May Wrap Up (finally)

This is our second year joining the soccer club (for kids 5 and under) with the Partners in Medicine organization that I'm involved with. This picture is of Owen (who is just a few weeks older than Linc) and Lincoln strapped into our stroller to keep them nearby during soccer. Things have sure changed over the last 2 months with them though - they both seem to enjoy kicking around a soccer ball now - and occasionally putting a cone on their head of course. Snack time still reigns supreme as the best part of soccer for all of the kids though, I think.

Noah at "soccer practice".

Noah kickin' a goal. Notice Zoey (wearing a skirt, of course) - Noah says that she is "his girl".


The boys love running around with the back of their shirt or pj's over their head like this. This time Lincoln was having a heard time with his balance...I'm not sure why I find that so amusing, but I do...


I figured that I'd throw in a token snapshot of the dining set we've been refinishing. So far we have one chair (on the left in this picture) and our round claw foot kitchen table done. We bought them several months ago at a garage sale and they are nice solid wood. We enjoy the new color much more than the way they used to look. Now if we can just get the other chairs done someday...

Noah playing doctor with his dad. When Mark brings home a surgery cap Noah loves to throw on a scrub top (which is like a dress on him) and pretend to be Dr. Noah with his daddy.

I had to include this clip for two reasons. #1: Because it's just a reality that kids aren't always sweet, darling, and compliant. #2: Because somehow hearing him say "no" (he had just learned) with that intent look in his eye is still pretty cute.


A quick clip of Lincoln gettin' his groove on.


Noah actually asked me to take this picture. No way do I ever say no to my child requesting that his photo be taken, even if there is no occasion. You're so sweet, Noah. I love you.

OK, so don't mind the Santa pajamas...I had to snap a picture of this cute sleepyhead. Sometimes Lincoln will get out of bed and play in his room until he eventually falls asleep. Sometimes that ends up being on his bed, and sometimes it's on the recliner like this (clutching his Buzz of course).
At least I got May finished up before August was here (tomorrow). Whew.

Congrats x 2!

These pictures aren't mine, and I wasn't present for the first two...but they are about half of this post's congratulations, so I decided to include them! My brother graduated from Boston College on May 18th (and has since then also passed boards - wahoo!) and both his parents and Chelsey's parents were able to be there. Chelsey's sisters and my brother Josh also were able to go out there to celebrate with them. Congratulations, Chris! We're proud of you.

After the ceremony.

We were thrilled that Chris, Chelsey & Audrey were able to visit Utah for a few weeks before moving down to Henderson, Nevada (where Chris took a job). So, once they all got to Utah (at the end of May) we had a little shindig at our place. I had maroon & gold balloons celebrating Chris' graduation and blue balloons to celebrate them expecting a little boy!!! Those stinkers kept it a secret clear up until their families came out for graduation, and then they had their ultrasound to find out the sex the next day. So, I got a call from Chelsey telling me, "We're pregnant and it's a boy!" What?! Who has the self control to keep a secret like that? We're over the moon excited for them though & can't wait to meet the little guy...who we've taken to calling "Chuck" since they have yet to settle on or announce a name, and I hate referring to him as "it" or "the baby". And, no, Chuck is not a name that's in the running. Anyway! Here is a picture of Chelsey pushing Audrey on Noah's little bicycle.

Time for bubbles with Grandma.

How cute is she?...

...and Lincoln.

Here's Mark working his magic on the grill. Yum.

Emily (Josh's girlfriend), Josh, and my dad.

Noah running around with his Buzz Lightyear backpack and goggles.

In fact both Audrey & Noah seemed to have a pretty good time wearing the Buzz goggles. Cute little cousins, 'eh?

Who knew that napkin capes would be such a hit, but later when we asked Noah what his favorite part of the night was - that was it!

The cousins enjoying our little slide with Grandma & Grandpa.

And there were a couple of gifts for the new grad and the new little bundle-to-be! Chelsey is always a fun person to give a gift to, she always gives such a genuinely excited response.

Noah enjoyed spinning Audrey on our swing. They were so cute together...

It was so great to have you guys out here in Utah for a while (there are more posts of our fun to come!) and although we wish you could have stayed, we're glad that you're a relatively short car drive away now, instead of the opposite side of the country! We love you!

Aquarium visit

I've done other aquarium posts, and since I need to get through a lot of other posts that are hanging over my head I am just going to throw a few pictures from our May aquarium visit on this entry and call it good. This was Mark's first time going to the aquarium and we had a great time, but these pictures don't need much commentary anyway...

Backyard Waterplay

Yes, I'm still working on finishing up May. This picture is of Mark working in the garden (which looks drastically different now - more than 2 months later!)...and the boys running through the spot watering sprinkler. Mark enjoys working in the yard, the boys enjoy playing in the yard, and I enjoy having a bit of time with a quiet house to get stuff done...however, I can't help but come outside and watch how cute my boys are!

This video clip was taken the day before the previous picture was taken. Mark was just getting the settings to the sprinklers set & the boys accidentally ended up in an area of the yard where sprinklers went on, so they got all wet. Since they were already wet, we just let them play. This clip cracked me up though - Lincoln was just standing there in the middle of the sprinklers trying to compute what was going on. Then after he runs over to me, he says "cold" while signing it. Cuteness.


Another day during May we were watching Drew & Michael and decided to make it a water play date. Here's a clip of the boys sliding into the realm of the sprinkler.


Of course, one of the best parts of backyard waterplay is laying down on your warm towel.

Noah & Michael trying to look at me for a photo, but the sun was too darn bright. I thought it was cute that the both struck the same pose to shade their eyes though.
I have plenty of other posts to do that have waterplay too, so I'll just wrap this up. I love summertime.

A visit to the "tile grandparents"

It's funny the nicknames that Noah chooses to attach to each of his grandparents. I've posted what they've been in the past. Right now my parents are the "playhouse & kitchen ones" because of the playthings he's enjoyed in their backyard lately...and Mark's parents are currently "the tile ones" because one day Mark took the boys up to his parents (while I stayed home to get some things done) and Mark tiled their bathroom. I think that more than the big event that the tile job was, Noah remembers that it was a unique expedition that just the boys took up to his grandparents house...and that he had a lot of fun that day. Good point of reference to have, right? Anyhow, this post is from a different visit to the "tile grandparents" house from late May. First of all, the boys got to pet and feed one of Mont's bunnies...

...although Lincoln must have forgotten that this bread was for the bunny. The bunny is even leaning forward like, "Hey, isn't that for me?"

Noah asked what the bunny's name was and she didn't have one, so Mark's dad told Noah to name her. So, Noah decided that its name should be Ariel.

I took a walk with Mary (Mark's mom) and the boys - up through their beautiful garden, past the chickens, and on to their next door neighbor's property.

Noah loves to go see their horses every time that we visit, but this time we let the boys play on the tractor too.

They both loved it, so here are a whole bunch of pictures from our little outing. Not much commentary needed...






"Yeeee-haw!"










Later that day (when it had warmed up a bit more too) grandpa took Noah up to feed the horses. Here is Noah trying to lure over the horse.

Here's a quick clip of about how successful Noah was at trying to get the horse to come over on his own...


Things went much better with a little help from grandpa Mont.

Then, ta-da. All on his own.
We always love our visits to your home, Mont & Mary. Thanks especially for helping to make them so memorable for our boys! Visiting my grandparents and going to see their horse and chickens are such fond memories from my youth, so I'm sure that going to your house is like visiting a wonderland for them too! So - thanks again, tile ones!