Guess who's almost thirty?

(NO, not me, thank you. I am securely in my mid-twenties.)

This sweet boy! Chuck turned 29 last Saturday, so we celebrated the night before by watching the Boise State game with friends and enjoying Macho Nachos and oh-so-festive cupcakes. See, there's two candles on the one cupcake and then nine candles on the other.

On Saturday we took a family trip to the zoo, complete with picnic lunch. We also went to the zoo a couple weeks ago, so here are some pictures of both outings:
Clyde on his adorable tiptoes checking out the giraffes.

Wilbur in a hut!

Both boys exiting the hut.

All four of us! And as we've seen over and over, my children cannot look at a camera.

It was much colder on our more recent trip, can you tell?

Clyde's gloves may have been a tad too big . . .

Chuck and Will checking out the penguins. We spent quite a while in there since it was nice and warm :).

My cute husband and me - ignore the weird shadow across our faces.

Happy birthday darlin'! You're my favorite husband ever!

The funny ones.

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Before we delve into today's batch of pictures + commentary from our family photo shoot (once again, done by the fabulous-not-just-my-friend-but-also-my-sister-in-law-Melissa) I must send a grateful shout-out to the incredibly sweet and generous Jayna and Christy for their hours of labor doing my hair and make-up. Without them, shots like this: and this: would NOT have been possible. The funny thing is that I'm not very well-acquainted with either Jayna or Christy in the 'real world' (aside from the occasional run-in at baby showers, bridal showers, and wedding receptions). They're both good, good friends of my brother Sam from high school and beyond, meaning I've admired them from afar for years. Thanks to the magical 'blogging world' I've had the chance to get to know them (and not just as Sam's little sister!) over the last year, so I summoned all of my courage and asked if they wouldn't mind spending a Saturday morning helping me get all dolled up, and they SO sweetly obliged! They are such gorgeous, hilarious, and cool girls and as the ultimate thanks I will honor their wishes by not posting the pictures from the make-over session itself :).
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Now for some more pictures - these are from the "I laugh out loud every time I see them" category:
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1. Clyde is adorably shocked at the idea of his parents kissing, but Will is apparently so disgusted/appalled that there's no choice but to run. Immediately..
. 2. I kid you not, his head was momentarily stuck. This took all of us back to a sacrament meeting a few months ago when Will got his head stuck in the back opening of a chair and it took both Chuck and I a few moments to free him - all the while he was screaming REALLY loudly. When the final tug separated Will and the chair, I carried him straight out to the foyer as I tried not to laugh/look anyone in the eyes. What a nutty kid!.
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3. I believe at this point (near the end of the photo session) Will was running away (far, far away) and Chuck was in pursuit. Clyde and I were obviously calculating how much farther we thought Will would get..
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4. Will is somewhat allergic to sitting still. Melissa has SUCH a fast trigger finger, but Will managed to beat her left and right :). (This allergy also explains our ridiculous antics at church as we try to keep the wee one entertained and quiet for an hour). I love love love Clyde in this one, though, from his cute smile to his little crossed legs.

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5. At one point, Chuck began to toss the boys around to loosen them up a bit and get them smiling again. Aside from the white sock peeking out (Murphy's Law that brown socks are impossible to find before church and/or family pictures) I love this one.

6. Coming back down for the landing..

7. Will's turn! Despite his penchant for running away, he is actually less of an adrenaline junkie than Clyde. He still loves being tossed up, just not quite as high as Clyde goes.

8. BIG smile when he knows he's safely back in Daddy's hands :).

Family pictures. 2009.

.The very talented Melissa (http://wingsofblue.blogspot.com) snapped some shots of our really, super, amazingly photogenic family a few weeks ago. She did an EXCELLENT job, especially considering that Will was a tad grumpy. Here are my favorite group shots (for various reasons, which I will of course detail):

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*I have also numbered the pictures, for your commenting ease.

1. I think this shot could serve as a metaphor for a lot of things - family pictures, life in general. I see a poignant mixture of posed happiness, utter boredom/despair, anger, and concern/attempted control. .

2. I call this one "Jumper" as both of my children are obviously contemplating taking the plunge. Clyde shows a bit of hesitancy, whereas Will is ALL set to go.
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3. Will looks like a praying mantis in this one, no?
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4. I think this one best highlights the color scheme of our outfits.
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5. Oh, Will, my sweet, very distractable son.
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6. I don't know what Clyde's in the middle of saying, but I have no doubt it was important :)
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7. I love this one, especially in black and white. It reminds me of the family pictures from the late 1800's/early 1900's where the mom and all seventeen kids would be seated and gathered around while the dad stood behind. Fifteen babies to go, I guess!
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10. I think this one is the money shot. I REALLY love the coloring that Melissa chose, it fits the bridge scene perfectly. Granted, Will still isn't looking, but this is much more representative of his little (or rather, BIG) personality.

