Are they beds, or is it a fort?

So, in our efforts to get ready for a new baby we had to figure out how to combine three little boys in one room. After searching, discussing, and drawing up many ideas we finally came up with one we could agree on - a loft built into their room that has vaulted ceilings (thank goodness for that or this never would have worked). And, after 7 weeks of construction - we finally got them done! The boys love them! Brayden and Baylor get the top loft, and Carson sleeps on the bottom. They each have their own shelves above their bed for their stuffies as well as their name underneath the shelf to distinguish whose bed is whose. Plus mommy got to keep all of her floor space for toys and books and such! It seems like a win-win to me.

  

Babies, babies, babies

In the last few weeks we have heard about so many babies that will be born this year! We both have a sister (or sister-in-law) due this summer not to mention several close friends and cousins. A shout out to all of you who are expecting and due between now and August! Ben and I did notice that there are a lot of you due in July....anything to do with the 10 year anniversary of 9/11 - just curious. ;) No, really congratulations to all of you and we hope to hear from you as your family grows and those little ones come. Also, if anyone has any unique girl names that aren't too weird - I'm looking for suggestions. ;) Here's to the babies of 2012!

A Glimpse of 2011 Backwards

Since I am a total slacker and left out the entire year last year, I thought I would make an attempt to give you a shortened and quick glimpse of 2011 at the Strong's starting with December and heading backward through the year:

Merry Christmas - Santa Boys!

A November snow - enough to make a snowman, and then crush him.


Happy Halloween! Two Kratt Brothers (thank you PBS) and a Green Crayon.

Jedi Knight Training at the cabin with Strong's

The passing of Abbey's Grandpa Christensen - last of the grandparents for Abbey, and very much missed.

Waiting for a pony ride at the State Fair.

Mt. Timpanogos - way to go awesome hikers!

Fishing at Bountiful Lake - hope to do more next year.

Building the shed - one month, and one awesome shed! Thanks Uncle Nate and Chris for helping.

Happy 4th of July! Lots of parades, food, family, and fireworks! Love the summer!

Kindergarten Graduation - way to go B

Delicate Arch - three boys hiked up, one hiked down, but it was a blast!

Happy 35th Anniversary Mom and Dad - both Moms and Dads!

After an emotional struggle we decided to say good-bye to Kitty. Happy to announce he was later adopted, and we hope all is well with his new home. We miss you Kitty!

Hardward Ranch on a cold January day when Daddy could have a day to hang out with his boys. They thought it was great, and we just might have to do it again someday!

We hope your 2011 was as much fun and memorable for your family as ours was for us! Happy New Year, and may it be absoloutely wonderful!

Carson's First Haircut

Well, after we got fun family photos for Christmas...we let the precious curly hair last as long as we could, but come the morning of the 27th we decided it was time for our little boy to lose the locks and become a big boy. Mommy of course cried with every snip of the scissors, but with the help of daddy and "Blue's Clues" we managed to keep him still enough to give him the big boy haircut he deserved. Somedays I miss the curls, but I was grateful to see that he still had enough natural curl on top to keep me happy.

Isn't he cute?

Oh the ringlets!

Yes, stretch out those curls, and they are super long!

What would a first haircut be without Mommy crying?

The finished result! Doesn't he look like a big boy now? :)

Biggest Blog Slacker

Ok so I am the biggest communication slacker of all time! A quick summary of the rest of our 2010 - busy summer as usual with parades, fireworks, camping and a trip to Bear Lake. Brayden started kindergarten, Baylor started preschool, my brother David got engaged, Brayden also started piano lessons and won the reflections contest at his school with a photo he took. Fun Halloween, slow Thanksgiving (thankfully), Brayden had a piano recital with his memorized song, and we had a great Christmas! Oh yeah, and we added a new family member - a year old rat terrier named Sparky! He is by far the most affectionate dog we have ever known. Here are a few highlight pics to recap the year.

My three little beach bums at Bear Lake.

First day of preschool for my shy guy.

First day of kindergarten for my sweet "B".

The three crayonateers - blue, orange, and green!

The winning photo!

Baylor with his new best friend.

Our Tenth Anniversary!

For our 10th Anniversary Ben and I decided to revisit the Northwest - from Portland, OR to Seattle, WA and a bunch of places in between. Thanks to my Uncle Bruce we were able to stay right on the beach in Long Beach, Washington. It was beautiful, but as most of you know about me I couldn't sit still for long so we spent our time at the Portland Temple, hiking the waterfalls on the historic highway near Cascade Locks, OR, visiting the Bonneville Dam Fish Hatchery, visiting and learning about Mount Saint Helens, catching a history lesson in Astoria at their Maritime Museum, and driving the three hours to the Seattle Temple, the wharf, Pike's Place Market, and a trip to Port Orchard to visit our good friends Katie and Josh for dinner. We also spent our last morning on the beach collecting crab shells and other treasures. Our only regret? Not spending enough time where we stayed.....though we found a great ice cream shop there and the national kite museum (they have a national kite festival there in the summer). It was a great trip though and some much needed time for just the two of us. We had a blast and can't wait to go back someday and show our kids all the fun things we saw.

Our first stop after our flight.



One of the many waterfalls we were able to hike and see.

A glimpse of the great volcano that changed many lives in 1980.

It was the 30th anniversary of it's eruption!

Outside the Maritime Museum in Astoria, OR.

The one thing we didn't do 10 years ago - crossed it off the list for this trip.

One of our favorite places to hang out in Seattle.

Mom, I Lost a Tooth!

On the 15th of May Brayden successfully pulled out his very first loose tooth! Ben and I were a little surprised two weeks earlier when he told us he had a loose tooth, but after looking it up on a medical website we learned that it is very normal to lose a tooth between ages 5-8, plus his new tooth was already coming in and pushing the baby one right out. Brayden played with his loose tooth a bit, but was generally nervous about the idea of actually losing or pulling it out. However, after the front root of his baby tooth was visible for three days straight I told Ben we better try to get it out. One of our neighbors had given us the idea of him pulling it himself so we thought we would try it. We tied dental floss around it and gave it to Brayden and told him to pull. To my surprise he pulled it right out! He actually pulled much harder than Ben or I would have. He was so excited for the toothfairy to come, but he really wanted to keep his tooth too. So after calling all of his grandma's and his cousin Daniel he asked if we could write a note to the toothfairy asking her to keep the tooth, so we did just that. That night much to his delight the toothfairy came and left him a few quarters and a note that he could keep his tooth to show to all of his friends, and then when he was done he could leave it again and she would finish his reward. His only disappointment was that she hadn't brought him a new toothbrush like she gave Wyatt on Super Why. He carried around his tooth and her note for over a week until he accidentally lost the tooth on the sidewalk somewhere. However, he lost his second tooth on Memorial Day, and happily the toothfairy left him a note saying not to worry she had found his first tooth outside. And happily she remembered the last quarter, a shiny gold dollar coin for his second one and a NEW toothbrush! He was thrilled! What a great toothfairy! :)