Fun In the Park

We had such a fun day hanging out at the park!  The weather was beautiful which helped... I think everyone was anxious and excited to enjoy the wonderful weather and work off some of our cabin fever!  It felt SO good to be in the sun.  Thayne got a good work out keeping up with Nate and Gabe.  There was a little boy who, well, he followed us around like he needed some attention that he obviously wasn't getting elsewhere.  It was kind of sad.  Thayne was up on the 'ship' with Gabe and Nate playing.  They would jump to him and he would help them up and down the slides and teasing them. Nate asked Thayne to catch him.  The little boy then calls Thayne grandpa and tells him to pick him up.  Thayne tells him he isn't grandpa... (Thayne has a really twisted sense of humor anyway and spends lots of time confusing people with it).  The little boy looks at Gabe, and then at Nate.  Nate calls Thayne dad.  Gabe, dressed like Nate, calls Thayne grandpa.  The poor kid was so confused.  But he tells Thayne to pick him up too.  Thayne tells him no, he isn't going to pick him up.  The boy tells him he has to.  Thayne tells him he does NOT have to and he won't be picking him up, so go have his mom do it!  It's kind of sad that we live in a world where a dad out playing with his kids has to worry about playing with a kid at the park the same way.... but we DO live in a world like that!  (And in case this wastn't CLEAR before... it wasn't about playing with the child... there is not way Thayne is going to be picking up some random boy and packing him around on his back like he does his own kids because well... in this insane world you just cannot be doing that now...and clearly I stated below that the boy played with them all afternoon so please no rude comments about how we made the boy go away! SHEESH! ) This poor boy followed us around all day long trying to get the attention he desperately needed.  His mom sat with her friends under the tree and didn't even get up to help when the little boy actually needed help.  Nate let him play with them though and it really was an awesome day!

Hyrum had a lot of fun running through the park in the sunshine! 

I cannot believe Kimi and Kalli got in this thing and let them spin them around FAST.  Jace and I kept watching, commenting the whole time that we would be throwing up and that it would not be something FUN to do but Kimi and Kalli thought it was fantastic. 

Gabe is such a grandma's boy... and I admit that I love it!  Thayne was teasing him that I was his, Gabe told him no, I am HIS grandma.  And THAT is his final word!  Tiffany said she told Garrett that Gabe and I do have a strong connection.  It has been that way since the moment he was born.  I remember clearly how they had him in the warming bed and he turned his entire little body towards me, opened his eyes and looked right into mine and it was like I was meeting my very good friend all over again... he is my little buddy and I love watching him grow!  He wanted me to catch him on the slide... over, and over, and over again! :)

Nater bug having a great time!

Poor Jared... his mommy stuck him in the swing and made him pose for pictures! 

Every boy should be so lucky to have such a great daddy! 

Gabe was yelling at me to look at him and then said, "Hi Grandma!!!"  I love this little boy! 

Hi Grandma!!! 

Ready for some fun... Kailee, Noah, Kimi and Jared... 

Kami is such a great big sister!!! 

 Kalli....

 Jace and Cait came to hang out with us too...

 It's great to be best friends with your brother!

Best dad/grandpa EVER!!!  We are so blessed to have this man as ours.  We love him! 

 Gabe was telling me that I am HIS grandma!!!  Yep, I sure am!!!

Living My Dream, part 2...

I was thinking about 26 years ago, telling Thayne that I wanted to have a dozen of his babies.  Of course when we made it to a dozen it just simply didn't seem like that was nearly enough... but even though I always knew I wanted a dozen babies, and even though Thayne agreed with having them, because he wanted a big family too... I wonder what our 18, and 20 year old selves would have said if we were told that 26 years later we would be sitting in the park holding our 3 grandsons.  (I tease that I would probably say, "What???  We only have 3 grandsons???"  but I'm just teasing!)  I have to say that every time we had a new baby, my heart grew more in love with Thayne than it was before!  And that is something that I didn't believe was possible.  Every time I saw him take our newborn child in his arms... I was gone.  A smushy, mushy mess in love with the man who could continue to fall in love with our babies.  Almost as amazing is seeing him hold his grandchildren for the first time.  He loves to tease Gabe.. but when it comes right down to it, he would give Gabe the world.  And to watch him warn up to each new baby... yeah, that's the reason my heart still goes pitter patter.  Having a lot of kids isn't always a blessing to other people.  I can tell you that at our house, these babies are a blessing in a million little ways!

