My Day For Boys

Just Hanging Out

2013-05-28T20:22:00.001-07:00

We have lots of busy days around our house, but every once in a while,
we find a moment to just relax and enjoy being together.

Here are a few pictures of those great moments:

Check out these adorable chubby legs!

I just love being with my guys! :)

Visit to the Ghost Town

2013-05-28T20:12:00.002-07:00

We decided to kick off our Spring Break with a day trip to the Goldfield Mine ghost town. The boys had a great time exploring! It ended up being a really cold day with a light drizzle, but it didn't dampen our fun at all! :)

Exploring!

Our little picnic spot

Daddy and the big boys got to ride the train.
(Carter and Mom hung out in the warm gift shop!)

We all toured the old mine.
The boys thought it was amazing!

How cute are these boys?! :)

Sweet Carter...just along for the ride!

Isaac and Trevor pretending they're trapped.
(Love these faces!)

We let them choose a souvenir and
they both chose these super cool rubber band guns.
Don't mess with these two...they mean business. :)

Tubby Time

2013-04-19T22:16:00.003-07:00

There's nothing cuter than a chubby little naked baby. :)
Carter has really started enjoying his bath time...
probably because he figured out how to splash!
I just can't get enough of this sweet boy.

Ready, Aim, Fire!

2013-04-19T22:05:00.002-07:00

Since Daddy's new favorite hobby is shooting, we decided to go along with him while we were up north. It was fun to go together and to have Grandma and Grandpa with us. The boys love going shooting and are really cautious around Daddy's guns...which makes a nervous Mama happy. And they look pretty adorable in their ear muffs! :)

My cute little sharpshooters

Just being awesome. ;)

Shooting the BB gun

Grandma and the boys

Trying out Grandpa's new gun

How cool are this Grandma and Grandpa?! :)

Trevor wanted to try Daddy's "real gun."

What a stud. :)

It was way too loud for little Carter,
so he got to hang out with Mom in the car.
Someday he'll be out there with the big boys...

Snow Outing

2013-04-19T21:33:00.000-07:00

We were lucky to have the chance to sneak away to the mountains for a weekend in February. It was a perfect time to be there. It snowed for a couple days before we got there, but it was beautiful and sunny for us! We took the boys sledding for the first time and it was a hit. Isaac was especially into it. They spent most of the weekend outdoors, enjoying the cool weather...and the SNOW!

Isaac was really excited to find an icicle!

All ready to play in the snow!

Daddy helping Trevor get all bundled up

Ready for some FUN!

Mom, Dad, and the big sledders

Climbing to the top of the hill

Carter wasn't so sure about the snow,
so we spent lots of the time snuggling in the car while the big boys did their sledding...and I was totally ok with that.

Enjoying (and eating!) snow at Grandma's Mountain

My handsome little snow-bunnies! :)

Big Brother, Isaac

2013-04-19T21:11:00.004-07:00

Isaac loves being the "biggest brother" of our family. He is very sweet with Carter and tells me at least once a day that he is so glad we have such a cute baby. He loves to read and sing to Carter. (He's convinced that "Silent Night" is Carter's favorite song.) It has been so fun for me to watch him with his baby brother. I love these blue-eyed, fuzzy-haired boys. :)

First days together

Sweet little reunion after Isaac returned from school :)

Big Brother, Trevor

2013-04-19T15:14:00.000-07:00

Being a big brother has been so good for Trevor. He loves to help with Carter and gives him hugs and kisses any chance he gets. And he's had lots of time with him, since it's just been the two of them here at home this year.

I came across all of these sweet pictures of them together.

