Boys

I love having boys. They are so awesome!! Last weekend was the Fathers and Sons campout and Jayson took Jett and Tucker, and joined his Dad and Josh. The camp they go to is near the beach and they had a great time playing in the sand. The boys loved camping in their bunks and hanging out by the campfire, exploring, and getting dirty, and the weather was warm and sunny!!In the morning they had a great breakfast, then packed up and headed for the dunes! Kim had his truck so of course they couldn't pass up the opportunity to play!

Dallas and I enjoyed a yummy dinner with mom and dad and some quiet time at home.

***

So, on Saturday, before the guys got home, I got a call from Karen and Clarissa saying there was a surprise for them. Once they got home, we all went to Grandma's house and this is what she got for the grandkids to play with!!
(the adult kids play too!)

The upside of Joe's going out of business!

Jett got right on and he is such a natural!!! A true Rowley boy that's for sure! I couldn't believe it! Daddy and Shane helped explain how it works, Jett hopped on and took off! He was on that motorcycle the rest of the day and in heaven! Jayson, Shane and Josh gave Tucker and Brenna rides as well and we all had a blast watching!

Here are some pics and videos of the action!


Such concentration.Jett enjoyed playing follow the leader with the other guys. He liked to lead most of the time, but did a great job following as well!



He discovered that he could jump on this hill and caught air the first time he did it! We tried to catch him on film, but he didn't go as high. I'm sure it won't take long for him to master the jump!



At the end of the night, we were packing up to go home and Jett got on for one last ride. He was doing these jumps at the time and when he landed at the top of the hill, there's another little hill that goes up and then the deck is after that. He thought he would go fast again to jump the next hill, but got going too fast and couldn't stop! He crashed through the lattice fence, went under the deck and hit the house. His first motorcycle crash! He came out with little scrapes on his face and hands. Earlier in the day he had scratched his leg on something else, and he had rubbed both thumbs raw where he held the handlebars, but still kept going!! So now he's all scabbed up, but keeps asking when we can go to Grandma's house again to ride!

That's my boy! =)

You'll NEVER go back to store-bought! :)

So, I have to boast a little bit here...:) I just made the most DE-LISH yogurt ever and am feeling rather victorious on all sides. It was super easy to make, 75 cents a quart as opposed to the $2.50+ you would pay at the store, and it tasted sooooo yummy I couldn't stop eating this morning.:):) All it took was 2 quarts of milk, 1/2 cup of plain yogurt, and a crock pot. You heat it all together and let the yogurt culture in the milk until you have 2 quarts of yogurt. Look up the timing and exact recipe on http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/. This morning I pureed a couple of strawberries and added them, along with some sugar, to about a pint of yogurt, and NUM! It reminded me of eating fresh rasberries and milk at grandma's house when we were little--Jason loved it too. Needless to say, we will never go back to the gloopy, over-sweetened, expensive, store-bought stuff again! I look forward to experimenting with some more fruits and flavors-- I love playing "mad scientist" in the kitchen.:) Anywho, I love and miss you all TONS and TONS and TONS!

Take care all yous! :)
~Lisa

Kimbre's 24!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIMBRE!!!What a HOTTIE!!!!So, Even if it's a day late post, I still wanted to recognize that it was Kimbre's birthday yesterday and wish her all the best in her 24th year!!
We love you so much Kim! You're always so much fun to chat with and we all know you're super-cool!
Happiest Birthday to you!!!!!

I know, you already did these pics, but I love 'em! It's so you! ; )
Oh, yeah...

Dallas Todd Rowley

So I've taken a while to post pictures here, but I didn't forget! We're all doing really well here. We looove having Dallas here! The boys love to see him and hold him and Tucker just about smothers him with loves and kisses! Jay and I are tired from not so much sleep, but we're hangin' in there. =) Dallas is a really good baby. He sleeps, eats poops and spits. He's a spitter - which I'm starting to get used to, but don't like too much... He's mellow and when he's awake he's so alert! He loves to stare into peoples faces and he'll even track if you move. He has such bright eyes and we love his dark hair and complexion. He's sooo handsome and we are all in love with this little boy!!!
We sure love all of you and thank you for your support and love! And a special thanks to Nana and Papa who watched the big boys for us. That was the biggest help and they had such a blast! We love all of you and hope you enjoy the pictures! =)

Playin' in the Mud!

What can I say? You're only a kid once! :) Jacob and his buddies were a muddy, wet, happy bunch that day. Haha!:) Needless to say he went home wearing nothing but a diaper and bathtime took place immediately upon arrival.

Guess what.....

It's a BOY! We are very excited--Jacob will have a little buddy soon!:) Anywho, enjoy the photos, love to you all!

~Lisa

A little bit of Joy

Matt's brother, Travis, has this on his blog and it makes me happy. Watch it.
http://video.yahoo.com/network/100000089?v=4816051&l=100022574

Since we had Brycen, Ava has had to take on some new responsibilities around here. He...He...He..., Just kidding!

