Midterms

I think this was the last day I let my boys wear shorts outside to play.  Its really cold now, and the leaves are gorgeous!  I took the boys out for a day to my parents to play, just before their big remodel began. We played with chalk...and Merrick ATE the chalk, and had fun just being together.  Merrick is walking now, and its so fun to watch him figure out new things!  Braxton is absolutely loving being a big brother, and loves taking the lead with things now!  He will begin his transition to Primary this week, and we are very excited! Ricky and I are busier than ever it seems, but we are looking forward to everything in our future, we love this time of year, as it means that families will be close, and memories will be made.  We are so fortunate to be where we are, and for Ricky being able to be in school.  When we first moved here, I remember feeling like this stage was going to take forever....and now, I think I might just miss some of it:)  Ricky will be graduating in May with his Bachelors in Secondary Ed.  After which, we play to stay another year for a Masters in Educational Leadership.  I am so incredibly proud of him. 

 

Happy Birthday Merrick

Mr. G is 1!!!!!

 

This past year has FLOWN by!  Merrick has been such a great baby boy!  A few things about him:

 

**He LOVES to smile, all the time:)  Braxton may out-do his laugh, but Merrick has the most contagious smile, and he is doing it ALL the time:)

**He is TOUGH!  Sometimes I see him "head butt" furniture and he thought it was hilarious....till one time it resulted in a bloody lip!---but he still smiled

**He LOVES to play with cars with his big brother.

**He is an AWESOME eater!

**He is a MOMMA'S boy, through and through

**He loves to ride the forwheeler

**He has 8 teeth, with 4 more breaking through!!!

**Anytime he hears music he starts to dance and sometimes even sing!

**He gets into all my cabinets and drawers

**He was crawling by the time he was 6 1/2 months

**Almost walking--he has taken 3-4 steps and everyone else has seen it but Ricky and I apparently:)

**He STILL has the most beautiful blue eyes!

**He LOVES his Big Brother! And Braxton loves him too:)

 

Happy Birthday My Dear Sweet Boy!

 

Family Pics in Emmett

We were able to snag some family portraits while we were down in Emmett, our Cousin Megan and I did a "swap" she took ours and I did theirs.  Of course we both couldn't help but take a few of our own family as well when the moments were right:)  I loved how these turned out!  The first four I snaged of Brax and his cousin Brig, the rest were so beautifully done by Megan!  Enjoy!

 

Britney's Visit!

Britney, Braden and Baby Mason were able to come for a great visit in August.  We were all so excited to see them all!  We had a few BBQ's, Lentil Ride, and overall SO much fun!  I wish I would have taken my camera EVERYWHERE we went(I'm still working on that).  But overall, we had a blast!  Sorry for the picture overload:)

 

 

Buds

These boys have been so fun lately!  Of course they are fun most of the time, but lately, I can see their "brother-bond" standing out a little more.  It has been about 2 1/2 months since Braxton's Ear Tube Surgery, and he is speaking a lot better!  Not to mention, NO EAR INFECTIONS!  It has been so fun to watch him interact with Merrick and be such a wonderful big brother.  The two of them I feel one day will be the best of friends, or at least that is my hope and prayer:)  They bring out the best in each other! Braxton has been by far, the only one who can repeatedly get merrick to "gut roll."  In fact, most of this pictures were taken while they were making each other laugh.  I love them dearly, and they make me smile everyday!