A Perfect Evening...

What a perfect evening it was...we just spent it together at a family, but sometimes those moments are just so sweet. We had a nice healthy dinner from the Tragger, then headed out to Baskin Robbins for a scoop of ice cream. This was the first time we've ever been as a family...my poor, deprived kids. They loved it though, I think it opened their eyes to a whole new world!

We then went down to the driving range and shared a large bucket. We started Noah playing golf before he could even walk and just stand, and poor Jakey hasn't been to the range before. He didn't like it like Noah did, but it was still fun to be together. Noah made more putts then Andrew. :)

We came home and rode bikes and cars for a little bit and then headed over to New Seasons for some special treats. Andrew and I picked up some Champagne and Cranberry Juice (my new favorite summer drink) and some Kettle Chips, and the boys got...well, samples, but you know it's just as cool to them. We love having new seasons so close. This was the first time we let Noah ride his bike over, and he did great! It's so fun to see our boys growing up!

Today I spent some one-on-one time with boys boys just doing simple things like reading some of Jakey's books with him, and working on coloring in the lines with Noah, which I realized I don't do enough of. With having boys so close in age, but yet so far apart developmentally, I think I forget to work with them one-on-one where they are at, instead of meeting them in the middle. They both seemed to really enjoy it and I had a good wake up call to do that more often.

Fun with Auntie Cole!

Today we journeyed out to Canby to visit Auntie Cole and the farmer's market. Nicole had a special park she wanted to take the boys to, and they loved it of course! It was so nice to get to spend an afternoon with Nicole and see her side of town.
At the farmer's market where we re-stocked on local fruits and veggies for the next few days!

I love this series of pictures...first the moment of awe...
Then the realization of, "Oh, this is fun!"
And then down the slide...both my boys love the slides like most kiddos.
You can really tell how happy they were in these pictures...one of my favorite things about them, how genuinely happy they get over the simple things.
They were exhausted when we got home...
Nicole took this picture of Noah sleeping today during his nap with all his cars lined up perfectly:)

A Day Out With Thomas...

The day that Grammy left she took us up to spend a day out with Thomas! It was so cute up at the Mt. Hood Railroad, they have Thomas come every year where obsessed Thomas fans, like Noah, can come and be in awe. As Andrew puts it, Thomas must be rolling in the dough...he's definitely over-priced:) We heard a Thomas story, went around to the different stations, and then road on the Express Coaches, pulled by Thomas! Noah thought is was amazing...it's so fun to see him so excited. I used to remember babysitting for kids and thinking they were crazy because of how they could memorize all these trains with unusual names. Well, now that's my son. We pull out the little Thomas book that has all the trains and can point to any one and he knows the name. Most of the time we don't even know all of them, it's crazy!

Noah and I getting our tattoos.
The finished product...Thomas and Henry.

Andrew helping Jacob get his tattoo. It wouldn't stick to his arm so it took a long time.
Jacob even got one and every time you asked him about his tattoo he would point to it and go choo choo!

Meeting Sir Topham Hatt, they were kind of scared...I don't think we are ready for Disneyland yet:)

In front of the Express Trains!

Jacob is obsessed with brushing his teeth, so Grammy bought him a new singing Thomas toothbrush!

We couldn't get a good picture, this is the best we got.

Jacob loved petting the different animals and he thought it was so funny!

Playing with the train tables! It was so exciting...even though we have the same thing at home:)

Happy Father's Day!

This year for Father's Day, Andrew wanted the boys to create some art to put up onto the wall. Well, Noah just turned 3 and is still in the scribbling phase, so we had to get a little creative. I was going to have Noah paint on some canvases different colors to create...something...but, when we started, Noah was really into mixing the colors. So, a quick change of plans and we learned about color mixing! I put out the 3 primary colors and let him mix away to create orange (from red and yellow), green (from blue and yellow), and purple (from blue and red). I love color mixing and have done it with several classes now, but didn't think he would be so interested, but he started doing it all on his own! If I were to do it again, I would have the "real" colors that you use to mix and make secondary colors, cyan blue, magenta and yellow and the colors would have been a bit more vibrant, but they still turned out cute! I love that I have the boys art work up on the wall, even if it is just scribbles for now:) I think we'll make this an annual project to see how the boys work improves!
Painting away, discovering how blue and yellow actually make green!

The final product turned out pretty cute and gives us some nice color!

Grammy Comes to Visit!

