Happy Birthday Darla

So, I know that Darla posted a blog already today about her birthday, but I thought I would too. I was asked to not blurt out her age, so let's just say that she's twenty one again. But even though she's only twenty one, I would like to tell you all twenty eight things about her.
1. Darla loves to shop.
2. She loves to do craft stuff.
3. She also loves to cook, and she's pretty dang good at it.
4. Darla likes to learn new things.
5. Nobody, and I mean nobody likes massages more.
6. She can do fifty things at once. I, on the other hand, can only do about mmmmm say one. (Hey, I'm still just a guy)
7. Darla is a huge fan of the song "I'm gonna miss her" by Brad Paisley.It's probably her favorite song in the world.(Complete LIE)
8. Darla is a great mom and I know that she loves her children very, very much.
9. There are four songs written specifically for her. (not just 2 like she said in the blog about my birthday.)
10. She likes poetry and has written quite a few very good poems.
11. She is a big Office fan. She's especially fond of Kevin and Dwight.
12. Darla likes things to be super clean and organized all the time. In fact she likes things to be so organized that sometimes I accuse her of being obsessive-compulsive about it.
14. Darla was born in 1980. (See, I didn't say an age :)
15. She doesn't like the way that roads are set up in Idaho. She prefers the "grid- system" like in Utah.
16. Darla likes the spring and autumn seasons the best.
17. Darla owns a gun.
18. Recently she bought some large maps so she can learn more about geography.
19. Darla loves to read. She reads where ever we are, in the car, in the house, in the hospital, where ever. (This accounts for her not being very well acquainted with geography, she reads while I drive and then she never knows where we are.)
20. Darla likes the ocean, or any bodies of water for that matter,too bad we live in a desert, huh.
21. Darla is the best wife. Sorry guys, she's mine. I know that she cares for me and takes care of me better than anybody else could ever try to do.
22. Darla has an awesome sense of humor.Even if/when other people don't get her, I do and it's really fun to laugh and play with her.
23. She likes to blog.
24. Darla is jealous of elk.
25. Even though She owns a gun, she doesn't really want to hunt that much.
26. Darla is extremely patient. If you don't believe that, just look at who she's married to.
27. Darla has leaky eyes a lot. In fact, one time she cried because she couldn't remember what she wanted for lunch (she was pregnant at the time).
28. Darla has one heck of a year ahead of her. I've learned to always expect change, but I think this will be a great year (one of the last before she turns 30)

Darla, you are the most wonderful person on the planet. Happy Birthday and I'll try to do my best to make it a great year for you and our family.
Love,
Josh

Warm River

Today was my birthday and I am now (mmmmpppppfffffhhhh) years old. :D
For my birthday my wonderful Mom graciously offered to keep my boys and let Josh and I have the day together. It has been a really LONG time since we've been able to spend several hours un-interrupted together.... especially since Nick was put on his current medicine which has to be administered every 8 hours. It's one of those things that you don't ask someone else (like a baby-sitter) to do because it involves dividing the pill, crushing, adding exact amounts of water and flavoring and only giving him a portion of the mixture. Therefore, there's not a lot of room for error- so only Josh and I have ever given him his medicine,
Anyway, it was a nice opportunity to spend some time together. We headed into town and had our wedding rings cleaned while we window shopped at the mall, and then had a nice lunch, and decided to drive up just past Ashton to Warm River. It's a beautiful drive and the colors on the trees were magnificent. Once we got to Warm River we stood and admired it's beauty for a while and fed the MANY fish that live there. It's something we've done before, but was nice to do again.
A little bit later we headed back down to Mom's to pick up the boys and visit for a short time. My sweet little ones hated to leave Grandma's and delayed getting into the car as long as possible. I don't blame them one bit either-- hanging out with Mom ROCKS!
I also received many calls and birthday wishes from so MANY of my friends and family.Not to mention a couple of fun surprises in the mail earlier this week! It was such a wonderful day!

Just put 'em in a pumpkin shell...

Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater,
Had a wife and couldn't keep her~
Put her in a pumpkin shell,
And there he kept her very well!




This was the song that Nick came home singing the other day from preschool. He sang it all day. That evening as I was putting the boys to bed I sang "Families can be Together Forever" to them. After I had finished, the following exchange happened between Nick and myself:

Nick: What's the name of that song?

Me: Families can be together forever.

Nick: (kind of squints his eyes and pauses for a second) Yeah, but if you can't keep 'em--- you just put 'em in a pumpkin shell. (then he nods at me knowingly.) That's what Peter Peter did.

That's not a bad idea. :D I'll remember that.
Such a funny kid. Who says preschool isn't paying off?!
I wonder if this is what he is picturing.....?

School Days!

So I finally have all my boys in school! It's great, and they're all happy to be a part of something "new". The preschool thing works out nicely because Nick is in the 4 year old class and goes 3 days a week,and Andrew is in the 3 year old class and goes the other 2 days. This way I get to have some one on one time with each of the little ones while the other is at school. It's not a lot of time, but it has always been so rare for me to get any one on one with Andrew that I am really enjoying it. He's growing up so quickly right before my very eyes.

Here are some pictures of my little stud-muffins on their first days of school.