This Boy's a Quinner

Oh Quinn!  I wish I just had a video camera to follow him around with all day.  He is such a joy for all of us! He is changing and learning so much...I feel like each week he has something new he is doing.
He is a little talker.  For the longest time he wouldn't say his own name, but now he calls himself "Kinny."  Ethan and Caden love each night when he says, "Night, night Ethan.  Night, night Caden.  Love you brothers."  He is communicating pretty well with simple sentences and phrases and most of the time we know what he is saying...now that we have figured out "sausage," actually means sandwich we are good.  The other night Clark kept asking him questions and he responded "no" to everything, finally Clark said, "do you just like saying no?"  Quinn just grinned at him and said, "ya."

He loves to run all the time and while he does it he says, "running, running.

His favorites right now include being outside, balls, and choo-choos.  He also loves "horseys, cowboys, yee-haw," and "cycles, zoom." (motor cycles)

Caught in the act!  Found this little stinker and all of his half-eaten evidence saying "more matoes."

He is still not sleeping great through the night.  Now that he is verbal, instead of crying, we hear him yelling, "Heeeelp Mommy!  Heeeelp Daddy!" until one of us gets him out of his crib.  As soon as I get him out I put him next to me in bed, he rolls over on his side, slides back into me, pulls my arm over his chest and immediately starts pinching the skin between my thumb and forefinger.  Within a minute he is back to sleep, and I have a moment thinking there is nothing better than snuggling with this little cutie, that loving feeling usually lasts until I am awakened a few hours later with a swift kick to the face.  My dad is pretty sure that Quinn is part crawdad since his comfort object is to pinch our hands.  

He still doesn't love nursery.  Mostly he is a momma's boy and doesn't love to be anywhere without me.  However, a few weeks ago when I went to check on him I didn't hear any crying because he was fast asleep with one of the nursery leaders on the floor.

After one Sunday we cracked up when he came home, lounged on the couch and just wanted his bottle.  His face says it all.

His new haircut makes him look 3 years older!

Just recently Quinn has started praying, he insists he gets a turn.  He starts with "Heavenly Father, names everyone in the family, and then ends with a hearty amen and the proudest grin on his face!

I love when he brings me this costume and says, "kicken, kicken."

Nothing better than snuggling with this little buddy.

We couldn't love him more!
These little videos were from a month ago.  Amazing how much he's already changed.

T Ball Times Two

T ball season was exceptionally exciting this year because we had 2 little ballers to cheer on.  This was the first organized sport Caden was old enough to participate in and he was thrilled he finally got a turn.  He was on a team with two of his little buddies Mason and Darren and they looked so adorable in their extra long jerseys and baseball hats.  My favorite part of the 4 & 5 year old league was how all of the kids go after every ball in the field usually resulting in a big dog pile/mosh pit.  I also really loved how the team would literally dig in the dugout while they waited for their turn to hit.

Cute little diggers.

Pretty excited little grin heading to first!

My favorite play of Caden's season was when he hit the ball and ran to first.  He must have forgotten for a minute that he wasn't the first baseman because when his teammate hit the ball Caden ran to retrieve it.  He grabbed the ball, realized his mistake, tossed it to first and then hustled to second.  His first double play was on himself.

I think his favorite part of the season was getting treats after the games.  After all those games watching Ethan get treats he was pretty proud to have his own.  

 I was proud of Caden for facing his shyness head on and trying something new.  He had an awesome season!
Ethan also had a great season!  The 6&7 year old league doesn't have nearly as many mosh pits, and their jerseys fit a little better...it's crazy how fast my boys grow!

Destination: Vernal

We were lucky enough to make it to Vernal this year for the Peterson Family Reunion.  Saturday morning we were able to do a temple session with 26 of my relatives, and then a breakfast at Grandma P.'s house with everyone.  That afternoon we rented out Ute Lanes for some bowling and then finished the night back at Grandma's house for a dinner.  I think there were about 82 family members present...it was awesome to see everyone!  It was fun to stay at my cousin Jenni's house for a few days and stay up late chatting with her every night.

8 of Grandma P.'s grandchildren had babies within a few months during 2012-13.  This year it was fun to have 7 of those now 1 year olds running around!  Pretty cute!

These were the 6 babies at the reunion last July! 

 

The most popular game at this year's reunion was definitely KUBB.  My Dad made the game earlier that day with some help and we all learned the rules as we played.

My mom, Aunt Lucille, and Aunt Karen were pretty fierce competitors.

Grandma showing us all how it's done!

 I thought Caden's face pretty much summed up the night:

Ice cream, dirt and not stopping playing with cousins long enough to wash your face...what a life!

The next day at church Caden was so tired he fell asleep under the pew and stayed that way for 3 hours!

After the reunion we had a few days to stay at Grandma's house and visit with her.

One night we went to Remember the Maine park with the Foley's and our friends Sarah and Jordan and boys.

Despite what this picture shows...Caden did have fun playing in the river.

Still can't believe we have 6 boys all with an age buddy.

Ethan and Ben

 My Dad and Clark took the boys fishing one morning at Pelican Lake.  I was pretty excited Ethan caught a fish doing everything himself from casting his line in to bringing the fish into the boat.

One night the adults had a trip to Rock Springs for the National High School Rodeo Championships.  Grandma brought the road trip treats in our car...cherry sours!

One of my favorite moments was watching the boys get water ski lessons in the backyard on the Mini Fireballs.  They were naturals.

Fun summer memories made in Vernal this year!

Much Ado About Mutton

For an entire year the little cowboys have been prepping and preparing for the big day at the Greeley Stampede.  It takes lots of practice riding on Dad to be ready to face the sheep!  This was Ethan's 4th year and Caden's 2nd to bust a mutton, so they pretty much have it down to 5 easy steps.  

Step 1:  Dress in your fiercest cowboy attire.

Step 2:  Arrive a little early to carbo load with a burger.

Step 3:  Warm-up your muscles by busting out your best dance moves.  Bonus points if you can resemble the cowboy learning to dance on the 80's movie Footloose.

Step 4:  Suit up in helmets and protective vests.  If you are Ethan it takes a while to find an adult-sized helmet that will fit your head.

Step 5:  With heart pounding, climb on the sheep, close your eyes, and hold on for dear life until you hit the dirt.

 Here goes Ethan!

Still holding on by a boot and a hand!

 79 POINTS!!!

Ethan's First Ride:
Next up, Cowboy Caden!

A long walk to the chute...

Boots a flyin' everywhere!

The wild ride proved to be a little much for this little cowboy!

Caden's First Ride:

  
But the tears were worth it...he scored 80 POINTS!

And then the tears started for the older brother, because it stinks to be beat by your little brother by one point (second year in a row this happened).

The cheerleaders!

We were by the sheep 2 hours later for round 2 of the mutton bustin.' Caden and his buddy Mason wanted to do it again, and even though Ethan had had enough for one day, he couldn't let Caden beat him out again...so they suited up once more!

Both boys rode hard!  This time it was poor Ethan that ended his ride in tears after being stepped on by the sheep in an unfortunate area.  He did score 80 POINTS though!

Caden ended in triumph!  He scored 81 POINTS!  What are the chances that he would beat his big brother by just 1 point again!  The announcer had him do a victory lap around the arena giving everyone high 5's.  Unfortunately, he tripped and landed face first in the dirt!  The audience loved that!

Ethan's Second Ride:

Caden's Second Ride:
In the end, the bond of brothers proved to be stronger than a mutton bustin' score.  They went back into the arena hand in hand.

So proud of these cute little busters!