UPDATE!

The boys love football, it makes me a bit nervous in the house, but it's a lot of fun to watch....til someone gets hurt!

Cameron loves hats & helmets!

This was when we went to Christmas tree. Cam refused to smile, it was super cold!

 Eric's year to choose the tree!

 Dad and Sandy took us and the Inversos on a horse drawn carriage ride. We had a fun time, except for one of the horses having terrible gas! Spike and Major were their names...Major, for Major gas!

 Cameron usually has a fast bath, this was one where he got to play a little with dad. I love this picture!

 WE were able to get away for a few nights in February to enjoy the winter. Bill tried Cross country skiing for the first time, and was eager to try down hill after he found out he LOVED CC.

 Happy Birthday Eric!!!!

 We celebrated Eric's birthday with his first official party! He loved having all the kids over, the dads helped all the activities go great, kids had a ball!

 I asked Eric what kind of cake he wanted....he was (fortunately not anymore) obsessed with Angry Birds, hence the theme of the party! Making cakes is my favorite part in preparing for the party!

 Oh sweet Abigail! She was waiting patiently to show eric 'just how this bike bell worked' with  the chaos I didn't notice her, until Angie her mom 'helped me' :) Thank goodness for friends to help us parent when we're distracted!

 Dad and Sandy were helping us watch Cameron in and amongst the activity. He climbed up on the bench and before they even notice Cameron had his hands  in the cake. Notice my dad "bailing" before he got frosted!

 He's lovin it!

 The boys loved shooting a real bow. This was the back up plan to another game that didn't work out!

 So thankful for the Birthdays I have the privilege of planning and attending. Thank you Lord for blessings in our lives!

 Cameron loves his hats....helmets...

 Tis the season for baseball! Eric loves the social part of game, snack time is his favorite time of the game!  Aaron is starting to really understand the game. I'm that mom who yells with excitement at the littlest of successes!

I posted this picture because this is the last known where about of the right boot shown in this picture.  If any of you have seen it or know anything about it, please contact me! It's probably in the same place as this snack trap!

I am relishing in the fact that I can dress Cameron in whatever I want, and he wont complain. A stark contrast to Aaron who will not wear a particular color of blue jean for fear someone will laugh at him. Whaaat?! oh, the particular blue changes on a weekly basis!

Cameron loves to be measured on the growth chart...if im picking up socks in that general area he waddles over and leans up against it! 

 Love this spring weather and one on one time with Eric. He doesn't get nearly enough of it!

Bill's coworkers played donkey basketball agains Salem PD. We were able to go and take one of Aaron's friend Gabe. If you ask anyone of them "what was your favorite part?" they will answer "when the donkey took a dump all over the floor" yeah, boy humor....getting used to it, but still don't like it!

The boys are loving this business of riding on the gator! In the back is Nolan. He is the youngest of three boys, and loves being the 'big kid' to our boys! We enjoy having him around, he is a great help and always smiling!

Easter 2013! The boys were good sports about getting their pictures taken, below is the picture 20 minutes later, where they have changed into their comfy clothes...notice Eric's "new" digs...he loves this camo shirt and his 1980s jean shorts....

Eric loves his job of cutting olives for dad's homemade pizza!

Boys weekend! They had a ball with dad staying up til 11pm! I was grateful for the time to get away for the weekend!

 Grammy loves her buddy

This is classic! Big and Middle are out for the count...Little is messing with their cheeks while they sleep. Love these boys!

 

a little catching up to do!

Aaron caught his first fish with Bill on the 4th of July!

The boys and I went up to Tacoma to spend a week with the Inversos! We had lots of fun which included a trip to a family fun park in Carnation Washington. The kids had a blast! They rode on ponies, kiddie rides, antique cars, and mini trains. The pictures are just a few of the activities.

This is Eric's "smile"

This is Eric's "hold still and smile"

We had a lot of fun in July including fireworks and potluck with our neighbors.

This was our trip to the beach. I just love this smile on Aaron! Knowing him he probably was talking about farting!

Daddy and his boys!

Yoooouch!

Eric tripped while running in the house. He landed face first again our bed! After a call to dentist and several Popsicles he is on the mend!

Fun Times at the Raceway

 The Gaines Family came for two weeks for Dad and Sandy's wedding. I will post more pictures of that visit soon. Bill in a moment of insanity offered to take all 4 big boys to the drags to see cars. They were up way past their bed times, and a lot of fun with their dad/ uncle. Highlight from their visit was the Jelly Belly drag car that blew flames that smelled like cinnamon!

First Camping Trip

In July we took the boys on our first camping trip as a family! We only went to a park about half hour away, just in case kids gave us too much trouble! We started of great, we brought s'mores, started a fire, and just sat around and talked as a family. Our camp site was on the bank of the North Santiam, just perfect! Turns out the noise of the river is perfect for a few reasons, first in lulled us all to sleep, second it muffled the noise of the thieves whom raided our camping equipment while we slept! the next morning about 6 am, bill taps me on the head from the oustide of the tent to tell me that "all of our stuff was gone." well....the night before Bill asked me "should we put all of our stuff away?" to which i answered "No, babe it's kind of like camping code, it'lll be fine" famous last words! I won't bore you with the details of what they took, but i will tell you how this sour note ended on a great lesson of kindness for our kids. The camp host (who meant to tell us that there had been a problem with theft, and to guard our things) was SO GRACIOUS with us. He gave us a pan, forks, plates, sausage, eggs,and a lighter to replace ours that was taken. Our boys had a hard time understanding why bad boys would take our things including our tackle box so we couldn't go fishing, but that was met with a sincere tangible act of kindness. We went home, with fewer "things" than we started with, and with inspiration to pass forward the kindness we experienced.

 

Sweet Eric

Today we celebrated Elizabeth, and the coming arrival of baby girl. When I got home, eric was super tired. He asked if he could have licorice for dinner... I said no, to which he started with the "humpy" attitude. I told him that unless the attitude changed he was headed for bed.... Well the attitude didn't change, so off to bed he went. This sent him into a tail spin, telling me he was going to die if he didn't eat dinner, he was sooooo hungry etc. I reassured him he was not going to die and tried to calm him down, with no success :( the I said " Eric I'm leaving the room, I will come check on you when you are calmed down " 5 minutes layer it was quiet.... The picture below us what I found.... I'm thinking he is praying 'God, please don't let me die in my sleep of hunger.'
Hopefully in the morning we have a hungry tummy and an attitude adjustment.