The Baldwins

Hey mom, do I look handsome or what?!

2011-06-05T12:11:00.000-07:00

Rusty and Kaia had so much fun at Amy's wedding this past weekend. I think they both LOVED the chocolate fountain and accompanying treats to dip in it, but I loved how adorable they looked. Nate's mom did an amazing job on Kaia's dress and I was sad we didn't get any pictures of them at the reception, so we took a few snap shots after church today. I would like to say that's why I couldn't get them to sit still in the pictures, but anyone who's been around them for more than 5 minutes knows that's just who they are!

Who Ya Gonna Call?

2011-02-05T19:53:00.000-08:00

Ghostbusters!

Rusty and I have been looking forward to his party since last October. He outlined the plans right after Kaia's party and I think we did a pretty good job making it all happen. He's never actually seen the movies and it's been quite a while since I've watched them, but all you really need to know is the theme song, right?

We did have a little scare about 10 days before the party when he thought he wanted to switch to a Lego Star Wars theme, but I quickly reminded him of the plan and how much cooler the Ghostbusters were.

Trying on the back packs, which in theory were a great idea but I should have taken Rusty's advice and used a stapler.

Cutest Slimer ever!

Marshmallow gun "feeding" Slimer...yum!

Ghost shooting with Nerf Guns. Favorite one liner from Rusty after the girls turn: "Come on guys lets give the girls a hand, they tried."

*Ghost hunting or in Rusty's words, "an easter egg hunt but with suckers wrapped up like ghosts" - exactly!

*Plan: Dance party in the kitchen and Nate, aka Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, would enter, the kids would spray him and he would go down. *Reality: Nate came in with both guns blazing. I'm pretty sure most of the kids were freaked out at first, but then they got into it and blasted him back. HUGE mess, but tons of fun to watch! :)

*Junk food at Slimer's Snack Stand (the after picture...I didn't think to get a before shot).

Project 52

2011-02-04T06:22:00.000-08:00

I always get motivated to update my blog when I see blog books...and then it fades as soon as I give the book back. But since it's a new year, I set a goal to take at least 1 picture a week and so far I'm a winner! (It's easy to achieve success if you set your standards low!)

Who knew cleaning out the coat closet would be so much fun! Soldier Rusty and his little sidekick.

Kaia LOVES to color and I'm pretty sure she is going to be a wall artist if I don't keep the crayons/markers/pens hidden.

Rusty's Lego obsession is still going strong. While they usually don't leave his room, he brought some into Kaia's room so they could play by each other. I'm such a nice mom! :) I love how he creates scenes and acts them out in different voices.

You know that feeling when you realize it's too quiet? I was so relieved to find them just hanging out in the laundry basket.

Snack Time

2011-01-31T15:39:00.000-08:00

Kaia is a huge lover of junk food and anything you can dip. Her constant plea of more & please, followed by shoving if you don't get it fast enough is exhausting, but she's cute so we let her get away with it. The other day I was sharing my cottage cheese with her and I took the last bite, I thought she was going to DIE. Just when I thought she'd calm down, she'd pick up the empty bowl look at me and then start sobbing again. It's a mystery to me how she is still in the 1% (not quite 1, but really close).

Lately, her favorite spot to snack is on the stairs.

Enjoying the Cold

2011-01-01T19:01:00.001-08:00

We decided to bundle up and embrace the sunshining 24 degree weather today. It was the perfect way to start the new year!

Kaia sliding down backwards on her tummy...

A few favorite moments from Christmas:

...the "life savers"

Just because I think this is cute - Kaia loves to be pushed around in her little doll stroller and Rusty is usually the one stuck pushing her. He is such a good brother!

Kaia's 1!

2010-10-24T06:41:00.000-07:00

Pictures from Kaia's Fairy Princess and Pirate birthday party...

*The pirate patches came with earings and the boys all wanted to wear them :) *With out question, this was Kaia's favorite part of the party. She finished off her cupcake and 2 fairy ice cream cones - way to go little Clara Belle!

*Rusty used his own money to pick out and buy Kaia her present (well at least $2 of it, but he was really excited about it)

*We played pin the patch on the pirate and pin the crown on the princess (you can kind of see it on the wall below). We also hid one of her presents and made the pirates go on a hunt to find it.

