5 Years Old!

As usual, I am a little slow getting Josh's birthday pictures posted but it has been a busy month! Just before Josh's birthday we said good bye to our 6 mega pixel camera with a 3 times zoom and got a 16 mega pixel camera with a 10 times zoom. I'm very excited to have a camera that can take some decent pictures!

I can't believe Josh is already 5 years old. It doesn't seem like it has been that long since we brought him home from the hospital. We are constantly amazed at how smart this kid is and feel very blessed to have him in our home!

Josh picked a rocket ship cake for his 3rd birthday and still remembers and talks about it. He decided he wanted another rocket ship cake for his 5th birthday. I realized that it wasn't really what the cake was as much as the fact that he got to decorate it that was so neat. So I started the decorating and let him finish it and this is what he came up with!

We had the cousins come over to open presents and have cake and ice cream. He got the hat at preschool when they celebrated his birthday and wore it for a week straight and still sometimes puts it on.

He got a new In-N-Out t-shirt. It is his favorite because he can match his Dad. When Gary is wearing his, Josh sometimes changes into his to be like his dad.

He was excited to get a new bike.

His birthday fell on the week of spring break, so he got to celebrate all week long with his cousins. The week started out with a sleep over at grandma and grandpa's. They were brave enough to have four boys sleep over and the boys had a blast. It was a little strange to just have Connor at home.

Josh got to go bowling on BYU campus with his cousins.

He also got to go to Jumping Jacks with his cousins.

As a family we went on a little hike to the P.

Sydney found a few mud puddles to cool off in. She was not allowed back into the van after that, so she and Gary walked all the way home from the P. Good thing that wasn't very far.

The top of the P.

Two boys worn out after a full week of fun!

Little Climber

I wanted to get these pictures posted before Josh's birthday, but it just didn't happen. Hopefully in the next few days I'll do another post with pictures from Josh's birthday.

Shortly after I posted last, Connor figured out how to climb on top of the kitchen table. This was his first attempt and you can see how happy and content he is sitting on top of the table in the middle of a mess.

Too bad I had to rain on his parade by tipping the chairs over. As you can see, he was not a happy camper. Either I spend all day fishing him off the top of the table, or the chairs get tipped over. Connor knows that there is always a bowl full of candy on Grandpa Wood's kitchen table. One day he climbed up and was trying to help himself when Josh caught him. Josh tried to get him out of the candy and instead the two of them toppled off the top of the table together and were both in tears. Connor keeps me on my toes!

Connor did think it was fun to make a hide out with the chairs, so at least that made him feel better about not being able to get on top of the table.

If Josh needs something out of the fridge, Connor needs to step in the fridge too.

Grammy sent some new swords and shields Josh was excited about. You may not be able to see them all in this picture, but I think he's got 5 or 6 swords on him.

Since Josh likes playing with swords, so does Connor!

The great thing about living in Utah is that you may still get snow in April. Of course Josh and his Dad are thrilled to go play in it, but I'm ready for it to stay warm. It keeps going back and forth but hopefully soon it will stay warm!

Fun with the boys

My boys have so much fun together. They especially like playing with their Daddy.

Whatever Josh does, Connor thinks he needs to do too. If Josh climbs on his dad or in the chair, Connor thinks he needs to as well.

These two pictures along with the weather reminded me of a book I've read one too many times. "The sun did not shine. It was too wet to play. So we sat in the house all that cold, cold, wet day. I sat there with Connor. We sat there, we two. And I said, "How I wish we had something to do!" Too wet to go out and too cold to play ball. So we sat in the house. We did nothing at all."

"Then, out of the box came Thing Two and Thing One! And they ran to us fast. They said "How do you do? Then those Things ran about with big bumps, jumps and kicks and with hops and big thumps and all kinds of bad tricks."

If Josh is in the tub, Connor wants to be in the tub too. He's been following Josh into the bathroom ever since he could army crawl. For the most part, they play great together and Josh is such a sweet big brother.

Connor is getting better at climbing. He's able to climb on most furniture now, which makes things a little more difficult for me. We tend to put things on the furniture so he can't reach them and it isn't working very well anymore.

Here I thought Connor had figured out how to climb on the couch all by himself, but his Dad reluctantly admitted to helping him and then leaving him unsupervised. He had this look on his face like, "Thanks Dad, I was ready for a snack. Mom never gives me enough food!"

