Three Guys and a Girl

Bedtime games…

2012-02-01T11:01:00.001-08:00

Noah and Griffin have shared a room for 2 years now. They are so used to having the other one right next to them. When we tuck them in, they laugh and talk for varying amounts of time until one of them falls asleep. Usually Griffin gives in first. Before Ammon and I go to bed, we always go in their bedroom to check on them and make sure they are comfortable and covered up. Plus, it does wonders for my soul to see my children so peaceful. My “mom tank” gets drained daily and seeing them sleep fills it right back up immediately. A couple nights ago, we walked in and didn’t see them in their beds. Upon further investigation we found them here:

Under Noah’s bed, with their pillow pets and squinkies. No doubt they were playing some game right up until the moment they drifted off to sleep. I was able to drag them out and tuck them into their beds without them waking up. The next morning when we asked them about it, Noah said, “Oh yeah… that was my idea.” That’s all we got about their fun night under the bed.

When it’s 70 degrees in JANUARY…

2012-01-31T18:20:00.001-08:00

We had a wonderful day today. It was unseasonably warm and I decided we needed to get out and enjoy it. We stopped at McDonald’s to grab some lunch for the boys. I don’t understand why they like that place so much… everything I’ve had on their menu is completely disgusting. Anyway, we took our lunch to the park and ate at the picnic tables. As soon as we were done eating, the boys ran around like crazy people!

Noah loves to hang from the monkey bars and rings. He swings front to back and then twists his body around while holding on. Finally, he hangs on by one hand as long as he can until he drops.

There’s hardly any baby left in this boy… :( Good thing lots of friends and family are having babies soon. If any of those pregnant people are reading this, please let me hold/snuggle/rock/smell your babies.

They knew exactly what to do here. Noah said, “Daddy says we need to start at one side and go all the way to the other side without touching the ground.”

Griffin can do just about everything Noah can. It won’t be long til Griffin is the bigger one.

Someone needs to come fill this sandbox again. It’s basically empty, but the kids still have so much fun here.

Trying to find a hand that matches their own.

We left the park and headed to the library. While in the car, Griffin informed me that he wanted to have 65 babies, but he wanted to keep them all at his grandma’s house. He said that he didn’t want to go anywhere with that many babies. :) It made me laugh. Noah said he was sad that he could only have one baby. I asked him why he could only have one and he said, “Because I’m only going to marry ONE girl.” We talked briefly about how girls can have more than one baby. He was excited with this new information and said that he wanted his wife to have 10 babies. Good luck to the women that marry these boys!

So, it was definitely time for some new library books. We had read our previous stack of library books umpteen times each. Llama Llama Red Pajama anyone? Llama llama red pajama reads a story with his mama. Mama kisses baby’s hair. Mama llama goes downstairs.

…

I picked out a bunch of new books while the boys played on the library computers. I found a chess book for kids (more on that later), a few books about bees (Noah is curious about bees right now), and lots of other fun books. I even found a silly songs book that Nana has. The boys think I’m pretty cool for finding that one. I love it when they think I’m cool. I wonder how long that will last… I picked up fliers for all the fun activities the library is offering and we came home.

While I was making dinner, Noah and Griffin played outside on the porch swing. Those two are the best of friends and it makes my mommy heart so happy to see them get along, which is seriously almost all the time. Rarely do they not want to be together.

Ammon came home and we ate dinner together. After dinner, Noah and I played Mario Galaxy 2 on the Wii for a few minutes. I wanted to squeeze in some time with him because Ammon made plans to take him to a chess club this evening. Right before they left, Noah started getting nervous and had a slight meltdown. He fears the unknown. He said that he really wanted to go, but was nervous about it. We reassured him that Daddy would be next to him the whole time and that they would come home as soon as Noah said he wanted to. Ammon kissed me like a man is supposed to kiss a woman and they were off.

This left Griffin here with me, a dynamic that doesn’t happen often. I asked him what he wanted to do and he said he wanted to watch Handy Manny in my bed (a movie we got from the library today). We snuggled in my bed until bedtime. He played hard today and it became apparent very quickly that he needed to go to bed. He started whining and getting clumsy. We said prayers, read scriptures and 2 library books. He asked for kisses, snuggles, and hugs (like he does every night) and I was more than happy to give him whatever he needed. It’s nice for him to get all the attention sometimes. Usually, it would be a problem for him to go to sleep without Noah in the room, but not tonight. I haven’t heard a peep since I closed the door. I guess he was too tired to care.

I hope Noah’s doing well. I’m assuming he is since it’s almost 9pm and the chess thing started at 7pm. He is so smart and the other day, he almost beat me at chess. For real. The kid is 5 and his brain is… brilliant. I told him that he could win trophies for chess and now he’s all excited to go to a chess tournament. I think there’s one in March in Winston Salem. We’ll see if he still wants to do it when that time rolls around.

I’m grateful for today… it was perfect!

Sora, Roxis, Cyclopse, Pit, Jake, Magneto, Mario, Luigi, Blue Toad, Link, and.. oh yeah, Griffin!

2012-01-27T13:50:00.001-08:00

This is Griffin, although he rarely goes by the beautiful name we gave him.

Every morning, he wakes up and informs Ammon and me what his name is going to be for the day.

Why go by your own name when you could have a cool superhero name like “Cyclopse” or “Magneto”??

Or if you’re not feeling the superhero vibe, why not steal the name of a video game character like “Blue Toad” or “Roxis”??

When he has an alter ego, he won’t answer to any other name. ~~Occasionally~~ Usually he can’t remember which name he chose to go by for the day and he makes us go through the list until he hears the right one.

His 3 year old self is, in his words, “duper duper cool”.

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

2011-12-22T17:29:00.001-08:00

A few weeks ago, we took the youth at church to a light display in Pilot Mountain. It’s one you can walk through and the kids always have a lot of fun. Well, it’s become a family tradition of ours to visit this display at least once during the Christmas season. Our boys had so much fun, they begged us to walk through it twice! In the freezing cold! Here are ~~a few~~ WAY too many pictures from our visit this year.

The talking/singing Christmas tree

This guy always creeps me out a bit… That poor penguin!

In person, this wreath is one of the prettiest I’ve seen. It’s huge!

The boys loved playing in this spot. There was a snow machine above that would turn on every 30 seconds or so.

Watching the talking/singing Christmas tree.

This snowman sings and dances!

As we walked through, we noticed these tree people. I love them and someday in the future, all of my trees will have faces too.

I think this one is my favorite.

Catching snow.

I hope Christmas always stays this magical for them.

Happy 90th birthday, Granny!!

2011-12-19T12:19:00.001-08:00

Granny is Ammon’s paternal grandmother. She is a wonderful woman that I have had the pleasure of getting to know and love over the past 7 years. She lives in Winston Salem and now that Ammon is working close to her, we get to visit a lot more often. The boys love to go up to her room, chat with her, eat a piece out of her candy dish and sometimes her leftover grapes if she has any. They sit on her electric scooter and wait for her coo-coo clock to go off. She’s always so interested in our lives and watches the boys with a twinkle in her eye. Thankfully, she still has a clear mind and it is easy to communicate with her. On Friday, December 16th 2011 Granny turned 90! The whole family came to celebrate!

When we started to sing, she started conducting us.

Clapping for our beautiful rendition of “Happy Birthday”.

Blowing out the candles.

We bought her some new shirts that hopefully she will enjoy.

I wish all our grandparents lived close enough that we could visit regularly. I miss them all so much!

One of our favorite traditions

2011-12-19T07:44:00.001-08:00

Every year, Gigi bakes tons and tons of gingerbread so that we can have a day building our own gingerbread houses. This year we had 11 kids in on the fun! Things were pretty hectic while the houses were being erected, but calmed down a bit once the decorating started. As soon as Noah’s house was built, he went off to play in the living room. It’s totally true to his personality. He just could not focus with that many people rushing around him.

Griffin drew up his plans and then Ammon helped him execute them. :)

Griffin had so much fun deciding what to put on his house.

Ammon, as always, was so patient and let Griffin have total creative control.

Almost done! Just adding some “snow”.

And a little more…

At this point, we took some group pictures so that people could leave if they needed to. Here’s Gigi with all the kids.

Not sure why Noah is only wearing one shoe…

After things calmed down significantly, Noah decided he wanted to work on his house.

He had “spikes on one side of his roof. On the other side, there was a hole that they decided to make into a monster’s mouth.

Making the monster…

The finished product! See the duck-like creature on the side?

Yeah, that’s a monster. :)

Noah loves to pose…

I have TONS of silly pictures of him.

The kids had free reign on the candy. Griffin took FULL advantage.

After everyone else was done, Eva and I made houses. This one is going to Granny.

I wish my roof looked like this. It makes me so happy.

Thanks Gigi for a wonderful day! We look forward to it all year and really appreciate everything it took to make this day possible. We love you!

Raggedy Ann

2011-12-06T15:54:00.001-08:00

After Halloween, I bought this wig on clearance. I thought it would be cute if Ammon and I dressed up as Raggedy Ann & Andy next year. (I have since found 2 other costumes that we’ll be using instead) Griffin found this wig tonight and had so much fun wearing it.

He’s a super fun kid with lots and lots of energy.

More energy than I have, but I try to keep up.

Since it seems like there’s no daughter in my future, Raggedy Ann will have to do. :)

O Christmas Tree

2011-11-29T12:59:00.001-08:00

The day after Thanksgiving, we went up into the mountains to cut down our Christmas tree. The boys actually enjoyed it much more than they have in the past because it was much warmer than past years. They loved running all over the place trying to find the perfect tree. Noah found one his size.

Griffin saw a chance to photobomb this picture and he took it! I think we should change his name to “The Photobomber”. He has photobombed countless pictures. This is one of the better ones. :)

These boys make up games wherever they are. This one involved falling into trees… I guess it’s a boy thing.

We found the one!

Ammon didn’t have to cut it down this year. The nice farmer did it for us. Here they are watching it fall to the ground.

