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After raking 2/3 of my front yard--interrupted only by one desperate call to my nephew to come help me bag the leaves--I have TWENTY bags of leaves for the trash man. And I still have the side yard (which was covered in snow) and the entire back yard! It just may be worth it to pay Yard Crafters $75/hour to come do the rest. Stinkin' aspen trees!

The Perfect Snow Day

Well, we had to wait almost a full year but we finally used the snowman pieces Grandma gave us for Christmas last year! A week ago (or was it two?), it snowed all Saturday night and we woke up to a beautiful white Sunday morning. I promised the boys we would play in the snow after church, so I bundled them up and began making dinner. As soon as the chili was simmering, Jake came inside and there was no convincing him to return outside to make the snowman. I bundled myself up and joined Josh outside where we created the masterpiece. Snowmen are so much cuter with real pieces instead of random bits of rock and tree bark! I went inside to check on Jacob (and dinner) and found him stark naked. Guess all those snow clothes really got to him. He finally agreed to put on underwear and watched Josh and I have a snowball fight from the front door. He thought it was hilarious that we kept throwing snow at him but couldn't hit him. Once Josh was all snowed-out, we went inside and ate chili with thick slices of cheese and biscuits with homemade strawberry jam. Perfect!

Jake's Birthday

I love the boys' birthdays. They are so clear on what they want. I asked Jake what kind of cake he wanted--BATMAN! And of course, when he saw it his birthday morning he said, "BATMAN! But it's not blue!" He turned four this year but told everyone that he was two.

Catch up time!

Let's just face it . . . all my posts are going to be a little bit behind the calendar. Thanksgiving is upon us and I'm posting Halloween. They're still cute though! Josh was a dirt bike rider and Jake was Batman (again). We went to the church trunk or treat where they "got the most candy EVER!" (according to Josh--about 1/2 a bucket full).

Primary Temple Trip

Saturday we attended the Primary temple day up in Denver. The tour was running 30 minutes late, so I took the boys into the waiting area to look at the statue of the Christus. I was talking to Jake and pointing out the nail marks in his feet and hands. I said, "But Jesus still looks happy, right?" Jake said, "No, he looks mad." Better luck next time.

My son Rich

I found three pennies in the car today and handed them to Jake. I said, "Look! You're rich!" He got that frustrated look and said, "Me not Rich! Me Jake!"

Josh's Birthday

I'm a little out of order here (with school Halloween pictures before Josh's birthday), but here they are! Josh turned 7 a few weeks ago and is soooo happy! For three days, he told EVERYONE he knew that he was finally seven. He had a Star Wars party and broke the Darth Vader pinata with one hit. Bummer for the other kids, but he was pretty proud of himself.