Picture Time

We got Marley's picture taken by a talented guy in our ward. They both did a great job. The pictures with Stratton were a bonus!! He is in a "I don't want my picture taken" stage. Here are just a few for your viewing pleasure...

Christmas Time

The Christmas season is a magical time of year and it gets better with kids. Stratton didn't understand much about what Christmas is all about last year. This year he is so excited and so curious about the different aspects of Christmas. Blake (the man!) put up lights on our house and Stratton loves them. When we get to the end of our street Stratton always says, "Mom, I can see our lights!" He does noticed all the other lights and he'll casually mention, "Dad, you should do lights like that." (These are the houses that have gone all out with reindeer, presents, snowmen, the works!) Anyway, it has been so much fun for us this year to participate in some Christmas activities and have Stratton be so into them. We decorated upstairs, even though we are not actually living up there yet (it is coming closer - Blake is almost done painting and remodeling, what a guy). We also decided to put a tree downstairs so we could feel festive all the time. During the remodeling Stratton has been helping Blake out and has learned proper tool use ("Hold the screwdriver pointed down.") and proper ladder rules ("Climb only the safe side of the ladder" "Use two hands" and "Don't play on the ladder"). Stratton was able to use these ladder rules while decorating the tree. We had to let him drop the two hands rule, while he put the ornaments up. On a side note, one day while Stratton was helping Blake out he lost the hammer. Blake said, "Stratton where is the hammer? It couldn't just walk away!" Stratton replied, "Dad, it can do somersaults." (Dah, Blake!)

Stratton knows the rules of the ladder, but I still get nervous when he is up there and so I had to help him down. He didn't like this and said, "Mom, I know the ladder rules!"

Marley's job during the decorating was to sit amongst the boxes and play, play, play.

Here is Stratton and his cousin Simon in front of my mom's tree.

We were finally able to get together with Chris and Jane and their cute girls. We went to Temple Square. I think we picked the coldest night EVER!! Oh well. Hallie and Stratton thought the train ride was a riot. The rest of us thought it was a riot that Hallie was waddeling around Temple Square. I wish I had my video camera!!

Here is the fam in front of the famous 'red' tree. We found out from Blake's dad that this tree only gets lit every other year because the tree can't handle more than that. This is Blakes very favorite tree (and Chris and Jane's we found out). We had a vote and decided that Marley had the best time out of anyone. She was bundled up and got to ride around in her stroller the whole night. There was nothing but a smile on her face most of the time.

SNOW!!

We got a snowstorm a few weeks ago (it has been a little while!) and Blake decided to ditch the kitchen remodeling to take Stratton sledding. We took a couple of Strat's cousins with us and had a blast in the snow.

This might be the picture where I promised Stratton I wouldn't let go of the rope on the saucer. However, I did let go and he apparently got some air. As soon as he was safe at the bottom of the hill he yelled up, "Mom, you said you wouldn't let go." Oops.

After about 40 minutes Stratton started getting tired of walking back up the hill. He decided that eating snow was a lot less work. YUMMY!

We even took Marley with us. The snow on her face was a new wonder for her. She actually really enjoyed it, as you can see...

After sledding, Stratton's hands were so cold. He sat in the car for about 10 minutes warming up his hands right in front of the heater before we could actually go home.

Halloween Fun

The annual Pumpkin carving night...and the whole ewey gooey mess.

And finally, the finished product with Stratton as the presenter...

Oooo, scary pumpkins.




Starring Stratton as: The Pirate

The costume thing this year was quite a trial. We asked Stratton about a month before Halloween what he wanted to be. He said, "A cat." Well we don't have a cat costume and I didn't want to buy one (or put him in a little black leotard), so asking him was the first mistake. "Stratton, you can be a pirate or a cowboy." (This was said very enthusiastically.) "I want to be a cat..." So we waited a few days before Halloween to address the issue. The countdown was on, four days before Halloween we asked Stratton again, "What do you want to be?" "A cat." Yikes! "Do you want to be an animal? Maybe Aunt Nan has an animal costume." That sounded like a good idea so we called Nan and she said she has a horse costume and the issue was dropped. Two days before Halloween someone asked Strat what he was going to be, "A cat." Oh great....We got all the costumes out and tried all of them on. Dad came to the rescue when he said, "If you're a pirate then we can go get you a sword." That sealed the deal, "I want to be a pirate!!!" We went and got Stratton a pirate sword and the next time someone asked Stratton what he was going to be for Halloween he said, "A cat." Oh great....