*Getting ready for the pinata...
*Some of the decorations

We love our sweet little Kaia! She is such a little girl and so far loves anything girly. As soon as Nate put her little stroller together she grabbed one of her new dolls and put her in it and started pushing/pulling it around. In the words of Rusty, "you're my favorite Kaia ever!"

Harder than it Looks

2010-10-05T13:45:00.000-07:00

I attempted to put pig tails in Kaia's hair today and oh my that is hard work. How you manage to get those teeny tiny rubber bands around a squirming/screaming baby is beyond me. Getting a picture of the finished product wasn't any easier. I guess it's going to take a lot of practice and a whole lot of animal crackers.

Smart Start

2010-09-08T11:57:00.000-07:00

Me: "Hey Rusty, what's your favorite sport?"
Rusty: "Um, probably playing Lego's...that's a sport, isn't it?"
I'm just glad he had a good time in his Smart Start Sports class and wants to know when it's starting again.

*Grass is a wonderful babysitter for Kaia because she does not like the feel of it and stays real still.

Today is Rusty's first day of 4 year old preschool! He is so excited to be one of the big kids. I was anxious for some reason, but he of course went in with no hesitation and didn't look back.

Huge Progress

2010-07-20T15:49:00.000-07:00

Kaia weighs 13 pounds! She's still in the 0% percentile for weight and height but even the doctor commented on how much she's "filled out".

Besides eating, Kaia's also into sticking out her tongue and standing.

Husky

2010-07-16T15:32:00.000-07:00

Kaia is nine months and finally packing on the pounds! When she went in for her last weight check (around 8 months) she was classified as failure to thrive since she was still at 10 pounds, same as her 6 month check up and only up slightly from her 4 month check up. The doctor ran some tests and everything came back normal except for low iron, so we got her started on some iron supplements and she is now rocking the baby chub! Ok, she might not be that chubby and rolly yet, but she is for sure gaining.

All lotioned up and ready to go swimming

Trying to crawl in a dress and shoes does not make her happy - but she looks cute!

Kayak = Strep Throat = Sleepovers

2010-07-16T13:50:00.000-07:00

So my bro and his wife bought some kayak's. My parents soon followed and bought some too. We didn't buy any but went up to Kazi's with them the other weekend to try them out and had a good time. It was kinda hot while we were there so Rusty was super kind and shared his drink with the cousins, then broke out in a fever later that night which was the start of strep throat. Luckily he only shared the strep with me. He was pretty sick though and got the strep rash but never once complained about his throat hurting - don't let the whining fool you cause he's actually a pretty tough kid. About a week into the amoxicllin he broke out in another rash so we took him back to the doctors and found out he is allergic to penicillin and has a concerning heart murmur.
Next stop was an echocardiogram to make sure his heart was ok, but by this point he was done with the doctors and did not want to go...so I pulled out my super amazing parenting skills and brought on the bribes. Rusty and my cute nephew Titan have been wanting to have a sleepover FOREVER (ahh the life of a 4 year old) so I took advantage of this and offered a sleepover in exchange for Rusty being good all week and getting his heart checked out. Of course it worked because whoever said you shouldn't bribe your kids obviously never had a child of their own.
Thursday night he made up some manly invitations for Titan, Brody, Caden, and Jack and waited ever so patiently for the good times to begin. Friday came and they had the "THE BEST SLEEP OVER EVER!"
Life lesson: if your brother's cool and buys kayaks watch out because you'll end up sucking it up at the MS Bike Ride (that's a whole other story) as well as having a house full of screaming, but oh so cute, boys! Now onto the pictures:

My mom and dad in action...

Skipping rocks...

Nate and Rusty taking my dad's "boat" out...

A few days later...strepped out Rusty trying to find some peace and quiet in Nate's office...

With a healthy heart, Rusty was so glad the boys all got the memo to wear gray shirts and blue shorts to the BEST SLEEPOVER EVER! Long live Lego's!

Getting ready to watch some old school Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle's...Turtle Power!

Still in a TMNT daze from last night...

Boss Rusty telling everyone to get close and huddle up under the table - he had a plan...

preparing to capture the MONSTER...

Tying the monstor up...

...and they actually did a pretty good job because the chair was strapped to Nate's bum pretty good!

