Where oh Where is Spring

So here it is, three days into spring and we've had a beautiful snow storm this morning. The last few days have been quite chilly. And I miss the sun.

It has been so nice to have the sun and now we get a storm. It was so fun to be outside with Joseph last week. He enjoyed the sun and the plants and the trees and the birds. He loves birds. He can hear a bird and find it before I've even realized there are birds around. He will watch them fly and try to catch them when they land. He also can tell you where all the fire hydrants are around our house. I don't know how he knows, but he does.

We've been working on the house and the yard lately. Unfortunately the people who lived here before we did didn't do anything in the yard. The back yard has a couple groupings of trees with flowers around them and a big area for a garden and compost area. The flower beds are covered with weeds. Most of them taller than Joseph. The trees (aspens) have little seedlings and some not so little seedlings all around them. There are some bulbs planted but I have pulled many of them out with all the raking for leaves and weeds. I'm hoping we can get this taken care of and have a lovely yard this year.

When we get some things done, I will put up some photos. I love having a big yard, I just wish I didn't have to be the one to take care of it.

Our life

So we have been feeling the economic squeeze lately. Luckily Joseph has been looking for a job to help out.
He tried out botany but he really doesn't know much about plants.
He looked at sunbathing, but he was just too cool and everyone wanted to stare at him. But not much money to be had.

He tried laughing and showing off his six teeth. But no one pays people much for that. At least not at our house.

He thought maybe he could save us money by taking water out of the hydrants. But he doesn't have the right tools and the water comes out too fast for him to utilize it.

He thought he could sell pictures of our family, but no one was interested.

Here he is taking a shower after a long day of being cute and looking for a job.


Finally he just decided to help around the house. He became a dishwasher and helps us stay happy and enjoy the little things.

For those who can't tell, this post was mainly an excuse to show cute pictures of Joseph. He is growing up so fast.

Yeah for spring

So I am so looking forward to spring. Joseph is loving going outside on the days when the sun is shining. He loves to watch the community chickens and play in the grass. We have rocks and gravel on our driveway, he loves to pick them up and put them in his mouth. Usually when he comes in the house we have to empty out his mouth.

He is growing so much. Josh is trying to teach him Spanish and he can point to most of his body when asked in English or Spanish. He has also learned to fold his arms and will do so when asked. Unfortunantly he only does it for a second or two and usually ends up yelling during the middle of the prayer when he thinks everyone has held still for long enough.

On another note, we got our cabinets finished and now the kitchen looks so much better. I don't have a picture of it, but I will add it soon. I hope that we can get more of our house finished within the next few months. It will be so nice to have Joseph sleep in his own room. He is a noisy sleeper.

Hopefully I can get some pictures up soon. I keep forgetting to download them. I just hope Spring sticks around for a long time.

Happy Birthday Joseph

February 19 was Joseph's first birthday. We had a party for all of his cousins, aunts, uncles and the two grandparents who are in this country. Here are some pictures from the big day.

Here is Joseph in the snow doing his favorite snow activity: eating the snow.



And here is Joseph getting ready to open his birthday presents. He really enjoys his presents. He actually opened most of them. Unlike Christmas.



Here is a video of Joseph being sung to and his birthday cake. I forgot you can't have candles in church until the party started. Don't worry though. We didn't light it.



Here he is enjoying his cake. He ate the frosting off and then, once he was handed a fork, he started eating the cake. He really had fun.



One of Joseph's favorite parts of his party were his balloons. He walked home with Josh and his balloons while I took everything else home. He did not want to come home, he just wanted to play with those balloons all day.

Happy New Year

So I have been really busy this past month. Christmas will do that to you. I have been baking and wrapping and traveling to family parties and trying to relax every chance I could. Here are some pictures of our experiences the last month or so.
This is Joseph smiling at the camera. One of his favorite past times.



Here he is taking a shower with daddy. He loves to play in the shower. He tries to catch the water and laughs when it gets on his face.


Here he is getting ready to see Santa for the first time. He had fun eating all the food and playing on the floor. He is walking like crazy.



Here he is on Santa's lap. Surrounded by his Brown cousins. He did pretty well with the whole Santa thing. He didn't cry, he just looked at Santa as if to say: "who are you and why am I here?"

