Fading Summer Sun

It's been along time since I have posted and to any viewer who still checks, I am sincerely sorry! Life has been a little crazy for the past couple years and looks to remain that way so don't get your hopes too high that my posting will be regular by any means. But before summer ends and we all start school again I wanted to share some fun pictures of adventures this year so far.

Liam turned 2 in February and is the worlds best Thomas the train fan. He is starting to speak in 2 and 3 word phrases and loves nothing more than chase his brother Alex around pretending to be the Hulk yelling "GULK MASH!"

We took our traditional family vacation to Moab in April and this time my dad and siblings joined us making it twice as fun!

My youngest brothers Jeremy and Zachary received their mission calls in May. Jeremy is going to Eugene Oregon and Zach is going to Sacramento California both entering the MTC on Aug. 29th! I am so proud of both of them!

Liam and Alex got to ride on Thomas the Train up in Heber. It was Christmas in May for Liam, never have you seen a happier child!

Liam fell and bit through his lip receiving 8 stitches 6 on the outside and 2 on the inside. This is a picture of him before he realized I had taken him to a doctors office and they were going to poke him with needles. :(

 We moved to Wymount BYU family housing apartments last November and since then we have all made some new fun friends but especially the boys!

Every day is Halloween to Alex! He is always outside playing in one of his many super hero costumes and has been busily training his side kick Liam to do the same. I love my boys, they keep me laughing!

Alex graduated from Ms Tracey's preschool and is excited to start kindergarten! I however as a first time kindergarten mom of course have mixed emotions of excitement and sadness to see my baby grow up and start his school career.

We played with our Falgoust Family at South Fork in July. It was so fun to get to see my uncle John and aunt Kathy who visited from back east. Alex had so much fun floating down the stream with his cousins I couldn't get him to come out until he was a popsicle.

We all went up to Washington Lake to camp with Granna and Brooke and we had a fabulous time catching fish, Liam caught his very first fish and catching butterflies and of course roasting marsh mellows! 

After Washington Lake we went to Lava Hot Springs in Idaho for the Larsen reunion but pictures are still on the way for that one. But there were a lot of "firsts" on that trip. Alex went down his first big twirly slide, swam under water, and floated down his first rapids. And he LOVED it all!

Over all summer has been awesome! I will be sad to have to go back to school in a few weeks but I will be glad to get back into a routine where the boys and I are actually going to bed sometime before 10 at night or later. In the infamous words of Tigger "TTFN" :D 

Happy birthday to you...

Liam,

February 2 Liam turned 1!!! My baby grew up and is now officially a toddler. Liam's unique and happy little personality is definitely shining through now. He is a very logical and much more serious boy than his brother but Alex is quickly teaching him the fine art of imaginative play and being silly. Liam loves to play with cars and walk around the house following Alex where ever he goes but his absolute most favorite things in the whole world are animals! The squeal of sheer joy that comes from his little mouth when he sees a dog or cat or anything living really is unbelievable! He will grab the animal and hug it and love it till it runs away. Luckily we have met a lot of very patient animals and he hasn't been bit yet (knock on wood). His eyes look like they are going to stay a clear blue and his hair is a very curly strawberry blond. He is my little sunshine boy and I am awed by the honor and grateful every day to be his mother!

This is Liam on his actual birthday

Alex,

December 29 Alex turned 4!!! He is growing and learning new things at an amazingly fast rate. He is loving preschool! He just loves learning anytime he encounters an unknown he asks questions until he understands then repeats it to you for about a day by then it is permanently engraved to his memory. I love hearing him sing me songs he learns and telling me made up stories at bed time. His imagination has no limits nor does his energy reserves. He is the most empathetic and caring 4 year old I have ever met! He has a gift to understand how a person is feeling and be able to genuinely make them feel loved. Alex's favorite things to do would be playing outside, no matter the weather, and pretending to be a puppy dog, a white puppy that does not bark or shed to be exact lol. You can't feel blue when you are around Alex he is too happy, too silly, too sweet, and too wonderful and I am so very blessed and grateful to be his mother!

This is Alex dressed up as spiderman with his own homemade super hero mask made at his superhero birthday party!

The last 6 months continued....

This posting is the continuation of Augusts post "The last 6 months" so if you haven't read that one do so first and then this one will make much more sense, sorry for the confusion Blogger is just funny that way sometimes.

I have had long long hair for basically my whole life and I have always loved it but this summer I decided to make a bit of a change....

