Texas Trip - On our way!!

We were SUPER thrilled to go to Texas this summer to visit Jeff's family. Most of his siblings are there now as well as his parents, grandparents, and extended family. We love our time there and look forward to our next visit the minute each one ends.  

We LOVE that the Salt Lake Airport has a kiddie play area. It is a great way to burn off some energy before the flight:

Jeff's parents were waiting for us at the airport in Dallas. The kiddos were super exhausted, so this is what happened while we waited at the car rental place:

Mom and I waited with the boys (while the guys were doing the car rental stuff). West took this cute pic when he woke up. We LOVE spending time with Grandma & Grandpa.

Our vacation was off to a great start...

Ryder- 11 Months

Ryder turned 11 months old 6.20.2011

Dear Ryder,

You are such a happy boy and we could not ask for a sweeter little guy in our family. You think the world of your brothers- they can always get the best laughs out of you. And they adore you just as much.We truly feel so blessed to have such a loving and happy spirit in our home. We all love giving and getting attention from YOU!! The minute you wake up in the morning you are squealing and hugging and loving everyone. You especially love seeing mom and dad when we get you out of bed.  The minute anyone sees you, you give a HUGE smile and we can't help but smile back.

We love you little man, you make our lives so much better by being here!

Love,

Mommy, Daddy, Weston, & Tave

Here are some highlights from Ryder's 11th month:

• Pulled himself up to standing for the first time
• Find him standing in his bed now a lot.. he thinks he is super cool when he does it!
• Loves holding our fingers to walk and has a definite opinion of where we should go
• Learned how to clap his hands
• Makes funny faces to get a reaction
• He has gotten Louder-- he makes LOTS of noises to get our attention
• Definitely knows what he wants & finds a way to let us know what it is
• Clicks his tongue all the time
• Loves doors: closing them mostly
• Crawls ALL over the place
• Learned how to climb the stairs and wants to do it all the time!
• Drinks his bottles great: 4 6oz bottles a day
• Eats lots of finger foods, is done with baby food completely
• LOOOVES to splash in the bath tub (and gets everyone wet)
• ABSOLUTELY loves music.  He dances to it every single time it is on and will stop crying the minute anyone starts singing a song.
• Such a HAPPY little guy!

Happy Father's Day!!

I have been so blessed to have the most amazing Dad. I look up to him in so many ways and am forever grateful for all that he taught me and does for me & my family.  Because of him, I had the bar set pretty high for my future husband.  I am so lucky that I found someone who would be an incredible father to our children.

I know that is due to the amazing example his own dad was to him. 

We are deeply blessed to have wonderful father's who we love so very much.
Happy Father's Day Dads! 

This doesn't quite cover it, but Thank You for everything.

Jeff is the best dad to our boys. 

He plays with them, laughs with them, and teaches them.

I love watching them together and seeing the magic that happens when a daddy loves his boys.

We spent the day together and it was perfect and relaxing, just how Jeff wanted it!

The boys drew him pictures:

And then gave him the shirts THEY picked out for him:

Tave was a little excited, and told him about an hour before Jeff opened it that we got him a Transformer shirt. Silly  kiddo, where was this when I needed it: ;)

All in their transformer shirts. (I am dying over this adorable shot!)

Ryder loved our special father's day dinner of calzones:

These boys love to wear their daddy's shoes:

My favorite guys:

I hope we were able to show you  just how much you mean to us!

Happy Father's Day, Babe!

Weston's Birthday Date!

I love how much the boys look forward to their special date with Mom & Dad 

especially since we get just as excited for it!  

Weston picked Mcdonald's and this time we were on a time constraint (due to the next activity) so we went simple and picked up Taco Bell for Jeff & I.

He has been talking about Kung Fu Panda 2 for MONTHS, he couldn't wait to see it!

I love getting to take the boys out one on one for a date. We try to do that during the year, but this one is special because they go with BOTH of us. My cute, sweet Weston is at such a fun age and we just love hanging out with him.

Happy Birthday, West.

We LOVE you!

Girl's Day with my sisters!

Shar was in town back in June for a work conference. She was staying at a hotel, so we all joined her for dinner and an overnighter! It was so awesome to have time to just talk and laugh and eat and talk. 

LOVED it and LOVE these ladies. 

I am so lucky!

Happy Birthday Weston!

My little Weston is 5 years old!

I really don't know where all that time went. 

The past 5 years have been...more than I ever anticipated:

more tears, more happiness, more learning, more love

Happy Birthday Weston!

We like to make birthday's special. 

Weston picked out everything we did on his birthday:

Splash park with friends

NO nap or quiet time, instead we played games and read stories together

Duck pond park with dad

Yummy dinner and watched a movie with his brothers

Sounds like a perfect day to me!

Weston - 5 years old!

