Favorite Past-Time

One of Mason's favorite thing to do is feed the "quack-quacks." So many mornings he will wake up asking to go to the river. Justin doesn't get to go with us very often, so we took advantage of his afternoon off and took Mason to feed the ducks. And he loved every second of it!

And then he got hungry and decided to eat the bread. . . which was fine until he realized that that meant we finished sooner. . . dang it!

I love to take Mason to feed the ducks, not only because he loves doing it, but I love being near to the Temple. I love seeing it over my shoulder and having it remind me of what's most important in my life. I love the reverence that even my two year old little boy feels for it. I have so many blessings in my life, and I often get caught up in the day to day things and that causes me to sometimes forget. I am so grateful for my eternal family and the promise that will be together forever. I am grateful to my Heavenly Father that he gave me my little boy to help remind me of that.

Our Sunday Best

The kids looked so cute all dressed up for church on Sunday that I had to take their pictures. Mason's new favorite thing to do is wear a tie like his daddy. And he loves helping me pick out Delila's hair bow for the day. I thought this picture turned out so cute. . . and it only took this many before I got a good one. . . such a goofy boy!

All dressed up in their Sunday best!

And before we were done, this is how they ended up! Girl Power! (hehe)

Trick or Treat

We met Maddy and Greyson at Grandma Lori and Grandpa Bob's house on Halloween night. It was fun to see the kids all together in their costumes.

Delila LOVES playing on the floor with her toys.

She is getting so big! This week she discovered how to turn in circles on the floor. She was pretty proud of herself the first time she did it.

And she's also big enough to know when she wants her mommy!

See? All better now!

Pre-Halloween Fun

On Friday evening, we met up with Macy and Noah to go trick-or-treating at Great Grandma and Grandpa Miller's house. Macy was a princess, Delila a butterfly, Mason a dragon, and Noah a frog. They all looked so cute!

Great Grandma and Grandpa Miller had made the kids baggies full of treats. Mason had his opened and half eaten before we even got through the door, and Delila worked patiently on trying to open her bag for the entire visit.

Mason had fun trying on silly glasses from the toy room. Notice the mouthful of candy he has!

Great Grandpa kept Mason going and opened up candy after candy.

And then we ended the night at a carnival with Grandma and Grandpa Hansen at their church. The kids had fun getting their faces painted, playing carnival games, eating yummy soups, popcorn, and of course. . . cotton candy!!!

Feeding the Quack Quacks

I took Lizzie and Mason down to feed the ducks the other day. As soon as Mason saw them, he kept hollering "here little quack quacks!" They had so much feeding them. With the snow on the ground and nobody else at the greenbelt, the ducks seemed pretty happy to see what little bit we had to offer them.

Mason was pretty excited to see the ducks so close.

And he was especially proud of himself when he hit one right between the eyes with food!

Mason LOVES to be outside. He ran and played and chased the ducks. . . and the results? He slept REALLY well that night!

A Morning at the Rec Center

Lately I've made it a point to find fun, inexpensive things offered in the community to go and do throughout the week. It's good for me to get out of the house, and even better to help keep Mason entertained. On Mondays and Tuesdays we like to go to storytime at the library, or sometimes we go on other days and lay on their bean bags and have our own storytime. This week we found something really fun to do. My Aunt Michelle takes her kids down to the Rec Center on Memorial Drive, and she invited us to go with them.

Oh man, where have I been!? It was awesome! For only a dollar a kid, they have an open gym filled with balls of all sorts and sizes, teeter totters, slides, basketball hoops, tents and tunnels, and so much more! Mason was in absolute bliss. They have it every Tuesday and Friday mornings from 9-11. I think I found a great "energy outlet" for Mason! Yea!

Mason had fun playing with his cousin Kyle. We had Lizzie with us that morning, so she got to play with Kirsi, who was out of school that day.

Even Lila had fun watching all the different colored and sized balls bouncing back and forth across the gym.

We had so much fun and we can't wait to go back!

"THE" Party of the Year

Mason had his 2nd birthday party as his most favorite place in the whole wide world: Leo's Place! Everytime we drive past Leo's he always shouts "go there" and "big slide." So we let him pick the place, and of course he chose Leo's. We invited all of Mason's grandmas and grandpas and a whole herd of his cousins. Mason and Greyson had so much fun playing on the big slide. Greyson kept calling Mason his little buddy all night. They get along so well right now. It's fun to watch them play together.

