Along Came Rudy

This is Rudy...the newest member of the family.

He's a toy poodle (make all the snide remarks you want...we are very happy to have a poodle!).

So far, he has proven to be quite smart and is learning quickly.

The boys love our little fuzz ball!
They have also proven to be quite helpful when it comes to taking care of him.

Will loves Rudy and animals in general.

He calls Rudy "Little Buddy". The first thing he asks when he wakes up in the morning is, "Where's my Little Buddy?"

Grandma's 90th Birthday

We had the opportunity to drive to St. George, Utah last weekend for my Grandma Bea's 90th birthday. The boys were marvelous! They were great in the car and throughout the whole trip...we were so excited to have trip where everyone stayed healthy and no meltdowns occurred.

On Thursday morning, we left and drove to Las Vegas. Our first stop was the Bass Pro Shop. I seriously believe that we could spend hours there! It is a huge store full of animals (not so much alive anymore, but certainly "real"). We saw bears, lions, giraffes, etc. The highlight was the salt water tank. It is unbelievably large and full of fish, sting rays, sharks and corals. While we were admiring the tank, a diver and Mermaid showed up. Gabe wasn't fooled. He knew she wasn't a real Mermaid, because she wore goggles. Of course, everyone knows real Mermaids don't wear goggles!

Will making friends with the sting ray.

My boys!

Carefully watching the diver.

Meeting the Mermaid.

After the Bass Pro Shop, we headed over to the MGM Grand to see the lions and eat at the Rainforest Cafe. The lions weren't very exciting...they just slept. It was a little strange to see two lion trainers inside the habitat, sitting on a rock, having a conversation like they weren't surrounded by lions. The Rainforest Cafe was fun. I'm surprised the boys ate anything with all the different things to look at...animals, fish tanks, and a starry sky. And every so often the thunder would start, the lights would dim, and the animals (really not real this time) would go a little crazy. Fun, fun, fun!

Sam loves eating at the Rainforest Cafe!

Gabe and Will with their new friend.

Getting a view of Las Vegas from the top of the M&M store.

Unbelievable! Look at the two guys sitting there having a casual conversation next to the lions!

After the excitement of Las Vegas, we headed on to St. George. We were all a little tired when we got to the hotel. Well, except for Sam. He was bouncing off the walls! I'm sure after being strapped into his carseat for so long, the freedom was more than he could handle! I have no idea what time he went to sleep...he was still jumping and laughing in his crib when I fell asleep.

On Friday morning, we met up with my grandma, parents, Amy and her family, and my aunt and uncle. My brother-in-law arranged for my dad, Uncle Tom, Mark and himself to go golfing. While the big boys were golfing, the rest of us went to the park with the kids. The kids enjoyed hunting for treasures with Nana and Grandma and burying Aunt Vinda's feet in the sand. Sam got to spend some quality time playing with Aunt Vinda. They were all pooped after spending a couple of hours at the park.

Saturday was party day! Grandma looked beautiful! I am so lucky to be the granddaughter of such an amazing woman. My boys absolutely love her (Will seems to have a special bond with her). It was so fun to see so many relatives and friends that I haven't seen in years, people that have been special to me since I was a little girl.

One of those people is my Aunt Lidia - she is an absolute kick! One of my favorite childhood memories is her retelling the story of Brair Rabbit. She is SO animated! It makes me smile to just think of Aunt Lidia! Thankfully, she humored me and I was able to share that wonderful memory with my kids!

The best part of the trip was getting to see everyone and meeting the two newest members of the family. Banyan was born in February (Grandma now has 6 great-grandchildren!). And Ryder's fiancee, Audrey

Thanks to everyone who helped make this such a wonderful weekend!!

8 Months Old

Look out! He's on the move!

Our little ghost baby (it's his reflection in our dishwasher...um, the same dishwasher he had been licking just seconds before!).

He is ALWAYS sticking his tongue out!

Such a cute, sweet little guy!

Sam is now 8 months old, it's amazing how much can change in a month! He is everywhere! He crawls all over the place and no longer cares what surface he's on...even the concrete doesn't slow him down (that can't feel good on little knees!). He walks along furniture and has just started pushing the kitchen chairs around. Gabe has been a great help making sure Sam doesn't get into the plants and other places he shouldn't be. He picks Sam up and relocates him to a "safe" area.

I took Sam into the doctor yesterday because he woke up with his eyes crusted over and lovely green snot all over his face - and well, a double ear infection and sinus infection later...here we are! Poor kid! I'm pretty sure it all started as allergies. He's such an easy going kid that it's hard to tell when he really doesn't feel well.

Happy Easter!

Will's face pretty much shows how I felt about dying eggs this year. It wasn't that I didn't want to do it - it's just that Easter snuck up on me and it was just another thing that had to get done! And sadly, the Easter Bunny forgot to even hide them! Next year we'll have to leave a note to remind him...

