Great to be eight!

Yes, I know my son's birthday was way back in December, but I thought I would write about it anyways because turning 8 seems to be such a fun age to be!

A great thing about turning 8 is being baptized. These are photos of Caden the day after his baptism because apparently I wasn't well prepared that day, but he is still just as handsome and silly the day after. He is holding his new set of scriptures and scripture bag up proudly that the Grover Grandparents purchased for him. (Thank you!) So very proud he chose to be baptized and hope he will follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost in his life.

Another thing about turning 8 is becoming a cub scout! Caden jumped right into scouts with his 1st pinewood derby. He was sure that car was going to be the fastest and well....it wasn't, more like one of the slowest. Ha ha! He, and Dad, handled the heartache well though (not usually one of his strengths) and had a great time anyways. He is excited to be a cub scout and have these activities with his friends, but maybe not so much his mom (I am one of his leaders). This age seems to be a fun one so far although he seems to think he knows it all already...

Here are some other fun photos this winter. Here is our sweet "Willibear" as we call him waiting at the school to pick up big brother, Ethan. I almost can't stand that cheesy smile of his; just makes my heart melt and my lips widen.

 Caden and Ethan in the snow covering the porch steps in Island Park. It was so deep and beyond a workout to actually walk to the front door from the road. Try doing that pregnant and carrying a toddler. I stopped many times along the way. :)

 Here is Sam trying to shovel the snow off the roof. He worked until it was dark and was so exhausted and frozen (so were we inside).

William eating the snow, of course!

Another shot of the boys playing in the snow. Yep, it was that deep and those lightweights don't even sink to the bottom!

Here in the valley, most of the snow has left us for now. I am eagerly awaiting spring to make its appearance and can already see the daffodils I planted last fall poking their green tops from the ground. I am excited. Yes, it is the little things for me. I know this summer will be a busy one for our family and Sam has already tried to talk me out of planting a garden this year, but it almost feels wrong not to. I'm not sure if I will be able to keep up with the plants and lawn this year as I am sure my round, pregnant self will be running after Will who gets faster and more clever every day. But that thought still doesn't keep me from wanting to plant and eat some fresh peas from the garden. I just might have to convince all those boys (and man) to help. :)

Family

Ever since William was born I have been wanting to get family pictures done. Well it took us almost 2 years to let go of all the excuses and get it done. Tara Miller from Urban Photo took these for us and can I say that my boys have never been naughtier...okay maybe not quite that bad, but I am surprised that we actually had pictures where we were smiling. William was crying from the start, Caden had just gotten home from school and was bursting with energy, and Ethan was refusing to smile. Really, I thought all the pictures were going to be awful. Luckily there were a few in there that were actually cute. My boys are just looking adorable, so adorable that I can look at these pics and forget how they were behaving that day. I love that there are photos of just Sam and I because that rarely happens, I love William "cheesing" it, Caden is beyond photogenic, and I love the photo of Ethan on the tracks. He was so in the moment running and choo-chooing.

We got these pictures at the beginning of November and little did we know it, but we were expecting another little one. Fast forward to the middle of December and we were shocked to learn of it. Now it is January and I think we have gotten over the shock. I say shock because Sam had a vasectomy (without getting his special test later) over a year ago after our 3rd child, and yes, the child is his, so I say. Ha ha! (I have welcomed him to have that test done because once it is he will forever be hearing me say, I told you so!) I had an ultrasound a few weeks ago and found that baby is due July 24. I am so excited. Really a wonderful gift as I thought my pregnancy days were over and despite the exhaustion and sickness, I am overjoyed with the thought that I get to experience this again...but also sometimes petrified that I will be a mother of four. As for Sam, well he needs more time adjusting to all this. Our boys seem excited by a new sibling and surprisingly, they both want another brother. Ethan even says that he will hold the baby this time. I asked him why he didn't last time and he replied that he was afraid the baby would wake up and cry.Aahhh.

A SPOOKTACULAR TIME!

The boys had a great Halloween this year. The weather was just beautiful. This has been the first Halloween in a long time that it hasn't snowed, rained, blown, or been freezing cold. Here are some pictures from the holiday celebration.

 Will really loves to wear glasses. Just ask Daddy...

 Caden wanted to be a police officer this year, but all he really cared about was having handcuffs.

 Getting goodies from Grandpa Grover.

 Ethan dressed as a train conductor. He has always been into trains...and treats!

 

Will is scared of Grandpa Jensen right now!