He's a little kid, but is a good eater! A very messy eater too. Unlike his brother, he does not mind getting his fingers dirty. In fact, he gets mad at me every time I clean him up after meals. Sometimes he'll smear his dirty fingers in his hair. Often he needs a bath by the time he is done eating.

So cute getting into his brother's stuff!

It is rare to see Josh voluntarily getting his fingers dirty, but I guess a little chocolate cake mix does the trick. He grabbed the bowl, took it in the front room, and dug in with both hands while watching cartoons. That was until I stopped him anyway.

Josh is really into Lego's right now. If you look closely, on the top of this vehicle you can see these tiny plastic ninjas his cousins gave him. He has carried them around everywhere and they have become his most prized possessions. With his Lego's he has built them a secret hide out and a vehicle to get around in.

Christmas

The boys had a fun Christmas in Richfield. This was our last Christmas in Richfield since Mom and Dad retired and moved to Payson. After 26 years in this house, they are selling it and looking to buy or build a house in the area. I'm sad to see the house go, and will miss weekend get-aways to Richfield, but it is so nice to have them close by.

It took them a while to open everything and was a mess after!

Josh got a Green Bay coat from Grammy and Grampy.

Despite all the new things Connor had to play with, he was more interested in unloading stuff in Grandma's cupboards.

Grampy sent Josh and Gary this Nerf gun that's almost as big as Josh. It's funny to watch Josh waiting to ambush his dad.

Connor standing on his stool, fingers in mouth, watching everything that's going on.

Josh and Jordan got new scooters they were excited about.

Sydney even got a sweater from Grammy. It kept her a little warmer!

Getting ready for Christmas

The boys got to go to the mall with their cousins to see Santa. Every time I asked Josh what he wanted for Christmas he told me something different. It seemed to change by the minute. I guess it turned out ok because he didn't really have his heart set on any one thing and was happy with what he got.

Josh also got to see Santa at a party at the church. This was his first visit with Santa and he was nervous. He decided to be brave and was determined to let Santa know what he wanted.

I had lots of help putting the Christmas tree up!

The grin on this face shows how thrilled he is that there are boxes of Christmas stuff for him to get into. He is always into everything! We were in a waiting room somewhere and there were a ton of toys for the kids to play with. Connor wasn't interested in the toys. Instead he was getting into a baby carrier belonging to a stranger, playing with the lock on the door, and then marched into an office to see what was behind the desk. He's going to give me a run for my money. Some day I will have a beautiful Christmas tree, but I do not expect that to happen for years. It started out looking pretty nice until I kept moving decorations higher and higher out of Connor's reach. It wasn't long before only the top half was decorated. Josh kept finding ornaments that he really liked and carried them around the house. I found ornaments strung everywhere. Both boys pulled on the lights until they were on the floor. This picture was taken when Josh came and told me "I didn't mean to do it." I asked him what he did, and he told me me he bent the top of the tree. I asked him how in the world he managed to bend the top of the tree. He shook the tree, of course, until the star on the top fell over.

I still haven't figured out why under the tree is the optimal place to relax.

Connor is happy with the dump truck, though he has gotten creative with his uses for it.

Josh had so much fun at a family Christmas party making a candy train.

Connor started doing this cheesy grin that cracks us up. With a grin like this, who would believe how mischievous he is and what a little stinker he has become during church. He is my little explorer and does not sit still for a minute unless he's strapped down to his chair! I can't believe he is already 16 months old!

Let it snow!

I don't know where the past three months have gone. I can't believe it is now January. My blog has been neglected more than it usually is and now I am going to try to catch up and do a few posts over the next week or so.

When it snows, I'm not sure if Josh or Gary gets more excited. Josh absolutely loves playing in the snow. Gary has just as much fun as Josh does. Connor has only been in it once so far, and not for long since he's still small. He seemed to enjoy a little ride on the sled and really liked being outside despite the cold.

Connor looks so cute in his beanie!

Gary bought Josh a sled and Sydney a harness and rigged it so she can pull Josh around on the sled. It's pretty entertaining to watch and about the only way I know of to wear that dog out. She has so much energy it is good for her and Josh has so much fun.

One morning we woke up to two feet of snow outside. It took forever to shovel the sidewalks and driveway.

He can't hardly move all bundled up, but is so cute wandering around like that.

Josh wanted to make a snowman and I found it was easier to roll the giant snowball down the side walk to clear the walk than it was to shovel. The snowball got a little too big though and I had to have help getting it off the sidewalk. That was as far as we got on our snowman.