My baby is ONE!

I cannot believe that my sweet little Jack is an official one year old! The year went by so fast. It feels like only a few months ago that he was my tiny newborn.....(sigh) I don't want him to grow up!!

We had our families over for a BBQ, cake, and icecream. It was a wild party!

Jack had a great time opening his presents and he especially enjoyed hanging out on his new couch and playing with all of his new toys!

After presents, we headed indoors for cake and icecream. Do you think he enjoyed himself!? It was such a fun night. I really think it was a perfect first birthday!

3 days old

2 months old

6 months old

9 months old

Almost one year old! Isn't he the cutest!?

Jack has been such a happy and pleasant baby. Starting at 4 months old he stopped being a good sleeper, but I am hoping that little "issue" will get resolved soon! Jack loves being outside and will pound on the sliding glass door several times a day so he can go out. Tonight Jack was pounding on the door and Gus was scratching on the door....they both wanted OUT!! Some of his favorite things are balls, phones, blankets (especially his little blankets), his stuffed tiger and stuffed bear, and our dog Gus. Gus is very good with Jack and lets Jack pat him and play with him. Gus and Jack like to share chew toys, dog food, and dog water. They are best friends. He also likes to eat EVERYTHING he sees on the floor or cement, including potato bugs, dirt, rocks, grass, sand, and anything else he spots! He also ADORES his big brothers and is always wanting to be where they are to watch (and destroy) what they are playing or building. Jack is a JOY to have in our family and we all love him so much! Happy Birthday my angel baby!

A weekend with the family and a Moose!

We LOVE going to the cabin with the Webster clan! We always have a blast and the boys love every minute we are there. I realized when I got home I didn't take very many pictures with my camera. I was so mad at myself! I think I was too busy taking pictures with Kathy's AWESOME camera! (Honey.....I want one for Christmas!) But I did get a picture of our little visitor.

It was about 8:30 on Saturday morning and Ben went outside to play on the swings. He quickly ran back in and said, "Mom, I saw a deer!" So I went outside and couldn't believe a momma moose and her baby were having breakfast right behind our cabin!

Soon the baby got tired of eating and decided to take a rest right in front of the steps that lead to the front door. This is a picture of Sam looking out the bathroom window. The momma is standing guard just to the right of her baby.

The baby decided to go rest up the hill a little ways, so the momma looked around and decided she would take a rest too! Denny had just pulled up in his truck after taking a drive and was standing at the bottom of the steps waiting for the moose to leave. Well she had other plans!

Denny ended up climbing the balcony to get to the front door. He said he didn't want to mess with a momma moose (probably a wise choice!) Sam and Ben thought it was really cool at first, but then all they wanted to do was go play on the swing set. So the "coolness" of watching the two moose wore off and Ben kept saying he was going to go scare the moose so they would go away. (Leave it to Ben!) The moose were probably there for an hour to an hour and a half. I thought it was great! I love watching wild animals. They are such amazing creatures.

Jonas and I drove to Smith and Morehouse Reservoir (which is only about a 10 minute drive) with our boys and Davin. They had a fun time throwing rocks into the lake. We all had a rock throwing contest and Davin won! That kid has got an arm on him! At the age of 9 he is already an awesome football player. Sam and Ben really wanted to fish at the lake but we forgot the fishing poles. It was a HUGE bummer because Sam and Ben are ALWAYS asking to go fishing. But they didn't seem to mind because they had so much fun doing other things. They had nonstop fun with their cousins and we enjoyed every minute with all of the family. I was so glad that everyone was able to make it up. We can't wait to go back again!

