Carter's Birthday

These are pictures of Carter at 1 year old.

Carter is already three and I just wanted to share some pictures of his big day. We ate sandwiches with two pieces of bread and a little bit of butter for dinner. We played outside for the first time this "spring", got balloons from the store, and made his cupcakes together. We also ate cupcakes and he got exactly what he wanted for his present, a guitar.

Please excuse Riley in the background, hadn't gotten his pj's on yet. But, here is Carter rocking out on his guitar. It plays the same two songs over and over and over and over....

Dirty face, cute kid.

Getting ready to blow out the candles.

He wouldn't hold still he was so excited so this one is blurry but he has the biggest smile on his face.

Carter is hell on wheels. He doesn't slow down until at least and hour after he goes to bed. He sneaks out of the house and hides really well. He loves candy, frosting (with no cake), cucumbers, apples, and digging in the garden or any other dirt. He also randomly gives Dusty and I hugs and kisses and has an amazing smile. When he actually falls asleep, he looks like and angel. He weighs 40 lbs, is 3ft 4 inches, and wears 5T clothing. He throws amazing fits but can also be amazingly sweet. Got to love this kid!

Brothers

Having a brother must be totally awesome. Riley and Carter absolutely love each other...most of the time. Riley started pre-school this year, and he has loved it except that he has to leave Carter at home. Carter gets so bored at home with me. The other day when Riley got home from school, they were so excited to see each other. They kept hugging and kissing each other and telling each other how much they missed each other. It was one of those moments, as a mother, that I hope I never forget. Here are a few pictures of out trip to California.

Me and the boys in the Redwoods.

Pier 39 in San Francisco overlooking the seals.

Finally in bed after a really long day.

At the Jelly Belly Factory.

We are still here....

It's been awhile since I last updated this thing...it doesn't seem like much is going on. The day after Christmas, Carter got sick. We later found out that he had gotten pneumonia and about a week after he got better, I got pneumonia too. Other than that, we have just been trying to survive this less than stellar winter. No snow to play in but not warm enough to really enjoy being outside either. Spring fever has officially set in...and of course no post would be complete without pictures, for some reason the boys wanted pictures of their eyes...probably so they could show off how awesome they are since brown eyes can see in the dark and blue eyes can't.

HAWAII

So, Dusty and I are in Hawai'i! We came with a bunch of people he works with and are having a marvelous time. So far, we have been to the beach a few times, a beautiful hike, Pearl Harbor, shopping, and eating at various local joints. We can't believe that it is really December since we got sunburned yesterday and Dusty had his first experience snorkeling. I am missing my kids a ton right now though, I really want to see them...only a few more days of ocean and warm breezes, then we can go back to paradise at home!

This is the view from our bedroom.

The summit of the Hauula Loop Trail.

The Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor (my favorite thing so far!).

Halloween and Writing

After my last post, I was all fired up about blogging more often. Once a month just isn't enough! But, then life happens and all the sudden it is the middle of November and here we are. Dusty has been putting some long hours in the last few months, and we are excited to see more of him. We had a great Halloween with great weather, and we only had to go around the block to get loaded up on candy.

The Three Cowboys!

Riley's sunbeam teacher gave him this awesome mustache! Riley are Carter both thought they were awesome even if they tasted awful.

Riley is loving preschool. He knows the Pledge of Allegiance, lots of letters, and comes home knowing something new each day. We have been working on writing his name and he is getting pretty good as you can see from the pictures.

Carter wants to be like Riley in almost everything. So I "taught" him to write the letter Y. Amazingly, he actually wrote a few by himself just under the sticker. He must be a genius!

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!

My Missing Purse

So last night at 10:15 we realized that we didn't have anymore contact solution, so Dusty asked me to run to the store to pick some up. I went to get my purse from the hook and it wasn't there. I looked all over the house and couldn't find it. I looked in the car and then I came back in to look some more. The more I looked the madder I got because I couldn't find my purse anywhere. By the time Dusty finally got up to help me look I was really mad...really, really mad. I had no idea where that purse was. Dusty asked me, "Did you have some candy or treats in your purse?" Ding! I remembered that I had some cinnamon gum, which is Riley's favorite, and he saw me get him a piece from my purse earlier in the evening. Riley said to me, "Oh, that is where I should have looked for that gum." Fast forward back to 10:20 and I remember seeing this...

