Liberty Family Fun Fair

May 2, 1014

The annual fund raiser for Liberty Traditional School is one of the highlights for Nathan. They haul in all the blow up games you can imagine.  Nathan tried out the sumo wrestling, the velcro bungee, and jousting among many others.  Papi was a good sport and took Nathan again this year.  He was better prepared and had his cooler full of snacks and water and a camping chair to lounge in while Nate ran around to all the attractions.

Mothers Day 2014

May 11, 2014

This year we had a few sickies stay home from church on Easter Sunday making our annual Easter outfit photo shoot impossible.  So we postponed debuting our fancy duds till Mother's Day.  Oh my little men look sharp in their studly white shirts and ties.

Mother's Day was extremely enjoyable.  I felt pampered and appreciated.  Curtis and the boys made waffles with berries for breakfast and a grilled feast with rosemary potatoes and ribs for dinner.  The best part was I didn't have to do any of the work or clean up!

Nathan and Bracken had each made little gifts for me at church and school and practically burst with pride when I opened their adorable cards and crafts.

Marco was extra sweet giving me besos and hugs all day long and saying "Mom, wuv oo."

It was a perfect day.

Fathers and Sons Campout

May 9, 2014

This year Curtis and the boys did their own thing separate from our ward because we just needed a closer location than our ward's traditional one in the forest outside of Williams.  Friday morning Curtis headed up Mingus Mountain with Bracken and Marco to set up camp and have a picnic.

Marco loved hanging out in the back of the truck while Curtis loaded it up.

Later in the afternoon Curtis returned with a very dirty Marco and an extremely dirty Bracken.  I whisked Marco off to the bathroom to clean him up and then put him down for a nap which he was not thrilled about but he is still too little for a full blown camping trip without Mommy or nap time. Curtis exchanged Marco for Nathan once he came home from school and they headed back up the mountain for some guy time.

This is the first picture Curtis took of their camping adventure.  The boys early morning call of nature.

They hiked, rode their bikes and enjoyed exploring the forest.

Bracken captured 2 horny toads and he carried them in this little red bag on his handle bars so he could take them on their exploring excursions.

They came home filthy and tired but completely satisfied.

Preschool Zoo Field Trip

May 8, 2014

Miss Shelley and Miss Shelby's Preschool

Heritage Zoological Sanctuary Field Trip

It was a great day for some animal sightings.  The weather was extremely pleasant so almost all of the animals were out and about especially this little bear.  He was putting on a show for the kids balancing on his giant spool.

We where able to watch the caretakers feed Cassie, their Bengal Tiger.  The boys loved watching her find all the hidden chunks of meat around her habitat and they thought it was funny that she loves to eat wheat grass which they had several small pots of that placed around for her to find as well. She ate everything but the dirt.

Cannonbaaaaall!!!

As is the case with most scenarios where I try to capture something cute that my children are doing, I barely catch the tail end of the show.  Either they are over their little performance and ready to move on or they get distracted by the camera and obsess over seeing their pictures.  

This lazy evening was no exception.  Marco probably did his little cannonball stunt at least 20 times before I caught the absolute last one he did.  But it was a good one! 

Swing Band Conc

April 24, 2014

We enjoyed an evening of fun big band and acapella music performed by 2 groups from BYU-Idaho.  They boys really enjoyed the concert, but it went a little long for their taste.  Bracken fell asleep on the auditorium floor at Curtis's feet and Marco dozed on my lap.  Nate was bright eyed till the very last note.

T-Ball Action

Watching 4 year old kids play ball is so darn cute it deserves some video time.  It's so funny to watch Bracken switch between being totally excited and into the game to being completely off in another world with no clue about what is happening.

Totally Normal

On Sunday morning as I was in my bathroom combing my hair Curtis hollered "Courtney, you have to come see this!"  As I rounded the corner this is what I saw.

Yep, that's right Marco had dragged the front yard hose into the living room.  Doesn't your toddler do that too?  No, just mine huh? Weird.

You see Marco has this thing for long rope like items.  Extensions cords, jump ropes, ribbons, hoses and small appliances with electrical cords (vacuums being his all time favorite) all hold a special place in his heart.  I guess you could call it an obsession. 

He will carry and drag these things all over the yard and house, plug them in an outlet and play with them, unplug them and just gain satisfaction from having them nearby.  Then he winds and unwinds them like a pro.  Seriously this kid can gather up an extension cord more efficiently than his father.  I have deemed him the Cord Wrangler.  It's amazingly adorable.

Easter Business

April 17, 2014

Our Easter celebrations started early with a fun friend Easter Egg Hunt.  

Bracken was off the minute we said "Go!", he being a seasoned egg hunter and all.  Marco took a bit to get the hang of things but once he did he had a blast.

The Saturday before Easter the boys woke up to find their baskets loaded and ready.  I had a grand time Friday night staying up and watching "Austenland" while I put them together and munched on my share of candy.  Their baskets had our traditional items of candy (Mini Cadbury Eggs and Reese Eggs), new ties (and short sleeved, white shirts for the big boys), and a few new activities for our church bag.  I splurged this year and used Easter as an excuse to buy some badly needed balls for our yard toys.  We have a few too many "poky" bushes around our yard that tend to keep us ball poor.  The boys were beyond excited for their shiny new balls.    

Later that afternoon we had our own little egg hunt at home.  Curtis and I had fun hiding them around the yard trying to find spots in varying degrees of easy to tricky.  I had stuffed 3 eggs with $1 bills, and Marco ended up with 2 out of 3!  Bracken was thrilled with his collection of little critters that he scored.  And they all had a fair amount of candy too.  

Yankee Doddle Awesome!

Date With Bracken

April 11, 2014

Bracky and I had an afternoon to ourselves for a little mommy son date.  Bracken knew exactly what he wanted to do.  He wanted to hit up Freedom Station and play his little heart out.  We had a blast going from game to game collecting tickets.  As always Bracken had a hard time cashing them in, so many choices and just never enough tickets to buy what he really wants.  He cashed in his tickets for a giant, sour, gummy lizard, a few tootsie roll candies, and 2 plastic soldiers.

After Freedom Station we hit up Wal-Mart because Bracky had some hard earned money burning a whole in his wallet.  He purchased a king sized bag of Skittles (his favorite candy at the moment) and a mini rubbery, lifelike alligator  he named Gator and it goes every where with him.  He even whipped Gator out of his pocket in the middle of Church once, sneaky kid.

Bracky's First Game

April 7, 2014

Bracken's first game was a success.  He hit his balls on the first or second try, he ran the right direction every time, and for the most part he paid attention while in the out field.  He seemed a bit dazed at the beginning with the added commotion from playing an actual team, but by the second inning he was more confident.   

The Angel's

For 2 years Bracken has been envious of Nathan's post game treats and today he finally got his own.  It was quite possible the highlight of his day.

And just because he was so cute, here's a picture of Marco hauling his own chair.