Cute Kids and Catch Up of March

I guess I need to catch up and write about what this cute family has been up to.
Pictures are a good way of doing that.

We take as much advantage of Daddy time as we can. Nathan has been working super hard this last little bit as now is crunch time for school. He works full time, goes to school full time, and is working on his master's project which he is due to present in three weeks. This guy is burning it at both ends of the candle, and just set the middle on fire, too. In a few short weeks though he'll graduate with his master's in information systems, and it will have all been worth it.

Daddy and Jack-Jack hanging on the couch

****

We went to Quinn Parks' 2nd birthday. Happy birthday buddy!

What a cute party too, just a bunch of two year olds running around, have a good time while the parents talked and had some good food.
Here is Tucker (Quinn's cousin), Quinn, and James all enjoying a bath before bedtime

****
Jack-Jack is such a cutie, and smiles all the time

One of James' favorite activities right now is he likes to take all the pillows off the couch and
"go hiding"
Here he is getting Jackman in on the game...

...I don't think though that Jack likes it all that much.

James' other favorite activity right now is to go outside and play in the dirt flower beds, maybe someday soon he'll appreciate the grass out there too?
For now though it is just the dirt, dirt, and more digging in the dirt with diggers, bulldozers, front-end loaders, dump trucks, and scrapers
(thank you 20 trucks DVD for teaching all those different kinds, even to me)
I am very grateful for the fence that you can see in the background.
James goes in and out while I work on things in the kitchen and can watch through the windows

And another of Jack-Jack being a cute little bro

****
James eating one of his favorites, "soft carrots"
I had to catch it on camera because this kid is an awful eater
He likes everything, but will willingly eat almost nothing, and don't even think about serving the same thing two days in a row. That won't work.
If he liked it one day chances are he won't like it for at least four more days

Then there's Jack
For as much as James won't eat, Jack will.
He eats everything you put in front of the kid, and lots of it.
Though he's still smaller on average, he's bigger than James was at this age.
It is nice to have one kid where not every meal is a battle.

****
James likes to vacuum his messes up...
...and pretends that he is using an "impact hammer"
(again, thank you 20 trucks)

And we've got a crawler on our hands! He officially started forward motion, but mostly on his belly, on March 7th. Now he is off and going.
Here I put him on the floor so he could clean his own mess of Cheerio's he had spilled.







Not really, I'm just kidding:)
****

Nathan turned 28 last week! Happy Birthday sweetie!
Here he is with his happy boys as we enjoyed tapioca pudding for his dessert.
Nathan is really into pudding at the moment and wanted that instead of cake.

****


These Sand Hill Cranes have been around the neighborhood lately, and they are huge.
They squawk so loudly that I thought they were right under one of our windows.
I've seen two mating pairs just walking around.

The cranes were just across the street.
They squawked and James yelled "Mommy, mommy, come see the quanes!"
I love that he likes to spot animals, just like me!

****
This week we went on an adventure hike with my friend Connie and her niece and nephew up the hill by our homes.
We were on the hunt for natural treasure, i.e., antlers, neat wood, and such.
It was such a fun time with friends,
Connie is a kindred spirit and loves animals as much as I do.
James did great and didn't complain at all.
In fact, he got that little walking stick, and pointed out all the deer poop that he saw, which was every few steps because he is after all only a few feet from the ground.
Deer poop is a good thing, it means that the deer and elk are around!
(And hopefully moose too!)

James, Connie, and little Eddie
Jack and Mommy

The kiddo's with their treasures that we found!
James has a bone, Bryn a skull of a sheep, and Trey with the skull of an elk!
****

We went to on Sunday to Grandma Hiller's house to watch General Conference with her.
I love how everyone just piles onto the bed to watch.
Don't let the picture fool you, Grandma was lying on the bed too with Nathan and the boys.
We appreciate it so much that she lets us come and spend time with her while listening to the wonderful speakers.

Grandma loves the babies:)
And the babies love her!
Thank you Grandma!!
****
And to wrap things up, a smiley Jack-Jack
Hope everyone had a happy March!