Reptiles, Reptiles, and Reptiles

Gunnar caught his first frog! The excitement is noted in the pictures! Then with all of the rain we've had, there have been lots of turtles out and about on roads and parking lots so Rhett has brought them home for the kids to have a pet turtle for a few days and then we put them in a pond and watch them run :) It sure has been fun to watch the excitement that they have as they catch frogs, worms, and turtles.

Gunnar's First Frog he Caught!!!

Our Box Turtle Rhett found in the road

And my Favorite - the painted turtle found in the work parking lot - man he was friendly and fast! The kids would put their feet up and watch him crawl all around. Any friends that would come over squealed and ahhed over this speedy turtle. I did have a pet turtle as a child whose name was actually speedy.

Grandma and Grandpa's First Visit to Maryland!

Yeah!! Grandma and Grandpa made it to Maryland - this was their 3rd try and the third try was the charm! We had so much fun with them here and are already for them to come back. Pleeeeaaase!!

They stayed right in the middle of Inner Harbor for a work conference so we spent our first night together in the inner harbor and it was just beautiful. We went out to eat at the cheesecake factory and had yummy desserts!

Grandma and Grandpa got the grand tour of the house by Gunnar and then got stuck in His room reading books!

We went swimming at the hotel where Preston enjoyed splashing everyone!

We got to go to Harper's Ferry and Grandma's favorite place Mount Vernon.

We had such a great visit! We love you Grandma and Grandpa! Thank you for coming and seeing us in Maryland!

The Fishin' Boy

This was Gunnar's first year fishing! He was so excited. Bought his own pole and was ready to go out fishing! He would throw the line out and then reel it back in again and again and again - and he never tired! He hasn't caught a fish yet but when that happens fishing will take on a new excitement. Here are some pictures of our Fishing Boy!! And one with his Dad.

Preston's First Hair Cut

Yes it was time, but of course I loved that wild hair of his. He looked like a duckling with his peach fuzz. He was quite the character cutting his hair. Preston always has a funny expression on his face, we love that little boy.

The Before Picture!!

Preston's best Barbers! His Dad!

And his Mom! The two of us Tag teamed him!

And the After Shots of the Handsome BOY!!

Summer trip back West!

Yes, we are lucky to be able to head back to the west to see all our family this summer. We spent 10 days in Arizona and 10 days in Utah and had a blast!

In Arizona we enjoyed the hot weather, went swimming, saw Great Grandma, played with my 23 cousins on the Merrell side, went to the zoo, and got to be with our Grandma Connie!

Here are the boys with their Grandma Connie - every picture you find with her and the boys it will be outside. That is her favorite and the boys favorite place to be, wether it was to feed the chickens, put the goats up, or pull weeds.

Look at this funny looking peacook - here's Gunnar, Preston, and Allie. We were lucky to have Aunt Crystal and our Cousins Allie and Holden with us the whole time while we were in Az. Here is the crazy clan with their Great Grandma - I should know how many greats she has but I've lost count. Allthough I do know that every night she counts them to help her fall asleep. We love our Grandma Merrell.Gunnar and Brock replanted a tree using a branch. It was one exciting adventure for Gunnar.
Look at these monkeys. Allie, Gage, and Gunnar

In Utah we played with the Rhees's Cousins, Rhett got to go golfing (his favorite thing to do), visit the Morley Farm, and be with Grandma and Grandpa!

Gunnar and Grandma playing connect 4. Grandma Karin is always so sweet to play games with the grandkids and to read them stories.
Preston loves animals and this is the nice cat at Grandma and Grandpa's that he can pet. So here he is on the bed petting "Calley".

Here are the Morley Clan. Quinn and Merrell with Gunnar. They showed us the baby lambs, calves, chicks, and then rode horses too! They have quite the place now.

This is my favorite picture of the Rhees cousins. Here is Riley, Preston, Gunnar, and Karson chilling eating chips. Preston seemed to always have a bag of cheetoh's there which went right along with a cheetoh face! These four rode lots of bikes, played on the swing set, and had lots of soccer games and baseball hitting.

Easter Fun!

Happy Easter! What a wonderful time to celebrate the Resurrection of our Saviour. We had a great Easter weekend filled with lots of fun.

My crazy boys!!

My boys got to make Rabbit Hats in this fun picture to send on an Easter Card to their Grandparents. Aren't they cute little bunnies!!

Speaking of bunnies! Gunnar really liked the Easter bunny this year. And grinned from ear to ear when he saw him! We saw the bunny at the park during a community Egg Hunt. Preston I had to keep hold of because he wanted to get those eggs really bad.

We also painted eggs - even Preston painted a little - but mostly he would pick the eggs up and throw them like a ball.It's Easter - Gunnar was soooo excited! We had jelly beans around the house and he loved finding them with his basket.
Bubble fun - this was the big Easter gift and everyone had a blast blowing bubbles, and catching them!

Easter Feast with Friends from the ward - we are sure grateful for the friendships we have here to celebrate holidays with. We had a great dinner, played games, and the kids played and played. In the above photo is the Bradley Family and the Stacey Family. Below you see the kids table lots of fun going on here!Clean up clean up - the church vacuum and Briggs was the finale of the day as the kids all helped vacuum.

Rhett's 33

On April 1st - it is not only April Fool's Day but also Rhett's Birthday! We had a wonderful day and the boys and I had so much fun doing things for Daddy's birthday! We always start with a birthday feast of eggs, bacon, sausage, and hashbrowns, and end with a feast of cake and icecream. Gunnar was extremely excited as we blew up balloons the night before, we hid them in the closet, then at dinner time Gunnar announced "Daddy we have balloons hiding in the closet for your birthday so don't find them". We all had a good laugh. Preston's favorite thing was the streamers as he would go in and out of them just to have them touch his face and then grin from ear to ear. It was a fun day to celebrate. We love our Daddy and Hubby - and enjoy this day we have to share with him and have him be all ours! Here are some pictures of the day.

Gunnar made Rhett his very own piggy bank.

I got Rhett some roller blades for his birthday and that was the hit of the night. As Rhett went up and down our sidewalk with the boys chasing him back and forth and then he would chase them.

Rhett also got "The Perfect Push Up" Check him out pumping iron!

Here is the big Birthday Boy with his 33 candles in his choice key lime pie for the evening shindig. 33 candles very fun - key lime pie a little strong.

And a side picture of the two of us by the photographer of the day - Gunnar. I was impressed that he did so well. Shoot I am going to start having him take all the pictures.