Ah Spring?

So Spring started with a real bang. I think it was a thunderstorm. And it's been that way ever since. I keep wondering if we are going to have spring at all before summer comes this Sunday. Probably not.

A couple of weeks ago, Josh decided to give his lizard aquarium a good cleaning. He took out the lizard and all the plants, etc and gave it a thorough washing. Joseph wanted in on the fun so he took a turn pretending he was a lizard. He sure wants to be where his daddy is.
Speaking of where Daddy is...


A couple of weeks ago they had a classic car show in town. Joseph liked looking at the cars, but he liked pushing his stroller and pretending he was a big boy even better. I think he liked the cars because daddy liked the cars.
We finally got our shower wall painted. As you can see, Joseph did his share of painting. He acts so much like a big boy and copies everything he can. And of course, he is so proud of himself when he can do the same thing as Daddy (and sometimes Mommy).
Last week we went on a hike with Josh's sisters, a brother-in-law, and their kids. Joseph loved hiking. He thinks it's so cool to walk off through the forest. Of course, he follows his father everywhere he goes. And as he hikes he sings his favorite song "dad, dad, dad, dad" It goes on and on.
We stopped for a break, and a photo op. He was trying to find the dog (Melinda and Jake brought their dog on the hike). After Dad, the dog was his most favorite topic. And most favorite object to make sure he knew where it was. He loves dogs. He can hear a dog bark any where near by and he will be talking about dogs for an hour. He loves Clifford the big red dog.

Here's a stop for another photo opportunity. He sure had fun. He will be a hiking fool when he grows up. Just like his dad.And here is the whole family. Enjoying time together and getting our exercise.

Another fun note, this week the Disney Christmas Carol Train came to town. We went to see it and Joseph had fun. Looking at the lights, seeing the snow, and making friends with all the people. He flirted with all the girls and made himself adorable. Not that it takes a lot for that.

Pay It Forward...

So, here's how this game works-the first 3 people to leave a comment on this post will receive, at some point during the year, a handmade gift from me. What it will be and when it will arrive is a total surprise! The catch is that you must participate as well. Before you leave your comment, write up a pay it forward post on your blog to keep the fun going (or be lazy and copy and paste like I did). Then come back, let me know you're going to play and sit back and anticipate the arrival of your gift! I promise!

Memorial Day Weekend

This weekend was a busy one for us. The Haderlies (Josh's sister Charity and fam) came to town. We spent the whole weekend doing family stuff. Thursday we went to Temple Square. It was Joseph's first time and he had a blast.

He loved looking at the statues. I don't think he quite got the fact that he is named after this man. But he sure did love looking at it.

I love this photo with Joseph pointing to the Christus. He loves to look at pictures (or statues) of Jesus and always lets us know who it is. ("jeezz" he says).

He loved Temple Square. He loved the fountains (and there are so many of them), he loved the flowers (ditto) and he loved being with his cousins. His Haderlie cousins love him to death. They always wanted to be holding his hand. And he hated that. But he loved having so many people pay attention to him. He loved hanging out with his aunts, and he loved walking all over. He actually walked around most of the top of the Conference Center. I kept waiting for him to reach his limit, but he kept on going. My little trouper.

Saturday we had a BBQ with the whole family (most of them). Joseph had fun playing with Grandpa Mike and became his little shadow.

It's real funny to watch because he actually gets a little jealous of his other cousins when Grandpa pays attention to them.

Sunday there was a baby blessing and then Monday we had a breakfast.

He finally did crash, but not until after going on his first hike (sorry no pictures, the camera died).

All in all, we had a fun weekend. It was so fun to see the energy that this little boy has. Hopefully some of it can rub off on his mommy and daddy.

Happy Mother's Day

So our Mother's Day Weekend was very full. Just like Joseph's mouth. He loves to put as much food as possible in his mouth. Here he is with a mouth full of pears. He thought this was great fun.

Saturday was my 5K. I was really excited and quite nervous. Joseph made sure we didn't oversleep. He kept me up until about midnight and woke up at 5:30 in the morning.

The run was at the Ogden Nature Center. It was really nice because all the race was run on the nature trails so it was nice and soft.

Here I am getting ready, pinning on my number and timing chip. Let me tell you, whoever decided on a timing chip was a genius. It makes things so much easier. Everything is computerized. So much easier for timing.

Joseph was involved in the whole thing. He watched me get ready and stretch out. He thought it was so funny that Mommy was being so silly.



It was so nice to have my boys meet me near the finish line. They ran about the last 100 feet with me. I can't believe how well I did. I came in 10 minutes faster than my fastest practice time. 48:29. I know that's not super fast, but that's great for me. The next 5K I run I hope to be in the low 40's.


The thing I liked about this race, was it was a fun run. After the 5K was over they had a pancake breakfast and a 100 feet run for the little kids. All the kids got a finisher's medal. Joseph thought it was great fun.

Joseph's favorite part was the fire hydrant. I swear, that kid can find them anywhere. He will be the front runner to the fire fighters, find the hydrants for them and get paid for it. Silly boy.





Here Joseph is sporting his medal. His favorite part of the medal is the rock glued to the front. He loves rocks. He's such a boy.




On Sunday, Josh and Joseph gave me such wonderful presents. Flowers and a balloon. Josh cooked both breakfast and dinner and let me take a nap. It was great. We decided Joseph is such a grown up boy now he can start shaving.
He just loves copying Daddy. Anything he sees Josh do, he is right there behind him to try it out.

I feel so blessed to have two such wonderful boys. They are truly blessings in my life. I know Heavenly Father gave them to me and I thank Him everyday for everything I have.

Run, baby, run!

So yesterday I signed up to run my first 5K. I'm excited to run. I ran in junior high school, but I was a sprinter. 4x100 and 4x200. Nothing really big. To run a 5K scares me to death. I'm scared to come in last or to not be able to finish, scare me. But I also know that if I don't try, there's no way I'll ever know if I can do it.

My sister in law Michelle ran a half marathon this month and she greatly inspired me. I don't know if I'll ever make it to the half marathon stage, but like I said before, If I don't try, I'll never know if I can do it.

The 5K is May 9th. I'm hoping I can get good enough to at least make a decent showing. And finish the run.

Wish me luck.

Happy Easter one and all

Okay, so I know Easter was last week. I'm a little behind on everything. Aren't I always?

So Easter started at our house Saturday morning when we took Joseph on an Easter egg hunt. We put eggs all around the back yard and he went searching for them. We really have a good yard for an egg hunt and he had fun "finding" the eggs in the trees and bushes and flowers. Unfortunately we have no pictures of that.

Saturday night I started making dinner for Easter. I made dessert and some rolls so I wouldn't have to cook again on Sunday. Of course, Joseph helped me with my pumpkin roll.

And he enjoyed it. A lot.

Sunday we went to church and Joseph sang with the ward choir during our Easter program. He really did a good job. He's starting to understand who Jesus is and that He loves us and we love Him.

He looked so good we took pictures of him in his Easter outfit next to the church. He was enjoying the sun so much he didn't want to hold still. We were very lucky to get these pictures.

After church we just couldn't let all that beautiful sun go to waste, so we sat out in the back yard and read.

We are grateful for Easter and the blessings we receive because of our Savior's sacrifice. How much we love Him and praise Him.

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.