Just like Daddy

Yesterday Darrin worked on the sprinklers all day. The kids love to be in the backyard digging in the dirt and "helping daddy." The only bad thing about it is they get sooo dirty and make the house dirty too! Oh-well...they have fun! Josh was being very cute and wanted to do everything that his Daddy does. Here are the pictures to demonstrate.

Here he is working right along side Daddy...both in their baseball hats.
Daddy was wearing gloves...so Josh needed some too. The only ones I could find were non matching winter gloves. He wore them the whole time he was out there! It looked really funny!
Then Josh realized he could step on his shovel just like daddy. You have to look closely to see exactly what he's doing!
Andrew was asleep during all those other pictures, so I thought I'd include one of him!

Just a day, just an ordinary day.

Well, life has been quite normal for us the past week. Most of our attention has been on the backyard. Darrin smoothed out all the dirt and planned our sprinkler system. Hopefully that will get done in the next week or two, and then we can move on to the next step. We are anxious to have it done! Darrin is working hard and is continually sore and tired from yard work. He's doing a great job though!

Josh's imagination is really starting to develop. Today while I was making dinner he came over to me with his hand flattened out with his palm facing up and said "See my bird. His mommy is up there flying round and round with the (ceiling) fan." I asked him what color the birds were, and he said they were blue. I'm not really sure where the "imaginary" bird came from, but I thought it was cute. And this is the first time he's had some kind of an imaginary friend. Josh has a sudden love for the library. We've been going once a week for the past couple weeks, and he's so excited to get home and read all his books. I've learned to only get a few books at a time, because every time we read them he makes us read ALL of them. Mom and dad get tired of reading 10 books 4 times a days.

Andrew has been filled with personality lately. I don't remember any other 1 and 1/2 year olds being this opinionated about things. If he doesn't like what your doing or saying he'll wave his finger back and back forth and shake his head all while making a disapproving sound. It's quite funny! He's starting to learn all his animal sounds and body parts...you know eyes, nose, etc... On Sunday he went to nursery for the 2nd time and still loves it! He marches right in there and doesn't look back. Darrin and I just don't know what to do with ourselves now...we might actually have to pay attention in Sunday school=).

Dig Dig Digging

We are in the process of trying to finish the backyard right now. The soil is terrible...so we decided to bring in some dirt to give anything we plant a fighting chance of living. As you can see the pile of dirt is HUGE! It got delivered about 8:30am and with the help of one of our neighbors, we finished moving it into the backyard about 5pm. I think Darrin would still be out there now if our neighbor hadn't of helped him. The kids had sooo much fun playing in the dirt all day. From the dump truck dumping it in the driveway, to scooping it into the wheel borrow, to climbing on the "mountain" of dirt, they had a blast!! They were VERY dirty and tired by the end of the day. There is so much more work to be done in the backyard, but hopefully this was the hardest part!

Keep going...Your almost done!
The clean up!

Happy Easter!

Well, the last few days have been filled with Easter festivities. The Easter bunny came on Saturday morning and left the boys a few toys. They thought it was great even though they didn't really understand the concept of the Easter bunny! They got some cars, a ball, and an Easter book. Later that afternoon my sister, Kristin, flew in from Rexburg. We are glad she is here for a couple days! We also dyed eggs and had an Easter egg hunt. Josh got into the hunt this year. He was finding eggs all over the place...Andrew, however, found one egg, saw what was inside, and decided he couldn't wait to eat it.

Soccer!

This past week Andrew learned how to say the word "ball," and as a result, he likes to play with balls all of the sudden! So the boys have been playing catch, kicking, and shooting baskets 24/7. In light of our recent obsession with balls, I took the boys to Darrin's indoor soccer game. They both thought it was great fun to watch the ball be kicked around and besides mom let them eat licorice. Darrin hurt his leg playing soccer a couple of weeks ago and thought it was strong enough to play again, but sadly he only played for a total of 30 seconds to find out his leg had not totally healed. Bummer! The kids still had fun and were proud of their daddy anyway.

Josh loved cheering and clapping!

Andrew had to bring his soccer ball in honor of the occasion...and

yes, he is wearing his pajamas because the game was past his bedtime!

The field is enclosed in this bubble so the spectators don't get hit with the ball. They have one low window where the kids can look out. Andrew was intrigued!

Fruits of our Labor

We had a wonderful time listening to conference this past weekend. We were able to witness some of the fruits of our labor in regards to teaching our children the gospel. The kids played quietly...sometimes not so quietly...around us as we watched conference. Occasionally someone on the TV would mention the word "missionary" or "President Hinckley," and Josh would stop what he was doing and tell us in not so many words that he just heard a word he recognized. He was also so excited to hear the choir sing "I am a Child of God." It just manifested to me that even when we don't think our children are learning anything of what we teach them...they usually are.

Andrew has become the prayer police at our house. Every time you sit down with any type of food, whether it be a snack or breakfast, he folds his arms and lets you know you need to say a prayer. It's very cute!

Picwic in the Park

The weather was beautiful today so we decided to have a picnic...or a picwic as Josh would say. Once I explained what a picnic was, he was very excited and helped plan the menu. He thought we should definitely eat chips and cookies. So we packed our chips and cookies along with some sandwiches and veggies and headed to a park close to our house. The boys had a great time! After we were done eating, we walked over to the playground. We talked Josh into attempting the two biggest slides they have there...he's always been too scared before. He loved them both and went on them over and over. Here's some of the pictures we took! Enjoy!

Grandma's Here!!

Well, the past week has been filled with grandma!! My mom came in last Thursday and leaves tomorrow. We are very thankful she took the time to come see us. Darrin and I were able to go on a date and then work on our ward missionary calling. We are specifically assigned to work with the Young Single Adults and it's often hard to make visits with 2 little kids, so it was nice to have a baby-sitter!
My mom and I did some shopping, and we also made a blanket. It turned out really cute! It was fun to work on a project together.
The kids are growing like weeds and had a great time with Grandma. I know they will have a hard time tomorrow. Andrew will be 18 months on Thursday and will go to nursery on Easter. I think he will like it...the only problem will be Josh thinks nursery is HIS class and Andrew isn't allowed to come...so we're trying to prepare Josh. Andrew likes to do everything Josh does. If Josh gets napkin, Andrew needs one too. If Josh is eating yogurt, Andrew needs to eat some too. He loves to play trains and cars and read books about trains and cars. Josh is quite the independent kid these days and mom is enjoying it. He can wash his own hands, doesn't have to ride in the cart at the store, and loves to use scissors and glue. He's so fun to talk to and loves playing with his cousins.
Darrin has been hard at work doing the usual work stuff. He hurt his leg playing soccer so he hasn't been able to play in the last couple of games. I stay busy doing everything and anything. I was recently asked to play a song in church on Easter so I'm busy practicing that.

Family all ready for church
A tender moment as brothers

Grandma!

This is the blanket we made

Josh's 3rd Birthday

Well, it finally arrived: Josh's 3rd birthday!! He's been anticipating his birthday for months now, and he was so excited that he woke up at 7:15 this morning ready to get the party started! We had a fun filled day of presents, eating at Panda Express for lunch (his favorite restaurant), playing at the park, driving the neighbor's toy car, decorating his cake, sticking his fingers in the cake and then licking them, having the family over for pizza and cake, more presents, and more cake. He was very tired by the end of the day! Some of the presents he got were a remote control car, a doctor kit, some books, and Mack and Lightning McQueen from the Pixar movie Cars.

So proud of his Mack

Driving the neighbor's car

Everyone off the sidewalk!!

Decorating his cake with Dad

His race car birthday cake

Happy Birthday to you!