My Big 3 Year Old

Watching birthday cartoons!




Yesterday was Cole's 3rd birthday and we had such a fun day! I can't believe how fast the last 3 years have flown by and that he is already such a big boy. When we were driving in the car yesterday, he asked "Can I drive a car now?" I said "No, you have 12 years to go before you can drive." I know that next 12 years is going to go by way too fast and I'll be posting a picture of a 15 year old sitting in the drivers seat! I can defintely wait for that day:-) We had a fun birthday party at the park with family and friends. I made dirt and worm cupcakes as his birthday cake which he thought were cool! He got to have his first pinata and was so excited to find out candy came out of it!

Cole is such a joy! He loves to sing and dance and often I'll look back and find him headbanging to the music as we drive in the car. He loves sports, anything with a ball to throw or kick! Digging in the sand or dirt, playing with water, swimming, riding his scooter, and helping me take care of our garden have been some of his favorites this summer. He loves to pretend he is hunting for deer with his gun or bow and arrows and can't wait till he can actually go hunting with his dad. He talks incredibly well and is very polite, saying please and thank you and asks "can I please be excused" after a meal. He loves to help me cook and make things in the kitchen too. He is a wonderful helper and his job is to empty all the

garbage cans into the big one for garbage day. He is so sweet and loves to give hugs and tells me "You're such a good mommy!" I love this kid!!!

The big one!

Yes, Adam finally got an elk!!! Yeahhhhhhh! He was really proud of himself because he was hunting alone and was able to call it in and shoot it with his bow by himself which is a great accomplishment! It was a 6 point bull and he was really happy with it! He is planning to have it mounted so he told me to find a place on the wall, I told him I found a nice place in the garage:-) He had a great time relaxing and hunting with his brothers and dad and Keith's brother-in-law Ted. Good job honey!!!

Now to clean out the camper after a month of hunting... yuck!!!

Hunting Update

So September has been flying by at lightening speed! I haven't had my camera to take pictures of the boys and our activities because it has been at elk camp most of the month. Adam and his brothers drew a really great elk tag this year. It is down by the Idaho/Nevada border and only 15 people get tags. Needless to say, he was thrilled to have "the hunt of a lifetime"! He was able to take time off work around a lot of the weekends to be able to hunt 15 out of 30 days this month! Yeah, can you imagine how excited I was? The boys and I went with him the first weekend and camped which was fun. We were able to see some elk cows and calves and even saw a large bull. The guys really got into some big bulls and were really excited! I thought, great, this isn't gonna take long to get a bull with all the action going on! It is now the 4th weekend and still no elk! Okay, that's not completely true. No elk for Adam but his brothers both got nice 6 point elk last weekend which was really exciting. Adam has passed on a 5X6 and a small 6 point... I cried when he told me he passed up the 6 point, I want my hubby back!!! He's holding out for a trophy and I know that it's not the most important thing to pray about, but I'm truly praying that a MONSTER bull walks 5 yards in front of him this morning and he can't pass it up! Keep ya posted!

The FAIR!

We took Cole for his first night at the fair last night with my sister Jenny and her fam! He didn't really know what to expect but was excited as we pulled into the parking lot. He said, "There is the carris wheel!" when he saw the ferris wheel. It was total sensory overload for him! He wanted to go on the rides, but oh, there's the food, and over there are the animals... what to do first! We did the petting zoo first, where he actually got to milk a cow for about 10 seconds before the lady slapped an "I milked a cow" sticker on him and pulled the next kid in line. Then Cole kept asking, "But where's my milk?". He really wanted to keep the milk he got as a souvenier! Next we at some good ol' fair food. Between the three of us, we had a pronto pup, chicken pita, meatball sandwich, frozen lemonade, and an ice cream potatoe! Yummmmmmmy! Then Cole got to go on his first rides ever! He and Adam did the worm roller coaster and airplanes. Cole and I did the pirate ship (most ghetto "ride" I've ever seen in my life), and Cole did the motorcycles by himself. It was so funny to watch him from his initial scared to death look as it jolted to a start, to screaming with glee like the other kids and lifting his hand about 2 cm off the handle to wave at us, thinking he was so brave! We roved around a little bit and headed home. We had a blast but thank goodness the fair just comes once a year!

Cute kiddos!

I have to say, I adore my kids! I'm not trying to be prideful, but I think they are the greatest, cutest little boys I've ever seen! I was out in the back yard yesterday playing with them and had so much fun! They were so cute that I, of course, had to take some pictures! Cole has discovered a beach ball and has been having tons of fun playing with it. He also dug in the garden with me and found a worm. I was so proud of him that he actually held it! He loves bugs but when it comes to holding them, he is visibly grossed out! Oh well, maybe his mommy has worn off on him a little bit! Mason just cut his first tooth and is still as loveably chubby as ever! They even had a moment of actual playing together... before Cole decided Mason was "tackling" him (you can see why) and then Mason started fussing! It made me look forward to the days ahead when they actually will play together! Cole is starting to pay more attention to Mason though. He wants to help feed him every now and then, though the tortilla chip Adam found Mason choking on was not encouraged:-) He likes to help discipline too and I hear him say, "No, no Mason, you're too little for that!" quite often. Mason adores Cole and watches his every move! He laughs when Cole laughs, screams when Cole screams, and really just can't take his eyes off him. If I need a distraction to get Mason to stop crying, I'll put him by Cole and it usually does the trick. They are sweet boys and I'm so thankful for every day I get with them!

Kenyan Bounty

My mom just got back from a mission trip to Kenya a couple of weeks ago. She has gone a few times now and they are doing awsome things there. They go to a refugee camp and have a medical clinic that they have built and give the refugees medical care. They also held a Sunday school teachers conference this time, that my mom was in charge of. They had 245 pastors come and learn more about how to share Jesus with kids. They were able to give each pastor a resource bag and binder to help them in their teaching.

It was fun to hear about it when my mom got back, despite her exhaustion after their 36 hour trip home! She had some fun souveniers that she brought back for us. Each grandson got their own "safari" hat, each son/son-in-law got a hand-made knife, and the girls got baskets or purses. I had put in a special request for a produce basket if she saw one for my garden produce. The one I got was beautiful and I have used it tons! Thanks mom!!!

Dedicating our baby...

We feel it is very important to dedicate our children to God. He, after all, is the one who blessed us with such beautiful little boys! With our family by our side, we dedicated Mason at church last Sunday. It was such a special thing. Adam's family was there. My family, except my mom who was on her way home from Kenya, and my cousin Sarah, were there as well. Our pastor who is my Uncle Time and my Grandpa Johnson performed the dedication which made it even more special! We are so thankful for this little boy. He is such a joy and has taught us so much in the past 8 months. Jesus makes it so clear in the Bible how much he loves kids and we are excited to get to raise Mason to follow Him.