A picture is worth a thousand words.

Really, do I need to say anything more (Please note no bonus for the sub-total).

P.S. This is Paul again, and this is my score. Gotta give credit where credit is due.

17 Years!

Disclaimer: This is Paul, and Kristen will likely find the post really really lame.

We are being invaded in our part of the country. Above is the invader, the Magicicada, in a photo I took in front of our local library. There are literally millions of these bugs emerging from a 17 year hiatus. There life cycle is as such: Their eggs are laid on the branches of trees by the adult Cicada, who subsequently dies. The nymph Cicada (sə-ˈkā-də) will fall from the tree branches and burrow into the ground and feed on the roots of the tree...for 17 years. After the 17 years pass, the adult Cicada will emerge and make insane amounts of noise in an effort to mate.

I cannot emphasis how insane the amount of noise is. I took Dallin to his speech appointment at the hospital, which is surrounded by trees. It would have been near impossible to speak to someone more than a few yard away. One landed and Dallin's neck, which really didn't go over well with the little fella. I went home and told Kristen how amazingly loud the Cicada's were, and she told me she had heard them, so no need to act interested in what I had to say.

Two days later I got a message on the voice mail at work, "Paul, you have got to hear how loud the Cicada's are here (sarcasm oozing)." Thirty seconds of holding the phone out, commenting on how loud they were, etc. she had had her fun and said goodbye.

Anyway, I thought that the Cicadas were noteworthy and that I would write a post.

Hey, pickins' have been slim lately. Have you seen how few posts we have.

Another baby...they just keep coming!

My sister, Katie, had her baby early this morning! I thought I was going to have to wait three weeks before I saw a picture of little "Tater-tot", but my rockin' sister, Kodi, put some up on her blog. Thanks Toady!

Photoshoot with a Diva in training

I finished Ellie's tutu! Minus all the flaws, I love it! She loves it, too! I attached a ribbon on the back so that it will grow with her (and so I don't have to make another one). She was so sweet while I was taking her pictures, being under the weather and all. I wish I had a really nice camera and Photoshop! How fun would that be!!!

h2o

There's always a wet kid running around in these parts during the warm months. His name is Dallin. Whether it be the swimming pool, the creek, or the sprinklers, he's in it!

Our neighbor's gave Dallin a fun new water "toy" to help sate his love of h2o. The kids had a lot of fun playing in it.The kids...and Paul. He will always be a kid at heart. We tried Ellie out in the water. She might be more like her mom. She only liked to get wet from the knees down.

She did love the grass, however!
She can be so CHILL!

Remember when..

I said we were going to get family pictures taken?

Recipe for retakes. One busy little boy. One open field. One stressed out mommy. One "just relax!" daddy. One melancholy baby. One camera that wasn't on the right setting.

Mix all of the above ingredients together and WAHLAH.

A big THANKS to our friend, Traci, who was kind enough, patient enough, and generous enough to come along and take our pictures.

We'll get retakes as soon as every one's feeling better. We've been passing on the sneezing, sniffling, coughing, aching, don't want to get out of bed GAMBOO around here!