Old Testament

Caleb has always been fascinated with the scriptures since we started reading them together at night just before bedtime. At first, he was just fascinated with the pictures (specifically of boats), but now he's becoming fascinated with the stories which is so fun. We just bought the Old Testament children's version about a month ago, and Caleb is really enjoying the stories. When we ask Caleb to pick out 3 books before bedtime, the scriptures are always one of his books (even though we would read them anyway). And lately, he doesn't care about reading other books, but just wants to pick out his favorite stories from the Old Testament and read them. I was very surprised when Caleb brought the scriptures to me this afternoon and asked me to read them to him just out of the blue. That's a real test of love. We're now trying to encourage Caleb to tell us the stories. It's a work-in-progress :o).

Caleb at 19 months

Caleb at 21 months
Caleb telling the story of Jonah

Ignore Caleb's unfinished room. We finally ordered the 'Cars' border that will finish it off!

Downtown

Last weekend we checked out the Natural Science Museum downtown with some friends.

"Uncle" Peter and "Aunt" Lauren (so nicknamed because our kids adore them!)

Caleb sticking his tongue out like the iguana

We ate a picnic lunch outside (what were we thinking?!?), and then Caleb saw the choo choo train. He would not stop talking about the train, asking over and over again if he could ride it followed by a "please?" in the cutest voice. So Caleb got his train ride before we headed home.

And he was one happy boy!

Vacation

This year for my side of the family's yearly vacation we stayed close to accomodate my sister-in-law who was 8 months pregnant and 3-month-old Carter. We rented a house for 6 days on a lake and enjoyed lots of fun activities together. Matt and Caleb enjoyed fishing together several mornings, we played lots of games even into the wee hours of the morning, and as always there was lots of yummy food. To make up for our guilty pleasure of eating a lot, my dad and I also went running together amost every morning. Here are some pictures of the other fun things we did:

We went on a 3 mile hike and the rain caught us on the way back. It was quite the downpour, and Carter was such a trooper. Good thing that it was warm outside so he didn't get sick. I carried Carter on the first half of the hike, and my mom helped out for the second half. Matt and Caleb headed back early because Caleb had an accident towards the beginning (he was afraid to go #2 in the woods), so they stayed nice and dry in the car while they waited for us!

Canoeing with the alligators (we only saw one)

Swimming in the neighborhood pool


We spent one day on the lake riding Jet Skis. Everyone was a little scared riding with Matt because he had one objective only: throw the other rider as quickly as possible! I had Matt give me a nice ride before he tried to throw me. I also took Caleb out for a fun ride.

Halfway through the vacation, my sister Ariane and her family were able to join us with their newborn. Gavin is the newest addition to the family (atleast for the next month). For those that know my sister and haven't heard the news, you can read all about Gavin joining their family here. He is such a sweet baby and Carter is so glad to have a best friend!

Uncle Clayton and Carter lounging around at the house.

Can I just say that I love having a photographer in the family now? Kara, you're the best! Here are some family pictures she took:

The entire gang minus Lindsey who is on a mission.

Daddy and Carter

Love this picture!

Caleb loving on his baby brother.

3 Sweet Boys

I've been meaning to post these pictures for awhile. Here are the boys in the rotating preschool I participated in on their last day of preschool together. They have their baker's hats on as we had worked on the nursery rhyme 'Pat A Cake'. They were so much fun to teach. I'm getting excited for doing more preschool teaching come end of August.

Signing Up

I have found a half marathon on a Saturday in November in Galveston and a marathon on a Saturday in January in Kingwood. Anyone interested in signing up with me? I'm also thinking about doing a training program this time around with Woodlands Fit that starts in a few weeks. If you live in this area, let me know if you want more details!

Lucky

The Lucky streak continues.

Matt and I went to see a musical production of Jane Eyre a few weeks ago with some friends. During intermission, there was an opportunity to put your name in a drawing to win 4 tickets to the next musical production, Rent. As they got ready to read out the name of the winner, I turned to Matt and was about to say, "Wouldn't it be funny if they called out your name?" but I never got the chance before they announced Matt as the winner of the tickets. They just arrived in the mail, and Matt is going to sell them very cheaply to a co-worker.
The other day, Matt won 4 golf passes from a radio station to a course close by. With his long drive to work each way, he sometimes uses the time to call into radio stations and try to win fun prizes. He had his name in a drawing of 5 people the other Friday for a weekend getaway package, but that one didn't pan out. It would have been perfect timing for our anniversary.

Matt and I celebrated 4 years of marriage earlier this month. The longer I'm married to him, the more I realize just how lucky I am to be his wife. I'm lucky that he is such a positive and upbeat person. It really brings a wonderful atmosphere to our home; he is such a pleasant person to be around. It takes a lot to make Matt upset because he just chooses not to let things get to him.

I'm lucky that he is so patient both with me and the kids. When my patience has long worn thin when dealing with the kids, he still has an incredible amount of love and patience to give.

I'm lucky that he is such a hard worker. He works really hard at his job and around the house. He is more than willing to jump in and help with any household chore I ask him to do (even mop the kitchen floor on hands and knees which he thinks is silly).

I'm lucky that he has such "worldly" knowledge when it comes to fixing things around the house, fixing cars, building things, buying a house, etc.

I'm lucky to be married to someone that has so many similar interests as I do. We love playing sports together and playing games together. We are both really competitive so we have had to learn how to lose graciously over the years.

I'm lucky to be married to someone who supports me in my other interests that we don't share namely music. He is willing to go see musicals with me even though it wouldn't be his preferred activity for the evening.

I'm lucky he is such a people-person. It has helped us out in more than one occasion. He loves talking and getting to know new friends.

I'm lucky that Matt honors his priesthood and is so service-oriented. He would do anything to help people, and he does it because he loves it so much! The downside to this though is that he has a tendency to overbook himself sometimes and can't keep all the promises he's made to people! It leaves me husband-less at times too, but I'm glad that he is so charitable. (We like to joke that it makes up for my lack of charity!) We balance each other well, and I'm so grateful for all he does for our family.

I'm so lucky to be married to my best friend! I love having him by my side in all that we do. He makes me want to be a better person.

To celebrate our anniversary, we kept it really simple this year as we'll probably do something bigger for our 5th year. Matt came home early from work with a dozen roses, and we had a steak dinner at home followed by some tennis.

We Love You Daddy!

Love, Caleb and Carter

Caleb and Carter woke up early with me to help me make some muffins for Matt (early as in 6:15 am as we have early church). Caleb made the card at preschool using his thumb print. Matt is a terrific father and his boys love him so much!