Happy Mother's Day Grandma!

James and Matthias made some flowers for their grandmas from their handprints...unfortunately their mother didn't mail the flowers. So the grandmas get a picture instead. =]

This is just a Tribute

Just wanted to send a shout out to all our moms. We think you are great and we love you very a lot!! Thanks for all the wonderful things you do for us. Thank you for talking to us on the phone and sending us things and playing with our boys. Thanks for teaching us what is right and how to be nice and how to make our beds. Thank you for making us eat yummy food and go to bed and brush our teeth.

I love you so much mom and think you are the best!!

I love you mom and think you are great!!

Love,
Kristi & Taylor

P.S. James and Matthias both of course really love their mother and think she is wonderful. She makes (and I quote James), "mmm, good food" and she takes us out to play. She teaches us lots of things and lets us eat too much candy and ice cream...especially Matt!! She tries real hard to be the best mom she can be and she always prays for help from Heavenly Father to guide her in raising the beautiful spirits He sent to her home. Thank you mom!! We love you.


Also, junior primary made crowns today and I have been wearing mine around...it is supposed to mean that my kids have to do everything I say, but it isn't working out well so far...

Camping and Fishing

So Taylor took James on his first camping trip which also included his first fishing trip. Now for anyone who knows James well you know he would spend all day every day outside if he could so when I told him he was going to sleep outside he could not believe his good fortune. We had been telling him all week that he would be going camping with Dad, but not really knowing what "camping" entailed, James spent the whole week in excited anticipation for this mysterious camping trip he would be going on. All week he talked about fire and camping.

Taylor said James spent Friday evening in absolute awe...he was in heaven. It was 10:00pm and he was still outside!! Every now and then he would just stop and look around as if to decide if this was real or a dream. They roasted marshmellows and hot dogs and tried to stay out of the lake. Taylor finally convinced James to get in the tent and then opened the window. James started shouting, "outside!" "car!" He could hardly contain himself!! Finally the two settled down for the night.

Next morning James could not belive that he woke up and was still outside!! What great fortune he had stumbled upon! They spent the morning fishing and playing. James caught his first fish, which was little but there were lots of "bigger" fish caught as well. Included in this blog are pics of James making a fish face at his fish and a monkey face at his fish. James had a great time and was pretty tired and a little grumpy the rest of the day. Fathers and Sons was a blast!!

(Mom and Matthias went out to eat with some friends at La Madellines then Matt went to bed while Mom watched Pride and Prejudice and painted the boys' room. Next morning the two played and had a great time until the other boys got home.)

Praying Etiquette...

(First, I swear I will add a blog on our trip to the zoo...soon!)

So we have been teaching James to say his own prayers and he is getting really good at "kneeling" and saying Amen at the end. His version of kneeling he adapted from Taylor's version which pretty much consists of James laying flat on the ground with his head in his hands.

Last week he said his first pray with help and the next night came up with his own, consisting of "Father, bless, bless, bless, bless, Amen." So we have been working with him to get all the important parts in there.

Also we have told him he cannot wear his "cow hat" during prayers which is a big step since he wears it everywhere, even to bed and the car ride to church. Tonight he was wearing his sunglasses and Taylor said "no glasses during prayers." So he takes his off and starts to kneel and then reaches up to my face and says, "no glasses" and takes my glasses off. It was pretty hilarious, so we need to work on being more specific!

Our kids are great boys and we love them to pieces. Thanks for reading my blog folks...if anyone is actually reading it...=] Word.

We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo...

How about you, you, you. You can come too, too, too. We're going to the zoo!

So the boys and I packed up and went to the Houston Zoo today. We had loads of fun and James was really excited to go. Last night he was naming off all the animals we would see...hippo, lion, giraffe, tiger, elephant, bear.

Okay, that was like three weeks ago, but now I am picking up where I left off. So to the zoo we went with my great friend Mandy Hales and her daughter Sophie (who, according to James, is his best friend). We saw all the animals James was hoping for with the exception of a hippo. We even saw the lion and tiger very close up. I could probably go on forever, but let's just say it was your average trip to the zoo with heat, crazy parking, ice cream cones (thanks Mandy!), lots of animals, lots of kids on field trips, and lots of walking. But the our kids seemed to enjoy it and Matthias slept at least half of the time.

Pics are of us in front of the elephant, a tiger (just like Jabber...James' pal), and James watching the mommy orangatang harass her baby (she was trying to snuggle with the baby and the baby was trying to wriggle away).

Wicked: A New Musical

Taylor and I went to see Wicked last weekend and it was incredible!!

Before the play we went to dinner at Artista, a restaurant in the theater. The food was very yummy!! For our apetizer we had crab legs with garlic mashed potatoes and lots of butter which were so tasty. For our meal we had my favorite-swordfish. This one was wood smoked and delicious served with grilled zucchini. For dessert an amazing chocolate/carmely tart with coconut ice cream and candied walnuts!! It was all quite tasty and not too expensive.

Then we went to see the play and it was wonderful! The singing gave me chills and the story is fun. Our seats weren't too bad, about sixth row of the gallery (3rd level) and we brought binoculars so we were able to see well. We had fun dressing up (well, I did) and going out for a nice evening.

In other news we are planting a garden of zucchini, yellow squash, and tomatoes. I am very excited to have fresh vegies!! Laters.

Update

Life is going well. The boys are both growing SO fast. Last week James and I made a list of all the words he knows and it is over 100 with new words adding every day. He is really starting to talk a lot and we can actually have some what of a conversation with him...it is so much fun. Matthias is also getting very talkative. He is always making some sort of noise...I guess so we don't forget he is there! =] Matt also LOVES sucking on his hand and can get almost his entire fist in his mouth...something that James didn't do as a baby.

The boys love playing with each other and have so much fun together. Matthias is always watching James and seeing what he does. James likes to try to roll around on the floor with Matt like Dad does with him. Today James dragged Matthias right next to a box and then started leaping off the box over Matt (while I was in the bathroom), so I had to get Matt away before James jumped a little too short. They are already becoming great pals and I am excited to watch their friendship grow.

We are doing well and learning a lot. Taylor has been working on fixing the Pontiac for a couple of weeks now and really learning about how it works...hopefully he can get it to work again!! I am constantly trying to balance my schedule again...James and I were so comfortable in our routine and we are still trying to figure things out again. Life is good!!