Easter

We had a wonderful Easter time.  The weeks leading up to Easter we had sick boys, but luckily by Saturday, they were both feeling better.  That being said, our pictures of Easter aren't the best, but we loved being together and celebrating this wonderful season.

The first group of pictures are of a pre-Easter/sick day activity.  You have to get creative when you've spent 5 days in the house.  Ry thought of this one... a family of Easter bunnies!  

A Saturday Easter Egg Hunt... Luke wouldn't get out of his jammies.  24 hours after this egg hunt, Luke's catch phrase was " more CAHNDY" ( use a Russian accent while saying it to sound authentically Luke)

Easter Morning 

And for the best picture of both boys in their Easter clothes.  Sad, isn't it... we'll try again next year! 

In Training

Someday these boys
( and my heart) will be halfway around the world sharing the gospel.  They will be (and are) amazing. 

( would you believe me if I said that is not our garage but actually a hoarder's storage unit?  If not, you can believe me when I say that we cleaned it out...)

Pictures to Dad

With dad busy busy with work, theses boys and I do our best to keep busy.  Here are some pictures that we have sent to Brett to show him our fun times!

Yogurt trip... Pinkberry!

Trying coconut milk at Ryan's request.  We will not be doing that again.  Not good.

When going through some of Ryan's old clothes, Luke picked out his favorites and insisted that he stay in these clothes the rest of the day. He is an opinionated little guy.

On the road.. keeping the sun out of our eyes.  I hope I stopped to take this picture... pretty sure I did!

And more yogurt trips... 21 choices... mommy's favorite!
We sure miss dad when he is at work but my two boys make the time pass pretty quickly.  They are (usually) so sweet and fun!

The Rose Parade

California may be expensive, but let me tell you what... it is hard for me to not think it is worth it on January 1st.  It is usually 75 degrees with beautiful clear blue skies.  And we get to go to the Rose Parade.  The boys just loved it this year.  They were dancing and clapping and cheering.  I am excited for next year already!

Papa Butch and Grandma Bonnie

Brett's dad and his wife, Bonnie came for  a visit at Christmas time.  We enjoyed having them with us!  

At the LA Zoo:

Luke loves it when people whisper in his ear.  He will sit like this for a few minutes at a time and pull you back for more when you are done!

This is the ONLY picture we took of the kids with Papa and Grandma Bonnie!  They had better come back so we can take a proper picture!

Christmas 2011

Christmas was so fun with two little boys. We spent the night at my parent's house so they had lots of attention! I love the magic of Christmas with kids. I am already excited for next year!

Luke opening his "sleepy elf" jammies

The cute boys.  They loved their PJs!  Good job, sleepy elf.

Luke got some elmo slippers.. he wasn't quite sure about them  It brought us back to when Ryan (left) got them 2 years earlier.  They both didn't think it was OK to walk with Elmo on thier feet. 

The sisters.  Funny that I am the " real sister" but I look like the odd man out!

We played a very competitive game of Rudolph Relay.  It got pretty intense.

Once we finished playing, Luke decided that it was his turn.  He ran around the house like this for about 20 minutes. 

All Luke needed was a toothbrush and some gumballs!

Uncle Tyler Comes Home

This post is back-tracking a bit to December 1st.  The night of Ryan's 4th birthday. What a great present to have his uncle come home. Luke had never met Tyler, so that was a fun introduction. It was such an exciting event.  I love the anticipation... watching the escalator in airport, waiting to catch that first glimpse of him.  Tyler served a mission for our church in the West Indies; Trinidad, mostly.  He loved his mission and really, wasn't ready to come home.  It is amazing what happens to these 19 year old boys who serve the Lord for 2 years.  They come home changed and grown up and focused on what is right and good.  It is always amazing to see.  We are sure glad he did come home. We missed our Tyler!

19 months

This was supposed to be an 18 month post, but that came and went.  And we really did celebrate Christmas.  Hopefully, I can post those pictures by Valentines Day.  But TODAY is Luke's 19 month old birthday.  I realized that as we were entertaining him by lighting a candle so he could blow it out.  He kept asking for "brda" which I interpreted as birthday which I then took to mean he wanted to blow out a candle.  And as he was doing that I said " Hey!  It is your birthday" ( That was a long, unneccesary explination).   Anyway, this kid just lights up our lives.  He just makes you smile just to look at him.  We are so lucky he is ours. 

Weight:22 lbs ( 8th percentile!)

Heigth: 40th percentile

Cuteness: Off the Charts

Loves to play with: Cars ( always needs more than one), balls and Ryan.  He cries when Ryan goes to preschool!

Loves to eat: fruit, candy.  We need to work on that.

Loves to: watch Elmo, read books, wrestle and watch trucks go by.

Words he says: mom, dad, Ryan, ball, car, milk, all better, dog, ballon, right there, cracker, cheese, cookie, truck, fishy, grandpa, Dan-Dan, Ty-Ty, Christie, baby, hi, bye, diaper, more, MINE

Literally saying " Cheese!"

December at the Beach

One of the reasons I love California is for the fantastic winters we have.  Our summer may be hot and smoggy, but for 9 months of the year we have great weather and can wear bathing suits in December.  Love it!  The water was a bit cold, but not too cold for our little water dude.

 Luke prefered to stay away from the water and play in the sand and entertain the family with his cuteness.

 This was the cutest little smack for my dad.  Right after this, Luke sat up, smiled, and said, "ahhhhh..."  What a charmer.

 And time with Michael and Danny would not be complete without a few tosses in the air.  Our boys love their uncles!