News to share

For those of you that have not heard the news about my brother Trace and his wife Ely.... they are expecting a boy in November but it doesn't stop there. They are having two boys!  Yup twins! Crazy how the grandkids just doubled.  Congrats to Trace and Ely.

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Zoo

While Joe was in between retiring and getting hired for his new job we played. This time at the Zoo!

The butterfly exibit is always impressive.  Joe got some beautiful shots.

 He wasn't too keen of the idea of having his back turned away from the monkeys.  I don't blame him.

Father's Day 2011

For Father's Day this year Michael helped put together breakfast for Daddy.  Joe wasn't feeling so well this year so we avoided pictures. 

We got this book this year.  Joe and Michael love reading it together at night before bedtime.  So I got the idea to make one like it but with pictures of them doing things together.  It turned out really cute and is a special book for them to share.  I'll be making one for Joe from Landon in the future. I just don't have enough variety of pictures yet.  I tried to share the link from Walgreens but it wouldn't work.  You'll just have to imagine how cute it was. 

Michael went up and sang at church and did really well.  He was scared at first but his friend Maverick helped push him up the stairs and over to the other Primary kids.  :)  It was adorable to watch those two do that. 

Children's Museum

Catching up...
Back in June we went as a family to the Children's Museum here. Our membership just ended and we miss going. It's a lot of fun for the whole family. Both the boys love going and I love taking them, except paying for parking downtown. :) Here are some of the photos we captured while we were there.

inch by inch

A friend of mine mentioned getting a height chart for her boy to keep track.  That got me thinking about getting crafty and making one for Michael.  It took me a while to get around to getting it done but it is finally finished and I love it.  I forgot to take a photo before I wrote on it so don't mind the "white out" under 2 ft.  I had all of Michael's well baby check up papers so I filled it all in from birth to his 3yr check up and then the day I finished it (earlier this month). 

I just had to post this picture of these two.  Landon had been asleep and woke up so Michael said he'd go get Landon.  When I came in to check on them he was in with Landon and they were being so cute.  They really are starting to entertain eachother lately.  Poor Landon has the same exzema problems Michael did hence the redness by his mouth.  Hopefully he'll grow out of it like Michael did on his face.  He still has it on his legs though. 

Visit home & Easter

I completely forgot to post about going home at the end of April for two weeks.  It was my first time traveling with both boys by myself.  They did great on the way there but on the way home it wasn't as successful.  A flight attendant offered to bring me a glass of wine for free- I guess they were that bad.  lol  I told her I didn't drink but thanks.  We survived and were happy to come home and see Joe.  Michael was counting down the days with him on the phone after the first week.

Grandpa reading books to Michael before bed.

Uncle Austin visited before returning to BYU-I

Seriously this picture sums up Michael on Easter.  He got spoiled with fun toys but only really cared about the suckers!  When he came to look at his basket he excitedly looked at each toy for a second then took it out of the basket.  When he came upon the suckers his face seriously lit up!  It was hilarious.  I have it on video but its on my phone and I'm not sure if I can load it up.

Landon enjoying his talking and singing book.

I love how Michael is trying to take the sucker out without getting slobber all over him. 

Landon was blessed in WA by my dad at home the Sunday before Easter.  I forgot to take any pictures though so we'll say this was his blessing day- even though this picture is from Easter.  Landon and I didn't end up making it to church on Easter.  I had put him down for a nap and was waiting for him to wake up.  He didn't wake up until church was about half over so I just stayed home. 

Tyler & Kyla came over and ate Easter dinner with us.  Tyler brought over his Traeger on his trailer.  The meat they cooked was so tender and juicy it was crazy good.    They helped entertain Michael with his new toys from the Easter bunny and Michael loved all the attention.



Sea World

Active Duty Military and their families are able to enter Sea World for free once a year.  Since Joe medically retired we had to go one last time (before my active duty dependant ID expired).  He already got a new Retired ID so we couldn't use his.  I was worried about this because we were planning on going for a while now and I noticed when I went to fill out the paper work online for the free tickets that it was only Active duty.  I called and talked with a couple people but they all kept telling me we couldn't get in on Joe's ID, even though he just retired on the 25th of May. So I bought one ticket for him discounted on post knowing Michael and I could still get in on my ID.  So this morning when we got there I was getting my ticket and the lady said we could put Joe on there. Sweet!  So now I have an extra ticket to Sea World.  Anyone want it?  It's yours for what I paid-$41. Normal priced is $60.  So I was happy about that.  What I wasn't happy about was the fact that I forgot my camera!  I had to buy a cheap disposable one.  I can't remember the last time I used one of those but I hope it will be the last because the picture quality stinks!  So that is why these pictures are terrible quality.  Needless to say we had fun even though it was scorching hot and 3 bottles of water was $8. Ouch.

Here we are waiting for "The Cannery Row Caper" show to begin with sea lions & a cute little otter.

My sit n stand stroller was a must along with my favorite accessory of the day: an umbrella that clasps onto the stroller.  This was a life saver for Michael, there wasn't a cloud in sight.

Sitting while watching Elmo and friends sing and dance at the Bay of Play

Michael's first roller coaster ride- a Shamu ride

First carousel ride.

Michael & Joe fed dolpins at the Dolphin Cove for the first time. 

All these firsts you'd think we didn't get out much.

What happens when you let a 3yr old take pictures with a non-digital screen camera:

exibit a:

exibit b:

Not a pretty one of Joe but Michael got my whole face.

Michael said his favorite thing was the Believe show with the killer whales.  We were late to that show and it was packed.  Thankfully we decided to still try and find a seat instead of standing at the top like many others.  The few pics I did take in the outdoor stadium didn't turn out since it was shady and I bought the cheap camera with no flash.  :(  Michael said his least favorite was "Lights, Camera, Imagination!" in 4-D. 

4-D included bubbles, wind, vibration & lastly water, which was Michael's least favorite part.