Happy Birthday Dana Hall!!

Me with my Grandma Hall & Earl (she married Earl after both their spouses had passed away, he was so wonderful and like a grandpa to me)

Today is my Grandma Hall's birthday. If she were still living she would have turned 96 years old!!! Her name was Dana Hall and as you may have guessed, I am her namesake, and I am proud to be so. I have lots of memories of her because our family would drive the 250 mile trip to Christiansburg, Virginia to visit her EVERY single month. Those are definitely fond memories of my childhood, getting to know all my extended family. We spent almost every Christmas with her and it was always the same traditions every year.

Here's a few memories of my Grandma:

• Grandma was a short little lady - probably only 5' tall - I remember when I reached her height I said "Grandma, I am as tall as you!!" - she responded "Well, that's not very tall."
• She was a very laid-back person and didn't mind our wild family & dog staying with her for 3 days a month. She just rolled with the punches.
• Her famous quote: "Don't worry about that today." Her motto: "Don't do today what you can do tomorrow"
  
• It would take her ALL DAY long to cook a meal, but I claim that no one can replicate her meals - southern green beans, baked macaroni & cheese, etc, etc.
• Saturdays at her house included bacon & eggs for breakfast - no earlier than 10AM - my whole family now calls this "the Grandma Hall breakfast"
• I don't think she ever cleaned out her fridge because we would find old moldy foods with expiration dates past 1 year....is that an old person thing?
  
• She would relax by watching TV & I remember watching quite a few shows with her - Howdy Doody, Price is Right, Statler Brothers, The Grand Ole Opry and of course she would get her lotto tickets out and watch for the Powerball numbers to be announce.

I wanted to honor her today by having a "grandma hall breakfast" but we had playgroup, so we will have bacon & eggs for breakfast TOMORROW!!!
I love you Grandma


Grandma is on the far right (pictured with her sisters)

TWINNERS!!

I LOVE my boys & I especially LOVE that they are the same age. They seem to be best friends & I hope they always will be best buds. I think my favorite noise is to hear the two of them belly laughing together for 20-30 minutes straight while in their cribs after waking up. I usually sit in my room next door & just listen for a while – it makes my day.

I’m finding that LOTS of people have twins & I probably see a set of twins in my store every day. (I work at Bed Bath & Beyond) Regardless of all the twins in the world, it is IMPOSSIBLE to go in public without getting stopped & receiving comments on my twins. Honestly though, I love it. I love to show off my cute boys because they are my pride and joy.

Some of the comments I hear from people while we run errands, etc...:

"Oh no! Twins!"
"Are they twins? Is a boy and a girl? Two boys? Two girls?"
"Are they identical?" (And then after we say they are NOT identical we often get “I don't know how you tell them apart. Must be because you're their parents. )

"Do twins run in your family?"
"Are they natural? or did you have fertility treatments?"
"Do they have different personalities? Is one the 'evil' twin?"
"I can't imagine having twins!"
"I had two kids really close in age. I felt like I had twins."
"Two for one, huh?"
"I've always wanted twins!!"

"I've always wanted to be a twin!"
"My ___(fill in relation)___ has twin ___(fill in genders)__"
"Two babies!"

"Do you always dress them the same?"

"Do they wake each other up?”
"You must not be getting any sleep! You must be exhausted."
"You have your hands full."
"I had only one baby at a time and that was hard enough!"
"Better you than me!"
"Just wait until they get older! It gets harder!"
"I bet they'll be the best of friends."
"Double Trouble!"

My Arlo



My Josiah

The Beach vs. The Mountains

On labor day weekend the family took a trip down to Niceville, Florida for a baby blessing. We had a great time with our friends: Bobby, Emily, Bobby jr Burnham & Brent Burnham. While we were there, we made 2 long visits to the beach on the Gulf of Mexico and our boys absolutely LOVED it!


The sand was too deep to walk on, so my little sea turtles crawled on the sand.


Josiah & the sand.


Arlo had a bucket full of water & sand.


Daddy & the boys


Fam.


My boys, 2pops, Bobby & Bobby jr.

A few weeks later (last weekend) our little family drove up to Lyman Lake at the Uintas and camped out at the annual Burnham family trip. The boys got VERY DIRTY, but had LOTS of fun outdoors. We spent one night in the camper & one night in the tent. We did lots of fishing, 4-wheeling, card playing & hot-dog roasting.


