I was in the office when I overheard this:

Evan: Hey Dad! As soon as I'm grown up our family will have two dads!
Dave: You want to be a dad when you grow up?
Evan: Yep.
Dave: You know what happens when you become a dad?
Evan: What?
Dave: I become a grandpa!
Evan: Aughhhh! You mean you're going to have white hair and be old?
Dave: Yep.
Evan: Aughhh! I don't want you to have white hair and be old!
Dave (laughing): Well, it will be a while before I get that old.

Evan: Hey Andrew! You know when YOU'RE grown up, Daddy will die!

LOL! I was cracking up.

Dave and Evan are at a wrestling tournament today...

and I'm realizing I never posted photos of their last tournament.

This was two weeks ago down near Modesto.

My photos are blurry, sorry I don't have any better ones.

Because of his weight, Evan was wrestling kids a year or more older than him. (He lost two, and won one.) I think it was kind of a blow to Evan to realize there are kids who are stronger than him. LOL! I love his confidence.

Look at the focus on his face!

Wyatt did amazing!

I told Dave he's got to work me into this whole wrestling world slowly. This was a perfect tournament for that. He wrestled all three matches and was done within an hour, and they gave each participant a medal.

We're so proud of you Evan!

Sneaky little Leprechauns

They walked all over our kids faces and painted little clovers on their noses! (Evan didn't want me to take a photo.) And they dyed our milk green!

Evan is a dedicated artist...

Dedicated to getting Spongebob and friends just right!

(If you notice in the first picture, Patrick is "running to get in the photo."
In the second one, Evan thinks it's so funny that he drew Spongebob's belt falling off.

I've been meaning to post these photos for months.....

and now it's taken me so long to upload them, I have no time to write.

Evan turned 5 years old last month!!!!!

He was sufficiently SPOILED!! I have to mention what a great kid Evan is! He's always had such a big heart and a great attitude! I love this kid so much and really want to be more like him.

This is some of what the boys did while I was in Utah.

Don't they have a great dad? What lucky kids.

Random

I know this is totally a random story, but I was thinking about it today and thought I'd blog about it. So those of you who have been to our church, or any one of the chapels for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will know the green hymn books that sit side-by-side in the little box in front of each seat. Two per box right?

Anyway, every time we sit down at church Evan puts one shoe on each of these hymn books, leans back, and starts driving a car. Sound effects and all! It drives me crazy! (To his defense, they really do make great gas/brake pedals.) He just can't resist! What a boy!

My Visit to Utah

A few photos of my trip to Utah.


The big reason I went was to see off my little brother on his mission. Isn't he cute? And he's absolutely amazing too! He has such a powerful testimony and I'm so excited for him to share it with those in the Fresno, California mission! I just can't say enough good things about him. Standing next to him is my beautiful Grandma Taylor. My favorite part of the trip of course, was visiting all the people I adore.

Saturday night we had a cousin sleepover at my Grandma Foote's house. Man did it bring back the memories, just like old-time's. I had such a blast, and learned some hilarious party games. I haven't laughed so much in a while! You guys are hilarious!

I also got to see a couple friends while there. Happy birthday again Kristin! And thanks for opening up your home Kara. I have yet to spray paint anything, but believe me, do I have a list of things that will be painted soon. I can't wait!

Russell made watching the American Idol tryouts even more entertaining! Russell, you're such a riot! I love you!

Okay, I really don't like me in this photo, but I promised Evan I would play in the snow for his sake. The snow wasn't quite right for building Frosty, so I settled for a turtle and spray painted it green so Evan cold see it.

I was really nervous about being away from home for so long, but I have to say, I came back completely refreshed and ready to take on life. Thank you Dave for letting me leave and for taking such amazing care of our kids. I really feel so blessed and unbelievably happy!

Oh, some of my most favorite parts, were just the late night gospel discussions with my mom, and the visits to the temple. I've really been neglecting some of those very important things lately. And I'm reminded how important they are to keeping me sane. Thank you family! I love you all!!

(Photos of Dave and the kids' adventures will be coming shortly!)

What We've Been Up To Lately

Half Moon Bay

It was absolutely perfect! Dave and I hung out in our little beach tent while Evan and Andrew built sand castles. It actually felt like a mini vacation!

We had a lizard funeral. Rest In Peace Sammy.

There's a perfect bike/walking path near our home. We go there ALOT, and we went there today.

Andrew is getting pretty good at balancing on his bike. This isn't the greatest example, but it's a good one.

Bet you didn't know Spiderman still uses a binkie!! Pretty sneaky huh?

Frosty

During Christmas, Evan drew Frosty over and over and over again. I couldn't throw them out without first taking photos. He gets pretty creative with the expressions.

Christmas

Christmas Eve

I NEVER decorate our table. In fact, we're doing well if we put out a full set of silverware and paper napkins. But every Christmas Eve we have a nice meal with candlelight and I try to fancy up the table some. I thought I'd take a photo this year.

Most of our traditions take place on Christmas Eve. After dinner, we opened one gift...it's always a game that we then play together, we decorated cookies for Santa, we lit a fire in the fireplace and watched The Polar Express. And of course, we read the nativity, watched the video and talked about it some. I love Christmas Eve, there's something magical about it!

Santa Claus
Christmas morning we opened Santa's gifts and the stocking stuffers first. Then we ate an awesome breakfast cooked by Dave. Bacon, eggs, toast, home-made hot chocolate. Yumm! Next we opened the gifts under the tree.

Andrew asked Santa for "a motorcycle with a helmet so I can ride it."
Thank you Santa for being creative! This is actually a really fun toy! And Andrew loves to pretend he's driving his 'motorcycle' around the house.

Evan asked Santa for "a really cool race track." Once again Santa was creative and Evan loves this awesome marble roller coaster set. (He already has way too many 'race tracks'.)

We've spent hours making track. . .

after track. . .

after track.

Christmas Morning Photos
We took a lot of photos. I couldn't decide which ones to post so there is a bunch!
(P.S. I realize Evan almost always has his shirt off! I blame the hot summer days. Since then, I have not been able to convince him to wear a shirt to bed, so I apologize. I should have put a shirt on him for the photos. Oops! He does have clothes, I promise!)

We thought we'd keep Christmas small this year, but the gifts really piled up and the boys got spoiled for sure!

Evan and Dave hauled the trash out in the wagon. Can you tell we're ready for naps already?

Grandpa Clay and Grandma Lizz came over for Christmas Day leftovers and cheer! Yeah! I love having some family around!

We took time to snap a rare photo of our whole family.
Merry Christmas everyone!!

(I am still working on Christmas cards...we'll see if they make it out this year.)