And here it it in our living room! I’m pretty sure some of our ornaments are still in storage somewhere in Gigi’s basement, but I still think it’s beautiful. I took this picture with my Christmas present from Ammon. He got me a Nikon D5100 and so far, I love it! These pictures were taken at night, with the house lights off, and no tripod. Also, no editing has been done besides cropping.

The boys helped decorate the tree for awhile. When they pooped out, I finished it.

While decorating, my family heard me sing 3 songs.

The First Noel

Ding Dong the Witch is Dead (from the Wizard of Oz)

and the only clean verse of a certain song by Green Day that I wish I didn’t know the lyrics to. You do not want to get inside my head… It’s crazy in here!

Mom gave me this ornament a few years ago. It’s a picture of me when I was… 3? Maybe Mom will comment on it because I really don’t know the story behind it.

I accidentally caught myself in the reflection.

Then I became obsessed with capturing myself in the reflection. :)

If you look very very closely, you can see a little boy in his underwear running away.

Beyond the Christmas boxes in the background, the boys are playing a game.

Then they came to play with me!

It is VERY hard to hold a camera still with two children on you. Too bad this is blurry…

Look at my forehead!

Here’s another ornament I’ve had since I was a little girl and I don’t know the story behind it either. I want to say that my Aunt Chris gave it to me, but Mom? Is that right?

My sister, Michelle, gave me these trees as a gift a few years ago. I love them so much. I bought some miniature plastic bulbs last year after Christmas. They came in such fun colors and patterns. The boys begged to have the trees in the playroom and so far, we have not had any ornament grenades, bombs, snowballs or whatever else their little boy brains could come up with.

Family Home Evening

2011-11-08T06:45:00.001-08:00

Typically, our Family Home Evenings are… well, typical. We have a song and a prayer, followed by a lesson and activity. Then we have a family prayer and do the same thing the next week.

While playing the bowling app on my phone yesterday, Noah decided that he wanted to go play "bowling ball”. Since it was Monday and I had made no plans for FHE, Ammon and I decided that we would go bowling together for our FHE. We got to the bowling alley and they said all the lanes were full. The Special Olympics were there and were not going to be done for another 2 hours. Noah was sad, but Ammon told him that he had another plan.

We drove to Mayberry Mall and went to the arcade!

Here Griffin and I are playing Guitar Hero. Actually, right when Ammon snapped this picture is when Griffin told me that he had to go to the bathroom right then. It was unfortunate because I was totally ROCKIN’ some Pat Benatar. We had to abandon our game though and run through the mall to the restrooms.

And who doesn’t love Skee Ball?? It’s one of my very favorite arcade games.

They won lots of tickets on this basketball game. At one point, both boys were standing on the game while Ammon shot from behind.

With their tickets, they both got slap bracelets. Remember those?

We had a wonderful time together at our impromptu Family Home Evening.

The Greatest Show on Earth!!

2011-11-06T17:18:00.001-08:00

Back in February, we did something that was so much fun and I don’t think it ever got documented on the blog.

We went to the circus! And not just any circus… the Barnum and Bailey circus.

I absolutely love the circus. We went to a small one that came to our town last year, but it was nothing like this one.

Before the show started, we were able to look at all the animals. The boys were ready to leave after that. They thought that looking at the animals was the circus. :)

Noah and Griffin were captivated the entire time. If possible, I think I enjoyed it more than they did. There was so much to see at all times! We had wonderful seats and were able to see everything very well.

For the boys, the highlights were the man who was shot out of the cannon, and anything that had to do with clowns.

This was what Noah looked like anytime there was a clown around. He thought they were so hilarious!

And here we are with our favorite clown.

I can’t wait to go back!

Love smart

2011-11-04T16:21:00.001-07:00

I married a wonderful man.

He makes me feel adored and cherished. I’ve mentioned on here before that my inlaws take the boys once a month so that Ammon and I can go to the temple. Since we go to the temple so early on Saturday, it works out better if the boys spend Friday night with Gigi and Pap. This also allows Ammon and I to have a date night once a month!

I have loved having this time with my husband. I don’t worry (much) about the kids, because I know that Gigi and Pap love them so much and I’m completely confident in their ability to take care of my babies.

A few weeks ago, we took this opportunity to go to the Dixie Classic Fair. Ammon grew up going to this fair and I had never been. It was so fun walking hand in hand with the man that gives me “the feelings”. He did 15 pull ups at the army booth and won a free water bottle.

He almost won a free tv at the rock climbing wall. He came from work though and was wearing the wrong type of shoe. Next year though, that tv will be ours!

I was just telling him the other day how awesome he is. The guy is super smart… in all different areas.

He’s tech smart.

Outdoors smart.

Relationship smart.

Handyman smart.

Car smart.

Sports smart.

Physically smart.

Parenting smart.

Church smart.

Love smart.

He’s got so much going for him and I’m grateful that I get to be with him forever. Our journey together thus far has been wonderful. Growing old with my smart man is so exciting to me.

♥♥♥

gone fishin’…

2011-11-04T15:37:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago, we were able to go fishing at Jeff and Nanette’s home. (Jeff and Nanette are Ammon’s aunt and uncle) This was the boys’ first time fishing and they had so much fun! Gigi and Pap came, as well as the Huff’s.

Pap showed them how to reel it in.

Noah and Griffin were in the sweet spot… As soon as they cast their line, they would get a bite. I bet Noah caught 30 fish (at least!)

A Spiderman costume was a must. He even called his cousin, Lathen and asked him to wear his Spiderman costume too.

They were catching them so fast that Ammon didn’t even have enough time to put sunblock on his face before Noah had caught another one.

Look at those shirtless brothers. They are best friends!

Griffin is all boy. Who knew a bucket of dirt and worms could make a child so happy?

These are a couple of the fish we kept. Please excuse the disgusting bloody water. Gross…

Noah got the hang of it pretty quick and soon, was doing it on his own!

He smiled, Griffin smiled!! :)

Baby Griffin… who can no longer be considered a baby.

My 3 men.

I was there too!

On another note… I miss my nice camera SO MUCH! I love that my droid has a decent camera, but oh my goodness, I crave the fantastic shots I could get with my DSLR. I’m definitely not a pro, but I feel like I’ve been blessed with a good eye for photography. I guess I should be thankful that I’m documenting these days. It would be so sad if I had NO pictures.

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-04T13:29:00.001-07:00

The night began at our friend’s house. We visited for awhile and then headed out to walk their street.

Trick-or-treating is not like it was when I was a kid. It seemed like when I went out, every single house was lit up and I’d fill up my pillowcase in no time.

Things have definitely changed.

We weren’t having much luck at our friend’s house, so we decided to come back to our neighborhood and drive the car around. The boys wanted to trick or treat, but not walk and walk and walk in the cold, dark night.

I drove and Ammon and the boys sat in the back and I would let them off at the lit houses.

At 7:58 (his bedtime is 8pm) Noah said he was done trick-or-treating. He said he was having fun, and that he wanted to trick-or-treat next Halloween, he was just done for that night.

Griffin was having so much fun and wanted to keep going. Noah climbed up in the front seat with me and we had a wonderful time chatting and eating candy.

That boy is so wonderful…

At 8:40pm, we made Griffin stop. People were starting to turn their lights off and we already had PLENTY of candy.

I loved our evening together, as family. Here are a few pictures from before we headed out.

Noah’s trying to hold Griffin still so I can get a picture of him. He wants to do anything he can to please me. Noah insisted on wearing his worn out Spiderman costume trick-or-treating.

While Griffin is just fine being a stinker. Ay ay ay…

I could only get this super fake smile out of him. He has loved this costume to death. He wants to be a garden gnome next year too.

Noah’s First Wolverine Costume

2011-11-02T08:43:00.001-07:00

If you came over today and asked Noah to put on his wolverine costume, you’d see something like this.

Gigi got this for him for his 5th birthday, and he LOVES it! But before he got the real thing, there was this one.

One day, he just decided to make his own. He was tired of waiting for the real one and knew that he could do it. He was so determined. He colored it all the right colors, cut it out and made me take pictures so that we could show Dad. :)

He doesn’t like it when he puts a costume on and people think he is the real thing. So on this costume, he wrote “NOAH” on the mask so people would know that it was really him. : )

Check out those claws!

Noah is such a fun kid. When he gets into something, he is ALL in. At first, it was trains. Now, it’s superheroes. His favorites are Wolverine, Spiderman and Batman. In fact, for his 5th birthday, he wanted 3 cakes. 1 for each of his favorite superheroes. But that’s a different post…

I love that he followed through with a thought he had. He wanted a costume, knew he couldn’t have the real one, so he made his own.

And he did a fabulous job, if you ask me! ; )

A day at the pool…

2011-11-02T08:14:00.001-07:00

At least once a year, Cortney invites us over to her parents’ home for a swim party. This pool is so amazingly landscaped and is absolutely gorgeous. I have posted about it before, in this post. My boys love being able to go and spend time swimming with their cousins.

At this time, Griffin did not feel comfortable swimming on his own. He had to have his “cube” (tube) and his arm floaties and then he was fine.

He enjoyed just floating around the pool, relaxing. I forgot my camera, but was so glad I had my phone with me so I could capture this shot. Man, he’s cute!

This picture makes me laugh… Look at his toes!! Don’t worry, I’d still love him even if his toes really looked like that.

I didn’t get many pictures of Noah because after a few minutes, this is where he was. You may think that you’re looking at a pile of towels…

Nope! It’s Noah. He’s just like his mommy. We get cold VERY easily, especially in water.

Thanks for having us, Cortney! Can’t wait til next year!

Ward Halloween Party

2011-11-01T13:06:00.001-07:00

The youth were in charge of the Halloween Party which meant that I had lots of responsibilities while we were there. I knew I wouldn’t be able to take pictures once we got there, so we took a couple before we left.

Nerd Alert!!

