Bubble Boy

A fun picture from the park the other day! --emily

A well needed break!

A couple of gals from years past got together for a last minute impromptu get together in McCall, ID. Here we are in the Christmas restaurant that served an amazing breakfast. We had a good long weekend together. It is always good to be in the company of people who know you best! --emily

Dragon Training

We went to see a new movie in the theater today. We saw "How to Train Your Dragon" in 3D. It was awesome. The boys did a great job of sitting still and watching the movie. We all had a great time.

--emily

Children's Museum

Today some friends invited us to go to the Children's museum in an adjoining city. The Kids had an amazing time!

Andrew loved this activity: This contraption is so much fun. The kids stuffed the scarfs in a suction tube that pulled the scarf up. Then you get to watch the scarf dance all through the tubes before it is spit out. Andrew loved running to find his scarf. He would try to catch it before it fell, but that was so hard because it came out so fast.

This was cute. Jacob was tugging so hard on this pulley that was attached to a very heavy bowling ball. He tugged and tugged and finally got it. Great determination Jake!

Andrew pumping gas for the first time, into a big rig no less.

All the kids loved this wall. They would put a ball in the top to watch it ping pong through the wall. It was tricky though because they would have to pull levers and spin other parts to make the shelves and trays move so the ball would make it into the goal. They sure had a great day. Thanks friends. --emily

Easter Morning

This year the Easter bunny brought some fun things for the boys. It looks like (she) the Easter bunny had a theme in her gifts--games and things the boys can do together.

Jacob did a great job hunting throughout the house searching for plastic candy-filled eggs. The eggs with the blue peeps where Jacob's favorite.

Andrew hunted in a more casual way. He sat and opened the eggs as he hunted. He would open an egg, eat what was inside, then open the next egg. It was quite cute. Happy Easter! --emily

Easter Egg Coloring

It is tradition for the grand kids to dye Easter eggs the Saturday before Easter at my parents' house. This year was no exception! The kids had a great time, but I think we broke more eggs this year than in all the past years combined. --emily

On the Hunt

There are a couple of Gals in our ward that organize an amazing Easter egg hunt for the kids. Each family buys and fills 10 plastic eggs per child. We drop them off at her home and then the morning of the hunt she hides them all over the park. The kids each gather ten eggs. It is a great activity!

This year our weather was perfect. We have had crazy rain and wind the past couple of days, but the weather was dry and calm for about an hour while we hunted, played and chatted. It was amazing!

--emily

Playing in the Dirt

What a mess! Today we had some friends over to play, and like always, the kids ended up in the yard. It hadn't been raining for the past couple of days, so it was mostly dry in the yard. It was muddy but not too muddy until the boys found a bucket filled with a week's worth of rain. They dumped it into the hole the kids have been digging for weeks. That is when we had a real big mud pie. The boys had a great time and they got so deliciously muddy. Andrew kept saying "poop" no matter how I tried to explain that it was just dirt with lots of water, and that is called mud. He didn't believe me. He still thought he was playing in "poop".

Oh, what will they do when we finish the side yard this summer and there's no more exposed dirt? Maybe we will have to add a dirt/sand box to the side yard. --emily

Roasting Marshmallows

I have been wanting to get a free-standing fire pit for our backyard ever since we moved in. I thought it would help make our outdoor space cozy and fun. While out shopping, I found this one for a great price so I bought it and put it together for some family home evening fun! The kids and I went to the IGA, our local grocery store, and bought the makings for some s'mores. When dad came home and after some dinner we made s'mores for desert. They were delicious! I love that in all my pictures the boys faces are smudged with chocolate.

The smoke began to bother Jacob's eyes. So, the smart boy that he is, he went up to the bath and grabbed his swimming goggles. They worked well according to him. The boys had a great time and they where great listeners about staying a good distance from the fire. --emily

Going to work with Dad

On Thursdays we have a speech therapist that has been coming into our home to work with Andrew. Our session a couple of weeks ago was miserable. Jacob was running around like a wild man trying to steal all the attention. That was making it impossible for the therapist to work with Andrew. Kelly offered to take Jacob to work with him this week so he wouldn't be a distraction at home. Jacob and Kelly both had a great time at work that day. Jacob attended all of Kelly's meeting with him. Yes, he tried to steal all the attention there too, but even Kelly's boss commented that Jacob did really well. Kelly took him to Starbucks in the morning for hot chocolate and an impromptu lunch meeting at McDonald's so he could get the true business experience. I had packed Jacob a backpack full of fun things to do for the day. I even made him a little security badge just like dad's. This was a once in a while thing but it made for the best speech therapy session yet. --emily