Utah

A few weeks ago we made the trip to Provo to visit my sister Shayla and her family as well as my Grandma Gilbert. We had so much fun hanging out with everyone. Max and Bridger enjoyed playing in the mud and water in their backyard. Briger and Max weren't overly friendly to Avalon but one day she will get big enough to hold her own. Sunday afternoon we went up to Bridal Veil Falls up Provo Canyon. The weather was beautiful and the little boys were able to throw rocks in the water. They had a blast and were lucky enough to not hit one another in the head even though there were a few close calls. We did lots of shopping, we even went to Cabela's which always makes Bridger and Jeremys' day. Jeremy, Corde, Shayla, and Brig were able to enjoy a game of laser tag. Corde and Jeremy whooped up on Shayla and Brigham :) I'm guessing there will be a rematch in the future considering the competiveness amongst all of them. Uncle Corde was with us so we ate at Jimmy John's a few times.

Happy Birthday Bridger!

Bridger,
Another year has come and gone. I can't believe you are 4 today! You are an awesome little buster with a great spunk for life. You keep Jeremy and I on our toes and remind us on a daily basis why we love you so much. You are a great example to Connor and I can already tell he wants to be like you. You love to make people laugh and you love to smile! We Love You!

The boys

Time flies and summer is now officially over since Bridger headed back to preschool today. Jeremy dropped him off this morning and when I went to pick him up his teacher had great things to say. She said he's as smart as a whip and noticed a huge difference from last year. He knows all his letters (both lower case and capital) and all the sounds they make (it's cute if you tell him a word and ask what letter it starts with). He can tell you after "sounding" it out. He even wrote his name for her. Both Jeremy and I have been working with him all summer but when you try to get him to do something he won't. Only if it's his OWN idea. Apparently he is learning even if he is as stubborn as a mule. He is a funny kid and loves to tease and push your buttons (does anyone know of another male in my life that likes to push people's buttons?)He is the best big brother and loves to give Connor kisses on the top of his head? It drove me nuts for the longest time that he would ask a billion times a day to give Connor kisses. Than it occured to me as Jeremy's mom and I were talking one day about how all we do is kiss and love on Connor when we hold him! No wonder why Bridger wants to do the same thing! Check out those dang cute chubby cheeks and you'll know why I love to give my little Connor kisses.

Connor is still a rolly polly and I'm sure he will be crawling anyday. He sleeps 8-9 hours at night. He loves rice cereal, oatmeal, etc. He puts everything right to his mouth. The other day I was in the kitchen and he was on the living room floor. I turned my head for a few seconds and he was devouring a whole section on the newspaper. The black ink was all over his hands and face. He was VERY upset when I took it from him.

My neck was sore for almost 3 months straight and I just couldn't figure out what would cause it to be so sore. I finally realized that when Connor would wake up and want to eat in the middle of the night, I would feed him and fall asleep on my side with my arm above my head. My neck hurts just thinking about it. *Note the picture below of Connor and Bridger in my bed. Sometimes when Jeremy is working, we have a sleepover. Alright, I admit, the 2 of them have a sleepover and I toss and turn all night trying to get comfortable with about 1 foot of space. I love my 2 little boys and wouldn't trade them for the world.

We went to Denver last week to a Rockies game and just to spend time as a family and we had a blast. I will post pictures from that as soon as I find the camera cord. Here are some of the latest pictures..

I love him...

Tonight Bridger and I had this conversation...

Bridger: "Mom, I love you."

Me: "I love you too, and guess what you are my favorite 3 year old?"

Bridger: "I am going to be 4 next month but don't worry we can still snuggle."

Me: "You can turn 4 but you have to stay little."

Bridger: "I have to turn 4 so I can be Tallys' age. I will still be little though mom
and I will only be 4 for a year."

Me: "Ok, you can turn 4, I suppose."

Bridger: "Mom, don't worry you are my favorite old mom."

