Sammy

Sam is such a good kid! I love him so much. He is like a man now! He is SO helpful most of the time. He is always wanting to make sure Logan has what he needs. He gets up with Logan an the morning and plays in the room with him until I get Logan out of his crib. Its really cute; He will fill his crib with toys so Logan doesn't cry. What a good big brother! Sam has started his 2nd year of Preschool and First Pres. and he LOVES it. He loves to see his teachers and his friends at school. He is learning so much. He is an awesome drawer! He must take after his dad; he is always got paper and pens, markers whatever he can get. He can write most of his letters very well. He has such a great imagination. He has animal friends that with us when we travel, he is always telling me I need to go faster to keep up with them. He loves to make up words and stories. He always wants to add letters to his name. B mostly. He carries a backpack or bag with him so he can take all his stuff wherever we go, it's great because I never have to pack anything to entertain them. Sam is such a trooper! When we have to rush Logan to the hospital Sam understands the urgency and that 4 year old gets himself up, gets his jacket and heads for the car. We know he is bugged because he cries to himself under his blanket in the car. But he never complains or is mad at Logan or us. He tries to help Logan know he will be fine. He helps us keep Logan happy and entertained while there. Last Friday when we had to take Logan; Sam sat next to Logan and they covered up with a blanket so Logan's Oximeter light would be brighter. He made a Logan feel so cool that he finger had a light on it. He is so helpful. Sam, We love you! It takes a special boy to be able to do what you do for Logan and for us.

Sam and Wormy. They are buddies. Sam painted a bird house for him. I love his hair! He has a MAJOR cowlick in the front there and this is the only way we can do his hair. I think he is so handsome!!

We went to the zoo an few weeks ago and they were all set up for fall. I made Sam pose for a picture. I told him we would sit there all day until he smiled for me! He did! He has such a strong will. I try to mold that will to what I want him to do, but it doesn't always work. He is such a good boy. He is going to make and GREAT husband and father some day.

Logan

Logan is growing up so fast. I love to watch him; he is always doing something funny. He loves to pretend he is a ruff-ruff (dog). He crawls around the house with his tongue hanging out and barking. Some days he is a nice dog the loves to lick everything and other days he is a naughty dog that bites. He bites hard too! He is so smart and loves to read. We find him sitting quietly in the living room surrounded by a pile of books reading to him self. He laughs at the stories and is very animated while looking at them. His favorite book is LLAMA LLAMA RED PAJAMA. He has to read it before bed every night. He hums with the lama and frets with him and helps him jump and shot. Dave reads it a lot with him because I love to watch them read together. I don't take nearly enough pictures of the boys but here are a few.

The boys and I got doughnuts for a snack and Logan wanted to make sure that no one got any of his doughnut. I let him pick the kind he wanted and he picked the biggest one! I had to break it into pieces so he wouldn't shove all of it into his mouth.

We have a play group in our ward and one of the families that comes has a 4 month old, Molly. Logan LOVES her. Not like enjoys seeing her every now and then, but LOVES her. He lays on her blanket and talks to her, brings her toys, makes sure she has her pacifier. He stands at the window and yells for her "MOLL!!! MOLL!!!" I love it. He tries to pick her up and hold her. He just wants to hold her and pet her hair and kiss her. I think they may be soul mates! He loves to sit in her car seat, maybe it smells like her. He just rocks back and forth in it. He is SO funny!

One of Sammy's friend, Caitlin (Molly's Sister) helped Logan put on these shoes. He then came to the living room and twirled around to show us. He was so excited for shoes. He loves ALL shoes because they mean outside. He looks like he is dancing. He is always spinning around and making himself dizzy.

Logan and his Pacifiers!!!! I love that he loves them but he is old enough not to need it any more, but he does not agree! He hordes them! He is always carrying 2 or 3 of them with him. He loves to put more than one in his mouth to mock us. When we tell him to 'hand 'em over' he covers his mouth and runs away. What a stinker!

