My parents came in March for a visit to see us and then Jen & Doug in Ft Lauderdale. We took them down to St. Augustine one day. Here are some pictures including one rare shot - Nana and Mason with eyes wide open! (I hope you're not offended Mom - it's one of the things we love about you!)



And here are the boys at the Mosh (Museum of Science & History)...



We also went to the park where I discovered I have been a lazy Mom and have failed to get Mason into a swing as much as I should during his short life - I think it was the highlight of his week!

So, Russ has been taking more of the pictures lately (since I don't do my job of getting the camera around very well), and they have been turning out much better than mine. The only difficulty we've discovered is that Mason is just like his Nana. He can't seem to keep his eyes open for the pictures!

Russ took about 30 shots and got probably 28 like this:

And maybe 2 like this:

Hooray Mason!!

Okay, I have a lot of updating to do. I'll probably just set the date to the actual event - cheating, I know. But it'll make more sense to me that way. We finally got our camera back from being fixed, so hopefully I'll be able to keep up a little better from now on. We had a fun January.

James came to visit us for about a week before leaving for his mission. He was here on Parker's birthday, which was a bonus. Parker really thought James came specifically for his birthday, and I just went ahead and let him think that. The only thing he really wanted for his special day was a turtle cake he found in an easy cake-making book from my mom (thanks Mom!) so we made the attempt. Not as good as the one in the book, but from the look on his face you'd have thought it was the most incredible cake in the world. I love this age when it doesn't take much to please.

Jen and Doug also came up to see James one last time (although Parker also thought that was for his Birthday - what a lucky boy!). It was fun to have them here. Doug took Cole, Parker, and Dallin to get doughnuts for Parker's Birthday breakfast. They loved it! Here are some pictures of all the little boys eating doughnuts, the turtle cake and birthday party, Parker trying to ride the motorcycle his cousins gave him (he was really excited about that present), and all of us in St. Augustine.

We will miss James, but it was sure fun to have him visit, and it has been such a blessing to read all of his letters and hear his testimony growing and read about all of the hard work. It motivates us all to be better and try to keep things in perspective!

Christmas Day in Jacksonville!

Hooray! I'm almost caught up on the year of blogging! We'll see how well I keep up in 2008. We had a wonderful, relaxing Christmas break this year. Our first ever away from the rest of our family in Utah. After moving this past summer, and now that we've got three kids to tote around, we decided another trip across the country was just too much this year. We've had a great time. It's been very restful. We drove down to Orlando to go to Sea World again (got to get use of that pass!) and saw Kurt and Amanda who were there with Kurt's family. They were kind enough to let us intrude on half a day of their vacation to visit since I probably won't get to see them until next Christmas. We then drove down to Fort Lauderdale and stayed in Jen and Doug's place so we could relax, visit friends, and tear down the office! Yes, the office Russ built onto the condo had to go since post-hurricane construction is finally about to start. Lots of work, but still a nice trip. Then we got to come home to an entire week of NOTHING! That's rare, so we've enjoyed it. We also moved Mason's crib into the boys room, so he's loving being part of the group. Here are a couple of Christmas shots - one of the middle of the night, and then Christmas morning including one of Mason stuffing his face with cinnamon bread. Happy holidays!!

Santa! Santa! Ho! Ho! Ho!

This is what the boys have been chanting every time they see Santa. I think they got it from Mickey Mouse?? Anyway, here they are at the ward Christmas party where Cole asked Santa for a bike (which he got) and some flippers (which he was devastated not to get). All Parker wanted from Santa was a bike and a candy cane (he got both). Mason was just lucky to get through the whole Santa ordeal without crying.

Back in School - Jacksonville, FL

Well, here we are again... back to the same old school routine one last time. This is my first attempt at a blog. We'll see how well I keep up on it. Here is a little sample of our typical dinner time (when Russ actually makes it home, that is):