Ammon and I dressed up as a nerdy couple which we can already pull off pretty well. We’re pretty nerdy…

Griffin, of course, was not in the mood to take pictures, while Noah is always willing to do whatever I ask him to do. Here he is kissing Griffin. (Noah’s idea) This year, Noah got to choose from a slew of costumes. He chose to dress up as Batman for the ward party and Spiderman for trick-or-treating. Griffin HAD to have this garden gnome costume as soon as he saw it. It is one of the cutest costumes I’ve ever seen. He has gotten so many compliments on it.

It was a fun party. We had a hot dog dinner, costume parade, halloween games, and a trunk-or-treat. There were tons of people there. A lot more than we expected, but it all went well. I am so glad that people used this party as a missionary tool. Hopefully, the visitors we had will come back. : )

Do you know this guy?

2011-10-25T19:08:00.001-07:00

Oh, Griffin… He is one of my very favorite people. Look at him all pensive and handsome. If I told you how many times per day I kiss those cheeks, you’d think I was kidding.

I think the correct number is 647. Pretty sure…

He is so silly. Ammon says that’s his gang sign. Haha.

He is definitely one of a kind. He likes to do his own thing, his own way. He is very loving and still lets me baby him a little. I think he always will. He’s just that kind of kid. Has so much need for physical affection. I couldn’t be more happy about it, really.

He does not make my job as his mom easy, but always worthwhile.

If you don’t know him, you really should because…

HE. IS. AWESOME!!

Time Out for Women

2011-10-25T18:50:00.001-07:00

This past weekend I had the wonderful opportunity of attending my very first Time Out for Women. I was able to go with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law. My mom met us in the convention center. When we were walking back to our cars, we realized that Mom parked RIGHT NEXT TO US! In all of downtown Richmond, she parked in the space right next to us. We thought that was pretty awesome.

As you can tell from this picture. :)

We were able to hear so many wonderful presenters. My favorite was this man.

Brad Wilcox.

This guy is amazing. Ammon and I heard him speak at a homeschool conference a couple years ago. We’ve also read his book, Continuous Atonement. Talk about a fantastic read. If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend that you do. His talk at this Time Out was so inspirational. I loved every minute.

Side note: He used to be Megan’s stake president.

My other favorite speaker was Mariama Kallon. Her story is unlike any I’ve ever heard. I was in awe of her ability to quote scripture and the Spirit she spoke with was undeniable. I will never forget her…

The rest of the conference was fantastic, but those two talks made the trip totally worth it.

I also had the opportunity to meet Linda Eyre and Shawni Pothier. I’ve looked up to these two mothers since I became a mom 5 years ago. They co-authored my favorite parenting book, A Mother’s Book of Secrets. I have read quite a few books by Linda and will forever be grateful to her for the things I’ve learned through her books.

The theme for this year’s Time Out for Women was “Choose to Become”. I feel very inspired to be become the woman that I was meant to be. I am so grateful that I was able to attend this conference and that I was able to go with these women. I love that I was able to share this with my mom. That we can talk about the things that we both learned while we were there. I can’t wait til next year’s Time Out for Women.

Atlanta… here we come!!

On my way…

2011-09-24T17:59:00.001-07:00

My wonderful Grandpa passed away this past week. For this reason, I am currently on a flight to Vancouver for the services. Actually, I'm on my way to Houston. And from Houston I’ll go to Portland where my mom will pick me up and take me to Vancouver. I would say I’m a fairly nervous flyer. Ever since we took a family trip and encountered some pretty wicked turbulence, flying is just not my thing. Especially by myself.

This morning, I had to say goodbye to my 3 boys. This was not easy for me to do. Before I left, Ammon offered a beautiful prayer. During this prayer, I got a little emotional and started to tear up. As soon as Noah saw this, he started to tear up too. He didn’t admit to it at first. Ammon asked him if he was crying and he said, “No. Tears are just coming out, but I’m not crying.” The more he locked eyes with me, the more tears flowed down our faces. Ammon told him that it was ok to cry if he was sad. This allowed Noah to let go and just feel the emotion he was having. I picked him up and we hugged for a long time. I had to pick him back up as soon as I set him down. It was just too hard to leave my baby when I knew he was so sad about me leaving. I kissed them all and told them that they were going to have lots of fun and that I would see them on Tuesday. About 3 minutes after I left, I texted Ammon to see if Noah was ok. Of course, he was completely fine.

I made it to the airport and got checked in. I got to the front of the security line and I handed my ticket and my driver’s license to the woman. She asked me if I had another picture ID. I told her that I did not and she informed me that my license was expired. I had to have a supervisor come look at all my credit cards, my license and my social security card before letting me through. She said I might have some trouble coming home… I sure hope not! I need to get home asap. Stay tuned to see how that goes…

So, I boarded the plane and it’s a small. Scary small. One seat, an aisle and then 2 seats. That’s it! I’m sitting in seat 14A. I’m right behind the emergency exit and ironically, I have a window seat AND an aisle seat. Take off was rough. No one to tell me it was going to be ok. No one to hold my hand. I miss Ammon. The 2 women next to me are loud. Before takeoff I was fairly annoyed with how loud one of them was being, but during takeoff, I found myself so glad that she was saying things like, “is that such and such river?! what road is that?!” It helped me focus on something other than the anxiety I was feeling. So, I listened to the annoying lady and watched a couple in front of me hold hands and I pretended like that was my hand in Ammon’s. Call me crazy, but it helped! I’m feeling alright now. We’ve been in the air for about an hour and a half and I’m just now feeling normal.

I took pictures of the clouds from my window. Noah and Griffin will love these!

Testing…

2011-09-05T21:28:00.001-07:00

Just downloaded Windows Live Writer and am currently using that to type up this blog post. I’m going to publish it and hope it works. And… publish.

Share the Love

2011-08-08T13:11:00.000-07:00

Well I am at it again. Jessica has taken some great photos of the kids at the beach and I'm going to do a poor job of helping her blogging them.

Noah and Griffin loved the water this year. In years past, it has been about playing in the biggest sandbox ever, but this time it was about the waves.

They got along so well with each other. One feeding off the other, having the best time of their lives.

They progressively go further and further out into the water. I was surprised at how brave they were, considering I couldn't consider either of them a swimmer yet.

The water was perfect and both wanted to be in it all the time.

They learned quickly how to manage the incoming waves. They even pretended they were fighting the waves and would attack them as they came crashing in.

We also found many cool things at the beach. We found shells, jellyfish, and crabs. Noah says he got pinched by one while playing in the water. From then on, he was deathly afraid of them. We later encountered a live one which Noah instantly screamed and ran from. Griffin, seeing Noah's distress, promptly stomped the crab saying "don't get my Noah!!" Griffin refers to this as, "I saved Noah from the crab with my water shoes." We couldn't have asked for better kids.

Griffin has been in love with miniature golf for awhile now. We bought a day pass and spent a whole day out playing it. Griffin was grinning from ear to ear the whole time.

We also enjoyed some time at MagiQuest where the boys waved their wands opening treasure chests and completing quests. This couldn't have been planned better as it was raining outside, but was clear by the time we got back to the beach.

All and all, the boys played hard and crashed every chance they got. We spent very little time sitting around but we also had so much fun.

Rock Climbing

2011-07-13T12:52:00.000-07:00

Well it looks like it is up to me again to let everyone know about some of the things going on. Poor Jessica is so busy being the best wife ever that she doesn't have time to post on here, which she loves to do. I'll try and help out, but it's kind of hard when she is better at most of the things she does than I am, including blogging.

Well here it goes...

We went rock climbing the other week up at Pilot Mountain. I have been wanting to get back into climbing and my sister Eva was wanting to pick it up. We decided to meet up and I'd show her how it's done. Of course, the boys loved the idea.

We started out by my testing the anchors and showing the boys how easy it is. Being a dad is the best, by the way.

Noah went first. I tied them a harness out of webbing and used a prusik cord for a chest strap. I didn't think they would have any trouble, but I wanted to be safe so they got the whole nine yards.

Noah, being our timid kid, needed a little encouraging but quickly started to pull up on his own. Of course, Griffin was ready from the word rock and couldn't wait for his turn.

Noah ended up going up pretty high. I was very proud of him and can't wait to get him back out on the crag.

Griffin is only 2 and has no fear. He couldn't wait for it to be his turn.

Griffin didn't quite get it but he was able to hold himself to the wall by himself. The better holds are a little reachy for a 4 and 2 year old. They did great though.

We spent a lot of time teaching and tying harnesses, but next time I'm sure they will get more time on the wall and progress faster. I'll scout out an easier climb for them.

Sister Megan Nicole Hebdon

2011-06-09T08:58:00.000-07:00

My little sister is a missionary!

She was called to serve in the Fresno, CA mission and has been out for about 3 months. I am so proud of her and the work that she is doing. My boys pray for her all the time and they are excited to see her again.

This week is the first time that we've gotten pictures from her!

Here they are (with her captions).

Hermana Harris and I at a zone bowling activity. She went home last transfer.

Dinner with the Cox family at this awesome italian restaurant.

A man named Dave we've been teaching. He's amazing!

The Kucherry family who moved into another ward.

Tonianne dropping me off at the MTC

MTC comps

Pigtail gym time

MTC district

She didn't put a caption on this one but, this is Megan with her MTC companions in front of the Provo, UT temple.

I miss this girl so much but, I'm so happy for her decision to serve a mission for the Lord. She inspires me and I look forward to her emails every week. The people of Fresno are lucky lucky people. They are blessed with my sister!

Granny

2011-06-04T18:46:00.000-07:00

Today we had a wonderful visit with Granny. (Ammon's paternal grandmother) We all love her so much. She is always so interested in our lives and every time I'm with her, she makes me feel like I'm a great mom. At today's visit, Noah brought his Leapster Explorer to teach Granny all about it. She let him sit right next to her and tell her all about Wolverine and the X-MEN. Even though I'm sure she couldn't hear/understand most of what he was saying, she was happy to give him the attention he was wanting from her.