One night Dave and I were watching TV when Sam starts SCREAMING at Logan. "That's naughty Lotan, you get out! No Lotan, you can't sit there!" We ignored it until Sam came stomping out to inform us that Logan needed a spanking. This is what we found. How can you get mad at this! What a smart little boy. It's a perfect sit, with a head rest and everything. He was coloring on the board with a Color Wonder, which is the only colors he is allowed. Logan is such a special little boy. We are so lucky to be his parents!

Kentucky Horse Park

Dave had training it Georgetown, Ky for a day and since no one was going with him; the boys and I went along. It was a super fast trip but it was SO FUN!! We found this Horse Park pretty close to town, so I took the boys while Dave was in his class. It was cool. The whole place was under construction, so I'm sure it is even cooler but we had a great time.

This is the stroller that we rented it worked great but SO funny looking.

This Shelden pony was super talkative. The boys were so excited that he was as small has them.

Then they got to ride a horse! I may have been more excited that them but they rode. The lady lead them around 3 time in this arena. and they had a good time. Logan started to get worried when his horse started doing his business on the trail. Neither one of them started to slip off or anything. I walked around with them but they did great.

The only way to travel!

What more could a person want while traveling? You can't see the movie he is watching, but he is LOVING it! I hate to dirty all the cups before we even get there so we decided they is no down side to this. Now, we didn't let him drink the whole thing at one time, but he did eventually drink all of it. Milk does a body good right?

Ode' to North Dakota!

We love North Dakota SO MUCH!!! We love being there with Grandma and Gramps. WE LOVE THE TASTY FREEZE!!!!! It's is relaxing and we really can forget about our lives for a while. Here are the last of the pictures from ND! I know it's like 2 months later but here they are anyway.....

Dave with Gramps. I love how Dave loves him SO MUCH!!

We found these lizards all around the house. Dave and I collected them and out them into a bucket. Logan and Sam loved them. Logan more than Sam. Logan was trying to kiss them and love them. He was weirded out when they tried to just out of Dave's hand. Thus the face!

Grandma Linda got them a chalky block that had Dinosaurs inside. They worked diligently to get those dinos out. Then they spent the afternoon coloring all over anything that stood still. They are co cute!

We attempted to take family pictures while there. This is the only one that was even remotely usable. I did want a picture with us walking away but I also wanted one where you could tell WHO WE ARE!! Whatever! Who needs family pictures anyway, right!??

Logan and NAY-NEE

Haily would eat out of our hands and Logan really liked it. He would have brought him home if he would have fit in the car!

Logan liked the Prime Rib. Must be his daddy's boy!

I'm such a lucky girl! I love my boys so much. They are ALL so handsome and sweet.

Sam's First Catch!!

Sam love to fish! Dave and Gramps took him fishing twice. The first time Sam didn't even get a bite. Dave told him it was because he got the 'butt' end of the worm. Sam was so sad. He came back telling me that "Dad gave me the butt of the worm and Mom, FISH DON"T EAT POOP!!" Poor kid. Dave convinced him to go again by telling him he good have the good part of the worm. Sam was the only one who caught anything. This is a 2 foot Northern Pike! You can't tell, but he was super excited!! It was floppy so he wouldn't touch it, but there it is! I'm SO glad he caught one!

Bowman Museum

Bowman seriously has like 1500 people in it. It has 2 TINY grocery stores and one Alco (mini Walmart). It also has a museum; an AWESOME museum. Linda and I had been talking about taking the boys for 2 weeks but we just weren't sure if it would even have anything in it. But it was really cool. We were the only ones there and the boys just ran around. They had a great time. I'm glad Linda found it!
Sam was our 'guide' for the day. He lead the way and told us all about it. It is really fun to watch his mind work! He has such a great imagination. He had stories for everything!

The boys walked around the whole place holding hands. I loved it. Normally holding hands means Sam DRAGGING Logan around by the arm and Logan crying, but that day they just loved being together!

We went through like 7 states on our vacation and I looked in each one for a Dinosaur museum. I found some but they didn't look very cool. Who would have thought that we would find a dinosaur in Bowman! Sam was SO EXCITED!!

