Monthly Archives: April 2012

Too much funny (and way too much cheese)

These two are so much fun! Carter always wants to do what Raine does, and Raine always helps him out and includes him in her play.

The other day we were at the zoo play barn. Carter kept trying to climb through the chicken coop but just couldn’t quite pull himself up between levels. The coop is a series of levels with an off-set hole in each level to climb up to the next. Raine was climbing through it at lightning speed with the new friends she had made — up the levels, across the top, down the slide, repeat. As soon as I pointed out that Carter needed help, she told her friends that she needed to help her little brother and ran to his aid. She hoisted him up every single level until he was on the second story of the barn. The other kids kept flying by them as they slowly made their way to the top and it would have been so easy for Raine to get impatient and leave Carter, but she didn’t. It took her a long time and A LOT of effort to get him up there, but she stuck with him and heaved his little bum all the way to the top. Carter was so happy to be up with the big kids. I was such a proud momma watching my kids show just how much they love each other — if I was a crier, I would have shed a tear!

The other day we had a Relief Society meeting on food storage and the lady was asking, “what do you want to store?” She meant it in the context of figuring out what your family wants to eat so that you can then figure out how to store it. But honestly, the only thing I want to store is these cute kids. Someone needs to figure out how to put THAT in a bottle!! Until then, here are a couple videos that DJ and I find hilarious, but that I would be surprised if anyone else even found mildly amusing. They show Carter watching Raine’s every move, and Raine being the in-charge big sister. They don’t capture these kids very well, but hopefully it is enough to remind me of how much fun they are.

This first video is from last Sunday morning. I was getting ready for church and left the bathroom to get dressed. When I came back, this was the scene.

Raine and Carter share a room. When they wake up in the morning, Raine always makes sure that Carter has something to play with while he waits for me to get him. Some mornings I have gone in to find Carter literally up to his neck in toys. Lately, Raine has been climbing into the crib to “read” to him. I love listening to them through the baby monitor.

I wish I could capture their spontaneous laughing fits, or their make-believe, or their hug-fests, but as soon as the camera comes out they shut down, so I just have to relish it in the moment. Maybe there will be re-runs in heaven!

Parent-tot tumbling with Carter

Carter and I are taking a parent-tot tumbling class this session at the rec and we are having so much fun! Carter loves the obstacle course best.

He also really likes the bars. He starts laughing every time he hangs there and always ends up laughing himself right off the bar.

“Ta-da!” On top of the vault.

No fear walking the wide beam unassisted — well, it’s more of a shuffle than a walk.

A note about the shirt he is wearing: This is the only shirt that Carter ever wants to wear. Why? Because it has a ball on it. This kid is very opinionated about what he wears and it kills me!
ONE YEAR OLD BOYS DO NOT GET TO BE PICKY!!!

Easter weekend 2012

On Saturday, we had our 3rd Annual Easter Egg Hunt and BBQ. The weather was perfect, the food was good, and the kids had a blast.

Raine and Carter hunting eggs. (Those poor bushes all got fried during the record heat last summer. We were hoping they would come back, but as you can see, they are gone. So sad.)

Raine showing off her basket.

Boston, Elyse, Raine, Carter, and Cade playing duck-duck-goose. Boston was trying so hard to organize a bunch of games with the kids, but kept getting frustrated. He was the oldest one there by about two years and the rest of the kids just didn’t get it. It was funny to watch.

They finally settled on hide-and-go-seek and that seemed to work well.

Although everyone kept hiding together in the bushes so the finding part wasn’t too difficult! Carter was always the last one to the hiding spot so he would just stand between the bushes since there wasn’t any room left behind them.

On Easter morning we all woke up and eagerly went hunting for Easter baskets.

Raine liked the chocolate.

Carter liked the ball that lit up when you bounced it.

We dyed Easter eggs and then ate them for breakfast.

After breakfast we took all of the foam Easter egg crafts that Raine has been making — about 30 in all — and decorated the house of a sister in our ward. Raine loves to make crafts for this lady and she loves receiving them so they have a great relationship!

Blowing bubbles while Carter napped.

Raine in her Easter dress.

After dinner, the kids had some “Daddy jungle-gym” time. Here is Carter “Daddy-surfing.”

We had a wonderful Easter weekend. Carter is finally old enough to get excited about finding eggs. And Raine is finally old enough to understand what Easter is really about. Grandma’s passing in February made it a little more understandable for her because she now sees why it is such a blessing that we will be resurrected and see our family members again.

Easter weekend

On Saturday, we had our 3rd Annual Easter Egg Hunt and BBQ. The weather was perfect, the food was good, and the kids had a blast.

Raine and Carter hunting eggs. (Those poor bushes all got fried during the record heat last summer. We were hoping they would come back, but as you can see, they are gone. So sad.)

Raine showing off her basket.

Boston, Elyse, Raine, Carter, and Cade playing duck-duck-goose. Boston was trying so hard to organize a bunch of games with the kids, but kept getting frustrated. He was the oldest one there by about two years and the rest of the kids just didn’t get it. It was funny to watch.

They finally settled on hide-and-go-seek and that seemed to work well.

Although everyone kept hiding together in the bushes so the finding part wasn’t too difficult! Carter was always the last one to the hiding spot so he would just stand between the bushes since there wasn’t any room left behind them.

On Easter morning we all woke up and eagerly went hunting for Easter baskets.

Raine liked the chocolate.

Carter liked the ball that lit up when you bounced it.

We dyed Easter eggs and then ate them for breakfast.

After breakfast we took all of the foam Easter egg crafts that Raine has been making — about 30 in all — and decorated the house of a sister in our ward. Raine loves to make crafts for this lady and she loves receiving them so they have a great relationship!

Blowing bubbles while Carter napped.

Raine in her Easter dress.

After dinner, the kids had some “Daddy jungle-gym” time. Here is Carter “Daddy-surfing.”

We had a wonderful Easter weekend. Carter is finally old enough to get excited about finding eggs. And Raine is finally old enough to understand what Easter is really about. Grandma’s passing in February made it a little more understandable for her because she now sees why it is such a blessing that we will be resurrected and see our family members again.

Zoo photo dump

We have been making the most of our beautiful spring weather with quite a few trips to the zoo. This is a dump of photos from a few of our trips.

2/27/12
Carter watching the monkeys.

Carter taking a break with the elephant statue.

Raine petting a chicken.


3/7/12

Feeding the birds, Raine was in the middle of her funky-glasses phase!


Carter grew a little wary of the birds after having them aggressively fly onto his feed stick, arms, and hands as soon as he walked in the door.

Raine and the goat


3/13/12

Carter wasn’t so sure about taking his eyes off that little guy!


Raine was so excited to have the carousel open again.


4/2/12
We took Ophelia with us so her mom could have a few hours with just the new baby.


The birds weren’t very hungry so everybody shared the few birds that came within reach.

Carter with the kangaroo.

We have so much fun at the zoo! We are learning all sorts of things about the animals and getting our exercise in the process.