The Holidays

December was a fun, busy month for our family. Here's some photos of the highlights.

Miles turned one on December 22. This year has really flown by!

Miles enjoyed his cake. . .

. . .well, he enjoyed the frosting.

We invited my parents and my brother Darin to spend Christmas with our family this year. We had a lot of fun with them! We saw the World Nativity Tour, made massive amounts of candy, played games, watched movies, and sang Christmas songs. We were glad they could come spend the time with us. Our boys were sad to see them go!

The boys sporting new PJs from Santa.

Miles' very favorite gift was this soft, yellow towel from my parents that has his name embroidered on it. As soon as he opened it he just cuddled up to it and started sucking his thumb. He didn't let go of it the rest of the morning.

Hyrum's favorite gift (which he still hasn't let go of) is this toy Diego from "Go Diego, Go!" It is hilarious to watch him play with it and carry it around everywhere.

Dan and I enjoyed singing in the ward choir at church for the Christmas program. It was so nice to have family there to watch our boys so we could both participate!

And just like that another Christmas has come and gone. We love the holiday season and the extra emphasis on the birth and mission of our Savior Jesus Christ. What a blessing to know that He lives!

The Nativity

Every year the Meservy cousins put on the Nativity. Dan's sister always does a great job writing up a script, complete with speaking parts for the cast and songs for everyone. It's always fun to watch and this year was no exception. We had two little sheep in the show this year:

Hyrum thought it was great fun to crawl in with Miles at his side. He was even "baa-ing" as he crawled. Pretty darn cute.

It was a really cute Nativity with some seriously cute sheep.

And I couldn't resist posting this picture of our almost-one-year-old. LOVE those blue eyes!

October in a Nutshell

Am I the only one who wonders where October went? We had a fun and busy month. I'll catch you up the best way I know how--with pictures:

We went to Gardner Village and had a great time enjoying the atmosphere and snacking on candied almonds.

This is how Hyrum likes to smile when he knows he's getting his picture taken.

About two seconds after we took this picture, Hyrum shoved Miles face down in the dirt and straw. Aw, brotherly love!

I got to spend some time with my roommates and dear friends from Utah State at our friend Mary's wedding. It was a reunion 6 years in the making, and it was wonderful.

Shannon, me, Mary, Janelle, Kim

Hyrum celebrated his 2nd birthday in October. It's hard to believe our little man is growing up so fast!

Even though this picture doesn't show it, he really did love opening presents!

We sure love our little 2 year-old!

Hyrum and Miles keep learning how to play together. It's so fun to watch them interact, and I'm so excited for when Miles is a little older and can keep up better with his brother.

Hyrum and Miles love to laugh at each other. They think they're funny, and I'm inclined to agree.

And last, but definitely not least, we celebrated Halloween. This year Dan added two new big props to our yard. He worked hard on them, and I think he did a great job!

Our life-size skeleton horse. It's awesome.

Believe it or not, Dan carved made this mine cart our of PVC pipe and foam. I love how it turned out!

Hyrum was Mr. Incredible this year. Taking him trick-or-treating was hilarious! As soon as he caught on that people were giving him candy when we knocked on their doors, he started to run in between houses.

So, that's October in a nutshell. It went by fast, but we did our best to enjoy every minute of it!

I love this face!

Payson Lakes

Last weekend we went camping at Payson Lakes with our good friends, the Olsens. We went up on Thursday and they joined us on Friday. It was the first time we have been camping with just our little family, and it was a lot of fun. Here are some of the highlights:

We had fun "hiking" around the loop.

Hyrum recently discovered pockets, and LOVES to walk around with his hands deep in them.

Hanging out in the tent with Dad.

It took Hyrum a while to warm up to the idea of playing in the lake. . .

. . . but he LOVED playing in the dirt and getting to roast marshmallows.

Miles was just happy to hang out.

Good times, chillin' at the campground.

It was a great little mini-vacation, and definitely one we'll have to repeat some time.

