Joseph's 4 and more!

So I thought I'd try and post faster than this, but obviously that didn't happen. But I have a good excuse. But I'm not telling that til the end. Here's Joseph's 4th Birthday!! It's so hard to believe he's 4 but he certainly is big enough. It was a great day, and we had a really fun time celebrating!

Here's the birthday station.

We had a fun obstacle course, starting with "the tube".

Hopping over 2 hula hoops, the kicking a ball around a tree.

Then do it all over again on your way back.

It was a lot of fun, and the kids all got an easter egg filled with treats for their trouble.

Then we enjoyed a fantastic picnic lunch, consisting of Joseph's favorite things: peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, string cheese, and apples. I even added in chips and juice, special treats for Joseph!

Then we feasted on Joseph's construction cake which Julie made. It was really fun, although he kept asking me why his construction machines were on the cake.

And of course there were presents, which Joseph loved. So we had to share some of his gift-lovin' dance!

Here's Joseph in part of his wedding get-up for Josh and Jessica's wedding, which was August 21st. Joseph had the privilege of being the ring bearer, and I have to add, he got a ton of compliments on doing such a good job. We were very proud of him!

Julie made his bow tie and suspenders to match the wedding colors. They also match Emery's dress!

Coming back to his seat, a job well done!

And you can't have a good blog without a picture of Miss Emery. Here she's wearing an outfit Julie's mom made her. The minute we put it on her, she was twirling around the living room, and tossing out cheesy grins, like the one in the photo. It was such a hoot!

So last, but not least is the reason why I can be excused from not posting sooner.

Julie's Pregnant!

Yup, you read it right. We're expecting baby #3. As of now, the due date is April 1st. (Save the jokes.) We're really excited. This was planned, and we're looking forward to this newest addition next spring. (At least it would be nice it if were spring by that point. Probably wishful thinking.) Joseph is old enough to really be involved. He regularly asks Julie "How's the baby doing?" and every week when she reads her baby update, she tells him what's growing, and how big the baby is. We can't wait until we can learn the sex of the baby and share that with him. It will only increase his excitement and attachment. Julie is 10 weeks along, so just out of the feeling icky phase. So maybe, just maybe, she can post more regularly now. But don't hold your breath. :)

Picture Overload

Since we've taken so long to update the blog, we have tons of pictures to share. First up is Travis's graduation. We drove down to Missoula (back in May) and spent the day with his family as he got his bachelor's degree from U of M. These pictures were all taken by Joseph.

Then we had a blast with Grandma Eris and Grandpa Mike staying at our house. Unfortunately, right after they arrived, Grandma started to get a sinus infection and had to get it taken care of before her hip replacement. Fortunately, it all worked out just fine. Before they left we had a nice photo shoot with them and the kids.

We had so much fun visiting with them (sinus infection and all) and can't wait to spend more time with them!

Next, Joseph was able to have an awesome experience fishing for the first time. He has his very own spiderman fishing pole!

He doesn't quite have the patience for it yet, but he did pretty well even though we didn't catch anything!

These are just some silly photos of the kids and the fun things we do. I don't know what it is with us and putting Emery in Joseph's underwear, but something about it's just so funny!

Our next adventure was at a really fun place here in Kalispell called the Little Bitty Ranch. They have pigs, horses, goats, a turkey, and maybe more that I'm forgetting. The kids were able to go and see all the animals and ride the horses. Joseph jumped right on and enjoyed his ride. Emery watched quietly the whole time, and then when it was her turn, she let me sit her on the horse, sat for a second, and then leaned back to me to come down. I was glad she let me put her on, even if she didn't want to ride, but she gave it a try!

Then we had a rained out Fathe'rs Son Campout. Joseph was pretty excited about it, so Aaron made their own tent in the living room and they slept out there. Maybe next year it won't be pouring rain!

Here are some silly shots of Joseph, doing what he does best. Being silly!

I'm cold!

Dressing up like Papa to go to work!

One morning when Julie came home from her run, she found Emery sitting at breakfast like this. Every morning when she gets dressed, she picks out the bows she wants to wear. Apparently that day she couldn't decide which one she wanted!

And whenever we take a picture of Emery, we have to take a picture of Joseph too!

One day as I was getting breakfast ready, I found this in the cereal box. Didn't know they were still putting prizes in there!

Nope! It was just one of our cars that mysteriously ended up in the cereal container.

More of Emery's silliness wearing Joseph's clothes.

And this lovely mark is where she decided to try sharpening her teeth on our table. That one's not coming out!

The next bunch are from our trip to the Hungry Horse Reservoir. Emery absoutely loved the water. Joseph was excited about finding pirate treasure. In the end it was a great time,  minus the 17 mosquito bites Julie ended up with and Joseph's horrible allergic reaction/infection.

This is his swollen knee. We were in the waiting room waiting to be seen. Turns out he had an allergic reaction to something that bit him and his bites were filling with hot fluid (which was apparently the infection ontop of the allergy). Made for a not so fun day, but all in all Joseph was a real trooper and didn't complain about the discomfort or pain.

And last are the kids with their wonderful creations from Grandma Eris. Emery is sporting her lovely new sundress, and Joseph (without his head in the pic) is holding his brand new car/book bag from her. It's so masculine isn't it? (His last bag was really a very femmy purse that used to be mine.) Oh, and there's another picture of Joseph which I had to take after taking a picture of Emery.

So that's the picture overload. Maybe I'll be good and keep up next time so I'm not blogging multiple months at the same time. :)

Emery and more!

Happy Birthday Emery! It's been an amazing year with you in our family!

Here are some photos from Emery's first Birthday party. She didn't really dig into her cake, although we gave her the chance. We think she was hoping for chocolate cake. We'll do better next year!

Next, it was time for presents. Like most one year olds, she wasn't too interested. But we were able to get her involved every now and then.

These are some pictures from our visit to the fire station. Joseph was slightly scared of the firefighter in his gear. They also hooked him up to a heart monitor. He didn't really like that either. But they both loved climbing in and out of the ambulance. Emery got angry more than once that I wouldn't let her climb back in.

This photo is especially for Patsy. She's pregnant with a little girl (YAY!) and gave Emery this sweet little bear that she absolutely loves. Maybe now we can find one for her little girl and just hope she likes it as much as Emery does.

This is just a silly picture of Emery. She was actually chowing down on peas at the time, but Joseph started making her laugh. Priceless.

I was talking to my sister Heidi when this happened. Out walked everyone from the bedroom and what did I find?

Emery wearing a strange assortment of Joseph's clothes.

Including his Wall*E underwear. I had to get off the phone I was laughing so hard. Aren't dads the best?