A Super Great Week!

Besides the fact that last week was my birthday week (see post below), we had a really great week just hanging out together. We LOVE summer and the extra time we get to spend together with family and friends!

This really, really neat rainbow appeared over our backyard the other night after a brief rainstorm. You can't see the second rainbow that is above the really bright one in this picture, but a full, double rainbow is an amazing site - trust us!

I started swimming lessons a couple of weeks ago. This is a picture of daddy and me getting ready to go to my lesson. My teacher is a bit too chatty, but I'm getting quite confident in the water. On Monday afternoon, we decided to take a drive and ended up at Cascade Springs which is up American Fork Canyon. Daddy was the only one who had been here before - it was a great place to do a little hiking. The views were really pretty and it was very peaceful!The water just bubbles out of the ground - daddy says that's why it's called a "spring". We found some cool animals while we were there -

fuzzy plump caterpillars . . . .

Chipmunks . . . and a little water snake that we didn't get a good picture of. Good times!

Sam Alert: Hey everyone - Sam here. I got my first haircut this week. I really do have some hair - it's just hard to see in pictures because it is baby fine and blond. Here I am after my haircut.

This is where I got stuck while everyone was out looking at the rainbows the other evening. Me and Copper just watching out the window! Is this fair?

And for those of you who don't know me all that well, this is the "real" Sam! Aside from all the teething and seperation anxiety that I am trying to get over, I have quite the adventurous and mischievious streak! I really am a funny guy!

Family Pictures

We have gotten in the habit of taking family pictures every summer around the boys' birthdays (to document how fast they are growing up) - here are the latest for your viewing pleasure.

BrothersSamuel - age 13 monthsMason - age 3Our little family . . .

Happy Birthday to Me!

Well - finally, after months and weeks of waiting, the big day has finally arrived - my third birthday. The first words out of my mouth this morning (after "Good morning Daddy" - which mommy loves to hear because it means she gets to sleep in) were "It's my birthday!". I have been thinking about and dreaming about my birthday for a long time and it was definately worth the wait!

We started the day with swimming lessons (more about that this weekend) and then went to get family pictures taken (more about those in a future post as well). Then, after a much needed nap, birthday time arrived. Here is a picture of my cake - it's a Thomas the Tank Engine cake that daddy and mommy made for me. Note the mountains with a cabin on the top - Thomas and Uncle Noley's cabin - - two of my most favorite things in the whole wide world.

Ahhh - corn on the cob and birthday cake. What more does a three-year-old need? Blowing out candles sure is hard work!

Thanks to everyone who came over to visit me or called me on my birthday. It's always great to share good times with family and friends.Cake - who needs a plate and a fork? Not me! I got lots of really great presents this year - roller skates, cars, water toys, books, games, and lots of train stuff. Sam gave me this cool travel tote for some of my trains.Aunt Jen Jen and Uncle Michael got me a Cranky the Crane set (part of Thomas' stuff). I love it!And daddy and mommy got me my very first bicycle. It is sooooo cool!With a little bit of practice I'll be cruising the streets in no time! Thank you to everyone for a great birthday!

Sam Alert: I know it wasn't my birthday today, but I enjoyed helping get ready for Mason's big day. I was the biggest help with making his birthday cake. Ok - so my help was mostly licking the beaters - but I was good at it and that's all that really matters!

Rain, Rain - Go Away . . . .

Hey everyone . . . Here are some random pictures from this week. We have definately had a wet spring this year. It means some little boys (who shall remain nameless) are full of energy, just a tad bit grumpy, and definately ready to be outside.

Here we are getting the mail and picking up fallen branches in between storms.

Today is Daddy's Day - We had a great afternoon with our daddy and Grandpa L. over at Uncle Noley's. Here we are playing Tinkertoys. Happy Father's Day to our wonderful daddy!This is a picture of me and the cabin mommy and I made. If it's too rainey to go to the cabin, at least I can have a minature one to look at!We made some new bug friends this week. Mommy brought home some ladybugs and we let them go one evening around our rose bushes. They seemed to really like it here - must be lots of little bugs around for them to eat.

We hung the last of the ladybugs up in a tree so they could crawl out on their own. Very cool!Here's to a warmer, sunnier week!

