This past week...

...the boys layed in my bed to watch cartoons.

...we went to the Under Water Adventure at the Mall of America

...we had a great super bowl party

where the boys ate way too much candy.

...Danny helped Mom clean.

...we got lots of snow

...Danny discovered that being undressed is much better than being dressed. This little boy loves to go to the closet and find shoes, gloves and hats to try on. I guess when he has taken off his clothes, at least he will have a hat on to keep him warm:)

...and Jacob made Danny laugh and laugh. (I could listen to that laugh all day long!)

Happy 4th Birthday Jacob!

Jacob's birthday always causes me to reflect on that event in my life and be amazed at how things have changed. I can't believe that it has been only 4 years since we left Arizona. It seems like a life time ago that we lived in the sunny, warm, beautiful desert. (Oh how I long for that weather as the snow falls here in Minnesota.) As I think about the day Jacob was born, I remember how strangely calm I was. Through Jacob's whole pregnancy I was very scared for the delivery because of how horrible Andrew's delivery was. On our way to the hospital I was very calm and not really nervous at all. As I sat in my hospital bed, Doug asked me if I was okay because I was just sitting there taking it all in. I'm not sure if in the rush to put our house up for sale, get ready to move, and everything else, I didn't have time to worry about the delivery of Jacob. When I found out I would have a c-section, I really wasn't scared...very strange for me! Over the years, as I have thought often about that time in my life I have come to realize how blessed I was with the comforter. I have always known that the Holy Ghost is called the comforter, but have not had such a real experience with it. I'm VERY grateful that all went well that day, and that spunky little Jacob is in our family. He keeps me laughing all the time. I never know what he is going to say, which can be scary sometimes. He loves to play super heroes with Andrew and do anything with Andrew. He looks forward every day when Andrew gets home from school so they can play together. Jacob loves to jump on the couches, dance on the floor and be rough and tough like little boys should be. We are very blessed to have our little ball of energy in our family. We love you Jacob!!

We went to Red Robin for Jacob's birthday lunch. He was so excited for the servers to come and sing a birthday song to him. When they came to sing, he wasn't as excited. All the sudden he became very shy

Jacob enjoying his ice cream sunday.

We had to spend the afternoon at Chuck E Cheese

Jacob couldn't decide on a cake all week. Most of the week he wanted a scooby doo cake, but by the end of the week he decided he wanted a spiderman cake.

Jacob got a VeggieTales movie, a truck, Wall E coloring book, an abc game and some other fun toys.

Jacob also got some balloons. The boys had a great time playing with them.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACOB!!

A Journal Entry

Today I took Jacob to an ECFE class. It was really fun to have some one on one time with Jacob. ECFE is something here in MN for kids before they go to school. There are different classes you can take with your kids. It is 1 1/2 hour and I get to spend time with Jacob. They have child care for Danny. We made a treat and did some fun craft projects. Then the adults had a class on controlling your temper. I yell more than I would like, so I was glad for some of the tips that were given. Jacob had a great time at "school" as he likes to call it. We will see if Danny goes to his class next week. He wasn't too sure about it this week.

While we were eating dinner, Jacob kept saying the word poo. I got really tired of it, (my yelling problem coming out) and told Jacob that if he said that word again I would wash his mouth out with soap. Andrew told me not to get mad because he wasn't saying a bad word. I asked Andrew what he was talking about. Andrew told me that he was saying the word p-o-o-h NOT p-o-o. I'm not sure I like Andrew being able to spell. I guess Jacob is lucky to have a brother stand up for him.

Tonight Doug was at class (he has gone back to get his MBA) so I let the boys play the wii. This a a movie of Jacob boxing. It is so funny to watch Jacob play. He gets so into it. I love to watch how Andrew also cheers for Jacob. I know this isn't the best video, but it is a good laugh.

We had a wonderful Christmas. This was the first year we have stayed home and not gone to Utah. It was fun to do our own Christmas Eve and let the boys wake up and have a quiet Christmas Day.

Christmas Eve I made a ham and potaotes dinner. After dinner they boys opened the gifts they had bought each other. It was great to see how excited they were to exchange gifts. I wanted to go drive around and look at Christmas lights, but there was a HUGE snow storm. We stayed home for 3 days while it snowed. We were grateful for a wonderful neighbor who kept our drvieway cleared with his snowblower.

Christmas morning we were up at about 7:00 am to open presents. Andrew came in our room at 1:00 am to see if we could get up, but to his dismay, we sent him back to bed. Then at 1:30 a.m. he came back in our room to tell us that he had tried to go to sleep, but couldn't. Once again he was sent to bed. Jacob woke him up when he got up.

(Looking at this picture, I can't believe how big my boys are getting. When did Danny change from a baby to a little boys. SAD MOM!)
This past summer while we were in Utah, my Dad took the grandsons to the golf course. After that Jacob wanted REAL golf clubs. Then in the fall Doug bought new club's, so Jacob decided he wanted clubs "like Dad's" for Christmas. I gave Jacob a magazine with lots of toys in it and told him to circle the things he wanted Santa to bring him. He handed back the magazine and said he only wanted golf clubs like Dad's. Santa was kind to Jacob and Andrew and brought both of them clubs. I must admit they are SO cute. They each have a bag and 3 clubs. Too bad there is over a foot of snow on the ground.
The boys also got nerf guns, light sabers and new p.j. (as you can see Andrew could use some), and the family got a Wii. The day after Christmas our new neighbors invited us over to their house to go sledding in their backyard and then have hot chocolate and taco soup. We are so excited to have another LDS family move out by us. That makes 4 families that live in the town we live in. What a blessing!
I didn't think Danny would really like the snow, but he loved it! He had a hard time moving in all his clothes, but had lots of fun. Look at that happy face!

This isn't the best movie, but that is Danny going down the hill.



When I uploaded my pictures I found this one. What cute boys!