a week away from turning 2!  I'm a little sad that he's not a baby anymore, but I absolutely love this age and I don't miss the sleepless nights.  Logan's little personality has really come out over the summer and it's been so fun learning his likes/dislikes and interests.  He is all boy and he loves his "Kucks" (trucks).  Logan's favorite truck is of course John's truck.  Anytime he sees Cindy, or John, or if we're over at their house he wants to know if he can ride in "Buddy's Kuck".  John has given him a ride the past couple of Sundays, so the first thing Logan asks for when we tell him it's Sunday is "Buddy's Kuck".  When we go over to John and Cindy's Logan will pester John and pull on his hand the whole time until Buddy gives in and takes him for a ride.  He also loves "choo-choos", airplanes, and "copters".  He loves riding his little bike and loves to play "bak-e-ball" (basketball).  He also enjoys reading about his favorite vehicles and will finally sit through an entire book if it is about one of these topics.  His vocabulary has exploded this summer and that's been fun as well!   Some of his words are: mease (me + please), yesh (yes + head nod), hotgog (hotdog, which he will eat hot or cold), tirsty (thirsty), ahpple (apple), book, socks, shoes, bike, ouside (outside), esus (Jesus), thank you, teat (treat), etc.  Speaking of treats, Logan has quite a sweet tooth.  He likes pretty much any treat, but his favorite are lollipops.  It is pretty funny to see how excited he gets when he spots one while we're grocery shopping or at Grammie's.  

    I apologize for boring anyone, but I felt like I needed to do a little journal entry so I don't forget all the fun and cute things that happened this summer :).

 Adam and Logan often like to sit together

 A picture we mailed to my mom

 Logan enjoying a "teat" at Grammie Cindy's

 A princess cake for Emelia over the 4th of July weekend

 Eden and Clay

 Clay's famous 4th of July popcorn bowl "hat"

 Logan with my mom at McCall

 Adam playing in the sand

 This was Logan's first beach experience :)

Logan was super buoyant!

 Super toddler!

 Silly boys trying to move the rock

 Adam and my mom at the Boise Zoo

 Adam and Logan love this Jeep at the Zoo

 Logan after Pioneer day at John's Stake

 Adam in his pioneer outfit

 Adam at soccer practice

 The sign we made for Daddy after he got his Private Helicopter License!

 Adam and my Mom

 Riding a rocket at the Canyon County Fair

 Boys and their cars :)

Adam and Logan wearing the ties my Mom got them.  Aren't they handsome?

March and April 2012

Well I have been absolutely terrible at taking pictures!  I just realized while doing this post that I took maybe  7 pictures max in March!  We don't have any pictures of my birthday and we only have two from Jean and Clay's joint birthday.  I did a little better in April, but I missed taking pictures at all 3 Easter Egg hunts.  Oh well, no point in beating myself up about it.  I'll just have to try harder from here on.  Well, since I've done such a poor job blogging in pictures I'll document a few things in words.  Adam is almost done with is first year in Preschool.  I think the experience was great in teaching him how to interact with his peers and how to  behave in a classroom.  Since his Preschool is at the YMCA, they have had swim lessons and he has gotten much more comfortable in the water.  Right now his interests are superheroes, drawing, telling stories, using his big boy scissors to cut paper or help me cut a tag etc., reading, climbing, jumping, running, wrestling, and camping.  His favorite color is green, favorite food is strawberries, and boy does he have an imagination!  Logan will be 17 months in May and he is 100% boy.  He loves the outdoors (he would stay outside all day if I let him), loves anything with wheels, loves Elmo, loves the shoes he picked out, loves the one corner of his blanket with the tag (he's just about worn it out), loves to push things around (chairs, vacuums, boxes, laundry baskets, cars, etc), loves to wrestle, loves to brush his teeth, and has a major sweet tooth.  He is constantly moving and doing something.  If you catch him right when he wakes up or when he's really sleepy he will sit and cuddle with you.  He's finally starting to talk more and it's been fun teaching him new words (head, hot, hat, dog, car, truck, duck, tick-tock, all done, tree, go, etc.).  My favorite is when he will sign thank you unprompted.  I love these two boys and I love watching them play together.  They are a handful, but I can't imagine life without them.

 Savoring a chocolate filled cookie at Grammie Jeanie and Grandpa Clay's B-day Party

 Celebrating Clay and Jean's Birthday

 Adam opening his jelly beans

 Logan enjoying his Easter candy

 I don't know why he's sticking out his lip, must have been mid-chew

 Logan wanted to sit on Adam's lap

 Love this smile

And... switch

February 2012

In February, Aaron had a birthday on the 12th and turned 31 and Adam turned 4 on the 26th.  We also went to the Boise Zoo and the boys loved it!  Logan is learning the animal sounds, so it was fun to see him recognize the animals and make their sounds.

 Adam being silly

 The boys watching a show together

 Gotta love lollipops (I was able to get all of dinner cleaned up before they finished)

 Adam opening his birthday presents

 Mommy and Adam 

 We made a superhero mask out of the streamers

 Adam asked for a red cake like Grammie Cindy's and strawberry frosting

 Flying streamers and balloons!

 What goes up must come down

 Adam and Daddy at the Zoo

Logan wanting to get out of the stroller

Snowball Fight

January 2012

In January Aaron and I had our 5th wedding anniversary!  I can't believe it's been 5 years already!  This year John and Cindy gave us a trip to Twin Falls for the weekend.  We were going to go to the Temple, but unfortunately the weekend we booked the hotel the Temple was closed!  Oh well, it was still a great anniversary weekend!  Thanks John and Cindy!

 This view was breathtaking!

 The Falls + Rainbow!

 The happy couple :)

 The museum at CSI where Aaron went for his freshman year

 He photographed arrowheads for his Professor during his freshman year

 Going on a little hike and enjoying the beautiful day

 The Temple

 Adam loves snow!

 Logan was a little undecided

 Giving the monkey a ride

Our snowman (he is small, because that's all I could manage with two little guys)