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  A couple of weekends ago we went home to Washington for my brother Jacob's mission farewell.  It's crazy that my youngest brother is old enough to go on a mission, but he'll do a great job and I'm so proud of him for his choice to serve the Lord.  It's crazy to think how much older our kids will be in 2 more years when he comes home.  They'll sure miss their awesome Uncle Jacob!
  While were home, we attempted some more family photos--my mom always does as best of a job as she possibly could with what she has to work with (my not so cooperative family when it comes to photos).  My favorite one is below, because it captures how our family photo shoots turn out typically.  Someone is usually crying or pouting, atleast two or three of us aren't looking, and a few others of us are getting extremely frustrated.  It makes me smile when I look at it because this is how life is.  There are some great moments, but there are also lots of frustrating and patient trying moments also.  It's in these moments where we can choose how to react and handle the situation.  I definitely need to work on my reactions in the patient trying situations....

 It was fun to see my grandparents and have the kids reconnect with their great-grandparents.

Also, our baby boy is officially 2 now, and boy is he acting the part!!  He is getting to have quite the opinion and express it openly.  He is having such a silly personality too. 

I thought I'd be a "fun mom" and make something other than a traditional round cake for the kids this year and after Matsen and Kelston's bdays, I'm wondering why I tried to raise the bar.  I hate doing tedious things, especially when three little bodies are hovering on top of me trying to "help."  I was attempting to make a lego cake, but frosting a bunch of marshmallows is just not my thing.  Fortunately, he's only 2 so he could care less what the cake looked like and just wanted to scarf it down.

Here's some fun things about Kelston:

 He talks extremely well for his age!!  He puts 4-5 word sentences together and speaks pretty clearly.  It's so cute to listen to!

He is still the best eater in the family, hands down, and out eats his big brother.  I honestly don't know how we'll finance feeding him when he's a teenager because he already has a huge appetite now and he's rarely ever full.  I love that he's not picky though!!

He loves to play hide and seek, but is still figuring out exactly how to do it--he counts while he's going to hide. 

He takes awhile to warm up to most anyone he doesn't know, but he does form connections with a few people randomly that he hardly ever sees and that takes me by surprise.

He is very independent.  He loves to play in the faucet and open the fridge, which drive me crazy.  He'll bring a cup into the bathroom and say "Need drink" and get himself a drink--and then proceed to pour water all over the bathroom. 

He LOVES Jazlyn!!  They get along great together, however he and Matsen are having a VERY DIFFICULT time lately.  If they're in the same room together for longer than a minute, someone's hurting someone else.  I'm pulling my hair out daily about this.

We sure love this guy and the excitement and joy he brings into our family!