Weston has grown so much this year! We are learning all about this parenting thing together and he is so patient with me. He is always willing to share with his brothers and he takes such good care of them .Weston has a very tender heart and is sensitive to the needs of those around him.  When he sees someone hurt or sad he quickly rushes in to help and give a hug.  He is great at hugs and kisses and loves to have his back rubbed!

He is also so funny and likes to do silly things to make the family laugh. He loves building things, climbing, pretend play, drawing, and EVERYTHING superhero.  His favorite toys are his super hero dress ups and action figures. He is very curious about everything and asks tons of questions.  He loves learning and just soaks up any kinds of facts we can tell him about things. He loves books, particularly non-fiction books about animals. He also loves sports, especially football and soccer.  He is such a good brother and we are incredibly blessed to have Weston in our family. We love our big 5 year old!

Weston's favorites:
Song: Tarzan Song, I love to see the Temple
Show:  Wild Krats, Avengers, Word Girl, & Kung Fu Panda
Food:  Meatballs
Treat:  candy canes & gum
Color: black and blue
Superhero: Wolverine, Hulk, Ben Grimm, Blue Beast, Optimus Prime
Things to do: go to movies, swimming at Grandma & Grandpa's,  play with superheros
People: 'my family and everybody I know'
Places: Miniature golfing, chuck-e-cheese's, outside, disneyland, the beach

He liked being made to look like the Beast:

The Boy's Birthday Bash!

We have had an abundance of celebrations lately! 

We had not officially celebrated Tave's birthday with Jeff & all of the UT fam 

and Weston was turning 5! 

So we threw them a combined party again.

(next year we promised separate birthday parties)

They are into all things Transformer right now, so this was fun to throw together

The setup:

The goods:

The guests:

 The excitement:

Weston has been asking for a pillow pet for almost a year now. I thought it was a passing phase, but he really really wanted one.  Walking through the mall one day he saw the triceratops and he was sold!  When we looked it up online (because that is definitely cheaper than in the mall) we saw that they carried it in green as well- perfect since that is Tave's favorite color and he now wanted the same thing as West. (ahh, the joys of siblings) Jeff and I were beyond excited to give them to the boys:

The yummy cakes:

The birthday wishes:

The fun:

Thanks for celebrating with us -

 You made two little boys so happy!

Tave's Birthday Date!

Tave has been looking forward to his birthday date for months. 

He got to pick everything we did, so the first stop was:

Chuck E. Cheese's!

 He wanted Mcdonald's for dinner, so Jeff and I had the brilliant idea of bringing it to Red Robin so we could get what we liked!  Bonus, they have a fabulous birthday dessert that Tave was more than happy to share with us. Win/win!

And here is our adorable 3 year old with his yummy Chuck E. Cheese prize:

Happy Birthday Tave-ster.

We sure love you!

What to we've been up to...

The boys and I took a 2 week vacation to CA.  Sans Jeff. :( We missed him so much.  But while we were gone, Jeff had some project:   He tore up all the carpet downstairs and the  vinyl in the kitchen/laundry/bathroom. The idea was that it would all get replaced while we were gone, I mean what better time to do some home improvement projects, right?!  

Well, he found mold. Lots of it in the floor and in the wall. :(  NO need to freak out, mold happens (in fact everyone has mold in their house, but if you have too much you need to fix it. We did, so we did)

SO what was supposed to be a two week project turned into the project from...we'll leave that unsaid. And it turned into 3.5 weeks...plus some since we're not officially done as of today.

The boys and I were gone for 2 weeks of that but then we came back home only to not get to come home. We stayed at our awesome, awesome friend's house who are seriously THE.BEST. We loved staying with them for the weekend and playing with them, hanging out and talking, and just having a great time. They not only let us stay with them, but Kenneth helped Jeff pretty much every day after work until our house was liveable. Like I said, they are awesome.  Jonathan was also a LIFE-SAVER and helped Jeff with this project from start (ripping out the carpet) to finish (laying the tile) and everything in between. We seriously owe everyone a great big HUGE THANK YOU!!  I know we STILL would not be home if not for the help of so many friends and family members.  

Since Shawn & Abby were going to CA for a little trip, we asked if we could move in while they were gone. Pretty convenient!!  Here are some pics of what we did the week we stayed at their house:

 Row Row Row your boat!  The boys loved this pillow on the couch!

 Wrestling with dad...always the best, especially after 2 weeks of missing him!

And Ryder started doing this:

 Yikes, he can move!!!  He LOVES being able to reach so many new and exciting things now!! What a big boy!

 Between being out of town for 2 weeks and then out of our house for another 1.5 weeks, and being a single parent for most of that time, we went out to McDonald's more times than I'd like to admit.  But sometimes, a zooble and a hamburger is what saved my sanity, so it was worth it!

 The boys loved feeding Ryder his bottles.  I love these adorable guys!

And my little Tave-ster found all of his glasses and decided he HAD to wear them all at once! Love this kid!!

We had a very fun and full few weeks and are MORE than ready to get back to normal life at our own home.  We feel so blessed to have been so well taken care of by so many people. Thank you!