First Day of School

I cannot believe Sam is in 1st grade! Monday was a short day, so I didn't realize until Tuesday how long it would take for 3:25 to roll around! I missed him so much! I watched the clock all day and kept wondering what he was doing and if he was ok. Ben kept saying that Sam was taking long and I agreed. I was most worried about lunch and if he would be able to do everything, but he came home and said he ate Macaroni and Cheese and that it was yummy, so I guess it was a success! He did say school was fun but that it was long and there were no fun toys there. I am sure he will adjust to the new schedule and the "no toys" like in Kindergarten, but I still worry about how he is doing every day! I hope he makes GOOD friends and GOOD choices while he is in school. Friends are everything when it comes to the school years and I just hope and pray Sam will be influenced for the good! I sure love you Sam and I miss you like crazy when you are gone!

My handsome 1st grader!

Sam and Drew eating donuts from the Primary presidency before the bus comes

Off to school!

Sam acted embarrassed when I took this so I didn't take anymore (although I really wanted to!) He is so cute!

Ben started school on Wednesday and this year we had a tear free first day! He was so excited to go and he just marched right into class like an old time pro. He is so fun to chat with after school. He tells me all about his day and I love it! I have to PRY information out of Sam and I am never very successful with getting much, so it is fun to hear from Ben what he was doing at school. I am so glad he is enjoying preschool this year. He cried every day until after Christmas last year and it was so hard! He is growing up too and is such a handsome little guy!

I was a bad mom and forgot to bring my camera when I picked Ben up on the first day, but I will get some next week and redeem myself! So another year is beginning and we can only hope for the best...Good luck Sam and Ben!

Best week of the summer!

Jonas took a week off of work and instead of going out of town for vacation we stayed at home and did fun things every day. Jonas wasn't sure it was going to be much fun... he was really looking forward to taking our van out on the road. But Jack did so horrible sleeping at the condo that the thought of taking him anywhere to stay over night sounded ummm......miserable!

It turned out to be the best week of the summer! (And Jonas agreed!) We had so much fun being together as a family and making fun memories. I am looking forward to the next time Jonas gets to have a week off and we can have another "stay at home" vacation!

Monday we went to Dinosaur Park in Ogden. The kids loved it! We let Sam and Ben take pictures and we ended up with a picture of every dinosaur in the park. They had a great time being our "picture men." They also spent about an hour in the education center doing puzzles and coloring pictures.

Ben didn't know until after we took this picture that he was in the girl spot. He was not happy about it, but I just couldn't resist posting it.....he looks so funny!

We were posing for Sam :)

Tuesday we went to Lagoon. Of course it was a blast! Isn't Lagoon always fun (even with the massive crowds!? It happened to be buy one get one free week, so to say the least, it was ummmm.....quite busy!) Jonas took Sam and Ben on the log ride and that was the only time I saw them without a smile. They both reported to me that it was not a fun ride!

Jack did great at Lagoon all day. He slept in the stroller three times and for the most part was very happy....especially when he was walking around......yes, my baby is walking!

On Wednesday we went to Chuck E. Cheese. We spent 3 1/2 hours there and my kids will probably say that was their favorite day! They loved playing all the games and trying to get tickets for the prizes. We ended up with almost 1000 tickets, so they each got a prize they were very happy about! I took my camera but the memory card was full so I didn't get to take any pictures. It was a fun night though!

Thursday was our water park day and we ended up at Cherry Hill. We drove to Raging Waters first, but that place was a total madhouse! It was their 2 for 20 day and I guess everyone in the state decided to go there! We were so glad we went to Cherry Hill. We had a great time (even though we didn't know about the blue water slides on the other side of the park until closing. I was so sad we didn't ride on them!) But Sam and Jonas probably went down the tube slide 30 times! Sam LOVED it! Even with his shivering body and chattering teeth, he kept saying....."lets go one more time!"

Ben is holding on for dear life!

Friday it was Jonas' birthday! We had a "rest" day and spent the day at home playing video games (the boys, not mom) then we had a movie night with popcorn and treats. Instead of family coming over we had our own little party with presents, birthday cake, and banana splits.

Yes, this was definitely the best week of the summer!

Rub a dub dub....

