Our Goofy Sawyer!

Sawyer goes through phases so quickly now that I thought I would jot down some of our favorite things about Sawyer before I forget:

*He is the best copycat - we'll be in the car and Marissa and Devon will be chatting in the way back and we'll hear Marissa make say something with a funny inflection in her voice only to hear Sawyer not two seconds later copy the exact sound!  He thinks he's funny!

*He can say so many words right now (16 months on) and will try just about any word we tell him to try to say.

*He likes to think he is talking so even though he doesn't know words for everything yet he will jibber jabber like he is telling you something important!

*Sometimes that jibber jabber can escalate in volume if he's not very happy with you!

*We have to tell Sawyer to 'talk nice' sometimes and he will then proceed to whisper and mouth words at us - because he was not done!

*We have taught him to say 'sorry'.  He can say it just fine - but he still doesn't 'get' it as he smacks Devon and immediately afterwards says 'sorry' with a goofy smile as he pets Devon's arm!

*He has started telling me when he's poopy (sometimes proudly:) so I'll tell him to get a diaper and he is so proud when he brings me one, gives it to me, then promptly runs away!

*He loves to read books with us!

*Marissa and Devon will sometimes play this game with him where he is "the monster".  They proceed to run away from him screaming.  When he follows and catches up with them they scream again and he cracks up as they take off running again.

*He has this thing about changing his clothes.  He can be very adament that he would like to keep his current shirt and shorts on when you go to change him from his clothes to pjs or vice versa!

*At almost 24 mos. some of my favorite phrases of his are "wait a minute!", "dinner-time", "what?" (says this like "what is the problem?") - he has started stringing words together all over the place!

He's official!

Here is Ryan's residency "graduation" dinner.  We made it and Ryan is a real doctor (and now will get paid like one:)!!

4 - year old t-ball!

I signed Devon up for t-ball this year and boy has this been fun!  I think 4-year old t-ball is definitely a must for our next two boys!  Here are some of my favorite things from t-ball:

1.  Every time Devon does something other than play in the dirt or grass - like run to get a ball, or bat - I call out to him and give him the 'thumbs up'.  He smiles proudly and gives me a big 'thumbs up' right back!

2.  Devon does not lack for confidence out there on the field - whenever he walks up to the plate to hit it is all business - he has a look on his face that says he's trying not to smile but he's pretty proud when he hears me call out his name!

3.  We get to have conversations about how fast Devon can run around the bases - I tell him I can't even see him because he runs so fast and all I see is the dust behind him.  He likes these conversations, too:)!

4.  Since Devon turned 4 just before the deadline he is one of the smallest kids out there - and he thinks he's pretty good!

5.  The uniforms are the best!  They have jerseys, hats, and cute little baseball pants with a belt!

6.  The batting helmets are huge - Devon can barely keep it on as he's running around the bases holding on with two hands!

Of course he isn't playing in the dirt - this is just after he made a diving catch and threw a line drive to first base to get the runner out:)!

Watch Out!

"Ready position" - it's a good thing most of those little kids couldn't hit the ball too hard - I was always a little nervous that while Devon was in "ready position" that a ball would come straight for him!

Happy Easter!

Here are Sawyer and Marissa at our neighborhood Easter egg hunt.  Here is Marissa helping Sawyer open some of his eggs.  Before the hunt started, I took the kids where the rest of the kids were waiting patiently for it to begin.  Sawyer was having none of that and proceeded to run out and try to grab at the eggs - he got so mad at me every time I stopped him.  When the hunt finally started he didn't care after he got the first egg about anything but opening that egg.  Marissa persuaded him to get a whopping three eggs!  Marissa, on the other hand, wasn't going to waste any time during her hunt and brought in quite the load!

Sawyer was being extremely difficult and walked away as soon as I set him down next to the sign.  Poor Devon didn't get to go because he had his first t-ball game at the same time.  The only reason I took the other kids was because Marissa promised to share half of her eggs with him.  Remarkably, he was fine with that!

Easter afternoon - we had 9 o'clock church so the kids got to find the colored eggs the 'Easter Bunny' hid after church.  Luckily, the 'Easter Bunny' hid the eggs just before we got home so the hard boiled eggs were still edible!

Here's Devon showing the Bumblebee legos he got in his basket - the night before we had a little mishap.  While I was reading scriptures with the older kids, Sawyer got a hold of some of Devon's small legos he had made into a car.  Marissa at one point tried to tell me Sawyer had the legos but I already knew and I didn't want her to interrupt scriptures.  I knew we would be done in a couple of minutes anyway.  Just as we were finishing up we all heard the toilet flush and went running to the bathroom - we found Sawyer standing by the toilet empty handed with the lego car nowhere to be seen.  Devon wasn't very happy.  Luckily, Ryan was on his way home just a little later that night and I made a call.  The 'Easter Bunny' was able to make an emergency stop please a little boy on Easter morning!

San Diego/Palm Springs

This year for Ryan's vacation we met Grandma and Grandpa, Uncle Matt and Aunt Amy, and Uncle Dan and Aunt Elizabeth at Palm Springs. However, Ryan's week in Palm Springs was cut short because he was called in to moonlight at the end of the week...it was too hard to pass up on the money! Ryan felt a little cheated so we planned to go to San Diego a few days before we met the family in Palm Springs so the kids and I had a very full week and a half!

