April at the Lake

Christa and I decided one sunny, warm Saturday in April that we would head to the lake with the kids. The weather was perfect. It was in the high 60's, there was no wind, and we had the beach to ourselves. The kids ran and played, built sand castles, climbed rocks, threw sand into the water, and ATE. Hoyt really wanted to "swim" but the water was a bit too cold for that!

After a good six hours at the lake we decided to start for home. That night Hoyt went to bed at 7:00 and I followed soon after. What a fun and tiring day!!

I love the mountains with snow in the background!

Filling up the buckets - he could do this all day long

Brodie let Hoyt borrow his "big boy" shovel. It was a hit...

As you can clearly see!




One of my favorite pictures of the day - Hoyt and Brynn catching some rays.



Mom getting in on building the sand castle. The hat with the sweatsuit doesn't make much sense, but it was sunny and I didn't want to burn!



Climbing the rocks

Enjoying his lunch - Christa brought Doritos. Can you tell Hoyt is enjoying them?

Tossing sand into the water with "Kista". Although most of Hoyt's sand ended up on poor Christa!

Great Day!!

Flat Stanley!

Cousin Kasey wrote Hoyt a letter asking him to keep "Flat Stanley" for a month. We were supposed to do something fun with Stanley and then write a letter to her 1st grade class about it. We decided to take Stanley to Lake Tahoe - I think he had a pretty good time!

We sent this picture back to Kasey's class along with a letter describing our day at the lake. Stanley's favorite part was building sand castles!

This is overlooking the lake at a "scenic stop". With no rails to stop someone from falling down the mountain, Christa and I were a little paranoid, but luckily all the kids made it back to the car!

Grandma Comes for a Visit

Grandma Hoyt and "Big Grandma" Gilbert came for a visit last week, and Hoyt loved every minute of it. He was the center of attention (but...to be honest he's always the center of attention around here!) and didn't mind having two grandmas doting over him.

He couldn't wait to show grandma that he could ride a big boy bike and loved taking grandma to the park to play. Now it's our turn to go visit grandma's house, because he wants to SWIM! He asks me all the time if he can go to grandma's to swim and jump on the trampoline. May can't get here fast enough!!

On his "horse" at the park.

It was a little cold, but Hoyt and grandma persevered!!

Showing off his bike riding skills for grandma

Having some fun before bedtime. You have to love the PJ's with the three-sizes-too-small cowboy hat!!

Fanatic!

Yes...that's right...we have a fanatic on our hands, and Ryon couldn't be happier. I usually spend at least an hour a day playing baseball with Hoyt. He refuses to use his baseball tee, and insists that I pitch to him so he can hit. He also found this umpire mask of Ryon's in the closet and wears it around the house everyday. I am beginning to dream about baseball - there has to be something wrong with that!!

Happy Easter!

Ryon was out of town for Easter Sunday, so thank goodness for good friends who treat you like family. The Burnett's invited Hoyt and I, and the Artinger's, to spend Easter with their family and we happily accepted! We had a wonderful time at Kelly's parents house with fun games, an egg hunt and delicious dinner.

Hoyt was a huge fan of the "egg roll" game that the Artinger's brought, and believe it or not he won! He loved rolling his egg, and had fun rolling some of the adult's eggs as well. Carl Artinger said that they had never seen a two-year-old win the game...go Hoyt!!

His first turn on the egg roll board.

Taking his time and rolling right!

Hoyt and Gracie taking over the game

Patiently waiting his turn for another roll!

Let the egg hunting begin...

It was snowing (yes, on Easter) so the Artinger boys found some great egg hiding spots!

Looks like a full basket to me

Happy Easter!!

Helpful?

Um... not so much - but he really thinks he's helping out a lot! After I made a cake the other day, Hoyt told me that it was his turn to "clean the dishes". This kept him entertained for a good 30 minutes, and he didn't even get that much water on the floor. Hooray!!

Pre-Easter Festivities

Since Easter fell on conference Sunday this year, we had to dress in our "Easter outfits" the week before, and since Ryon would also be out of town for Easter Sunday we had to have an early Easter egg hunt as well!! (I don't think Hoyt minded having TWO egg hunts this year!)

Hoyt loves getting dressed for church these days, and he loves going to church. He asks me numerous times a week if it is "church today?" He can't get enough of nursery and he adores his teachers - Brother Ramos and Brother Orton. He has also started taking his own scriptures to church, so he feels rather important.

Here he is all dressed up for church and ready to go. (Notice the firm grip he has on his scriptures!)

With dad after church. The Easter bunny came while we were gone and hid a basket - smart bunny!

Had to get a picture with mom too!

After a nice nap it was time for our Easter egg hunt. Due to the wind, we had to have an indoor hunt. Hoyt didn't care one bit!

He had to check out each egg before placing it in his basket!

He wasted no time finding all 25 eggs hidden throughout the downstairs!

I don't think putting anything inside of the eggs was even necessary - he just loves the "hunt". He is now asking....daily.....if we can hunt for eggs.

Handsome Hoyt

On Monday night, we took Hoyt to get a "big boy haircut" for family home evening. I decided that we would cut it short so we could spike it up on the top. I explained to Hoyt that we were going to get his hair cut short and that he would be so handsome!

As he sat in the chair, and the girl was cutting his hair, he kept looking in the mirror and saying, "Mom....Dad....I am so handsome; I am so handsome." He must have said he was handsome at least 20 times. The hair stylist thought he was pretty funny, and I think he is the most handsome 2 1/2 year-old I have ever seen!!

Getting ready to take a bath after his big haircut.

I think the "big boy haircut/family home evening" was a hit!

Big Boy BIKE!!

We had a few beautiful days last week and were able to take Hoyt out on his bike for a little practice. He loved getting his bike for Christmas, but since then he really hasn't been able to ride it because of the weather. All it took was 30 minutes of practicing at the park and he got the hang of pedaling, steering, and "looking up" while he was riding.

He is now of the opinion that he is a "really BIG boy". (Now if we could just get him to use the big boy potty we would be on a roll!!)


When Ryon got home from work, Hoyt was ready to show him all he had learned.

Here's Hoyt pretending to let Ryon help him!!

And....he's off! After a few days of riding, we decided that we needed to raise the seat on the bike because he's already a bit too tall for it. Ryon and I can't believe how fast he's growing!

Here's a little video of Hoyt on his first day riding a big boy bike (with some help from the wobbly training wheels, of course)!

Conversations with Hoyt...

About a week ago I was having a conversation with Hoyt. He said, "Mom....Daddy's at work. Daddy goes to work and Hoyt stays home."

I replied with, "Yes, dad's at work." Then I said, "If dad goes to work and Hoyt stays home, what about mom. What does mom do?

He looked at me like that was the easiest question ever and said, "Mom CLEANS the kitchen!" (Smart kid....that's pretty much what I do!!)