Visit from the Murrays

So we were able to have our good friends come visit this past weekend and it was a blast! My best friend Bec and her husband Eric (Taylor's friend since he was 5 or so) came down with their 1 year old daughter Katelyn.

The boys absolutely adore Kate and the three of them had a great weekend together. James would wake up each morning and say, "is her awake?" "is her coming out yet[of the toyroom where they slept]" "is her going to play with me?" The kids played together so well and James kept kissing Katelyn (his betrothed) all weekend.

We had a great time chatting with Bec and Eric, playing games, eating, etc. We took the kids to the beach on Saturday and went to a BYU football party. (Matthias ate sand by the handfuls whenever we weren't looking.) Other than that we mostly just hung out and ate. It was a ton of fun and we hope they can come again!! Just not at 2:30am next time...=]

Let's all give a hand to Matthias Harvey...

So Matthias learned to clap on Sunday September 2, 2007.

He just put his hands together and...whoa, they hit one another, a sound resulted. He stared in amazement at the wonder he had created. Then he tried again...same results. Again, same. Amazing!! Now everyone was doing it and telling him how smart he was and how great. What an earth shattering discovery!

I put him down for a nap about 30 minutes later and when I laid him in his crib he was still clapping. Hope you enjoy the video as much as Matthias loves clapping!

Rush and Standing Tall

So Taylor was able to attend a Rush concert last week and had a blast!! He just loves that band. He was able to go with a bunch of guys from the ward, so that was really fun for him.

Matthias figured out how to stand last Friday all by himself. James started laughing his head off when Matt let go of me while standing up and since then Matt takes any opportunity to let go of whatever he is holding onto, fling his hands straight up in the air, and look around to make sure someone laughs or tells him how amazing he is. It's pretty funny. He is cruising with his walker and balancing for longer periods of time...so we are betting he will walk earlier than James. James walked at about 10 1/2 months, so that gives Matthias 2 whole months to get it down. We'll see...

Sword Fight

Yee-haw!

The Horse Ride

James was SO excited and happy to ride a horse. He rode the white horse once and a horse named Ginger twice.

We're back and running...

So, I don't know if anyone actually reads this blog, but I am back from my long break. We spent three weeks in Utah and the last three weeks painting, taking swimming lessons, getting our first teeth, learning to walk along furniture, getting immunization to prepare for going to Africa, celebrating a birthday and an anniversary, sword fighting, and saying funny things. It has been a crazy time!!

James rode a pony for the first time and he loved it. He rode three times at our HOA National Night Out Party. I'll get a picture up. Also the boys have figured out how to sword fight together. James is very careful with Matthias and shows him how to hold his sword. It's hilarious and of course we have a video, so I will post that as well.

Taylor is going to Africa in a little while...Angolia to be exact. So that will be a neat experience for him. The boys and I are going to paint and party!! I have actually finished painting our room and the entry way since we got back and hope to finish the family room/kitchen before Bec and Eric come in a few weeks. Then I just have the two bathrooms left.

We are doing well. More later and lots of great "James' Speak" from the last several weeks!!