Carson's 4th Birthday

Our little Carson is 4!

 For the last several years Carson has been obsessed with trains and he still is but now he loves Star Wars. Specifically Darth Vader- Should I worry that his favorite character is the bad guy? Anyway, it's sad to see a phase pass but Cohen and Carson are so cute playing together! Above is the Darth Vader mask Cohen got him for his birthday. The best part was that he walked through Target wearing it- so funny!

 Also, Carson got to have his preschool graduation on the same day as his birthday. Even though he still has one more year of preschool left. All the kids sang songs and acted out the little Gingerbread Boy play. Carson didn't sing one word and covered his face during the play- haha (Miss Susie let us know that he really sings all the songs every time...... good to know). He has such a shy, funny personality. Maybe he will sing next year!

 Mr. Shy covering his eyes!

 This is his best little friend Sarah- we get to carpool with her a lot this past year and we love her talkative, outgoing personality. She has been really good for Carson socially!

 Afterwards Carson chose to go to Olive Garden for his birthday lunch- He cannot be serious in a picture for anything!

 Here is his sweet teacher Miss Susie- we love her!

 Okay so don't laugh, but as many of you know my mom is the cake decorator in our family but since she wasn't here I had to attempt..... I know right? So anyway this is the Death Star- at least the boys loved it, that's all that matters.

 We were so lucky to have Carson's cousin Jackman and Uncle Rob come for the weekend. Jackman and Carson have the same birthday so when they arrived we met for dinner at Texas Roadhouse- they loved sitting on the saddling and having all the waiters sing a very loud rendition of happy birthday!

 Aren't the birthday boys so cute!

 Here they are blowing out their candles- we may or may not have had to relight them like 6 times to get a picture with them both blowing out candle!

 The weekend was spent going to the splash pad, eating glaciers at Larsen's, playing outside and building lots of Legos with daddy and Uncle Rob. The boys also got to go off roading in the Jeep out to the dinosaur tracks- they had a great weekend! 

It was really cute to hear them all wake up together and laughing with each other- Carson would say Jackman come make us laugh.... yeah it took forever for them to go to bed every night because they were telling jokes and stories- they loved having sleep overs with their cousin!

Also Carson got to fly a kite for the first time- thanks Uncle Rob and Aunt Holly for the Kite- of course it's a Yoda kite- everything Star Wars!

Cohen's Done with Preschool

Cohen just finished school last week and it is kind of bittersweet for me. I am so excited that it is summer and I get to have him home and do fun things this summer, but it is sad to think that my baby is growing up and that in a couple of months he will start real school. He will do great but I am sure come August 15th I will be blubbering tears all over taking him to kindergarten..... I know- big baby!

 The last day of school his class all got together for a potluck lunch and they all got to play at the splash pad together and had a great time! Cohen loved all his little friends from his class.

Father and Sons 2013

This year at Father and Sons the forecast was thunderstorms and rain here in St. George. Since the boys were battling a little runny nose and cough we decided to stay home and camp out in the backyard. Steve set up the tent in the backyard, took the boys off roading in the Jeep and roasted hotdogs for dinner over the fire. They played outside, told Star Wars stories and roasted marshmallows. They of course had a great time. I of course just worried all night about Cohen's cough and if they were too cold....um yes I know I need a chill pill. The next morning the woke up and had donuts for breakfast, played some more and then we put put them to working having them help me wash the car..... okay so they actually like doing that because they get to play with the hose. 

 In most every picture Carson now does a crazy face- I can't get him to do a normal smile for anything. So you will all just have to enjoy his cute craziness!

This picture cracks me up. Cohen is holding up his roasting stick and saying I am the statue of marshmallowty- you know like the Statue of Liberty. Oh man he keeps us laughing! 

I have to just add too that when I see Steve with our boys that I am so grateful for the wonderful person he is. As you can tell he is such an amazing father and I am so grateful that he's mine!

Freddy's

I just had to throw these pictures up on the blog because they are to cute. We went to a new restaurant here called Freddy's- which is a major chain but I have never been to one. They have yummy hamburgers ice cream. Their fries are amazing- I love them...... and so did Carson. His lunch consisted of french fries dipped in ice cream- he loved it and we already have gone back for the same thing- fries and ice cream. Don't worry I make him eat fruit at home- haha!

Can you tell he liked it!

Vegas

Now that we live in St. George, Las Vegas is only and hour and a half away..... not like it's my favorite place to visit but when Steve's sister Jeri and her husband Brian visit Vegas we feel so lucky that we are so close. We were able to go spend a day with them.

 We walked around the Caesar's Palace shops and ate lunch ate Cheesecake Factory- yum! They got to watch a show that they do there too.

