Pioneer Day Parade!

Our Neighborhood does a little parade for Pioneer Day and the kids love it. They decorate their bikes the day before and feel like little stars riding through the neighborhood (well, Joey was pushed, but you get it). Here we are three weeks later and they still won't let me take off the now ripped and torn and falling-off streamers. So here are the pics.

Joey

Luke

Mikey

4th of July

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!


Watch out! Fireworks!!!!

Okay, Luke actually wasn't all that afraid of the fireworks, but he did turn and run to me a time or two. He was actually always laughing, but I managed to capture this shot above...it's my favorite 4th of July shot. :)

So excited for festivities to begin!

Perhaps even more excited!

The wind made it a little difficult to light 'em up, but the boys got it done.

Happy 4th of July!!!

Summer Time

We're half way through the summer and having lots of summertime fun.

This was a little pool that Luke got for his birthday. It looked all sparkly and clean like this for about 10 minutes...then we turned our backs and Luke started throwing all the rocks and dirt he could get a hold of down in the water. Well, whatever makes him happy--it's his pool ;)

Mikey had a relatively good soccer season this Spring (that's relative to last Fall...the Fall was sad. Very sad.) He scored his fair share of goals and actually followed the ball around the field and even dribbling it now and then. :)

There is nothing the boys love more than camping. Luckily there is a spot in our yard that is still waiting for the finishing touches (i.e. mulch and swing set) so right now we have a great camping site, fire pit included. We couldn't even count the number of times Mikey said, "this is the best night of my life!!"

This is what summer is doing to Luke. At least a few times per week, Luke falls asleep in a random location that is not his bed, at a random time that is not night.

Mikey's first Graduation

This was a few months ago, but better late than never....

My handsome boy all grown up and graduating from preschool.

Seems like only yesterday....

His first day of preschool. He's so little and cute!

And now he's so big. After seeing Lance with his graduation garb for Law School, he was very excited to get to wear "the hat."

The kids put on a little show with some very fun songs before "the ceremony."

Joe wasn't quite as entertained...more like really tired.

But we sure loved it as Mikey is never one to shy away from hamming it up.

He did not disappoint.

Congratulations, Mikey!

Stuffing the Cake

I said I'd try again later with this video...so here it is. It was seriously so funny. He's like a missionary trying to hide the food he doesn't want to eat at some crazy lady's house (not that I ever did that or anything....) Funny kid. ;)

Happy Birthday, Baby Joey!!

My baby is 1!!! I can't say it enough, and I know every mom in the world says it, but man, does time fly. Joey is our happy, happy little baby--though actually not that little. At his one-year-old check up he was over 25lbs. None of the boys have caught Mikey, who weighed in at a whopping 28 lbs at one year, but he did beat Luke by just a little as Luke was just a little over 24 lbs. Joey is a champ at going up stairs and will stand for a few moments in the middle of the room, but no walking yet. He waves a little and sure yells, "mama" like a pro. He absolutely loves his brothers. Well, he might enjoy Mikey a little more than Luke at this point, simply because Luke hasn't quite mastered the art of "being soft" and gets a little rough with him. He can't get enough of mom or dad being down on the floor and playing with him. He loves climbing up on top of us and attempts to eat our faces, scratch and occasionally slap. He sure thinks it's all funny. It's sometimes a little painful, but he's so cute it makes it all worth it. We love our little man!!

We've called Joey our little monkey, so monkey cake it was! Heather actually had a form pan that I borrowed which made it turn out all that much cuter. :) I know, he didn't really appreciate it, but the rest of the little kids did and it sure makes for cute pictures.

One day-of-vacation's work. So worth it for my babies :)

My babies

Opening presents. Or I should say, watching his cousins open his presents. (Luckily he didn't seem to mind.)

And the best part of a one-year-old's birthday party.... As you can see, we gave Joey just the monkey head. He was the fastest of all my boys to just dive in. We didn't have to push his hands in at all! (We did with both the others).

But eating was not what he had in mind. After a little squishing, he started grabbing handfuls and just STUFFING them UNDER the tray! He just stuffed and stuffed and stuffed! I have an awesome video. It wasn't loading right, but I'll try to post it again later.

We did have to help him get a bite to his mouth. He tasted it a little, but was more entertained by his first choice. See that mostly empty tray...?

There it is! (Yes, I know what it looks like...but I assure you it is just cake :)

Then came the worst part of a one-year-old's birthday party...the clean up.

Happy Birthday, Joey!!! We love you!!!!

Happy 3 years, Luke!!!

I can't believe my baby Luke is three! Seems like only yesterday....

Days old

One year

Between one and two...

Two years

Between two and three...

I love this kid so much it hurts! He is the happiest little kid around and such a little mama's boy... and I love it! If I didn't have a business and house to run, I'd do nothing, but play with him all day long because he is so happy when I do. Love him.

We were in St. George for a little family reunion for Luke's birthday, and Joey's birthday is a few days after Luke's so we did a little joint party. But this post is about Luke so I'll get to Joey's later.

The cake. Luke LOVED it. He is still talking about his "black cake" and how his birthday is coming up again. (I probably could have just plopped a Batman figurine in the middle of square, black frosted cake, and he'd have been just as happy... but let's pretend that's not true) This was my third superhero cake (but second Batman) and I've resigned myself to the fact that there will be many more. I was originally planning something way more complicated, but seeing as I had two cakes to do while on vacation, I decided simplicity was the way to go. And actually, it probably looks better being simple than if I did something complicated.

Presents...

And back to the cake.

Forever my little sweetheart

(No seriously, when I ask him who my sweetheart is he says, "Lukey!") Happy Birthday, Luke!!! Love you more than ever!!