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Next post: more awesome pictures with hilarious commentary, plus a heartwarming tribute to my really wonderful hair/make-up team (that's right, I required a team).

Clyde's latest reason to get out of bed in the mornings

TRAINS. Shortly after his birthday, Clyde discovered trains. And he's been seriously obsessed ever since. Luckily, the amazing former preschool teacher Grandma Pam had several different kinds of trains (and tracks) on hand just waiting to be played with again. Every Sunday morning on PBS there's a Thomas the Tank Engine episode, so Clyde often recreates storylines as he plays, which is hilarious. Thanks to Quinn's childhood love of all things Thomas, my mom even had several little Thomas trains that she let Clyde borrow. He gets SO intense with his "Woo-woo"-ing. So funny.

Of course, it wasn't long until Thomas paraphernalia began to invade our home, starting with Thomas, Percy, and Salty bath toys, courtesy of Clyde's indulging daddy.

The books also streamed in, mostly thanks to Grandma Pam's sharp eye at the library bookstore. It's crazy how Clyde can name every character, although his favorites are Thomas, Percy, and Harold the Helicopter.

Poor Will 'gets' to like whatever Clyde likes, so trains it is!

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And now, for the 'piece de resistance':
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Thomas shoes - oh, yeah! Clyde has always worn hand-me-down shoes (thanks cousin George!) but he recently needed new sneakers and he obviously had to have these. Not only do they light up, but they also help him to run REALLY fast:

So, we are definitely all about trains around here. Although Clyde hasn't turned his back completely upon his previous obsessions, sometimes he plays with Lightning McQueen and Thomas (which would obviously make a great straight-to-DVD kid's movie). Chuck even pulled out our Christmas train and set it up for a few weeks in the bonus room; Clyde was in heaven! We (and Santa) are banking on the train obsession to stick around for a while - all aboard!
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P.S. Happy Veteran's Day, especially to my sweet Grandpa Braden.

Go 'Niners! (aka our Halloween recap)

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At the beginning of October I sat down with Clyde and Will one evening to make some Halloween decorations. Pretty much I ended up making them myself; Will colored on some paper for a while before wandering off and Clyde's contributions were instructing me what shape his ghost's eyes should be (he went with triangles).

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Here's the lovely crepe-paper adorned bookcase:

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And some more construction paper decor:.

I asked Chuck the other day if it was sad that I made all of the decorations myself, and yet they still look like the handiwork of small children, and he tactfully said, "No, they look good. (pause). We probably just won't keep them year to year, you know?"
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We had lots of good intentions about visiting a pumpkin patch as a family, but it didn't happen. We had to cancel last-minute for the Dalbey family's annual Harvest Party a few weeks ago, and then more recently, Chuck and Will stayed home sick and missed partying with some families from our ward.
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Clyde and I had fun though! Craziest story ever: Clyde and I got to Linder Farms and were waiting around the entrance when a family stopped as they were leaving and handed me a bag of tokens. They didn't want to wait in line to finish using them and wanted to know if I would use them - heck yes! We weren't planning on doing anything that cost money since they have lots of free fun stuff as well, but I wasn't going to turn down tokens. Everyone arrived and we used the tokens ($8 worth!) to send some of the kids on the barrel train:
Clyde and Kenzie were SO cute! I think it's hilarious how he's holding his arm and trying to stay on his side of the little bench.

Hey, they finally both smiled!

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So while the moms were waiting for the train to come back, ANOTHER family approached me with a bag of tokens ($12 worth this time!). Again, they were leaving and wanted to know if I could use them, and of course I said yes. It was just so funny because Tawny and Shelly were standing right next to me, but I was singled out. We decided it was because my hair was in pigtails and I was wearing jean cutoffs, so I must have looked like some poor teenage mom :). Works for me!

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We used the rest of the tokens to let the kids do the swing ride and/or the jump houses, which is what Clyde picked:

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Clyde also liked the petting zoo and checking out the ponies:

I love how they're both on their tippy toes :)

We also went on the little hayride, although we didn't pick any pumpkins. This is a wretched picture of both of us, but at least you can tell why people would choose me to bestow their unused tokens upon . . .
.A few days later we set up outside for some pumpkin painting:

Will was a very enthusiastic painter, of pumpkin and foot alike:

I'm not looking forward to when Clyde and Will learn about pumpkin-carving and think it sounds like more fun than painting......

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And then there was Halloween itself. Our ward had a really fun trunk-or-treat, and my mom came along with us.

Queen Grandma Pam and Clyde
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Now, for your enjoyment are our attempts to get a picture of the four of us:

Yeah, maybe next year. Don't you love me ever-present smile as I attempt to wrestle Will? Story of my life! And a special thanks to Elder Braden for letting Chuck borrow his 49ers jersey.

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Happy Halloween!