 Uncle Brian treated the boys to the VIP sized gelato.... no wonder they loved him so much!

 Two spooning it- it must be good

 Spiderman and Bumblebee- Cohen proceeded to tell us afterwards that it wasn't the real Spiderman but a guy dressed up in a costume- haha!

 Visiting M&M World... all four floors. It was so funny the whole time you are there the workers keep telling you "there are four floors, make sure you visit all of them", and we did. We watched to 3-D movie and the boys got to buy their own M&M's and Jeri and Brian bought M&M's with their kids names on it- so amazing how they do that.

 The guys went on the New York New York roller coaster so Jeri and I attempted to play arcade games with the boys. Carson kept throwing the ski ball everywhere but on the ramp- haha. Jeri and I got and laugh and thank heavens there was no one in his path because they would have had a concussion. 

We had such a great day and were officially worn out (remind me not to wear high heel sandals next time). We loved seeing Jeri and Brian and Cohen still talks about it -(he may or may not have cried when we left and kept asking why we couldn't stay there for a couple of days in the hotel with them), if that's not a compliment I don't know what is!

My Little Chef's

Before I start this post please hold all judgement on my parenting skills- I don't do this......often!

SO I made tacos for dinner one night, and like most things I make, my boys think it's poison and of course "don't like it". So I had kind of had it, and when they asked if they could make their own dinner I said "sure why not". 

 As you can maybe tell that night dinner consisted of a tortilla, honey, baby goldfish, fruit snacks and granola bar. Yes...... dinner of champions! They were so proud of themselves! And the mother of the year award goes to me!

Look at those happy faces!

Mother's Day 2013

I just wanted to write a couple things on this special day- some thoughts I have had. The first thought is how grateful I am to be a mother. Heavenly Father has given me the greatest blessings- my two little boys. They are my whole life. It doesn't mean that I am a natural mother or that life isn't completely crazy sometimes, but they are worth it.

I love these little boys more every day- they really make me so happy!

 The day I became a mother...... my life hasn't been the same since. This little person comes into your life and they don't look like what you pictured and they have a personality that you have to learn and yet you would do anything for them.

 Some of these pictures got mixed up- Carson's newborn picture is towards the end. It's amazing when the next child comes that you love them just as much as the first. With Carson I remember holding him in my arms after his exciting journey to this earth and begging my Heavenly Father to let me keep him- I didn't know if he was going to be okay I just knew that I loved him and I wanted him- thanks Heavenly Father for my two miracles.

 I wanted to take a moment and express my love for both of my mothers. I am so lucky to have two in my life. The first is my mother in law. I was reflecting this last year how much I needed her at such an important time. Last August she came to stay with us for a week. Life was great. My kids were healthy,  life was comfortable and after 14 months of trying to get pregnant we were. We were so excited to have her there. During the week Steve had a meeting with an executive at the bank and he offered Steve a great promotion and raise if we moved to St. George. I was upset to say the least- talk about major life change. One minute everything is perfect and the next my life was turned upside down. My mother in law was my greatest support.... Heavenly Father knew I needed HER there specifically. She has had some major experiences with big moves and I just needed her advice. A couple weeks after we decided to move I found out that our baby never actually grew into an embryo and that I had been pregnant for 12 weeks and there was no viable baby. My body apparently wasn't going to miscarry on it's own so I ended up having a D&C the end of September. This was a really hard time for me- I felt like I was really being tried. My mother in law has also gone through this trail and it was so nice to have her support. One word I would use to describe my mother in law is EXAMPLE: she is truly amazing and I want to be just like her! I truly feel like she is my other mother and I am so blessed to have her in my life and I am so grateful she was there at the perfect time when I needed HER most! Love you Mom!!

 My Mom- she is amazing! After we moved we had about one month of awesomeness until the sickness hit. It has been very hard having sick kids but this winter I have been very sick and sad to say I am still battling with this 5 months later. It has been so hard for me to transition to being so far away from my mom where before I saw her several times a week and now I see her once a month. I have had to toughen up a bit. Still my mom had been so amazing. Back in January I was so sick with a virus and sinus infection and a middle ear inflammation called labrythitis- I could not get out of bed. She packed her bags and drove down that day. She has helped me so much. Even now that I live in St. George if I need her she will be there. When we moved she came and unpacked my kitchen. Every time she comes she stocks me up on groceries and other things, she is my best friend and one I can always count on. The word I would use to describe my mom is GIVING: my mom not only does so much for me and my siblings but she does so much for others, she is the perfect example of giving, generosity and selflessness! And I love her!

I have to say that both my boys adore their grandmas. Thank you for the wonderful women you are and for the role of Grandma in my boys life- I feel truly blessed! Happy Mother's Day!