So this is Christmas...

Oh, we are so sorry, Santa. We definitely didn't prep these boys for your jollyness. 
A candy bribe got Graham to sit but peppermint wasn't enough for him to engage in any conversation. 


Not pictured: spilled hot tea, Kyle's foot smashed in his orange chicken, and mooshy chow mein,
We've decided to stick with a pizza tradition from now on.
Sorry Chinese food. We tried. 

Merry 1st Christmas, Bennett Scott.
Oh Holy night. So precious.

Meeska. Mooska. Mickeyyyyy Mouse!

We picked a day to meet the fam at Disneyland and counted down.

We felt like this was the real deal this time.

So we had pancakes for dinner.

And when this is the first picture of the day... 

Oh boy! (Mickey voice. Kyle's the best at it.)

This Disney day was brought to you by the letters K-I-R-S-T-E- and N.

We can't thank you enough. Ever.

Captured joy: ready, set, go.

Ultimate.

Truth telling moment for G: 

I cried while we waited in line for this ride together. I don't know why, exactly. I think it was because you held my hand so tightly. Maybe because I felt like we were sharing a joyful moment. Just us. Or maybe there was a slight fear of forgetting every single detail. 

I don't know. But we road that Cars ride and it was hilarious. You slid all over and I laughed so hard. And you decided not to go again. Which also made me laugh.

First Disneyland trip of your life, Bennett Scott.

Most adorable 6 month old on Main Street.

Literally.

We wrapped up the day with some rocking ferris wheel.

Mixed emotions from our family of 4.

I think we'll go back. How about the next week?

Yep. Believe it.

"My Lunch Box"

Graham gets on a kick with this lunchbox book.

It's short but it has pull out pieces so it's a fav.

We definitely have it memorized. Including Bennett and Jaffy.

So Kyle took the boys to the park to act it out. 

A play by play. For the memory book:

"I'm going on a picnic with my friends.

First some tasty sandwiches."

"I love drinking through a straw.

Who will finish their juice first?"

"Munch crunch this apple's delicious.

What's your favorite fruit?"

"I always save the best for last. 

Cookies for everyone."

Hello Graham Face.

Gosh, you're big.
And you are just filling our house with 2-year old exclamations that I hope I never forget.

"Way big! Way high!"
"Preeey dark out der"
"Whaaaaaaaat are yoooouuuu doin?"
"Yooooook at me and Bennett!!"
"Basketball foop"
(Oh gosh there's more. I'll be back.)

Anything and everything can be sports equipment.
At all times.

Kyle's favorite word right now is "skirdle" (squirrel.)
Mom will have to come back and fill in the blank because my mind can't decide.
But can we just talk about how if you ever get to sit by mom or dad at dinner you link arms with us and glance from left to right like we're the 3 Musketeers? Melt.

Every time we quiz you about your friends in Sunday school you tell us Sandy Koufax was there.
He has became quite the regular attender.

Whenever you fall down you immediately say "I'm ok"...sometimes even when you're not.

Most days you say "I'm a firefighter!"
But every so often we get a "I'm a mountain climber!" or "I'm a foggy!"

Whenever we do your hair you call it "so handsome hair". And if you happen to be wearing a shirt from the hanger, it's a "Sunday school shirt".

You love your dad and always want to help him cook, fix, clean, and find sports on the ipad.
Your dad also gets a lot of the credit for you knowing a handful of letters and what family member they match up with. Thank you bath time.

You've realized that saying the words "go to the toi-det" is a pretty powerful phrase. 
Proof: Side of HWY 166. Or right at nap time.

You are a lover, a giggler, a reader, a sports fanatic, an explorer, a jumper, 

a bug finder, and a green thumb. 

You love bike rides, the moon, cooking (especially adding "salsa" and "bell pepper"), Mickey Mouse, Curious George, Zacchaeus song, baseball song, and the golf song.

You are joy. And you continue to amaze us.
Love you, GTU.

Mammoth Campin'!

Happy campers! 

After scouting out the open spots, we settled in a perfect, spacious, by the creek site. 

And the set up and relaxing began. 

Uncle Zach taught Graham to throw little pine cones into the creek. From then on the creek and Graham were BFFs.

Lake day. It lasted about 45 minutes. 

Enough time to eat yummo peanut butter and honey sandwiches and have an accident or two.

Kyle's station got a call to kill a rattlesnake. The plan was for us to eat it. After surgery and stench, it was quickly decided that was a bad idea. So they nailed the skin up to a tree to dry out which resulted in maggots in our garage later that week. Fail and fail. 

Camping and this boy were a perfect match.

Just a bit of cooking is all...

Graham's first campfire smore! It was love at first sticky bite and the next morning G quickly grabbed a wire hanger and asked to "cook mo candy!"

Rainbow Falls hike day! 

We became adults and paid the shuttle fee.

It was quite a trek. Fivel conked out pretty quickly and let the pack mules finish the job.

This picture is not that great. However, it captures the mood G was in after he sat in a backpack for two miles with a full dipe. Also he is still gripping the sandwich he held onto the entire way there, even while snoozing. ("Hey look, a sam-ich!)

After a makeshift changing station and some snacks, the fellas are feeling much better.

I love love love this son of mine.

Tradition lives on. Thanks Bells. We had the bestest time.

I'm pretty sure this trip ignited his love of camping.

He still talks about it...3 months later...

Oh, and please use your imagination to picture a black bear strolling through our campsite, attacking our cooler, jumping into our car multiple times, Kyle growling and slamming doors to try and scare it away, and our little family of 4 safely watching from 20 feet away. Praised the Lord multiple times on the way home that we didn't leave any little boys in the car while we were finishing packing up the campsite. No picture proof. But ask Graham. He'll tell you all about it.