Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails....

That's What Little Boys Are Made Of!!

Connor (18 months old) is such a little boy! He is absolutely in love with puppies/dogs (and all animals really, but dogs are his favorite right now). He learned a while ago the barking sound they make and he loves to bark at everything (especially the birds in the yard!) It is so funny to watch! One of his favorite things to do is sit on daddy's lap and look at pictures of dogs on the computer. I'm beginning to think that someday this kid is going to want a dog....and being a person that is totally freaked of all dogs I meet....well....we'll just have to see about that when the day comes! :)

BACK TO THE STORY....
knowing his love for all things puppy, we gave him this cute little Playskool one for Christmas. And he LOVES it!! It even pants and barks like a dog which he thinks is just cool!

It has a leash attached so he can "walk his dog" all over the place! (It rolls behind him)

I wanted to get a good video of him barking like a dog, but he wasn't really cooperating. He kind of does it here, but very quietly. (Normally he does it really loud.) Anyway. I just thought it was cute so I had to share! :)

(Pause the sound on the music player first before pushing play to hear better)

And that's our cute puppy-lovin' boy!!!

Nothin' Like A Good Rainstorm!

Last week we had a HUGE storm here in Arizona. We got more rain in 48 hours than we had all year last year!! I think it rained something like 4-6 inches where we live (more in other places). And the winds were blowing 30 mph with huge gusts up to 60 mph and there were even tornado warning around the city in different places. It was CrAzY!!! {In fact, the wind blew so hard that our next door neighbors huge tree in their front yard fell over!} I didn't get many pictures of the storm {I didn't really want to go out and get wet!}, but I got a couple of them out our bedroom window upstairs. Here is the park behind our house. This was just after the first part of the rainstorm the first day - there was a lot more water after it was all said and done. As you can see it is filling up quite nicely and starting to look more like a lake than a park! :)

And this is just one tiny part of our backyard (all I could get out the window). As you can see it all filled up quite nicely as well. Again, this is only after the first day.

I don't know if I will ever get used to Arizona rainstorms. It never rained like this in Utah. It would storm pretty good there, but not enough to turn your yard into a lake! :) Pretty crazy stuff! It is sure nice to have some rainy days though...especially here in Sunny Arizona!

Kids New Toy...

...So my kids have discovered a "new toy" of sorts. At least something to occupy their time anyway. It's the program on the computer called PAINT. (Actually it's the free photo shop version of paint called paint.net) They will spend hours creating all sorts of funny pictures. I guess if they're going to play on the computer at least it's something to get their creative minds working, right?! Here is their most recent creations.

Shawn as a clown:

Brady as a pirate:

Connor as a skier:

Just thought I'd share this silliness. Enjoy!
They actually begged me to put these pictures on the blog, so I am obliging. :)

Happy New Year!!!

2010!!!
It's hard to believe it, but we have hit another decade! It seems like yesterday that we were ringing in the year 2000! Where does the time go?!?! {And aren't we supposed to have flying cars or something by now?!} :)

We had a fun and relaxing New Year's Eve at home with just our little family. It was fun to be just us, eating junk, and playing games. At one point of the night Connor noticed his two big brothers laying on the floor (I think we were playing the wii) and he went and layed down next to them in the same position! It was SO cute I just had to get a picture!

After a fun night of playing until WAY past bedtime :) the boys were excited to blow their party blowers, yell "Happy New Year" and drink some Sparkling Apple Cider! They even did a run around the driveway blowing their toys and yelling to the neighborhood. :)

Here's to hoping for a wonderful new year in 2010!!!
{And possibly some good resolutions to be made and actually carried out!}

Hawaiian Vacation.....Day 1

Since there are a TON of pictures of this vacation {family vacay to Hawaii plus Christmas equals a TON of pictures!} and since this is pretty much our scrapbook and our journal, I decided to break it down day by day to make it a bit easier to read {and write!} it all. Enjoy!:)

So I suppose our official first day was on Saturday the 19th. But since that day only consisted of traveling, getting to the house, and unpacking...I would have to say our first actual full day in Hawaii was Sunday the 20th. We got up and went to church at 8:00 am. It was their Christmas program so of course it was good. {What Christmas Program isn't good?!} I realized I didn't really get any pictures of the house we stayed in (which is too bad because it was awesome!) but I did get a couple of pics the first day of us hanging out there. Here is Connor eating in his high chair.

