Joseph Walks!

Joseph began taking steps when he was about 9.5 months old. But Scott wouldn't let me call it walking until last Wednesday, when Joseph really took off.

Here are our attempts at a video of it. In the second half of the video Ian stubs his toe and you can hear Scott do some silly tricks to get Ian to feel better....because no video or picture will ever be just about Joseph. It's pretty cute to see Joseph marching along through all of it though.

Even just a few days later Joseph is much more steady and confident. He still uses objects to stand up and if he falls he will often crawl to his destination because crawling is still quicker for him. But now he can walk across entire rooms and make turns too.

It is fun to see the way this new skill is changing how the boys play with each other. Ian seems to respect Joseph a bit more and he likes how Joseph follows him around on foot. Ian also likes to count Joseph' steps as he goes.

Ian's Cougar Den

While the boys and I were finishing up our vacation in CA, Scott was busy planning and carrying out a huge surprise!

I have always wanted to design Ian's room around a BYU Cougars theme, but somehow it just never happened. I was so thrilled to see that Scott had taken the task upon himself, especially since he far exceeded my own imaginations for the room. I love how the "Y" logo appears on a Y Mountain, just as it does in real life! Plus, the horizontal stripes on the wall are just like the white stripes on the BYU football jerseys, with the center stripe slightly thicker. My husband is a creative genius.

I loved it so much I cried when I saw it. We arrived home from the airport and were busily preparing the boys for bed when I walked in the dark room, flipped on the light and saw what Scott had done. After flying home to Houston for four hours with a toddler on my lap and an infant by my side, such a thoughtful act was such a wonderful surprise. I absolutely love how it turned out. And so does our little Cougar fan, Ian!

Here is a video of the room:

Another fun surprise came the following day -- our good friend Susan, Sarah Kearns mom, had finished a beautiful quilt for Ian that she had been working on since his birth. It has adorable illustrations of each letter of the alphabet on one side....

...and BYU Cougar logos on the other! Ian adores the quilt and insists on sleeping with it. And the timing of when the gift arrived was so fun! It looks like it was made for his new room.

Scott just returned from a business trip to Utah and brought back some fun accessories from the BYU Bookstore. I can't wait to see how it all looks up on the walls.

* Our 4th Anniversary *

5 years ago this weekend, I met the man I'd love forever! And four years and two weeks ago we were married. It was a beautiful day, and I have had a wonderful life with him ever since. I wouldn't mind if we had a million more years just like the last four we've spent together.

I guess I am feeling romantic -- all the pictures I uploaded are mushy ones. So sorry for you.

We were reunited the day before our anniversary after a week apart. The boys and I were in CA, and meanwhile Scott was been busy planning an anniversary to remember, which included:

* a long, long stemmed rose for every year of our marriage
* surprising me by coming home for lunch, and bringing along a favorite treat that has special meaning (Reese's Peanut Butter cereal)
* feeling fancy while eating at Perrys Steakhouse. mmmmmmm.....
* a get-away for the weekend to a location of my choice from three fabulous options, with babysitters already arranged. (Kearns fam, you rock. Thank you a million times.)

I fell in love with the modern decor at Option #1, as he knew I would. It was only an hour away, but felt a world away from normal life. I won't say we didn't still talk quite a bit about our kids, but I loved doing everything without considering naptimes or carrying around a single diaper. It was rejuvenating, and oh-so-perfect.

Here is a little video of our digs for the night. I wish I could have brought home one of the cool lamps along with all the fancy soaps we pocketed.

This was our first night away together since becoming parents (because, as my sister-in-law pointed out, spending the night at a hospital following the birth of a child doesn't count) and it was incredible. We stayed out late, slept in, ate well, had long, blissfully uninterrupted conversations, and reveled in how much we love being together. Highlights included spending all evening at an on-site water park overlooking the lake, and eating breakfast by the waters' edge of Lake Conroe. And eating. Ohh, did we eat.

