Out of the mouth of Jacob:)

Tonight we went for our Sunday walk around the block. Andrew was riding his bike and Jacob decided to take his baseball mitt and throw and catch a ball around the block. As we were walking Jacob had made some really good catches. Doug said, "Jake, you are getting really good at catching the ball." Jacob said, "Dad you should sign me up for baseball." Doug said, "sure, we can sign you up for t-ball next year." Jacob said, "NO Dad, PROFESSIONAL BALL."
I'm glad that he has such confidence in himself.

Jacob teaching Danny to read

Today I was cleaning and came around the corner and found Jacob reading with Danny.

Summer Fun and School Starts

On Sunday afternoons we like to go for walks as a family. Usually we just go for a walk around the block, but sometimes we decide we need some different scenery, so we go to one of the many walking paths here in MN.

One Sunday we packed up some sandwiches and Doug found us a new path to try out. I think this is my favorite so far. We walked about 3 miles. On the walk we came to this lake and ate our dinner.

Here are the boys running down through the trees. Danny was so happy that we had finally let him out of the stroller. He was going to run as fast has he could so we wouldn't put him back in the stroller. Andrew is WAY up in front of the other boys.

This summer 4 families from our church decided to go camping. We went to a camp ground about 20 min from our house, but it was BEAUTIFUL. All the kids had a great time running and playing. The worst part was all the mosquitoes.

In the morning we had pancakes, eggs, sausage, and bacon. After breakfast we were playing games and these two little boys found some fun. I guess we shouldn't leave out the pancake batter.

Or maybe it wasn't that bad because it kept Danny busy stirring and playing for quite some time. He was a MESS when he was done.

Carter, Andrew & Derek playing together.

One of the families brought a fishing boat and took all of us out for a ride on the lake. ALL the kids love this part of camping! Jacob's face says it all.

Here are the Dad's with most of the kids out on the lake. I think they even tried a little fishing. FUN TIMES!

Andrew we so excited to start first grade this year. He LOVES school. He never fights me to get ready in the morning. He loves that he gets to ride the bus, and he can sit ANYWHERE he wants. Last year he had to sit in the front 2 seats because he was in kindergarten. Now he can sit with his friends, oh happy day. He gets on the bus at 7:25 a.m. and comes home at 3:30 p.m. Jacob is always watching the clock and listens for the bus to come. He is so happy when his buddy comes home.

I'm so happy that Andrew loves school and was so excited to go. There were other kids who were crying and didn't want their parents to leave. Andrew walked in, sat at his desk and said, by Mom and Dad.

I'm sure we will have a great school year:)

Happy 2nd Birthday Danny!

For Danny's 2nd birthday we went to an apple orchard and picked apples. Danny is trying to show that he is 2. It takes him a lot of concentration to get those 2 little fingers up.

Danny had to have his very own bag and put his own apples in the bag.

CHEESE!

Jacob wanted the BIGGEST apple at the TOP of the tree.

Three cute boys!

We also went and saw the animals they had for the kids. Danny liked the lambs the best.

We also went to McDonald's for lunch and Danny got a happy meal. It is amazing to me that such a silly little toy can make a boy so happy.

Danny got some cars with a race track.

He also got his OWN bat and baseball tee. He loves to play ball with his brothers. We quickly had to move this toy outside for the safety of our house.

I made an Elmo cake for him. He loved the cake, but more importantly, blowing out the candles.

My favorite things about Danny are:

In the morning he will come in bed with me and hand me my glasses, so I can see, and give me the remote. Then he will lay on Doug's pillow and pull the blankets up to his chin, NOT any lower or higher, right to his chin. Then he sits there and waits for me to turn on the TV to his show. If I turn it to my show, he lets me know that this is UNACCEPTABLE!

I love how he says I love you. It is so cute!

I love to see him play with his brothers. He loves them so much and wants to be where they are!

I love that when he wants my attention, he come and hits my leg and says Ma ma ma ma until I answer him. (Sometimes this isn't as cute as other times)

I love that Danny is very easy going and loving kid.

I also love that before he goes down for a nap or bed he has to have a story read to him. It is my special time with him.

We LOVE you Danny!

Fun Surprise!

The first part of August I got to fly home and surprise my Dad for his 60th birthday that is on August 27th.

I flew into Las Vegas and rode a shuttle to St. George. When I got there my brother Lance was there to pick me up. He said, "well what do you want to do? We have to wait for Karen, our sister, to get here for Las Vegas too." I was shocked. I thought Karen wasn't going to be able to make it, but Lance was able to get her a flight so she could come. It was the best surprise.

