Josh's Sour Face

This kid cracks us up! He is such a clown. He has a "sour face" when he eats something that takes him by surprise. He knows it makes us laugh, so he'll repeat the face just for our reaction. He was eating some rather tart mango for lunch one day, and it was too great to not get on video.

We love this boy!

Lazy Man's Hide-and-Seek

The twins came up with this all on their own today. Ingenious, I think.

If you can't hear it well, here is the transcript:
Will: Let's play hide and seek! First you hide. (Anna hides in the closet, loudly opening and closing the door.) One, two, three! Anna?
Anna (on coming out from her "hiding spot"): What?
Will: You're right there!
(laughter from both parties; repeated with Will now "hiding" and Anna "seeking")

I wish I would have thought of that as a kid! So much easier than actually having to look for someone.

"Lights, please!"

Our kids have watched A Charlie Brown Christmas quite a few times. They love it. Because of that, they also happen to love this:

It is an ornament Larkin got for me a few years ago. When you push a button, a light comes on and a recording plays Linus' speech. The kids love pushing the button, and as a result, we now have this Christmas gem:

That's what Christmas is all about [insert your name here]!

Happy 5th Birthday, Will and Anna!

Can you believe these kids are 5?!?! Larkin and I can't.

We began our day by grabbing donuts for breakfast and went to eat with Larkin at work before school started. We stopped by Walmart on the way home to allow the twins to spend their birthday money which was apparently burning holes in their pockets.

After lunch, some friends came over for cookies and ice cream and a playdate. When Larkin got home from work, we had a birthday dinner of spaghetti and meatballs. Then Aunt Lindsay came over with our cousins for the real party.

Happy birthday, Will and Anna!!!! We love you so much! Now please stop growing up so fast. Seriously.

Birthday Trip to Dallas!

We needed to get out of town. We've had a busy school year so far, and we really wanted a break. Larkin's birthday and some good friends in Dallas (or D-Town, for those in the know) made that break happen. And it was awesome.

We drove up Friday morning, and Josh kept us entertained until he fell asleep (at which point he kept us all sane). This video is long, but I couldn't shorten it. Please excuse his runny nose.

After we arrived, Elaine and Ella (my friend from BYU and the London study abroad and her beautiful and happiest-baby-ever daughter) took us to the Texas State Fair.

Petting zebras

Being animals on the farm

Driving tractors and feeding the hogs

Eating chocolate-dipped, frozen bananas

Enjoying the elephant ride

Driving motorbikes

Larkin enjoying his Fried Bacon Cinnamon Roll

The next day, we all went to a pumpkin patch, where the kids enjoyed bouncy houses, pony rides, a hay maze, and, obviously, pumpkins.

We then went to Hard Eight BBQ to get Larkin smoked ribs, prime rib, and brisket. The prime rib was dipped in a vat of melted butter. Happy birthday (and happy future-heart-attack) to Larkin!

Then we hit Legoland Discovery Center. Will and Anna were in heaven, if you can imagine.

Will got to build his own car and then race it. It won the first race he put it in, but then this happened.

Anna got to grab a mic and sing on the Princess Palace karaoke stage. Guess her song:

After Legoland, we drove straight home. It was a busy but FUN weekend! We may just make this an annual event. Thanks so much to Clinton, Elaine, and Ella for showing us such a wonderful time!

Happy Birthday, Josh Josh B'Gosh!

Our baby boy turned one this week! We still can't believe it. It does not feel possible that he is so old.

Josh loves his teddy bear. He is our snuggle bug, and as soon as he goes to bed at naptime or bedtime, he immediately rolls onto his side and snuggles his face into his teddy. So we threw him a teddy bear-themed party. Our friend Jennifer helped us make him this AWESOME cake!

Will and Anna helped by coloring pictures of teddy bears that we hung on the walls and his high chair as decorations.

 

Once he opened his presents, we stripped him down, so he could enjoy his cake properly.

Happy birthday, Joshua Brig!

Our Summer in Videos

I've already posted most of our Ohio pictures to Le Sueur Street, but we have taken some videos over the summer. Here is a smorgasbord of those videos, in hopefully chronological order:

Will and Anna on our drive to Ohio

Josh got disgusted by the mess Will, Anna, and Uncle Zach were making with cars, so he took it upon himself to clean it up.

Anna just being Anna

 

 

We went bowling a couple of times this summer, and Anna developed a ritual that she performed before her turn. It was reminiscent of Babe Ruth calling his swing.

And Will would do a victory dance after a successful bowl.

Fun at the splash pad

The twins played "Bear, Hunter, Lady" one night, and both thought it was hilarious to be the same character. Every. Time.

Anna has become amazing on the hula hoop.

And in the biggest news of the summer, Josh learned how to walk! He started it in mid-July, but now he is walking, opening doors, climbing stairs, and basically going wherever he wants to go.

And that was our summer! That was long. Is anyone still reading this?