And then of course, Nate just cannot stand missing out on the hugging time so he snuck his little self oer to get in on the hugging scene!  He loves his dad and he loves his Gabe so haven't to stand here and not jump in on the action!  What's one more when you have an amazing group like this!!!  Love keeps multiplying and I am loving these beautiful little faces to love!

Living my dream part 1... because it's just going to take more than one post!

This is going to be a serious picture overload.  I just can't help myself!  This feels like the very reason I was born... to partake of all of this sweetness.  I have always felt like that... the reason I was born that is.  To be a mom.  But I have to say that being a mom in the middle of being a grandma is just... well... A.M.A.Z.I.N.G... I am in heaven being around the sweetness. 

Because Kimi was here, and because the weather was incredibly INCREDIBLE, we decided to spend some time at the park, enjoying the sun... and take pictures of the babies.  Willie, Wyatt and Hayden had gone with the youth over to the temple so we just had the little ones.  The loved every minute of it.I loved every minute of it.  I love watching my grandsons grow.  They each have such unique and sweet personalities and honestly, this is just about as perfect as the days can be.  THIS is living my dream.  The dream I have had since I was old enough to know... to be surrounded by my kids, and now my grandkids too!

So... here we are.  My baby boys.  Isaac, who happens to be 2 days older than Jared, but Jared outweighs him by a few pounds!  Both so fun.  Jared is pretty intense.  Doesn't want to miss out on a thing and is a cute little busy body, needing to be up and aware of everything going on.  Isaac, on the other hand just kind of kicked back and watched all of the action.  He was happy to hang out and has a big smile for you when you talk to him.  They are both so perfectly wonderful.  I was so happy I just couldn't help laughing! (for the record... Jared looks bigger than even Noah in the pictures.... it was the camera angle..)

Uncle Noah hanging out with his nephews.  I can only imagine the fun things these boys will find to get themselves into as they get older!

Yes, Noah did grab Jared's hand.  Noah is baby crazy.  He sees these two babies and he just wants to grab them and hug them and kiss their faces.  I can't imagine where he got that... it's not like every one of his brothers and sisters scoop him up and hug and kiss on him.  It's rubbed off on him!

This is probably the BEST part of the whole day... when mom/grandma got to scoop the babies up and have them all.  I'm a little selfish, if I could squeeze them all the time I would.  Oh how I love this!  I am truly amazed at how wonderful it is to have my sweet baby boy, and be experiencing this moment in life while my grandsons are just 5 months behind.  I love that they will get to share so many memories together.  I love that two little boys came to us, fresh from heaven, 2 days apart and that we get to watch them all grow up together!  I LOVE this....

It kind of makes me laugh at some of the looks people gave trying to figure out how these 'triplets' really worked.  :)  When I bought the outfits the cashier kept looking at the sizes, 3 months, 6 months and 9 months.  I noticed she was slightly baffled.  She finally asked who the lucky little boys were.  I just laughed and said my grandsons... and my baby!  Her mouth kind of fell open and then she said, "Ohhhh.... wow!"  Yep, living my dream!

I love these... Noah kept patting Isaac on the head like he was saying, "Hang in there, she'll get this out of her system soon enough!"  I say he better not count on it.  I am pretty sure I have more pictures of Gabe than his mom and dad do!!! haha

Yes... this is absolute, PURE joy... nothing in the world better than what I am holding in my arms at this moment!  Love it... love my life!