The big birthday!

Luke's birthday did not go by without a bang! We love birthdays and celebrating the special occasion with everyone we love is so fun for us. We ended up having two parties. Luke's birthday weekend was the Lotoja bike race in which we had friends racing. So we postponed his party and had a family party. We went camping up Southfork Canyon with the Hicks and Holbrook families. It was a great, dirty, fun time! Luke and I didn't make it through the night, it got to cold and we couldnt sleep. We took a car and drove home to our own beds. We are fair weather campers. The following weekend marked the "cowboy and cowgirl" party. The guests were decked out with overalls, hats, bandanas! No farmyard party is complete without feeding ducks, hotdogs, and the most famous Valley boat races. Each child made one or many boats out of fruit and vegetables. Flags were molded out of toothpicks, lettuce, apple peels. It was a "whatever goes" event. Just as boat races always go there is a drop off and a finish line. There is lots of running up and down the ditch to see if a particular boat makes it to the finish line. It was a great time that I believe all of the kids, (and dads) will remember for a very long time. Thanks to everyone who helped make Luke's birthday special!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Then....

Luke Turner Holbrook

9/12/2008
8 lbs. 20 inches

One year ago we met eyes for the first time. It was a moment that would change our lives forever and a love that could not be divided. It is hard to believe how quickly the minutes, days, months pass by. Yet it seems like if it is possible we love our Luke more today then even a year ago. He is precious to us in every way. His big brown eyes and dimply smile ooze joy from his every pore. He is still our little baby, yet he has grown, and changed in so many ways.

Now.... Luke Turner Holbrook

21 lbs. 29 inches

Bouncy baby boy!

God...Thank your for our baby!

Take his life and make it Yours!

Busy Boogers

Luke is the most happy in his diaper with a box to play with. He likes boxes and baskets of all sizes and can be intertained for hours.

If Luke is awake he is eating! He eats anything and everything. These are Pop's birthday donuts that Luke happily helped himself too. Oh and don't worry, he ate all the crumbs out of the dirt.

We love to read at our house. I guess I should add that Luke loves to open, shut, turn pages, and push books around more then listen to the story. This is literacy right?

And here we are to our beloved box. If he has one hand on a box, he can truly run obstacle courses around the house. We just block the stairs and watch him go. It is all good till there is a fall down.:(

Mom thought it would be fun to fill the bath with our balls. It was for two reasons, first so we could have a blast, and second to clean the balls. It was so fun, Luke splashed and threw balls all over!

That's our busy Boogers!

Photoshoot!

I know many of you are expecting cute pictures of my kids, most likely from Jen. But guess what! This is not the photoshoot I am referring to. Jen must be rubbing off on Anasten for a possible career because Anasten has taken to photography. Today she decided that she needed to hold a photoshoot in our playroom. Who were the subjects you ask? Well all of the baby dolls. What were the backdrops etc? Well all of our dressup and toys for props. She even let Hilary get dressed up and get her photo taken. So if Anasten becomes some successful photographer someday I can be the mom saying she was "always" taking photos.:) Anasten photoshoot 2009, behold.....

Make a Smilebox slideshow

"Firsts"

August was gone before we could blink our eyes. It was a busy, fun month. August was full of "first" times. Anasten started her second year at preschool, and a new preschool closer to home. She also started...drum roll...soccer!

Ana was so excited for preschool, and of course which outfit to wear! She would not let mama buy a new backpack even though her one from last year has a paint stain. She says it is to beautiful to get a new one! She wanted the "big curls" on the first day so we added some curls with a curling iron to her already "big" hair.

When Anasten walked in, she got to pick the lamb with her name and put it on the attendance board titled, "The Lord is my Shepard." Her teacher asked if she wanted some help finding her name, she responded, "if you want but it's right there." Her teacher already thinks she is a hoot. She thinks she is very obedient and reserved, (the first made me happy, the second...well just wait.) She has become quite shy to people at first, but anyone who knows her knows that "reserveness" doesn't last long. Anasten was not nervous at all! She sat right down at the table and wouldn't even entertain my tenderness. "Mama, you will be fine!" She is very independent!

And here we are to our first season of soccer! Our uncle AJ has been prepping this since in the womb. Anasten loves the "costume." It is pink and that is just great! She loves that she has hard legs, and long socks. We practiced and practiced before the big game in the yard. She is happy that her shoes have "bumps" on the bottom that are magic running bumps. She raced until she was red, (Luke tried to keep up, but just couldn't.) She kicked the ball in every which way and even fell a couple times saying, "it's ok mama, in soccer you fall on your bum bum sometimes."

The big game was on Pop's birthday! The big huddle contained 6 little girls with pretty hair all ready to prance around the field. Little did they know the other team had been coached using words like, "offense, defense, attack." To say the least they are more "soccer savvy." After Anasten's first play time she was disappointed saying, "no one is letting me have a turn kicking the ball." After coaching from daddy, and nana she understood that in soccer you have to take a turn. Her second play time was a success. She even had a goal assist on our only goal, (AJ would be taking stats.) She did struggle with her hands, but it was all out of function. When the ball would get lost in the huddle of bobbing ponytails Anasten would simply pick it up and move it. All the girls did a great job, and I would dare say that every girl kicked it at least twice! The game was a ball, we can't wait for the rest of the season!

Odds and Ends of Summer

Ok pretend for a minutes that it is July....not September. I finally have a good internet connection so I can catch up with the summer. Enjoy our midsummer tidbits.... This is a sneak peak at the fun we had on our California vacation. You will have to wait for the full report as my scrapbook gets finished to share:)

Hilary turned 21 and we got to go to Chuckie Cheese! It was so fun! Anasten loved all of the arcade games.

Luke was our very own "All American Hunk" on the 4th of July. He ate his first popsicle, and LOVED it! He enjoyed watching the parade but really was just too focused on his popsicle.

Anasten rode on the church float in the parade. We had a very hard time talking her into riding because she would miss out on catching candy. We finally convinced her but her choice is to catch candy next year. When I was taking this picture she was yelling, "make sure daddy gets me some candy, don't let him eat it all!"

Luke got to ride his first horse at the animal farms. He LOVED it! He waved his arms and chattered the whole time. We think Nana and Pop need a pony for us to ride.

Woo...that was a lot to say! Please stay tuned for our vacation scrapbook.