We were so blessed to have Grammy come out and stay with us for about a week! How spoiled we all became by all of her help, love, and gifts:) The boys LOVED having Grammy around and playing with her, after the first few days, Jacob would run to see her in the morning with a huge smile and kiss waiting. Noah would bug Grammy constantly to go build garages with him, or go ride his scooter. She is so easy to have around and is SUCH an amazing help! I wish we could have her around all the time! But we'll get to see them in less then a month in Kiawah! Every time we get together with them, it reminds us how blessed we are to have such amazing family! Thanks for coming out Grammy!

Out for a scooter ride with Noah, who just had to stop and throw rocks into the pond by our house:)

Another sweet picture with Grammy and her babies!

Two beautiful smiles!

My boys love driving their cars all around, they would do this all day if I would let them! Grammy took them out a lot so they could do just that!

We love you Grammy! Thanks for coming out and for blessing us with your presence! We'll see you soon!

Noah's 3rd Birthday Party!

Noah celebrated his third birthday with some of his little friends today. Despite having done a good job lately at his friend's birthday party, he had a hard time understanding that he couldn't open his presents first thing...but actually had to play with his friends. (what? who does that? :) We played on the play structure, ate a wonderful Gordon cake from Serena, and opened some wonderful presents!
Hanging out eating our yummy cake...

I love this picture of Jacob...he is strapped in after running all over the place and still has his signature huge smile on his face!

Noah is so excited to have his cake and when we sang happy birthday to him...I love it!

Jacob sliding down the slide...he's a maniac and goes up and down all by himself now!

Noah's in love with Thomas the Train, but Gordon is his favorite, so Serena made him a Gordon cake, complete with mountain, lake, trees, track, and everything...she is a pro and make the best cakes...thanks Serena! You still need to come over and watch Cake Boss with us...we are watching right now!

Here's Andrew and I with our Birthday Boy! We still can't believe he's 3! We love this age, he makes us laugh every day.














Grammy got to join us for Noah's birthday for the first time, it was so helpful to have her here!

The four of us!

The Pursuit of Happiness

I just finished bawling my eyes out for 2 hours watching that movie again, and boy did it remind me that no matter how hard things might get for us, that we. have. got. life. so. good.

Noah is 3!!!

Our sweet Noah is now three! It's hard to believe how much time has gone by since that beautiful little boy was placed in my arms by Andrew three year ago! We can't believe what a sweet, encouraging, smart, and beautiful boy Noah is growing up to be. He is such a joy to have in our lives and keeps us laughing every day. He is such a kind brother, and although isn't always gentle, loves his brother to pieces and is always looking out for him. They really are best friends.
My two boys are best friends...and super cute:)

To celebrate, we decided to get Noah a new bike from REI. He's ready to learn, though it's been a slow process so far:) He has the excitement and interest. It's so fun to give him gifts now because of how excited he gets! He totally understands birthdays now, we love doing those little things to make him excited. Andrew went out and got him some Thomas plates and napkins, and you would have thought we bought him the real thing. We bought some Lucky Charms together yesterday and same thing, you would have thought we bought him the world! It's so fun to have those special things together.
A patient Dad helping Noah learn.
This is Jacob running around pushing his car while Noah is learning to ride his bike.

Noah had so much fun bowling a few weeks ago with his friend, so we decided to go do that today with my parents. He wasn't quite as anamated as before, but he was still so funny to watch. We got some fun video, but the cord is at my parents house...so it might be a little bit. Sorry!
Nana and Noah at the bowling ally...he had a blast!
Papa helping Noah bowl
My two goofy boys...they are crazy and a handful, but I wouldn't trade them for anything!
Dad having fun bowling with Noah...

My Graduate

We had a little graduation dinner tonight for Andrew with our close family friends. My parent's had us over to celebrate all Andrew has accomplished. Serena made a beautiful cake for us to eat...golf of course! It's so fun to see how our lives are moving on to the next stage in our lives!This is the family Andrew lived with for a year in high school after his parents moved away...such amazing people!
Andrew finally got a jump suit now that he's a "real man" for all those house-hold jobs:) He always borrowed my dad's. The lovely Serena cutting her yummy cake!

Yes, Andrew is still obsessed with golf! What a beautiful cake from Serena! Andrew's good buddy, Colby, he's been such a good friend to Andrew over the years. The whole Cole's family...Noah loves them...especially Tyson:)

Our beautiful family...I love them all!



Here is my parents and sister, they have been such a help this past year and with both Andrew and I finishing school, we couldn't have done it without all their help! Thanks!