Trevor (4 years old) and Carter (3 days old)

Carter - 3 weeks old

Trevor loved Carter's little scowl and thought he'd join in. :)

Carter - 2 months old

I especially love Carter's face here! :)

I sure love these two boys. :)

New Year's Eve

2013-04-19T14:53:00.003-07:00

We had a great time celebrating the new year. We started off with some yummy Chinese food and then Daddy introduced them to "Nacho Libre." They thought it was hilarious, of course. Every half hour, we would pause the movie and the boys would open a surprise bag with something to help them celebrate the new year...glowsticks, treats, noisemakers, and finally, Sparklers! They loved it and were very excited to celebrate at "midnight," which was really 8:00. :) After we lit Sparklers, toasted with Martinellis, and made lots of noise, the boys were off to bed. Then Derek and I got all dressed up and ready for a New Year's Eve party at our friends' house. It was a "Decade Party," so we celebrated 80's style. :)

It was such a fun night for all of us.

Here's to 2013...it's going to be another great year!

Here are the pictures of our FUN:

Even Carter got in on the action! :)

My handsome New Year's Eve dates.
I'm a lucky girl!

Here's the photographic evidence of our embarrassing outfits.
We look ridiculous, but we had tons of fun!

Carter's First Taste of Food

2013-04-17T22:25:00.002-07:00

You wouldn't guess that Carter isn't a big eater, but it's true. He loves nursing, but is not such a big fan of baby food. We first tried to feed him at 4 months, but since he didn't go for it, we waited until he was 6 months old to really start feeding him baby food.

Here's what his first couple bites of rice cereal looked like:

All smiles!

First bite. And not so sure about this...

Not a fan...

Eww...you want me to eat more of that?!

I love his expression in these pictures!
Such a cute little, disgusted face. :)

Christmas 2012

2013-04-17T22:11:00.003-07:00

PLAYING CATCH-UP...

We had a great Christmas this year. Every year seems to be more and more fun with these boys. We spent Christmas Eve at Grandma and Grandpa Allen's house with lots of cousins, food, and fun traditions. Then we headed home to wait for Santa's visit to our house. Isaac and Trevor were excited about every single thing. Little Carter just sat back and took it all in. :)

Our little family
Isaac - 6 years old
Trevor - 4.5 years old
Carter - 4 months old

The awesome boys' table :)

Sweet Carter's 1st Christmas

Big smiles!

Grandma's traditional gift exchange

Jammies for all the grandkids

The Allen grandkids...so many fun cousins!

Back home to get ready for Santa!

Can't you just feel the excitement?! :)

Christmas morning

Checking out the loot :)

They got just what they wanted...
Trevor with his "Daddy-size basketball"
Isaac with his "Cardinals football"

My handsome guys

Lots of gifts to open

Carter's first Christmas present
(And Trevor was pretty excited about it!)

Hugs for Daddy after he opened his "Hulk" movie.

Mommy and her boys

We love the Christmas season!
We have so much to be grateful for.

Say "Cheese!"

2013-02-06T21:59:00.000-07:00

Since we added a third little man to our pack, it was time to get new pictures again. Thanks to my very talented sister-in-law, Jenna, for taking these adorable pictures of the boys. I love how she captured each of their little personalities so well!

Isaac
6 years old

Trevor
4.5 years old

Carter
2.5 months old

Such handsome little guys. :)

Zoo Lights

2013-02-05T22:15:00.003-07:00

We took our boys to see the Zoo Lights at the Phoenix Zoo. It was a really fun night, especially because we were able to meet up with Scott and Jenna and their cute kids.

All bundled up and ready to see some lights!

Sweet cousins :)

Love the face that my handsome brother is making here! Ha ha!

Uncle Scott and the kids hanging out with the "talking giraffe"

It's so fun to make memories like these with our cute cousins.

