Scripture time

I give you Caleb, reading a scripture.

Great googly moogly

It has been waaaaaay too long since we posted on our family blog. So here's a rundown!

1. This is Caleb back in October after getting into some chocolate. Note the wild curls. They are now gone, as Scott took some scissors to Caleb's hair one morning. Anyway, Caleb is now 18 months and in nursery at church, and babbling away in a language only he understands. He is good at saying some words, like "light," "Gott" and "Gogogogo!" He is a little sweetheart, and gives hugs and cuddles a lot.

2. I went to my third Pontoon & Deckboat Magazine Shootout, this time held at Lake Shelbyville in Illinois. I had a great time, and it was nice being on the water in the sun while it was snowing back in Utah. Here's a video one of the participating companies made of the event.

3. Here is a Shaun the Sheep cake Mandi made me for my birthday. It came out awesome and it tasted great, too. Shaun the Sheep seasons are on Netflix, and I highly recommend the show.

3. I have been working for Apple as a Genius, which just means I diagnose and fix problems with Apple products, like the MacBook Air pictured above. As far as jobs go, it's a good one that challenges me and makes the days go by quickly.

4. I attended every BYU football home game last fall. The Utah beatdown was epic in how bad it was, and the last two home games were epic in how cold they were. My toes did not enjoy the weather, even though I had three pairs of socks on. In short, BYU won 10 games, won their bowl, and are ranked in the Top 25 to end the season. I feel this 2011 squad was mediocre. Oh well, there's always next year.

5. We bought a house in December! It was a short sale we had put an offer on about 7 weeks before, but with how short sales normally go, we expected to wait a lot longer. See Mandi's Facebook photos for more pictures of the house (before we bought it). We're still unpacking and everything's a mess or I'd post current photos here. Give it some time.

6. We had Christmas with the Johnsons in Idaho. Here is Scott enthused about his Christmas pajamas.

And here is Scott happier, thanks to his cool Angry Birds hat aunt Amy got him for Christmas. I could only be there for a couple of days due to work restrictions, but Mandi and the boys were there for a week or so, and had a great time with "the far away Grandma in the mountains" as Scott calls her.

Mandi's been growing her voice studio, and now has a group of students she teaches in Sandy every Wednesday and more she teaches in a basement room at our new house during the week. She enjoys it and I think she does a great job.

I hope this was an acceptable recap of the last half of 2011. I'll try to do better at blogging cute stuff from the kids and important family events for 2012.

I love...

Caleb

• I love his crazy bedhead hair after a nap.
• I love how vocal he is--he's constantly "talking" and telling me all about how he's feeling.
• I love how proud he is of himself when he makes a big mess or stands up on something.
• I love how he looks for Scott when he first wakes up from a nap.
• I love watching him relish feeding himself.

Scott

• I love how he says "Mommy, just put me down for a nap" when he gets tired in the afternoon.
• I love how he and Caleb play (when they play nicely).
• I love how much he loves music class--he always asks me if we're going there today.
• I love his love of his cousins and uncles and grandparents--he loves them so much that they are even his imaginary friends, his "little fellas".
• I love how much he enjoys reading and memorizing books and songs.

Brandon

• I love how he does the dishes every opportunity he gets.
• I love how he willingly works a day job at a tech-support place, then comes home and works another job writing and editing magazines at night.
• I love watching him wrestle his boys.
• I love how excited he gets about sports--it's fun to talk to him about his passions.
• I love how he enjoys living close to his family, especially his brothers.

Birthday Wishlist(s)

Scott would like for his birthday:

Outside play toys: plastic slide/jungle gym, sandbox, water table, those types of things.

A dollar or a gift card to the dollar store to get a balloon. We'll get him one for his birthday, but he always asks me for one whenever we're at the dollar store, so I'd love to be able to get him one every month or so.

A baby doll (his idea).

Clothes: Scott wears 4T and 5T in used clothes, and 4T in new clothes. (Either is just fine with me!) He especially could use PJ's, church pants (navy and khaki), and jeans. He would love anything with Buzz Lightyear or Toy Story on it. Also, athletic socks. Toddler size are fine.

A bag of balloons to blow up. (dollar store is great) He says he wants: "yellow, orange, green, red"

DVDs of cartoon Disney movies (old, new, whatever. He like the princess ones as well as the Toy Story/Cars types)

Play dough play set (or cookie cutters, etc) We already have pink and yellow play dough.

I would like:

A DVD player

Cute flat shoes, size 8.5 Wide

Levi Strauss Signature Low-rise bootcut jeans, darkest navy wash, size 4 Long (at Wal-Mart or walmart.com)

Full-sized Primary Children's Songbook

CoverGirl Lipslicks lipgloss in the color Cutie (also at Wal-Mart)

This water bottle in the 12 oz. size

Caleb's 6 month photo shoot

Wish they were better quality, but that's what happens when you don't have any money, lol.

Being a brother ROCKS! Can you tell how much these two already love each other? :)

Cute boys.

