I thought this was the perfect opportunity to take pictures of the kids. They thought otherwise:)

So cute, even when he's crying.

And a chance to see Jilly being sweet and comforting her brother.



Just wanna squeeze 'em.

Do you think they're related?

Really, I'm not coming out until you put the camera away.

Last Sunday was our primary program. The kids did great, as did the teachers:) The Bishop had a few extra minutes at the end to share some thoughts. He shared one of the first experiences he remembers feeling the pure love of a child displayed towards him when a niece gave him a simple Christmas gift. I wish I had written down the exact phrase he used but it was something to the effect of feeling the joy that comes from those who make up the Kingdom of God. Recently little Jill has been SO sweet and these thoughts just hit a familiar cord. Her face lights up at the simplest pleasures and realizations and she always wants to share the things that bring her joy with Peter and Kevin and I. Today at the playground she made a little friend. The little girl said something like "Run away from him!" (referring to Peter). Jillian stopped and said "Hey, that's my brother. We can't run away from him!" Then she turned around and guided him over to where they were playing.

She's also been taking a Spanish class at the local library, learning simple things like numbers, colors, etc., and we've got a few Spanish c.d.'s she likes to listen to. She'll ask anyone speaking a foreign language if they speak Spanish and occassionally breaks into her own "Spanish" chatter. It's pretty entertaining, especially when she follows it with "I speak Spanish."

Just love these smoochie roos so much! I'm trying to live in the moment and not worry so much about what I'm "accomplishing," as in physical projects to prove that I've been productive. This morning we sat in my bed reading for about 45 minutes after waking up and it almost hurt to be there, reading, in our pajamas, being "unproductive," while the day light was burning away, even though what I wanted to do in my heart of hearts was sit in bed and read with the kids. Does that make sense? Then I cleaned and did laundry for about two or three hours and now the house looks like I did absolutely nothing all day. Hmmm...sometimes I wonder if the house would the exact same if I didn't pick up a single thing until the kids were all five (ten?) and up:)

The other day when I was running a beautiful leaf caught my attention as it floated so gracefully to the ground. I thought to myself "What a beautiful little leaf! And now it has fulfilled the measure of it's creation and done so nobly and beautifully." It was such a happy thought I thought I would share. I love Fall! We just had a wonderful visit from my family. (We also recently had a fun visit from Kevin's mom but I forgot to take a single picture!) Anywho, here are some of our adventures...

We went on a hike at Sleeping Giant State Park. I wanted a challenge and we ended up getting a little more than we bargained for. Below is an example of some of the places we had to navigate. I would say the blue trail definitely for experienced hikers, without small children and for people with long, flexible legs:) We made it back to the car just before dark!

Are we still hiking?
Apple Store

La Bonne Soup

Isn't it funny how universally known these ears are?

Peter is such a boy! He gets so frustrated with me when I want him to keep walking when he's collecting or throwing rocks.

My sweet boys

The siblings minus Katie

Josh, Dad, Mom, Hadley

Just a little bit freaky...

It started a few months ago. I had a few passing thoughts..."wouldn't that be fun to have some of those foamy things for the kids to play with in the tub...ah, well, I'm not going to buy them any"...and then, "oh, I wish we had some sand toys for the kids...oh well, I shouldn't spend the money." Then a week later I'm driving down the street and see a sign for free toys. So I follow the arrows and what is there when I get there? Little foamy bath toys and some buckets and a shovel! I was pretty overwhelmed and surprised, do I ever learn?, and excited. But it doesn't stop there. I had been browsing craigslist for a kid's table to use for arts and crafts and eating outside. Well, wouldn't you know one pops up on freecycle? I wasn't the first responder and didn't expect to hear anything more. But, of course, I did. A few weeks later the woman giving it away wrote me and said it was mine. If any of you have done freecycle before you know that this is pretty unusual for someone to keep your name for so long and contact you. At least it's never happened to me before. I had also been looking at cheapo playhouses for the kids, not really intending to buy one. Then we were at playgroup and someone asks "Hey, would you guys like that playhouse in our yard? Our kids don't use it and my husband thought you guys might like it." "Would I???" And finally, today, I needed to send of a pair of shoes I had sold on eBay but realized I had used all of our little boxes. Hmmm, didn't want to buy one so I headed over to the alley behind some local shops to see if I could find one. And guess what I found? It might as well have been gold! A WHOLE PILE OF PROBABLY 25 SHIPPING BOXES, unused, noone around to claim them, sitting randomly next to nothing in particular. I felt like I was stealing, although I don't think I was:) Some of them were even specifically labeled "Shoe boxes." I had never even seen shipping boxes like that before! Someone important is looking out for me, and my kids!