Christmas Concert

2013-02-05T22:04:00.002-07:00

Isaac had his first ever school concert in December. He was very excited about it and it was so fun to watch him perform! They sang a couple of Christmas songs, including "All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth." It was pretty adorable. :)

Waiting for the show to start

Look how excited he looks! :)

Great job, Isaac!
You're our little superstar. :)

Little Buddies

2013-02-05T21:54:00.002-07:00

My sister, Corinne, and I have had each of our babies within months of each other. It's been fun for our boys to have cousins so close to their ages. Our older boys are best friends with each other and they are so excited that Carter has a "best buddy" too! :)

Here are a couple pictures that she took of the newest little boys:

Ryan-8 months
Carter-3.5 months

Sweet Ryan giving Carter "loves!" :)

Ten Years

2013-02-05T21:38:00.002-07:00

On November 8th, Derek and I celebrated 10 wonderful years together! Our anniversary this year was pretty low-key (due to the new baby), but it was still nice to stop and reflect a little bit on the last ten years. I am so grateful to be married to such an incredible man. He is a great husband and an amazing dad. I'm a lucky lady. :)

Here's a little look at some of our best times together:

I love, love, love this man.
Happy Anniversary, Babe! :)

Halloween Fun

2013-02-05T21:27:00.001-07:00

We had a really fun time celebrating Halloween with our kids. I've never really been into Halloween, but everything is fun with these boys!

We invited some friends over for some pumpkin-carving.

Here are my cute little preschoolers at our Halloween party.

Trevor and his buddies :)

Isaac got these crazy glasses from his school Halloween party
and the boys got a kick out of trying them on everyone...
starting with poor Baby Carter! :)

Trevor with the crazy glasses, witch hat, and spooky teeth!
What a look, huh?!

My superheroes
Trevor-Thor
Isaac-Batman

And here's the cutest little skeleton ever!

Ready for some Trick-or-Treating!

This little skeleton slept through his 1st Trick-or-Treating!

These boys are so much fun!

Little Moments

2013-02-05T21:02:00.001-07:00

One of the very best things I've experienced as a mom is to see my kids enjoying each other.

Love these three boys!

Carter's Blessing Day

2013-02-05T20:48:00.004-07:00

Our sweet Carter was given a name and blessing from his dad on Sunday, October 14th.
It was such a neat experience to watch my baby in the arms of the worthy priesthood holders that I love most. Derek gave him a wonderful blessing and then we celebrated our little man at a brunch afterward with our friends and family.

Here are a few pictures I took of my boy on his big day:

Isaac wanted to get in on the picture taking! :)

Love these sweet brothers.

Our little family

We were grateful to have Grandma and Grandpa Allen with us.

Proud mama :)

All tuckered out after his big day

I am grateful for this special moment in the life of our sweet boy.

We are grateful everyday that he is part of our family.

Birthday Boy!

2012-11-03T21:25:00.002-07:00

Well, October 19th came again and now my boy is another year older! It's crazy to me that he is already SIX years old. How did that happen?!

We had a great time celebrating his special day. We started the day by letting him open one present (the one he was really wanting). He was so excited to get his "Captain America that talks." :) Then we got in touch with Grammy and Papa in Africa so they could wish him a Happy Birthday. They sang to him (in English and French) and then he opened a card from them with "birthday dollars" in it. After that, it was time for school! This is the first time I haven't spent his birthday with him and it was a little sad for me.
I even tried to convince him to stay home with me, but he was too excited to go to school to celebrate with his teacher and friends.

So happy!

Birthday wishes from Africa

And then it was off to school!

Dad, Mom, Trevor and Carter all went to school for his afternoon recess to bring in a treat for his class. It was so fun to see him at school and to see how excited he was that we were there.

After I picked him up from school, I took him to Target to use his money from Grammy and Papa. In true Isaac-style, he picked a superhero toy and a stuffed animal. Then we met up with Grandma and Grandpa Allen at Texas Roadhouse (his choice) for his birthday dinner. He loved being the center of attention at the restaurant and was so adorable all night.

Here he is with his new Batman toy and turtle.

He LOVES the Texas Roadhouse rolls!

On the birthday saddle. Yee-haw!

Mom with her sweet little 6-year-old! Love my boy.

The next day, we let Isaac choose a few friends to go with us to Jumpstreet. He picked a couple friends from church, a couple friends from school, and a couple cousins. It was a great group of little boys! They had so much fun jumping and running around together. After Jumpstreet, we went back to our house for cake, ice cream and presents.

