Laundry Day

I am convinced that every mom needs a front loading washer. Ty loves to help me change the washer, he's learning to work and is being a great help to me!

While I was in the other room hanging up the clothes, Ty was in the kitchen standing on a step ladder and playing with the dishes. All the sudden I hear a some noises coming from Ty that kind of sounded like "i need help" noises. I walked back into the kitchen to find him hanging from the sink. I asked if he was stuck and he nodded his head. Then I asked if I could take his picture and he gave me this smile.

He couldn't quite reach what he wanted so he hosted his little body up and hung there. What a good sport for letting me take pictures while he was hanging out. I got him down and he was mad and got right back up. Apparently playing in the sink is worth any pain it may cause.

Birthday, Baptism, and Halloween

It's been a long time, so I am simply going to skip most of September and October and just update everyone on what's been going on in our lives the last week. We were fortunate to have Grandma and Grandpa Rock, Grandma and Grandpa Nicholls, and Great Grandma Thomas here last weekend. We had a great time with everyone. Thanks for coming!!

Josh at his last soccer game. He loves soccer and really enjoyed playing this year. His last game was actually on his birthday and he scored the only goal for his team.

Andrew and a big stick he found at Josh's soccer game. He also found a four leaf clover after a long time of laying on the grass with his face inches away from the ground.

Ty playing at the soccer game. Yes, it was cold, but we still had fun.

Josh was Baptized on Halloween. We are so proud of him. He is such a great kid and an awesome example to his brothers.

All dressed up for Halloween. A Pirate, R2-D2, and a smiling Darth Maul.

Happy 8th Birthday Josh!!!

Yeah!! Cake!!

Andrew with his cute scarecrow he made at school.

Time with Family

Grandma Nicholls made the long trip across the USA again and finally got back to PA last week. She was kind enough to bring Aunt Tiffany and Cousin Holly to play. Josh was so excited to see grandma that he tried to capture her so she'll never leave again.
After failing to get the boys to play dancing prince and princesses, Holly gave up and turned to the dark side of piracy.
Grandma had the grandkids help clean her car. Ty loved his job of driving. This is his big smile!
Once he was in there he wouldn't get out. I had to take him in the house crying and distract him.

We had a great time with Holly and Tiffany here. Sadly we didn't get enough pictures of the cousins together. Thanks for coming guys we'll miss you!

New shirts

The boys got new shirts in the mail from Aunt Lanita. They were jumping up and down because they were so excited. When Pokemon first came into our lives I allowed they boys to have the cards, but said nothing else (shirts, toys, parties, whatever). So, having these awesome new shirts is a big deal. Ty's is not Pokemon, but it is made by Aunt Nita too and super cute. All the moms at the bus stop said she should sell them. They really turned out cute! Thanks!!!

First day of school

Brotherly love! Josh is actually too cool to have his brother's arm around him, but after two attempts I asked him to please stand still for a picture of them together.

2nd grade here Josh comes!

Andrew is so excited for Kindergarten. Mom on the other hand is nervous about having him gone for all day kindergarten, what I am I going to do with just Ty at home?!

What's Ty been up to?

No, I didn't just get a picture of Ty with his eyes closed. Ty actually fell asleep in his high chair while eating lunch the other day. None of my kids are the kind of kids that can just fall asleep anywhere, they only sleep in their beds, so this is an amazing event in our home.
Ty really really really wants to do everything that his big brothers are doing. Because they were playing on the computer Ty just had to climb up on a chair and play too. This is not my idea of safe so I spent the afternoon taking him down and hearing fits from him because he really wanted to play too.

This is Ty's "Cool Dude" look. It's cutest when Josh is helping him with the sunglasses, they both sit and giggle about how "cool" he is.

Road Trip

With our new set of wheels we set out for the Washington DC temple yesterday. It took over three hours. I am so glad we had the van. This temple is huge!

Our family at the visitors center. The boys spent most of the time here and loved listening to the stories and seeing all the great stuff.

My guys!

As we were driving down the road we look back and this is how Andrew is sitting. This is not to be funny, he was totally comfortable and didn't even know I was taking a picture at first. I wish that I could sit comfortably like that!

What a happy boy

This is the only picture I got of Josh in the car.

Blazing, swimming, and reading

Yesterday we went out to play in the backyard. The grass was too long and Ty was literally blazing a trail where ever he went. It was a bit hard to kick the soccer ball around, but we had fun trying and got this cute picture of all three boys.

We finished the second round of swimming lessons last week. Josh and Andrew really enjoyed getting in the water everyday.

Right around Josh's birthday last year Curtis challenged him to read The Book of Mormon before he turned 8 and was baptized. Josh has diligently read two pages a day and today he finished!! For those of you that don't know The Book of Mormon is 531 pages long and not the easiest book to read due to the biblical type language it is written in. We are so proud of him and his efforts. On top of reading The Book of Mormon everyday Josh has read almost 11, 200+ page books this summer. I guess a lot of time in the car and no friends in a new place allow for a lot of reading time. We love you Josh! We hope you always enjoy reading.

Here I come!!!

Yes, that is Ty walking toward me, all on his own!! He started walking on Saturday! We were all so excited, yelling, clapping, and jumping for him. I can't believe my baby is walking. He doesn't get up on his own and just take off yet. You have to stand him up in the middle of the floor and call him to you, but he can really go the distance. Yeah buddy!

Finally

Finally! After more than a year of stuffing three car seats in the back of our little cars we decided to get a mini van. The boys love it and wish they could play in it all day. Ty thinks it's his new climbing room. I love it because it's so much easier to get everyone in and out. Hopefully we will keep loving it for the next 10 years or so.

Skateboard Camp

Josh attended skateboarding camp last week. He had never been on a skateboard before, but picked things up quickly and now loves it.

On Thursday he learned to "drop in". Great job Josh!! Keep it up!

(Thanks Aunt Lanita for the shirt, we love it!)

Nice day for a hike!

After years of being slacker parents and missing out on all the great outdoor things there are to do in Boulder, we decided to take the family on a hike. We had a great time and the kids really did a great job with all the walking. That funny dirt wall behind us is the bottom of a fallen tree.

Ty, in the famous yellow backpack. This backpack has been in the family for years. All 3 of our kids have been in it and we even have pictures of Curtis in it when he was Ty's age.

At the end of our hike we found this fun plastic rock at a small playground. Andrew was the first to climb up for a good look around.

Grandpa got too come too!

Grandpa was nice enough to take a few family pictures for us. It's been about a year since we all got in a picture together. About time!!

What we've been up to

Cute picture of Ty.

Helping dad clean out the car

The boys have been building a ton of puzzles

Taking his favorite blanket for a ride

Had to stop and take a rest. He loves his blanky!

Playing games with Grandpa Nicholls

Cooking up some grub!

Lego Castle

Josh and Andrew spent two days straight putting their Lego castle together. They did this with almost no help at all. Great job guys. (Josh really wanted me to put this on the blog. He has been checking other blogs out and thinks ours needs more cool stuff.)