We love Granny!

Silly Faces

2011-05-27T19:19:00.000-07:00

I couldn't bear to delete these from my phone...

Zoo with friends!

2011-05-27T17:49:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, we were able to go to the zoo with Cortney and her children. Cortney and I are just starting to do more things together and I love it! It's been a lot of fun getting to know her and her family better. Cortney and I married cousins, Ammon and Josh. She is a lot of fun to be around and is such a good mommy. I learn a lot just by watching her do her thing. : )

The zoo was tons of fun. We got to see quite a few unusual things. For one, we got to see the alligators being fed. I know that the ones in the zoo are mostly tame because they've been trained but, have you seen the show, Swamp People?? My sister, Michelle got me hooked on it and seriously... you would not catch me in an alligator habitat with a stick in one hand and raw meat in the other. Scary! We also saw a turtle eating a frog and a snake eating a mouse. Here are some pictures from our day!

From left to right:

Raelyn, Gracen, Morgan's head, Jack, Griffin's arm, and Noah

(not pictured is Everett)

Here they are watching the puffins. : )

Jack, Morgan, Noah, Griffin and Raelyn

We made a stop at a super cool park in the middle of the zoo. Noah and Jack climbed to the top of the spider web!

Griffin and Gracen.

Our zoo membership has gotten quite a bit of use this year. We used it at the NC Zoo a couple times, Zoo Atlanta, an aquarium, and the Columbus Zoo. The Columbus Zoo ranks #1 with us so far. It was so cool! Plus, that's where I went as a child so... it brings back fun memories for me. We'll need to renew our membership soon so that we can keep making wonderful memories for our children.

The best kind of math lesson...

2011-05-27T08:14:00.000-07:00

You guys probably all know that we live in Mayberry. Yep. Andy Griffith grew up here and the Andy Griffith Show was based off of this town. All the characters are based off of real people in Andy's life. Anyway, this is our town's claim to fame. We have tourists coming through all the time to visit all the "historical sites". We've never gotten into the whole hoopla. Never gone on the guided squad car tour. Never gone to Snappy's lunch or Opie's Candy Store. Until Wednesday. Wednesday I decided to take the boys here.

The place is full of candy. You can fill a bag for $5.50/pound. I showed Noah and Griffin how to work the scale. I told them that they could fill the bag until it weighed 16 ounces. They had a blast going around collecting candy and then running to the scale only to find out that they could get MORE candy. It was a good math lesson.

Despite how they look in this picture, they had a ton of fun! They ask to go back multiple times a day. :)

Canoe racing

2011-05-27T07:30:00.000-07:00

Our youth activity this week was... canoe racing! All the kids had a bunch of fun and we only had one canoe tip over. : ) Before the youth started racing, Ammon took our boys out on the water. They were both scared as soon as they stepped in the wobbly canoe. Noah got over it pretty quickly and went out a few times after their first ride. Griffin however, didn't like it at all. He didn't cry or whine but, when he got back on solid ground, he just wanted me to hold him. He kept telling me that he didn't want to get back on the boat because it was too scary. We'll see how long that lasts.

Strawberries!

2011-05-27T07:13:00.000-07:00

Last week, the boys and I went to a local strawberry farm with some friends. The boys had so much fun being "strawberry hunters". They were really good at finding perfectly ripe strawberries. We ended up buying 2 gallons. We had enough to make strawberry freezer jam, strawberry shortcake and plenty to just eat fresh. The freezer jam turned out really well. I used this recipe. If it ever stops raining around here, we plan on going back so we can make more jam and freeze some for smoothies. Yummy!

cracking eggs

2011-05-25T05:56:00.000-07:00

Griffin woke up early this morning.

Just like every morning...

I picked him up and took him into the playroom. I placed him on the lovesac, turned on the tv and pushed play on his Dora the Explorer dvd. I staggered back to bed and fell asleep.

zzzz...

The next time I woke up, it was because Ammon was talking. Here's what I heard:

Ammon - "Griffin, what are you doing?"

Griffin - "cracking eggs"

Ammon - "You're cracking eggs? Where are you cracking eggs?"

Griffin - "on the lovesac"

Ammon jumped out of bed and checked the playroom. Yep, sure enough, he had cracked an egg on our lovesac.

Why?

Well, according to Griffin, he wanted to "plant the egg in the dirt and watch it grow".

A few words to describe...

2011-05-08T20:31:00.000-07:00

... my mom.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom. I love you SO much!

I love to see the temple

2011-04-18T19:54:00.000-07:00

For about a year and a half, Noah has wanted to go inside a temple. Ammon and I go every month and Noah knows how special the temple is to us. He knows that he has to be 12 years old before he's able to serve in the temple. We found out that the Atlanta temple was re-opening after some renovations. Before a temple is dedicated, it is open to the public for tours. We knew we HAD to make it happen for Noah to go inside a temple. I called my sister, Michelle, who lives close to Atlanta and plans were made to go to the temple open house. Noah was so excited. So so so excited. We watched a short video about temples and were then escorted through the temple. Before we went in, they put shoe covers on our feet to keep the temple clean. They boys loved that part. Griffin actually cried when we had to give them back. I walked with Griffin and Ammon walked with Noah. Noah was in awe the whole time. Griffin asked to touch everything. : ) Their favorite part was the Celestial Room. It was bright and beautiful. There was a huge chandelier that Griffin thought looked like a christmas tree, and mirrors that went on for eternity. It filled Ammon and I with joy having our family together in the temple. I am so glad we were able to make the trip to the House of the Lord.

(Noah, Griffin, Tate, Toby, and Troy)

As we were walking back to the car, we realized we hadn't taken a picture yet. Here are the boys with the temple in the background. I was talking to my mom a few days later and and she said that I should ask the boys about the temple and record their answers. I tried but, it didn't go over so well. Here's how the conversations went:

Noah - Age 4

Mom- Where did we go on Saturday?

Noah - Temple and the zoo.

Mom - What was your favorite part of the temple?

Noah - Learning about all the rooms.

Mom - Which room was your favorite?

Noah - The most beautiful room of all.

Mom - Do you remember what that room was called?

Noah - (shakes head)

Mom - Did you get to keep something from the temple?

Noah - Yes! The thing that helps me remember the temple. But I don't need it. I can always remember. (we were given a brochure of the temple)

Mom - What did we have to wear in the temple?

Noah - The things that cover your shoes.

Mom - Why did we have to cover our shoes?

Noah - So we won't get the temple dirty... Is that enough talking? Because I'm trying to delete some pictures off my Explorer.

Griffin - Age 2

Mom - Where did we go on Saturday?

Griffin - The temple!

Mom - What was your favorite part of the temple?

Griffin - We didn't get the temple dirty. And we didn't get the zoo dirty. And we didn't get Toby's house dirty.

Mom - Which room was your favorite?

Griffin - That room and that room.

Mom - Tell me more about the temple.

Griffin - Can I get in Meeko's cage? (Meeko is our puppy)

Yeah, we'll have to do that again. They weren't very talkative when I tried to do this.

My family is awesome!

2011-04-06T07:18:00.000-07:00

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Well this one is worth a lot more than that.

And another one

2011-03-17T13:00:00.000-07:00

These are just some fun pictures from our busy lives.

Jessica looking beautiful.

And still beautiful with her new hair cut.

The boys got hair cuts too.

Noah loves video games. Notice the angry bird sitting next to him. :-)

Megen is now on her mission!

Noah is saving for his mission.

Life is good.

He is at it again

2011-02-28T05:25:00.000-08:00

Well it looks like I am going to have to catch everyone up again. I'm sorry, Jessica is so much better at this than me but she is super busy.

We have a new hobby, it is Geo caching. Basically you get longitude and latitude coordinates and then go out and find it. The boys call it "treasure hunting" because some of the larger caches will have kids toys to trade. It is out side with the family (and friends) so what else can you ask for. Check it out at geocaching.com. Here are some pictures.

This was our first find.

This one had tons of toys in it.

Kids love it.

Again kids love it.

Some are harder to get than others.

Some are up high.

Some are down low.

They are all an adventure.

Memories are for the making.

Quality time.

a and j...

2011-02-03T07:38:00.000-08:00

First of all, how adorable is my husband?? I love that he blogged the last few posts. He definitely got some wonderful memories on the good ole blog. As he mentioned, life has been totally crazy here lately. We're super busy.

All the time.

But, it's all good stuff. We love our little life and are really happy. One thing that I've been working on is Project Life. I attempted this last year and totally sucked it up. I took daily pictures for awhile and even edited them but, getting them printed and in the album with the journaling became difficult for me to keep up with. I am committed to doing better in 2011. This was my photo of the day yesterday, February 2, 2011.

Project Life is about capturing the things that make up your life. Yesterday, instead of taking a picture of my babies which, let's be honest, is my usual photo of the day, I decided to take a picture of one of my favorite possessions. Ammon got me this necklace for our 5th anniversary which we celebrated last July. I wear it every single day and get compliments on it all the time. I love every thing about it. It is so special to me.

a and j. ammon and jess. side by side... forever!

I love that Project Life is helping me to capture "life" instead of moments in that life.

I'll try to be better about posting on here. I really want to do that.

I know What We Did Last Summer

2011-01-06T11:02:00.000-08:00

I know what we did last summer but here are some pictures that didn't get posted that are worth seeing.

One of the boys favorite things about summer is going to the beach with my Grandma. She is very generous in letting us come play and the boys get great memories because of it.

This past summer was the first where both boys were able to really understand and enjoy the beach. They also have beautiful white skin that must stay covered in sun block or else the Sun would not be very nice to them.

A beach house would not be complete without a hammock. It is the only place the boys get exposed to one so it is an added treat.

I told Jessica when we had boys that she better eat it up while she can because the day will come that Dad will be the coolest. When it comes to boys being boys dad is the ring leader and I love every minute of it.

