2012 In Review

It was quite an eventful year for us.  It’s nice to have some proof that we did more than just build our house!

Daniel: Turned 1, heart healthy (!!), surgery for tubes and to open his tear ducts, normal hearing (!!!), sprouted at least a dozen teeth, got his first haircut, learned to crawl, learned to cruise, learned to stand unassisted, learned to blow kisses and play Peek-a-boo, learned a few signs…oh, and won the popularity contest everywhere he went.

Caleb: Turned 4, broke his nose, had surgery to fix his nose and place ear tubes, crammed a broken plastic pipe into the back of his mouth, got lots of scrapes and bruises, fell off his chair at every meal, cut his hair and Daniel’s too, cut his finger open with a box cutter, started preschool, perfected every ninja move in the book.

Rachel: Learned to read, turned 5, graduated from Preschool, lost her first two teeth (in the same week), started Kindergarten.

Josh: Ran the Wellsville Mile, earned his Bear in Cub Scouts, turned 10, participated in his first Pinewood Derby, started 5th grade.

Emily: Participated in the Young Writers’ Fest, went to Girls’ Camp and won the “Giggler” award, started 7th grade, earned her Faith in God award, turned 12, started Young Women, gave her first Sacrament Meeting talk, spent lots of hours babysitting, got her first 4.0.

Heather: Went to Girls’ Camp, said good-bye to the most amazing Young Women in the world, spent countless hours painting, made lots of meals, did lots of laundry, put lots of miles on the Suburban, and is in the process of filling 2 million finish nail holes (and we won’t mention anything about getting her first ticket).

Jared: Started the process to become a Certified Valuation Analyst, was appointed to the board of directors for the Sunshine Terrace Foundation, was released from the Bishopric, did 99% of the finish electrical work in our new house, and did a lot of sub-contractor babysitting.

12 Years Old!

Oh my gosh!  I cannot believe I have a 12-year-old.  Every time my kids have a birthday, I wonder where the time went.  But sheesh, this one has blown me away!  I really don’t know where the last 12 years went!

But enough about me.  Emily is the one we’re here to talk about!  Look at this little cutie as a 1-year-old!

Emily has always been full of spunk.  I think it’s the red hair!  From the day she was born, she wanted to do things her way.  She ate when SHE was ready, and no amount of wiggling, tickling or wet rags to the feet would get her to eat any sooner.

She has always been a curious and creative person.  She blesses us with stories, pictures and even musical creations often.  She loves to figure things out, and she often sees things differently than the rest of us.

She is an amazing friend.  She has the ability to be friendly and kind to everyone.  She is thoughtful and sweet.  She has a real desire to do what is right.  She is so incredibly smart.  She is funny and silly and so innocent still (thankfully).

She is an amazing violinist, pianist, and singer.  Watch for her in the future – she’s going to do some amazing things for sure!

We love you so very much Miss Emily!  You are a wonderful blessing to our family and we are so glad to have you.  We are excited to see what the coming year brings to you.

Under Construction...and the Primary Program

Please excuse the mess I've got going here. I got bored and decided to change things up a bit. Only problem is that I never have enough time to work on it. So be patient...things will be better soon!

On another note - today was our ward's Primary Program, and my first time participating as a chorister. It was amazing!! I always love the Primary Program - it is so simple, yet so profound. The kids always do so well, and today was no exception. As we were ready to start, the other chorister and I concluded that we were both extremely nervous (and it didn't help that the Stake President was there and sitting right next to me)! For me, though, the nervousness melted away as the kids sang the first song, "I Know that My Savior Loves Me." It always gives me chills to hear them sing that song (good chills). From that point on, I really enjoyed myself. Josh's part was telling about his baptism, and Emily's part was telling about the miracle of feeding the 5,000. They both did awesome, and I was so proud of them. We finished the meeting in perfect time, and the kids did a great job singing "Come Follow Me" for the closing song. When we were done, Pres. Cook turned to me and said, "How in the world do you get them to sing so well? Do you bribe them??" to which I responded, "I don't know. I guess they just like to sing!" In my book, that is SUCCESS!!

An Eventful Week

We have had lots going on this week, so buckle your seatbelts! This could be a long ride!

First off, Emily got her hair cut on Saturday. She wanted to donate to Locks for Love again, so I agreed to a short haircut. I always have a sad moment when that much hair is gone, even if it's not my own. But Emily was very glad to be free of all the length! She ended up having 11 inches cut off! Her hair was not quite as long this time as it was the first time she donated, so she ended up with a pretty short cut, but she looks adorable! Here is a picture of the front - ignore the goofy face!