Highlights:
1. We went to the San Diego Zoo (We wanted to go to Sea World but since I'm pregnant I wouldn't have been able to go on any rides, but the kids still thought the zoo was cool). The only problem is that the San Diego Zoo made the Tucson Zoo seem not so exciting!
2. We spent some time at the beach...the kids always love playing in the sand, collecting sea shells, and getting chased by the waves!
3. We try out every pizza place we can find!
4. We walked around the San Diego Temple. Although I have seen many pictures of this beautiful temple I had never seen it in person!
5. We visited the Mormon Battalion Center and got a little history lesson and a fun picture!
6. The kids got to hang out with their cousins Taylor and Spencer with whom they always have a great time. Uncle Matt and Aunt Amy even had a sleepover in their room our last night there. Although Devon didn't make it past the first 5 minutes, Marissa had a great time!
7. Uncle Dan and Uncle Matt took the kids rock climbing and hiking in Joshua Tree National Park. Marissa and Devon both had a good time climbing for their first time, but Marissa turned out to be quite the little climber and made it to the top of the climb twice. When asked what her favorite thing was on the whole trip she answered, "rock climbing!"
8. Ryan and I were able to play tennis and go golfing neither of which we have done for quite some time! We may have been a little rusty, but it was good to get out! Thanks Grandma for watching the kids!
9. After Ryan had to leave, I left Sawyer asleep with Aunt Elizabeth and got to take Marissa and Devon swimming at the awesome resort pool!

We stopped at the beach the first day and let the kids play at the beach and there was a part of the beach that was taken over by sea lions. There was a walkway that let us go out over the beach and gave us a great view of the waves crashing against the rocks as well as the sea lions lounging about on the sand and rocks.

As we drove into San Diego we spent part of the afternoon at UCSD and ate lunch at their food court on campus. They had a bunch of outdoor seating around the perimeter with steps leading down to a platform. The kids thought that this was their stage!

Sawyer did not want to miss out on the action and climbed right up there with Marissa and Devon yelling who knows what like he owned the place!

As we were walking around the zoo we came across a worker who was handing out food for the kids to feed the camel...Devon had no problem sticking his hand out to feed the camel while Marissa was a little more hesitant!

Actually, one of the highlights of the zoo for the kids was the petting zoo. It mostly had goats and the kids liked being able to get close to them and pet them after a day of seeing animals from afar!

This was at the Mormon Battalion Center. The sister missionary asked for volunteers as she explained the outfitting for the soldiers and Marissa was eager to help!

Here we are in front of the San Diego Temple.

Marissa turned out to be quite the little climber - Uncle Dan said she seemed to follow directions on how to repel down better than many adults!

Here she is at the top where the rope is clipped to the rock.

Here are all the cousins just hanging out!

My little "hero" is growing up!

Devon turned four this February and he sure is a funny kid! I love having him at home with me...he keeps me on my toes and makes life interesting. He's my biking buddy when I go exercising in the mornings, he draws pictures for me all day, he helps me make dinner, and he's my "preschool" buddy as well. He amazes me with how fast he can go on his little 12" tired bike. We can't go on a bike without him stopping so I can get ahead of him. He then "lights" up his rocket on his bike and flies past me. Sometimes he'll even put a rocket on my bike for me, but mine never seems to go as fast! I am so glad he is not starting kindergarten next year because I'm not ready to be without my Devon. He does not lack for confidence and I love the conversations I have with him about how strong, smart, and fast he is...he likes them too:)! One time we were talking about how strong he is and Marissa said he's so strong he could pick up 10 houses. Without batting an eye or looking up from whatever he was doing he said, "20 houses!" Usually a day doesn't go by without that kid making me smile!

Devon had a "rocket" party this year. He got to help Daddy make his rocket pinata which he thought was pretty cool, and he gave it a good beating. Like our other homemade pinata (Marissa's castle pinata), Ryan had to eventually do the honors because it was just too sturdy!

His big gift this year was the "tag reader". So far he loves the games/puzzles book!

Grandma and Grandpa gave him a nerf gun...watch out!!

Christmas 2011

We decided to spend Christmas in California even though last year we asserted that we would never again try to transport our Christmas! We will be moving out there this summer and bought a house a little bit early so we thought we would take this opportunity to do some things with our house and of course, the kids love staying with Grandma and Grandpa! Unfortunately, we didn't get a whole lot of pictures but here's a few:

Here is my caped hero on his new, faster than ever scooter!

Although we did not wrap this scooter, Sawyer now claims it as his seeing as Devon has dubbed it much too slow for him!

We went out to get shakes with Grandma and Grandpa and we couldn't hide Sawyer's sweet tooth any longer!

These were the big presents for the kids this year...Ryan and I were hoping we passed some of the tennis gene on to our offspring. Since Christmas we have taken the kids out several times to find that indeed we did pass some of that gene on...in fact, it might not be too much longer before the kids could take us in a doubles match! (We really need to get out more!)