Good Clean Fun

Bath times are always fun times, yesterday was no exception.

Hooray For Baseball Opening Day! And Baseball Nut Ice Cream Too!

Stairway to...

Lots of fun
Grandma and Grandpa's room
Kid-heaven

Whatever you want to call these stairs, the boys call them entertainment for a whole week of visiting! Observe:

What a busy last couple of weeks we've had! Ryan and I made lots of preparations for holy week for the boys that included an Easter play dough mountain, lots of pipe cleaner people, a temple, and a cross. We spent time each day, beginning with Palm Sunday, explaining and acting out a portion of the story leading up to the cross and ended Easter Sunday with Jesus alive outside of the tomb. Jake paid pretty good attention and remembered much of what we told him. It was pretty exciting for us to watch him absorb everything.

We left Friday for the trip to my parent's house and had a great time up there. The boys got to do all kinds of fun stuff, like ride the motorcycle, play in the 5th wheel trailer out back, and follow their grandma around like puppies. I've got lots of pictures, so I'll try to pare it down, but this will probably be a long post! Enjoy.

Goofy cousins

Jake came out on Easter morning to see Christ outside the tomb alive!

Perhaps the cutest picture of him. Ever. It actually took quite a lot of coaxing to get him to wear this tie just for pictures before church! He promptly took it off after I put my camera away. I stowed it in my purse and when Jake saw all the little boys in the children's choir wearing ties, he decided it was high time he wear one too.

Boys in ties

We went to my aunt & uncle's home on Easter and the boys thought the cat door was pretty fun.

Warren loved the Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots.

My dad's friend, Jason, came by in his shifter cart. The boys were hooked.

Catch Up Pictures

A couple of weeks ago the boys and I trekked up to my mom's because my dad and Ryan were at a pastor's conference all week down here at our church. Here are some pictures from the week before my dad left.

My dad bought a new dirt bike. You can see how little it is with him on it. Can you guess who he hopes may ride it in a couple of years?

My mom bought Jake and Warren some new light-up Lightning McQueen shoes and one morning Warren wanted them on from the time he woke up until he went to bed. This is him eating breakfast complete with baseball hat, footie jammies and sandals. Cool guy.

Can you tell it was spaghetti night?

For the Shepherd's Conference, the seminary guys open up the first session singing a couple of hymns and this year the conference was live streamed so we were able to watch it on the computer! When they zoomed in a little bit we could see Ryan standing up there in the choir loft singing! The boys got quite a kick out of that.

More to come later!

Hey Hey

Hello everyone. I have some moments to myself for a little while before I need to start dinner because Ryan has the boys outside, so I thought I would post some pictures. We're all doing well...the boys are growing, as am I, and Ryan is slimming down because he's been running! Other than that, there is nothing new to report. So I'll dive in with some pics.

What else is there to do on a rainy day except pull out a shelf from the bookshelf and make a slide?

Warren has learned the fine art of climbing out of his crib. Thankfully, he doesn't do it when he's supposed to be sleeping. He only does this when he's feeling goofy right before bed waiting for his goodnight kisses and water.

Ok, I'm out of time, I have many more pictures, but I'll save them for later!

Things to do with big Lego blocks

Toe Picker & Haircuts

So recently Warren has become a toe picker. For sock fuzz. He has quite the obsession going and never goes for long without looking between his toes for some fuzz. He especially likes to do it in the car, taking his shoes and socks off before we get somewhere, so that we have to put them back on before we get out of the car! At home he twists and contorts his body however necessary to get at that fuzz. It is one of the funniest things I have ever seen either of our children do. An example:

He is also fond of putting fuzz (or bobby pins, or whatever small things he finds on the floor) in between his toes and then pulling it out again. Quite the character.

It was haircut day last week...or was that 2 weeks ago already? I can't remember. I took this picture off of our balcony. Warren got his next.

I guess we'll have to figure something else out for the girl. She probably won't want a buzzed head.

Still Here

Greetings long lost ones...

I know I said I'd do better at posting, but the last couple of weeks have been brutal. It's been a sick house around here with no time or inclination to turn on the computer and post pictures that I haven't taken. We all came down with terrible colds that seemed to last forever. I ended up with an ear infection requiring a trip to urgent care because I thought my head would explode. After a round of antibiotics I am pleased to say that my ear infection (and sinus infection that developed later) are cleared and I feel much better. The only remnants of our illnesses are a few sniffles and the remaining Kleenex boxes around the house. As my husband reminded me, our sicknesses should always highlight our frailty and fallen human condition and dependence on our Lord. But still, it really really stinks feeling icky!

Hope you all are doing well out there. My belly is growing, I'll have Ryan take a picture soon. The boys are doing great, Jake's so excited about a sister that he really thinks we should name Fred. Never mind that it's a boy's name, he thinks it's perfect.

Good night!

The Narrowing of the Gender Gap

Even though ultrasound pictures are fuzzy and usually don't mean anything except to the parents, I thought I'd share a picture with you of our baby GIRL!