I have to admit that I was wanting it cut just as much as she was! Fights about combing/brushing have been too frequent and none too pleasant!

Tuesday was Jared's birthday, and we decided to try out our season passes to Lagoon! So he worked until lunch time and then we headed down. As we were half way through Sardine Canyon, Emily realized that she had her flip flops on instead of her shoes! They won't let you ride some of the rides without shoes, so she was pretty upset. We stopped at Wal Mart in Brigham City and bought her a cheap pair of shoes so she could fully participate. The things we do to keep everyone happy!

This was the first time that Caleb and Rachel had been to Lagoon. For the most part, they both had a lot of fun. Here's a blurry picture of Rachel during a ride, but you can tell that she's obviously loving it!

She got so used to us taking pictures that she would just start waving as soon as she got on a ride! She's got the parade wave down to a science!

Caleb enjoyed most of the rides, and really hated having to watch the ones he couldn't go on! He loved this little tug boat ride, and especially pulling the string to ring the bell.

Rachel gave the poor worker a heart attack when the ride was over! Rather than exiting the boat to her right (which was onto the sidewalk) she tried stepping out to her left, which would have put her into the water or up onto the island in the middle! We were both trying to grab her, (while I was trying to keep Caleb on the sidewalk and out of the water) but couldn't quite reach - if we stepped in the boat we would have sunk it! The worker finally got ahold of her shirt and we pulled her out onto the sidewalk!

Josh said he was going to be brave and go on Wicked this time, just for Jared's birthday. But, he chickened out (and we didn't make it down to that end of Lagoon). Maybe next time!

Josh and Emily were both really good sports about helping with Caleb and Rachel when we couldn't be on the rides with them. See? Josh knows we're trying to get Caleb to look at the camera, so he's being a great helper turning his head right where we need it! (I promise he's not choking Caleb!!!)
Emily got this great shot of Jared and Josh on Jet Star 2 just as they were ready to head down the first big hill. She didn't want to try this ride, so she was more than happy to be the photographer while I kept Caleb out of the garbage can and Rachel out of the flower beds!

We ended our trip with a visit to Denny's for dinner (kids choice). It happened to be kids-eat-free night, so everyone got fed and we only had to pay for two meals! Maybe we'll have to come on Tuesday every time!

We've also had our usual week-day activities - cleaning, bike rides, playing, fighting, yard work, whining...ahhh summer! And swimming lessons will start soon - yipee!!!

Spring Happenings

RESOURCEFUL

(toys double as step stools)

CREATIVE

(new uses for hard-boiled eggs)

ARTISTIC

(Easter egg hands)

BUSY, BUSY BOY

(wearing Emily's shoes)

THOROUGHLY CAREFUL

(more color on the egg than on hands)

TOOTHLESS

(no top teeth)

INNOCENTLY IMPISH

(no explanation needed)

MUSICAL

(orchestra concert - a terrific violin player)

(sorry for the horrible picture)

Cellulitis

Just for the record (so I can remember), Emily developed cellulitis as a result of the cuts she got from the cat attack last week. Here is what she looked like throughout the day on March 6th.

Before we headed to the hospital,

In the Emergency Room

And in the evening

These pictures really don't do it justice! The swelling around her right eye was a lot worse than it appears, and by the evening was pretty red.

She had 3 doses of IV antibiotics, and this is what she looked like on Sunday

An amazing difference! The redness and swelling were almost completely gone!

Two things played into the development of the cellulitis:

#1 - a bacteria that all cats carry in their mouths that is introduced to humans from bites and/or scratches.

#2 - the fact that Emily is allergic to Augmentin and Rocefin, which are the first two antibiotics doctors would normally prescribe for cat bites/scratches

We are counting our blessings that we caught this when we did and that Emily responded so well to the antibiotics in the hospital!

Unexpected Happenings

Emily was attacked as she tried to pick up a stray cat this week. She had already pet the cat and thought it was friendly, but the cat wanted nothing to do with being picked up. In Emily's words, "I tried to pick it up and it jumped on my face!"

I've never heard such horrifying screams come out of someone so small! I will spare you all the gory details, except to say that we spent the evening at InstaCare, where she received 5 stitches in 2 different cuts on her forehead. She is recovering nicely, but still very sore. Here she is the morning after the ordeal.

The worst cut is thankfully hard to see - right along her hairline. It was completely through the full thickness of her skin! She also has several other scratches and puncture wounds on her left arm and shoulder and back/neck area. Since cat wounds are so dirty, she has to take a course of antibiotics to protect against infections. Let's hope it works!

