I guess I should expect nothing less from two, two-year olds that are in the same room, but they are starting to get naughty at nap/bed time. I will put them down and then hear little feet running around. I have had a hard time getting mad at them, because it is really cute finding them both in the same bed or in the closet reading books. A couple of nights ago I caught Carter turning on the light in his room. When I opened the door he dropped his head and covered his eyes--as if I would not see him! When I caught them in the closet last night Kaleb told me that he was just trying to get, "Carter back in him bed". I can't believe he is trying to use excuses already!
Despite the occasional playing at sleep time, they are so much fun. It is cute to listen to them talk to each other in their beds at night and it is fun to see them pretend play together. They really are good little buddies. I think it would be awesome to always have a friend to play with.

Alan had a conference in New York and I was able to tag a long. I have been to New York two other times so this time I went to relax and not sight see as much. I did a lot of shopping (some for Christmas), a lot of walking, some reading and some uninterrupted sleeping. I went to the MET for the first time and enjoyed the Broadway Play, Mamma Mia, with Alan. (I still have ABBA songs in my head!) We had a great time and the kids seem to enjoy Grandma Woodland having a long sleepover at their house.

I had a wonderful 33rd birthday! We spent the day at Snow Bird. We took the kids up the tram, which they loved. I on the other hand, had to pretend that I was not afraid of heights the whole ride! It happened to be Oktoberfest while we were there so we enjoyed some live Polka music and German food.

I thought painting would be a good thing to keep my little buddies busy while I was concentrating on making homemade salsa. The first 20 minutes went well, but when the giggling started I realized that it was not such a good idea. I should have figured that paint and two little ones that are two usually are a recipe for a mess. They needed a bath after this event due to the paint that was all over the back of Carter's head. They did manage to paint a little on their papers!

Ashlyn started her first day of first grade today. She woke up early and was excited to go. When we got to her classroom she asked me to walk her in and then she was ready to do the rest on her own. When I picked her up she said that her day was "awesome" when I asked her what made it awesome she said, "we got popsicles". Her new teacher sure knows the way to my first graders heart. She told my mom that she got out early today, but tomorrow she was not going to get home until sun down. I guess a full day of school is a little long in her mind.

We will not profess to have green thumbs, but boy does our first garden look awesome! Alan and I decided to plant a garden at a community garden. We thought that it would be a great opportunity for our kids as well as us. I will admit that it has been slightly harder than I anticipated. I thought we would be able to go as a family and plant, weed, and water with smiles on our faces. That lasted about one hour and then the rest of the time was spent keeping our children out of other people's gardens. So now the weeding and watering gets done at 6:30 in the morning while my cute kids are sleeping. Our plot is 16X30 feet--which is more than we need. We have learned a lot. It has been interesting to see how others have planted their gardens. The bottom picture is of our first harvest. We are proud of our little garden! It will be interesting to see if we do it again next year.

We braved the zoo recently! My kids loved it. The train was Carter's favorite and Kaleb enjoyed the carousel. Ashlyn loved the life-sized dinosaurs that moved and made noises. She did not like the ones that squirted water. My boys ask me almost daily now, "animals again mom?"
We are enjoying our summer. The boys are finally at an age where I feel like we can get out more. We are riding bikes a lot, playing on the slip and slide and occasionally we get to go swimming--if Alan is around. Last week we took the kids to Yellowstone with Alan's brother. I would love to share the fun pictures except for one minor detail--a battery without a charge and no place to buy a specialty battery in Yellowstone. Anyways, summer is going by too fast. Ashlyn will back in school before I know it.

My mother turned 60 this week so we had to celebrate! My sisters were able to fly up for the day and my sister-in-laws and grandmother where available to come to Salt Lake and have a girls day. We ate at the Garden Restaurant on the top floor of the Joseph Smith Building. Then we took some great pictures on the temple grounds. We spent the rest of the afternoon shopping at Gardener Village. I have an amazing mother who was raised by an amazing mother. I was so happy that we were all able to spend the day together!











From left to right, Kathryn with Kamryn, Grandma Nelson, Jessica, Shannon with Porter, Me, Lisa and my mother.

Ashlyn has officially graduated from Mrs. Juarez's Kindergarten Class! She and her class put on a cute little program so they could show off all the fun things they have learned this year. Ashlyn was really lucky that Grandma Woodland and Grandma Kathy were able to come. She was so excited that both of them could be there. First grade here she comes!

My little girl is not so little any more! She had her sixth birthday yesterday. We had a little party for her at the Wild Child Fun Center--the best thing I ever did no mess and no stress. She and her little friends ran from one thing to the next and I just got to sit back and let it happen.
She picked her favorite meal for dinner, spaghetti and was really lucky that Grandma Woodland could come and share it with her.
Ashlyn had a really fun day and was so happy with her cooking Barbie and new Barbie bike. (She has never had an interest in Barbies so this is new territory for me. It was really hard to find a modest one with modest outfits to change her into.)
Ashlyn is a fun little girl to raise. Her personality is contagious. She surprises me every day with the things that she says. She is a great helper and my little buddy. I sure love my little six year old!

These are just a few pictures from our annual Easter camping trip. Ashlyn loved climbing on the rocks and roasting marshmallows and the boys loved all of the dirt!

Alan and I surprised Ashlyn with a trip to Disneyland this past week. She found out she was going about 30 minutes before we left for the airport. She was so excited and could not believe that we were actually taking her out of school to go to Disneyland. We left Kaleb and Carter behind with Grandma. (I felt bad about this at first, but after we got there and it was cooler than expected and crowded I realized that we were not too crazy leaving them behind.) We played most of the day and then would go back to the hotel have a little down time--or nap time if you are Alan and I and then go back into the park for dinner, the light shows, fireworks and more rides.
Ashlyn getting ready to ride her favorite ride, Space Mountain. She giggled during the whole ride.
Notice the long pants and sweater I am wearing. If you know me I am sure this does not surprise you. At nights I put on two sweaters!
Ashlyn would not wait in any lines to see the Disney characters or princesses. It made me sad because I could not get any cute pictures, but I did not mind not having to wait in line for 30-45 minutes. I practically had to bribe her to get this picture for her brothers.
She got her first taste of room service and was very pleased to get served breakfast in bed.
Thanks to Alan for having a stronger stomach than I to ride all the classics with Ashlyn.
This was the first ride we rode in Disneyland. Ashlyn loved it! She also liked Nemo, Soarin' over California, Mickey's big Farris Wheel, Big Thunder Mountain, the Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Small World. She hated the Haunted Mansion.

We were trying to sing happy birthday to the boys, but they would not even look at the cake because they were to busy playing with their new monster trucks from Aunt Linda.
I love this picture. The boys are waiting very patiently for me to get ready. They kept trying to take the horses off the cake so I made them sit down. Carter wanted the horses so bad. He cried when I brought the cake home and put it in the fridge with the horses on it. He stood by the fridge, held on to the door handle and cried "Nay Nay" for about thirty minutes.
We started off the day by singing Happy birthday to them and putting candles in their waffles. As you can see by Carter's expression, he was not really sure what was going on.

All in all the day was so much fun. The boys had no clue what was going on, but seemed excited about all the attention they were getting. The boys got new trikes from Al and I and some cars that you shake and then they go on their own. (Thankfully the weather has been awesome today so we have spent the morning outside breaking the trikes in.) They were two very happy little boys!

My boys love snow or "no" as they call it. They were so happy to be outside today. It has been so cold that playing in the snow has not sounded fun at all. (To bad they could not have helped a little more with the snow removal.)