Fun at Jumpstreet

The birthday crew
(plus a sister that came along for cake and ice cream)

Isaac and his Batman cake

He has some really great friends.

This boy LOVES new toys! :)

Happy Birthday to my smart, caring,
sensitive, funny, and totally wonderful little boy.

We are grateful every single day
that you were sent to our family.
We love you, Isaac.

Exploring at the Mountain

2012-11-03T21:04:00.000-07:00

On one of our days at Grandma and Grandpa's house, they wanted to take us on a drive to find some fall leaves (or "fault" leaves, as Trevor calls them). We drove up the highway a little ways and stopped by the Sunrise ski resort to have a picnic.

My boys having lunch

My boys with Grandma and Grandpa

And here's the "silly" shot! :)

Daddy took a few minutes to teach the boys how to skip rocks.
Yet another hidden talent of his. :)

Then we decided to keep driving and take in some more of the beautiful scenery. We ended up near the town of Greer. Derek and I have never been there before, so we went to check it out. And we LOVED it! It's such a charming little town and we're already making plans to stay there sometime (sans children, of course!).

Trevor with his two favorite guys.

Daddy and the boys doing a little rock-hopping
(and NO ONE fell in!)

I love to watch these 2 boys together.
They have so much fun exploring!

Isaac found some initials carved on this log and was really excited .
He was sure that it was a "secret message."

Isaac also found a wild raspberry.

Trevor loved all of the "fault leaves"

On the way back to "Grandma's Mountain," we took one more detour to this spot with beautiful aspen trees. They were so colorful! The boys loved grabbing armfuls of leaves and throwing them up in the air. It's so fun to watch them explore!

Our first family photo with little Carter. :)

It was a day filled with lots of driving,
but it was totally worth it! :)

It's ZOO Time Again!

2012-10-27T21:00:00.001-07:00

The weather has finally cooled off enough for us to start our zoo trips again! It's one of our favorite places to go. This time was especially fun because it was Carter's first trip! :) It was also Isaac's last day of Fall Break and we convinced our best buddy, Sara, to skip work and come along.

Trevor at the petting zoo

We found some baby goats and they really loved Sara!
Now I call her "The Goat Whisperer." :)

We've been to the zoo MANY times before
and we've never seen this big, brown cow.
I'm not sure how that happened,
but the boys were really excited about it!

Isaac and Trevor were really excited to have Carter with us.
I love this picture of my cute little boys.

Mama and her boys :)

Climbing up the giraffe lookout with Sara

Carter loved being carried around in the wrap all day.

Here's to another great zoo season! :)

Fall Break Fun

2012-10-22T20:02:00.000-07:00

We spent another great weekend at "Grandma's mountain" for Fall Break. It was so much fun to be together and to have Grandma and Grandpa to ourselves for a few days.

The boys got to pick a pumpkin from Aunt Trish's garden on our way to Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Grandma had cookie dough all ready to go when we arrived.
She sure knows the way to their hearts! :)

We happened to be there for General Conference weekend, so we spent lots of time watching that. We did our "Conference Bowls" and "Conference Store" to encourage the boys to listen as much as they could. They LOVE doing it! It pretty much turns Conference into a sugar frenzy, but they get really excited about it and enjoy trying to listen, so it's worth it. :)

Isaac was probably the most attentive listener.
It may have had something to do with those bowls of candy/pennies. :)

Carter just loved snuggling and being held during General Conference.

After so many hours of trying to listen, they had to unwind with a little bit of brotherly rough-housing. :)

Isaac with all of his treasures from the "Conference Store."

Daddy convinced the boys to try riding the quad. They were both really nervous at first, but by the time we left,
Isaac was able to drive it by himself.

I LOVE Isaac's face in this picture!

Trevor was trying to wait patiently for his turn. :)

So excited to try it out.

When Trevor and Daddy were riding,
Isaac and Storm thought it was fun to chase after them.