Just because this is so cute! And I promise to update my blog sometime this week! (maybe) :)

Growing up fast and a trip to Midway

Jack is going to be one in two months! He is moving right along into toddler time.....he crawls (mostly on hands and feet) faster than any baby I know. I have to run to catch up to him! He is already climbing up our very steep stairs and trying to accomplish going head first back down the stairs. I tell you, there is no fear in this baby. He will take diving off the stairs at full speed ahead. I have had to dive to catch him by the legs twice now. He moves incredibly fast!

He loves to tear apart drawers and cupboards and is really very smart about not smashing his fingers in the drawers. It happened once and he hasn't let it happen again. He makes the best growling sound you have ever heard. We were at the zoo and I showed him how the bear growls and now every stuffed animal in the house growls. The dog and lizard also growl.

He says mom and da and when he wants food he says "ma" for more. He spends most of his day saying "ma" because he is always hungry! He also says "ma" for drink, so I just have to guess which one he means. I can usually tell when he starts throwing his food that its water he wants....not food! When he wakes up in the morning he will play with toys for about 10 minutes and then start saying "ma, ma, ma" and I say, "do you want to eat?" and he does a laugh cry combo which means, "yes, I am starving, feed me!"

He is such a fun baby. A very very busy baby. But usually quite happy and always doing cute things. He is starting to pull the drama face when one of his brothers has taken something from him. He will look at me and scrunch up his face and pretend to cry. It is really funny!

Jack loves to relax on a pile of pillows or blankets. This has become one of his favorite things to do. I wish Sam and Ben were so easily entertained!

We took a weekend trip to Midway with my family. The kids had a great time swimming until their hearts content! Here is Jack and his cousin Kaleb watching some baby Einstein. They are both so focused on the show! I thought it was a very cute picture of the two of them.

My nieces Chloe and Ella are great baby entertainers! They love playing with the boys.

Ben even got in there and was playing with Kaleb and making him laugh. I was so proud of him!

Sam is doing what he loves most right now (other than swimming), playing Castlevania on the playstation. I sure hope this phase will pass.....soon! I can't believe how grown up he looks in this picture though.

We had a great time in Midway (although Jack made nights extremely long and difficult by not sleeping at all!) But the kids had a fun time and can't wait to go back to the "vacation house!"

4th of July Fun

Summer is such a fun time. I have many fun memories about all the fun things we did during the summer when I was younger. One of my favorite holidays, (well I really just love any holiday) but the 4th of July has always been at the top of my list. We would go to my Grandma and Grandpa Leary's house for breakfast which they held under their carport. It was always so much fun to have breakfast outside with our cousins. We would sometimes play on the slip n' slide after breakfast and then I think we would go buy fireworks at the firework stand and anxiously await starting the night time festivities with our neighbors. I remember some years having about 5-7 families over (all with several kids) and how much fun we all had together watching (and lighting) the fireworks. One year we probably had 20 kids in the road and we all lit a ground bloomer at the same time. We thought it was SO COOL. And really...it was! We had great 4th of Julys.

This year my mom and dad decided to bring back the breakfast tradition and we went to their house this year and ate breakfast under their carport (so fun that they have a carport too!) It was a lot of fun and the kids loved it. They played in the water (even though it wasn't very warm) and we had a chance to sit and visit with each other. I am so happy that they started up this tradition again.

Ben came up with the "grand" idea of getting the snaps to pop by holding a sparkler to them, here are Sam and Ben really involved in their experiment and burning grandpa's carport at the same time.

Later that afternoon, Joe took Sam and Ben to see the new Ice Age movie, which they loved! Then we had a BBQ with our family at home. That night Joe stayed home with Jack since he was already in bed and I took Sam and Ben over to my parents to watch fireworks. We all had a really fun day!

The next day we had Joe's brother and sister over for a BBQ and more fireworks. My kids love spending time with their cousins and us adults love the chance to visit with each other. It was another really good day!