Goodbye Red

We have made ourselves crazy with changes in our home. The first of many was Dan's office. You can see a glimpse in to the room where he makes his magic! The Yin Yang was hand-drawn, then painted by Dan. FYI: the shade of green is the exact color on the dollar bill. Motivation!

We shifted our huge book case to create 2 different spaces for our dining area and living room. It still allows for the room feel open, which I love. We decided to paint over our red pillar and turn it black, which I didn't take a picture of, and introduced some shades of teal.

Okay, yes. That is a vinyl white couch. And yes, we have 2 boys. What are we thinking? (you wonder) The chair that you see is one of the most comfy chairs I have ever sat in. In case you are wondering, it is all from IKEA.

This was actually our 2nd set of furniture in a week. The 1st set made our new paint colors look awful, so we spent 24 hours returning an ugly set and purchasing this new stuff. We had Jack's party as our deadline. See, we create our own insanity.

Why should the inside of the house have all the fun?

Hmm, I'm thinking more parties and dinners...

The Party (part one)

I have to admit that I made the coolest cake ever!! It was a fun thought to celebrate Jack's first word - "dog." (or "gog") This was way too easy, and only took me 10 minutes to put it all together. (thanks to Granny for actually baking the cake earlier in the day) It was pretty yummy too!

Here is the birthday boy after the traumatic cake experience. Apparently, he does not enjoy being "singed" at. (quote from uncle Js Js, I believe) 

I would say that Jack loved opening his gifts, but really it was Josh who did most of that. Thank you to all those who lovingly sent them from where you are living. You were ALL missed.

We thought it would be funny to put Jack in the big gift sack from GG's present. He really liked being in it, but mostly being protected from sitting directly on the scratchy grass. He would have stayed there all night and been a happy kid.

These pics were taken by uncle Tom, and he got some good shots. Thanks little Tom! We are excited to see what Grampa (Hey You) got, and will post those when we get them. 

We had a fun evening celebrating Jack's big day. My boys are very lucky to have lots of family to come around and love them. Thank you to everyone who helped make the day great! We love you.

Birthday Boy

Jack joined our family one year ago today. Happy Birthday!!

Jack has always been happy to be the baby. (Josh just wants to be big all the time) Jack will sit on laps longer, and will cuddle in to your chest when he is upset or tired.

He adores his big brother. We have no need to buy any more baby toys for Jack, since he only plays with whatever Josh plays with.

His first official word (besides mama and dada) is "gog." (dog)

He is a very happy boy, and when he smiles, his big, blue eyes do to.

Jack, we love you so much. You make so many people happy, and we are glad to have you in our family!

4th of July

Yeah! A slide show. I've always wanted one, but had to wait for just the right occasion. So here it is...

We went to Jackson, WY for the 4th of July. (we do this every year) This was Jack's, King's, and our new tent's 1st camping trip. They ALL did great!! Dan loves the fact that he can stand all the way up in the tent, while I love that we all had our own section for our stuff. Josh loved all the corner pockets to stash his toys and books. 

For those who know us, know that we love to camp. So it is very important to us to have kids that enjoy it as well. They did great in the car, at the campsite, during the night, and on the hike. (which was actually a slow walk, since Josh was leading the way) We had so much fun, and are looking ahead on the calendar for more opportunities!

Okay, let's go!

Jack is getting so big. He has some new things that are all his; not second-hand from Josh. 

As if I don't have enough to do today already, (pack, cook, clean, bathe boys) I realized that Jack's infant car seat doesn't fit in the 4-runner. So, now that he is finally 20 lbs, and will be 1 in 2 weeks, he gets a "big boy" car seat! Now he and Josh can both see out the windows, and throw things at each other easier...

Jack also got some new summer shoes. As cute as they are, I actually have to squeeze the fat of his feet in to the top of the sandals. He isn't walking yet, but he climbs and holds on to everything. So maybe, if he keeps them on, they can help his balance.

2 years later...

Okay, wanna hear something gross? (don't you love a story that starts that way!)

As we were gathering our camping essentials, I noticed a tackle box that didn't look familiar. Dan reminded me that he bought it to go fishing on our Colter Bay trip, 2 years ago. As soon as I opened the box, a really nasty stench permeated our little storage room...

In the very bottom was a plastic baggie filled with something gooey. I didn't study it because, well, it really stunk. I put it back when Dan promised to clean it all out. Then he casually remembered, "Oh, it was probably the worms I bought."

So grosss!