Substitute Christmas Card

I have had a little too much going on this year, and didn't get my act together enough to order and mail Christmas cards. I hope that a blog update will do.(and maybe an email)

We are all doing well and have had quite a year! Here is 2011 in a nutshell:

James is working on his last year of his Doctorate program at UNR. We are hoping that he will be finished with his dissertation by next Summer. He is doing a wonderful job of balancing work, school, and family. He is busy all of the time. Suzanne was able to "retire" from work and become a full time Mom...and LOVES it!! She has spent the year taking care of the twins and carrying their new baby sister. JR and JP turned 1 year old in October and became big brothers in November. They are walking and talking and learning new things so quickly!! Xanthie joined our family on November 12, and is loved by her older brothers and her parents. We cant believe how blessed we have been in such a short amount of time.

We are extremely thankful for all of our blessings! We hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
James, Suzanne, JR, JP, and Xanthie Wohlford.

Genoa, NV

On Friday the boys and I got to take a little day trip with Grandma and Grandpa Thomas. They learned that Genoa, Nevada was the first town settled in Nevada, and that it was settled by the Mormons. Genoa is about an hour's drive south of Reno. We drove hoping to see some more trees changing colors for Autumn...but there weren't a ton of the right kinds of trees. We did see some, though, and it was still a pretty drive.
When we arrived in Genoa, we went to a museum that pretty much summed up the history of Genoa in on building. The building was at one time each of the following: Courthouse, Jail, School, and Post Office. They had displays of a Blacksmith, the Pony express, and the Washo Indians culture. It was pretty interesting. We were even told that they still hold weddings in the Courthouse-room.
We had a very nice afternoon. The boys behaved the whole time!! Here are some pictures we took:

JR, JP & I in the Jury box

In front of the creepy looking Judge.

Grandpa and the boys bustin' out of jail.

Grandpa and the boys hanging out with the Sheriff. (I think JR was trying to steal the Sheriff's hat)

Grandpa and the boys in the jury box.

After the Museum we went to the oldest restaurant in Genoa...what used to be the General Store, I believe. We had yummy sandwiches, and met some very friendly people.
Thanks for the great road trip Grandma and Grandpa.

YAY!!!!!

MOM AND DAD ARE IN RENO NOW!!!!!!!
I am SO happy to have them here. It is so great to have 2 extra sets of hands to help with the boys. And the boys are having fun with their Grandma and Grandpa!
Thanks Mom and Dad!!!

JP and JR's 1st Birthday!!!

I cant believe it has already been a year since my boys were born! They are getting so big and learning so much! Here are a few shots from their birthday party on Sunday. We did just a small party for them (just the 4 of us) with the grandparents on the phone and computer. It was pretty fun...I just cant wait to be able to have family parties in person!

JR telling us how old he is:

JP's Cake Before

JP's Cake After

JR's Cake Before

JR's Cake After

Both boys during

JR After

JP after

We really thought they would do more damage to the cakes..but it turns out they really like the frosting, so that's where they pretty much stayed.

At least they had fun eating!!!!

Go Football!!

We were a little late getting our September Photo Shoot done. I have been a little unmotivated lately. (I blame baby girl) Our theme this month was "Happy Start of Football Season"

JR (above)

JP (above)

Both my Football fanatics.

Heeeeyyyyyyyyy!!! (Its a Fonzie reference)

We couldnt resist buying this jacket at Once Upon a Child. He totally looks like the Fonze...right?

Auntie Cindy

Auntie Cindy came to visit us this weekend!! She drove from Salt Lake to Sacramento, and we got to have her for a few hours in between! It was so great to see her. It was also SO GREAT to have someone else here to play with the boys! They LOVE their Auntie!!! Here are a couple of cute shots we got of them:



We love you Cindy!!!! Cant wait to see you again!!!

Happy Shark Week!!!

By the way...

We are expecting a new bundle of joy in November! We decided to find out the gender of this baby and....Its a Girl!!! We are very excited!

We think we are so clever and let the boys tell our families:

(I'm going to be a big brother in November)

(My Mom's not fat, she's Pregnant)

Shout-out to UPS

Retired

It has been about a month since I have retired, and I am still finding my groove. I mostly feel lazy because when I could be doing things like clean the bathroom (blah!) I take naps or watch entirely too much TV. but then I justify it by blaming it on the new baby growing in my uterus. I feel tired all the time!! And the heat in Reno isn't helping motivate me to do much either!

But, on good days where I am not so lazy, I have been able to take the boys out to Play groups, to family trips to the park...or family trips to anywhere air conditioned. Here are a few recent shots of the boys:

JR at the Sparks Marina

JP at the Sparks Marina

I am amazed at how much they LOVE "Baby Einstein"!! I don't get the fascination...but I love the break it gives me!!

This is my new favorite picture of JR. I like to think that he was sleepy...but he could have been bored with the dinner that I was forcing him to eat. Green beans are delicious!!

Happy 4th of July!!!

Catch up...

So, we have been pretty busy at our house since our little guys have arrived. Let me catch you up:
James finished another semester at UNR. 2 semesters to go!!! He is still working the early morning shift at UPS. then he comes home and I go to work. James is so good with the boys! He gets them all day long, and he still has all of his hair. :)
I am starting my countdown to retirement. 6 weeks to go! I love my job, but I love my boys more. We are all very excited that I will be a career mom in a few weeks. Hopefully I will keep all of my hair!
JP and JR are growing so quickly! They are starting to look more like little boys, and less like babies. They are so much fun! They are best friends, and it is so much fun watching them together. The other night I had put them to bed and they weren't interested in sleeping. I picked JP up and started rocking him. He immediately was bright eyed and wanted to play. JR, from the crib, wanted to see why he was being left out. I tried my hardest not to laugh with they started "talking" to each other. Turns out, their twin language sounds a lot like whale-speak. JP has a low...moan? (I don't know...what do you call it when whales communicate?) and JR's is much more high pitched. Needless to say, between their talking and my laughing, it took a while for us to get to sleep that night.

We have done a few photo shoots since our last post:

Happy New Year

Happy Valentines Day

Happy St Patrick's Day

Happy Easter

Happy Laundry Day (that's today)