...and wondering why the tote was there. So, I ran downstairs and pulled the tote away and this is what I found...

Riley had taken my purse and hid it so that in the future, when he wanted some cinnamon gum, he could get it whenever he wanted. Just thought I would share this funny little story. Have a great day!

Our Summer

I have figured out why I don't blog very often. Of course there is the fact that nobody reads this, but the biggest reason is that I don't feel like we do anything "blog worthy." Looking back at the pictures, we totally do. We go and do fun things all the time; but when I think about sitting down and writing on the blog, my mind goes blank. I don't write anything inspirational. I rarely write anything touching or really personal. This is just my life. We work in the garden and yard, play/visit with friends, clean the house, go visit with extended family, hang out as a family, and simply enjoy each others company. To many, there is nothing glamorous or exciting about our life. And to be honest, I probably feel that way more often that not but we are happy. I enjoy my life and feel very blessed to have such incredible kids and an amazing husband to go through life with. I am seriously lucky!

Now, on to the pictures...I will explain as I go.

Carter and Riley at the airplane museum in Rexburg. They really enjoyed walking around the hanger looking at all the planes. Riley loves the yellow plane and Carter gravitated to the old truck. They really liked the old fire truck but I didn't post the pictures because I let them sit in it to take a picture...pretty sure I wasn't supposed to do that. :)

Riley turned 4!!! Can't believe this little twerp is already 4 and going to pre-school. He had a cowboy boot cake that was super easy and delicious and yes, Riley was really excited and took a big bite out of the cake before we could cut it.

He is so cute!

Playing at Bear Lake.

Carter's 10 min yoga pose at Bear Lake.

Carter on the carousel during the Payson Onion Days Carnival.

This is literally my favorite picture of the summer. They had so much fun on this ride!

Running in the sprinklers. Love this picture as well!

Carter running through the sprinklers.

We also went camping with Dusty's family and are currently working on potty training Carter (YIKES!)

Happy Fall!

Photography

Recently I have decided to start trying to do some photography. I really enjoy doing it and I have a pretty good camera. I have asked my neighbors and friends if they wanted me to take some family pictures and this is my first family session. The Morgan Family!

The whole family.

Della

Claire

Also, here are pictures of my totally cute kids. They are getting really big...just ask Carter and he will tell you at least five times. It is usually the first thing he tells people. Riley is getting even more sassy and has a wild imagination. He comes up with some great stories.

Carter

Riley

A picture is worth a thousand words...

Enough said.

Riley has planted this "tree" in our backyard...

He waters it religiously. Everyday he wants to go out and water that "tree". So, I decided to make it a candy tree. I went to the store and bought some candy and tied it on the tree today. Of course I didn't get the reaction I wanted. He was excited but not surprised. Of course he knew all along that the tree grew candy...how didn't I know this. What else would the tree grow but candy! This tree will grow candy throughout the summer and might even come inside during the winter just to add some excitement to the long winter days.

This is just a fun picture...having a brother must be awesome. Sitting in a wagon full of dirt...doesn't get much better than this.

Lately...

I just wanted to post some pictures of the boys from the last few weeks. We are doing pretty good but we would be doing better if it wasn't so cold!

You can't tell from the picture very well but Carter is giving me the "thumbs up" but he was using his pointer finger. He wants to be like Riley in the next picture.

Riley helping his Dad. He is so proud of himself.

This picture is for Grandma...I told you they love the bow ties.

Nothing comes to mind...

I am not sure what to write in this post. It has been awhile, so I am writing. We have had two wonderful days of warm and sunny weather. We have spent both of those days outside riding bikes, playing with friends (both old and new), and playing at the park. Those days have been glorious! Too bad it didn't last. The pictures with this post are just of the boys. I realized I hadn't taken pictures of them in a while and they are in desperate need to new pictures on their wall. So, we headed down to Main St. here in Payson and had a photo shoot. They were terrible. They wouldn't hold still or kept pulling funny faces. The shots of them together were ridiculous...the one posted is the only usable shot and it isn't very good but it was pretty fun and I did get some great shots. It helps that they are completely adorable! I hope that everyone is having a great day!