Double Birthday

All Adi wanted for her birthday was to go to "Golden Corals". Since their birthdays are so close together, we decided to celebrate both Adi and Dexter's birthday over the weekend. He didn't seem to mind. :D Adi picked that little cake for herself so she wouldn't have to share. haha

Once our guts were busted, we went to the mall to stroll around. Jessica and Jake were there the entire time, even for the "Golden Corals". At the end of the evening, they got us all a piece of decadent chocolate. yum yum

Happy birthday my sweet babies! We are so glad you are in our lives.

Bedtime

Something that frustrates me to no end is getting the kids ready for bed. Nighttime is not a good time for me, not because of them, but because of my anxiety. It seems to only get worse after dark and it's really difficult to put the kids to bed in a nice and peaceful manner.

Duane has recently started doing the dishes before bed. Sometimes he'll end up doing them at 7, which is the time I usually start getting everyone ready for bed. For the first little while we just waited for Duane to be done. By then it was 7:30 or 8. Things aren't pretty for me at that time when there are short people out of bed and I'm the only adult in sight.

The other day I had a revelation. I could be getting Dexter ready for bed while Duane does the dishes. What an idea!! har har

So I tried it. To make things even better, I got Adi ready for bed too. Avan helps Duane with the dishes so I have the littles all to myself.

There really is something to the "phrase divide and conquer." Bedtime is still a little stressful, but not nearly as much. Plus I get more hugs! =)

Dishes

Duane, Avan and Adi Mae were all doing the dishes. I could hear water running and dishes clinking together. The best thing, however, was the singing. "God is bigger than the boogie man..." They were singing all together. :) I've been waiting my entire life for that one moment. haha =) =) ♥ ♥ ♥

Christmas

I was very frustrated when we were doing the photo shoot for the xmas card. The kids weren't doing what I wanted and I had a very specific idea in mind for the card. In the end, I decided we could just try again another time. I thought the pics I'd taken were garbage. When I plugged the sd card in a little later to see if there were any worth saving, I was humbled. There were pictures of my babies being happy in the snow. I wished I'd had a better attitude about the entire thing. What is better for Christmas than kids being happy in the snow?

Happy Birthday Avan!!!

Avan wanted to go to Jungle Jim's for his birthday. We found this one in Murray and the kids absolutely love it! They have rides, games and pizza! We had so much fun celebrating our intense and awesome Avan!

Look at that face! Look how happy he is! I love, love, love that smile!

He was so patient with Dexter stealing his frosting. ;)

Here he is playing the tablet grandma Kentucky gave him. He adores it. :D

And here he is talking to our family in Peru. They sang to him over the phone and that made his smile only get bigger. Happy Birthday Avan! I'm so glad you came into our lives. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Halloween

They have all worn this adorable dragon for Halloween! I love its poofy but.

Bath Time!!

Look at that hair, will ya? He's a good lookin' dude!

Popsicle Time

The kids enjoy popsicles after our walks.

Also, this guy has been hanging out around our flowerbed...

...can you see him?

Easter Conference

For Easter we went around Temple Square and visited the Cristus.

We actually went to listen to conference. Did you know conference is played over speakers on Temple Square? Truthfully, we didn't do a lot of listening. It was really difficult to try and get the kids to hold still when they wanted to wander. Still, I think it's such a perfect combination! There were lots of people with picnics and laying out on blankets. Maybe when the kids are older it will be easier. I wish they did this at every temple!

Adi and Dexter's Birthday!

This is Adi's third birthday and Dexter's first! We went to the Living Planet Aquarium. There was also a shark tunnel and penguins and all kinds of fun things!

My sweet babies are always investigating new things.

Boys

I love the light in our front room, and I love my boys! :D

Christmas

Growing Boy!

Crocodile tears. :(

Growing Boy!

Dex is starting to get into more and more trouble! He likes to make messes, but usually does so when he's trying very hard to help. He loves to help!

Lunch With the Mayor

Duane was chosen to go to lunch with the Mayor this week. Only a couple of kids are chosen each month!

The reason Duane was selected was because he returned 3 coupon books when they gave us more than we had ordered. They thought that was really honest of him. =)