Logan found this machine gun in the corner and would not get off it! He sat there a 'shot it'. He yells "SHOO, SHOO!" It is so cute! I should get mad at him for shooting people but I love to here him say it!

Logan found FRED. Our friend Josh has an Antelope and his house and this is how Logan sits at his house too! He just talked and talked to it. Then he started yelling for Josh. "Yaash, Yaash?" I was glad it was a small place and we had it to ourselves.

More Vacation!

While my parents were in ND we wanted to show them Mt. Rushmore and a few things around there. It is a 3 hour drive from Bowman so we left Logan with Grandma Linda and just took Sam. It was a super long day, but so much fun. I'm so glad we got so share it with my family. We took Sam to Mt. Rushmore last year and when we told him we were going back to Grandma and Gramps, he asked if we could go to Mt. Rushmore again. He loves that someone drew faces on the mountain.

You can hike around under the faces. Its a long hike but really pretty. The trail was closed half way because they were doing maintenance in the mountain. It was super hot so we took a lot of rests!

I am SO PROUD of my Mom! When we got to Rushmore Cave, it had already been decided that Dave, Dad, and Sam would go through the cave and Mom and I would wait in the gift shop. One of the guides over heard us trying to get my Mom just to look inside the cave through the glass door. He was SO NICE! He offered to let my Mom step in and check it out. I don't know if she was sure about it but Dave helped her through the door and went with her! Dave said she was SO BRAVE!! He told me that she hesitated once but he just pushed her soft and she went in. My Dad and I thought he would just take her right inside, but he didn't. He let her to the first big cavern! They were in there for at least 5 minutes!!! My Mom is very claustrophobic (she doesn't even like elevators) so even stepping inside the door was a big thing for her. You were AWESOME Mom!!!

I love her face!! She is totally freaked out but she was in there and this is the PROOF!!

Sam is fearless! This is the second Cave he has toured and he loved it! It was a mile walk and he went the whole way!

Sam and Papa Jerr. Sam loved being able to share that with my Dad!

After the Cave we went down the Needles Highway. Dave and I wanted to check it out but we weren't sure if my Mom would let us dive through the tunnels so we didn't tell her until we came up on them! She didn't tell us we couldn't! It was BEAUTIFUL! The tunnels were a tight fit but really cool! It would have been more cool if i didn't get car sick, but sadly I missed most if it. The roads were switchbacks for like 2 hours! Sam loved it!

This was the coolest tunnel! It was long! While we were there and Motor home almost got stuck. Dave and my Dad had to help him back out and turn around! It was a pretty tight squeeze.

Sam went rock climbing with Dave. I sat in the car for the most of it. They found a cool route to go up to the top of the tunnel. Sam is so brave, he just ran around up there. Dave said that the rocks he is climbing under and around or rocks that have fallen and are just hanging there.

Here Dave and Sam are at the top. Sam made a new friend, Ben there. We stayed at this spot for about a hour. It was really fun. I'm so glad my parents came out to see us. Dave loved getting to show them around ND and SD. The boys loved seeing Maymee and Papa Jerr!

Bowman Pool

In Bowman there is a city pool. The first year I went to ND, the pool was just a pool. But every year they add something to it. This year they had a huge water slide, a tube slide and a little slide for the kiddie pool. The only pool in Jackson is the gym, and 2 weeks after they fill it it's to hot to swim in. So swimming is a treat for them. Yes, that is my parents. They came out a surprised the boys! It was GREAT to see them. They were good sports. They let us drag them all over for a couple of days. Logan and my Maymee. He thinks splashing is fun.

Logan wasn't as excited at his slide.

Sam talked Grandpa Jerr into going down the slide with him. Dad shot off the end and went a ways. It was funny to hear Sam say "good job papa Jerr". Sam ran up this slide forever. Dave gave up running after him and just waited at the bottom. He only had one problem when he flipped around in the middle some where and got a good bump on his head, but it didn't seem to stop him.