I am so thankful things weren't worse. I think her glasses probably spared her eyes from being clawed. Thank goodness she was wearing them! I still can't believe something like this could happen. Every time I think about it I just want to cry! I am never fully prepared for how much it hurts to see your child in pain. That is an emotion that sneaks up on me every time!

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday

I have to get this off my chest - please don't hate me for it!

I really dislike Sundays. Really.

But it really has nothing to do with the Sabbath part of things. It's just that it seems like everything that can go wrong does go wrong! Every problem, emotion, and mess is magnified by what seems like 1000%!

Jared told me he loves Sundays, and I almost punched him! Of course it has nothing to do with the fact that he's more of a spectator to all of our "bliss" than he is a participator. {I'm typing this with the nicest of feelings, honestly! I love him to death and am so thankful is he worthy to get to go to so many meetings and watch us with a smile on his face from the stand! And when he's home, he really does do more than his fair share.}

I've been told {by someone who loves me very much, and is wise beyond his years} that I should record some of these moments, so that I won't forget about them {though I'd like to!} and can go back and laugh at them one day {can't wait for that day}. So, here goes...and feel free to laugh along!

Yesterday, the beginning of all our bliss: as we're ready to walk out the door to church, Emily decides that she's going to throw a fit {read: the biggest meltdown you've ever seen} because I, the cruel mother that I am, reminded her that she needed to put tights on! She went off screaming about how she hates to wear those shoes because they're too tight, and they fall off, and blah blah blah! I didn't recall telling her that she needed to wear a specific pair of shoes, so I told her to just wear her other shoes, to which she screamed that she couldn't find one of them! After 5 minutes of screaming and being frantic, she finally joined us in the van, wearing the shoes that are too tight, that fall off, blah blah blah. I asked her what her plan was before she was re-told that she needed tights. She didn't really have one! She went to church red-faced, teary-eyed and quite huffy! But thankfully she calmed down.

During Sacrament meeting - the continuation of our bliss: I had to take Caleb out to the foyer because he was being a stinker {read: nothing in the entire chapel would have satisfied him, because he's missing out on his nap}. Thankfully, I have a friend and her husband who sit on the bench with us, and they are LITERALLY my lifesavers. I would be in the foyer all the time without them! When I came back in, I couldn't see Rachel anywhere. As I sat down, I saw that she was laying under the bench in front of us, having herself a little Cheerio party. That, in and of itself, was not a problem. Caleb again wasn't satisfied with anything, so I put him on the floor. He headed to Rachel and joined in on the party. Within a matter of 10 seconds, the entire Cheerio container was emptied onto the floor {including all the powder at the bottom} and the Cheerios were scattered all over the place! I quickly got Caleb off the floor and told Josh to get down there and help Rachel pick up the Cheerios. I focused my attention on Caleb, to get him quiet, and then checked on the Cheerio party. I guess Josh was hungry, because instead of cleaning up, he was eating the Cheerios! Emily either wanted to be helpful or wanted in on the party, because she got down on the floor with them also! Who knew Sacrament meeting could be so much fun?!?! They managed to take care of every single Cheerio, and only the powder on the floor was left as evidence of their little party!

20 minutes before church ends, another moment of bliss {although this one I can, and did, laugh at} - The nursery leader brought Caleb into primary because he was poopy. He instantly screamed "Mommy" in his happiest voice when he saw me. Ok, so maybe it hasn't been such a cruddy day after all! I changed him, and decided to just keep him with me, since there were just a few minutes of church left. I stood up in the back, near a lady who teaches the oldest class of girls in primary. She and her husband are training a dog to be a seeing-eye dog, so the dog was laying on the floor at her feet, sleeping away. Caleb saw the dog and instantly went into his I'm-a-little-unsure-of-this-situation mode: he forces a really loud, high pitched laugh, all the while clinging to me as hard as he can! This made all the kids laugh, which made him laugh some more...can you see where this is going?!? He just kept on laughing, pointing, and woof-woofing until the closing prayer was said. I was sort of embarrassed, but mostly enjoying myself, because he was getting such a great reaction from everyone - adults included! How can you not love that?

As I read back through this, I'm wondering what the big deal was! The total time of absolute mania couldn't have been more than, say, an hour! I'll save the details of the rest of the afternoon/evening for another time. I'm sure you're laughing too hard to read any further, and I wouldn't want you to miss a thing!

December Happenings

Some of the things we did during December:

Jared, Emily and I took a trip to SL to see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert. It was fun to see Grandma and James singing! We gave the choir two thumbs up, and Natalie Cole was less than impressive...sorry Natalie! Here we are waiting in the freezing cold before the doors were opened.

