"Boy what's making you dance like that..."

"... S.I.M.P. squirrels in my pants." -Phineas and Ferb
You know, that cartoon that kids love and adults think is funny. I actually haven't seen it either, but they seemed to have lots of good kids dance songs on itunes. You can't imagine how excited I was when Josh told me he wanted to 'dance' for his kindergarten's class talent show. I could just picture us all in 20 years sitting down to watch Josh's old kindergarten dance video and just dieing with laughter. This boy did not disappoint. He loves to dance. We like to turn on music and dance around, and it's especially fun lately because Lincoln loves to bop along too.

Sometimes Josh will say, "Mom, I don't want to go play with friends I just want to stay here and keep dancing."

The morning of the talent show while still at home Ammon had asked me if he could watch TV and I told him that we weren't going to watch TV. Josh comes and tells me, "Mom, I don't want to watch TV because I don't want my brain to turn to mush before the talent show." Later I was having him practice and asked him if he was going to throw his hat off during the dance (which he likes to do sometimes) and he said, "I don't know mom, I'll just know when I get there. "

When we were talking about what he should wear he said, "I want big jeans, you know with a belt, so they can just flap around." I tried not laugh too much, and just wondered where he is getting this stuff. (I'm guessing it's from the PBS show, 'Electric Company', that he will watch sometimes)
I told him we didn't have any big jeans so he decided on a plain white t-shirt, brown shorts, baseball hat, and sunglasses.
I tried to upload the video, but can't find the right cord so you only have these pictures to enjoy.

Getting ready:


He came up with this position to begin:

Feelin' it:

I could tell by his smile and laugh he was loving the attention:

Afterward I asked him if he was nervous at all and he said, "No mom, I just looked at you the whole time and I wasn't scared."
And yes, he totally gets this from his Dad.

Crazy Hair Day

Josh and I tried to get creative for crazy hair day. It was fun! (but I kind of didn't like seeing my sweet little boy so wild) Needless to say we buzzed the rest when he got home.

He Turns One!

Even though I was gone on his birthday, I still made sure to celebrate. The guests:

The guests cont. : (I need a bigger table)



The Man of Honor:

The question is does he like Hawaiian Haystacks?

How did I know?

How about chocolate birthday cake?

Again, how did I know?

Good job Mom, birthday cake success.

We let him open presents:

Lincoln's cousins spent all Sunday making him presents. It was so sweet and a love that his is surrounding by all this love. Brandon made him a ball:

Britton made him these cool duck-tape toys. A cell phone and an i-pod.

Breanne spent the day knitting this scarf!

(And Alisha made him a duck-tape bracelet, I just don't have a picture.)

And we played Lincoln's favorite game. Swords. He loves it!

Dorm Life

I recently got to go on a dream trip with six of my favorite people in the world. They all happen to be in my family so let me introduce you. Here we are kissing Dad goodbye.

Suzy. My oldest and favorite sister, and a classic beauty in my opinion (even when she is doing the chicken dance). She is my fellow Cedar Hillian, but long before that a huge example in my life. She is fun, generous, loving, is always teaching me the importance of scripture study through her example, and goes the extra mile to make her home a sanctuary/safe haven for her family.

Tiffany. Arizonian and my favorite sister-in-law. My exercise and fitness guru-expert-confidant. She is happy, always has a fun game up her sleeve, a great idea, good recipe or a funny story. As a mother of four boys (and recently one girl) I feel I can relate to her easily as I raise my own brood of boys. We love to talk about all the deals/steals we find. She is all things good.

My favorite sister Shauna. and roommate for much of my life. Lives in Las Vegas and is the comic relief in the family. She makes us all laugh. Everybody loves Shauna because she is fun to talk to, and did I mention funny. Chef extraordinaire, teacher extraordinaire, sister extraordinaire, example extraordinaire, knows a lot of Destiny's Child songs. She has visited the temple every week for the past two years, it's not that close and she has three little ones, that should tell you a little bit about how wonderful she is.

Oops, how did this one slip in?

And super-modal Meg, that's what I like to call her because that's what she is. Look at these poses! Don't tell anyone but she's my favorite sister-in-law. She lives in the Rocky Mountains, just on the wrong side. It's the best if you can get her in a silly mood quoting dumb movies because she can't stop laughing. She gets the giggles bad and it's funny. She has always been a blast. Always up for any adventure. She is a nurse and a good one. Smart, compassionate, tireless. She has a really cute daughter named Macy, and my brother is pretty much the luckiest little boy to get such a great wife. It's always fun when Meggan's here.

Didi. My favorite little sister Diana. Although you would never know it she's pregnant with twin girls here, bless her heart. I think/worry about her a lot these days. Not because she is not capable in any way of being an outstanding mother to 3 girls under 2 years of age, but just because it's going to be hard. She is crafty! And a teacher by profession, although she is a full time mama now. She is a girl after my own heart, loves a deal and always has a project.

I can truthfully say this is my favorite Mother. Isn't she beautiful. I've had the thought several times this year that I just need to look at my mom's example and then I would know what to do. She is always smiling. I love her laugh and her smile. She is the best at coming up with creative ideas. She is also a teacher by profession and will have one lucky grandson in her class next year (JOSH!). Although her six children are out of the home and parents themselves she still does so much for each one of us. Love her!

So now that you know everyone, her is a bit of what we did together:

went to great classes:

slept in the dorms:

And of course we shopped, ate, saw a movie and stayed up to the wee hours of the morning. Suzanne said it best when she said, "We ate like college students and we slept like college students." And I have to add that we laughed like college students. Love you girls.

My Babe

I was so sentimental on his birthday. Maybe it was because I had guilt for not spending it with him (while away at women's confrence), or because he is not technically a baby anymore, or because I couldn't stop thinking about what was going on one year ago on this day. Dave was sweet enough to bring him down to me in Provo. I love this squishy little bear. Love you Bink!

He's Four Years Old!

The decor:

The ugliest cake you've ever seen. I'm so bad at these:

Ammon's party was so fun to plan this year. His excitement and anxious anticipation makes all the work worth it. Here are a few of the guests, some making their best animal impersonation:









We played a little "duck-duck-catch a tiger by the tail":

Then we went on a Lion hunt, and we actually did catch a 'big one'. Josh dressed up in a Lion costume and we went outside and hunted him down with silly string. Definitely the highlight:
(I wish I had a picture of the real hunt)

And we made sure there was time for this:

The party was on Saturday and the real birthday was on Sunday. I was pushing to celebrate the birthday on the day we did the party but Dave wouldn't have it. Birthdays should be celebrated on birthdays right? I saw his logic, but it kind of made both days a little anti-climatic somehow. So here he is on the night before his birthday. He actually woke up in the middle of the night and opened his birthday quilt presents by himself and then went back to sleep. He just couldn't wait:

Presents in the morning are always so fun. Here he is with Sharon's awesome present she sent:

Second day of celebrating, second cake, so cute:

The Walk-A-Thon

We had a fun afternoon at the school for the PTA fundraiser. I told Josh he could probably only walk 6 laps (I didn't know how big it was and thought that was a good goal). He ended up just walking and walking and walking. An hour later I see he by himself with his head down, I could tell he was still happy just tired. He ended up walking about 20 laps. About 3 miles! I found him among a bunch of 6th graders:



And who raised $9000 for the PTA? Suzy! I'm so proud of her. They did a great job and a ton of work.