Easter 2009

Happy Easter!

It is so difficult to get 2 boys to cooperate with picture taking - when there are so many other things to do - like play with toys and eat candy! Notice Jacob chomping on a piece of Easter gum. This was the best we could do - together - and almost smiling!!

We celebrated on Saturday evening at our house - for Easter and for Jackie's birthday (the BIG 20 - no longer a teen!).


We had an Easter egg hunt in the backyard after dinner. Here's Antonio with his face-painted snake and basket full of eggs.


Jacob searching for some eggs...


Salma finding a few...


And Levi's first experience with egg-huntin...


The kids also got some fun treats from Grandma and Grandpa (Nana & Poppop) after the egg hunt.

We went to church on Sunday morning and then came back home and the boys got to enjoy their Easter baskets from Mommy & Daddy. As you can see, Levi is so excited he wouldn't even turn around for a picture.

Here are the boys with their goofy sunglasses. What hams they are!

Levi saying "cheese" while playing with a new toy.

Levi was pretty excited about having some candy. He definitely likes sweets like his Mommy!

Jacob has definitely learned how to pose on command now. He got a transformer - that was a bit difficult for him to manuever - but Daddy sure knows how to do it well...who was the toy for...really?

Had to include this picture - of the boys in their matching Easter church clothes. Doesn't Jacob looks super tall! Levi looks like he is wearing brother's clothes....he will grow into them soon :)

Playing with some of the toys from Nana and Poppop!

Easter evening we got to have another egg hunt with the Resurrection Eggs (12 eggs with a different symbol of the Easter story in each one). The first year we have done it with the boys. They both searched for the eggs - and Jacob listened pretty closely as we briefly explained the significance of each one. He liked doing this - and we searched and went through them twice. We look forward to doing this again next year - and for both of them to understand a bit more each time. It was a great weekend together - and the first of many in our new home celebrating this Resurrection weekend.

Bathtime

One of our first bathtimes in our new home. Levi loves taking a bath - and once he sees his brother is getting one - he gets all excited and starts trying to disrobe. He is a big cheeser!

You lookin at me?

It's so much easier on Mommy and Daddy to bathe him in the sink. Trying to bend over a tub - is so hard on the back - for us old folks!

Boys and their Trikes

The boys both have tricycles now - Levi just got a hand-me-down from Salma that is just his size. Previously, he wouldn't let us put his helmet on - but today he was ready for it to ride his new bike. Lookout world......here I come!


He looks so big dragging his trike around :)


Here are the two bikers - they are both getting so big! Brothers - ridin' bikes together. How sweet is that!

New Home

After looking at houses for about 6 weeks - and putting in 6 different offers - we finally had an offer accepted on Friday, February 27th. It is a foreclosure - and we had placed the offer on Saturday, February 20th but had received word a few days later than another bid was accepted. But - a few days after that we were told the first bid had funding issues. Good news for us! This was the 3rd foreclosure that we had bid on - and our favoritist of the 3. Here is the front -

It is a 4 bedroom, 3 bath home - with 3 bedrooms upstairs and a spare rooms downstairs. We are very excited to be able to be in our own home. This is the family room -

Many foreclosures have a lot of issues - faucets missing, light fixtures missing, holes in walls, trees removed, appliances missing, etc. This house is in very good shape - move-in ready. Most of the paint looks pretty good - except for the "princess" paint in one of the boys rooms. That will need to be one of the first projects. Here is the kitchen - so many cabinets - yea!

We will all be sleeping upstairs - which makes me a bit nervous to have the boys - and mostly Levi - to deal with stairs. He is not very good at stairs. Thankfully there is only one narrow entrance - that can be gated easily. I will feel better when he gets a little older and we don't have to worry so much about falling down stairs. This is the dining/living room combo - view from the stairs -

We have a fairly small backyard - much smaller than Wichita. Jim is glad for that - not so much yard to maintain. We really didn't use our large yard in Kansas much - so I hope we have better use of this yard. We are excited about it - seems like a good size for the boys to play in - landscaped nicely - and not too much to maintain.

We are very thankful that we were able to move to California at this time - and have been blessed in our jobs. We feel fortunate to be able to purchase this home and look forward to making family memories and watching our boys grow here.

Brothers

It is so fun to see Jacob and Levi be sweet with each other. Each morning they love to sit in the chair together as they wake up - watching cartoons - and sometimes eating breakfast (note the pancake in Levi's hand).

Footie pajamas are fun too.........sometimes. Levi likes his. Jacob likes footie pajamas......sometimes......when he is not having oc issues with his feet. For the past few weeks, he has wanted to wear two piece pjs. I was ready to pack away all of his footie pjs a few months ago - and then he started liking them again. We never know how the wind will blow.....it changes often on us.......keeps us on our toes!

Christmas 2008

Our first Christmas in California as a family. We celebrated at home on Christmas Eve. We are trying to get a family picture by the tree - so hard to get all four cooperating at the same time!


Missy flew in from Kansas and spent the week with us. The boys loved having Auntie around - it was a fun week!


Before opening the gaggle of presents - we read the Christmas story. Sweet picture with Jacob listening and cuddling with me.


Levi and Mommy. So hard to keep him in one place to take a picture.


We went to Uncle Joey's and Aunt Ofelia's house for Christmas Day. Here are Nana and Poppop - posin' for a pic.

Jacob got a Big Wheel from Nana and Poppop. He had to go outside and try it out. It is so much fun!

When Levi was told to get ready for a picture - he had to go sit under the tree. I guess we had taken so many shots under the tree - that is where he associated that every picture must be taken!

On Christmas morning we opened stockings. Jacob took out each item and presented it like it was the best thing ever. But - something kept making jingly music - and he couldn't figure out from where it was coming. He would just stop and listen - and then the music would stop. It was pretty funny. We finally had to tell him it was the reindeer - the candy pooping reindeer.

One of Jacob's gifts - a racetrack. Levi and Jacob love letting the cars race down it.

Levi loved the bows. Priceless picture - don't get too close - you might get something extra special!

Levi loves to jump on the bean bag chair that Grandma got Jacob for his birthday. It was a wonderful Christmas with family and friends. Too bad we have to wait a whole year before doing it again!

Jacob's 4th Birthday Bash

Jacob turned 4 on December 3rd and we celebrated on Saturday. He got his own digital camera - and was enjoying taking pictures of us now.


Blowing out his candles - one at a time. Good thing he wasn't older! He took cupcakes to school on Wednesday for his actual birthday - and wanted cupcakes again for his party.


Brother Levi enjoying chocolate.......he didn't eat much pizza - but knows what the good stuff is!


Opening up his presents - walkie talkies and Mr. Potato Head. The boys enjoyed hiding and spying and talking secretively on the walkie talkies......sometimes they forgot to quit pushing the button though......


Jacob was excited - he got "dollars"! Hasn't quite figured out the difference in monetary amounts - he would have been just as happy with $1 bills :)


Cousin Salma was enjoying playing with a monster car with Uncle Jim - and everytime it rolled over his hand - she cracked up.

The kids were catching butterflies with the Elefun Game. Jacob needs some practice - didn't quite have the hang of actually moving his net around........sometimes one would happen to fall in - that was fun.

We can't believe our BIG boy is actually 4 now. The last 4 years have gone by pretty quickly. We call Levi - lil bit - sometimes - but he is getting bigger too. They sure grow up quickly and learn to do things. When Poppop asked Jacob - if he is 4 this year - how old will he be next year - Jacob paused for a moment and then said "18". I am glad he won't be growing up that quickly!