Emily had her very first orchestra concert. She started playing the violin this school year, and she is picking it up so fast! She really has a lot of talent for music. She sure has learned a lot in 3 short months! It was neat to hear everyone play together - there were over 3o0 kids up there on that stage! An amazing logistical feat! I promise she's in this picture somewhere towards the right side!

We also went to see Santa Claus. Rachel has been completely fascinated with the concept of Santa, and talks about him like they're best friends! One day she told us all, with complete and utter excitement, "Ho Ho's getting happy at me!!" When it came time for the real thing, however, she was a bit more reserved!! Thankfully she didn't freak out, but you can tell she's nervous because she's chewing on her coat!

Caleb, who is Mr. Friendly, was more than happy to go sit on the lap of this strange man dressed in a very bright red suit with a fuzzy, shaggy thing hanging on his face! He was just as happy as could be the whole time, and even had a great big grin on his face! I wasn't able to capture any smiling, though, because I had nervous Rachel hanging on my leg!

And Emily and Josh were more than happy to tell one more person everything they wanted for Christmas, and to get a free candy cane for doing it!

We had an extended Ripplinger family Christmas, where Josh managed to get a goose egg on his head, and upon arriving home, Rachel was one big rash from head to toe! Never did figure out the cause, but thankfully it went away with a dose of Benadryl.

We also had a Larsen family Christmas party at Grandma and Grandpa Farnworth's house. It was fun to get together, but we missed not having Greg and his family there. Within 5 minutes, the kids had re-arranged all the Christmas presents into piles of presents that belonged to each child! We ate some delicious prime rib, and had fun playing in Grandma Farnworth's toys. Here are the kids dressed up in a wig that I remember playing with as a kid!

I made a promise to my mom that I would not post the picture of her posing with the wig on, and I intend to keep that promise! {but if you'd like to see, let me know and I'll email it to you!!}

We also made and decorated a gingerbread mansion! Jared almost burst into laughter when he saw how big the pieces of the house were! Hey - this is my first time ever making houses out of anything besides graham crackers! Cut me some slack! But seriously, it was huge!

And to wrap up the month, we saw a live nativity on Christmas Eve, opened a lot of presents on Christmas day, and reflected on just how thankful we are that our Savior came to earth as a precious baby all those years ago!

We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!!

Nativity Fun

Emily and Josh decided to put on their very own Nativity last night. It was so cute! I think they just copied some of what they saw at our Ward Christmas Party, but they did a great job! Emily really had to convince Rachel to participate (as a shepherd), and they brought all the stuffed animals to help too! They came up with the costumes on all on their own (mostly from the dress-up box). Here are some pictures:

Emily is Mary

Josh is Joseph (don't you love the bandana beard?)

Rachel is a very reluctant shepherd (I think she looks like an angel)

Josh is such a loving daddy!

Emily is a calm and loving mother (although there was a bit of a struggle over who got to hold the baby!)

(Caleb watched from the sidelines!)

Merry Christmas!!

Happy Birthday Emily!!

Today is Emily's 9th birthday!! I can't believe how much she is growing up! Even just since last year, she looks (and acts) so much older!

Here are 9 things about Emily:

1. She LOVES to read - sometimes she sneaks extra reading when she's supposed to be sleeping! :)

2. She loves animals, especially our cats. She wants to take horseback riding lessons from our neighbor.

3. She has lost 12 teeth - 4 of which were pulled all at the same time! And she has never had a cavity! Her smile is beautiful!

4. She is a very good helper to her mom. It is so fun to see her play with her younger siblings.

5. She is a very good musician, and can sight-read songs from the Primary book on the piano. She is also learning to play the violin, and she loves to sing.

6. She is a great friend to everyone, and she goes out of her way to be nice.

7. She is full of energy and imagination and can have fun doing just about anything!

8. She is very persistent and doesn't give up - whether it's school, learning a new song on the piano, or even trying to get out of punishment!

9. She is full of creativity and blesses us almost daily with cards, pictures, and great ideas!

Here are 9 fun pictures of Emily, starting with the day she was born!

We love you so much Emily!! You are such a wonderful and important part of our family! We are thankful for who you are and your love for life! May all your wishes come true this year!

Love, Mom, Dad, Josh, Rachel and Caleb

Celebrate!!

This is the 100th post for our blog!! Yea!! It's only taken me 3+ years to make it!

I wanted to do something special for this post. Something to knock your socks off and make you want to actually keep reading this blog (all 4 or 5 of you).

But I can't seem to come up with anything. NOTHING!! My creative juices have all dried up!

So I'll just give you a cliffs-notes version of life around here lately. I have not taken a single picture, as every time I go to use the camera, the battery is dead!

