Primary

We spent quite awhile discussing Primary with the boys. Explaining how it would be different than nursery and also that we would be in primary with them but we would be sitting with different kids because we were Primary teachers...but not theirs. Matthew and I expected there would be some tears from the boys and it would be a little bit of an adjustment for them being able to see us but not be with us. So when the day finally arrived we watched our two sweet boys happily march into primary with big smiles on their faces. They sat down with their class and then turned around smiling and waving saying "Hi, mommy and daddy." I then look at Matthew and realized he had the same reaction I did. We were the ones in tears.

I don't know what it is about seeing your children as they are learning the Gospel, but it brings me so much joy. I love that they sit on the toilets in public restrooms and sing in unison "book of Mormon stories." I love that they think to pray when they are scared or sad. I love to see their excitement for the scriptures and how they are always "reading" them. One of my favorite statements....."mom I have to go read my cripkers." I am thankful that they are reverent at church and walk down the halls with their arms folded. I truly am so proud of them. They are special boys born with such a huge light inside of them. I feel a great responsibility to teach them and help them as their testimonies are growing.

Watching Daniel as he gave is first scripture in primary was a proud moment for us. Before he got up to the microphone the Primary president gave all the kids participating that day a sticker. Of course Daniel stuck his right in the middle of his forehead and then all the other kids followed his example. So he marched right up to the podium gave his scripture loud and clear with a big smile and a sticker on his head. It was a proud day for us. We love them so much.

Here they are with their "CBR" necklaces. Only one child gets one each week. It means they were "caught being reverent" this wee they both received a necklace. It was a great day!!

Dear Nathan and Daniel,
I am so happy that we were able to spend your birthday this year celebrating with both sides of the family. I love how important your grandparents are to you and how often you tell them how much you love them. It was so fun to see you with all of your cousins at Grandma and Grandpa Noel's house. Everyone was so excited to see you open your bike helmets and then find your new big boy bikes! We had so much fun singing you happy birthday and seeing your excitement over the Guitar cakes that you both requested.

You are also so lucky to share your birthday with your wonderful Aunt Brenda. She loves you so much and has always been happy to share her special day with you. We love seeing you with your cousins on Daddy's side and it made us so proud that you really wanted your own scriptures for your birthday. I hope you always remember the excitement you had to receive your own Book of Mormon with your name on the front and your own scripture bag to carry them in. You really are getting to be such big boys and you make us so happy.

I hope you boys know how much you mean to so many people, especially your mommy and daddy. You bring us so much joy and laughter. You are sweeter than I ever thought possible for little boys and you are such good listeners. We are proud every single day that we have such good happy boys. Being four years old is a great accomplishment and you are learning and growing each and everyday. We love you so much. Happy birthday to the greatest little boys in the whole world!!

We love you to the moon and back and all around the world forever and ever!!!


LOVE, Mommy and Daddy

At Daniel's request.....

Out of the blue Daniel asked me if I would take a picture of him. So I got out my camera and this is the pose he had in mind. It is like he had been planning this picture for quite some time. Not real sure what this means but it was important to him so I figure it ought to make it to the blog and be important to us.

Snow can bring smiles

Matthew spent a long time playing in the snow with these boys. They built a fort, had a snowball fight, wrestled, and then of course Matthew had to throw his mother and I into the snow when we were not at all dressed for it. He requested hot chocolate for them to drink outside. We got a lot of fun videos of them laughing and wrestling. It was a bright spot in a sometimes dreary winter. .

Tough little guys with really soft hearts

These are my tough little football players. Because of daddy they are into ALL sports. These football uniforms were from Grandma and Grandpa for Christmas. They love tackling and wrestling with each other and daddy.

Even with all that toughness they are still so tender hearted and kind, even a little to the extreme. If one starts crying the other one will. I will ask "why are you crying now?" and Nathan will say "because Daniel is crying." They don't always get along but I don't think they could get along at all without each other.

"mommy I scared"

Daniel has always fallen asleep before Nathan, it just takes him longer to wind down. Without fail as soon as Daniel falls alseep we all know because Nathan will come in and tell us he is scared. The easy fix that works EVERYTIME is giving Nathan one of his dads hats to sleep with. He takes the hat climbs into bed and falls asleep just like this. He has always been a daddy's boy and I think it is so precious that he finds so much comfort just from sleeping in or with his dads hat.

Well Nathan is into Chocolate...or anything sweet! I have to watch this kid closely(he needs parental control when it comes to food choices) and I am pretty sure he is the one that caused my sweet cravings during pregnancy. It was a craving for fruit, fruit, and more fruit. I started to get anxiety if we didn't have fruit in the house. My sweet mother-in-law saw how much fruit I ate and made sure when I got home from the hospital after the boys were born, that the kitchen was stocked full of fruit. However, I saw it, it looked good, but it was not that important to me. The craving left as fast as the boys were born.

Daniel is my little dress up kid. He is something new everyday. His favorite is being a puppy, a cowboy, a mommy, and some kind of sword fighter(not my favorite.) Even on the hardest days these boys always bring me laughs and smiles.

Friends

I have always tried to keep my boys socialized with other children. I go to play groups, story time at the library, lots of activities where my boys can play with others. Sometimes I think I do these things more for me than them. I think I need the daily socialization with moms more than they do with other kids. I have always felt like they had each other and having friends would come in time. Then one day a cute little red headed neighbor named Vince came by to play. This is a first for me, and I felt like it might be more work for me than it would be worth it. I was WRONG!! Those kids have so much fun together and most of the time it is almost like a little break for me.

They went to their friends pirate party and had so much fun. They were pirates for days afterward. I guess I have to accept the fact that they are getting older and I Matt and I are not the only influences in their lives. I am just so thankful for fun, happy, boys that get a long so well with others, it's really a blessing.

Making the most of it!

Nothing like Hot chocolate with daddy after a fun day of sledding. I have to admit I was not really invited to this sledding party but I was grateful for a little break. I had my own fun with the boys when we spent hours decorating and (eating decorations) from our graham cracker houses.

It's always worth the work that it takes to make fun days for the boys. They are such happy and excited kids and they bring us so much joy!!

Christmas catch up

At this point I am just trying to get caught up on my blog mainly because when I go to make my year end book I want something to actually be in it. We don't have Internet right now, so it makes keeping up a little hard.

We did have a wonderful Christmas, of course we had our annual Christmas Eve party. I don't know how my mom does it but there is not one dull moment at those parties. We have an awesome dinner complete with EVERYTHING!! We do the nativity where everyone dresses up and sings while we read the Christmas story from the scriptures and the grand kids act out there parts. Then we have a talent show. All the Grand kids perform some random talent anything from the violin to stand up comedy. Then the kids all put reindeer antlers on and sing Rudolph. In the midst of all of this my mom's homemade gingerbread men cookies seem to disappear and all the kids have to go hunt for them. When all of this is over we then enjoy the chaos of opening presents. It's a crazy night, but always magical.

I also wanted to throw in some pictures of the Christmas pajamas and the sweet boys all tucked in waiting on Santa. Christmas is so much better with little excited kids around!