Lobster came camping and got dirty with Josiah


Josiah with his dirt mouth & sticks


Arlo all decked out in layers of clothes, after sleeping in the tent!!!


Arlo & daddy


Checking out daddy's fish


The family


KJ & I with our BIG FISH! This was my first fishing trip.


The boys & lobster took a LOOONNNGGG bath after the camping trip.

My latest crafts....

So, Jason has been in Texas for over a week & I am living the life of a single-working-mother until this upcoming weekend when Jason comes home. The boys and I have REALLY missed daddy, but have kept busy every day with my job & keeping up with the boys at home. I've been lonely when the boys go to bed, so I have kept myself busy with a few long overdue craft projects sitting around in my house. Tomorrow is my day off work and I have a few sewing projects planned. YAY!


Here's my magnetic board that I plan to put in the boys' room.


(Up-close of the frame - I bought a couple little wooden dogs from the craft store, cute huh?)



I actually painted 4 stools, but two of them are gifts for friends who have not received them yet....sooo....here are the 2 stools for my boys!

We Love Grandma!!

A week ago we had LOTS of family in town for my brother's graduation. He earned his Phd and I am SO proud of him! Everyone stayed at our house and we had SO much fun together!!



When the party was over, Jason went to Maine, so my mom stuck around to watch the boys while I went to work every day. I am so grateful to her for staying and we had lots of fun together. The boys have really gotten to know Grandma Hall and they LOVED having her around. It's amazing how much the boys have learned in just one week.

A few of the boys' new talents:
Grandma taught both boys how to confidently crawl DOWN the stairs. Goodbye baby gate!!!!!!!
Arlo can blow kisses....MUAH!
Josiah makes car noises when he pushes his trucks & cars....vrrroooommm...


Arlo & Grandma


Josiah & Grandma

My Cousin's Wedding

While we were in Virginia last month, our family drove down to North Carolina for my cousin's wedding. We filled up the minivan with women & children while the men stayed home and went golfing! The twins only slept 30 minutes on the drive down so we were working with a VERY short nap for the day. Judging by the photos, you can see we had a crazy day, but, they did well considering all. (Sorry, no pictures of the actual wedding, I had my hands pretty full.)




Minutes before the ceremony started with cousins Matt & Cline
(they were actually very quiet during the ceremony)


Josiah during the reception


Arlo during the reception (I think he was a little constipated here)


We discovered a nursery in the church & the boys were MUCH happier!!!


Josiah in the nursery

I have one-year olds in the house!!

It's true. They boys turned one year on June 9!!!! We had a really fun party for them. Arlo's party theme was alligators & Josiah's was lobsters. They wore appropriate animal shirts, had matching party decorations & matching cupcakes that spelled out their names. I'm sure they were unaware of the party planning, but maybe next year!
This past year has flown by so fast and I need time to slow down. I cry when I think about them growing up, going to school, missions & getting married & having their own kids..... I try really hard to focus on the present & enjoy every minute of them TODAY!

Some of Arlo & Josiah's many talents:

• They are not quite walking, but are certainly on the right path towards the goal.
  
• They seem to understand everything I say and even TRY to mimic some of my words, like DOG & TREE & BEAR & UP. They have mastered a few words like 'mama' & 'dada' & bah bah' & 'ball'
  
• Excellent at shaking their head 'no' and sometimes nod for 'yes' (mostly 'no'!!).
  
• Eat pretty much anything now.
• Can fall asleep in their cribs without being rocked or without a bottle.
  
• Can make the popcorn motions for the song "popcorn popping"
• Can give you "Five"
  
• Clap when you say "YAY"
• Wave when you say "BYE"
• Can dance when there's music. (aka: bending their legs & bouncing)
  
• They lift their arms when you change their shirts & "switch" hands on the bottle when you strap them into the car-seat.
• Arlo's new favorite food: GRAPES. Josiah's favorite food is still: BANANAS
• Arlo's favorite pastime: sitting on mommy's lap reading books. Josiah's favorite pastime: exploring. (aka: NOT sitting still)
• Love swinging at the playground, but are both scared of the slide.
  