I was totally shocked when the ultrasound technician said girl! Statistically our chances were extremely high for another boy, so I guess that's what I was expecting. Ryan had a great explanation for it though. He said it's like when the weatherman tells you there is a 75% chance of rain and of course it doesn't rain. Well, a nurse friend once told me that when you have 2 children of the same sex, you have a 75% chance of having a 3rd of the same, and of course this time it's a girl.

We're thrilled though, and we know that this girl will be one tough cookie growing up with her brothers, and perhaps the best part of all is that her brothers will scare away all the boys that come looking for her! Can't wait to meet you baby girl!

Some Updates

Hi all-
Sorry for my absense from the blogosphere lately...been busy. January was a packed month with birthdays (mine and Ryan's dad's), doctor's appointments, snow trips, Ryan starting school, watching my niece a couple of days a week, and other miscellaneous goings-on. Let's dive in with some pictures and updates!

Snow Day
Early in January we took the boys for a quick day trip to Mountain High Snow Resort to play in the snow. We found a little turn-off right off the highway where there was lots of fresh powder and hills to play on. In short, Jake loved it and Warren hated it! After all the recent storms here, we'd like to take Jake back (minus the littlest guy) and let him play again.

This is about how much fun Warren had

Quick Trip

Before Ryan started school (which I will talk about in a minute) we took a quick, last minute trip up to my parent's house because we knew it would be a while before we saw them again. We had a great time, but as usual, it was too short of a visit. One of the days we drove over to Half Moon Bay to enjoy the sun and ocean.

Sacked out on the couch after a long day

School/Church Update

As many of you know, Ryan finishes up with his Master's of Divinity degree this May. We have been in contact with a couple of churches talking about possible positions, but as of right now, the Lord has closed both doors. So, we have decided after much prayer and discussion with family and professors at school that Ryan will stay on another year and pursue the Master's of Theology degree with an emphasis in Bible Exposition (sounds so fancy!). He has already begun classes for that and is loving it. He'll finish up the program next May (2009), so as for now, we're here at least another year. We decided that if this is something he really wants to do, now is the time. We are both very excited to be staying at Grace Church for a while longer, learning as much as possible. We've started new ministries on Sunday mornings too. I'm helping out in the Children's Sunday School Resource Room and Ryan is serving in Special Ministries (for mentally handicapped). We love our new areas of service and are so thankful for our church where there are these opportunities. While I'm on the subject of church, I'll just mention that we've begun to take Jake with us to "big" church for 1st service, then he goes to his class for 2nd service. So far so good, he brings his Bible and sings with us and "takes notes" during the sermon. He really enjoys it and looks forward to going. What better way is there for a child to learn to worship than by watching his parents? We've both loved watching Jake grow in his love for and knowledge of God.

Goofiness

Here are just some goofy pictures of the cute little boys.

This is Jaina, our niece (9 months). I've been watching her a couple of days a week this month, and the boys love her! We've had lots of fun with her around.

That's about all for now...I will try to do better at posting in the future!

The Mandatory Pics

Here are just a couple of pictures from Christmas day.

We had a wonderful December leading up to our Savior's birth, and Jake took everything in with an open and trusting heart, a true child! He loved playing with the Nativity sets around the house and memorizing Christmas hymns and songs. He told us next year when he and Warren are bigger that he'll teach his brother all that stuff too. On Christmas morning we ate Happy Birthday muffins complete with a candle while Ryan read us the story of Jesus' advent. If it sounds idyllic, it wasn't. This was all going on with a sometimes screaming, sometimes laughing baby in the background. But, it is the significance of the celebration that we pray they won't forget any time soon. Anyway, we then opened presents and later on went to Ryan's parent's for Christmas lunch/brunch. Fun times!

What more could a dad ask for than a young boy who loves Home Depot? He was thrilled with his Home Depot tool box.

The class clown (and yes, that shirt is way too small for him!)

Until next time...

SoCal Perks

Despite the overcrowding, heat, pollution, etc. of this paradise known as Southern California, there are some perks to living here.

• You're never more than an hour away from either the beach or the mountains.
• You can wear shorts or capris practically year-round, except for the 8 days it rains all year (like today).
• And, perhaps the coolest of all, the Rose Parade Flyover, featuring 3 of these bad boys:

This is the F-15 Fighter Jet. Since we were watching the parade live this year on TV and saw the flyover, we decided to look out the window because we live only a few short miles from Pasadena (where the Rose Parade is held), and sure enough, here come the 3 F-15s coming our way! They didn't fly right over our house, but it was still an awesome sight to behold!

Warren the Singer

He's available to rent for parties and weddings-just call for pricing.

Beanbags and Cookies

For his birthday, Jake's Grandpa & Grandma gave him a beanbag chair. Both boys love to sit in it and look at books, but mostly they like to run and jump on it! I haven't captured that yet, but here are some cute ones of them relaxing in it.

Last weekend we went to Ryan's parent's home for the annual Christmas cookie decorating party. Dennis and Cathi and the Rutherford family have been getting together every year for the past I don't know how many years, probably since they were all in college, to decorate cookies, and at Easter time, to decorate eggs. It's quite a production now with the expansion of the families (our family alone is now 11, and the Rutherford's this year were 8), but it is a fun time to catch up and eat (decorate) some yummy cookies. I only got 1 picture this year, I was too busy frosting!