*** Scott was up to more than just planning this anniversary while I was away... up next is a post about an amazing project that kept him very busy until we returned! ***

Northern CA

When I saw that the wedding would be an hour's flight from my parents home, and that a big Ogden family reunion was happening that week, I couldn't resist extending our vacation. It had been a year since our last visit, and it was Joseph's first time meeting a lot of the people we saw.

We couldn't resist making a tradition out of going to the zoo with Grandpa. The tigers were cool but a little scary.

Hoping along the lillypads was great fun -- aunt Allison was surprised that Ian would intentionally step off the pads into the water. Ha!

Joseph loved all the attention from Grandma. They had fun on the porch swing, eating rocks, and picking green beans.
Checking the tomatoes and watering the garden have also become a tradition at Grandma and Grandpa Ogdens. Ian made this face every time he squeezed the trigger. And can you tell who insists on dressing himself lately? Watering the garden naturally progressed into filling this bucket and stomping and splashing around with floating toys and a glittery ball. Grandpa is full of fun ideas!

While we hurried to get ready for church, Ian kicked back in a comfy chair. Has anyone seen my shoes?

The week began at Pine Mountain Lake for the Ogden family reunion. That is a fun group of people. Highlights included the Fart Machine II, a musical at the outdoor theatre, taking turns with uncle Gary's fake tattoo sleeves, eating great food, swimming in the lake and staying up way too late playing cards. Thanks Allison, Jason, mom and dad for all the help with my boys! We had a great time!

Jason is the world's coolest and knew just how to play with Ian at the lake. He played catch with Ian, chased him all over the lawn, and swam with Ian on his back. Ian can't stop talking about Jason's baseball bat.

We miss you guys! Thanks for a memorable and very fun visit!

Ventura and Family Fun

While in CA for the wedding we had fun going to museums and playing at the beach. (but boy was it cold that weekend!) We miss playing with all the Larson cousins already!

Ian loved a display on planets.

This cool contraption carried sound from one side to another. Ian loved it, then tripped and fell and got a bloody nose. Then we were done with it.

At the harbor museum in Ventura we checked out a dwarf mammoth that used to live on a channel island. Bet you didn't know those existed, huh? Awww.....

Some of the Larson crew.

The bride's family generously opened their condo on the beach to us. It was the perfect place for us! We took several trips down to the sand, but it was never quite warm enough for us Texans.
We finally decided to jump into the heated pool instead. But when that was still too chilly, we went inside and took a hot bath. That was just right! Can you believe Scott fit in here too?

California Wedding

Congratulations Michael and Carly!

Scott's younger brother married his sweetheart in Southern CA earlier this month. It was a beautiful ceremony in a gorgeous church the bride's grandfather helped build. It was so neat to see so much of the Larson family gathered together, and we had so much fun catching up! We sure missed our East coast and missionary family members who weren't present!

Joseph and I witnessed most of the wedding from outside the chapel doors -- about 5 minutes into the ceremony Joseph threw up all over both of us. Ian happily covered his legs and the pew with sparkly stickers (thanks for stepping in when we dashed out, Krystal!), and Scott stood up front as a groomsman with his brothers.

Here is Ian presenting the newlyweds with their first gift -- a pinecone. We didn't know what he was up to and I did not expect him to march right up to them like he did! I loved her dress. Carly made a very classy and beautiful bride.

Ian insisted on wearing his suspenders like this. He ran all over the church property to make up for sitting still for the ceremony.

My guys looked so handsome!

We really enjoyed the outdoor reception -- especially the girls hired to keep kids from falling into the pool. It was a lovely day to be outside, too!

It was great to play on the grass and not worry about Texas bugs!

If you haven't ever heard Joseph's laugh, you haven't really lived. The wedding and festivities were a lot of fun. Thanks to the happy couple for giving us a reason to leave the humidity behind for a few days and for a great excuse to visit my home state! Carly, you have married into a great family!