And the beautiful view of the ocean from the windows and deck off the house:
(You can kinda see the corner of the pool in the first one and the beach access through the fence.)

After church we went home to hang out and.....what else?!....watch some football!!! Yes, even in Hawaii we still have to keep up with the world of football! :)
Here is everyone veggin' on the couch watching the games:

After said football games were over, we decided to do a little bit of sightseeing. First we drove to the Pali Lookout. It was so cool! Besides the beautiful view.....the wind does something really cool here! It blows UP! It shoots straight up the canyon! So of course we had to try throwing cheesballs. Who wouldn't?! :) So you throw them over the side of the railing and the wind carries them straight up back over your head and into the faces of the people standing up on the lookout behind you! SO FUNNY!!! Good times. Good times.
Here are a few pics of us all and the view there at Pali lookout.

After our fun cheese-ball throwing adventures, we decided we needed another adventure. There is this hike that goes up to some pretty waterfalls. So we decided to go on it. WELL...when we got there some people were coming off the hike and they said good luck because it was pretty muddy {it had been raining a lot that morning.} but they said not to think about it, just trudge right through and it's not so bad. So of course we figured it must not be so bad and decided to go anyway. WRONG DECISION!!! It was the MUDDIEST MESS I have ever seen in my life!! It was gooey up to our ankles, plus very slippery, and therefore very hard not to fall...into the mud! Can you imagine?! Well, here are a few pics of us after the hike was over in case you can't.
{I think I was the only one who didn't fall at one point or another because I was carrying Connor the whole time so I was trying to be extra careful and stay to the side where I could grab tree branches when I slipped! Although I did slip in the water when we had to cross it at one point!}

Besides me, Shawn was the cleanest of anybody after the hike! He was such a trooper!

All cleaned off and in the car ready to head home for the night!

What an adventure that was! It definitely will be our "story" for the trip that's for sure! But we all decided the hours worth of clean-up work after sure made it not worth it!!! But still a good time and a funny memory! :)

Hawaiian Vacation.....Day 2

Monday the 21st we had quite a busy day! We drove down to Honolulu to spend the day doing things on that side of the island. First we hiked up to the top of Diamond Head. It was LOTS of climbing stairs! I think there are about two hundred and thirty something stairs in all that you climb. {My mom had it figured out, but I don't remember what the # was.} But totally worth the workout for the view at the top!

The view of Honolulu and Waikiki beach from the top:

And the beautiful blue ocean that just goes on and on!

My little brother Kevin:

And me:

And the whole lot of us that made it to the top!

And since lighthouses are my very favorite thing, I had to snap a couple pics from the top of this one! :)

Jenna, Shawn and Brady climbing back down the stairs. So many stairs!

Mike giving Connor a little ride on the shoulders:

This part is funny to me....the trail that goes back and forth along the mountain and all the people following along.

And towards the end of the path it flattens out so Shawn and Brady decided Connor could walk and they helped him. Such good brothers.

After Diamond Head we went into Honolulu and ate lunch at Cheeseburger in Paradise and did some shopping. Then it was off to Hanauma Bay (sp?) to do some snorkeling! It is such a beautiful place. And fun to snorkel although I personally don't enjoy it that much. Something about being so close to the coral, underwater, breathing through a little tube....kinda makes me claustrophobic. :) But it sure was pretty!

Mike helping Brady try out the kid's snorkel:

Shawn just having fun in the water:

And Connor having the time of his life in the sand!

After snorkeling, a few of us went to see the blowhole (not sure the name of it). As the waves come in, the pressure builds up and tons of mist and water shoot out of it. Pretty cool.

And that's it for this day's adventures.