Bringing in the Summer Heat

May brought with it some really warm weather.  I love it when we have hot days and the boys can splash and play to their heart's content.  My parents usually have us over for dinner once or twice while Tristan is away, which is always appreciated.  It gives me a break from cooking and the boys a chance to visit with their grandparents and get a change of scenery.  So since the weather was so nice we decided to BBQ and play in the backyard. 

My dad found this cool pool for Ashton that has a little canopy over it and doesn't get very deep.  He, of course, loved it.  Ashton loves the water even more than Ethan did, which I didn't think was possible!  He kept grabbing pea gravel and putting it in the pool with him--and his mouth.  So I was busy grabbing it out of his mouth as fast as he could put them in!

 The boys were being silly in the little pop up tent.

 Ashton was splashing away!

 My dad decided to build a treehouse in his back yard for the boys to play in.  He's really fortunate to have a friend in the construction business who drew up plans and helped him build the platform to put the treehouse on.  The boys are more than excited for it to be completed.

 This is Carter's favorite way to swing...and you can't see it, but he's totally naked here, too.  He's so crazy.

 Ashton snuggled up with Papa after swimming to dry off and warm up.

 After getting dressed, the boys decided to hit the pavement on their "bikes".

 Ashton had a great time watching (with his tongue out, of course)!

 Such joy!

We are so lucky to live someplace that has such beautiful weather in the spring and summer.  I'm so grateful that our boys love to be outside and play so much and that we have so many wonderful ways to do it!

Spring Silliness

We love spring and summer.  It's so nice to be able to mix inside time and outside time to make everyone happy.  I've really noticed a difference in Ethan since he started preschool.  He has gotten much more nimble with his hands and fingers--which results in some pretty creative building at our house.  He put this "train track" together all on his own

 Ashton really likes to play with anything OTHER than baby toys.  He really wants to be in the middle of what everyone else is doing and be a part of the group.  He really likes playing with things from the kitchen cupboard, which works well when I'm trying to cook or clean the kitchen.

 He has also followed suit when it comes to eating.  He's never been a huge fan of purees, opting instead for small pieces of whatever everyone else is eating.  He does o.k. with them sometimes, but mostly eats table food.  He still loves to stick out his tongue, too.  Lol.

 One sunny spring day we decided to hit up the park with the Marlatts and accidentally ran into our friends, the Fullers, too!  It was warm and beautiful.  Ashton loves the swing--there's that tongue again!

 At the beginning of school Ethan wasn't able to do this rope-walk.  He's really grown taller and in confidence.  It's fun watching him learn and grow and do new things.

 Carter loves to ride on this motorcycle whenever we hit this park up.  He's really becoming a big boy, too.  His speech is finally coming along more and I love being able to hear what's on his mind or what he needs.

 They really like the toys at this park and it's not usually too crowded since it's in a neighborhood kind of hidden away.

 Cody and Ashton had fun relaxing in the shade.

 Another thing the boys love doing is driving their cars through anything.  One day I came out to check on them in backyard to find that they had made a mudpit to drive their cars through.

Later they made a carwash and were taking their muddy cars through it to clean up (no pictures).  They are so silly and creative when they are playing together.

Easter Celebrations

Right around Easter, Ashton finally decided that he was ready to hold his own bottle (7 months old).  But, he's still smiling even when he's eating!

 We squeezed in a lot of celebrating this year.  Luckily, most of it was before Easter since Tristan flew out on Easter Sunday for some training.  We started things off by visiting Tristan's mom at her house where the boys got to do their first egg hunt of the season.  The next morning we visited her ward for their Easter breakfast and egg hunt.  It was wet and rainy, so it ended up being an indoor hunt and the boys had a great time!  (We were so busy we didn't end up catching any pictures.)

Then our ward had a small gathering of people who got together to do a hunt at our church building.  Ethan did a good job of helping Carter out since he's younger and still getting the hang of it all.

 Easter morning was a busy one for us since Tristan had to fly out in the late morning.  The bunny stopped by with beach buckets and toys for the kids to get them ready for summer.

 Carter checking out what's in some of those Easter eggs.

 Carter was curious about his bucket, too!  Some new bibs for eating solid food...

 and some new sippy cups!  He's becoming a big boy!

 He had fun watching his brothers, too.

 Then we did a quick egg hunt in our back yard before Tristan got picked up for the airport.  Carter finally started to get the hang of it and did a good job of finding his own eggs.

 Time to check out what's in those eggs!

 Ashton loved the eggs, too, and had fun chasing them around since they were so rolly poly.

 Got one!

 After Tristan left I spend the morning getting the boys ready for church.  While I was getting ready, Ashton found a piece of candy that I had missed on the ground.  It was quite a mess.  I guess we know he likes chocolate and peanut butter (and yes, I was a little worried about that)!

 The boys looked so cute in the matching ties that the Easter bunny delivered to them.

After church we went to my mom and dad's house for dinner and what else?  Another egg hunt!  The boys enjoyed being able to be out in the sunshine for this one.

 The bunny was a little trickier at Papa's house!

 Papa decided to help them out in finding some of the extra tricky ones.

 Ashton had fun watching from the sidelines this year.

 They boys love the loot at Papa's house...change for their piggy banks!  My grandparents started that tradition when I was little.  Apparently the bunny got the memo and is now carrying it on at Papa's.  ;)

 The boys had Easter baskets waiting for them there as well.  I couldn't catch the boys checking out theirs, but I did manage to get one of Ashton.

We had a busy couple of days with all of our Easter celebrations!  We were sorry that we didn't get to spend the day with Tristan, but we were grateful that we had several days celebrating with the family and friends in our lives!  Most importantly, it was a special day spent reflecting on the love our Savior has for us and how dependent we are on Him to overcome the weaknesses in our lives.  I'm so grateful for the gift the atonement is in our lives and for the ability we have to be together as an eternal family because of it!