Peter's Birthday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PETER!!!

Peter requested a doggie cake this year (with a little mommy coaxing). I was not completely satisfied with the finished product, but Peter loved it, so that made it worth it.

My 3 year old little boy anxiously awaiting to open his presents and taste his cake.

Love his face! Opening gifts is a serious business for Peter.

He was excited to get those blue sheets on the table to replace my old flower sheets he has been using for the past year-flower sheets, poor boy.

He also got a big wheel bike, but we did not get it set up until almost a month after his birthday, so no picture of that yet.

A little blurb about our birthday boy: Peter is getting more attitude every day. When we ask him to do something he does not agree with, he say, "NEVER! Ha, ha, ha." (A line he learned from Backyardigans; he's never watching that episode again!) He loves to boss everybody around, especially Rigby. He is getting so smart too. The other day I did not want to share my blanket, so he says to me, "Mom, we share toys, we share our house, we share things," (wonder where he picked that up). He is also using his imagination so much lately; he is always saying that he or us are alligators, dinosaurs, monsters, etc. We love his energy, and he is always giving us hugs and kisses. We love ya Peter!

My Little Helper

Peter likes to help out in the kitchen. Here are some of his creations. . . . . . . . . . .

Butter with a little toast.

Thanksgiving Rolls
This particular roll never made it to the oven.

Peter's contribution to tonight's enchiladas.

Tortilla a le Peter, count 10.

Oh Peter, I love you kid. By the way, I still used the tortillas.

Christmas Activities

Here are a few more pictures that I meant to post after Christmas:

TEMPLE SQUARE

We went to temple square to see the lights when we were in Utah. The kids loved the lights, but they were not so sure about the cold. I totally admit that we have become soft in the cold.

Rigby looked so dang cute all bundled up!

Aunt Moo (Marissa) pushing goofy Peter in his stroller.
Scottie is one of the few people that can get Rigby to really laugh. The kid is a hard nut to crack.

Our not so great family picture in front of the reflection pond at the SL temple.

Peter was about ready to dive out when Grandma pushed him down the stairs.

I could not resist getting this hat for Peter, and as usual, he was an absolute stink about getting his picture taken!

DINOSAUR MUSEUM

We decided to go to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point. It was a bit expensive, but Peter LOVED it!



Here is Peter getting nice and dirty (classic boy) with the toy dinosaurs in the sand and water.

I think my dad gave up trying to help Peter understand what the buttons were for. Peter's objective was to press as many buttons as he could get his hands on.

Family picture in front of the shark. It is kind of funny, you can tell in this picture that Scott lets his grooming habits go during vacation because he does not have to go to work; on the other hand, I always put more effort into my grooming because I have more time w/o kids.

Scott and I were able to go on a nice long date while my wonderful parents watched the hoodlums. We went up to the LDS conference center in SL to see "Savior of the World" (a production put on by the LDS church about the life of Christ). It was wonderful! As usual we forgot to take pictures of ourselves, but we were able to get a picture of the Utah state capitol. It is a very beautiful building.

Snow Time (a whopping 15 minutes)

Yup, this snow time was mostly about taking cute pictures. Isn't everything about getting cute pictures? We had no snow boots for Peter, so we made our own "white trash boots" which were inspired by Daniel's "bread bag boots." (Thanks for the idea Lindsey and Jason)

My handsome boys.

Snow Angels

Peter got more snow on himself than his target most of the time.

Here is Peter playing with Sadie (he thinks every dog's name is Sadie).

Christmas

We were able to spend Christmas in Utah. We had a lot of fun, but I think our next trip to Utah will be during the summer when it is warm! We have become soft here in Houston. I do LOVE seeing those beautiful, snow-covered mountains though.

There was lots of fun had by Peter and Isabelle, and of coarse, LOTS of MISCHIEF! One night we did not hear a peep from them for a full 5 minutes, so we knew there was trouble brewing. I found them upstairs where they had pulled out all of the sheets from the closet and were in the process of unfolding them. They were also trying their hardest to unlock my parents bedroom door. It was really cute to hear them working together and talking in order to figure it out-which is the one of the only things they did not figure out!

They made messes EVERYWHERE, so us adults got smart and bought door knob covers for almost every door in the house! They had blast though and got along famously except at lunch one day when they could not stop arguing: Isabelle, "I have a baby sidur!" Peter, "no, I have a baby bruder." Isabelle, "No! I have a baby sidur!" and so on. The most illogical arguing I have ever heard; oh, 3-year olds.

My amazingly cute boys.

We were able to go to a temple session with Scott's brother and his wife, Lindsey and after that Daniel came over to play. Here are Daniel and Rigby.

Here is Peter being creative and using a tepee/tent as a blanket while he watched a movie.

Peter and Gramer are great buddies.

It was a lot of fun to see Peter get excited about his gifts this year. He got the Toy Story duplo train and decided that the non-skid liners under my parents rugs made great choo-choo tracks. The kid does not lack imagination.

He also got wooden train tracks with a few cars including Thomas, of coarse. Peter loves to set it up and Rigby, a.k.a. babyzilla, loves to destroy it while Peter screams.

Rigby got this cute little car carrier that makes obnoxious noises. Why do I get these toys?!

One of my favorite memories this Christmas was having my grandparents there and also seeing them open a photo book that Sara, Marissa, and I made for them.
We love ya Grandma and Grandpa-Great!

Faceplant

Peter Meets the Sidewalk

Poor Boy!

Camping

Well, it has been a while. Life has taken us for a crazy ride lately-house projects, church callings, two mobile and mischievous children, etc. I have finally decided that our crazy new life is the new normal, so I had better get use to being busier.

We were able to go camping last weekend with my friend Shauna and her family. Shauna and I were roommates in college and now we usually talk on the phone at least once a week, so it was nice to actually talk with her in person.

We went to Mother Neff State Park to camp. It is the first official state park of Texas. A Texas governor, Mr. Neff (forgot his first name), set aside some of his family's property and named the park after his very influential mother. Here are some pictures of our fun:

There was a local watch dog that kept getting distracted from her job. The campers were just too much fun for her to pass up-especially the kids. Her name is Shelby, and the kids just loved playing with her. We had to send her home several times.

Of coarse, camping is not complete without a messy s'more.

We hiked a short way to this little alcove. There were some skeletal remains found here and it is believed to have previously been an Indian burial area.

Trevor, Shauna, Clara, and Moriah

"Get me out of this thing and let me crawl around and eat dirt and bugs, Mom!!!" Rigby was done with this carrier by the end of two days and so was I!

So, I gave him a little crawling break inside the tent.

Peter LOVED camping. It was like his dream come true-playing outside all day in the dirt, special treats, family sleepover in the tent, fun bugs to watch-the kid was in heaven. The only issue we had with him is that he streaked through camp while we were trying to load up and leave. He has this habit of not making it to the bathroom for number two, so we are ALWAYS cleaning it up. There were only port-a-potties and we had already taken down the tent, so we had to take care business out in the open (no worries everybody had already left for the day- except us). In the midst of the wipe-down, he takes off running after Shelby with nothing on but a shirt. Shauna and I were laughing so hard that we could barely chase after him. Of coarse, a car had to drive by as he was running around half naked. I wonder what they thought?

We have the camping bug now and are already trying to plan when we can go again.