Griffin was kind of timid at first but he really does have no fear. Noah showed him what the deal was and soon Griffin was right there doing everything Noah would do.

I am excited for this summer. The boys have already started talking about going to Grandma's beach house.

Halloween

2011-01-06T08:19:00.000-08:00

So I noticed that there wasn't a Halloween post. I don't really have all the pictures Jessica does but I do have this one. Noah and Griffin are Thing 1 and Thing 2 from the Cat and the Hat. They won the costume contest my work had. There was probably 50 entries. Another note about this picture is their hair. We let it grow out just for this. We did our trick-or-treating on Saturday and the boys hair was cut before church the next day. I love my clean cut boys. :-)

Living the Busy Life

2011-01-06T08:09:00.001-08:00

Life never stops at our house and I know Jessica wants to blog more but just doesn't have time. I thought I would toss a few pictures up here just to keep things going and let everyone know we are doing great.

I'm so glad I married someone that makes me look good. It would be a sad sight if Jessica wasn't in these pictures.

Here is a picture of Griffin. He has to be the funniest kid ever. He is always saying the funniest things and his voice is the cutest.

This next picture I like because Noah and Griffin are becoming such good friends. They have started to play well together and really get along. Part of the reason behind this is that they share a room. This gives them plenty of time to build a relationship. It is also nice when they can share a bed when visiting family like in this picture.

Well I hope things will settle down now that the holidays are over and Jessica can get back to this blog stuff. She is way better at it than me.

~Ammon

Hi...

2010-11-09T07:39:00.000-08:00

I don't know what to say... I know that I want to say something, just not sure what that "something" is. I guess I'll keep typing until I figure that out.

How about an update?

My mind immediately goes to our church callings.

Ammon is still scoutmaster and 2nd counselor in the YM Presidency. He fulfills both of these callings well and has also had 100% home teaching record for 10 months in a row. (right love?) He is so inspiring to me. He is always thinking about ways he can better himself and ways we can better our family. I knew it was the right decision to marry him 5 years ago but, I'm just now beginning to realize why. He makes me better. He loves me unconditionally and is quick to forgive me of all my mistakes. Seriously. Lightning fast. He forgives me before I even get a chance to apologize. He makes me so happy. As I type this, I'm smiling because just thinking about him makes me happy. : )

I'm still serving as the YW President in our ward and I LOVE my calling. My girls are beautiful, inside and out. I enjoy spending my time with them and helping them through these tough years in their lives. I'm actually grateful that this calling takes up so much of my time because it's all good stuff. Serving the Lord by serving these young women has been an amazing experience for me.

Our boys are thriving. They are so full of life and energy and sometimes it's difficult to keep up but, they are so important to Ammon and me. We talk all the time about how beautiful and special they are.

Griffin is speaking so well. He started slow with the speaking and now he speaks in full sentences. I haven't been as diligent in teaching him sign language as I was with Noah but, he enjoys signing when we make him do it. He likes to sing and dance and be happy. He wakes up every morning at 6am ready to change the world with a smile. If only I could wake up so happy... He doesn't realize that he's smaller than other children. He thinks he can do anything and has no fear of pain or consequences.

Noah is still so smart. He's ready to read and I really should be more diligent in teaching him. His little brain is capable of understanding SO much. He asks us really deep questions on a daily basis. He's not satisfied with an "I don't know" or "ask me later" answer. He understands death and the plan of happiness. He loves the gospel and to hear him pray to his Heavenly Father is... inspiring. He enjoys giving talks in church and bearing his testimony.

Ammon and I have been blessed with the awesome responsibility of raising these boys. We realize this and put all our effort into doing the best we can with them.

So... I guess I wanted to say that I am grateful for the gospel and the role it plays in my family.

No Cavity Club!!

2010-10-31T19:55:00.000-07:00

Noah had his first trip to the dentist's office last month. He did wonderful. I used to work in a dental office and actually got to do the child appointments so I knew what to tell him to expect. He was very well behaved and the hygienist was very understanding when I told her that I wanted to take pictures. : ) Hey, it's just who I am, ok? I love pictures.

Getting his 20 teeth polished.

Griffin was so fascinated and watched the entire time from his Daddy's arms.

No cavities!

Checking out his super clean teeth. He's growing up so fast and I love the person he's becoming. My oldest baby...

Soccer Mom

2010-10-31T19:39:00.000-07:00

Noah started instructional league soccer this fall. He really enjoyed it at first. When they started scrimmaging though, we told him that he needed to go kick the ball. He got frustrated because he thought he had to kick the ball all the time. Once we cleared up that misunderstanding, things were good again. He really enjoyed soccer and we all enjoyed watching him. Ammon especially. Ammon is a phenomenal soccer player and for him to see his son play was a very special time for him. I'm excited to finally have the title of "Soccer Mom" and I know this won't be the last season of soccer for us. : ) Here are some pictures I took on picture night. There was no way I was paying a ridiculous amount of money on the team's pictures. Noah loves the camera and we always have to take multiple shots so he can use all of his silly faces. Love this guy...

Aren't those shirts the most obnoxious color?!

Date Night!

2010-10-31T18:51:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure why I don't blog anymore. I really don't. I love writing down my thoughts and documenting our cute little life... I'm going to be better. Here goes...

A couple weeks ago, Ammon and I got to go out on a date! Mount Airy was having their annual Autumn Leaves Festival so we decided to go check it out. It was so nice to go without children. We browsed all the vendor tents and just had fun walking hand in hand. We saw SO many people we knew. I love living in a small town... It's so fun running into friends whenever we go out.

Here we are before we started walking. I love my husband so much. He planned this night. First, we went to the festival. Then we went out to Ruby Tuesdays for dinner. I had the loaded mashed potatoes (i lived on these for a couple weeks after i got my wisdom teeth extracted. so yummy!) and a water. Then he took me out to Scoops. Scoops is an ice cream shop located in an old van. Seriously. It's a van pulled off the side of the road that sells ice cream. I like it. : )

While at the festival we enjoyed our usual. A funnel cake and fresh squeezed lemonade to share. Yes, I realize we ate like crap that night. It was one night. I'm ok with it. Apparently I'm a messy funnel cake eater...

It was a wonderful evening. Can't wait til our next date!

and I quote...

2010-10-02T07:30:00.000-07:00

"Rather than being judgmental and critical of each other, may we have the pure love of Christ for our fellow travelers in this journey through life."

-Thomas S. Monson

It doesn't get much cooler than this...

2010-09-10T19:34:00.000-07:00

Noah snapped this picture of Ammon and I (and Griffin) before we left to play giant dodge ball with the youth in our ward. Ammon had matching soccer jerseys that said "twins" on the front. We completed the look with soccer socks, matching tennis shoes, and headbands. Yeah, we're hott!

By the way, giant dodge ball was a hit! You just use those huge exercise balls to play the game. It was a lot of fun!

Brain freeze!

2010-09-10T19:22:00.000-07:00

poor buddy.

ps -- around here, no day is complete without some "pink chocolate milk" and unnecessary band aids.

5 reasons...

2010-08-24T18:38:00.000-07:00

I know I say it a lot but, Ammon is a fantastic dad. He really is. He is so patient with these boys of ours and let me tell you, that can be hard thing to do sometimes. Well, for me anyways. I love this picture and here's a few reasons why.

#5 - Griffin is wearing cute clothes that his Aunt Michelle got him for his birthday. He looks so handsome!

#4 - Griffin is wearing his fish backpack. The kid is seriously obsessed with backpacks. Or anything that can be turned into a backpack. If he had his choice, he'd wear a backpack at all times. Even when he's strapped into a carseat or going to bed. (yes, we've had to deal with those specific situations)

#3 - Griffin is sitting on top of the car. Ammon is always doing fun stuff with his boys. He understands little boys and knows what they think is cool or awesome. Me? I try but, I don't think they'll ever think I'm as cool as Daddy. And that's ok. I think he's pretty cool too. ; )

#2 - Tickling! Tickling is huge in this house. It's just so cute to see these boys laugh like that. I'll never understand why they enjoy it so much. I HATE being tickled. It's true. Just ask Ammon.

And the #1 reason I love this picture is... those adorable little wrinkles by Ammon's eye. Can't you just see how happy he is? I'm so grateful that our Heavenly Father blessed us with a family. And blessed us with Noah and Griffin specifically. We talk all the time about how lucky we are to have them. They are so important to us and to know that I get to be their mom FOREVER is an exhausting but also glorious thought.

Trains, Trains and more TRAINS!

2010-08-04T19:41:00.000-07:00

Back in June (the 12th) Gigi and Pap came with us to the NC Transportation Museum. That place is LOADED with trains. Noah and Griffin were super excited to see real trains everywhere. It was another scorcher of a day but, that's alright. We had fun anyway. It was unseasonably hot. Up near 100 degrees.

I've been having some trouble with my DSLR in lots of sunlight so a lot of these pictures are over exposed. I tried to bring it back down a bit when I was editing them.

Same train. Different angle. Gosh, I LOVE my little family of boys.

We were able to ride 2 trains that day. Here are the boys in the passenger train. They had us in a different car but, the ac went out. And the windows wouldn't go down. We were about to ask them to stop the train and let us off. Yep, the 100 degree weather sounded so nice from the inside of that train. They saw that we were miserable and moved us to a different car. One that had ac. Thank goodness. I can't think of another time I was THAT hot. Whew!

This was the other train we were able to ride. A caboose train! We were in the front of the line so, we got to sit up top. And the windows worked in this train. : )

Piatt boys. So handsome.

We also got to ride a rail car.

Gigi with the boys. They love her SO much!

What's this thing called? A switchboard?

love.

Learning the science behind train tracks and wheels.

Thanks for a wonderful day, Gigi and Pap. We really enjoyed ourselves and enjoyed spending time with you. Our children are extremely spoiled. They love trains and have been able to ride 4 of them! Not many 1 and 3 year olds get that opportunity. Love you!