I like this one.

Another favorite.

The aquarium

My dad notified me that today is "Dress Like a Penguin Day" at the Living Planet Aquarium in Sandy. Dress in black and white and get in free! So Mandi and Brooke took their kids this afternoon. Here are the results.

Scott's career as an architect

This is what Scott did during the program part of the ward Christmas party. He definitely enjoyed running wild with the other kids during dinner, and once the singing and trumpet-playing started, the rest of the children were all successfully corralled into being reverent. But not Scott, no sir. He still insisted on sprinting laps around the tables and loudly clanging on the volleyball standards.

So I brought him into the nursery room, or as he calls it "his church class" and we built a tower.

Videostravaganza week continued!

Today's video is Scott decorating the tree. We weren't sure if we should bother putting the tree up here in our Idaho Falls house, but Scott had a great time and it was a nice evening.

Videostravaganza week

This week we'll be posting a video a day from the last three weeks or so. Today's offering is Caleb trying to drink from a glass. This kid wants anything we're eating, and is becoming increasingly frustrated that he can't eat and drink everything we do. Reminds us of another little boy we know.

Such aggression at such a young age. Or as Mandi says, focus. Determination. Drive.

Bonus Scott stories!

1. Scott after fake coughing: "Mommy, I got a throat in my mouth!"

2. His latest adjective is "beautiful." As in "Mommy, what a beaauuutiful dinner!" or "A beeaaauutiful band-aid to feel me better" or "a beeeaaauutiful drink of water."

3. "Dashing through the snow, on a one horse open sleigh, o'er the fields we go, laughing all the way! Ha ha ha bobs on tailing ring....." Jingle Bells is currently his favorite song. Any song we hear is definitely Jingle Bells.

4. Today he told Mandi he wanted a sticker not on the back of his hand, but his wrist. What two-year-old differentiates?

5. Thanks to a recent tirade of Mandi's after not being able to drive into our garage, as far as Scott is concerned, the snow is now stupid.

Meet Caleb Barrus

It's been so fun watching as Caleb's personality emerges.

Caleb loves loves loves his toes. They are his favorite.

Caleb really wants to sit up by himself, but he's not quite balancing yet. Soon.

Caleb has two teeth and loves bananas, likes yams, and does not prefer avocado. (oh well, more for me, I guess! :)

Caleb loves to squeal, squeak, squawk, and otherwise tell the world his story.

Scott had to get in on the picture-taking action, as well. Don't worry, that's just chocolate all over his face from dragging a dining chair over to the highest kitchen cupboard and getting into the baking supplies. No one will ever say he's not independent.

And he really wanted me to take a picture of him "taking a nap" on his bear.

Scott's newest phrase is "Nothing to worry about, Mommy!", as in:

Me: Scott, what are you doing in the kitchen?

Scott: Nothing to worry about, Mommy!

The Justice League: Making Halloween Safe for America

Clark Kent, turning into Superman; Wonder Woman; Batman; Aquaman.

This pumpkin meets with Batman's approval.

Aquaman still needs a little help from Wonder Woman to stand up. After all, he's stronger in the water.

Batman prefers not to wear his mask.

Funny Scott-isms

"Oh my peas!" (a quote from Super Why!)

"Imma gonna do it" (in response to anything we offer to help him with)

Us: What does a duck say?

Scott: Cwap, cwap! It's cwapping!

Speaking of Caleb, Scott informs me at least 20 times a day that, "he's just a liiiiiiiittle baby" :)

On Sundays, Scott gets really excited to go to "church church". Just to be clear, it's not any other kind of church, it's church church.

Scott loves to read his "Boot o' Mowman stowies" every night. The other night, he opened the book and started "reading" to himself: "And it tame to pass..."

I was talking with Scott about the First Vision; he made little cards in nursery that illustrated the story. We talked about how Joseph Smith read in the Bible, prayed, and then received a vision.

Me: Who appeared to Joseph Smith in the woods?

Scott, after much serious thought: Cookie Monster!

Scott, whenever he sneezes: Mommy, I bless youed!

Whenever Scott is touching the computer (it's off limits), I ask him what he's doing. "I'm checking my three dollar!" he usually says. I have no idea what that means, but it sounds important. :)

I often tell Scott I'm so proud of him when he accomplishes "big boy" tasks all by himself. The other night, I thanked him for letting me change his diaper (he didn't run away from me that time when I asked him to come lay down), and he said, "I'm so proud of you, Mommy."

Caleb's first pictures...and some of us, too

I love what Brandon said to me after the whole ordeal was over: "You know, family pictures aren't any fun when you're an adult, either. I remember, as a kid, thinking 'No, not family pictures again. I hate these.' But it's even worse when you're the dad, and you have to wrangle the crazy toddler!"

Yes, Brandon, it's true. But so important. :)

Brothers

He now understands the concept that it's a baby. :)

"He's cwying. But he's still cwying!"

Kisses. "Muff!"

Love. Can't wait for you to be best friends, boys. <3