4th of July

We went to the Casino right by our house and played all the free kid games and waited 30 minutes for the free balloon animal :)

                                 

Sonogram

Me and our new cutie at the halfway point...right before the sono.

 We had a big crew in for the sonogram--Mom and Dad, Joey, Kimball and Grandma and Grandpa Taylor. After we found out we were having a little boy, there was still a lot of checking to do on the baby (they do hour long sessions now so they can check everything). I look over at Grandpa Taylor and asked if he would take the boys out to the waiting room for the rest of the time. My Dad just looked at me and didn't say a word. For a split second I thought, "why is he being rude?"  :)  I was really confused as to whether he was really into the sonogram and didn't want to leave, or he just didn't want to have to watch 2 active boys in a waiting room. After the 3rd time of me trying to ask and rephrase the question, he finally responded, "I don't feel too good."  Poor guy, my mom helped him slowly ease out of the room so he wouldn't keel over, and Peter took the boys out to the waiting room. Suddenly my big party of supporters was all gone :)

Peter eventually got to come back in, and we all got a good laugh. My Dad will never live this down :) He just needs to see those babies fully covered in skin, not just their insides.

But our new little guy looked so perfect!  It was amazing to see how adorable he already is and see how perfect each and every part of that tiny little body is.

And we are SUPER excited to be having another very active little boy come to our family. Everyone kept asking if we were hoping for a girl, but Peter and I both really wanted another boy, and had been feeling it would be a boy. So we were happy and relieved--boys are so much easier for us--simple. Wild and crazy, so all you have to is focus on channeling all that energy and keep them fed :)
                                         

Joey's Baptism

It was a wonderful experience to see Joey baptized. He is a very sweet boy and has learned much of the gospel over the last year. We were proud of his thoughtful decision to choose to be baptized.

Dad helping Joey practice right before we left for the church

We were sooo HAPPY that grandma and grandpa Taylor came all the way out to be here for that special day!

It was a lot harder to pay attention during the baptism and confirmation when I was trying to keep our VERY talkative and loud little toddler Tionne quiet. The best part was right after the baptismal ordinance was finished and Joey was just getting out of the water; Tionne shouted, "Kimball's turn now!"

                             

                                           

We're so proud of you Joey and grateful for your willingness to study the scriptures!

This is the real reason Tionne likes to help in the kitchen--so he can lick all the yumminess off the beaters      

more birthday activities

After we dropped Tionne off to his parent visit, we took the boys to watch the airplanes take off on the airforce base while we aited for the air museum to open

We showed grandma and grandpa all the cool things in the museum

Then ended with a giant cookie

Then spent the evening with more presents--his white towel from grandma, dragon slayer's academy books, a dinosaur bone egg from Kimball.

A delicious breakfast dinner with cinnaon roll french bread

And ended with my favorite tradition of reading their baby story to them. Joey doesn't seem super interested :), but I love sharing with them of their birth and looking at their pictures and remembering what little angels they are.

Happy Birthday to our big 8 year old!  We love you Joey!  We are very proud of all your hard work. You were so dedicated and consistent on your reading of the book of Mormon. You have continued to grow and mature so much. You struggled a lot with your anger for a while, but you are doing so well at controlling it now. You also are a great biggest brother--you are a great helper and leader. You love to read, and go through books very quickly. You want to be a marine biologist when you grow up. You love studying about sea life (just like your mom). You love adventures, playing outside, riding your bike, spending time with Dad, making things, and just relaxing. You still are VERY silly, but also have a very mellow personality.  We love you!

Joey's Birthday

Grandma and Grandpa Taylor wanted to celebrate Joey's accomplishment of finishing the Book of Mormon, so they took him to a restaurant of his choice. He choose Golden Corral so he could eat as many deserts as he wanted--he got cupcakes, 2 kinds of ice cream, cotton candy, and a little bit of food for dinner :) He was in heaven, and loved the one-on-one time with his grandparents! 

We took the G-pa's on lots of walks around the lake. They liked all the desert scenery.

We also went one day to Saguaro National Forest to see the saguaros.

Playing chess with grandpa

The boys showing off their muscles

                                  

Joey's got lots of fun presents for his birthday. Both sets of grandparents got wonderful keepsakes to remember his special baptism day

One thing Joey loved was getting the movie E.T.  He wanted it for a long time and finally got it

And money is always a hit :)