Denver

Luke had some meetings in Denver this last week. Zach also had spring break so we were excited to spend some time with family. The week started off great. Jayme made Luke an awesome birthday dinner of steak and potatoes. Poor Luke's birthday has kind of been minimized the last couple of years. He is planning on having a video game night so hopefully that will be exciting for him. Jax, James, and Hayden also were having a good time playing together. I love these three cuties!

 A new baby has ruined all my sense of time and for some reason I thought the Sunday we were there was the last one before General Conference and Easter so I had everyone wear their Easter clothes. My boys are a pretty handsome bunch. It was also about 10 degrees warmer in Denver than at home so we were loving playing outside. 

 Monday was the only day Luke had off and we went to the Children's Discovery Center. Jax was in heaven. His favorite rooms were the bubble room and the one that vacuumed up all the balls. He never wanted to leave. 

 They also had a room that was like a giant burrow, that they could climb through. In Florida there was an astronaut that Jax was super afraid of. He didn't have that same fear of firemen apparently. He liked this guy. 

 Cute fireman James.

 They also had a room designed for babies and toddlers. 

Jax taking appointments for the dental office. 

Luke got a hotel allowance so on Tuesday we moved into a hotel to give Zach and Jayme a break. Jax is a bit more high energy than their kids and i think we can be a little overwhelming, especially since Jax decided he wanted to give James some love bites. We did hang out everyday and they came swimming once at the hotel. Then James and Zach got sick which was a bummer, then we really tried to not get in their way. This seems to happen every time we get together. Someone is always sick. Jayme was still nice enough to make us dinner every night. She is awesome! Luke and I had lunch together every day which was fun. We tried a new place each day. It makes me miss restaurants but it's probably better for our wallets and weight :) Luke got some free tickets to the Nuggets/Jazz game so Friday night we left Ryker with Jayme and took Jax to enjoy some "B-Ball." Zach told us the traffic could be pretty bad so we took the light rail to the stadium. It turned out to be military appreciation night. Our tickets were up in the upper nosebleed section but Luke talked his way into some better ones in the twelfth row. It was probably a little long for Jax but he liked all the music. The Jazz didn't make much of a game out of it but it was still a fun night.

It was a fun crazy week with a long drive home but we are always having a good time with family.

A Two Month Old

A two month old! Baby Ryker is growing, growing, growing. He loves his food even though he spits a lot of it back up on us. He has gained exactly four pounds since birth. He is a smiley little chunk who survives all his big brother's loving and we love him so much. 

Jax Turns Two!

 We had a birthday! I can't believe we've had this little man in our lives for only two years. He makes life exciting and I can't believe how much I love him. I'm not sure Jax really had any idea what it was all about but we sure had a fun time celebrating with him. He crawled into bed with us in the morning and Luke and I sang him happy birthday. He kept saying "no! no!" I think he has finally figured out that Mommy can't carry a tune to save her life. Bummer. He used to clap when I sang to him. Jax got to have some breakfast with Daddy, then got to play in the water. This is his favorite activity these days. Especially since its way too cold to go outside. After nap time we went and got some birthday french fries and played in our balloon pit until Luke got home from work. He had a hard time waiting to open his presents! He might have got a little head start opening a few of them. Jax was pretty excited about his cake. He has a big sweet tooth. 

Birthday fries!

So my sister-in-law Jayme always makes awesome cakes for her two kids and I must admit that I succumbed to peer pressure or wanting to be cool too or something like that. Jax's favorite movies are the Tinkerbell movies, his next favorite is Jake and the Neverland Pirates. I had no idea what to do for a Tinkerbell cake but found a couple of tutorials on Pinterest for a pirate ship cake and went for it. Luke and I had some different ideas about the initial construction but after that things went pretty smooth. It even looked like Bucky the ship. Yay! About a half hour before we had some friends coming over for cake and ice cream I went and pulled out the cake and....the back end had tipped over. I was so sad. There was no saving it so I used Captain Hook and Smee to prop it back up and we partied on. 

I love this birthday boy so much. He is energetic and smart and he surprises me every day.  

Ryker was so excited by the party can you tell? Luke didn't get the stripes memo.

Jax blew out the candles four times. He loves it. 

The sword was his favorite present. I love our little pirate!

Two-year-old Jax loves music and to dance. He has started singing. Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam, and I Love Jaxon (a song we made up) are his favorites. He's very stubborn and has become crazy independent. Dad is teaching him to love soccer (I'm not sure it's working) but he loves balls of all kinds. He gives hugs and kisses when he gets what he wants from us. He loves dogs and cats and to read and count to ten. He also has become a big brother and while sometimes he is a little too rough with his love, he loves to take care of Ryker. He makes sure we get him a bottle when he cries and helps us burp him and also sings to him and tells him "Its ok" to make him happy. It melts my heart to watch the two of them together. It makes me a little sad to see my baby disappear but I love to watch the person he is becoming. Jax is amazing and we are so blessed to be his parents.