Apples 2 Apples...& More Apples!

We had apples growing out of our ears this year! The kids had so much fun climbing in the trees like a bunch of wild monkeys!

Scrumptious!

Chase & Dyl's idea of "relaxing."

It's 9:00 am and already time to take a bubble bath!

This is our sexy Grandma. She's awesome!

Leave it up to Dylan to find an apple that looks like a butt!

...And then laugh and joke about it for another 10 minutes!

Grandpa picked up apples off of the ground to take home and feed to his goats on the farm. Dyl was sad that he couldn't go home to Idaho with Gramps. Darn school!

No smoochin' in the trees!

Couldn't resist!

PJ's are perfect 4 apple pickin'!

Chase & Dyl worked extra hard! They can really be great helpers when it's something they wanna do!

Aunt Tracy always shows up for the fun stuff!

Barnum and Bailey Circus!

We had an awesome time at the circus this year. We took along Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Tracy, Aunt Kathy, Gary, Leslie, Chase, Shaylee, Karly, Anthony, and Anthony's girlfriend, Julie. Exciting times!

Gary and the boys waiting with anticipation for the Trax train to pick us up and deliver us to the circus. Oh...the enthusiasm!

Shay and Kars had to get beautified for the special event...Don't they look absolutely fabulous?

Tracy and Chase with their "magical" wizard hats

Grandpa and his girls...

Anthony and Julie...The lovebirds. We were able to get to know Julie a little better this weekend and absolutey LOVE her. --And Anthony's pretty cool, also! Anthony bought us all lunch at Chili's afterwards. Then, the following day Anthony grilled hotdogs and hamburgers for us. He's the best!

Anthony carrying Aunt Kathy to the train stop

Dylan with his favorite great-Aunt Kathy

Oh...All this stuff didn't give Dylan a sugar high! Dyl got an elephant cup filled with a rainbow sno-cone and a wizard hat w/a bag of cotton candy attached.

Leslie trying to butter up to Julie so she can be the favorite sister-in-law-to-be!

Grandma and Grandpa are the magic in our lives...They don't need the hats to prove it!

Karly wouldn't let me take her picture so I had to sneak a shot while she wasn't paying attention...

The clowns came down the aisle with a fishing net and captured Uncle Gary's big 'ole head and I snapped a shot...

Beautiful Shay...Always an adorable little doll!

The elephant act was one of the highlights of the show. Dyl also loved the horse and dog acts but was scared when the tigers did their performance in the cage. It was definitely an entertaining time with wonderful family!

Gratefullness...

I don't often slow down long enough to take quiet time to myself but, when I do, I think about how lucky I am. Lucky to have a healthy, beautiful son. Lucky to have a good job and a nice home. Lucky to have great people, both friends and family, surrounding me. I wish I could take more time to just breathe...to enjoy all of the little simple things in life. It's so easy to get caught up in the things that don't really matter in the end. For today, I resolve to appreciate all of life's magical treasures and gifts...

Weekend @ Payton's...

Dyl and I spent the weekend in Pocatello visiting my sister, Ashley. Payton and Dyl had so much fun! One of the things I've always cherished about Dylan is how he can be so gentle and playful with the younger kids. He and Payton are great buds!

Lots 'o loves!

Mischief...

...and movies!

I told Dylan to get dressed and he located the nearest pants...Payton's! Payton wears a size 3T and Dyl wears a 6. Dylan refused to take Payton's pants off the rest of the day...So this was his "look."

Rebellion!

Playin' at the park...

Posin' for the camera...

...and bein' goofy!

What a cutie!

Playin'...

...and wrestlin' in the grass...

A little too truthful!

We were driving in the car on the way to take Dylan to preschool. There's an arch that goes over Bangerter Highway so that people can walk to the other side. As the school kids were riding their bikes across there I mentioned to Dyl that they were clear up there riding their bikes. This is how the conversation went:
Dyl: Someday I'm gonna go clear up there on my bike. --But some moms can't go up there 'cuz they're too fat.
Mom: Can Mom go up there?
Dyl: No...'cuz Mom, you really do have a fat belly...And old people can't go up there either.
Mom: Oh, really? Is Mom too old to go up there, too?
Dyl: No, Mom...You're just 1/2 old. You'll be old when you get as old as Grandma!

Commercial Madness...