Mason LOVES playing in the toys at Leo's. And to have most of his cousins there was even better!

He got some really great gifts from everyone. He was a lot more fun opening them then he was last year. He actually understood what was going on. He got some neat books, bath toys, bubbles, a basketball hoop, candy and lots more! Thanks everyone for the thoughtful presents.

April made his cake again this year, and of course it turned out AWESOME! I think it was one of the cutest ones she's ever made. She made it all out of fondant and the inside was a fun blue color. Mason loved the cars on it.

Not only did it look great, it tasted even better! So yummy! Mason took a dive for it before I could even get it cut. Oh well, I guess it was his cake!

It was fun to have so many cousins there. I'm glad he's able to play often with them. He was on cloud nine having so many to play with. It was funny because some of the cousins didn't quite understand how if Mason was their cousin, then there was no way he could be someone else's cousin too. Family dynamics can be so confusing to a 4 year old!

Delila was just as happy as can be. She loved getting the attention from her Uncle Craig, her dad, Uncle Brandon and Grandpa Bob.

Mason got some good birthday hugs from his cousin Noah.

And he was excited that Maddy and Greyson were there.

Grandpa Bob and Grandma Lori came to help celebrate.

And Grandpa and Grandma Hansen and Chey were there too.

He was also happy to have Great Grandma and Grandpa Miller there.

Again, I can't believe my baby boy is two! But it was a fun evening and we were so grateful to everyone that was able to make it to the party. Thanks for making Mason's 2nd birthday a memorable night!

Happy Birthday Baby!

My baby is turning 2 today! *sniffle*sniffle* I'm not sure if I'm ready for this. It seems like just the other day we were walking into the hospital anxious for our little boy to be born. Now he's a full-fledged two year old; walking. . . no, I take that back, running and talking. . . no, I take that back too, jabbering some foreign language. . . Just getting so big! I still remember when he was this little. . .

And Great Grandpa Galen, who he was named after, loved to hold him.

And then on his blessing day, Mason looked so handsome all in white. It was such a special day.

And then when he turned 6 months. . . such big blue eyes! He was such a good baby. He ate well, slept well, and was always smiling. This is about the time that he became obsessed with balls; basketballs, baseballs, footballs, you name it; if it could be thrown, then Mason wanted it! Even today, he still loves them.

When he turned 1, I thought I was going to cry the day away. There was no way my brand new little baby was 1 already. But I didn't cry, I was too busy laughing at his silly antics.

And then when Mason was 18 months old, his sister Delila was born. You've never seen a better big brother. He is so sweet to her. And you can tell she already idolized him.

At almost two years old, Mason was SOOOOO busy! He never stopped running. Our favorite thing to do was spend the afternoon at the park. By the end of the summer, he looked like my little Indian baby, he got so tan! His favorite thing to eat was chicken nuggets and rootbeer. And again, he was obsessed with sports! Give the kid a football and you'd be his best friend for the rest of the day. He always did the funniest things to make us laugh. Not a day went by where he didn't give me hugs and kisses.

And now, my baby boy is 2 years old. Like I said before, I'm not sure I'm ready for this. Before I know it, he'll be climbing the steps of the school bus. I thank my Heavenly Father everyday for bringing Mason into our home. My life would not be complete without him. I'm also so thankful to Justin for making it possible for me to be at home with my babies. Even on the rough days, I'm grateful I can do that. I have such a wonderful life, such a wonderful family. And I'm so happy I get to have Mason in it.

Mason, I don't care how big you get, you will always be my baby! Happy Birthday! Mommy loves you!

A New Discovery

Delila found her TOES! And it is absolutely adorable!

Funny Sleeper

Delila is the funniest sleeper! She will not fall asleep unless she has something soft up to her face. And often, when I go in to check on her, she's got it pulled over her face! I shouldn't complain though, because obviously this works for her. That baby will fall asleep at 8 o'clock at night and sleep straight through until 7 o'clock the next morning! I am loving it!

A Saturday of Fun!

On Saturday, Grandma Lori and Grandpa Bob planned an whole afternoon of fun for all their grandkids. It was nice for the cousins to be able to spend so much time together. We started out carving pumpkins. All the kids got to pick the pumpkin they wanted and then Grandpa Bob and Uncle Brandon cleaned them all out. (Yea for not having to stick my hand in the gooey pumpkin! Not my favorite thing to do! Thanks Robert and Brandon!)