Absolutely nothing to do with this post, but we went to Mount Rushmore over Memorial Day Weekend and here's part 1 of Rusty's video diary about it...

Fish, Bike, and Kaia

2010-05-22T08:54:00.000-07:00

Pet Fish Update: Bonnie joined her pal George Washington last night. Rusty shed a few tears as Nate flushed her down the toilet but quickly recovered with a game of Super Mario Brothers.

Family Bike Ride: About 10 minutes into our bike ride, I popped both of my tires - I really don't like sticker bushes! Nate was kind enough to pedal the kids back home and get the car to come and pick me up. All of Nate's pedaling tuckered Rusty and Kaia out.

Seven Months: It's hard to believe Kaia is 7 months. She is getting so big (not really, but she is gaining and is almost up to 11.5 pounds!) She likes to eat rice cereal with apples, bananas, pears, rice puffs, strawberries, bread, animal crackers, amoxicillin and strongly dislikes all vegetables so far. She's pretty quick at rolling and army crawling but luckily we haven't had to put up the baby gates yet. Mamamama is her favorite babble and she tends to scream it in the middle of the night. Rusty is still enjoying his little sister and was pretty upset that I wouldn't let him pack her in his packback for show & tell last week.

4 Days

2010-05-19T14:46:00.000-07:00

That's how long Rusty's first pet fish survived. He was a little sad but learned his lesson and won't feed the surviving fish so much food, even though it's fun. I'll be surprised if fish #2 makes it through the weekend.

Maybe...

2010-05-19T14:07:00.000-07:00

"Maybe you should stop taking pictures of her - I don't think she likes it?!" Thanks for the advice Rusty!

It's a but a dream

2010-03-23T19:45:00.000-07:00

I just figured out how to use the video on my camera - yippee!

Yummy Peanut Butter

2010-03-23T18:27:00.000-07:00

Kaia's RSV is just about gone and life is thankfully getting back to normal. Rusty's making messes, Kaia's not sleeping, I'm whining about being tired, and Nate's finding something new he has to buy :)

"I was just going to take one little bite, but it was so good I just couldn't stop!"
I always think Kaia is asleep, but when I go in to check on her she is wide awake giving me a dirtly look. But she quickly realizes that if she smiles and acts really cute I'll pick her up. What a stinker!

Nate traded in his beloved truck...

and moved on to a more fuel efficient car (hopefully!)

4 Months

2010-02-28T08:10:00.001-08:00

Kaia is only 4 months and Rusty is already wanting another sibling. He woke up this morning and said "Mom, I want another baby. We can have 2 babies. Kaia makes me laugh and is so cute. Now we need a brother. What should we call him?" Ummmm, why don't you ask dad about that which Nate promptly responded - NO!

Kaia's 4 month stats:

10 lbs 24 inches (super tiny).
Rolls both ways but is better at going from her back to stomach.
Her new favorite thing is to blow bubbles and chew on her hands. If her hands aren't in her mouth then they are usually straight out like an airplane.

*Relaxing in a chair

*Loves her swing

*Trying rice cereal for the first time... *Of course Rusty wanted his picture taken too. Love his bed head!

Rusty's 4!

2010-02-21T07:29:00.000-08:00

Rusty just turned 4 and had the "Best Birthday Ever!" Since our birthdays are a day apart, Rusty and I started the birthday celebrations by going out on a little date to Wendy's Friday night. His kids meal came with a Mad Libs Jr. so we played that all night and had quite a few laughs. When Rusty woke up on Saturday he started singing happy birthday to me and presented me with a gift wrapped in a blanket. It was Nate's I-touch! I got many more re-gifted gifts from Rusty through out the day :).

Rusty woke up Sunday morning bouncing off the walls with excitement! We (as in Nate) let him open one present before church and it was....the fire house Lego's he's wanted his whole life!

He ran around the house yelling, "This is the best birthday ever" after opening his Lego's.

That night we had a joint little party at my parent's house. My mom made a delicious raspberry lemonade cake for me and cupcakes for Rusty.

This was my dad's green way of wrapping a present. Rusty thought it was pretty cool.

Then on Monday night we had his pool party with family and friends. It was a lot of fun and luckily not too crowded.