Here he is marking off the first six months of my Parents mission. There is a link for every week until they get home. He sure has changed these last six months.


Here is my tree skirt that I worked on this year. I finally got it done. Wahoo. I have been cross-stitching it for a long time. But it is done and hopefully next year we can put it under the tree.

This is Joseph showing how excited he is to get a picture of Grandma and Grandpa Brown for Christmas.

And this is his first time to play in the snow. He really had fun. He mostly just sat and ate any snowflake that hit his face and also ate the snow that he was tired of playing with.



Here is Christmas Eve. Meeting his new cousin Jace. They live in California and came here for the holidays. Jace was blessed the Sunday before Christmas and then we got to hang out with them on Christmas Eve and New Years Day. Joseph is getting tired and doesn't want to be around a baby. But he loves his new cousin. He is very curious about babies, even though he doesn't see them very often. And here he is on Christmas, trying to decide if Mommy and Daddy really will let him rip the paper on the presents.
He really had a lot of fun for Christmas. He loves his new toys and the wrapping paper and boxes they came in. He is growing up so fast and we will be celebrating his first birthday in less than seven weeks.

Josh and I had a good Christmas. Josh got a new job just before Thanksgiving, so we have been paying off some bills. He works from home so we get to spend a lot of time together as a family. Now we just need to get those pesky bills payed off (Joseph's surgery) and we can work on fixing up the house so Joseph can finally have his own room.

Happy New Year everyone.

Christmas is Coming

I know there is still over a month before Christmas, but I probably won't post until after Christmas. I mean, I still haven't posted anything for Halloween. That's pretty sad.

Anyway, on Halloween Joseph had a small surgery. Nothing real big but I'm glad it's over. He was so good with surgery. We went to a Halloween party that night and you would never know he had been in surgery that morning. Here is a pic of that day.
He is a pirate. Just in case you couldn't tell. He is just too cute to be mean and sinister.
But he does try.

He is going all over the place now. He loves to climb up on the furniture and look out the window. Luckily he also can climb down off the the furniture.



He loves looking out the window and gets so excited when he sees anything. Mostly all he can see are trees, but sometimes he can see a passing car or person. He just likes that he can be in the house and see outside. He's just too much fun.

A couple weeks ago Josh got some Oreos in primary. They were for his birthday and he wanted to share with us. This is Joseph's first experience with Oreos. He loved them. Can't you tell?

Also, this is the face that Joseph likes to make when he sees the camera. I think he thinks this is the smile we want to remember.

A few weeks ago we bought a baby gate to keep Joseph out of the kitchen. Here he is in his prison. Poor little boy.

He's so much fun to have around. I hope that I remember (and have time) to do some more posts before Christmas. This is my favorite time of year and I want to share it with everyone.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!! Enjoy your turkey, stuffing, yams, and PIE.

A List of Firsts

So Joseph has been up to a bunch of things lately. He is trying to learn to feed himself. Here are some pictures of his attempts.





He thinks this is so much fun. The only problem is it takes him so long to get any food in him it's time to eat again before he finishes. Luckily he does really good with baby finger foods. It's the big stuff (cereal, pasta, etc) that takes so long. But he is growing up and loving it all.

Another first would be his first "big bang". I don't mean he created anything. I mean, he fell down and got a real big owie. It didn't slow him down. He was right back up trying to stand on everything just moments after it happened. And you'll notice the big smile on his face. He cried for two minutes and then was all smiles.

Another first would be his first Conference. It was really his second conference but he was only seven weeks old for the first so he didn't know anything was going on. He enjoyed listening to the talks. He even sang along with the choir a few times. I think he loves our Prophet. How blessed we are to be able to hear the gospel in so many ways.



I am so grateful for this wonderful little man that Heavenly Father has given me. What a blessing to be his mother and watch him grow and develop. Every day I pray that Joseph will get the opportunity to be a big brother and I can watch him in that capacity.

The only thing better than my little son is his wonderful father. I am doubly blessed to have such a wonderful man who loves me and my son and helps us and shows me what a man he is by playing with and loving his son. I don't know what I did to deserve so many blessings, but the Lord just keeps dishing them out.