Memorial Day

We rolled out of town for our Memorial Day weekend.  We spent some of the time in Fairport and the rest of the time in Kendall with family.  This means our boys got to see both Grandmas.  It's funny because the boys tell the Grandma's apart by "The Grandma with Legos and the Grandma with no Legos" & "The Grandma with Sammy" and "The Grandma with no Sammy."  My mom is the one with the Legos (and no Sammy), and the boys made good use of them.

Build, build, build!

But before the Grandma-with-Legos we had to kill some time.  So we stopped at the animal shelter and looked at the animals.  There also happened to be a great big cow.  After the cow, we went to a yogurt bar where Carter tried to steal some gummy worms, but that's another story.

Moooo!

Our first night in Fairport we played Trivial Pursuit with my parents after the boys were in bed.  I came in second and Holly in third.

Game Time!

 One of our stops  on the trip was visiting Great Grandma Brenner. Holly let Grandma hold Becket while I supervised the boys climbing a tree in the courtyard.

Boys will be Boys

Baby Beckett and his Great Grandmother

Anderson spend a lot of time outside in Kendall.  He is getting old enough where he only needs to be semi-monitored all the time.  He got a great kick out of drawing on the driveway in chalk.

The weather was beautiful all weekend.  The sandbox was another popular place for the boys to be.  I even decided to join them and let Carter and Anderson bury my flip-flop.

Since we were out in the country we obviously had to build a grand bonfire Saturday night.  All three big boys helped build it by loading a wheel barrow full of fire wood for me to take to the fire ring.  We took our pizza box from lunch to make a sign.  I then stuffed the insides of our fire with a bunch of newspaper Parker found in the barn. 

Fire it up!

And no, Holly did not get hurt helping with the firewood.  Rather, during lunch Anderson knocked over a bench he was trying to stand on.  It fell on Holly's foot.  It was quite the circus with a domino effect of other catastrophes, including Holly's sister fainting from the sight of Holly's toe bleeding.  Ah, good times, good times.

Baby Beckett was of course a hit with Grandma.  He was the best behaved all weekend!

The long weekend ended with a birthday party for Holly's little brother's girlfriend.  Interestingly, the girl friend doesn't hunt, Holly's little brother does.  She still seemed to like it though.

We made it home late Monday night and got everyone tucked into bed. Whew.  Finally, it feels like summer is actually here.

Walker Rides

This is a picture of Parker and Anderson getting a ride on their Great Grandma's walker over Memorial Day weekend. Gram still has a lot of strength left in her!

Slow Down!

Whenever we go visit the great grandmas, Holly and I are always struck with two thoughts.  First, how neat it is that our sons can visit their great grandparents.  Second, the sobering realiziation that our sons too will be old someday with us long gone.  It's a very sobering thought.  And when they are old, we hope that people will treat them well.  Which is why we try to visit the elderly in our own generation.  That way the unborn of the far future will hopefully visit our little boys when they use walkers too!

Big Gobbler

Baby Beckett loves his oatmeal and prune juice!  He tends to lean to the side in his Bumbo when he eats, but mommy was able to capture him sitting straight ahead.

Yum!

Mom's Taxi

I had to go out of town to help score state exams this morning. Holly was the one who had to load up all the boys and take them to school instead of me.  (Note: Anderson is not in school yet, but Holly gave him a backpack so he could feel included.  Judging by his smile it looks like it worked!)

Carter's Apple Tree

Last year Carter was given some apple seeds.  In a flurry of agricultural passion, he decided to plant them in the back yard.  Later that week Holly and I decided to buy an apple tree from Lowe's and plant it where he had buried his seeds with such faith.  So yeah, I guess we tricked him, but he was thrilled to see how fast his apple tree grew.  Now its spring and Carter's little apple tree has provided us with its first blossoms!

Carter's Apple Tree Blossoms

Summertime Sand

Holly went to the store to refill our sandbox that has drained over the years.  Carter dove right in with his trademark orange hoodie which he never takes off. Seriously, the lad would wear it everyday if he could.

Digging

Beehive Beckett

I'm not sure if I've ever blogged about Beckett's name.  It's Old English for beehive, meaning literally bee-cottage.  We like that a lot because it remind us of the Mormon word Deseret, which means beehive and is a symbol of Mormon pioneers.  As the fourth boy it also makes our home a busy place, just like a beehive.  Also, we just plain like the name!

Baby Beckett in the Limited Edition Audrey Hepburn Cloth Diaper

Holly Saw the Sign, Even Though I Saw It First

I enjoy walking to the local library several times a month to check out and return books.  I have noticed this plaque outside someone's house for years but never mentioned it to Holly.  The other day Holly saw it for the first time and loved it. I was like, dude, Holly, I've known about that for three years now.  But according to her, its still cool even if you are the last on the wagon to notice something worthwhile.

Mommy Goes to Pre-K

It was parent's day at Carter's Pre-K today. I was able to pop in for a brief appearance, but it was Holly who was the star.  (After all, it really was a Mother's Day kind of thing, but it was called Parents Day to be inclusive, I suppose.)  Holly had a blast, Carter had a blast, and Holly was able to leave with a bunch of crafts and hugs from Carter.  In full disclosure, I received a a crown from Carter as well that said I was a King, but I wasn't nearly as photogenic as my queen.

Mommy's Special Pre-K Day!

Big Brother Anderson

So Anderson loves Beckett.  Like, a lot.  When Anderson wakes up in the morning he asks to see Beckett.  He always wants to give Beckett a kiss before nap and bedtime.  He also has been caught poking Beckett to make him cry, only so he can then caress his head and say, "It's okay, Beckett. It's okay."  Such a love bug.  I think this picture Holly captured says it all about our two youngest.

Big brother, little brother

53.6 Miles of Awesome

I ran in my 12 Hour Endurance race on Saturday.  I was able to cover a distance of 53.6 miles, which means I met my goal of running a Double Marathon.  For my pains, I was able to receive a coveted Double Marathon water bottle.  It was a one mile loop and you just had to go around and around and around as many times as you could between 7 Am and 7 Pm.  There I am below, somewhere on lap 13 or so. It was a great race, and my distance placed me at 17th out of 125. Not too shabby.

Mile 13 out of 53.6

Guest Reader!

Parker was a guest reader in his old Kindergarten class today.  Looking great, buddy!

Showing the young'ins how its done!

Beckett Makes it Look Good

Baby Beckett got some hot new leg warmers from a friend.  If you're a baby, you don't need to go to the 1980s to look good in these!

Keeping the legs warm!