Grandma and Grandpa Ogden Visit!

We just enjoyed a fun, busy visit with my parents! I love seeing them with my boys and it is so fun to hang out with them. And I loved having family near while we celebrated Easter!

As usual, they accomplished a lot of projects while here and somehow balanced it beautifully with playing with their grand-kids and making special memories with them. (They are so productive even with little boys underfoot!) Here are a few projects I captured on camera:

Joseph enjoyed supervising my mom as she made new roman shades for our living room and nook. I love how she can make my dreams come true with a couple of yards of $3 fabric!

And my dad used his expertise to engage and dazzle the boys with homemade tents, stories and lots of walks and trips to the park --he always seemed to know when some fresh air was just what they needed.

Ian loved to be Grandpa's helper. This was taken just after Ian woke up from a nap and asked right away what Grandpa was doing and if he could help. Here they are putting coasters on the kitchen chairs.

 My parents spent an entire day pruning our trees and getting our flower beds hooked up with a drip system. What a difference! During this project the boys took part in what Ian called "Jumpin' in the Jeep!" where he and Joseph climbed all over the inside of my parents rental car. This event is still reminisced about by Ian.

 Grandma brought lots of fun new books and spent a lot of time reading them to the boys. They loved it. She also taught them about one of her favorite hobbies -- gardening. 

She and the boys started a little garden of sunflower seeds.

The boys loved pouring the dirt.

 Joseph spent a lot of time scooping the dirt....

...dumping the dirt...

...and eating the dirt...

The pot was repeatedly dumped and marched in and we thought the seeds were lost entirely. But just yesterday they suddenly sprouted!

It was so fun to do the Easter holiday with family. Here Joseph is hunting for eggs at a friends house.

Their Easter baskets were full of fun surprises and each boy seemed to know just what was intended for him. Ducks for Joseph and bunnies for Ian. PEZ dispensers were a special hit. Forget the Easter bunny -- the kids probably assume that all Easter fare arrives in Grandma and Grandpa's suitcase!

We also spent the weekend watching General Conference.

And riding bikes while wearing "Easter Ears".

Some of us also danced with underwear on our heads.

And of course we all ate a lot of chocolate and pies (5 delicious pies in a week, to be exact!)

We had so much fun with you Grandma and Grandpa! We loved having you here and we missed you the minute you drove away.  Josephs still says "Papa" and pats the guestroom door and Ian keeps telling me he wants to read "Oops!" to Grandma. We love you!

Ian's 3rd Birthday!

 3rd Birthday Party!

Ian turned 3 years old on Saturday! We started celebrating on Friday morning with a fire truck birthday party.

We rented a community center next door to a small fire station and coordinated with them to do a "PR Event" for our little party. Scott taking the day off work added to the magic. I could tell Ian felt extra spoiled.
 
I had so much fun planning all the details for the party, including this invitation:

And some fun firetruck party supplies...

The party started with some firetruck coloring pages, along with some of Ian's favorite snacks and firetruck-shaped sipper cups.

By the time all the kids had arrived the firemen had pulled a small truck into the parking lot. The kids donned their fire hats and went out to meet them. The firemen were so sweet to continually found ways to make Ian feel special as the birthday boy. 

Then came the real fun: letting a bunch of 3-year-olds spray the fire hose and climb all over the fire truck!

To understand how excited Ian was, you need to know that we drive past the fire station that houses this truck nearly every day. And every time Ian exclaims "There's the firetruck! The big door is open!" or "Oh darn! The big door is closed..." It was a thrill for him to see the truck up close and touch the hose.

Joseph made for a more hesitant firefighter.

Here are a few of the party-goers posing with the truck.

 

While the kids were taking turns with the hose one of the fireman suggested that I put on the fire suit and surprise the kids. How did he know it would be such a hit?!

Ian didn't stop staring and laughing at me. Even though Joseph watched me put it on, he didn't seem to recognize me and kept his distance.

During the group shot Ian began to complain that I was "too scratchy" and wanted to be put down.

 Then it was time for cake! The sheet cake was red velvet with yellow frosting and a firetruck on top. We served cute little yellow cupcakes covered in sprinkles to the kids.

Unfortunatley we didn't get any pictures of Ian blowing out the candles -- so just picture Ian so excited that he couldn't take his hands out of his mouth to blow out the candles himself. :)

  And lastly, we did a fire engine pinata. It was a challenge for those kids to break it open. But they didn't give up!

And it was worth it!

Ian really seemed to enjoy himself and it made for a memorable first friend birthday party!

3rd Birthday 

The next day was Ian's actual 3rd birthday and we started it out with the traditional Larson morning birthday picture.

Here is Ian's 1st birthday:

Ian's 2nd birthday:

...and Ian's 3rd birthday:

On his 3rd birthday we heard Ian get up and start to dress himself. Or so we thought... after hearing drawers open and then silence for about 20 minutes, Scott took the camera and went in to investigate. He found that Ian had created a staircase out of the drawers to reach a stash of binkies on a high shelf. I guess this was Ian's birthday present to himself. Even at three years old he would do anything for a binky!

Then we started in on his birthday breakfast which included a trip to Kroger for some donuts.  

I love how Ian happily danced his donuts around on the table while he ate.

Then while I made the cake Scott took the boys outside for bubbles...

...which turned into playing in the rain...

...then cuddling with Daddy before a hot bath.

And then it was party time again!

By request Ian had a green birthday cake and pizza, with some of our Texas family over.

He was so excited to blow out the candles. And unlike the day before, he blew them out by himself!

Then it was time for presents!

Some highlights include this Army shirt from Scott (which I found less amusing than Scott did)

And an "outside bike" that Ian inherited from a neighbor boy who he adores.

He presents this year seem like such big-boy items! He can play real board games and loves the books and cars he received too. He now even has a real tool set, just like his Dad!Our little Ian Boy has gotten so big!