Happy birthday to my Momma!

I'm not sure why there are so many gaps in the these photos. I must not have copied the ones from her teenage years. I enjoy looking at them occassionally all the same. I don't know why it's so strange to think of your parent having an existence before you came along. At least it is for me. After all, I remember her being there for as far back as I can remember. It's fun to "remember" the other phases of her life before she was "Mom." I sure wish I had a photo of her hanging from the raftors of her high school when she ran for Senior Class Treasurer! The plan was to swing down and gracefully land on the stage. Her campaign had something to do with light. Somehow the rope got all tangled up and she gave her speech hanging midair:) Happy birthday to a REALLY ADVENTUROUS AND SPECIAL LADY!

obviously these aren't in chronological order:)

Mom the little girl

Mom the new bride

Mom the hot chick on the dating scene.

Mom, the very new mom at Dad's graduation from BYU

Mom the young missionary, I'm pretty sure that's where this is

Mom, the newly wed

Mom the young mother with Katie and I

This is so their personalities

How could I play with anything other than the charcoal grill? :)

Some of what we heard lying in bed this morning...

"PETER, DON'T GO OVER THERE. THERE'S A TIGER OVER THERE!" (Did she learn this scare tactic from one of us?) and "You can go to the left of me or you can go to the right of me but you can't go through me because I'm not an alligator." (?Maybe she meant an elevator?) Plus a very interesting "reading" of Ricky Ticky Tembo No Sar Rembo Perry Berry Ruchi Pip Perry Pembo.

p.s. Did everyone enjoy conference? Loved all the talks about LOVE!

By Peter

This past week I have really started responding to the things Mom and Dad tell or ask me. I do my own version of the nod and shaking my head. To nod, I touch my ear to my shoulder. And to shake my head, I do sort of a circular motion with my head. It's funny but I get my point across. I'm feeling more comfortable trying new words. It's funny because Sister was saying more by this age but if she didn't think she could say a word well she wouldn't attempt it. But I'll always try, even if it sounds nothing like what I'm trying to say. Things I've attempted the past few weeks include "Come on, Mom" (Comma ma, hand motions included), ribbit (ribbe), quack quack (cack cack), roof roof (F-f-f-f), go go go (gugugu), baa, moo, baba (bye bye), wawa (water). I've also really got my growl down. I love to read my animals book with anyone who sit down with me. Last night I even sat through three books with Mom!!! Well, we didn't read all the words on all the pages or anything but this is definitely the longest reading stretch I've done so far. I'm not much of a sit-stiller! I'm just starting to learn things so quickly! It's so neat for Mom and Dad to watch me grow and become such a good and handsome little boy. 17 months is such a fun age!

Boston Trip #1

I'm recording this many moons after we went, in the following April actually. Oh, how my kids have grown. No wonder I cried when I cut Peter's blonde locks off. Jill can't fit in some of the clothes she was wearing in these pictures. Either that or she fits in the ones that were drowning her before, the brown and white polka dot pants. Anywho, we had a fabulous time staying with our gracious hosts, my cousin Courtney and her husband, Quinn. They treated us like gold and we loved spending time with them exploring their current city. We drove straight to the temple so Kevin could go and then later I went with Courtney. That afternoon we went to an IMAX film, which totally freaked out Peter, not because of the content, it was about a medicine man in the Amazon collecting herbs for medicines:), but because of the large scale of it.

My sweeties at the temple grounds
Loved this gate and the flowers! Kudos to the gardeners!

Breathtaking - I love everything about this temple. The architecture, the grounds, the flowers, it's such a neat place to visit.

The Tree of Life representation?

At a fun park after the IMAX

Little clapper - now he looks so little here! He was just beginning to walk around this time.

Going in for the kiss, con animo!

Ideas for my future garden

Such a gorgeous place! This park and the city itself. We found another place we would love to live in someday.

Swans

On the red line trail - fascinating. We want to go back someday for the officially guided tour, complete with dressed up period characters for guides.

Paul Revere and I