Happy 3rd Birthday!!!

It is hard to believe that this little boy is three years old. He is such a fun little fellow and has grown up so much.

He was so excited to wake up in the morning and see the poster and the balloons on the wall. He kept saying to everyone, "It's my birthday!" and he sang the Happy Birthday song over and over.

Opening presents is lots of fun. Look at this one!!!

He figured out that we would sing before he opened the presents, so then he had to make sure we sang before he would open any more. And each time, as soon as we started singing, his face would light up and he would start unwrapping. 

So many fun friends to play with! He wanted to invite everyone he saw to his birthday party.

There were even more presents to open!

And lots of balloons to pop and discover the treasures inside.

Look at that cake! He wanted a tower cake and was thrilled with all 3 candles. And the ice cream cones and cake were a hit.

Handsome Boys

Uncle Dan got married in Utah and we all made the trip out. The boys had so much fun getting all dressed up for the wedding. They looked super handsome with their pink bow ties!

The reception center had an awesome little pool with a fountain and little fish in it. Michael had to tell every single person about the water and the fish. He was really excited about it!

April Fun

Both boys are growing fast and they really like to play together. B is super sweet with Michael and likes that he is getting big enough to go outside and play. Michael likes having someone to show him where to go and what to do.

One of Michael's favorite things to do is find places to crawl into. The smaller the better!

And then he likes to yell until someone comes to see where he is. Look at me!

The lake close to our house is great for fishing. And a little boy is always ready to go fishing with the rest of the family. He is quite good at casting and is ready to catch a fish with this soft rubber ring that he had tied to his line.

What a cast!

Camping

With it being too cold to camp near home, we decided to head south to the desert to find somewhere warmer to camp. Goblin Valley was super cool with all the neat stone shapes. The boys loved running around and climbing and exploring. It was like a giant playground everywhere you looked.

I'm the king of the world!

Ready to head out on a hike.

Michael loves being carried around on the hikes. He is a little tour guide and likes to point out all the rocks, water, trees and bugs that he sees. There were a lot of rocks to see on this hike through an amazing slot canyon. He got a lot of comments from other hikers that he had the best ride of all.

He has started to like having his picture taken. He will smile at the camera and make silly little faces.

He also started exploring on his own. Where we camped was pretty wide open and he liked to see how far he could walk away before someone would come running after him. As soon as they did, he would squeal and start running away as fast as his little feet would carry him. It is a good thing we are still faster than him at this point.  

SNOW!

The winter in Colorado is so much fun. Beautiful snowstorms and days filled with sunshine mean the boys can play outside almost every day. Michael learned very quickly that it is fun to be outside, but only for a little while before it is time to come back inside to get warm. He isn't too sure about this big coat thing that makes it hard to move around. But it does mean he can stay out longer and that might just make it worth it.

Michael's first time sledding was lots of fun. He liked riding in the wagon that Santa brought him. And when he got to the top of the hill he was ready for the ride down.

He wasn't sure about riding with someone else, but decided to go for it.

Ready, set, GO!

He was really brave and decided to go with his brother. They both screamed and laughed all the way down the hill. Not even a wipe out at the bottom could dampen his enthusiasm.

After rides with everyone else, he decided his favorite way down was to just scoot down on his bottom at his own speed. And it let him eat snow whenever he stopped!

Christmas Time is Here!

In preparation for Christmas, we made the trek up into the mountains to take advantage of a neat program here in Colorado where you can go and cut down your own Christmas Tree. Michael loved being all bundled up and carried in the backpack through the mountains in search of the perfect tree. He had lots of opinions of the tree we should get and made sure to point out each of the trees that looked like good candidates. We finally found a perfect tree and even though it looked really small when compared to all the other trees, it fit perfectly in our house.

Michael wasn't too sure about this Santa Clause character and wasn't even willing to sit on his lap. It was very funny since he is very social and loves to go to just about anyone. But the boys had a great time at a special Polar Express Christmas party. Something about wearing their pajamas and going and eating cookies was very fun to them.

Christmas morning was filled with exclamations of delight at all the fun and interesting things that had magically appeared overnight. He wasn't too interested in opening all the presents, he wanted to enjoy each gift. When he opened a present that had toy cars inside a box, he wouldn't let anyone else continue until we had opened the box so he could play with the cars. He just wanted to enjoy each gift before moving on to the next one. It was so special to share this Christmas with him.

Happy Halloween!

Halloween was a wonderful time for a little boy that loves to eat candy. B wanted to have Michael wear a Lion costume so they could be the Lion and the Mouse from Aesop's fables. They were super cute together and had tons of fun going Trick-or-Treating. Michael only got three suckers stuck in his hairy mane.

The weather has certainly turned colder and there was even a little bit of snow. That hasn't stopped this boy from being outside and playing with his puppy dog and the ball. It is hard to say who likes playing with the ball more.

We all love going on our Sunday afternoon walks around the neighborhood park and lake. But as it has gotten colder, we have needed more and more layers to make it back without turning blue. This time the boys turned into Angry Birds characters to keep from getting cold.