Happy St. Patrick's Day!

It was time for St. Patrick's Day and lucky us, the leprechaun came and gave us a few presents and pulled a few pranks!  I was trying to explain to Brodie about leprechauns and St. Patrick's Day - wearing green, gold at the end of rainbows, corn beef & cabbage, tiny leprechauns, etc.  He wasn't quite getting it so I tried looking up a video to show him on You Tube.  The most kid friendly video that popped up was a Bass And Rankin's: The Leprechauns Christmas Gold.  In the video they show the leprechauns mining gold and making shoes.  Afterwards we were talking about it and Brodie said, "Maybe the leprechaun will bring me golden wrestling shoes!"  Hm.  That might be a little tricky.  Luckily I had just found some wrestling shoes off Rexburg Garage Sale for an excellent price... but they weren't golden, that's for sure!

Anyways, the kids woke up and the leprechaun had come!  He brought them some Lucky Charms, some rainbow cookies, green elephant cups, green wind things, some bandaids, green slime stuff, a green sweater vest made out of a sweater I found at the thrift store for Ryker, a green dress made out of one of my old shirts for Mari, wrestling head gear, and WRESTLING SHOES!  It was so exciting!  The leprechaun also turned the kid's apple juice and milk green.

My good luck charms!

Say Cheese!

I was trying to get some new head shots of the boys for their grandma's wall.  I told Brodie to smile and he gave me this.

Looks a little weird.... so I told him to close his lips and smile without showing his teeth.  He gave me this...

No, son, close your lips so I can't see your teeth....

Ok, now you just look weird.  Ok, just smile normal...

That's not normal.  Why are you smiling like that?  Brodie says, "I just really like to show my teeth when I smile."

Ryker's turn...

Ryker please just smile.

Ryker that looks kind of silly.  Smile good for Mommy.

Ok, we're done.

Off To Las Vegas

It all started when someone posted a $200 Allegiant Air voucher on my local facebook garage sale page that they weren't going to be able to use before it expired.  I called my mom immediately to tell her about it... now that the boys are both over the age of 2, a total of 3 airplane tickets gets pretty pricey!  We decided my mom, sister, the kids and I could all meet up in Vegas to visit my grandma.  I'm so happy that we were able to pull it off.  My mom and dad have already met Mari, but I really wanted Rachel to see her when she was still a tiny baby.

Some Auntie and niece love.

My cousin Katherine was also in town.

She was amazing with the kids - especially the boys.  She took them on walks, fed the ducks with them and was just so kind!  She is going to make a really great Mommy some day.

Loves from Nana.  The kids really love their Nana.  When we dropped my mom off at the airport Ryker just started bawling because he wanted to go with her.  He cried himself to sleep on the way back to my grandma's over it and when he woke up, the first thing he said was, "I want to go with Nana on the airplane."

When we were on the aiplane going back home the boys were asking everyone where they were from (Las Vegas or Idaho).  Someone asked Brodie where he was from and he said, "IDAHO!"  Then they asked Ryker and he said, "California!"

My grandma lives on a golf course and there are two ponds across the green from her house.  The ducks loved the boys and the boys loved feeding the ducks!

That evening 4 Canadian Geese flew in as well.

With a lot of patience the boys had them eating out of their hands.

We were also able to celebrate my grandma and Rachel's birthdays.

The boys got each of them some super cool owl necklaces.

The boys teaching Papa Joe how to play plants vs zombies.

We were pretty much outside non-stop.  It was always in the high 70s or low 80s.  When pulled up to my grandma's house for the first time, the kids got out of the van and started running around a tree in her front yard shouting, "Grass! Grass!"  We were very happy to take a break from snow.

Mari sleeping in a patio chair on the back porch and a trip to the park.

Four Generations:

Our last day there we visited the near by fire station.  Engineer Dave gave us a fantastic tour of the fire house.

Ryker's favorite part of the tour was looking at himself in the fire engine hub cap.

It was a great trip and the kids did great.  People kept telling me how well behaved they were.  They are pretty amazing!

Batman!

Batman seemed to take a hiatus for awhile here in our household, but a new dark knight has recently risen. 

He is just so cute - gravely voice and all.

How batman does nap time.

Did You Know?

Did you know when Brodie was 2 he fell and chipped the face of his front tooth by hitting the coffee table?

It turned into a cavity from the exposure and today we got it fixed!  He did awesome, although he did not like the "sleepy juice" (numbing shot) for his teeth.

Did you know that Brodie started wrestling?  

He's had two practices and one tournament - and loves it!  He even already has a medal.

Did you know Ryker sometimes sleeps with his eyes open?

It's totally creepy.  This picture was taken at Brodie's wrestling tournament... it was a long day.

Did you know Ryker has a super nose that can smell really well even from far away?

He'll be across the room and will inform me the baby has pooped.  I'm usually holding her and I can't even smell it.  And he's always been right.  Her poop doesn't even smell bad!

Did you know Mari does the most adorable little sucking/clicking noise with her tongue?

It makes me smile.

Did you know Mari will be 5 weeks tomorrow, but since there wasn't a 29th day in February she's still not a month old?  I can pretend, right?

She still fits into her newborn clothes and they aren't even a little snug on her -- I love having a small baby.