According to Rusty, here are a few of his favorite things:

Food: oranges

Color: blue

TV Show: Rescue Hero's and Turbo Dogs

Game: Curious George

Toy: Lego's

Parent: "Kaia, she's the best and doesn't make me go to time out"

Happy Birthday little squirt!

Tutu Fun

2010-01-11T11:16:00.000-08:00

I know Kaia's not a doll, thanks to my dad's constant reminders, but I sure do love dressing her up. Hopefully she'll let me "help" her decide what to wear a lot longer than Rusty did.

Those are actually tears of joy because she is so grateful I dressed her up like a ballerina.
Rusty wanted to be in the picture too.
And here's a much happier baby in a simple little onesie!

For Sale

2009-12-22T14:25:00.000-08:00

Kaia's had a rough couple of days which equals a whole lot of crying/screaming. Rusty, who up until this point adjusted quite well to having a little sister, is wondering why we didn't just get a dog like he asked. In the midst of Kaia's crying he asked if we could just put her up for sale. When I questioned who would want to buy her, he had the perfect buyer in mind - Isaac from preschool. He already had a little sister so he was use to having his ears cracked. Trying to cheer him up we watched the Santa video on disneyfamily.com to make sure his picture and name were still on the nice list. Sure enough they were, but he made sure to let me know that "you know whose name's not on Santa's good list...KAIA!".

And then there were 2...

2009-11-21T09:08:00.000-08:00

It's hard to believe it's already been a month since Kaia was born. So far Kaia is doing very well at the baby thing and can sleep, poop, and give cute little gassy smiles with the best of them. I'm still undecided if I like headbands on her, but it definitely dresses up her pajama's.

I'm not so sure she likes them either...

Here are a few pictures of what we've been up to over the last month:

For Halloween Rusty was a Pirate and we had a lot of fun at all of the different Halloween events. It's amazing to me how kids just instinctively know what to do on the holidays. As soon as we got home from trick or treating he dumped out his candy and got it all sorted into matching piles and let me know which ones he was going to share and which ones were just for him, which were basically all of them.

Pirate Rusty in his super cool pirate ship/laundry basket

Rusty also got to go on 2 field trips last month with his preschool. The first one was to his beloved fire station. He thinks he is BFF's with the fire fighters now and everytime we pass the station he asks if he can go talk to them and see what they are doing.

The second field trip was to Black Island Farms. Since Kaia wasn't even 2 weeks yet, my mom, Denise and Jackson were kind enough to go with him. I'm told the pig races were a huge hit.

Rusty loves preschool! He also enjoys unwinding from preschool with his new tradition of eating a bowl of popcorn while watching his "bestest, favorite show ever" Rescue Hero's.

This is his expression basically for the whole 30 minutes it is on:

Rusty also just completed another session of swim lessons and did a great job. Here he is getting ready to swim back to the stairs...

On the last day of lessons, my mom had just finished up swimming some laps and was still in the water so she let the boys go down the big slide and caught them at the bottom. Rusty was pretty thrilled.

Kaia was a super trooper and basically spent most of her time like this:

Rusty has already informed me that Kaia is his new best friend, but Nate and I can still be part of their group. I'm so glad he loves his little sister so much.

Baby Kaia

2009-10-24T09:07:00.000-07:00

Kaia Danielle was born on October 16th at 5:57 am weighing 7 lbs 2 oz and 20 inches long.

The night before her arrival, Nate and I dropped Rusty off at my parents and then headed up to the hospital to be induced since I was at a 4 and the baby was just not coming. Everything was going pretty smoothly until I got my epidural...which did not work. Nor did the second dose or the adjustment or the third dose. But everything was worth it to have such a sweet, healthy little baby.

*This picture makes me laugh, but it is good to know she has such healthy lungs!

Everyone is adjusting better than expected. Rusty just loves his little sister and the only time he's been upset with her is when he was trying to read her a book and she wouldn't stop crying. He finally got fed up and walked off saying, "I'm going to my room where it's nice and quiet!".

Nate has also been a huge help and loves his little girl.

Luckily Kaia is a super pooper, helping bring her billirubin levels down, so as of yesterday she no longer has to go in for daily checks. I love my little family!!!