Dyl went in to watch tv while I checked my email. A few minutes later, Dylan came in and said, "Mom, we should get that thing on tv for you. It says, "You don't have to shave, you just have to smooth...We gotta get it!"

Things goin' through a kid's mind...

Dylan: Mom, can I please have some more canteloupe?
Mom: I'm sorry, Bud...but it's all gone. Do you want some strawberries or grapes instead?
Dylan: No. That's ok...I'll just wait till Jesus makes some more canteloupe.

Famous Quotes by Dylan...

"Mom, I think I've decided I don't want to be a train engineer when I grow up 'cuz I wanna be a teacher. That way when the kids won't be quiet I can just kick them out of school."

Trying to escape!

Tonight I was downstairs doing dishes and I sent Dylan up to brush his teeth. A few minutes later I hear, "Mom, Mom...hurry up! I need you!" I raced upstairs to see this. Dyl, for a reason only he knows, decided to climb up in the windowsill without thinking about how he was going to get down! Dyl was even more irritated when I made him wait there while I grabbed my camera. What a nut!

Going to Preschool...

This is my little munchkin on his first day of preschool. He was so excited he could hardly wait! He picked out these spiffy Skechers. They're police ones and light up and the reason he needed them is because he saw them on a commercial on Nickelodeon and decided he needed to be cool for school. Uncle Anthony bought him this cool Wolverine backpack and Dyl picked out the superhero shirt...All decked out and ready to do some serious learning!

Dyl had to get up early this morning. He looks a little chipper 'cuz he was excited--But he could hardly get outta bed and make it there by 8:30 am!

Dylan and Miss Joanne...Miss Joanne is Dylan's teacher at Right Start Academy where he will attend preschool on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. When asked what he learned today Dyl's response was, "I learned how to pick up toys and put them away." Hey...I've been trying to teach him that for 4 years and he learned that in 1 day at preschool? Gosh...It's worth the money!

Dylan and Mrs. Forsythe...Dyl is going to attend Children's Garden Preschool on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Today the class had a big water party and Dyl's comment about that was, "Mom, we're just going to play in the water everyday."

Hop Scotch & Ropin' Games

Dylan has been bugging me forever to buy him a lasso so he can be a cowboy like Uncle Anthony. I finally gave in and Anthony taught him a few of the ropes... Later...Grandpa taught the kids how to play hopscotch...

Hot Date...

Dyl and I went to an orientation for his new preschool today. Afterwards we went to lunch at the Training Table. Dyl wanted to pay so I gave him the money. When he got to the counter he handed the girl the money and said, "I'm bringing my mom on a hot date." Oh...I want him to be little forever!

Dylan's philosophy on Jesus...

"Mom, we can't really see Jesus...He just lives in our hearts. He just has a microphone and he can talk to our hearts that way. But ya know...remember that one place with all the pretty flowers? Jesus lives there in that house. He probably was just gone to the store when we stopped by. Jesus is really nice and we love him. Satan is bad and evil and we don't really like to talk about him. He makes really bad choices and makes us say bad words when we don't even want to...They just come right out of our mouth. That's why we need to follow Jesus 'cuz when we say bad words, our moms get really mad and yell at us. I think it's because they didn't get enough sleep and they're grumpy...But we still love our moms. Jesus loves our moms, too 'cuz he loves everybody."

Short trip...

Aunt Tracy gave Dylan a great big map of the world. This morning Dyl woke up and brought it into where I'm working. He said, "Mom...when you get off work I think we should go somewhere fun." Silly me for thinking Dyl wanted to go to the park or to a movie or Chuck E. Cheese's or somewhere. Dylan pointed to Russia on the map and said, "I think we should go here." That'd be an extra short trip since I have to be back to work tomorrow!

Stealing the show...

I play the piano for my church choir. Today as I went up on the stand I told Dyl to sit still and watch as the choir sang. I began to play the piano, the choir began to sing...And then came Dylan, hopping up on the piano bench and hugging me as I was playing the piano--right there in front of the whole congregation. I was a little frustrated w/Dyl and he knew it. On the way home I asked Dyl why he didn't listen to me and stay sitting down in the audience. His response was, "Well, Mommy...I just wanted to give you a great big hug...is there really something wrong with that?" My frustration turned into a little giggle as I realized he's just a 4-year-old and I guess it wasn't really that big of a deal.