Zoo Keepers

2010-08-02T19:23:00.000-07:00

We decided to brave the crowd and head to the NC Zoo on Memorial Day. Whew! It was crowded! And hot! Before we got there, Noah said he wanted to see a polar bear and a parrot. That's it. Thank goodness we were able to oblige. Gigi, Pap, and Ammon's sister Joni (and fam) were able to come too. We bought a year membership which gets us into other zoos and aquariums for free! When we were in Myrtle Beach we hit up the aquarium. The boys loved it! Here are some pictures of our day.

Here's Griffin, Kiera and Lathen watching the seals.

And again.

Noah climbed this huge rock and was so proud of himself! He doesn't know that he got a little help from dear old dad. : )

Watching the alligators. Or crocodiles. I'm not sure which.

There was this really neat water fountain exhibit. The water would stay low for awhile and then shoot up like a rocket. Pretty cool.

This was Noah's reaction when he saw it.

The boys were able to ride the carousel. Noah HAD to be on the eagle (in the background) and Griffin picked the zebra. I thought Noah might freak out once it started moving but he did great. Loved every second. And of course Griffin loved it. That kid loves everything and has absolutely no fear.

As the day wore on, the clouds got thicker. It down-poured for quite awhile. We tried to stay dry but after about 15 minutes, Noah and Lathen started running around and splashing in the puddles. For some reason, Noah held his shorts up the whole time. I guess he didn't want them to get wet?

We had a great time but the rain was getting to be a little much for the kids. Griffin was exhausted and falling asleep in the stroller while getting pounded by rain. And Noah could not get warm. We headed back to the car for some dry clothes and lunch. Before we even got onto the main road, Griffin looked like this. Noah toughed it out a few minutes longer but soon looked like this:

We're excited to go back!! Once it cools down a little.

sigh

2010-07-31T19:17:00.000-07:00

This is what I want to do all week. I'm so tired. We've made 4 big trips this month. One to Virginia. One to Myrtle Beach. One to the Smokey Mountains Railroad and one to Georgia. Plus a few day trips. Like today. Today, Ammon and I were able to go to Raleigh. It would have been nice to sleep in but we weren't going to give up the opportunity to visit the temple. Gigi kept the kids and now we're all up here on the farm together. We'll spend the night here and head off to church in the morning. After church though, it's nap time. For everyone. We've been running so hard. So fast. I feel like I could stay home all week and not get stir crazy. We don't have much planned this month so I'm welcoming August with open arms. What about you?

Sister Week

2010-07-28T11:30:00.000-07:00

We're in GA for the week! It just kind of worked out for all of the Hebdon sisters to get together. : ) We're missing Steph, Drew's wife, but really enjoying our time together. The boys are having a blast and are getting along really well. From left to right we have Griffin, Noah, Tate, and Toby.

What's gonna work?

2010-07-13T19:09:00.000-07:00

Teamwork!!

We don't have cable. Or satellite. Or whatever you need to get more channels. Specifically Nick Jr. But, my boys watch some shows on the computer. They love Wonder Pets and Griffin busted out part of the theme song a couple weeks ago. We were finally able to catch it on video on Sunday.

Home too soon...

2010-07-12T18:18:00.000-07:00

Our vacation was not long enough!!

Little Miss Sadie

2010-06-24T18:54:00.000-07:00

Ammon and I were yard sale-ing a couple Saturdays ago. We stopped at this crappy yard sale. All they had was boxes of junk. As we turned around to leave, I saw this puppy on the porch. She wanted to come down the steps but was timid about it because she was so small. I made a comment about how cute the puppy was and the lady in charge of the yard sale told me that I could take her for free. When I heard that, I went over and picked up this fuzzy, white, floppy eared puppy. It was love. Mutual love. I fell in love with her right there on the spot and she did the same. She was obsessed with me. I asked Ammon if we could keep her and it was obvious that he felt like I put him on the spot. The lady wrote down the name and phone number of her friend. (her friend was the one trying to get rid of the puppy) I told her that we would discuss it and I'd call her later. I said goodbye to the puppy and got in the car. We drove 30 yards to the stop sign and I couldn't go any farther. Ammon agreed that we could take her and I made him turn the car around. I stepped out of the car and the woman laughed that I was back so soon. She said, "I had a feeling you'd be back." : ) She emptied a small box and I loaded up the puppy and off we went. We were told that she didn't have any of her shots, and that she was a pomeranian, chihuahua mix.

Introducing... Sadie!!

She is a sweetheart and really LOVES us. She wants lots of love and attention which is a good thing because she has two little boys chasing her around every chance they get. We're still in the middle of housebreaking her which, I'm not gonna lie, sucks. I get frustrated in the mornings when I have to clean her cage and the linens in the cage. She's 9 weeks old, maybe 10 weeks now. Her appearance has changed a lot since we got her. She used to have adorable floppy ears and now they stick straight up. I wasn't a fan at first but now, it's growing on me. Life with a puppy is stressful but, seeing the way my boys love her makes up for all that.

Happy Weekend!

2010-05-29T05:55:00.000-07:00

(photo taken Mother's Day 2010...)

We're gearing up for a great Saturday. The babies and I need to do about 30 minutes of cleaning to get the house back in order. Ammon is off doing some service. He's always helping someone. Usually, it's me. But sometimes, other people get the benefit of his awesomeness. He made an orienteering course this week and will have some of his scouts run it this afternoon. After the boys have their nap/rest time, we'll head up to the mountains to spend time with family. We're going to cook over the fire and enjoy each other's company. Then I get 2 more days with ALL my men. Not looking forward to Tuesday when I have to send Ammon off to work...

We were supposed to have a yard sale last weekend... It rained so we postponed it to this weekend. Well, the weather dude was calling for rain again so we postponed it. Again. And you know what? It didn't rain yesterday morning and it hasn't rained this morning. What gives weather dude?

Petting Zoo @ Food Lion...

2010-05-21T20:12:00.000-07:00

For our playgroup today, we went to a free petting zoo that was put up in the Food Lion parking lot... Random!

As we were approaching the stalls, Noah covered his nose and said, "Woah! This place STINKS!" He has a very sensitive nose. Just like his mama.

There were lots of animals there. Monkeys, lemurs, a kangaroo, tiger, baby tiger, snake, ponies, a calf, and a camel. But the favorite among ALL the kids was, the goats. I told these 2 (Noah & Peyton) to smile at the camera. Noah was too fixated on the goat, so Peyton helped move his head in the right direction.

Griffin has no fear. He was loving these goats. He picked up feed off the ground and put his hand right up to their mouths. But that's not the only thing he put up to their mouth...

Yes. He's kissing the goat.

I think my kids would have stayed here all day. This particular goat knew exactly where the food was. As we were getting food out of the dispenser, he was wrapping his head around trying to grab the food out of it.

Griffin and Ammon watching the tiger...

After the petting zoo, we all headed over to the park.

Griffin loved this rocket swing... I don't know why I call it that. It doesn't look like a rocket. Well, whatever it is, he loved it.

A good day.

Picnik - time...

2010-05-12T05:47:00.000-07:00

Ammon emailed me yesterday and said that he liked this picture of us.

I told him I'd photoshop it but it's just so hard to make it down to the basement during the day to work on the desktop. I started playing on Picnik and after a few clicks, I came up with this:

Then this:

Followed by this:

And finally this:

How do you make it through the store?

2010-05-12T05:27:00.000-07:00

Me? I promise them candy...

Don't judge. : )

Gentlemen

2010-05-05T11:05:00.000-07:00

The other day, Noah told me that he saw flowers "over the bridge" and he wanted to pick them for me. "over the bridge" means on the other side of the deck. : ) Ammon is teaching our boys to be such gentlemen... All 3 of them pick me flowers any chance they get. Noah treats me with respect and sincerely apologizes when he slips up. Ammon and Noah (especially Noah) hold the door for me any chance they get. : ) They all hug and kiss me and tell me that they love me daily. We're raising some good husbands in this house. They're going to make their wives feel so loved!

I need photoshop on my netbook.... I tried to doctor up this photo using picasa and i'm not happy with it.

NieNie love...

2010-05-04T09:12:00.000-07:00

Do you read NieNie? I do. This video is beautiful. And so is she...

Griffin's morning routine...

2010-05-03T09:15:00.000-07:00

Griffin is doing a little better in the sleeping department. He still wakes up in the middle of the night at least once, sometimes 3 or 4 times, but all we have to do is tuck him back in his bed, and he falls back asleep. Ammon and I alternate night duty. One night it's his turn, the next it's mine. Ammon spoils me occasionally and gets up with him on my nights. I think he's beginning to understand how precious sleep is to me. Griffin used to wake up anywhere between 4:30am and 5:30am. He's now sleeping in til about 6:30am and instead of crying until we come get him, he comes out of the bedroom, shuts the door behind him and comes into our room. He stands next to Ammon and whines until Ammon picks him up and lays him in between us. Now, Griffin doesn't want to sleep. No no no. He wants to play. And when Ammon and I refuse to open our eyes, he opens the drawer to the nightstand, pulls out the remotes and wants Ammon to turn on the tv. We lay there, none of us sleeping, until it's time for Ammon to start getting ready for work. This morning, the routine was the same except for one thing. Once the tv was turned on, Griffin laid between us again. He reached over to his daddy and pulled Ammon's hand on top of his chest. Then, he took my hand and did the same thing. After that, he put his little hands on top of ours and pushed. It's like he needed to know that we were there. Griffin is such a lover. He loves to hug, kiss, and cuddle. He's such a big baby and I love that about him. I hope he always loves his mama the way he does now. I hope he never becomes "too cool" to spend some snuggle time with me.

Preaching it

2010-05-02T19:17:00.000-07:00

Noah was asked to read the scripture in Primary last Sunday. The topic was Joseph Smith. Ammon had found 4 pictures for Noah to use to memorize this "talk". They went through it one time. ONE TIME and Noah had it down. Gigi was visiting our ward and was able to see him do it in Primary. The boy did amazing. He held the microphone with both hands, looked at his pictures and recited the entire thing. Made his mama cry. Later that evening, he did it for Pap and the Huffs. Nana and Poppy weren't able to see it so, we did a little reenactment the other night before bed.