The "Great Swimmer"

2009-08-21T16:20:00.000-07:00

Rusty just finished swim lessons and did an excellent job. I was surprised how much he learned and was willing to try. I remember when I use to teach lessons how annoying it was when parents would try to coach their kids from the side and swore I would never do that. Of course the very first day I caught myself yelling, "Tummy up Rusty!" or "Tuck your chin!" Despite his embarassing mom, he had a great time and I'm glad my mom signed the boys up!

Back floating all by himself!

We also went to our neighborhood block party a couple weeks ago and they had a fire truck, ambulance, and police motorcycle come for the kids. Rusty was in HEAVEN!!!

Summer Fun

2009-07-30T16:55:00.000-07:00

Recap of our summer so far...a whole lot of camping (Crystal Hot Springs, Backyard, Father & Son Campout in Eden, Bear Lake x2, & Flaming Gorge), soccer camp, visit from Auntie Dana, RM Races, lots of swimming, playing at the park, fishing, and Rusty's first exposure to a "girl" birthday party. Lucky for Nate, he got to take a week off from the sudden heat wave that hit us in July and travel to Seattle for a work training. We also found out we are having a little girl in October!

Random pictures from the last few months...

Rusty in his "equipment clothes" to go fight the summer fires.
While packing for a camping trip Rusty decided he also needed to be packed in a sleeping bag-bag.

Playing at a park...

Titan was kind enough to share his towel with Rusty :)

Soccer Camp

(Rusty was quite small compared to the others, but he still had a fun time. Thanks Grandma for sending him to the camp!)

Go little Red!

Fueling up after practice.

The "Races" - loud but amusing. Rusty LOVED the crashes!

Princess Cambrie's birthday - she was a very gracious princess and let Rusty "help" her open her presents.

Bear Lake - the second time.

Rusty and Gavin wth sand on their nose.

Flaming Gorge

Having a park and kid's cabin right across from our campsite was Heavenly!

Vacation

2009-05-12T15:27:00.000-07:00

After much thought and consideration, Nate and I decided we needed to do our part as outstanding American citizens and help stimulate the economy = family vacation! (Not to mention our bounce back passes at Sea World were about to expire). Southern California here we come.
Flying with a 3 year old was a 1000 times nicer than an 18 month old. We were even complimented on how well behaved he was on the airplane. I think this was the first positive behavior comment Rusty's ever received and the first time he sat still for 2 hours. It was a pleasant surprise.

First stop...Sea World

I forgot the camera in the car so this is a picture from last year. The new Bay of Play area was fun and Nate actually kind of liked the Shamu show this time because they cut out some of the cheesiness and added cooler tricks. My favorite is still the shark exhibit.

Next stop...Disney Land - the Happiest Place on Earth

Our first ride was Small World, we decided to get it over and done with as fast as we could. Rusty enjoyed all the little people but hated the music and kept his ears covered the entire ride.

Rusty found a lot of joy at the bumper cars and wanted to get everyone, which he was pretty successful at.

Tom Sawyer's island was a great way for Rusty and Nate to burn some energy. We had never been out there, but it was really neat and will for sure be one of the first things we do on our next visit.

Stop #3...The Zoo

I could have skipped the zoo this time and been fine, but Nate and Rusty wanted to go, so we did.

Rusty's impersonation of a hibernating bear...

and a growling tiger (this was probably the highlight of my zoo visit).

Final stop...Lego Land

We weren't planning on going to Lego Land, but Rusty is EXTREMELY persistent and spoiled so of course we ended up going. We had a really good time and the fact that he's grown almost 3 inches since our visit last year helped out a lot.

*This picture cracks me up! Bob the Builder 4D was pretty cool and Rusty kept his even cooler glasses on the whole time.

We jammed quite a bit into 5 days, but had a lot of fun doing it. I love family vacations!

Easter Egg Hunt

2009-04-11T19:16:00.000-07:00

Rusty and his cousins at an Easter egg hunt...everybody loves free candy, especially Rusty!

*This is the second Easter egg hunt of the day, and if you can't tell Rusty ate almost all of the candy from the first one by the time we got here.

*Rusty and Titan trash talking and showing off their huge muscles before the race.

Another Happy Hair Cut

2009-03-28T14:30:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Snip Its Hair Salon we no longer get kicked out, asked not to return, or go through any form of public humiliation to get Rusty's hair cut. It is so nice! (I do think they are a little expensive, but some things are worth the money).

