The Tree

A few weeks ago, we drove out to our Parks and Rec department and got a permit for a Christmas tree hunt. Then we bundled up the boys and headed for the hills. The drive up was a joy.

You think Jake looks happy--you should have seen me. I was "giddy as a little schoolgirl," as my Dad likes to say (and yes, he often says it about himself). We even found a little snow!Noah was thrilled and instantly started throwing it. As for Jake, he was just plain confused by that weird cold white stuff.

The boys enjoyed hunting for a keeper. Here is Noah trying to cut down the "tree" he picked out for our family.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree, how lovely are your branches. This is the other tree he helped us pick out. This one is a little fuller and more tree-like than the first, wouldn't you say?And this is the tree in its new habitat. It was no small task getting it here. But we are happy to have it. Noah kept dancing around the tree and saying: "Now we live in a forest!!" and "Oh wow! I LOVE our tree!!!" He has thanked God for it several times in his prayers. And Jake likes to throw footballs at it.

Little Wisemen

Watch this sweet video.

Now, here is a story about my little wisemen. Noah today said: "Mom, I have a great idea! A new game we could play!" I said, "Oh, really? What's that?" He said: "You be Mary, I be Joseph, and Jake be Baby Jesus." So I got a towel for my head, and Noah pretended to carry a staff while he led my stick-horse donkey to Bethlehem. Jake was waiting for us by the Christmas tree. I wrapped up Jake and held him on my lap, as Jake smiled at his new role. Noah wanted to hold him too. I commented on the imaginary sheep and donkey in our stable. Noah told me about the other creatures I neglected to mention: giraffes, chickens, and dinosaurs. Then Noah changed characters. He said: "Ok, now I'll be....the.....hm.....who's that guy who brought the presents?" "You mean the wisemen?" He said, "Yeah. Right. The wisemen." So then he so quietly left the room and came back with a handful of toys. He gave them to Jake and I, and kissed the baby Jesus. I thanked him and then Noah held up his index finger, motioning me to wait patiently, and--I have never seen him this intentionally reverent--whispered something and hurried out of the room. He came back with more presents, and he repeated this 10 times. Each time, he held up his little finger in the same way and quietly came back with more gifts for the Baby Jesus. That little wiseman sure does love Jesus! And I love my boys that help me understand why Jesus wants us to be more childlike.

great expectations

Today Noah had just finished going to the bathroom and came to me with his underwear and pants and said: "Mommy, will you help me?" I said: "You're a big boy, you know how to put on your pants." His response: "But sometimes big boys don't know how!"

That made me stop and think. He is right. Just because you have been taught something and have done it before, even two hundred times before , sometimes you just need help. I started to rethink some of my expectations for my boys. Learning is a process, a long process. And when I think about myself, and the things that I am still trying to learn, I realize how nice it is when others are patient with me, and when I am patient with myself. So yes, Noah, I will help you put on your pants. Especially because you are patient with me as I learn how to be a mom!

And pictures from 600 card pick up:

i love this boy

These pictures almost make me cry, I don't know why. They were taken a couple months ago on a hike through Snow Canyon. Something about Jake in all of them is so sweet. Childhood at its best.

Jake at 1.5 years

Jake, Jake, Jake...where do I start? Might as well start with my favorite thing about him. When he sees me after a period of separation, he smiles so big and runs to me at full speed for a hug. He does this for Kyle when he comes home from work, Noah after nap times, and a select few other people that he loves, so consider yourself lucky if you've experienced the Jake Welcome Back Hug. It has to be the sweetest thing in the world.

What's a little less sweet: Jake has learned the fine art of tantrum throwing. These have been some of my first experiences with drop-to-the-ground-and-scream-your-guts-out kind of tantrums. It has been an eye opening experience.

One common reason for tantrums: if I don't take him on a walk to see the horses when he wants. Several times a day he gets up into my face and makes that horse whinny sound (usually

showering my face with spit in the process) until I surrender and pack the boys up for a walk to the horses. We like to feed the horses apples and grass. He is always sad to go back home. The only time I have heard him put two words together in sequence is when we leave the horses: "Bye-Bye Horses."

So although horses are climbing the charts of Jake's favorite things in life, he con

tinues to love football. When Noah was Jake's age, he would request me to draw pictures of different animals. Jake just wants footballs.

Jake goes to Toddler Time once a week with some friends, and he loves it. He also enjoys art group on Tuesdays, mostly because I let him make a mess.

He is a good little sidekick to big brother Noah.

I'm starting to see a lot of copycat behavior, which is very cute.

Today while the boys were watching tv, I watched Jake climb up onto the arm of the couch just like Noah, and then he looked over at Noah and repositioned his little hands to match Big Brother's.

