Joel's b-day

Joel celebrated his 2nd b-day on May 14th with a Thomas the Tank Engine themed party. Several of his friends along with Oma and Papa joined the festivities.

wrestlemania

Trevor and Joel love to wrestle. When doing so, they are easy to mistake for siamese twins.

grandma & grandpa

Grandma and Grandpa came for a visit and had fun taking walks, reading, throwing frisbees, and playing remote control vehicles with the boys.

Easter

Trevor has been greatly anticipating Easter Sunday by informing us of its line-up: "first we go to church and then we go to Evie and Issac's Oma and Pa's house for a party." He didn't even know that also on Easter would be baskets with goodies in the morning and egg decorating time in the evening. The boys have enjoyed learning the true Easter story with "Resurrection Eggs" (plastic eggs that contain icons symbolizing the story....coins, dice, linen, stone, etc.) I highly recommend them for all parents.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

The boys helped celebrated Todd's 38th b-day on April 6th. We surprised Daddy at work with balloons and sushi; later, we had brownie cake with ice cream. Birthdays are always fun with kids around.

say cheese

Alright mom, I'm getting what is due. Apparently all kids go through a phase during which "cheese" does not mean smile -- rather, it means contort your face and yell. Here are some faces I got from Trevor and Joel when I said, "cheese!"

big boy bed

Another milestone! Joel is loving his new big boy, car bed. He took his first nap in it today. Trevor is a little bit jealous but is being a good sport. They found that it is just the right height to look out the window onto the patio.

florida sunshine

We're back from our Spring Break get-away at Oma and Papa's house in Florida, and the sunshine did us all some good. Todd and I were able to relax and read with the childcare help from Oma and Papa. The boys had a riot going on golf cart rides, climbing on the village playground, trying to fish, playing in the ocean, swimming in the pool, and riding bikes. Todd loved the kayak trip in the pristine waters of Turkey Creek Preserve, and I had more fun that I thought I would. We caught some Whiting (note: Jen caught 2 and Todd caught 1) in the Ocean and had them for dinner one night. The green landscape was so very nice....come soon Spring!

best babysitter ever!

Miss Jenny is amazing! She watches our boys on Tuesdays and Thursdays -- Trevor and Joel always look forward to her book bag (filled with puppets, books, crafts) and to fun, adventure time. Here are some pics she took for us of the boys:

belated merry christmas!

We had a terrific Christmas in Michigan with the Bock family. Trevor and his cousin, Ella, enjoyed being pulled on a sled by Papa's John Deere tractor. Joel is very much into his new pint-sized lacrosse stick. It was a freezing cold holiday season -- but we survived by bundling up with blankets and playing several rounds of dominos.