They put some colored gel in his hair, and if you squint you can kind of see it

Laughing at me as I fell backwards trying to take a picture proceeded by, "Oh did Humpty Dumpty have a great fall mommy?!"

Rusty's 3rd Birthday Party

2009-02-18T15:11:00.000-08:00

Rusty's birthday started with his favorite breakfast - doughnuts and chocolate milk, and it was all up hill from there. Here are a few pictures from the festivities...

Happy Birthday Rusty!!!

I need a friend like this...

2009-02-18T15:03:00.000-08:00

I read this on KSL last night and thought it was pretty funny. Enjoy!

Woman Gives Suspect a Wedgie Until Police Arrive
February 17th, 2009 @ 1:15pm

Sometimes, the best way to trap a burglar is to hold him by his underwear until police can get there.

On Monday afternoon, a worker heard her car alarm going off in the parking lot near 1200 East and 3300 South. She asked a friend to check it out.

That friend looked outside and saw someone inside her friend's car. She went outside to confront him, and he took off. She caught him. First she sat on him, but he was able to get away.

She caught him a second time and managed to place him in a headlock, but he was able to get away again.

The third time, she grabbed ahold of his boxers and pulled. Salt Lake City police say she then put a headlock on the man until help could arrive.

Melissa's Devil Tag

2009-02-10T10:56:00.000-08:00

My cousin Jazz-man (as my dad likes to call her) tagged me on her blog so here it goes...

1. Go to my documents/pictures.
2. Go to my 6th file folder.
3. Go to my 6th picture.
4. Blog about it.
5. Tag 6 people to do the same.

*I posted this picture a while ago, but it still makes me laugh. Rusty is not a sit still kind of kid and has a VERY hard time going to church (mainly sacrament meeting). In an attempt to skip out on church he lined up his toys in front of his closet as a barricade so I couldn't get his clothes and we would have to stay home from church.

Update: this picture was taken 6 months ago and we have not made much progress. Just a few Sunday's ago he said he was sick, which he really was, but when I asked him what was wrong he said, "I'm sick of church!" He does enjoy nursery and just as I started this post began singing "Follow the Prophet, Follow the Prophet - don't go astray-o".

I tag: Denise, Angie L, Angie W, Liz, Erica, and Melissa (Melissa, I guess you'll just have to start a blog now that you've been tagged!)

Will you play with me?

2009-01-26T18:48:00.000-08:00

"Mom, will you play with me?" is a question Rusty asks me about 50 times a day. Of course it is in his sweetest, nicest voice, and we do spend most of the day playing, but it's hard work being "Construction Worker Mommy" or "Firefigheter Mommy" or "Ice Cream Shop Mommy" or "Doctor Mommy" or "Football Teamer Mommy" all day long. Of course if I say we can play after I finish doing whatever I'm doing I get, "Okay, how about now?" or "Okay, will you go and clean my room? It's a big mess." So the moral of my story is, I am very thankful for Channel 11 - PBS Kids! (And while I'll probably never make a donation to PBS because I'm lazy and cheap, I sure hope others do! Keep up the good work PBS!)

Oh Christmas Tree

2008-12-14T04:46:00.000-08:00

We finally got our Christmas tree Friday night and I seriously thought Rusty was going to die from excitement. He LOVES it and is so excited we finally have Christmas at our house. He even had to call my dad to let him know he got a Christmas tree. Here are a few pictures of Rusty bonding with his tree...

I thought Rusty was hiding from me, but when I asked he what he was doing he said, "just hanging out with my tree".

He was also very enthusiastic tree decorator. He put some of his "good tools" on the tree for the extra WOW factor, but they didn't last too long because he needed to go to work.

Then he was afraid the ornaments were getting thirsty so he carefully gave them each a drink.

After hydrating them, he started screaming "Oh no! Mom I'll be right back, I have to hurry". He ran up to his room and returned with a bunch of swim diapers. He said the ornaments were pooping on his tree and he needed his swim diapers to catch the poop. He cracks me up! I love how excited he gets for the holidays!

*We went to the zoo a few weeks ago and Titan wanted his picture taken with the gorilla, so this is for Titan.

Brody and Rusty, the food loving cousins.