The boys spent HOURS creating a "Rock Shop."

Here's a close-up of the merchandise and price tags. :)

Trevor...just doing a little shopping.

Carter was enjoying the outdoors.

Carter's very first "bumy ride!"
(Just to clarify...he didn't ride in Derek's arm like that.
I got in and held him tightly in the back seat.)

We made the boys wear these helmets when they rode the quad.
They thought they were super cool,
so they pretty much wore them all day. :)

We were so lucky to have the chance to go on this little vacation.
We love "Grandma's Mountain" and all of the memories we make there.

Special Visit

2012-10-21T22:24:00.001-07:00

We were able to spend a few days of our Fall Break up north at Grandma and Grandpa Allen's house. On our way into town, we stopped by to visit Great-Grandpa and Great-Grandma Adams (Derek's grandparents). Isaac and Trevor always love to visit them and it was Carter's very first time to meet them. Here are a few pictures...that are pretty meaningful. :)

Our 3 boys with their great-grandparents

Meeting Grandpa Adams

Grandma just lit up when she saw Baby Carter.
She has Alzheimers and is often unsure of what's going on around her. It seemed like she had a little moment of clarity when she saw and held our sweet baby. It was a very neat moment for all of us.

She kept rubbing his little feet and saying,
"Ooo...look at these little toes!" :)

Grandma and Grandpa Adams are such great people. They have always made me feel accepted and loved as one of their own grandchildren. I'm so grateful that we could visit them and create these special memories for our family.

Life is Good (and BUSY!)

2012-10-10T19:51:00.000-07:00

It's time to do a little catch-up on pictures. Our days are long and busy, but pretty great. In addition to the arrival of sweet little Carter, the last couple of months have been eventful.

Here's what we've been up to:

Isaac was selected by his teacher to attend a "Leadership Lunch" with his principal. One child is chosen from each class (once a month) who has excelled in academics and leadership skills. Isaac was the very first one chosen from his class! He's such a great little boy and we are very proud of him.

Trevor started preschool (with Mommy) in September. He was very excited to be in the "big kid" class.

My cute preschooler :)

Trevor is doing so well this year and I am loving having him in my class again.

We are all adjusting well to life with our sweet little Carter.
He's so much fun, He just LOVES to be held, so there have been lots of baby snuggles.

This was a funny moment I happened to catch...
Derek framed Carter for the disappearance of some fruit snacks. :)

Trevor and I are enjoying our days together. He's a lot of fun to be with. We built this awesome fort one day and decided to have our lunch in there.

Isaac rushes in from school everyday to hold his baby brother.
This little baby is lucky to have brothers that love him so much!

My 3 boys...just chillin' :)

Isaac and Trevor also started their soccer season last month.
They are on great teams with some friends from our ward/neighborhood and their coaches are awesome! They have both improved a lot this year. It's lots of fun to watch them.
I'm definitely their #1 fan! :)

Isaac was so into it during his first game. He even scored 2 goals!

Waving to Mom from the field...makes me melt.

Trevor has loved practices, but because he is quite shy, he was a little unsure of himself at his first game. You can see it on his face in this picture. :)

Sweet action shot!
(Thanks to our friend, Sara, who was the photographer for me.)

Such a cute guy.

Kicking it in. Check out that tongue! :)

A little one-on-one time with sweet Carter.
I love this little man.

Father and son

I LOVE this picture. Carter is pulling the best face! :)

Well...there you have it. There's a lot going on (much more that's not photographed!), but we wouldn't change a thing.

Baby Face

2012-09-30T22:11:00.004-07:00

Carter is almost 6 weeks old and is just so sweet!
He loves to eat and be held, he's a pretty good sleeper,
and he makes the funniest little faces.
We all love to just sit and watch him! :)

Here are a few of the funny (and adorable!) faces of Baby Carter:

He started smiling a few days ago,
but these are the first smiles that were caught on camera!

This smile totally lights up the room!

We LOVE you, Mr. Carter!