The May basket that we made for Daddy. He shared!!! This was always a fun and memorable tradition with my mom. I remember picking flowers from her garden and making or buying a few goodies to put in a homemade basket. My favorite part was trying to deliver the basket without the people seeing us.

Our garden has done quite well this year and looks good in the pictures. It has gone downhill now. I have been killing bugs like crazy and trying to keep Jared out of the tomatoes. I was able to pick to cherry tomatoes, but Jared continues to pick off all of the green ones. We picked quite a few strawberries and probably 20 pea pods. I picked a few ears of corn, but they weren't pollenated well enough. They are tiny ears with just a few kernels. The bugs have really taken their toll on the pumpkins, so we will see if they survive. I just have a few cucumbers coming on now. You can tell that I love to garden and love to teach my boys about the plants and how to garden. They love to eat all of the produce right out of the garden, which I am fine with. We have had lots of fun together even if it isn't enough to can or freeze anything.

Jared enjoying his ice cream cone in the sun.

Nathan really wanted to run through the sprinkler. He thought that it was cold as he sucks in his tummy, but he had a blast. Of course I did it with him because I am still young at heart and love to play with my boys.

 Swimming with our friends (the Meyer family). It was the first time that we used our pool this year, and we hope to use it many more times. It was a little chilly, but it felt nice.

Swimming with more friends (Janene and Savannah)

Jared was not too interested and would not even go in the water. I think it was a little too chilly for him. When we were at the park the other day he kepts saying bath and pointing to the little kids swimming pool. Hopefully I can get him use to the swimming pool because he loves his bath.

Jumping in the puddles after a little rain. I love that Nathan wanted to dress in all of his gear even though it was seventy some degrees out. Jared sure does like to follow Nathan, and they seem to be playing a little more together. Jared is always moving around, and loves to climb. He is so tall and strong for his age. He loves to play with balls, play dough, read books, ring around the rosy, sing and dance, and much more.

Mother's Day 2012. I had to get a picture with my sweet boys. Nathan was being his self and teasing us like crazy while we were trying to get a picture. Jared was as calm and collective as he always is. It is fun to see their emerging personalities and see the similarities and the differences (definitely more differences that similarities). The other day a lady at the park said that Jared looks just like me. That made me so happy as most people say Nathan is an exact replica of Matt. It is good to know that Jared has some of my blood at least.  Check out my new hair do in the next few pictures.

Picture with my sweetheart.

Nathan loves to help and especially clean. I sent him out to his house with a rag and spray bottle. He was out there for hours for a couple of straight days. He always uses his spray bottle to help me clean the bathrooms and the other day he went to an Eagle project with his daddy and was upset when he came home and the house was cleaned without him helping. What a sweety!!

Nathan at the park with Rachel.

Nathan at the park with Christine, Annie, and Jack (maybe others) while Matt was at the Eagle project. He really adores them and loved to destroy their sand castles. I guess they went for a walk at the park which had lots of trees. Nathan said that the forest had bears and was scared. Christine told him that Jack would kill the bears and be safe. Nathan loves to have some "adopted" older siblings.

Great Wolf Lodge

Okay, okay, I know that I have been a little picture happy, but I cannot help that my boys are absolutely adorable. We went to the Great Wolf Lodge April 16-18th to have a short family vacation and boy did we ever need one. We went to a presentation where they try and sell you stuff, and got a 3 day 2 night stay at the GWL. We thought that was a great deal and both Matt and I are good at telling them NOPE not right now. The picture above was a gift shop there at the lodge. Jared loves stuffed animals and is so cute when he gives them hugs. I couldn't capture a hug on camera though as he is so quick.

We had a great time. The first day the water was so cold that Nathan was the only one that had fun but was still shivering. Jared was getting his teeth in and made for a clinging kiddo. I was able to get him in the water just once, but he did like the hot tub.

We didn't even go in the water the second day because it was so cold, but we spent our wad in the arcade. We all had fun as a family in there. Matt set a hight score on the basketball at 77 and loved to try and win Deal or NO Deal. I set a high score where you hit the objects coming up with 37 hits ( I guess my fast reflexes do come in handy besides play cards--it is may family's goal to always try and beat me at fast card games). The boys loved the cars and the ball games. Jared wanted to play with the basketballs constantly. There was another game that was fun to play because all four of us played. We were supposed to use balls to hit moving objects on the screen.

