Tried and...

...failed to get a good picture of all three kids together. It was worth it just for these memories, though!


"Nicholas, put your arm around Estella. No..not so tight!"
"Thomas let go of her and scoot over a little bit."
"Not that far Thomas."
"AAAAA!!!"
I want to make it a tradition to take portraits of the kids at the beginning of each school year. I tried this past weekend, but I'm not super happy with them. I think I will try again. I'll post a few of my favorites from this first try soon.

One cute thing that Nicholas has been saying lately that I don't want to forget is, "I want to sit be-next ya." or "Put that cup be-next to me." I love the age of language exploration!

FIRE!!!

Nicholas LOVES starting fires. Ever since we went camping this summer he has been talking about making fires. He frequently gathers little sticks and pretends to build fires with them.

Jackson and I are over the cub scouts at church. For our last pack meeting, among other things, we had a fire in this fire pit and made smores. Jackson's dad made this pit years ago out of an old washing machine drum. It works great! The only thing I would change about it is to have it a bit lower to the ground, so you could see into it while you were sitting down. We haven't returned it to Jackson's dad yet. Every night Nicholas asks to start a fire. He gets so excited. I am a bit worried what this fascination of fire will hold for us in the future. Hopefully we can teach him the power and danger of fire and how to be responsible with it.

How much is Thomas' old drawing worth?

It is worth 3 dollars to Nicholas. This is an old drawing...as you can see by the sun faded corner. Nicholas found it last night and started admiring it. Thomas noticed him, and an old forgotten piece of paper instantly became VERY valuable to him. Soon, both boys were screaming hysterically. Jackson intervened and a very interesting thing happened. I'm not sure how it came about, but he told Nicholas if he really wanted it, he would have to pay Thomas for it. Nicholas quickly ran off to find his birthday money. Jackson said, "Nicholas, how much will you pay Thomas for it?" "Three dollars." "Are you sure you want to pay three dollars...I would pay one quarter." "Three dollars."

Then Jackson brings Thomas into the bartering. "Thomas will you sell this picture to Thomas for three dollars?" "No...Ten dollars." (I am holding back laughter at this point) Nicholas quickly responds with a firm "Three dollars." Thomas hesitates and then says, "Okay...seven dollars." (Who taught them this?) Nicholas sticks with his "Three dollars." This went on for some time with the deal almost vanishing before Thomas consented to three dollars.

Nicholas is now the proud owner of Thomas's artwork. It has since been turned into an airplane.

Rain, Rain!

Sunday was a cool rainy day. We were so happy for the change in temperature. After church and naps the clouds parted and the sun came out. We decided we would go for a family walk. We figured we might get sprinkled on, but we wanted to go anyway. It was so glorious...bright green leaves and a cool breeze carrying the smell of rain. Then, when we were about a mile away from home, things turned wet. It started with a sprinkle, but quickly turned to a downpour. Jackson was pushing the double stroller with Nicholas and Essie and Thomas was riding his bike. As soon as it started raining, Thomas started riding really fast trying to get home and out of the rain. After a little while he jumped off his bike, looked at me and said, "I give up...I'm SOAKED." It was so funny the way he said it. I still laugh thinking about it. Needless to say, after a mile of walking home in pouring rain we were all soaked. It was so fun, though. Everyone was happy, even Estella. When we got home we decided to keep playing in the rain since we were wet already. Here are a few pictures from that.



The umbrellas quikly went from being protection from the rain to being water toys.

Wikki Sticks

My friend Danelle told be about these great little sticks, and I decided to get them for the boys for their birthdays. They came too late for Nicholas' birthday and when they came I couldn't stand waiting until Thomas's birthday, so we opened them in celebration of their inbetween the birthdays birthday :) We LOVE them! They are just little pieces of yarn covered in some kind of wax. They bend and stay whatever way you mold them. They stick to each other, books, paper, walls, windows...you name it. They are as much fun for me as they are for the boys. They are definitely going in our sacrament quiet bag. Thanks Danelle!!

Messy Essie!

I think these pictures pretty much speak for themselves! What a fun meal for her!




My first time braiding her hair myself. I think braiding a crawling, wiggly, curious baby's hair should be an olympic event...as well as changing the same type of baby's diaper :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NICHOLAS!!!