The Youtube Babysitter

The time between when Hyrum wakes up from his afternoon nap and when we eat dinner is a busy time at our house. I'm usually trying to feed Miles and get dinner ready while Hyrum complains about being hungry and bored. It's not a fun combination. But recently, I came up with a new solution that seems to work well for all of us:

I've found that if I put on different Youtube videos for the boys, they'll sit there for at least a half hour, completely content. Their favorite things to watch are the songs from different Disney movies, and clips from "Go, Diego Go!" I love technology and all the ways it makes my life a little easier. . .

Ready for anything. . .

Hyrum is a funny kid. And he's reached that age where he definitely has opinions about what he wants and when he wants it. Put all that together and you end up with pictures like this:

Ready for church. Ready for a swim.

Bear Lake

This past week we went to Bear Lake with my side of the family. We had a good time camping, playing in the lake, and being with family. It sure is a lot of work to camp with two little kids!

Hyrum won a beach ball for getting a BINGO.

He didn't really like playing in the water, but he LOVED playing in the sand on the beach.

The simple joys of suckers and cousins.

Miles didn't care for the water (as you can see) and spent most of his time at the beach rolling around in the pack-and-play.

It was a fun trip! So nice to finally get a vacation this summer!

Miles' new look

Miles has always had long, kind of fluffy hair on top. It is very, very different from Hyrum's thick, coarse hair. The other day we were cutting Hyrum's hair and decided it was time to give Miles a trim as well.

BEFORE

AFTER

I think it makes him look so much older! What a studly little man!

Time

Time is a funny thing. It flies when you're having fun, it stops completely when you're bored, and it definitely has a way of changing things. A lot of time has passed since we last posted, so here are some pictures to fill you in on what we've been up to lately, starting with Hyrum:

Hyrum loves Miles. Sometimes he loves him a little too much. His new favorite trick is climbing into Miles' crib in the morning (they share a room) and waking him up. His favorite thing--not mine.

Like any good 20 month-old, he also loves puzzles and cardboard boxes.

He loved the fireworks on the 4th of July and playing with glow sticks.

We went to a splash park today, and Hyrum was in heaven. He had so much fun! I gotta get us a sprinkler!

And then there's Miles:

It's hard to believe my baby is already 6 months old!

He loves to play with toys that make noise and have lights. He also loves to roll around everywhere. I think he's catching on how to escape from Hyrum. . .

And he loves eating solid foods! Peaches are his favorite. We're working to see how many chins we can get him. . .

We love our boys and getting to enjoy the nice summer weather with them. Hyrum brings me his shoes several times each day and asks to go "side" (outside).

Yep, life is good!

Hyrum is cute...and he knows it...

Last weekend was a fun one for our family. I survived my first 5K in 5 years. Dan and the boys came to watch and even held up a sign that said "Go Mom" as I ran past. It was really fun.

After the race we went to Orem for Summerfest. We entered Hyrum and Miles in the Cute Baby Contest. It was fun to show them off for the judges and try to get them to do cute things. Miles was smiling and cooing for the judges, but Hyrum was a lot more reserved. We think it's because they tried to show him some balloons--Hyrum is deathly afraid of balloons. . . Miles ended up winning a prize from the prize drawing, and Hyrum took 3rd place in his age division for boys! Here he is showing off his prize bucket and certificate:

Doesn't he look proud of himself?

Pajama Pants & Wild Animals

Earlier this year I got a sewing machine. I've been working on a quiet book for Hyrum, and it's been fun to learn some sewing basics. My sister made her kids some pajama pants and had some leftover material that she gave me. It was just enough to make Hyrum and Miles each a pair of pajama pants. Don't look too closely...I still have a lot to learn...

Last Saturday we took the boys to the Hogle Zoo. It was the first time we have been as a family, and it was a lot of fun. Hyrum LOVED all the animals and was so excited about all the new things he saw. His favorite animal was the elephant. He kept making the elephant sound over and over and clapping.

It was fun to get to show him real animals and practice the different animal sounds with him. This one stumped us, though. What DOES a giraffe say?

It was a great way to spend a Saturday!