Mason waiting fairly patient for his turn.

Then "instructing" Grandpa Bob how he wanted it done.

Mason didn't really like the pumpkin goo on his hands, imagine that!?

And the finish product! So much fun. Mason really enjoyed helping me carve his pumpkin. He liked telling me where to put the facial features. But as soon as I was done and he saw the face, he got scared and said "it's gonna get me!" Luckily, the fear was short lived. Now he thinks the face is "so so so silly."

Even Lila got to carve a pumpkin. . .

. . . Well, kind of. She actually talked Aunt Kira into carving it for her. But she made sure and supervised most of the process. Thanks again, Kira!

It was so fun to be able to spend the afternoon together. Mason is OBSESSED with Greyson and follows him everywhere. If Greyson is doing it, then Mason is doing it, or at least trying to do it. And Delila loved snuggling with Aunt Erica.

Uncle Brandon taught Delila a new trick. . .

And then all the grandkids got to show off their finished pumpkins! (Delila, Maddy, Greyson, Skyler, & Mason)

Maddy is SOOOO good with Delila. Delila loves for Maddy to hold her! (Girls Rule!)

The boys had fun putting together puzzles and reading books.

And to finish off the fun, we made yummy caramel apples!

Mason's favorite part was, of course, the caramel!

Out to the swing to enjoy the last few days of sunshine. . .

And Delila? Well, she's decided that she LOVES caramel apples too!

Thanks Grandma Lori and Grandpa Bob for the fun day! We love you guys!

FINALLY! . . . She Swallowed!

For the past few weeks Delila has been acting like she wasn't getting full on her bottles. So, I tried feeding her rice cereal. But, alas, she refused. So I tried bananas mixed in, and apple juice, and sweet potatoes, anything I could mix in with the cereal to give it a little flavor. But, no, she refused. She kept spitting it out. And when I say spit out, I mean cover your eyes kind of spit out. She just could'nt seem to be able to swallow it down. I kept trying every couple of days to see if she might be ready for it yet, but no luck. So, the other night I was over at my mom's for our traditional night of Biggest Loser, and you want to know what that baby did? She ate cereal from my mom, an entire bowl of it! And she loved it. So, now Delila is cereal eating machine. You go girl!

Mason thought it was pretty funny watching Delila eating from a spoon. But he didn't like how afterwards, when she went to kiss him, the cereal got all over his chin!

Doggy Pile on Mason

It's not unusual anymore for me to leave the room and return to find Lila somehow sitting on top of her brother's head, and both in ridiculously cute giggles. I'm not sure if Mason squeezed himself underneath her, for some unknown reason, or if Lila has mastered her wiggle skills enough to figure it out for herself. Either way, I thinks it's pretty darn cute. Lila has finally gotten big enough that she responds to Mason. So, he does anything and everything to make her laugh. And it doesn't take much! She is such a happy baby. . . and it's OBVIOUS she loves her brother!

Table Top Cookies

I love having family close by! The other day Alli watched my kids for me so I could run some errands. I came back to the boys, Noah and Mason, laying on top of the table chowing down on chocolate chip cookies. And Delila was sleeping peacefully in the other room. There's no doubt that the only reason why she was sleeping so well was because Macy had lent her her very most favorite princess blanket! They had so much fun together and it makes me glad that my kids have so many fun cousins in their lives.

Check out the way Mason is shoving that cookie in! Wow! You'd think the kid was starved or something! Sheez!

More Than I Ever Imagined...

So, I could go into a big long spill right now about how cute Delila is, but isn't that pretty self-explanatory? I could say something really clever about how big she is getting, but isn't that obvious? I could write an outstanding epistle on how much her personality shines and how much I adore her, but isn't that kind of repetitive? So, all I'm going to say is that having her is more than I ever imagined. There, that sums everything up quite nicely.

But truly, isn't she cute? hehe

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! Okay, okay, so I know it's a few weeks premature, but we just got back our Halloween pictures and I couldn't wait any longer to get them posted. They turned out so cute!

My handsome little dragon, and my beautiful little butterfly!

Aren't they adorable? If you're looking for a great photographer, you really ought to check out this blog. We've been having Caralee take our pictures for a little while now and I love her work!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!