Brycen Andrew Oakes

So here are some pictures of our handsom baby BOY! We love him dearly and are so excited for all the fun to come. Love you guys! Thanks for all your prayers and support!
~Drew, Mandy, Ava and Brycen

ABC's and 123's

Jacob is starting to learn his letters and numbers! It is so much fun hearing him say them-- he especially loves this website we found called starfall.com--it's very cute and perfect for kids learning to read!
This video was taken about a week ago, but last night Jacob was counting from 4 to 10 without help and kept saying "five fingers!" Aaaa!!! :) They learn SO fast! We were pretty excited! I don't think he understands what it means yet, but he's getting the idea and the sequence anyway.:)

Happy Easter and Fun April Picts!

Easter Hunt and BBQ with our friends!

Hello All!

Don't kids just make holidays the BEST!! We had sooo much fun with Jacob this Easter-- he did 3 easter-egg hunts--two with friends and the other on Easter Sunday with our family here! It was so cute to watch him. He was just fascinated with openning the eggs-- every time he would pick one up, he had to open it and empty the contents into his basket before moving on!

Hope you enjoy the photos AND CONGRATS TO THE NEW BABIES!!! What a wonderful season of life! LOVE YOU ALL!!!

Couldn't resist adding these to the blog just for fun-- this was taken after a morning of playing in mud puddles--happy boy! :)

As you can see we kept the egg hunting pretty easy for them.:)

Easter Treat Baskets-Cheese! Jake is currently fascinated with anything that has a propeller-- we are constantly hearing "airplane!" or "helicopter" from him anytime something with a motor flies by--he played with this little fan until it broke! :)

Hugs! These two are best friends--Jacob asks to play with Mylie every day! He loves his cousins and is especially tender and sweet with Sharie's new baby Brynlee--always giving her little kisses and soft pats on the head:) I hope this continues for his new sibling on the way! :)

Anywho, Happy Easter! Love to you all!

~Lisa and Jason

Welcome to our World - Brycen Oakes... Sounds like Mandy had a pretty good delivery of only 3 hours / 8lbs 9 ounces...

And...I might say a very good looking young man!! ;o)..

Congratulations Ava---you have a new baby brother and he's a cutie....just like you.

40 weeks!

I think Ashley looks a lot better than I do - But that's okay. She's always a HOTTIE in my book :)
( Ava wanted to be just like her Mom!)

Anyway - the race is on...

The Day of Delivery Approaches

Ashley and Mandy are quickly coming to that time of delivery and we are all anxiously waiting to see that it all goes well.
I just couldn't resist this one last picture of a beautiful expecting mother who's also anxious to move forward from this heavy protruding burden to time when she can carry him in her arms.

We find out hopefully from Lisa next week what her new baby will be. What wonderfully exciting times these are!!

We love you all!!

Steve and Sue

Jacob's Prayers

Just had to put a little journal entry on the blog today. Jacob is starting to say his own prayers lately-- it is so precious! Usually at meal-times I'll start to say a prayer and he just jumps right in and repeats everything I say as best as he can. He gets so smiley and proud of himself. It is very sweet.:)

I Finished The Easter Dress!!!

So I wanted Ava to have something special for Easter and something just for her when the baby was born. So I tackled sewing! I was a lot of work - and a lot of picking-out and starting over - BUT I FINISHED! Ava says she feels like a princess. When she walks down the stairs, the dress trails behind her and she loves it! I'm just glad it turned out. I just love to see her face light up when she sees it!

Jacob Updates and Fun Picts

Sooo.... I think the pen won. Jacob has been getting more and more interested in "coloring." We just always have to watch and make sure he ONLY colors on paper. He especially loves drawing airplanes with big scribble circles when then fly- "jjjzzzooom jjjzooom!"

Jacob's most recent favorite food is Ramen Noodles-- it's so nice and easy! I can give him a whole pack and he will scarf it!

It's a hat! (aka orange peel!)

What a handsome boy! Jake has quite the fashion sense-- just so you know, in this next video of him dancing, the outfit was his idea, not mine! He even asked me to loop the beads around his ears!

Best Friends!!

This was SO CUTE!! Jacob LOVES to help Daddy--they are putting together his new toy-bin shelf and Jakie was actually putting the screws in the holes for Daddy! I love it!!

Aren't baby giggles just contagious!

Love you guys! Hope you enjoy these updates on our lives!!

Funny Story

I tried to get pictures without success, but I have to share this story if only for posterity! Last night Jacob and Jason were attacking me with zrberts and Jason suggested to Jacob that he give himself a zrbert-- on his belly! Jason and I laughed until it hurt watching Jacob try to do this. Getting lips to belly is pretty tough for an adult, but for a toddler it's even more impossible. He pulled up his little shirt, tucked it under his chin, and proceeded to try and lift his little round belly to his face. It was so hysterical! His belly turned into a series of little fat rolls before he finally gave up and went back to giving me zrberts on my arm. I tried to get out the camera and have him do it again, but it didn't work. Oh well. Next time you see Jacob, or any other toddler, get the camera ready and ask them to give themselves a zrbert on the belly-- be prepared for some laughs!