They had a kids club where they could do crafts, paint, color, buy and color a shirt, computer games, a little fun house, and board games.

Matt had a craving for a cupcake and saw one at the ice cream shop at the lodge. They were only charging $2.50. OUCH!! We decided to just go to Wal-mart and buy a pack of 6. We enjoyed eating dinners at Outback Steakhouse and an Italian place. We brought our own lunch and breakfasts to make it cheaper. It was nice nice to be able to go up to our room and take a nap and then go back out and play. The third day we did get back in the water before we left, and it was much warmer. We wished that we would have tried the water the second day, but oh well can't go back in time. Matt and I were able to take turns watching the boys and the other one go down the big slides. I love water slides and could have kept going down it all day, even down the same slide. I love theme parks and water slides. There were no lines so we could go up the stairs and go right down the slide. The only downside was that Matt's phone kept ringing and ringing and ringing. I finally told him that I was going to throw his phone away if he didn't shut the thing up. Not really, but I wanted to. Cell phones: love them and hate them. We would love to go back if the opportunity was provided. The boys would really love it when they are older too.

They had story time at night to help calm the kiddos down.

It is hard to believe that Jared is almost 18 months old. He is in his 95% percentile for height and his 40% for weight. That's right: he is skinning and tall. He has starting talking so much and folds his arms for prayer by placing his hands under his chin. A few words include up, ma, da, hot, bubble, dance, dog, book, bath, nana, papa, more (signing), and much more. He is easy going and a happy boy for the most part unless he is teething and then he is a bear. He just cut has last two incisors. YEAH!! All he has left are his 2 year molars. We hope that he will have a few months break before he starts those. He loves to ride the horsy (ME) and play ring around the rosy. He would love to be doing whatever Nathan is doing or playing with, but Nathan just won't tolerate it. He loves being outside and being strawberries and eating them even if they aren't ripe.

Jared finally gets to play with the firetruck while Nathan is sleeping. I thought that it was cute that he wanted to ride it. Both Nathan and Jared LOVE firetrucks. They both can imitate the siren very well.

Happy Easter

First Easter egg hunt at the Rowlett Park with church members. Nathan definitely had the goal to get lots of eggs, but Jared was interested with opening one and finding the treasure inside. While we were at the park, Jared thought a fireant pile was dirt and took a big handful. He came over to me and then started crying. He has the longest breath from when he gets hurt to when you actually hear him cry. I felt so sorry and bad for him. He had all of these little welts all over his hands and arms. I dont' know how he didn't fall in the ant pile and actually get more bites. I think an angel must have been watching over him and caught him. You could see the huge pile had been demolished by his hand. The funny thing is that he has no marks left from the bite, but the three bites that I received from get them off have left scars. I am so glad that he is okay.

It was always fond memories for me to color eggs every year with my family. I want to keep that same tradition and the boys loved it. Matt was worried about the mess it would cause and the nasty smell of vinegar (which he absolutely despises), so I used lemon juice. The boys did great and loved it.

Easter at Nana and Grandaddy's house was so nice to be with family. We loved getting together and spending time as a family. The boys love to go over there, and Nana at least once or twice a week requests to go over. They especially love to play in the back yard. I forgot to mention the last time that we were there, Nathan went to the bathroom and noticed that Nana had a new Lysol spray in the bathroom. Nathan pays attention to detail so well and has an amazing memory.

Easter at our house. We decided to do an Easter egg hunt at our house too because we weren't getting together with Matt's family until a couple weeks after Easter. The boys had fun of course and being MOM I had to get lots of pictures of all three occasions. Can't ever have too many pictures. More important the the memories and the candy is remembering our Savior and that He lives. I am so thankful for his sacrifice and love. We had an FHE on Christ and his death and ressurection. Nathan and Jared loved to look and hold the pictures I showed them, but Nathan was so interested in Christ have nails put in his hands and feet and how much that would hurt. Nathan always pays attention when it is someone getting hurt or deals with lots of emotion (e.g. Good Samaritan, Christ calming the sea, etc...). The last picture here is Nathan feeding a strawberry to Jared. They are such sweet boys, and I love them so much.