Trains, trains, trains!

For Christmas we have a train table with all the tracks and trains ect. but until then, Eric builds train tracks for Finn using basic blocks. Finn has become obsessed with Thomas the train ever since we have been back here to Utah. His cousin Hunter is also obsessed and so they are partners in crime. Each Friday Grandpa Rick takes the kids to the store and they get to pick out a small toy. They boys usually pick out a train and McKinney picks out something that suits here at that second in time. They love going with Grandpa and even though it is kinda a new ritual for Finn, Hunter waits all day long on Fridays.
I am not sure what is making Eric pull this face but he has just as much fun building the tracks and bridges as Finn does. Finn almost never pushes his train under the bridge without knocking it over. But knocking the blocks over is his favorite part of building.

Utah!

Is it any wonder why I wanted to move back here? Aside from the fact that I am freezing my buns off here, I love it. I was driving through the neighborhood the other day and I had to stop and take this picture. I love the grey and white mountians against the blue sky. There is something so peaceful about it and it calms my heart.

Halloween 2006

Here we are last night, ready to go to the ward Halloween party. Felicity was a cowgirl and Finn was a chicken. Eric protested immensly to the chicken costume but since I had already spent $20 on it, he didn't have a say in it. He said that just like he and I have veto power for baby names, we now will institute veto power for halloween costumes. The only thing that I could think of to dress up as was...surprise! A nurse/doctor. A silly one at that. Finn asked me this morning at breakfast where my nose was. He really liked it last night.

Dad & Finn, Sunday Morning

Isn't this picturesque? My guys are SO HANDSOME!! We were just leaving for church and I had to quickly snap a picture. I swear Finn gets cuter by the mili-second!

Just can't wait 30 seconds!

Tonight...after the Oatmeal dinner...we asked Finn if he wanted to pick out his toys for the bath. This usually is the perfect way to trick him into stopping what he is doing and running for the bathroom. Although we can almost never get him out of the tub, sometimes it is rather difficult to get him in.

He goes in and throws a few toys into the tub. Mom turns on the water and walks around the corner to get her plate of food off the counter. When she returns, literally 30 seconds later, Finn is already in the tub with his diaper and shirt still on his body. For the Love!!!

I guess it could be worse...he could have pooped in the tub! Luckily we haven't had to deal with that yet, although his favorite bath past time is blowing bubbles in the water-with his BUM!!

He wants what he wants!

My son is crazy! Tonight we were trying to ask him what he wanted for dinner...I was thinking a can of soup...and he said he didn't want any dinner. Whatever. He just wanted to continue playing with his Mr. Potato Head. I still have yet to capture on film one of his creations. Stay tuned for that. Then, he opens up the pantry door and proceeds to climb the shelves until he sees what he wants for dinner--OATMEAL!! It has to be oatmeal!! I tried and tried to dissuade him but to no avail, and then I wanted the picture below of him with the antlers on his head so I did what every mother does...I bribed my child with oatmeal for dinner if he would let me take his picture wearing antlers.

Hunting Season

Eric went hunting (again) this weekend but Finn is the one with the "rack". This was a toy in a Burger King kids meal and I had to bribe him to even put it on. The earlier post tells you what I bribed him with. (Oatmeal)

I felt this picture was most definately the best for this entry as Eric is hoping to come home with an Elk carcass tomorrow. I haven't heard from him yet which I take as meaning that he didn't shoot one today and will remain hunting tomorrow until he gets one. He better shoot something since he spent $100 bucks on his licence and an Elk tag, not to mention his new boots he purchased (on sale he tells me) for this trip.

this past weekend...

For Hunting Widows Weekend, Grandma Coleen came down to SLC and she, mom, Lynds and I went to lunch...with the kiddies in tow of course. Then we all came back to Ya-ya's house and read stories and took naps. Here you can see Grandma, Felicity and Finn reading the Pony book.
These pictures never post in the order I select them...here is Finn sleeping for the first time in an actual bed. He was a little freaked out which seemed strange to me since every time we said that it was bed time, he crawled to the top of our bed or Ya-Ya's bed and snuggled into a pillow. I thought that he would be a natural at the bed thing but not so much. He does sleep there, but he doesn't go to bed as peacefully as when he was in his crib. Doesn't he look so cute here?
This is just a cute picture of Finn counting with his fingers. He now consitently says 1-5 then makes an "x" sound for six, skips 7 altogether and then goes straight for 8-12. We are making progress. He can recognize all the letters but just not say six or seven yet.
Here is the gang before naps. Felicity, Grandma, Finn, Ya-Ya and Reagan. These pictures are great with all the generations. I know that I absolutely treasure the pics with my grandparents and great grandparents. And Grandma, I know that you never smile and show your teeth in pics but doesn't this one look GREAT?!! You can see how much fun you are all having! I love you all!

Finn and Felicity the last few weeks...

Felicity spent the night at Ya-Ya's house the other night. The kids had a lot of fun in the bath. I promise that Felicity isn't a burn victim...she is just way darker than Finn. Finn must have inherated my pasty white complextion. You can see by the splashing drops of water on Mom's shirt that they made quite a mess. The point is that baths are way more fun with 2 people....
Here we are at Felicity's bday party. I thought tthat this was a cute pic to post because Eric is trying to help Felicity squirt everyone with the silly string. They both were having fun...until Felicity got sprayed by Ya-Ya. Then it wasn't so much fun anymore.
Even though this picture makes Finn look like he has a scruffy beard, I love it. He was so dirty but having so much fun that I couldn't ruin it by wiping up his face. Can you see the mischif in his blue eyes?
Here Finn is playing the piano with Mom. He kept trying to turn the pages when Mom was still trying to play a real song. I love the little smirk that he is giving and so even though this pic was taken like a month ago, it had to be included. If you don't know Finn, just looking at this picture gives you a pretty good idea about what he is like on a day to day basis. He has just recently started saying "Moo-oom" as in breaking up the syllables in the word mom for more drama. It just used to be Mam, or Ma but now we have dramatic expression. I think it comes from me...the drama that is. :) He does the same thing when he calls for the dog...it comes out as MY---LEE!! Then he usually follows her name with "hush!!" even if she isn't barking which she rarely does.

Finn's 2nd Birthday!

The party last Friday was a huge success! We had so many of our family and freinds over and it was really great. Thanks to Janae, we had Subway sandwiches and thanks to Costco, we had cake. These pics aren't really in order but here goes... The picture above is of Finn opening his presents. He didn't quite get the idea but with help from Hunter and Felicity he succeeded in opening everything. He ended up with so much stuff! Thanks to everyone. I have to give a shout out to Alisa who gave him a giant Mr. Potato Head. Although he can't quite get the facial parts in the right place, he loves to mix and match anyway. I will try to get a pic of one of his Frankenstein creations.
We all gathered around and sang to Finn. When he blew out the candle, we told him to take a bite. Instead of using his fingers, he decided that it would be best to suck the frosting right off the cake itself. He continued to suck frosting for about 15 min and he loved it. When we tried to cut him a piece of cake, he didn't want anything to do with that idea and went back to the frosting. I think that is the best part too.
Finn actually blew the candle out by himself...I think. We had so many little kids running around and lots of time to visit with everyone. It was a great day! Thanks again to everyone who came and also who brought gifts...it was really sweet of you!