Family Pictures

Wow! I think this is a first! More than one post in the same day!

Last month we took the opportunity to have some updated family pictures taken. It took two sessions since one of the twins (won't name names) was very uncooperative the first time. But we managed to get a couple of good family pictures. These are a few of my favorites that didn't make it on the Christmas card.

Winter Wonderland in Vegas

Snow is a big deal here in Las Vegas! This morning when I woke up around 6:30 the snow was coming down in big heavy flakes and continued for about an hour. I couldn't wait for Aaron and Andrew to wake up so they could see the spectacular scene! Now I'm sure if you live somewhere like Denver or Utah snow is something more of an annoyance. But for us Vegans we enjoy the rarity of snow in the desert.

This morning I had to drop them off at a friend's house at 9 a.m. so I could be at my 9:15 dr appt. We rushed to through breakfast and getting ready so they could have a chance to play in the snow for a few minutes. It was all fun until Aaron started to run down the driveway, slipped, landed flat on his back, and bumped his head. By the time I picked them up shortly before noon most of the snow was melted.

While checking out of the grocery store this afternoon the checker commented how she called the school to see if school was cancelled because of the snow. She'd had her husband drive her to work this morning. Now give me a break!! I may be slightly overexcited about the snow but I'm not ignorant to it. We about 1.5 inches, maybe 2. And within short time it was gone.
So when we rarely get it here in Las Vegas try to appreciate it as much as we can.

Side Notes

1. One of my resolutions is to add to my blog 2x per month. Now that I'm making that public maybe I'll be more committed to doing it. Since we lost (so far) our pictures at least we have the blog from the first 2.5 yrs of Aaron and Andrew's life. Plus, my handwritten journal has a little too much dust on it.

2. This Wednesday we will bring our new baby into the world!! So far he is doing super. Had a couple of scares but what would a pregnancy of mine be without at least one nerve racking experience?! More posts to follow soon.

Funny Faces

This evening we stumbled across a program on our Mac that make adjust pictures and create different effects. All of us were laughing and had a fun time, even Aaron and Andrew. Here is our new family look:

If we were the winners of different contests for the best photos Steve wins for Most Kissable Lips, Andrew wins for Biggest Cheeks, I win for The Ugliest, and Aaron for Most Photogenic.

I'm still alive...

Huge shock- a new post from Katie! Over the last six weeks there have been several times I wanted, or planned, to add something. But I have two good excuses:

- My laptop crashed in early November. Due to procrastination pictures were not backed up (or anything else) and I lost everything. Learned my lesson the hard way. (Note: we sent our hard drive to FL and are awaiting word for possible recovery).

- When the boys are awake it's nearly impossible to do anything I want to do. When they're asleep I'm too tired to get anything done.

More posts should follow soon since six weeks of new pictures have been taken.

Merry Christmas!!

Decorating with Desitin

Desitin is one of the MANY words Aaron (and Andrew) knows how to say- probably because he is used on him more than I'd like. It not my favorite thing to spread on him but I wasn't sure whether to cry or laugh this morning when he decided to squeeze Desitin out of the tube.

While I was showering this morning I was rather surprised when neither Aaron or Andrew came into the bathroom. Wow! They're being so good this morning, I thought. However, while I was getting dressed Andrew walked in my room and said, "Uh oh, messy."

Uh oh is right. I went to go see what messy was all about and found Aaron decorated in Desitin. What was once a full tube was now nearly empty. All over the room it was evident where his hands had been or where he'd squeezed- couch, floor, books, clothes, toys, and himself. Picture could never show just what a mess he'd made! And this did not look like fun to clean up. After VERY little sleep last night (stayed too late sewing at my friend's house) this was not how I wanted to start my day. And while I was busy cleaning it up I heard them going downstairs pulling a kitchen chair over to the counter to do who know what! They were quickly ushered upstairs to watch cartoons while I finished the job. If my shower hadn't woken me up this mess sure did.

I love Aaron's fun personality, his smile, and affectionate hugs, etc but I have to admit this is a nice part of the day (especially when they're both in this mode):

He is so cute! I love it when they're asleep. :-)

Trunk or Treat

There is so much that has happened in the last month that needs to be posted really bad. But when I have a rare free moment lately I've either wanted to read, sew, or sleep.

Tonight was our ward's Trunk or Treat and it's not any small activity. Our ward is huge and I think everyone showed up for this event. Before kids went around for candy there was a soup dinner with rolls and of course dessert. (Not that there'd be enough candy afterwards!)

I think this year is the first Halloween where they actually "get it." Last year when we took them trick or treating Aaron and Andrew were done after getting one piece because all they wanted to do was sit down and eat their candy. When we told them we were going to the Trunk or Treat, gave them a pumpkin basket, and told them they'd be getting candy, it didn't take any pushing them out the door to the car. Instead they were rushing us out! However, they did start getting tired (there were A LOT of cars to trunk or treat) and by the end they were done. In a few years I'm sure they'll be begging to go around more than once regardless of how tired they are- that means more candy!

A new family moved into our ward 2 months ago who we've become good friends with already. Ramsey is the same age as Aaron and Andrew and they love playing with him. He was dressed as a Duke basketball player.

While we were there at the Trunk or Treat there was so much for them to look at that I found it impossible to get a decent picture with both of them at least looking at the camera. This was the best I could get.

Upon arriving home they HAD to dump out their stash and take a look. We didn't mind, of course, because then we could get a piece of two for ourselves. :) When they're a little older we won't be able to have that luxury.

Their attempt at being really scary bears:

Airplanes and more

Are you ever looking for some very inexpensive (free) fun? Go to the nearest airport and watch airplanes take off and land. We live about 30 minutes from the Las Vegas Airport and this evening (yes, THIS evening...I'm actually posting this the day of) we took Aaron and Andrew to watch airplanes. They're always pointing out airplanes from our backyard or anytime they're outside and see one.

They loved watching the planes and kept saying "Faster, faster" and just staring in complete awe. (Side note: Don't look too closely at the above picture or you'll see that Andrew-on the left- has his shirt on backwards. That means someone else dressed them this morning besides me.) The sun was beating down hard on us and the temperature was over 100. Originally, we were planning to go to a nearby park for a picnic and fun. But the airport isn't in the greatest areas and it's certainly not at the cooler part of the city. So we returned to our side of town and went to a park just up the street from our home. And it was much cooler. Although "much cooler" only meant 98 vs. 105, a few degrees CAN make a huge difference.

We ate sandwiches, chips, apples, and grapes. The first few minutes we were there they sat on the blanket or a chair. After that they were all over the place and ate on the go.

Andrew eating grapes at the sandbox

Our boys are not shy at all. Every time (I mean EVERY time) we see someone they say, "Hi. Hi," until they get a response. At least half of the time they don't get one and eventually they stop saying hi. Usually it's either Aaron or Andrew greeting people- rarely both of them. When we were at the park there were some friends there with their children throwing a football to each other. Andrew walked up to them, said his usual hello, and joined their game. But their kids were about 10 years older and they were wanting to play some serious football. As soon as Andrew would get the ball, he no longer was interested in throwing it to anyone else- it was HIS ball now. So Steve went to our car and got out the soccer ball. This way we could have our own game of ball. They loved watching Steve throw the ball high up in the air and landing somewhere on the grass or Andrew's forehead (while he was on my lap I wasn't paying attention and next thing I knew the ball landed on his forehead pretty hard. But he's tough and just whimpered for a minute or so and then he was running around again).

Once in a while we like to do something different than our normal evening routine of dinner, clean up, bath (some nights), bedtime. And Aaron and Andrew love it too.