Just like big brother

The following set of pictures just make me smile because I noticed that while I was trying to get a picture of my 3 guys together, Jonah was way more interested in watching his big brother's every move and imitating him as best he could.  Jonah's eyes are fixated on Benjamin.

I was going through more pictures and realized that when Peter was trying to get a picture of the boys and I, that Jonah was once again imitating his brother.  Benjamin has a crazy "say cheeeeese" face now whenever his picture is being taken.  And Jonah was doing his best to be just like his hero....

Cracks.  Me.  Up.

I love them.

Simple moments

I always have the best days when I don't allow myself to get wrapped up in checking the oh so important facebook statuses, reading the latest blog or ensuring my house is spotless and instead, just be intentional about enjoying life's simple moments.  I love a clean house and I love reading blog posts but I love the joy that comes from locking eyes with my boy who is delighted that you are going to read him that 10th book.  Or the smile I receive from my baby when I tickle him so easily because I know all his weak spots.  The simple moments where you're pushing your boys in your stroller and you see an older lady smiling knowingly at you, as if to tell you "enjoy these moments, they grow so quickly." 

Today I'm grateful for these simple moments that bring me so much joy.

 walking to the dollar store for a fun treat one morning!

 Daddy had to work through lunch so we stopped for a fun lunch at McDonalds

 watching Thomas the Train

 watching them build a house in our subdivision inspired him to measure our own house

 he wants to be just like his Daddy

 cuddle time on the couch

practicing really hard to perfect The Halleujah Chorus

 Daddy had to work through lunch again so we made transportation pancakes!

 yummy tractor and train

wearing our firetruck outfits to go to the special fireman storyhour at the library

First tooth

Look who now has his first tooth?!  Of course, he decided to pop his first tooth while we were on vacation which isn't exactly sleep inducing......but.......considering he has no control over that and he's still adorable, we'll forgive him just this once :-)

Family Getaway

Our summer was a good, crazy busy and once the school year started up Peter's work hours turned crazy.  There was just a lot to be done and not enough hours in the day.  We knew that a little family getaway would be fabulous as soon as there was a tiny "break" in the workload.  Well, the break didn't really come, but we decided to getaway anyway :-)

Peter found us a fabulous deal on a vacation home rental in Eagle Crest resort.  2,000 square feet of cozy, right on the resort, including all the resort amenities.  Sign us up!  We took off Sunday after church and didn't arrive back home until evening on Wednesday.  To say I was excited about 3 uninterrupted days as a family would be an understatement.  And I know Peter was grateful for the rest, and time to focus on life outside of technology for a bit!  Benjamin kept saying, "Daddy doesn't have to go to work for THREE days!" 

The house was great.  I had shown Benjamin pictures online so he was delighted to find all the different furniture/beds/etc that he had seen in the pictures.  I had hyped up our vacation for the past 2 weeks and his enthusiasm was contagious and adorable.

We filled our days with laughter around the table, big breakfasts, lazy mornings, taking the boys to the pool 3 times, going to multiple parks, renting bikes and riding around the resort, driving around the local towns, eating ice cream (a few times!), sitting on firefighting helicopters, watching random shows in the evening once the boys were asleep while drinking hot chocolate and eating our weight in mint Oreos.

It.  Was.  Wonderful.

Though "vacationing" with two young boys isn't exactly relaxing, it was strangely restful.  It was so much fun watching the boys have fun.  It was perfect to relax with my sweetie in the evening with no agenda and no distractions.  We spent so much time smiling at how full of blessings our lives are.  We were celebrating our 8th anniversary a bit early, and are so in love with our boys....God is good.

Of course, I took pictures of everything.   So sorry in advance for the overload.....  :-)

Day 1:  Unpacking, family dinner, lots of swimming!

Day 2:  Big breakfast, lazy morning, bike ride around the resort, sandwiches in Redmond (great coupon Entertainment Book!), ice cream cones from McDonalds, throwing rocks in the river, an afternoon in the pool, family pizza dinner while watching Kung Fu Panda.

Day 3:  Big breakfast, lazy morning, lunch then drive into the town of Sisters while the boys napped, Ben sat on a fire fighting helicopter (need to download pics from my phone since I forgot my camera), then we had ice cream cones and walked around downtown, headed back to the resort to play at 2 parks, then home for spaghetti dinner.  Peter took Ben for some late evening swimming while I put Jonah to bed.

Day 4:  Big breakfast (Ben got a special pre-breakfast of a mint oreo from Daddy), lazy morning spent half packing/half playing, lunch, a bit of cleaning, then more park playing, more ice cream in Sisters, then finally heading home.  We arrived back home about 6pm, ate leftover spaghetti, bathed the boys, and were all more than ready for bed!

Though we were SOOOO sad that our family getaway was over.....

we were so happy to have made wonderful memories as a family....

Thank you Lord for this sweet time as a family!  We had a blast :-)