Here is Stratton sporting last year's Lion costume. It was just a little snug and it was a cat; however, he consented to being a pirate.

Driving from point A to point B Stratton was holding Marley's hand in the car. He does this quite often and so I thought I'd show everyone how stinkin' cute he is with Marley.

And lastly, here is Stratton as we were trying to put him to bed on Halloween night, he really turned into a monster....ha, ha, ha!

Snow Crumbs and Other Funny Stories

Stratton has two cousins that play on the same soccer team. We went to their game the other night and it began hailing. Stratton got super excited and said, "Mom, Look! Crumbs!" "Snowcrumbs!" (He was pointing to the hail.) He opened his mouth and tasted some of those "Snowcrumbs." I asked him what they tasted like and he said, "It tastes like chicken."

Stratton is getting older and doesn't have a nap. We try to keep him awake until 7:30 and then we 'allow' him to go to sleep. 5 pm to 7 pm can be a very trying time for us, either I am cheering Stratton on for staying awake or I am dealing with cries and whines. I had to feed Marley one evening during that horrible window of time and I turned the T.V. on for Stratton. He NEVER falls asleep while watching T.V. (well, almost never). From my view on the couch Stratton was awake, but when I talked to him he ignored me. My brother came into the house and said, "Do you know your son is asleep?" Sure enough he was asleep just like this...

In honor of the oncoming flu season we got Stratton a flu shot. I promised him an ice cream cone after. When it came time for the shot he kicked the snot out of the nurse. Poor nurse, but she did her job and gave the shot. Guess what color ice cream cone he got?

When Marley was born, I decided to get her a portable swing. Stratton was sure I got the swing for him. I told him he could not swing in it, he was so sad, but he obeyed for about three months (not bad!) Then one day he decided it looked like too much fun and gave into his urge.

Don't tell Blake I put the next pictures on here. On Blake's side of the family Stratton is sandwiched between two girls as cousins. Consequently he likes to 'dress up'....(even though he looks like an alien, he is wearing earrings and a necklace.)

Twirling!

Out two little princesses!

And to wrap it up, here are some pictures of Marley.

Stratton Turns Three!!

Stratton turned three this month and Grandpa Johnson gave him his first birthday present. A Lightening McQueen shake car. He thought it was the coolest present ever! He played with it and his other shake cars for about an hour after he got it.

Strat got a gigantic birthday cake, as it was dessert for the Blessing. He liked the blue frosting only. He tried to blow the candle out, but the wind kept blowing it out for him. One time he got really close before the wind blew it out, so we counted it as good. He also got to open a few presents. We gave him a Leapster ClickStart, which is like a little computer that hooks into the T.V. He looks so cute playing the games on it, just like a little computer geek.

Dinosaur Museum...

For Strat's birthday we took the cousins that are around his age to the Dinosaur Museum. It is a very cool place and really keeps the kids interested by having many interactive activities.

The kids would not set foot inside this cave without Sar. Once they went in, they decided it was okay and kept running through it.

Here are all the cousins with 'Grandma'.

Stratton can't quite believe that he is under a huge dinosaur!

I call this the paintbrush dance. I think they are under a trance!
Funny picture here. I got all the kids looking at me and smiling, even though they were more than a little bit scared to go in front of the big shark. Well, I took the 'perfect' picture and instantly heard crying. It was Strat, and as you can see, he fell backwards right when I took the picture. I caught him in the act, but he didn't think it was very funny.

It's Party time!

Yep, another Lighting McQueen!

Happy Birthday Strat!!