the crew.

Just a few pictures of the boys hanging out.

Hank the tank

Alec-cutie
Daney-bear
Reid-o burrito
What's up party people! I love Henry's face in this one.

It's uncanny, right?

So this is an update on Henry, but guess what? That's not our baby Hank that you see below, it's Reid. Reid and Henry are identical twins born 4 years apart. In fact, I think they're a lot more identical than our actual identical twins.

Here's Reid as a baby:

This is also Reid.
And then here's Henry. They are about the same age here, Henry's just a little older than Reid is in his pictures. Since they both have early May birthdays it's really easy to compare ages in pictures.
Another cute shot of Henry.
Reid and Hank even have matching dimples. They both have a deep dimple on their left cheek and a double dimple on their right cheek. Crazy, right? I have a theory that in twenty years or so, when people see all my boys (now handsome young men) together, that people will wonder who the identical twins are. I think that people may guess Reid and Henry just as much as they'll guess Dane and Alec.

Boys are so much fun.

pizza for dinner

Just wanted to share a cute moment of Erik and the boys. I was gone at a Relief Society meeting and like a good wife and mother I pulled out a Digiorno from the freezer for Erik to make while I was gone. Oh, and the RS meeting had like 50+ people there, for a Visiting Teaching conference activity, even! Think of your own ward...your ward probably has about 3 times the sunday attendance/congregation population that ours does (it's not a branch, but it's pretty small) but those ladies really turn it out for an activity. "I love it!"

p.s. You wouldn't know, but "I love it!" was quoted because that is Dane's new trademark phrase. Whenever we say anything like, "okay boys, time for bath" or "who wants to play Don't Eat Pete?" or "let's go to the park", Dane responds with sincere delight, "I love it!"

Paris, Schmaris

The other day we had some new friends over for Family Home Evening and after a lesson and a few rounds of "Don't Eat Pete!" we had some fun treats. I found this recipe the day of and did not find it lacking in any way. Even if you accidently double the amount of cream cheese in the frosting. Remarkably, it's still good. Who knew? (I doubled the recipe and when I went to make the frosting I didn't have the recipe open on the computer anymore and couldn't remember if the number I was thinking in my head was the original amount or the doubled amount. It was the doubled, which then got doubled, which is actually quadrupled. Not a big deal when cream cheese is involved, I say. Anyway...)
Before the lesson and such we gave our friends a small tour of our new house. People here are always really interested in what each other's houses look like because there are so many little villages you could live in, so many types of homes (new home, old home, in the city, in the country, etc) that it's interesting to see what someone else chose for their family. when we were giving the tour, as I was showing the guest room (the empty guest room, mind you...we should be getting our household goods next Tuesday) I think I said something like, "and here's our guest room, this is if anyone ever comes to visit!"
I do realize that we've only been in Germany for 7 weeks or something like that, and haven't even been in our home for a month, but it's just so far away and it feels like it's been forever since we've seen all of you. These boys are changing so quickly and it's heartbreaking to me that I can't share that with you. I know that this is going to be a wonderful two years, but I'm not sure that being close to Paris is a good trade for being close to family.
Well, to be fair, I haven't made it to Paris, yet. So ask me if the same is true after that.

Reid is in an artistic awakening. He loves coloring more than anything these days and spends most of his time at the table with his twistables crayons (we love them, so great for traveling) and the latest coloring book. Of course, maybe that has to do with the fact that he only has a handful of toys, our backyard isn't finished yet so he can't play outside, it's been really rainy lately, and a dining table is one of the only furniture items we have. Either way, he's getting really good. Here is his rendition of Don't Eat Pete. I made the circles and asked him to draw faces and arms and legs and here's what he gave me:
I love it.
Mom, I'm pretty sure that the red one is you.
If you look closely you can see chocolate/saliva smears on it. Kids are so funny with this game because when the put an m&m in their mouth they put their fingers part way in, too. So then when the reach for another m&m they get drool everywhere. Cracks me up.

In other news, we finally have a stroller.
We had a double stroller when we came here but somewhere along the way it got busted coming on or getting off a plane. We tried to make it work, but it made life miserable.
I told you the story about going grocery shopping with it, right?
So, I ordered a new stroller and when they said the shipping estimate was 37-54 days I thought, "surely it will come sooner than that!"
The stroller pretty much said, "I'll come when I want to come, people! And don't call me Shirley!" (Mom, that joke was for you.)
I'm not able to get very far without some sort of a stroller. Imagine trying to take the kids for a walk on the sidewalk, four little boys, with no stroller.
That's why that no work. (Another joke for you, Mom.)
Now we've got some wheels and I'm excited to try them out tomorrow. I also have a new baby carrier so I can keep Henry strapped to me, put Alec and Dane in the stroller, and Reid can walk beside me. We could go a whole block like that! Now we're talking!
Henry and I gave it a test drive around the house. I mean, seriously people. Is he not the cutest?
I get weepy when I think about how much I love this little baby. He has just brought so much joy to our family. I feel like I'm between a rock and a hard place because I want you all to be able to see this little guy, but we're just so far away. I can't really just get on a plane with all the little ones, although I do try to figure out in my head how that would work. Logistically. To fly internationally with four children four and under.

The bottom line then is that I hope you'll come to see us, soon. The guest room is ready, and this baby is adorable. Babies don't keep, so get a move on.

A new beginning

Well, we're here in Germany and we're slowly getting settled. We move into our home on Friday and within a few days our minivan should show up, and they tell us that our household goods will make it here eventually, too. It'd be nice.
Taking two years off from blogging means that I'm way behind. This blog was a nice history of our family and family life. I'm hoping to start things up again so that we can share with all of you loved ones what we're up to over here (with the intent to lure you across the atlantic to visit us) as well as to keep a record of our adventures here. The big things and the small things. We don't have our computer yet, and most of my Internet-ing is on the iPad, and that can get tricky sometimes. But I think I've figured out a way to blog from it now, so come back soon for more.
In the meantime, here are some cute pictures of some big moments in 2011.