Dinosaurs!

I hate when Ammon is not here...  You know how some couples really benefit from a little time away?  Not us.  It's when we're apart when things can get sticky between us.  If we could spend all day, every day together, that would be great for us.  He's camping tonight with the scouts.  Then in the morning, they're playing some paintball.  I'm not sure when he'll be home but I know that I already miss him.  The boys and I made it through the day pretty well without Daddy here.  This morning, our church "mommy group" traveled down to SciWorks in Winston-Salem.  Today was the last day that their dinosaur exhibit was in town.  I wasn't sure Noah would like it... I actually thought he would freak out and want me to carry him.  We talked about dinosaurs all morning and how exciting it was going to be.  When we got there, Noah did freak out but in a GREAT way.  He loved the dinosaurs and had a blast going through the whole museum.

Noah and Genevieve playing with the dinosaur legos.

Grace, Peyton and Noah working the robotic dinosaur.

Future archaeologist.  So careful... Actually no.  He was using the brushes to fling sand EVERYWHERE!

Remember this show??

I have a video of this... This snake was shedding it's skin!  It was so creepy and disgusting but I couldn't stop watching it!

The boys.  Joseph, Peyton, and Noah

"A Fish!  LOOK!  A Fish!"

Noah got to touch the snake.  He wasn't scared at all!

Griffin and I came too.  Ammon says that Griffin always looks like a football player in pictures.  lol

This was cool.  They are magnetic so you can make up your own sequence and then make them all spin.  Neat.

Happy Birthday Ammon!

Ammon turned 27 this month!!  He is so old...  :)  We went down to the temple on his birthday and enjoyed going through a session together.  Will and Ginger went too and watched the boys while we were in the temple.  Thanks guys!  We're going to try and make this a monthly thing and I'm so grateful that Will and Ginger are making that possible.  Anyway, after the temple we went to eat at Qdoba - yum!  "Naked Chicken Queso Burrito.  Tortilla on the side, please"  Then we headed over to Hanes Mall and did a little shopping.  Ammon picked up a paintball gun that he found on Craigslist for $6!!  After the mall, we came home, changed clothes and headed over to the Lovato's for Peyton's 2nd bday party.  It was a super busy day but I think Ammon enjoyed it.  Since Ammon's birthday was so busy, we celebrated as a family the next day.  We made him his favorite brownies, let him blow out candles and open a few gifts.  And Ammon, since you're 27, here are 27 reasons why I love you:

1- You love the Lord, and live your life to please Him

2- You are a WONDERFUL father and someone I want my boys to strive to be like

3- You love to cuddle

4- You never complain...about anything!

5- You know how to work hard and enjoy it

6- You love to spend time with Noah, Griffin and me

7- You're patient - oh so patient!

8- You are so handsome

9- When you concentrate, you chew the inside of your cheeks

10- You radiate heat and can easily keep me warm

11- You are honest

12- You pretend to listen even when you're totally bored with what I'm saying (why do I still keep talking even though I know you've tuned out??)

13- You always know what I'm thinking

14- You do my "honey do" lists

15- You always kiss me when you leave or when you come home

16- You think my silly quirks are cute

17- You have great common sense

18- You have such a fun sense of humor

19- You wink at me because you know I love it

20- You know me better than I know myself most of the time

21- You are so laid back and always go with the flow

22- You love and respect your parents

23- You love playing games with me

24- You'll stay up through the night just to talk with me

25- You're goofy and laugh at my stupid jokes

26- You are so quick to forgive

27- You chose to spend eternity with me!!!

Rock On!

While we were visiting my family at Christmas, we played a little Guitar Hero 3?... I think it was 3, maybe not.  Anyway, here's Noah rockin' it out on the drums.  (ammon's doing the foot pedal)  "Rock on!"

Perfection

Griffin James @ 5 months

The Second Christmas Post

Ammon's sister, Joni, and her family made the long drive from Texas for the holidays!  We loved being able to see them.  The Sunday before Christmas, Grandma Douglas came up and we celebrated the day.  I didn't take a single picture that day so thanks to Joni for sharing.  :)

Grandmas Douglas and her great-grandchildren.

