This kid is funny. And I mean funny.

He loves having his picture taken and poses for the camera if the flash goes off.
He pushes us away when we try to snuggle or hug him.
He screams when we kiss him.
He has a particularly low giggle when he thinks he is doing something naughty.
He thinks its funny when we say no (even though we never laugh).
He loves (LOVES) Mickey Mouse. Seriously. LOVES Mickey Mouse.
He loves books and reads to himself all the time.
He chases Loki around the house (but hates kisses from him too).

He keeps us busy, entertained and laughing all day.

Niagara Falls.

Things have been crazy the last few weeks but just to catch everyone up...we graduated, packed up our little home in small town Rexburg and moved across country to big city Niagara Falls/Buffalo. Now we're almost done unpacking and getting settled. We are living on Grand Island which is just about 4 miles south of Niagara Falls in the Niagara River. So far, it's been a great little community and our ward has been especially wonderful. The bishop even let us shower at his house for 4 days until our electricity and hot water were turned on.
During our move we had help from Ben's friend, Mike, and my nephew, Jeremy. They were awesome! We couldn't have done it without them and Jeremy is just the GREATEST babysitter of all time. As a small thank you we took them out to eat and to see the falls. And I must say, the falls totally lived up to my expectations.

be kind. rewind.

With all of the crazy stuff going on lately we have sadly neglected to blog. So to catch everyone up on the last month or so we...

threw Ben a 25th birthday party. Spiderman themed, of course.





In preparation for the party, Alex and I did a little art project. We present Alex's first paintings!




Alex decided the paintbrush looked like a yummy snack just as I was taking the picture.



And he was sooo sad I wouldn't let him ingest liquid plastic.


I also got to take a little trip to San Francisco and saw so many great things. Unfortunately, Ben and Alex had to stay in chilly Rexburg while I walked around sunny California.




I spent a lot of time in Chinatown and ate the BEST Chinese food I've ever had.


My cousin Marisa lives in San Francisco and I was so lucky to get to spend the evening with her!


The whole point of going to San Francisco was to see art, and here's a little sample of what I got to see.







The next post will probably be from Buffalo, NY written by a college graduate!

my happy boy.

Who can get enough pictures of a laughing baby?

Alex LOVES Loki


And the feeling is mutual (most of the time).

Quiet Book

For Mother's Day Ben got me a brand new Brother sewing machine which I LOVE. I think about coming home to my Brother all day and go to sleep thinking about what I'm going to sew the next day. Right now I am working on a quiet book for Alex. Most of the pages have been hand sewn but the cover was sewn with my machine (yay!) and I thought it was worthy of a post.







The first page has been my favorite so far. Not because it is all that exciting but because it looks exactly like Alex's actual window. The fabric for the "valance" and curtain is the leftover from the fabric I made Alex's actual window treatments out of. They also pull the same way.





I am very excited to share more pages soon!

It's official.

We are officially going to Buffalo, New York! Ben will be attending the law school at New York State University at Buffalo.

So far everyone we've told has said something like, "you guys must really love the cold". Well we don't. I've been pretty worried about things like road conditions, getting out to walk our dogs, and overall safety. However, I've found some encouragement from some pictures of Buffalo I found online.

It looks like they keep their roadways nice and plowed.


Walking the dogs looks like it won't be a problem either.


And why should I worry about someone breaking in when they'd have to shovel ten feet of snow just to get to the door?


Overall I think Buffalo is a great fit for us and I really (truly) am very excited to start the next chapter of our lives.

Florida

Ben, Alex and I spent our week vacation visiting Ben's dad in Florida. We hit the beach, the aquarium and some really good restaurants. Alex liked the aquarium, but he was just a little too young to be captivated. He did like to watch the fish swim right in front of him though.
Alex LOVED the sponge and of course immediately tried to put it in is mouth. ewww.

The alligator vs. Ben (he wouldn't get too close even with the glass separating them).

I love this picture.

We were in a hurry when we got Alex's swim diapers and when we got home we realized that not only were they pink, they also had the little mermaid on them!

The first time the water touched Alex's feet he screamed, but Ben and I love the beach too much to be thwarted by a few tears. We kept dipping him in until he decided he was okay.