I was mad while I was taking this picture. Yes, it's the HIGH DIVE!!! And that is my 4 year old jumping off it!!! Notice Dave just watching from the side. Sam was going off the regular one until his saw an older boy going up the big ladder. My Mom said, 'Don't get mad just grab the camera and get ready'. When I turned around I saw Sam walking toward the edge. Dave made Adam get in the water to 'catch' him. As he was about to chicken out an older boy told him 'Don't be scared just run and jump off, its fun'. That was all it took. My babies are FEARLESS!! The kiddie pool is blocked off by a fence from the rest of the pool and Logan was trying to crawl under it to get in on the action. He was very upset that Sam was jumping and not him.

Holy Vacation Part 2

As we were driving on the Freeway we saw this giant goose thing. It was the Enchanted Highway. This Farmer has used scrap metal to build these gigantic animal statues. They were really cool to see. The boys enjoyed stopping and checking everything out.

When Logan saw the 'SHISH', Dave couldn't drive fast enough. We had to catch him to get back into the car.

The cowboy one was really awesome. The boys played in the stage coach. Behind them was a giant cowboy. We took a few pics before we realized the place was SWARMING with leaf cutter bees. I ran the boys to the car, but not before they got Sam. His legs were COVERED in bits. Poor kid! When Sam gets bit by anything he swells like crazy, so within a few miles he was all swollen and complaining they hurt. That was the last one we stopped at. They were cool to see though.

We made it to Grandma and Gramps by late afternoon. My favorite part of being there is sitting on the front porch and watching the cars on the highway. Its right there! I am always nervous about going with kids, but we only had a 2 runaways! Logan just wanted to sweep the road. The boys are waiting for Grandma Linda. I love how Sam is such a big boy. He sits with his legs crossed in his car seat too. And Logan has to be just like him.

Logan is very shy when seeing new people. Gramps got to Logan early with some food. Now they are best friends!

Logan found this truck and played with it ALL the time. He loaded rocks and hauled them around. He wanted to ride in it but couldn't figure out how to sit in it and make it go so he settled for the rocks.

Gramps has a couple horses. Hailey and P.O.S. (really), Sam named her Spot. He thought they would like some flowers so he pick wild sunflowers for them. But not the whole thing just the pedals.

Aren't my boys SO cute. I love the Dave has his arm on Logan's leg and Logan has his arm around Dave. Logan LOVES Hailey. He yelled out the window ' NAYNEE'. That's all he wanted to do the whole 2 weeks was see Hailey.

After we had been there a week, we decided to take the boys so Rapid to a cool park and on the way we wanted to drive through and check out Strugis. We so every year, but BIKE WEEK was going so we went. It was SO FOGGY! Sturgis is a pretty small town. The main street through town is maybe 4 miles. I took our over a hour to drive through. It was nuts! There were bikers everywhere. We went to the Buffalo Chip. (above) Its so big but we couldn't see how far back it went. It is set out of town about a mile and there is only a small 2 lane road that gets you there. We went down that road! MISTAKE!! We sat in a line forever trying to get there; then when we realized what we had done we had to wait in the line to get out. Poor boys, they were so sick of the car.

There were bars everywhere! After a hour on that road we needed one!!

Full Throttle Saloon

There were shops everywhere! Just in tents and trucks. After a lunch FIASCO, we made it to STORYBOOK ISLAND. Its a free park with all of the classic storybooks represented. It was AWESOME!! We were there for several hours. The entrance was a castle and a mote. Off to the side was the ogre and the 3 goats that tried to pass.

Sam was so excited to help so Humpty Dumpty didn't fall

Old school Fire truck. Logan barked and barked at the dog. It took us a few minutes before he would get close enough to touch him. I don't think he got the dog was fake.

'NAYNEE'

The only thing you paid for in the whole thing was a train ride. They loved it. They had the thing to themselves, Sam kept telling Logan to drive and turn. What a good big brother. Dave walked beside the train; I was worried Logan would be done and get out in the middle of the ride.

YOGI and BOO BOO!

THAT FACE!!!! It about sums up the day. Logan fell in a mud lake so is all nasty. But how cute is he! I asked him who that was and that was his reply. I love it!