Ammon thinks it's comical how he's banging his scriptures while reading. Preach it, man!

Friday Flashback

2010-04-30T19:35:00.000-07:00

Ammon is not home atm. The babies are sleeping. I'm being lazy. I'm sitting on our bed watching "The One with the Cop" and looking through the pictures on Ammon's laptop. I came across some pictures I had scanned in while visiting my parents about a year ago. These were taken on July 17, 1993 - my baptism day.

Look at my parents!

My daddy baptized me. I'm so grateful I've always had the priesthood in my home. Then and now.

I remember the water was freezing. I was so nervous even though Dad and I had practiced many times. I wrote in my journal that day... I should dig that up and post it on here.

Look how tan my arms and legs are! But not my hands and feet?? What's up with that?!

Being married is fun!

2010-04-30T19:02:00.000-07:00

Ammon and I enjoy doing sweet things for each other. One thing Ammon does is send me these sweet pictures via email. Now, I'm not sure where he stole these images from so... if they're yours, please don't get mad.

(apparently this is is from Paula... Thanks Paula!)

This is my favorite one... This happens to us all the time.

I love my husband!

Letter Sounds

2010-04-22T19:12:00.000-07:00

I've been working really hard with Noah lately on his letter sounds. Cortney suggested I get Leap Frog's Letter Factory DVD. I got it at Target for $10 and put it in the car dvd player. I usually don't let the kids watch movies in the car if we're just running errands around town. Only on long trips but with this dvd, I turned it on every time we got in the car. I figured they were stuck in their seats and had to hear it. Then throughout the day, I would quiz Noah on his letter sounds. He picked them up SO quickly!

And here's what Griffin has learned so far. Adorable...

Train Expo

2010-04-22T07:31:00.000-07:00

Gigi got word that there was a train expo going on a few weekends ago. We weren't sure what to expect but knew that we couldn't pass up a chance to let Noah see some trains. When we first got there, we happened upon this elaborate train set up with multiple tracks, multiple trains and all sorts of interactive city scenes and landscapes. Noah stood up on a metal folding chair and was in a trance. Trains are serious business to him. This was his expression the entire time we were there.

He hardly said 2 words. He wasn't interested in pushing all the different buttons to make the city scenes and landscapes do their thing.

He just wanted to stand on this chair and watch the trains. There was a Thomas train that he could "drive" but he didn't care.

This was the place for him.

Griffin enjoyed driving the Thomas train, though.

Here's what Noah did... He tuned everything else out, including me.

These are some of the things found around the track. A city fair.

A playground. When you push the button, everything moved. It was really cool.

A little target practice. The ducks actually fell over. Cute!

This was my favorite though. A drive-in movie. And what was the main feature? ME!! : )

Noah had a great time and asks me all the time if we can go back to the train expo. I guess we'll make the trip again next year.

Easter Playgroup

2010-04-22T06:43:00.001-07:00

I was in charge of our playgroups during the month of March. This was our Easter playgroup. We met at the church and had an Easter egg hunt. The kids enjoyed it so much, we had to do it 2 or 3 times! We had Easter cupcakes and the kids all got goodie bags too.

Isaac, Christian, Noah, and Genevieve.

Then Griffin wanted in on the picture too. : )

Measles

2010-04-16T19:33:00.000-07:00

This poor guy had measles this week! Well, "vaccination measles".

Saturday he was around a horse, lambs, and the sun. He was very fussy on Saturday and his head was super hot. I assumed it was just sun exposure. He's super sensitive to the sun.

Anyway, on Sunday he was still hot but again, I dismissed it as a slight sunburn.

Monday morning, he woke up with a rash on his face, belly and chest. It wasn't awful and it didn't seem to bother him at all. I called my mom and she said it sounded like Fifths Disease. Ammon and I did some online research and that's what it seemed to be.

Tuesday the rash hadn't changed.

When Griffin woke up on Wednesday, the rash had spread across his entire body. Everywhere. Even his fingers and toes. It still wasn't bothering him but because it was getting worse, I decided to take him to the doctor. Plus, I have him on a much slower vaccination schedule. We don't let our kids have combination shots and only allow them to get 2 shots per visit. That made me nervous too. Like maybe he caught some horrible disease that he hadn't been vaccinated for. The doctor said it could possibly be Fifths Disease but that Roseola was a better fit. Once I brought up the fact that we had just been in the office a couple weeks ago for shots, it's like a lightbulb turned on. He said, "Did he get the measles shot?" I said, "I'm pretty sure." He got all excited and said that he has "vaccination measles". Apparently one out of twenty kids reacts to the shot about 12 days after it's given. Griffin is one of those kids. : ) The vaccination worked, he's immune to measles but, this is the downside to wanting to protect him from that awful disease. He's not contagious and I'm glad the rash didn't affect him much.

It's now Friday and if you look closely, you can see a very faded rash. It's MUCH better. Thank goodness. My baby... He's such a sweetheart and I hate to see him sick.

Spelling Woes

2010-04-16T19:06:00.000-07:00

Background info -- The boys and I visit Ammon at work quite a bit. Every time we do, Noah looks at the letters on the building and says, "R-E-N-F-R-O... Renfro!"

So today, the boys and I had to run to Target. I love their diapers... Seriously, if you're not using them, you should. They're cheap and they work really well. Anyway, it's a 30 minute drive so we don't go very often. Today we were walking up to the store. Griffin was on my left hip and Noah was holding my right hand. As we got close to the store, Noah said, "T-A-R-G-E-T... Renfro!!" It made me bust out laughing right there in the parking lot. I said, "That spells Target sweetheart, not Renfro." Immediately he said, "Oh. I thought words on buildings said Renfro." Ha.

What a great stage of life he's in. He's so eager to learn, although he's always been that way. I think he'll always have an inquisitive mind. I just hope I can keep up!

A Day in the Car...

2010-03-28T19:20:00.000-07:00

We spent most of our day in the car. Towards the end, the boys were getting a little annoyed with each other. They are definitely brothers!

He loves me...

2010-02-26T11:31:00.001-08:00

Story behind the picture...

This was taken on our wedding day. We had just finished taking pictures and Mom and I went in the Visitors' Center at the DC temple to change clothes. I still don't know what happened but somehow, my clothes got in the wrong car and that car had already left. I had nothing. I didn't want to wear my wedding dress all the way home (2hours). My new husband came to the rescue with this little number. A button down shirt so I wouldn't mess up my hair, pajama pants and my wedding flip flops. : )

I got an email from a friend this morning saying that she forgot to remind us earlier, but if any of us could make it, she'd like to have playgroup today. We didn't have any previous plans so, I got all of us ready and we headed off to playgroup. We got back around 12:30 or so. I checked my email and read one from Ammon that said "call me". I called him, even though I knew he was out for lunch, and got no answer. A few minutes later, Ammon pulls in the driveway. This is unusual because he rarely comes home during his lunch hour. He said he was just coming to check on us because he had been trying to get ahold of us all morning. He thought maybe a tree had blown over, fell on the house, and killed me. I guess I should explain that... Last night, Ammon and I were laying in bed talking about all sorts of stuff. The wind really started to pick up and made me nervous. I started saying things like, "what if a tree falls on our house?" "what if it kills us in our sleep?" "what would our boys do?" "how long would it take for someone to find the kids?" There were lots more questions but... they scare the snot outta me so, I'm not going to even mention them. The point is, Ammon was worried about us and came to make sure we were ok.

This has happened a lot lately.

A couple weeks ago, I was at a mutual activity at the church. I told Ammon that I would be home late because I had to go grocery shopping after the activity. Well. The man has selective hearing. Bad. I went to the activity, went to Wal-Mart and got home around 10pm. When I got home, Ammon said he had been terribly worried. He had called members of our ward who were at the mutual activity, trying to track me down. He called the local hospital to see if I had gotten in an accident and been admitted. The boys were asleep so he had made arrangements for someone to come stay at the house while he drove around town looking for me. Luckily I got home before that happened.

Probably about a month ago, the phone line wouldn't work. Our phone goes through the internet and for some reason, the internet went out and I didn't know how to fix it. I couldn't call Ammon to let him know and I couldn't email him either. I just figured I'd have a productive day without any distractions. Ammon couldn't get up with us and came home during his lunch break again to make sure things were alright.

Sometimes I get moody. One morning, Ammon and I were not seeing eye to eye. I don't even remember the topic but I know I felt frustrated and upset. We weren't communicating well which we're usually very good at. I wish I remember what this was all about but, apparently I've let go and forgiven him. : ) He left for work and it was obvious that we were both still frustrated. I decided the moment he walked out the door that this was ridiculous and that I should drop it. At that moment, all I wanted was to apologize and hug him. I probably cried. Not even 5 minutes later, he pulls back in the driveway. He walked in and we didn't say anything. We just hugged. We each apologized and I felt so grateful to have married a man who cares so deeply about me.

I'm glad he worries. I'm glad he cares. I can't think of a single day in our marriage when he hasn't told me that he loves me.

Project Life - week of February 14th

2010-02-22T19:30:00.001-08:00

Valentine's Day! I saw this idea on a blog and knew instantly that I would make this for Ammon. I bought a 6 pack of IBC Cream Soda and saved the bottles and caps. After washing them, I filled them with different snacks, made a label for each bottle, covered the box and embellished. Ammon really liked it and took it to work to show it off. : ) He surprised me on Saturday with my favorite dinner - lettuce wraps from our local thai place. He also surprised me with a romantic comedy and made plans for us to make a time capsule! I love my husband!

We've gotten A LOT of snow lately but most of it seems to fall overnight. This day, it started snowing as soon as we woke up and the boys and I got to watch it fall. Magical.

Poor Griffin was sick this week. He got sick on Sunday and was miserable. We tried to comfort him with all the snuggles he could handle.

