Twinkies

I love doing photo re-creations of my boys! It is so fun for me to remember what Mason was like at Kellen’s age. And for some reason, it is just so fun to see them side by side when they were close to the same size. 

It’s funny how when Mason was a baby I just could not imagine what he would look like as a toddler. But now that he’s a toddler, it’s a bit harder to remember what he was like as a teeny tiny baby. It seems like he’s been walking and talking for forever! It makes the pictures I’ve taken of him that much more precious with every day that goes by.

Now as I look at Kellen, I just can’t imagine what he’ll look like when he’s Mason age. Especially because I just can’t picture what he’ll look like with hair! I just can’t even begin to visualize that one. And I still have no idea what color his eyes will settle into because they are still changing every day. There are some things that are just kind of hard to imagine until they are here.

It is so amazing to watch my little boys grow up. They are different every day from the day before, and yet in some ways exactly the same as the day they were born. With every new stage some things get easier and some things get harder. Lots of the hard things they grow out of. And the cute little things they do that we love so much and hope they never let go of, they eventually grow out of too. Even though day to day we do a lot of the same things, there’s always something new to marvel at or clap for. These boys are my greatest adventure.   

Kellen’s Blessing Luncheon

The day after Kellen was sealed to us, we were able to bless him in church. It was so special to see Spencer bless our baby. It was one of those moments we had dreamed about during the long wait for our babies. We were so happy that everyone who had come for Kellen’s sealing was able to be there for his blessing. Being surrounded by our family and dearest friends on that special day meant a lot to us.

We hosted a luncheon at our house afterwards and were finally able to formally introduce everyone to each other. I was slightly nervous because I don’t think we’d every hosted such a large gathering in our house (about 35 people), but we had more than enough food so I think it all worked out ok! It was so fun for us to see everyone visiting. We have such great family and friends.

I actually had a lot of fun getting ready for the event. Most of the decorations were just snatched from Kellen’s nursery, but I did sculpt a few little elephants and made the Italian Soda and “Please write a note for Kellen and Serena” sign. Oh, and I made their little scrapbooks of course. It was fun to have a few crafty projects to work on after the boys were in bed! And working on Kellen’s little love note book has inspired me to start on his baby book. 

Fourth of July

We had a very fun Fourth of July! We started out the day by going to a parade in a nearby town. It was fairly small, but bigger than we expected. And Mason LOVED it. He was absolutely enchanted with the whole thing. He pointed out every motorcycle, truck, and horse with great delight. Since he is obsessed with things that go, even the less-decorated vehicles were enthralling to him. And he was a big fan of collecting handfuls of candy tossed his way.

(His sunglasses are upside down about 90% of the time.)

He waved his little American flag like it was his job. That was perhaps my favorite part of all. Even though he doesn’t know all the things that flag represents, it was very sweet to me to see him flying the flag for most of the parade. I never want to forget how he would wave his flag as fast as he could when he saw something he was excited about.

Then we were off to the sidewalk chalk festival.

It’s always interesting to see the artwork in progress.

We stopped to feed this yankee doodle cutie cutie lunch:

And this guy got an otter pop:

Then it was home for naps so Mason could rest up for fireworks. We decided to just do a few small ones in our driveway since I didn’t think Kellen would especially enjoy the fireworks or being up several hours past his bedtime. But we let Mason stay up late to watch fireworks for the first time. It was even more of a hit than we thought it would be. He LOVED it. We actually got to see plenty of big ones right from our driveway, so we got an pretty good show. We had fun setting off the few tiny ones we had picked out. And Mason just loved it all. He grabbed his flag to wave through the whole thing and he was super excited about the glow sticks we let him wear on his wrists and ankles. He kept yelling, “Boom! Boom! Yeah!” He liked throwing poppers on the ground. And he loved that I let him take a bath with his glow sticks. He had a blast, and we had a blast just watching him. 

Kellen, amazingly, slept through the whole thing. I was surprised because it was LOUD. Then, once Mason was in bed too, Spencer and I continued to sit in our driveway watching fireworks, doing sparklers, and sipping milkshakes. And then since we had the camera out, we decided to take pictures of our clones fighting ourselves.


We know how to party.

Oh What Do You Do In The Summertime?

Summer is just my faaaaaaaaaaaaavorite! We have been enjoying the sunshine and long days tremendously. Some of what we’ve been up to so far:

• “Swimming” in the backyard. I put Mason’s slide right into his little pool and he splashes for hours! We go swimming several times a week at least.
• BBQ’s.
• Half price shakes at Sonic after eight! Pretty much a Friday staple. They are best enjoyed outside.
• The splash pad.
• The Village. Mason loves the fountain show.
• A different park every day after naps. So many slides to try!
• Running through the sprinklers.
• Shorts and sandals.
• The local pool. It has a beach entry which makes it perfect for the boys to play in.
• Visiting family and planning trips.
• Eating tons of nectarines and berries. So many trips to Costco.
• Oh and corn on the cob. MMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmhhmmmmmmmmmmm.
• Library summer reading programs.
• Making home-made ice cream.
• Farmer’s markets.

June’s been a pretty fun month. We’re looking forward to July!