Nightly chase

For as long as I can remember the boys have had a favorite game of chase right after dinner. They usually start at the front door, scream "ready, set, go!!!" and run and giggle like crazy. Usually it consists of Luke chasing Drew. The other night they added lots of "friends" to the chaos...

Drew had to take a small break to love on his Mickey (aka Hot Dog) pals.

Ah! Luke caught him! :)

And he is off again........

Why the boys are NOT allowed to decorate in this house...

...because we would have a house filled with wall hangings such as this.... (Luke thought it was a brilliant idea to hang the toilet seat from a hook in Drew's room. Yeah, he thought it looked good and you know, Drew loves Elmo and all). :)

Although I could cover my house in pictures such as these. Our family of 4 in the eyes of Luke.
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Lazy weekends

This is Drew's new face...bottom lip stuck out. And he grins like crazy if you do it back to him.

Luke and Kaiden with the monster trucks. They love to race these cars right into the bushes. And the best part, they are so shocked every time when they land in the bushes....um, look at how small the box is they are driving them on. Silly boys.
Drew, with another cookie face.

Early morning hike

We went for a very early morning hike this morning on the plateau. Surprisingly, Luke hiked almost the entire 5 miles on his own....it was only at the very end that he ended up on Daddy's shoulders. Of course, it wouldn't be a true adventure without some "noculars"

Drew hiked in comfort most of the time.
I think Luke actually hiked twice as much as we did because he would run ahead to Papa and then back to us, then back to Papa.....he took the world's longest nap when we got home.

Checking out the history of the vernal pools with Momo.

and the pools....

My boys.

Drew (and his few moments of freedom from the backpack)....he could have done more walking if he didn't feel the need to climb every. single. rock. and then proceed to tumble off.

Best, best buds.

Ah, yes, the inevitable joy of boys..... (In Luke's defense we got a bit lost and the hike lasted WAY longer than we were expecting)

Drew didn't even make it to the end....he crashed.

Bronco Basketball

We went to a Bronco basketball game tonight. The boys had a great time but I am not sure they actually even saw any of the game, there is way too many fun things in a gym.

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Drew was in heaven climbing the bleachers. He went up and down them sixty zillion times....cookie face and all.

ok, so we have realized that Luke needs a bit more practice catching the ball and by the look on his face, um....terrified much?

and he ducks... (look at where the ball is......)

I adore them.

Yeah so Luke gave up on the ball playing rather quickly when this little girl wanted to play with him.

Finally capturing my little climber

Luke and some new friends getting a rid on the water cart.

Cheeeesee!!

My future photographer. As you may remember, Luke also wanted to be a photographer but that has changed to being a "real live cowboy." Luckily, Drew has picked up Papa's(and now quickly becoming Mommy's) habit :) As you can see though, his technique needs a bit of work...he likes to pose as he is taking pics!

Our last day in Oklahoma

And we are headed back home (early!) tomorrow morning. We have had a wonderful time and we can't wait to come back!

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John and Luke looking for acorns, in the freezing. freezing. cold. ok, maybe we are from California. :)

Grandma Files. We so love her.
ok, so looking back over the past two posts I realized that Drew hasn't been seen at all. I think he was napping through most of the previous picture opportunities. Well, today we headed out to see the Oklahoma Aquarium...Drew made up for the lack of pictures by being a total ham. He loved checking out all the fish.

Aunt Debbie brought one of her friends little girls and anyone that knows Luke KNOWS he loves a buddy. Well....these two really hit it off. By the end of the night they told us that they were "Steve and Alice and we just moved here from Paris" Um, ok. Along with grilling Cort about "what do want to do with your life?" Yes, Luke asked him that........what does that boy think about?!?

The many faces of Drew--checking out the turtle pond.

Yep, and ready to move on.....

Playing peek-a-boo with Uncle Bozie

John, Drew, Grandma and Great Uncle Bozie

And the family picture.

And Drew helping John do the laundry before we leave......wonderful, he is so going to hate this picture later in life! :)

More pictures from Oklahoma

We were fortunate enough to have a fantastic family reunion while in Oklahoma. John was able to see family members that he hadn't seen in years and years. It was great to get to see them all!

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Here is a darling picture of Uncle Bozie and Lily. I love how she is looking up at him.

Luke loved Livvy (John's cousins daughter). He did not want her to leave.
Wyatt brought some laser guns and Luke was in heaven.

Chilling and watching some movies (Luc, Luke, Livvy and Sophie)

And a family picture.

Momo, Grandma and her sister, Sissy.

See, he loved her :)

Ok-la-homa! (Day 1)

This is an on location post from Bixby, Oklahoma.:) We headed here on New Year's Day to spend some time with the Files family. Luke and Drew (well, mostly Luke) was thrilled about flying on the airplane. Of course, we continue to not be able to go anywhere without Woody (he was showing him the planes).

One thing that was very important to John is that we went out to see his Dad and Grandfather's grave in Henryetta. We did our best to explain to Luke where we were going and why. We weren't to sure that he understood. When we got there, we realized that he understood as well as his little three old brain could. When we showed him his grandpa's tombstone he said he needed to say a prayer. Here he is bent over his Grandpa's grave. This picture makes me so sad. I so, so, so wish he was around to see John as a Daddy and met his grandsons.