Wisconsin Part II

(sorry, I put the pictures in reverse order)this is one house where I used to live in Wisconsin

this is my other former house

While we were visiting with Grammy and Grampy, the kids helped Grampy with yardwork. They mostly picked up sticks around the yard.

On Tuesday, we went to the zoo with Grammy, Grampy, April, Michayla, and Jacob. The zoo was nicer than I expected it to be frankly. Porter only likes meat eating animals, and there were a number of those, including lions. Dallin was excited to see this eagle. Porter's favorite thing, though, was a pair of fighting raccoons. He could have watched them for hours, laughing the whole time.

we got to feed this giraffes. You can see the giraffe's tongue in this one.

there was a petting zoo portion where you could feed the animals. This goat was especially greedy.

Joe made friends with this chicken.

sometimes we just had to rest

there was a little train that took us around part of the zoo.

chasing peacocks

this peacock was showing off its feathers, it didn't care if anyone touched it

there was also a little park at the zoo where the kids played

Wisconsin in three parts - Part I

Easter

We had a nice Easter at home this year, since conference was on and there was no church (I didn't buy them Easter outfits like I usually do because there was no church). The night before, I read them the story of Jesus's resurrection. Surprisingly, Dallin was more interested than Porter (in fact, the only thing that Porter seems to have gotten from it was a new way to threaten Dallin, that he will nail his hands to a cross). Oh well, at least Dallin seemed to learn something. The next morning, the Easter bunny had hidden eggs and had brought them each a present and shoes. We spent the morning with Porter yelling, "egg" every time he found one. They were much better at egg hunting this year than last year though. (this is the only thing Dallin asked for, Buzz Lightyear backpack).

(that's Dallin with his candy, wearing his new shoes and toy. The Buzz stayed on for days, he even tried to sleep in it)

(here's Porter with his Easter basket)

(Porter got this pack of 10 little Transformers. He was amazed that Easter Bunny got him the exact pack he wanted when he had only told Easter Bunny that he wanted "transformers")

(Joe also got them some new track.)

My family came over to watch conference. It is Mallory's birthday next week so we also had a cake for her)

(this is how Dallin treats his candy. He opened all of the eggs and left the candy on the floor for convenient eating)

(Joe also bought some more Legos, which Porter put together. It is Joe's favorite trick to tell the kids that he is buying presents for cousin Jack, when he is really buying for Porter and Dallin. It especially upsets Porter to think that Jack, and not Porter, is getting these great toys)

religious instruction from Porter and Dallin

The following statements/discussions have occurred in our home:

(1) Porter to Dallin after Dallin's blew away, "Dallin, don't worry about your balloon, just worry about yourself. Jesus will catch your balloon and give it you when you die."

(2) Porter: "Mom, what would Heavenly Father do to me if I cut Dallin in half and he died."
Mom: Heavenly Father would probably make you go live with Satan if you killed your brother."
Porter: "No, Heavenly Father loves me so much he wouldn't make me stay with Satan."

(3) Porter was behaving badly at a restaurant the other day. He told me that he was choosing Satan.

(4) Dallin and Porter were asking me about my dad. Dallin asked if I was sad that my dad was dead (yes) and Porter said that it is weird that my dad doesn't know that I am grown up because he can't see me. I told them that my dad probably knows that I am grownup, that he still watches me from Heaven. Dallin now thinks he can see my dad's eyeballs in the sky, watching us.

(5) Porter learned about baptism on Sunday. We asked him how old you have to be to be baptized. He said 8. We asked him who can baptize you. He said your dad. I asked who else. Dallin said, your mom and Porter agreed. I explained that moms can't because they don't have the priesthood. Joe asked who could baptize you if your dad wasn't around. Porter said you would have to wait for him to come home. Joe said, what if your dad was dead? Porter said you would have to wait for for a very long time. Dallin then said that your mom could do it.

(6) Dallin has really been enjoying his sunbeam class. He has such good teachers and every week he can give us a pretty good approximation of what he learned. This week he learned about the "animals" and "the boat" (Porter then reminded him that it was the ark). He learned about plants a couple of weeks ago and planted a pea plant. He sets it outside for 5 minutes at a time to make sure it gets enough sun. He also learned about water one week. He carried around a water bottle of water his teacher gave him for two weeks, and showed it off to everyone.

(7) Dallin thinks that he should yell his prayers as quickly as he can.

steps

This has been a good week for Porter and Dallin. On Tuesday they had gymnastics. Dallin went all by himself. For the past couple of weeks, he has refused to go unless Porter comes to help him. This week, he happily went and did everything. Porter too had a good week in gymnastics. He hasn't liked his new class. It is much harder than the old one and most of the kids seem better then him (they have been in this class longer). This week though, Porter did most of the skills pretty well. I almost cried I was so happy to see him do a good back bend. Here is a picture of him showing one off at home. Dallin also used the potty multiple times today without wetting his diaper in between. After the third time in the bathroom, he turned to me and said, "are you so proud of me?" Yes I am. Keep it up Dallin.

This is a picture of Porter and Dallin hanging around the living room. They decided to take off their shirts for some reason and sit around like this.

dinosaur park

we went to the dinosaur park in Ogden on Thursday with Grandma, Aunt Megan, and cousins Jack and Afton. Porter and Dallin still love dinosaurs

new talent

Porter is learning to blow bubbles with his gum

Here is Dallin wearing a helmet (I think it is a paintball helmet)