Austin

And here are some fun pictures of Austin on the deck of the house we just moved to...

Matthew

Here are a couple of cute pictures of Matthew. I have many stories to tell, but I don't really have time right now.

Maybe one day I'll get my act together...

I never thought this day would come!

I finally did it! I passed my thesis defense yesterday! I have to make some revisions in the next two weeks and then get it checked off by my committee, but I passed. With all of my other hurdles to graduation completed, this was the last thing to finish so I will graduate this April with my Master of Arts in Math Education.

I appreciate all the encouragement and support I have received and the many hours of babysitting so that I could actually get some work done... Thanks!

"My Best Friend"

Today my mom gave Austin a scrap piece from a quilt that she's working on and after she handed it to him, he declared: "I so happy! It's my best friend!" It was hysterical and my mom and I were trying not to laugh out loud. He proceeded to carry this 5"x5" square around with him all afternoon, chastising Matthew when he touched it ("Man-yew, don't touch it, my best friend!"), announcing when he dropped it ("I dropped it, my best friend!"), and hugging it and caressing it ("It's okay my best friend..."). I have no idea where this best friend stuff came from, but it provided some supreme entertainment for the afternoon!

Austin's best friend:

Quick Update

Well, I have been grossly negligent in my blogging duties as of late. I have all kinds of things I want to document here but due to my thesis, our sad camera and resulting pathetic pictures, and my perfectionism, I haven't done much. Here is an attempt to get a few things up. It is not remotely representative of the last few months but that's just too bad right now.

Matthew is walking and getting faster by the day! He eats more than I do and is catching up in size to Austin very quickly. He and Austin play a lot more these days and it is fun to watch them play in addition to push and shove. At least Matthew's getting big enough that he can almost hold his own. We don't have lots of pictures of him right now because he moves as fast as he can away from the camera or directly at the camera, depending on his whim. As this is the case (along with the slow response time of our camera), almost every photo attempt ends with a blurry picture that captures a few moments too late.

Austin is really funny as he begins to mimic us more and more and parrot what we say. He calls me "Waudrey" often as he hears Joseph and my parents call me that. He tries to be grown up and bosses Matthew around, but he also tries to help "show him the ropes" as well.

My thesis is nearing it's completion. I have to turn in my manuscript in three weeks and then am defending it a week later, on February 29th. I am sure you will all hear my shout of joy if I pass, no matter what part of the world you live in. I am thrilled to be graduating in April and am really enjoying the class that I teach this semester.

Here are the boys at the model train show they went to at Thanksgiving Point with Joseph during Lucy's bridal shower last Saturday. They had a pretty good time. I can't believe how quickly they are growing up!



Austin wanted to go swimming and it wasn't really a good time.

This is what we call the "double barrel" stance...

Once there was a snowman!

Although this title has been used recently by other bloggers I know, it still seemed appropriate for this entry. We have been getting SO MUCH snow lately. My mom is starting to think that perhaps it rivals The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Anyway, with our day off of school for Martin Luther King Day last week, Joseph and Austin went out to the front yard to make a snowman with the new 15" of snow we received the night before. Notice the extreme temperature genes that my husband has as he built the snowman in shorts when the snow was up to his knees. I was almost surprised he even put shoes on - I'm not even joking. Austin didn't get all of his genes, just most of them. He stayed outside for about an hour before getting too cold. He went back out once the snowman was finished for a close up look. As a side note, Austin just learned the song "Once There Was a Snowman" in nursery. It is his new favorite song. Maybe he has a greater appreciation for it since he has helped build his own snowman...

Lions and tigers and bears! Oh my!

A couple of Saturdays ago we decided to get out of the house with the boys and go somewhere fun for them. Unfortunately, it was really cold and they had runny noses already and so it greatly limited our options. Luckily, we remembered one of Joseph's favorite activities - exploring the Bean Museum at BYU. So we drove down and the boys had a great time. I was reminded of when we took a very small Austin there a long time ago. It was a nice excursion and although the pictures aren't that great to show it (see my update entry to see my complaints about our camera and my excuses of my perfectionism), I thought I would give you a glimpse anyway.

Here are Joseph and the boys - they loved this moose and Matthew kept making a break for him anytime he got loose



This is one of my all-time favorite pictures of Austin! This "growl" wasn't an imitation of the jaguar, it was actually what Austin did right after he said, "Smile! Take it da picture!"

This is an uncooperative Matthew with his mother in front of the bears. At least the bears are stuffed so they didn't have any choice but to cooperate...