Fall

2008-11-25T16:00:00.000-08:00

Rusty "helped" me make some cute turkey cookies for his friends and the ladies I visit teach. Thanks for the idea Melissa!

We still have the pile of leaves in our front yard, so if anyone wants to join Rusty, just come on over.

Rusty's turkey face (or scary face, surprised face, angry face, sad face...they don't really change much but they sure are cute!)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Boonanza

2008-10-29T17:04:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures from one of my mom's most stressful work days of the year, but a lot of fun for us:

The creepiest part of the night was the reptile show....disgusting!

We found out just how competitive Rusty was on the inflatable obstacle course. The kid on the left was the group in front of Rusty and the side he was suppose to climb up. He was so focused on winning, he yelled at the karate kid to hurry when he came to the wall and saw he hadn't made it up yet, then he jumped ship and went up the other side.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

2008-10-12T13:28:00.000-07:00

I was pretty shocked to wake up to so much snow this morning, but at the same time very excited. This will be the first winter since I was pregnant with Rusty that we will hopefully be able to do a lot of snowboarding/skiing as a family. Rusty is already asking for his own snowboard or ski's, so we'll just have to wait and see what Santa brings him.

Trying out my snowboard
Our super cool snowman...
that turned into Rusty's castle.

Nate is 29!

2008-10-03T19:02:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Nate!

Nate is 29 and still going!!! I however am struggling with this and admit to shedding a few tears at the thought of how old we are getting. I know we have no control over this, but frankly I do NOT like it nor approve of it. With that being said, Nate had a very good birthday yesterday! Here are a few pictures from the festivities...

This was probably one of the best ice cream cakes we have ever had - "A Cheesecake Named Desire" from Cold Stone, I HIGHLY recommend it.

Nate flying his new pocket size RC Helicopter...
and crashing it. It's a lot harder to fly than it looks.
Cute little Titan playing Wii Fit surprisingly well... Big Doug trying to ski jump...

Emilio's Birthday

2008-09-28T20:04:00.000-07:00

Rusty went to his first friend birthday party on Saturday and had so much fun. Emilio and Rusty are best buds in nursery and sacrament meeting and always have fun hanging out. It's so cute to hear my little red-head say "Emilio" - it reminds me of a Night at the Roxbury.

Here's the birthday boy trying to whack the pinata...
and here's Rusty hording all of the candy.

Happy Birthday Emilio!

Bed Time Stories

2008-09-18T09:20:00.000-07:00

I came home from the store last night and cute little Rusty fell asleep in my bed reading stories to Curious George. Now I know why my parents have so many pictures of us sleeping as kids!

Brady Bunch Tribute

2008-08-28T17:21:00.000-07:00

We finally got new carpet - YEAH!!! During the install Rusty and I got stuck in our kitchen for a couple of hours giving me lots of time to think while tuning out Bob the Builder and the "super cool" music the installers had going - if I never hear another tuba again, I won't complain. During this time I realized what a charmed, okay fabulous, life Mrs. Brady had. Think about it, her only job was to be a mom and be able to say, "Oh Mike". Not too hard if you ask me. But then I started to think about why her life was so good and realized it was because of Alice.

They always portrayed Alice to be so happy, and maybe she was, but lets face it - her job/life was kind of crappy. She had to wear the same hideous outfit every day, cook with lard, listen to 8 people whine about their lives and then do all of their laundry! As if this wasn't enough, she was in a dead-end relationship with Sam the Butcher who just couldn't commit. Poor, sweet Alice. I've always loved the Brady Bunch (you can watch it Monday-Friday at 5:30 on KBYU, the movies are pretty funny too) but I now have a special appreciation for all the Alice's in the world - those who can make the worst situation look glamorous. Rock on Alice!

*Here's our new carpet and tile in the bathroom. Thanks to my brother, Big Doug, for tiling it!

Sleepover

2008-08-21T17:12:00.001-07:00

Thanks to the arrival of my cute little niece Abby, Rusty had his first sleepover with his cousin Caden. They had a lot of fun with only a few minor bumps and bruises along the way.

They played with the trains...

Practiced golf...

Rode the "tractor"...

Dug a few holes...

Fed their hungry bellies...

Got all clean (they were pretty dirty)...

and they were so tuckered out Caden could barely keep his eyes open for 1 more picture... so cute!