Sam Alert: Yo ho ho - - - Sam here. I have officially learned how to go down stairs (relatively safely) all by myself. I am also learning new words as well as how to put myself back to sleep in the middle of the night. There are so darn many things to learn - it's crazy! This is just a cute picture of me trying on Uncle Noley's hat.And this is me playing with the tinkertoys this afternoon. I don't know what all this fuss is about for some kind of Father's Day. Our daddy is great every day!

It's Raining . . .

It's Pouring . . . .
The Old Man (and Woman and baby brother) are Snoring . . .

Ok - we all know how the song goes - - but no one ever told me it was a true song! It has been such a rainy June so far. We decided to spend Saturday up at the cabin with Uncle Noley and Aunt Chris.

I decided that I was a moose for the day. A moose eating peanuts and apples with caramel dip of course

We brought up my T-ball stuff and got a good round of playing in before the rain.

Even baby Sam got in on the T-ball action.Then the rain started . . . . and it rained and rained . . . and the lightening and thunder came . . . . But it didn't stop me. I went out and played in it. I found a great puddle that was perfect for washing my rocks. Finally I got wet enough . . . and cold enough . . . that I agreed to go inside. Huge mistake! We watched it rain for awhile.And watched the rain some more - my pants are on the heater and my socks and shoes are in the oven to dry out.

Then slowly, but surely, the parents and Sam fell asleep. That's where the snoring comes in!

Fortunately, Uncle Noley and Aunt Christy were good enough sports to stay awake with me! I played and told stories and played some more. No napping for me! Finally daddy and mommy and Sam woke up and the rain had stopped. So we went back outside and played more T-ball. Then daddy and Uncle Noley found some naughty caterpillars living on the trees. We cut down the branches they had made little nests on and started up a fire. "Roasted caterpillars" - not as good as roasted marshmallows!Question - how do you scare a caterpillar?

Answer - you growl at it!!!

Thanks for another great cabin day!

Sam Alert: Hi Ho everyone! I'm definately working on a mouth full of teeth. But other than that, I'm doing great!
This is a picture of me running the T-ball bases with daddy. You can't tell but I'm laughing the whole way!Hum - who knew that dirty old rocks don't taste great? They taste a little bit like daddy's oatmeal!

Fun with . . . Sprinklers, Temples, New Parks,

and T-Ball!

So what do you think all these things have in common?

The answer: we did them all this week.

First we got out our fun new sprinkler and played in the back yard. It is cool - it squirts water straight up and sideways. You can also drop balls in it and it squirts them up in the air and holds them there with the water. Super cool!

Then on Thursday we had reservations to go to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House which is just down from our house. It was really neat. We went with our neighbors Randy, Ludaun, and Bart and their family. When we got there we ran in to our next door neighbors, President & Sister Homer (Bob and Rhonda). I got a VIP ride with Pres. Homer around the parking lot.Here is a picture of all of us together.President Homer gave us our own special tour of the temple. It was great! He even let me climb down in the baptismal font and touch the water. It was warm - and the reason I know that was warm is that more than just my finger got wet (ok - my finger and my leg)!!! He said I was probably the first person to go in with the water all filled up.And here is a picture of our family.Then this weekend mommy took me and Sam up to this cool lake and park right near our house that we didn't know about. We met our neighbors Mary & Stratton there and they showed us around.There was this really cool river that we got to splash around in. This is me and Mary.And here is a picture of me with mommy.Let's just say I was very happy . . . there was water and lots and lots of rocks to throw!Then we got out my T-Ball stuff and I started batting practice. Daddy said he was "surprisingly impressed" with my hand/eye coordination - and my ability to hit the ball. Why does this suprise him? I am 2 years old after all!Sam Alert: Hey everybody! I've been a little under the weather this week. We thought it might be some teething - yes new teeth are showing up now! But I also probably have a bit of a bug on board as well. Hopefully the bug will move on really soon. This is a picture of me digging in to some Spaghetti-o's. It's more fun to eat when you can make a big mess along the way.Daddy was in charge of getting me dried off and dressed after my bath the other night. Part of those duties involve hair-combing and teeth-brushing. This is how my hair ended up . . . straight up!Mommy refuses to cut my hair still. She says it is sooo blond and fine that you can barely see that I actually have hair so she doesn't want to cut any off yet. What do you think? Daddy thinks I have a big comb-over. We'll see how this ends up . . . .