My sweet Nicholas is three years old! I can't believe it! He is such a fun person to have around. One thing that continues to please me is how inherintly polite Nicholas is. He says thank you and your welcome with pure sincerity. It is so nice.
Nicholas loves to make people laugh. He often makes up silly songs or funny words to share.
Nicholas loves to cuddle. Every morning between 6 and 7 we can count on waking up to a sweet voice saying, "Can I cuddle with you?" It is wonderful to cuddle with this little guy.
Nicholas has a favorite blankie that my mom made for him. He HAS to sleep with it and regularly wants it if he feels sad or gets hurt in some way. It often comes with us in the car and it is usually tough to find it at nap time and bed time. He has the cutest way of holding it up to his face as he sucks his pointer finger.
Nicholas has a great memory. He can sing many songs word for word. My favorite one that he sings begins, "I see my mother kneeling." He sings the first verse so soft and sweet that it melts my heart and then belts out the second verse with loud accents on certain words and it makes me laugh. He is so fun.
Happy third birthday my sweet Nicholas. I love you to bits!!!!!

More Wedding Pictures

I thought I was done putting wedding pictures on here, but I couldn't resist a few more. This is one of my favorites from the whole weekend...I love the expressions!
I really like this picture...I just wish I had focused on his eyes instead of the gate...oh well.
The wedding was in the evening and Jackson's mom got us all hotel rooms so we wouldn't have to travel late into the night. It was so nice. The next morning we played at a park that was close. It was one of the funnest parks I have ever played on.
Thomas and Newell on the seesaw. This was a great, safe seesaw. It was fun for one alone, with two, or three or four. You could sit on the seats, stand like these boys are, or sit/stand on the middle platform. It was very well designed.
This was great! Jackson and I got in it together. We started it spinning and it didn't take long for both of us to be ready for it to stop...the only problem was we couldn't make it stop! I thought we would be stuck on that thing forever. Finally we worked together and got off. We were sick!

Exiting the Temple

Jazzy's mom brought bubbles for everyone to blow as the newlyweds came out of the temple. It was great...it kept the kids occupied and created a fun atmosphere.
Thomas
Clarissa
Aiden
They are married!!!
Brynne carrying the train.

Wedding Pictures

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the wedding. They had a photographer, so I didn't get many pictures of the bride and groom, but I got plenty of the nieces and nephews.

Clarissa LOVES Essie!

Newell looking handsome as usual.
Ethan...the bubble theif :)
Beautiful Brynne

More coming soon.

Jazzy and Edmund's Wedding

This past weekend Jackson's little sister Jazzy was married to Edmund Leemhuis in the Manti Temple. It was SO great to be there with them. I have LOTS of pictures. Here are a couple of our little family.

Flying High

My idol Rebekah Westover posted some pictures like this on her website a few weeks ago. I wanted to try it...They didn't turn out as good as hers, but I still love them. This is one of my boys' favorite games!

Where's my Birthday?

Nicholas's birthday is coming up this weekend. I have a wrapped present to Nicholas from my mom in my closet. Nicholas spied it yesterday and you can imagine the excitement that his discovery brought. After a few minutes of Nicholas saying "When is my birthday?" over and over, with me answering "In seven days." every time, he became thoughtful. He looked up at me and said, "WHERE'S my birthday?" I paused to think about how to answer that one. While the wheels in my brain were turning Nicholas got an excited look on his face as if he had figured it out. He grabbed the front of his shirt, stretched it out in front of him and asked, "Is my birthday in my belly?"

The Boys

Here are my three favorite boys. Aren't they handsome? Jackson is a wonderful daddy. The happiest moment of the day is when daddy walks in the door from work. The boys like to hide from him and just giggle with anticipation as he walks around the house saying "Where could my boys be?" It is great.

Domino!

We watched the movie Robots with the kids for the first time this past weekend. Thomas has been excited about Dominoes ever since because of the part where they find Big Weld (for any of you who have seen that movie). We don't have a lot of dominoes, so we use blocks instead. After a few rounds with the plain blocks, Thomas wanted to make things a bit more exciting by adding different things on top of the blocks. We both had a blast doing this together. I actually ripped a hole in my jeans from crawling around so much on the floor setting up different patterns. Thanks for the fun time, Thomas!