The brothers made a cute prehistoric pair for Halloween.

The whole caveman thing was a good excuse to grow his hair out. Since then, Kyle reintroduced Jake to the clippers, and now he has a new haircut. It's adorable, but I still mourn the loss of that cute little shaggy head.

Our Big Boy

Noah turned 3. It was about time for a Sunday suit, don't you think?

What 3-year-old Noah is like:

He writes his name now. I wasn't prepared for how absolutely adorable it is to see your child write his name in that scraggly little kid handwriting!! He is learning to sound out words and the first word I saw him read was ipod. He loves the show SuperWhy and sometimes he calls himself SuperNoah. Other things he likes to do with letters:

I love children's creativity!! Noah loves to draw and paint. Here is a sidewalk chalk picture.

I thought the people on the boat were adorable! This is one of a few times he has ventured beyond his dinosaur drawings into the human world. But Noah's favorite canvas is still his body...

As mentioned previously, he is still obsessed with Dinosaurs. Hence the Halloween costume:

We pretend to be dinosaurs at least five times every day. He gives his request the same way every time: "Mom, let's play Dinosaurs. You be Mother, Jake will be Little Foot and I'll be Sharp Tooth." He won't take no for an answer. Before I can respond, sometimes he prompts me with the appropriate answer: "Mom, say 'Okay'!" Then he starts to attack me and I yell: "Run, Little Foot!" and I try to fight Sharp Tooth with my "tail". Sharp Tooth falls down, but then he gets back up and attacks me until I fall down. I lie still and Sharp Tooth promptly comes to and begins to scavenge Mother's dead body, with hauntingly life-like carnivorous movements and sounds. Morbid, I know. I wonder if he does this in nursery?

Sometimes the dinosaur role play lasts all day (We play dinosaur doctor, dinosaur football, dinosaur cooking, etc.) Throughout our busy day, when I forget and slip out of character, he will remind me. "That's not Jake! That's Little Foot, Mother!" It is sweet hearing him call me 'Mother' though.

Noah doesn't say his L's. So everything is ya ya ya. A catchphrase from Noah on the drive down from Idaho as he looked out the window at an imaginary volcano: "Yook at the Yava!!!"

(Noah with his volcano and "yava" birthday cake)

And he says to me at least fifteen times a day: "Mom, can I talk to you for a second?" "Yes, Noah." "Mom, I yove you!!!" I will never forget his sweet little voice in that sweet little conversation!!

One more sweet story about Noah. He has been complaining about the scary shadows in his room at night. The nightlight doesn't help, in fact, I think it just makes the shadows worse. So some nights we have been using the dimmer switch to turn on the ceiling light, and that seems to help a little. And then there's Noah's night prayers, we have been petitioning for some divine help to conquer his bedtime fears. On Monday morning, Noah emerged from his bedroom and exclaimed triumphantly: "I'm not afraid of the shadows anymore!!" I said: "Wow, that's great! I'm so happy for you! How did that happen?" He replied: "Because Jesus helped me not be scared anymore!"

Noah is a sweet kid. We love him. And I've loved these 3 years.

Our Missionaries

It was a busy October, since we said goodbye to two missionaries! My brother Kenton and Kyle's brother Kurt went into the MTC just 2 weeks apart. Kenton is going to Paris, France. Kurt is going to Puerto Rico. We were sad to say goodbye, but a mission is a good reason to go.

I'm thankful that these guys are good examples for my boys. I am thrilled that Noah and Jake will be getting such a good sermon on missionary work for the next two years!

Kurt, reading his mission call: "Peru!!!....oh wait, I messed that up. Puerto Rico!"

Almost-Missionary Kurt at the St. George Temple:

Our goodbyes to Kurt, the morning he drove up to Provo:

We missed out on the MTC send-off experience (which is apparently not much more than a parking lot drop-off), but were able to have a special Campbell family MTC experience planned by Shanna. The whole family was there for the occasion. Hopefully I'll get a picture of the family that night (Ryan and Kari, if you are reading this...hook us up). We love Kurt and we miss him so much. Grammy's house is great, but it definitely seems a lot quieter these days!

And as for Elder Pieper, we were able to spend time with him the last weekend before his mission. We stayed up in Rigby, Idaho with Granny Pie and had some good Pieper fun. Which means we ate a lot of food and played a little Sisco, walked to Ben Franklin, watched some football, and had a little juggling and tightrope-walking show courtesy of Uncle John!

Everybody, including sweet Granny Pie

Noah and Jake with Uncle Elder Pieper
And the five rowdy Pieper children while Christian hits his head on the tree branch