Sammy and Jakie are 3

Yesterday was a big day in our household. Samuel and Jacob woke up excited to open presents. Here are some pictures of them ready to open some presents from Grandma Jane and Boppus.
Here they are exploring some gifts from Moma and Papa.


Here they are with their loot.They played all morning with their toys while I frosted cakes.
Here are the requested dinosaur cakes. As you can see we are not expert at making cakes but the boys loved them and that is really all that matters. Green for Sam and Blue for Jacob of course.

We went out to lunch and swimming in the afternoon and after dinner we had some friends over for cake and ice cream. Thanks to all the parents and kids who came to support our boys. They were so excited to have friends over and to eat cake of course.

Here is Jacob actually getting to blow out his own candles. (Last year Sam blew them out for him, but he didn't seem to mind.)
Sam in mid-blow, the cake was a hit and the boys are now 3. It makes me a little sad to know they aren't little babies anymore, but I am happy they are growing and learning. We love you boys!

Four years and Counting

Happy Anniversary Alan!
It seems like it has gone by so fast, and now two kids later,
Here we are. I love you!

Pioneer Day at the Water Park

The 24th of July Celebration was at the Waco Water Park. The ward reserved the place for the evening and it was a lot of fun. It also gave us the opportunity to try out the water feature of the camera.

Samuel splashing into the water in the kids area. They went down this slide countless times.

Samuel at the slide again.

Jacob trying to escape the pool.

Minda with a beautiful pose.

Alan holding his breath.


Jacob acting like dad and wearing his shirt.

Rocketeers

Here is a picture of my rocketeers. I love this picture of Alan and the boys, they all look so darn cute. This week Alan thought it would be a good idea to do a project with the boys. He bought a rocket and the boys were so excited. He put it together (the boys really weren't much help) and was finally ready to go.
Here is the rocket right before lift-off.
Here are the boys watching Daddy get the rocket ready.
The boys were so enthralled with the whole thing. We had a bit of a failure at first, but we eventually were successful. It went up very high, Alan was excited, the boys didn't really know what had happened. We watched it land in a neighborhood, which we were a little bummed about but we eventually found the rocket in someones backyard. Next time we will launch it from a different place so it won't land in the neighborhood. It was a lot of fun and Samuel kept asking us to go do it again for the rest of the night, so I guess it was a hit.

The Only Way to Eat an Oreo

Yesterday Alan decided to teach the boys the proper way to eat an Oreo. Here he is demonstrating for you all and the boys of course too.


Step 1: Take your Oreo and dip it in milk.Step 2: Let it sit there for a minute.
Step 3: Take it out.
Step 4: Consume.
Jacob didn't really pay too much attention to the lesson, he was to busy with step number four.
Sam was just excited to be eating a treat.

Inquiring Minds Want to Know

About a month or so ago our boys were screaming at me to make the car move at a stoplight, so I took the opportunity to teach them that the red light means stop and the green light means go and that I can't move the car when it is red. They really haven't talked about it all that much since. But today we were driving and Jacob said, "Mom the red light means stop." And I said "Yes Jacob that's right." Then he said "and the green light means go." And I said "Yes." And then he said "What does the Yellow light mean?" I was taken a back a bit because I didn't think an almost three year old could pick up on that. We had never talked about the yellow light and he had obviously noticed it and wanted to understand what it meant. It is neat to know that their little minds are working even when I am not teaching them. I am so amazed by them.

Also recently they have been learning their to count with their fingers and they are always holding up their fingers and announcing how many fingers they are holding up. They think they are so cool when they do it too, it's funny.

They are really excited for their birthday in a couple of weeks. Every time we go to walmart or our grocery store they want to look at the toy section so they can see what they want for their birthday. I hope this phase passes after their birthday, but I am afraid it won't.

Here is a picture of our family on the suspension bridge in downtown Waco on the fourth of July. We watched the fireworks that were on the river with some friends. It was a lot of fun.

More pictures of our trip to Utah

I got to spend some time with my dear friend Elizabeth who I have been friends with since birth. We went to a park and let the kids play and run around while we got caught up. She is moving to New York City and I will miss visiting her when I come to Provo.

They boys had fun playing on Grandma Jane's slip and slide and in the little pool.

Here we are on a "hay ride" minus the hay at Thanksgiving Point. It is so hard to get a family picture where all of us are looking and no one is making a funny face. Hopefully we can achieve that someday.
The boys loved spending time with their cousin Gavin they were so cute all holding hands and running around Thanksgiving Point together.

Daddy and the boys fed the animals at the petting zoo, Mom was not interested in feeding anything. The boys were excited to see Dad feed the animals but were not interested in doing it themselves. But they did enjoy throwing the food at the animals and putting the food on the outside of the gate so the animals could still eat it without any actual contact with them.We also went to Discovery Park with Grandma Jane, Aunt Sarah, Aunt Karen and Uncle Chris and Gavin and Caleb. The boys all had fun running around the "Castle" and making their parents run in circles trying to follow them.

We were also able to attend the Redd Family Reunion in Pocatello, Idaho. We had a blast going down the big slide at the Steadman Farm and jumping on the trampoline. Grandma Jane did a great job putting the reunion together and we all had such a fun time with so many things to do.
It was a lot of fun but it is nice to be home now.