We got to Cedar City at my parents house about 1:30 a.m. Mom had said that she would leave the front door open so we could sneak in and go to bed. I was too excited so we decided to go in and surprise my Dad that night. We walked into his room and said, "hi Dad. We are home" It took him a little while to wake up and realize that it was Karen and I. He was very surprised to have us there. It was GREAT!

Thursday morning we went to a little lake that is in Cedar. Jane Ellen and Lance's kids had a great time playing in the water. (Jane Ellen and her kids had come from California earlier in the week.) I had a great time visiting with my family. For lunch we had my Dad's favorite meal, meat loaf and baked potato. Then we gave him his presents, a digital picture frame.

Friday morning we all got up and started to get things ready for our big birthday surprise. We had invited my Dad's sisters Erroleen from Hurricane and Kathy from Roosevelt to come and have lunch. Dad went out in the yard and was doing some yard work. Around 11:00 a.m. I told my Mom we needed to come up with something to tell Dad so he would come in and get ready. I knew he would be embarrassed if he wasn't cleaned up when his sisters came.

Mom went out and told him that Lance and Crystal were coming for lunch, so he should come in and get ready. He was just about ready when Aunt Kathy showed up. He was so surprised when he came out of his bedroom and she and her husband, Brian were at the house. Soon Aunt Erroleen came.

We made salads and meat trays for lunch.

It was SO FUN to be together with my siblings and to visit with my Aunts!

Aunt Kathy, Dad, Aunt Erroleen

We also made my Dad's favorite cake, chocolate with coconut frosting, YUMMY!

That night we went to the green show at the Shakespearean Festival. The kids liked that dancing and singing.

Elaina, Justus, Madalyn, and Jared playing around during the party. I LOVE how Justus is trying to get Madalyn to smile.

I'm very grateful that Doug was so great and let me go be with my family. He took a day off work and then we had a friend watch the boys one day too. I really missed my family, but it was so nice to relax and spend time with my parents and siblings. Family is the best!

Picture time!

The first weekend in August I flew out to Utah to surprise my dad for his 60th birthday. Before I left I took these pictures of the boys and each one of them made a card for grandpa.

It shocks me how big they are getting. Love those cute faces!

Another fun trip to the zoo

The end of July we went to the MN zoo with our good friends the Rosenoff's. All of our kids get along really well so it is fun to get together and let them play.The most important part of any visit to the zoo is the bird show. The boys LOVE it and have to see it every time we come to the zoo.

Here are all the kids trying to touch animals in the water, but Danny saw me get the camera out and was ready to say "cheese".

Jacob just makes me laugh!

I love these three pictures of the boys, but whenever I look at them Jacob just makes me laugh. I just never know what Jacob is going to do which keep life VERY fun!

Grandma & Grandpa Hobbs, and Melinda come to visit!

In July Doug's parents and  his sister Melinda came out to visit us. I always love when family comes to visit! The boys were so excited to see all of them.

They brought kits for the boys. We were able to get 2 of them up, but had no luck with the third.

Doug was trying to get the third one up, so Jacob was holding the string of the only one we had up. I wasn't paying attention when Jacob decided Danny was big enough to hold the kite...bad choice! Danny didn't hold it for long and it was gone.

Doug went and found the kite WAY up in a tree. He was very determined that he was going to get the kite down. After lots of effort and even more laughs, Doug got the kite down.

Grandpa and Danny walking at the park.

One day we went to the MN zoo.

We had fun showing Grandma, Grandpa, and Melinda our favorite things at the zoo.

The best part of the whole trip was that they got to see Andrew and Jacob play 4 soccer games. The boys LOVED having so many people there to watch them play.

This was Jacob's first year playing soccer. He was always one of the smallest, but he sure was aggressive! I love this picture of him "blocking" with his arm the girl from getting the ball.

Jacob running fast!

The whole team huddled after their game. It was so fun to have Andrew and Jacob play on the same team this year.

Other things we did with Grandma and Grandpa was played lots of games in the afternoon while Danny slept. Doug and Grandpa went golfing lots and we also went downtown to the Minnehahafalls in Minneapolis. While we were downtown we went to a concert at a park by one of the many lakes here. It was a beautiful setting for a concert.

Thanks Grandma, Grandpa and Melinda for a wonderful visit!