This is where we're going to live....

Spencer and I are here in Albuquerque looking for a place to live for when we move here in May. John and Dixie were nice enough to come and watch the boys in Seattle for us so we are here all by ourselves! It has been so much fun, and even though we miss the boys, it is (dare I say it) wonderful being here just the two of us!!! Here are some things we have learned about Albuquerque so far:

-There is a dollar store on every corner and more Sonic's here than McDonalds

- Nobody believes us about this, but it has been confirmed by many people (and statistics we've looked up) that Albuquerque is NOT as hot as Las Vegas or Phoenix. In fact, the average July high is slightly lower than Provo, Utah! I think the weather here is one of the best things about this city.

- People grow vegetables and have fruit trees here.

- Grass IS hard to come by and finding a house with grass (and in our price range) will be one of our biggest challenges!

- The mountains are on the East...just like Utah. I might actually be able to tell directions here.

- There will be lots of fun things to do here: zoo, aquarium, Old Town, Sante Fe, museums, Hot Air Balloon Festival,and Gathering of the Nations (Native American Pow Wow). There's also the Isotopes, a minor league team, and a D-league NBA team. We also look forward to watching BYU handily beat the UNM Lobo's every year.

We're excited to move here, make friends, and make it our new home!

"Eggs have yolks inside!"

We had lots of fun dying eggs at Lindsey's house this year. My mom was in town so we were all able to get together, have a Cafe Rio dinner night, and let the boys dye some eggs. Luckily Ryan loves hard boiled eggs. His favorite part is eating the egg until he finds the yellow yolk inside. He gets excited everytime he sees it!

Easter

The boys had two easter egg hunts this year, one outside as part of a community activity for our apartment complex, and one at home...inside. It was horrible Easter weather, raining pretty hard. Isn't it always supposed to be nice and sunny on Easter?!! The boys still had fun. Andrew was excited about the grass in the basket mostly, and then figured out how to open the eggs so we had to get the candy out of the eggs he found. Ryan was all business and collected the eggs fast.
After church today, while the boys were asleep and Spencer and I were stuffing ourselves silly with easter candy, Spencer asked, "I wonder if my parents had a hard time not going after our Easter candy!" Spencer and I sure do!

RYAN

Ryan has all of a sudden started picking up some very cliche kid phrases. Spencer and I keep looking at each other and saying "where did he get that?" I know these won't be that funny to most of you, because you've heard them before. But since Ryan is our oldest, we think it is hilarious.

"You copied me!" (when I tried to help him clean up)

"You're a bully Dad!"

"You're not a nice guy, you're a bad guy". (When Spencer picked him up and ran him up the stairs, don't worry, he wasn't being mean, he was playing around).

"I just want to run away!" (This was during dinner).

"I don't care!" (When I told him he could get M&M's for going potty in the toilet).

"I'm mad at you" (again, trying to go potty).

I'm sure when Andrew says all these same things, we probably won't laugh and he'll get in trouble. Being the oldest has to have some perks right!

Nature

Our little community seems to attract a lot of wildlife. Here's some pictures of the boys feeding our friendly neighborhood ducks. These ducks came last spring and would waddle around and make spencer mad by pooping on our back patio. A couple weeks ago they came back. Sometimes they even knock on our door with their beaks and look in. We have raccoons that climb the tree outside our bedroom window. I saw a rat outside of the dumpster the other day. It was so gross. But the worst of all the little critters around here are the squirrels. They aren't afraid of people, they are creepy, and gross. One night I was putting the boys to bed and I saw a squirrel standing up and peering in the window. I wouldn't open their window all summer because I was afraid the squirrel would come in and attack my baby. This weekend I had my worst wildlife encounter. On Saturday Lindsey came over with her boys. They fell asleep in the car so she was carrying them in one by one. We left the door open and I was in the other room. I heard her come in and say ERIN! I ran around the corner, and there in my hallway was a squirrel, in pouncing position. I froze and grabbed a blanket and just started yelling. Lindsey was more calm about it and turned around and walked out of the door so the squirrel could run out. It was a moment right out of National Lampoons Christmas Vacation (I'm a little embarrassed to admit that this is one of my family's favorite movies, but I know that's what they are thinking about!)

Birthday fun

Andrew had a fun 1st birthday and got lots of fun presents. We sang to him this morning in his crib and he just smiled right on back! Ryan's preschool was at our house today so we had cupcakes (which went right along with the letter of the day, "C"). Then Lindsey and Scott with cousins Easton and Luke came over as well as Spencer's cousin Kyle and his wife Chelsea with their cute baby Michael who were in town. Andrew licked the frosting off of his cupcake and was excited by the toys he got (which were mostly unwrapped by Mom and big brother Ryan...who for days has been talking about how he was going to "help Andrew open his presents").




Like the Tiger cake? Spencer did the Tiger stripes for me. I'm sure Andrew appreciated it.


Sorry, I know my family will be sad to see no smashing of the cupcake all over the face. Our kids aren't big cake smashers I guess. Maybe it's because it's the first real "treat" they've ever had, and they don't quite know what to do with it. I don't think Andrew has ever had a cookie...or even a graham cracker! we're mean parents huh.


All partied out.

Happy Birthday Andrew!!!

We love our Andrew so much! This first year of his life has flown by. I remember when I was pregnant with Andrew, I couldn't help but think, "We love Ryan so much.... will we love another baby just as much?" Well much to my relief :) I love Andrew just as much as I do Ryan. He is the sweetest baby (can I call him a baby anymore?!!) I took him to get his pictures taken the other day, and the photo session last only about 10 minutes. The photographer and I were laughing because we would put Andrew in a pose, and not only would he actually stay there, but he would look straight at the camera and flash one of his cute, big smiles. But that is typical of Andrew. Here are some things we love about Andrew:

-He gives hugs.
-He races to see his Dad when he gets home. Sometimes he cries because he just can't get their fast enough. I had a friend (upon seeing the way Andrew reacted when Spencer came into the room) say that she had never seen a baby of his age react so much to their Dad! It is very cute to see them together.
-He is a great eater and eats most everything we put in front of him.
-Andrew laughs hysterically at the silly things Ryan does.
-He's very determined and tries so hard.
-He dances when music comes on.
-And he's just so darn cute!

Walking

A few clips of Andrew walking. The first is from about two weeks ago and the second was taken today. Ryan does a little flip in the background of the third clip. He' s in his wonderwear.