Nammy Turns 70!

Last month we celebrated Nammy's 70th birthday, a great excuse for a family gathering. Since the week prior was cold and snowy, we were all thrilled to see sunshine and wanted to soak it in as much as possible. So Nammy's birthday celebration turned out to be a picnic lunch on the deck! We even had cake and balloons on the deck - the kids enjoyed letting the balloons go and watching as they flew way up into the sky.







Rachel enjoys kicking the soccer ball with Nammy and Mommy. Good kick Pumpkin!

Nammy tries to convince the kids that picking weeds is fun!

Uncle Pete ("Oh-Me") takes the last bit of snow in the yard and throws it into the air, giving Rachel a brief spring snow shower. Carson watches in delight and tries his best to imitate.

"Oh Me" throws the ball up in the air while Daddy holds the kids on the deck railing. How fun for them to reach out and grab the ball!

Carson Turns Two

Carson reached the ripe old age of 2 last week, hard to believe its been two years since his birth! He loved his ice cream cake, especially the M&M's on top of the cake, which he finished off just after blowing out the candles. He had fun opening his presents - some in California during our trip, and some back home in Utah. Even though he probably doesn't understand the concept of a birthday yet, he definitely knew it was his special day and he thoroughly enjoyed it. Rachel loved sharing his cake and helping him open his presents. She even had one present of her own to open, much to her delight.

Trip to California

In March we took a trip to California to visit John's family. The warm weather was a welcome change from our snow-covered yard in Utah. The kids loved playing at "Bama's House", as Carson called it. They picked all the berries from Grandma's bushes (sorry Grandma) and had lots of fun digging in her garden beds (fortunately she hadn't done her spring planting yet).







Grandma took us to a great park during our visit which the kids just loved. Rachel had fun on the horses and Carson loved the swings. We even had a chance to feed some ducks!







One day we ventured out to Chuck E. Cheese's. Carson loved the rides and Rachel loved the pizza and cotton candy. Carson's favorite was the bulldozer, what a thrill for him to ride his very own bulldozer! Rachel loved the driving machine, but we are glad her driver's license is a long way off - she needs a little practice.







Here are the kids in the airport on the way home. We found a great backpack/leash to keep track of Carson (he loves to wander) and Rachel got to hold Carson's leash a few times. Carson loved to look at all the airplanes as we walked through the airport.

Wintertime Fun

Although this has been a fairly mild winter in comparison to last year, we still have had our share of snow and cold weather. We've been playing inside more, and bundling up well when we go outside. Last weekend we made some yummy chocolate cupcakes using coconut flour, our new favorite flour which we try to use when cooking (much healthier). Carson loves chocolate and was delighted to lick the spatula, and Rachel dived right into the bowl to lick up what was left.





Rachel enjoys dressing up and walking her pretend doggy around the house. And Carson loves to try on Rachel's boots and use his lawn mower. He is always carrying a handful of things wherever he goes, usually his tools and his stuffed animals (his word is 'namal').



The kids enjoy playing outside, Rachel especially since she can now put on her own snowpants, boots and mittens. She is finally at the age where she will keep her mittens on. Carson takes his off at every opportunity, despite the cold temperatures. Rachel loves to build snow castles and made some great ones yesterday, complete with a leaf on top!










Carson loves to use his pretend snow-blower outside, just like Daddy! You can see that Carson enjoys his 'binky'. We swore we would never be the kind of parents to give it to our children all the time, just for sleeptime only. But Carson has won that battle through some persistent and very loud screaming. We have decided that peace in the house is important too. And most parents I've talked to say that by age 4 they can be weaned from it in a week or two. I would love to hear comments about your experiences and advice with pacifiers.

Christmas 2008

What a wonderful Christmas: lots of family, lots of food, lots of fun, and even lots of fluffy white snow. The first visitors to arrive were Grammy and Grampy so they had a day to play with the kids and adjust to the altitude. Uncle Pete and Aunt Jen arrived in time for a bowl of 'chow-dah' before we all headed out to a Christmas Eve service. Rachel got to join the adults this year and even wore her pretty Christmas dress - what a doll.







We continued to celebrate our favorite Christmas Eve tradition of indulging in just appetizers after the church service. We had our usual full spread - yum, yum, yum. Rachel enjoyed taking pictures while the rest of us were eating. Most of hers were of inanimate objects like tables, rugs, curtains, etc. - she is still working on her aim. But fortunately someone had the sense to grab another camera and get a few pictures of people.







Christmas morning started out fairly quietly. The kids aren't at the age yet where they get up at 6am to open presents (thank goodness). So most of the adults were up before the kids! But once they were up, the unwrapping was in full swing for over an hour and when the dust settled the living room resembled a toy store that had just exploded. Below you will see Carson and Rachel testing out Rachel's new baby stroller, Carson showing his genius side, Rachel trying out her new sleeping bag, and Carson sizing up his new clown toy.

The day after Christmas we were lucky enough to have Paul and Kelly visit and add to the fun. Rachel had lots of fun playing with her older cousin, and Kelly was a very good sport about playing with toddler toys. She and Rachel really hit it off. Even Carson seemed to enjoy having another 'little person' around.

Uncle Pete was called upon to put his snowman-making skills to the test when Rachel and Kelly wanted to build a snowman and the snow outside was nothing but fluffy powder. Since the snow would not pack, Pete improvised with a very large snowman, or snow-blob. But at least he has a hat, eyes, and a nose!

Thanksgiving 2008

As we sat all around our Thanksgiving table Rachel summed it up well when she said, "This is the best Thanksgiving ever!". We enjoyed a wonderful visit with Grandad for several days before Thanksgiving. He had fun reading to the children and Carson loved to sit in Grandad's lap and play with 'forbidden fruit' up on the countertop (literally, the fruit bowl). Uncle Pete and Aunt Jen joined us for Thanksgiving weekend and had lots of fun playing grocery store and playing 'Old McDonalds' with Rachel (this is what she calls McDonalds). Turned out to be a fun week for all, despite the colds that Rachel and Carson developed.

The last two photos below were taken after Thanksgiving, but seemed worthy of posting. One is Rachel all dressed up in outdoor gear, and her princess high-heel shoes, complete with sunglesses. She has a wonderful imagination! The last photo is Rachel and Carson playing with their indoor fire truck, a toy they both love but rarely do they sit on it amicably together. A rare moment captured on camera!