......and by a bit I mean 11 inches shorter! I thought I would miss it but i really don't! This new style is soooooo convenient and much easier for the mommy life style I live. Thanks to Lindsey who gave me the courage finally chop it :)

This is Alex with his preschool teacher Mrs. Debbie

Alex on his first day of preschool!!! I really can not believe how fast time flies!!!!

Sitting up was Liam's big milestone this summer. We all joke that he is going to skip rolling and crawling all together and go straight for standing and walking.

BINKI ADDICT...... you know it's bad when one isn't enough anymore *shakes her head*

we really are not sure if we will ever get him off the binki lol!

That brings us to now where hopefully I will be more diligent in my postings now that all the summer adventures are calming down and we are getting into a routine of life again. A big THANK YOU to all of our family's and friends who have made this summer memorable and absolutely fantastic we love you all!!!

The Last 6 Months......

Time warping is my excuse for blog negligence. Yes I believe that I must have entered a worm hole, time warp or something to that likeness because Liam was born and then all of a sudden he is now 7 months old, Alex has started preschool, my sister is married, and my brother is coming home from his mission. So forgive me if this post is unusually long but a lot has happened in the last 6 months that I'd like to share.

April

Liam is 2 months old and a mild wonderful baby.

Liam's blessing day.

May

Alex got to drive great grandpa's WW2 Jeep

Liam and I spent a weekend playing at aunt Stephanie's house.

Alex and Liam crack each other up better than anyone else.

Alex is 3 1/2 , a viking warrior, and a karate master with a sense of justice and love well beyond his years.

We went to many weddings this summer. This one was Dustin's friend Tannar. I think boy's in Sunday suites are at their peak handsomeness :)

I'm not sure the ladies will be able to resist with a suave look like that. What a stink'n cute baby! Thank you Steph for adorable 3 month old pictures!

Alex is perfecting his grumpy face....did I mention he is 3 1/2 years old.

Alex, Liam, and I went to the zoo with some of our neighborhood friends.

JUNE

We taught Alex how to play baseball this summer.

HOME RUN!!!!

We took the boys on the first hike of the summer with our neighborhood friends to Donut Falls in June, yes there was still considerable snow pack but that only meant that we got to have snow ball fights along the way!

This was Liam's very first hike ever and he totally rocked it!

Alex, Caleb, Audrey, Mckenzie, & Millie

JULY

4th of July Ward breakfast. Believe it or not this was totally candid, could you ask for a more all American boy lol!

Liam's first 4th of July

Liam learned how to eat in July as well. And this boy LOVES to EAT! He is completely opposite of his brother in this regard. In fact he becomes very jealous when anyone around him eats and doesn't feed him even if he just got done eating.

We spent a weekend at my sister house in Morgan for the Tour de Mt. Green. Alex got to help uncle Slade drive his tractor which was probably the best day of his summer!

Proof that Slade does hold babies and even kinda likes it ;)

Dusty, Steph, and me after the race.

My papa and me before floating the Weber river.

These boys are professional snugglers

This is at Alex's cousin Kai's 2nd birthday but it also doubles as Liam's first time swimming.

We went camping up Big Cottonwood Canyon for the Larsen family reunion this year. This is Dustin and Zack lighting the fire with a toy magnifying glass.

Next to driving tractors camping would be his #1 favorite activity!

Liam is an anywhere baby. Perfectly happy anywhere I take him even if it is the base of a steep rock climbing ledge.

Me rock climbing. I learned that it is possible to finish climbing a wall much faster than you ever thought no matter how scared you are, when you can hear your baby crying at the bottom of the wall with no one to comfort him.

Dusty and Alex snugg'n in the tent

Yes this is Liam's first time camping as well, which was way sooner than Alex's 1ts time which wasn't till he was 2 1/2

Alex and his cousin Davy hiking to Mary's Lake

The rest of the family hiking to Lake Mary

July ended with my sister Stephanie's wedding to Slade Knightly the awesomest BIL!

Alex was the ring bearer and his friend Anya was the flower girl, absolutely adorable!

AUGUST

Alex got his very first 2 wheeler bike, thanks to his friend Caleb!

He took off like he had been riding bikes his whole life. The bike is now referred to as his motorcycle.

Story time is a daily highlight for both of them.

Summer rain storms. It really is the little things that make life great!

As you can see in the picture Alex is wearing underwear because yes he is finally potty trained!

Liam has decided that baby food is for babies and he is not a baby! What ever mom can eat so can he and so he will!

The 3rd summer wedding was Dustin's cousin Shartel up at the Bountiful Temple.

Keep reading your almost done! Blogger has a cap on how long a posting can be so I had to make this summer into 2 posts. The last few pictures are in the September postings under "The last 6 months continued" Sorry for the confusion :)