Easter started way too early at our house...Sam has been a little under the weather and woke up at 4am and had trouble going back to sleep. He ended up waking Gabe up. From 4am until 6:30am, Gabe came in about every 30 minutes wondering if it was time to go look for Easter buckets (we don't have baskets...just buckets). At 6:30am, Gabe came in to tell me Will had found Sam's bucket. At that point, there was no fighting it...it was time to welcome the Easter morning!

It didn't take Gabe long to find his new camera (he's already talking about which ones to put on the blog!).

Candy filled eggs! Wahoo!

I think Sam is pretty happy with his bucket!

Oh, look! It's the Easter Bunny!

Gabe wearing his new Transformer sunglasses. I'm sure the Easter Bunny had no idea when he got the glasses for the boys that they have special powers! Apparently, they give the boys x-ray vision, the ability to communicate with Optimus Prime, and they have secret agent gadgets built in. Way to go Easter Bunny!

Ready for church.

After church, we headed over to my parents house for an Easter egg hunt and lunch. Will preferred to carry the eggs he found rather than put them in a bag.

Gabe opted for the bag...smart boy!

Will whistling to get some one's attention. Basically, he puts his fingers in his mouth and makes a sound that he thinks is a whistle...it's not.

What better toy than an extra large cardboard box? My parents recently got a treadmill and decided to keep the box so the boys could play with it.

Gabe worked hard to make his half of the box into a rocket ship.

Since Easter, the boys have used the box (which stays at Nana's house) to put on puppet shows and plays, hide in, draw on, and so forth...

Why are the boys not wearing shirts? I'm not sure...I'm guessing it's one of two things. Either Will spilled on his shirt and deemed it unwearable and Gabe decided to take his off too OR we were worried about ink getting on their shirts.

Riding In The Rain

My mom called this afternoon and said my dad was saddling the horses if the boys wanted to come over and ride. They were ready in a flash and excited to go ride (I'm pretty sure even Sam was excited about the prospect of riding a horse!). On the drive over to my parents house, I noticed the weather looked a little questionable...but, there was no turning back at this point! It started to sprinkle when we turned into the driveway.

Grandpa and Gabe getting sprinkled on.

The sprinkling continued all through Gabe's ride. It was still sprinkling when Will got on. However, that sprinkle soon turned into a downpour! But, Will wanted to keep riding! At one point I heard him yell, "I'm a real cowboy, riding in the rain!"

It doesn't look like it's raining...but, it is!

Playing in the rain...after riding the horses.

Unfortunately, Sam never got his ride...I guess he'll have to wait for next time!

Swim Lessons

We signed Gabe up for swim lessons during Spring Break. For some reason he has had a fear of going under water. He loves to go in the pool, but if he thought you were going to make him go under - he'd run for the hills!

We made a deal that if he'd go all the way under water one time during each lesson, we'd take him to go see Monsters vs. Aliens. Apparently, it was pretty good incentive...we saw the movie on Saturday afternoon!

His teacher, Jana, was perfect for him. His negotiation tactics didn't work on her...she wouldn't take "no" for an answer. But, at the same time she wasn't forceful. By the second day, he was going under on his own (not far under, but under!). At the end of the week, he was jumping into the pool to her.

Grandpa even ran over to watch one of the lessons! Thanks Grandpa!

He still has a long way to go, but his confidence was definitely boosted this week!

YUM!!

Tonight we ate the first of the artichokes from the garden...YUM!! They were super good and I can't wait until the next time we get to eat them!

My Littlest Helper

As I was putting groceries away today, I noticed that I have a new little helper! Sam had managed to get all the way inside the fridge. He was pretty proud of himself!

Climbing in...

Wow! Look, another place for me to get into trouble!

Not long afterward, the older boys were eating lunch and I noticed Sam standing up next to one of the chairs. He BARELY fits under our table! When did he get so tall?

Time to push some chairs!

A cute profile shot.

Chalk Day

Today was such a beautiful day that we couldn't resist playing outside. It had been awhile since we'd played with chalk, so we headed out front. The boys loved drawing, catching bugs, and riding bikes. Sam enjoyed the grass. He even tasted a bit of it...and well, I wouldn't be surprised if he ate a bug or two also!

We picked flowers...

We shared flowers...

We climbed the light post...

We rode bikes...

We enjoyed hanging out together...

We discovered the joy of grass...

We laughed...

We drew pictures...

And more pictures...

And more pictures...

Before And After...

Lately I've realized that the boys really need haircuts. I knew it was bad when Will put on a baseball cap and it looked like he had a ponytail! Neither of them wanted a haircut, but then I threatened to start putting their hair in pigtails...yeah, it didn't take long before they agreed!

Here are some before pictures...

Some women would kill for that much body and all Will had to do was wake up!

See what I mean about the ponytail?

Gabe, the tough guy

Mohawk, anyone?

And after...

Ah, yes...there's Gabe!

The haircut didn't change his personality at all!