Oh the joy...

...of our sweet baby boy!

Father's Day

It is difficult for me to put in words what a wonderful father Jake is to our children without sounding overly effuse and thereby watering down my sentiments. I will try to say just a few simple things; this morning I told Joshua and Daniel (Lucas was napping, but it includes him too!) that they are so lucky to have Jake as their dad and I meant it with all my heart. I, too, count myself a very lucky mother to have him as my partner in parenting. It blesses our family so much to have a father who is so involved with, attentive to and interested in our children. We love you Jake -- you're the best!

Here's the man himself and the lucky boys!


He had just opened the Transformer's Father's Day card the boys thought would be so cool for him. The front sports a picture of Optimus Prime and when you open it up you hear his voice say, "There is greatness in you. You are a strong leader and a great hero. The universe needs more fathers like you. Happy Father's Day!" I'm pretty sure they got the actual voice talent of Prime, too -- what a treat!

I would feel remiss if I did not send out a 'Happy Father's Day!' to Ron and Nick, too. Thank you for all the hard work you put in as our fathers and thank you for the Grandpas you are to our kids! They love you lots and wish they could be with you more often. I do, too!

Kinder Graduation

Today was Joshua's Kindergarten Graduation and it was a special time for our family and for all the kinders. I have to admit I am having a bit of a hard time though, as this is a milestone that really highlights for me how fast Joshua is growing up. I'd better watch out because if I feel this way when my oldest graduates from kindergarten I can only imagine what it will be like when it's my youngest's turn, good grief! I was telling my Mom about it and she said "It's hard to see your little kids grow up." She would know, as she went through it six times and I appreciated her understanding.

Hard time aside, it actually feels pretty good to have this under my belt -- a child who has made it through his first year of formal education! I definitely feel like more of a seasoned mom and I like that. Jake is really the one who kept it all going once Lucas was born, getting Joshua off to the school bus each morning and volunteering in the classroom every other week. What a guy! We all appreciate his efforts and enjoyed our classroom connection through him.

The happy grad -- we're so proud!

Joshua with his wonderful teacher, Ms. Hric

I like this family shot -- I think it's our first of all 5 of us!

We liked this story

I sat down with the boys to read from The Friend (the LDS Church's magazine for children) this afternoon and we came across this story. I think it is a very touching story and it totally made me cry (which is crazy considering how much I hate dogs...wait, did I say that out loud?!). Anyway, give it a read if you have a little time and feel so inclined. It is a good reminder of our Heavenly Father's love and care even over seemingly small things and the way He can really pull off a photo finish :).

play time

Things have gotten more fun around here now that Lucas has reached the 5 month mark and is able to actually play a bit:

All 3 Boys - how rare!

Okay, this one doesn't fit the title of the post at all because it doesn't show all 3 boys and it's not rare in the slightest that Lucas is munching on my hair -- but I thought it was funny, so here you go!

Yo ho ho from Lucas!

The Claw Digger and the Skeleton

Last night Daniel was playing with Joshua's latest Lego acquisition (The Power Miners Claw Digger, bought with birthday/tooth fairy/allowance money he'd been saving up). I guess something about this scenario Daniel created just struck me as funny. Having little boys is fun as they come up with things that would never occur to me in a million years!


Maybe it's just me but I feel sorry for that lil' skeleton.