The family

Will and Ginger distributing the gifts.  We were all completely spoiled!

This one is for Noah- he's taking it to his pile of presents.

Lathen and Noah checking out their stash.

Noah got a train set!  This kid LOVES trains.

Like father, like son.

Auntie Eva got Noah this Thomas the Train flashlight.  It makes train noises too - one of his favorite gifts!

Kieralee got a beautiful dress.  Her baby doll got a matching one.  Cute!

Ammon's makeup kit.  Or was it Kiera's?

Thanks for a wonderful Christmas!  We can't wait to see you guys again.  Sometime soon, ok?

The First Christmas Post

Ok, so my first Christmas post is actually from our last Christmas trip.  I'll back track.  We left Christmas morning to go up to my parents' house for a few days.  We had a great time with the whole family.  Everyone was able to come - that's a whopping 19 people staying in my parents' house!  It actually worked out really well.  They have a great house for guests to be able to stay.  Between my mom, my sister and I, we took over 400 pictures.  Here are some of my favorites!  

 

Griffin has 2 cousins that were born right around the same time as him.  Mom and Dad got all 3 boys this ADORABLE bear outfit.  Here is Tate and Griffin doing their modeling session with Nana and Poppy.

Megan got Ammon and I this game called, SET.  We love it and played it a lot while we were there.  I'm not going to describe the rules right here but, if you know how to play and you see a set in this picture, PLEASE tell me.  We weren't able to find one.

Ok, this picture is horrible but I needed to try and document this.  We were hanging out in the living room and someone noticed all these birds landing in my parents' yard!  This wasn't all of them either.  They kept coming and coming!  It seriously made me think of the Alfred Hitchcock movie, Birds.  I couldn't get my camera to focus because they were moving so much.  I also had to take it through the window screen.  Crazy!  Noah thoroughly enjoyed this part of the trip.

My cute parents!

Me and my Daddy

Ammon's pretending to like me.

2 of my favorite sisters - Megan and Michelle

These two became great friends this trip.  They really love eachother and wanted to be together all the time.  This is Noah and his cousin, Toby.  They hugged a lot this trip.  :)

Our family after church

This is everyone!  We all made it to church on time and interrupted a Sunday School class to get this picture taken.  I can't remember the last time my parents had all their children at church with them.

Poppy loves his grandbabies.  He spent a lot of time holding each one.  Here he is spending some quality time with Griffin.

Here's Noah attempting a handstand amongst the presents.  Good job Noah!

Griffin James

All the grandsons.  Toby is holding Tate.  David is in the middle and Noah is holding Griffin.

All seven grandkids!  Kimmi is holding Griffin.  Then Toby, Tate, and Noah in the middle.  Alli is holding David.

Tate, David and Griffin in their bear outfits.  (i'm not sure what happened to the color in this picture)

Nana and Tate sharing a moment.  So cute!

Nana with Tate on the left.  Griffin on the right.

We went outside for a little while.  Here I am with Toby and Noah.  Toby's face cracks me up in this picture!

On the trampoline!  Kimmi, Noah, Alli and Toby.

A gift from Lolo.  How sweet is this picture?!

Lolo's birth control...  Griffin exploded!

Ammon and I.  Check out Ammon's shirt.  Megan had us reinact it.  I was the one on the left.  Ammon on the right.  It was hilarious!  Too bad Megan was the only one that saw it.

Nana and Poppy gave Toby, Noah, Griffin and Tate all a bath one night.  Noah and Nana after the bath.

Toby and Noah had tons of fun at bathtime!

Griffin and Nana after bathtime.

Pretty blue eyes.

Nana with the naked babies.  Tate on the left.  Griffin on the right.

One of the many hugs I talked about earlier.  So sweet...

After the football game.  Josh, Noah, Ammon, Andrew, and Drew

Making Tate and Griffin smile.

We really enjoyed our trip and we're so glad that everyone was able to make it.  Thanks Mom and Dad for everything.  We love you!