Summer 3

Here are a few pictures of the boys. Connor is getting big, we went to the Dr. this morning and he tipped the scales at exactly 13 pounds and is 24" long! He is a great eater and maybe in the next few weeks we will attempt "solids." Bridger is funnier and trickier than ever. He loves Connor and it makes his day when Connor smiles and giggles at him. He told me the other day he can't wait until Connor walks and runs, I CAN! Connor rolls all over. I no longer can leave him on my bed when I get in the shower because he is a rolly polly. The other night I placed him in the middle of the living room and 2 minutes later he was about 6 feet from where I had put him and he was right in front of the TV kicking his little feet as fast as he could. It was pretty cute. He sleeps about 6 hours the first go at night and than somehow ends up in our bed. I think this week I am going to move his crib out of our room so I won't wake up to his little noises at night. Aunt Jewls often watches them while Jeremy and I are both working. Bridger has lots of fun with her and Connor "coo's" for a few hours after I pick him up. He must be telling me all the things they did that day. Jeremy and I are once again playing softball and so far we are 4-0. It is our social time on Thursday evenings.

Bridger doesn't sleep in his bed. He sleeps on the floor next to it and he sleeps with a sleeping bag that was Jeremy's when he was a baby (and I mean a baby because Bridgers' legs barely fit in it) In the picture above you can see he also tucks his dog "coniferous" in the sleeping bag. That is because I won't let Connor sleep on the floor next to him so he has the dog he named after him to fill in.
The other night we went grocery for the first time in about a month and apprently Bridger couldn't even wait until the food was out of the car to eat. We should consider going shopping more often...

Bridger was very proud that he was wearing my pearl necklace. Jer figured this will be a great picture to whip out when he brings his girlfriends home in about 20 years :)

Connor still has darker hair. His complexion is ALMOST as fair as Bridgers but not quite.

Jeremy took these pictures of him while I was at work. He doesn't stay under this toy because he rolls right away from it. He also gets mad when he gets stuck and can't kick his legs as hard as he would like to.

Any new parents that see this picture, please don't take note. Babies are supposed to sleep on their backs and not have any soft fluffy blankets around them... I just love looking at Connor sleeps and the way he holds his cute chubby little feet together!

Summer 2

Another highlight of our summer is that we were able to go out to the east coast to Washington D.C. for a week and have a "skinner" reunion. It was lots of fun. Everyone stayed at my sister Morgan's house including my parents, my 6 siblings and their spouses (well 4 spouses) and all 11 grandchildren. Unfortunately Uncle Corde was busy with the rodeo thing and wasn't able to make it. We went to the D.C. Zoo, got a private tour of the Pentagon ( thanks to my brother in law Tim), and watched the fireworks in front of the U.S. Capital at the National Mall. We also went to Virginia Beach and got a little tan and a lot of red in my case. Bridger loved the beach but unfortunately with his fair skin and bleach blonde hair, he wasn't mistaken for a "local" there. He had lots of fun hanging out with his cousins and playing in the sand. We plan to take a family trip this fall to another beach because we had so much fun.. Each night we stayed up and laughed for hours because of childhood memories, engagement stories, and anything else we could think of. We are looking forward to another reunion and maybe at the next one Jos, Corde and Jewls will all be married and we can listen to their engagement stories and get to know their spouses...

Summer 1

Apparently a few people do read this blog because I was once again reminded today that I need to update it with new pictures. I swore once I graduated I would have more time on my hands and keep up with this blogging stuff, my house would be clean all the time and I would be more organized. Well so far, none of those things have been accomplished.

Summer is flying by and unfortunately between Jers' schedule and mine, we haven't been able to boat as much as we would like. It seems like everyday we have off together the weather isn't cooperating so we end up staying home and just hanging out together-which is fine with us except that we enjoy boating. Last month we were able to take the boat out a few times and we camped over night at Lake De Smet (about 75 miles west of Gillette) with Lucas and his 2 kids, little Grandma, Jewls and her friend, Jordan. The weather was perfect. We took the boat out on the lake around 8p.m. the first night which was chilly yet the lake appeared like glass which is fun to tube on :) Here are the pictures from our boating excursions so far this year....