Little Nate

2008-08-21T16:44:00.000-07:00

Here's what Rusty, aka Nate Junior's been up to lately...

Attempting to blockade his closet so he doesn't have to get ready for church, like father like son.
Practing his golf swing in the front room because "my daddy does".
Doing yard work - just like Daddy.

Surfing

2008-07-28T19:50:00.001-07:00

Here's another reason we need to move to southern California - the beach. My parents just got back from Carlsbad and let us know they are practically giving away houses down there. We could get into a new house for only $500,000. Sign me up!

Rusty found the surfboard placemats and wanted to go surfing at the beach, but he said he needed sunscreen first :)

Mini Carnival

2008-07-27T15:00:00.000-07:00

We were driving home from the store and saw a mini-carnival happening in a neighboring city and decided to go. It was a rip off and very hot, but Rusty loved being a "cowboy" and racing the boats. Thanks Nate for letting us steal all of the quarters from your change jar!

Camping

2008-07-22T19:26:00.000-07:00

Nate and Rusty roughen' it in the front room

Bear Lake

2008-07-15T11:24:00.000-07:00

We spent this past weekend with Nate's family in Bear Lake. It was a lot of fun, but in typical Devon fashion I brought my camera and didn't take pictures. We do have one souvenir however, Rusty's first sunburn!

Speaking of lakes and swimming - Target has Pampers and Huggies swim diapers on sale this week for only $2.99. We might not have a year (or even month) supply of food, but we are now covered on the swim diapers. Whew, I'm glad we can check that off our list.

4th of July Parade

2008-07-15T11:02:00.001-07:00

We had a very fun 4th. On the 3rd we watched the Bee movie at the park with Rusty's girlfriends Cambree and Shayla. Then on Friday we went to the parade, had a BBQ at my sister Denise's and watched the fireworks on the way home.

Pirates, Tools and Belts

2008-07-01T15:00:00.000-07:00

Rusty really likes pirates, tools, and belts. We were spelling his name and I said "R like rabbit" and he said, "no, ARRH like pirate" - whatever works I guess. Nate and I didn't figure out the belt over the shoulder meant he was a pirate until he pulled his sword out of the sheath (aka back scratcher and vacuum attachment) and said arrh matey.

Here's Pirate Rusty in action

Who needs pants when you've got a tool belt like this!? Kids are so resourceful.

Dinosaur Park

2008-06-26T18:41:00.000-07:00

I took Rusty to the dinosaur park in Ogden the other day and had a lot of fun. He did say the dinosaurs were pretty cool, but of course he loved feeding the ducks and the park map the best.

*Just a side note, if you ever want to see a duck with an afro, just go over to the Layton City Park. It's pretty funny.

Sleep

2008-06-26T18:07:00.000-07:00

I don't get much sleep - 4 to 5 hours max - which usually is okay, but now that summer is here and we are a lot more active, it is just not cutting it. I think I'm doing good until the cute teeny-bopper at Sonic points out I am not. On the way home from the park, Rusty and I stopped by the Sonic drive through to get a strawberry slush (very refreshing). After giving her the money, she handed over the drink and straw and subconsciously I proceeded to unwrap the straw, put it in the drink, and then put the drink in the cup holder. Then I waited and stared through the window. She walked by a few times and looked at me then finally came back and said, "Can I help you?" "Um, yeah I ordered a drink and I'm just waiting for you to bring it to me." Honestly, could that girl really not know what her job is? She then looked at me to see if I was serious, then looked over at my cup holder and said, "Ma'am it's right there." "Oh right, well thanks!"
Needless to say, Rusty and I both took a nice long nap that afternoon!

Three, two...JUMP

2008-06-12T16:07:00.000-07:00

Look out Superman!!!!

San Diego

2008-06-12T15:16:00.001-07:00

We went to the Zoo...

played with the star fish at Sea World...
fed the dolphins and the...
hungry, hungry hippo's.

Rusty's favorite was the beach

and the rides at Lego Land. We love San Deigo!

Smart Boy

2008-05-28T17:56:00.000-07:00

Nate just found out he got a 3.6 last semester bringing his cumulative to 3.1! Way to go smarty pants - only 3 classes left and he'll be a college grad.