• They both love bath-time, but Josiah is always the first to get out.
• Love to climb UP the stairs, but are still working on going down. (& scare their mama to death!)
• When they wake up from naps, they spend 10-20 minutes just passing toys back & forth between the crib slats & laughing.
  
• Both boys absolutely LOVE LOVE dogs & are not scared of them.
  
• Give kisses by biting your nose.
• Both love mirrors & give themselves kisses on the mirror. (yes, our mirrors are ALWAYS dirty)
• Josiah is a stuffed animal lover & gives hugs & kisses to all of his animals. Lobster is still #1
• Arlo loves any toy, but is attached to burp-cloths & uses them to suck his thumb.
  

the fam at the party



Arlo's table decorations



& Arlo with his cupcake


Josiah's table decorations


Josiah & his cupcake


Arlo hitting the beach ball pinata



Josiah's turn at the pinata


After all the kids did their best at the pinata, Jason took care of business!

4 Month Update...

Hello friends and family...
Do NOT give up on my blog!!!! I promise not to leave you like that again. I can think of a million excuses why I've neglected it, but I won't bore you or excuse myself. So, here is a quick review of the last 4 months and I now promise WE ARE BACK IN BUSINESS!! (And a few photos for your viewing pleasure:)


(family pic in Virginia)

FEBRUARY:
I had my birthday on the 24th and I spent it in Virginia with my family. My mom threw a party for me with friends, uncles, aunts, cousins....my mom throws a great party. The boys got to meet their newest cousin Corban and we're excited for them to be great friends. After a few days in Virginia, we made our way to Florida to visit Jason's family. Josiah and Arlo experienced the Atlantic Ocean for the first time. The water was too cold, but they put their feet in and got to experience sand for the first time. The boys FINALLY met Grandma & Grandpa Thompson for the first time and boy did they have fun. J&A also met Great Grandma Thompson and Aunt Debbie for the first time.


(Arlo & mom at the beach in Florida)


(Josiah & dad)

MARCH:
As soon as we got home from VA & FL we packed up our house and moved down the street to a bigger place. It took us a few weeks to get unpacked & settled in, but we were able to do a few fun things in the meantime like visit the farm at Thanksgiving Point. Also, Jason took them on a day trip to CO. for a bull sale - they LOVE animals!


(Arlo was chasing me, trying to grab the camera)


(And of course I turned my back & Josiah helped himself to his oatmeal)

APRIL:
Jason finished his MPA at BYU and it's SO nice to no longer have classes in our busy schedule. For now, he's still working at BYU Redd Center until we find the right opportunity for our family. The boys LOVE the wide open space they now have in our house. They are crawling around like crazy getting into EVERYTHING! We've started experiencing lots of bumps and bruises with their new adventures and I'm sure it gets worse as they get bigger. Oh, and Jason gave the boys their first haircut!


(When they hear the door open, the boys crawl up to the gate and wait for daddy to come greet them)

MAY:
I guess this would be my first OFFICIAL Mother's Day since the babies were still in my belly last year. We celebrated in El Paso with my sister's family and boy did we have fun!! We did lots of shopping, eating out and we took the boys swimming for the first time. They both LOVED the pool, but I think Arlo is our little fish. He would try swimming out of our arms while in the pool and it seemed like he knew exactly how to move his arms and legs. Josiah was totally in love with their dog, Peach. He was so distracted by her and just kept saying "dog" over and over. Neither he or Arlo cared about Peach licking them on the face. Eeeww...


(Arlo in the pool)


(Josiah in the pool)


(Josiah greeting Peach after she took a swim)


(Josiah taking ownership of the balls in the yard!)


(Arlo & Tigger)


(The boys on one of our many shopping trips in El Paso)


(Obviously the pants were inconvenient, so Arlo took them off!)

MAY:
We finished this month off by taking a trip to MOAB on Friday. We met up with our dear friends, the Manderinos for camping (in a cabin:) and hiked Delicate Arch on Saturday. We had two hiking backpacks, but one got left at home, oops. Arlo insisted that mom carry him, so Jason took Josiah on his back. The hike was 3 miles round trip, which was perfect for us. I think we all had a really good time.


(what??!! No kids in this pic??)


(Jason & his boys at the Arch)


(Group shot with Lisa, Chase, Melanie & Caleb)