New Beginnings! Here are the cupcakes Ginger and I made for the event. I did all the detail work!

Griffin wasn't getting better so we went to the doctor today. Double ear infections.

The only thing he ate for 4 days - popsicles.

We've made it to the temple 14 months in a row! I love going to the temple with my husband.

Stuck in bed...

2010-02-21T14:34:00.001-08:00

Not much else to do but watch the olympics and blog.

This past week has been crazy busy for our family. I had New Beginnings on Wednesday which meant a lot of work beforehand. A LOT. The Mutual theme for this year comes from Joshua 1:9. "Be strong and of a good courage". We decided our New Beginnings theme would be "Be strong and of a good courage - It's a jungle out there!" We set out to find anything that could contribute towards our jungle theme. It just so happens that a lady in our ward had a jungle in her attic! Seriously. She had everything we needed! We put a mosquito tent thing up and decorated that with pink and white sheers. She had palm trees and safari outfits. She had stuffed jungle animals as well as wooden ones. She was so generous in letting us use her things. She helped decorate as well as my secretary and her sweet daughter. I had to leave the decorating party early because Griffin needed a nap and he was pretty sick. I came back later that evening (tuesday) and they had done so much work without me! I feel blessed to have friends who give of their time and talent... I needed to be home with my baby and they saw I was in need, and jumped right in to help out. Wednesday came and the program went great! They walked into the jungle and we had really cool jungle music playing - thanks to Ingram. The girls really enjoyed the evening and learned all about the new Personal Progress program. They received their new Personal Progress books and the ribbons that they've earned thus far. They really loved the jungle animal cupcakes Ginger and I made and want to learn how to make them one Mutual evening. So... New Beginnings was a success! During all the stress of getting ready for this event, Griffin was sick. We were certain it was just a cold but it seemed to be getting worse. I called the pediatrician's office on Wednesday morning and they asked if they could call me back. I said that was fine and didn't hear back from them all day. I took it as a sign that Griffin didn't really need to see the doctor and it was just a cold that he would recover from soon. That night was awful. I got home late because I had to clean up from New Beginnings. Ammon had to pack for a trip to Minneapolis. He was leaving at 6am Thursday morning. Griffin couldn't sleep. He hadn't eaten at all this week. I was starting to get worried. Morning came and Ammon left for Minneapolis. The boys woke up and Griffin immediately started screaming. I couldn't comfort my baby. He wanted me to hold him but wanted down at the same time. He was writhing and touching his ears. He was crying like I'd never heard before. We sat on the couch - both of us sobbing. I called the pediatrician again and they asked if they could call me back. I said no. I told them that they said the same thing yesterday and that I never received a call. She tried to argue this point with me and I asked if I could just make an appointment. 9:30. Great. We were there early. I told Noah that he needed to be a big boy and do what Mommy asked. He whined at first but as soon as we got to the doctor's office, he was great. I was really proud of him. As soon as the doctor walked in, I had to fight the tears. I needed her to fix my baby. She listened to his lungs. They were clear. Phew! She looked in his throat. Slightly red. She looked in his right ear. Infected. Left ear. Infected. :( I was grateful for a diagnosis but heartbroken because I hated to see him in so much pain. We got 2 prescriptions and headed to Walgreens. Prescriptions were filled and as soon as we got home, I gave them to Griffin. He napped 4 hours that day! I missed Ammon like crazy while he was gone. He called late Thursday night and I cried to him for 30 minutes about all sorts of stuff. Another sleepless night. Friday I was determined to be happy for my kids but I was starting to feel sick too. We stayed home but I got them bathed and clothed and played WITH them all day. Griffin started eating again - thank goodness. He went 4 days without eating. Ammon got home from his business trip and I felt a sense of relief. Our monthly temple trip was scheduled for next Saturday. Gigi and Pap watch our boys when we go to the temple but they'll probably be in Texas next Saturday because we're getting a new nephew any day now!! Hopefully sooner than later, for Joni's sake. : ) We called Gigi and Pap and asked if they were available on Saturday to watch the boys. They were. We moved our temple appointment up a week and felt great that we didn't have to miss this month's trip. We've gone 14 months in a row! I'd hate to mess up that streak... Gigi came Saturday morning to pick up the boys. I felt horrible but still wanted to go. We went to the temple and then ate at Panera. Yum! I wanted to go to Target because they were having their semi-annual home clearance. I scored some curtains, napkins, and potholders. We also got Griffin some frog rain boots to match Noah's, easter basket fillers, and super hot swim trunks for Ammon. They're adorable. It was fun to spend a little money. We got back up to Gigi and Pap's house and the boys had a wonderful time. Saturday night, no one slept again. Griffin woke up in obvious pain. At first we didn't know what was wrong but through our own diagnostic testing, figured out it was stomach pains. Ammon gave Griffin a father's blessing and I rocked him until he calmed down. I put him in bed and he couldn't fall asleep. Ammon laid with him til 1am. Noah woke up at 4am and woke Griffin up too. We told them it was still nighttime and they went back to sleep until 6am. Noah and I have caught this sinus junk and I feel miserable. The boys and I stayed home from church - which I hated. I had a lot of responsibilities to take care of but there was no way I could go. I sent Ammon with a list of things to do for me. It was our ward conference today. Ammon took great notes and shared those with me when he got home. We sat at the table and I listened to him talk about the different things that he was impressed by at church. I watched him clip my coupons. I've never had to ask him to do that for me. He just does it. Cute. Ammon fed the kids, bathed them, jammed them and got them ready for bed. They're sleeping now. I'm not really sure what the point of this post is... I'm exhausted. And sick. I feel like my blog is all pictures and no words. So there ya go. Some words.

Project Life

2010-02-19T13:12:00.000-08:00

Noah took this picture before we left for church. He wasn't pointing it at us so, that's why we're leaning so bad. At least we're in focus. Noah loves taking pictures... I think we'll get him his own camera one of these days.

Both of my babies enjoy the "I Spy" books. They spend lots of time pointing things out to each other.

Ammon grew up with a wood stove and has wanted to put one in this house ever since we bought it 18 months ago. We found a used one in great shape and with the help of Pap, got it installed in our basement. Ammon is thrilled and so am I! I am always ice cold and this has helped a lot!

Stud.

During playgroup, the boys decorated Valentines cookies. Well, Griffin did more licking than decorating. : )

We stopped by Daddy's truck while he was playing racquetball to give him a Valentine's surprise! The boys made these valentines. Noah made the white one and Griffin made the pink one.

The boys and I went up to Gigi and Pap's house so Gigi and I could make 60 jungle animal cupcakes. The boys were so good! They understood that all the attention couldn't be on them. Here they're watching Wonder Pets, I think. We don't get tv channels so this was a special treat for them!

Project Life

2010-02-19T11:43:00.000-08:00

We finally have use of our LoveSac again! Ammon bought this for me when he was trying to date me. : ) Ha. That boy did anything he could think of to try and win me over. Anyway, it's been stored in the basement until we moved the boys in the same bedroom. Now it's in the playroom and gets used everyday. Church was canceled this particular Sunday due to snow. It was a relaxing day for all.

The first time I made roast beef in the crock pot. It was delicious! And the homemade mashed potatoes... Yum!!

This picture makes my heart smile. He is so amazing.

Noah's been taking swimming lessons and has been hesitant to put his face in the water. He put on a pair of Daddy's goggles in the bathtub one evening and the boy had no fear! We went on the hunt for a good pair of kid goggles and found a winner!

Part of their nighttime ritual. Reading a Curious George story. I love my 3 men.

I bought these adorable rain boots for Noah while we were at Target. He doesn't have snow boots so, I thought these could double as rain and snow boots. I would have bought some for Griffin too but, they didn't have his size. Noah put them on once and complained endlessly that they were "too big". I tried to tell him that's just how rain boots are but, he would have none of that. He hasn't put them on since but Griffin is obsessed! He brings these boots to Ammon or myself ALL THE TIME and wants to wear them. We actually had to hide them it was happening so often.

Griffin loves to play in the snow!! On this day, the snow was starting to melt and Griffin had the best time splashing in the puddles. Noah isn't a fan of the snow. He says it's too cold. He watched us play from the front window. : )

Three Guys and a Girl

Bedtime games…

When it’s 70 degrees in JANUARY…

Sora, Roxis, Cyclopse, Pit, Jake, Magneto, Mario, Luigi, Blue Toad, Link, and.. oh yeah, Griffin!

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

Happy 90th birthday, Granny!!

One of our favorite traditions

Raggedy Ann

O Christmas Tree

Family Home Evening

The Greatest Show on Earth!!

Love smart

gone fishin’…

Happy Halloween!

Noah’s First Wolverine Costume

A day at the pool…

Ward Halloween Party

Do you know this guy?

Time Out for Women

On my way…

Testing…

Share the Love

Rock Climbing

Sister Megan Nicole Hebdon

Granny

Silly Faces

Zoo with friends!

The best kind of math lesson...

Canoe racing

Strawberries!

cracking eggs

A few words to describe...

I love to see the temple

My family is awesome!

And another one

He is at it again

a and j...

I know What We Did Last Summer

Halloween

Living the Busy Life

Hi...

No Cavity Club!!

Soccer Mom

Date Night!

and I quote...

It doesn't get much cooler than this...

Brain freeze!

5 reasons...

Trains, Trains and more TRAINS!

Zoo Keepers

*sigh*

Sister Week

What's gonna work?

Home too soon...

Little Miss Sadie

Happy Weekend!

Petting Zoo @ Food Lion...

Picnik - time...

How do you make it through the store?

Gentlemen

NieNie love...

Griffin's morning routine...

Preaching it

Friday Flashback

Being married is fun!

Letter Sounds

Train Expo

Easter Playgroup

Measles

Spelling Woes

A Day in the Car...

He loves me...

Project Life - week of February 14th

Stuck in bed...

Project Life

Project Life

sigh