Rachel has almost completely given up naps (well, she's about 50/50). Caleb is trying to give them up too. He has napped less than Rachel this week! Add it up - you get two cranky kids and one very insane and cranky momma! But they're too cute to be mad at!

Rachel says some of the funniest things. And sometimes, it's just the way she says things that makes me laugh. Like, "This is my favorite book!" with as much excitement and energy as you could expect from a 2-year-old. The book was some Christmas craft book that has been sitting around. Definitely not an exciting book! She also came running in with a doll and said, "I found my Rachel!!" How can you not love that??!?

Caleb is getting a few words too, like kitty cat, what's that, and num-num (with a hand motion, which means he wants more). He only has 5 more Sundays until he can legally go to nursery!!

Emily is counting down the days until her birthday. For any of you who don't know, it's 5 days away. She wants everything, and I mean everything! So, if you were wanting to get her a present, rest assured that you can't go wrong! (But please don't run out to buy one for her - PLEASE!!!) Oh, and she's starting to wonder about how babies get in their mommy's tummies (I have dreaded this for the past 9 years!!). She informed us that there is a lock on the mom's tummy that you unlock, which obviously lets them in! Chuckle, snicker, giggle!!

Joshua is trying to lose a tooth. By trying I mean he wiggled it to the point that his mouth was sore enough that he had to call me to come get him from school! (OK - I'm not that easy! I gave him some ibuprofen, fed him lunch, and took him back to school.) I think he's got another pesky root that doesn't want to give in. Which means we're probably going to have to make yet another trip to the dentist!

I got a new calling as the primary chorister. Hmm...never done that one. I pity those poor kids who have to listen to me "sing" the songs. I think the singing genes skipped me!

Jared, after working 2 late nights at work last week because of the 6-month extension deadline for income taxes, is now trying as hard as he can to find work to do. ??? ??? Why can't the government have taxes due all year long, according to social security numbers or something like that?? Wouldn't it make more sense to spread it out a little?!?! I think I might just email them my plan!

The garden is dead!! I've never been so happy to see a plant die in all my life. Next year, we will not be planting more than 6 tomato plants!

I hope you have enjoyed this installment of "As the World Turns in the Ripplinger Home." Stay tuned for scenes from our next episode!

Flu Shots and Tomatoes

Yesterday we headed down to the Health Dept. (all 6 of us) to get our flu shots. We learned the hard way last spring - during tax season - that it is not a good thing when everyone in the house has the flu - at the same time! We just never made it in last fall to get the shots, so this year it was a huge priority.

Rachel went first, cried a little, but was more than happy to stop for a sucker.

I went next, then Josh, who was very tough.

Then Emily went, wincing the entire time and squeezing my hand as hard as she could! She stepped away to pick out her sucker, and Jared got his (shot, not a sucker - although he did a great job and deserved one too).

As soon as he was done, Emily said, "Uh oh!" and turned as pale as I've seen her since she passed out with her first tooth!

Can you see where I'm going with this??

Jared, with Caleb in one arm, caught her on the way down to the floor as she passed out!

This girl adds so much excitement to an otherwise boring and hated event!!

The nurse dropped everything and got down with her to help her out - had to even give her a little wiggle to get her eyes open again!

When Emily woke up, she said, "Did I pass out??"

Uh, yeah! So she lay there on the floor while the nurse got her some concentrated Tang to drink.

And Caleb got his shot. I don't even think he realized what was happening as he was happily slobbering on the sucker Jared stuck in his mouth right before the shot!

We all walked out on our own two feet, thankfully!

But I don't know if Emily's going to be so willing to go back next year!

Now, on to tomatoes. This morning I picked 14 gallons!! That's right - 14!! That's twice as much as I picked a couple weeks ago, and that batch yielded 38 pints of crushed tomatoes (which Jared canned all by himself - with kids running around)!! Heaven help us!! Thank goodness Jared found some people at work to come take them from us. I was ready to set them on the driveway with a sign that said, "FREE - PLEASE HELP US!!"

And a Child Shall Lead Them...

We partied (haha!) as a family at Apple Days this past Saturday. {haha! because Jared and I had just spent the day canning peaches, so we were pretty dead!} For those of you who don't know what Apple Days is, see this post. We didn't make it to the parade this year, but we did have lots of fun going down the huge inflatable slide, getting treats, and roaming around.

This is Emily and Josh doing the beanbag toss:

{Notice Rachel chilling out here at the bottom!}

Then Rachel took her turn to show them how it's really done.

I can't believe I didn't think of that!!!

Amazing!!

I actually have a minute to breathe this morning, so I thought I'd let you in on what I'm listening to.

It's a beautiful, wonderful sound.

No, it's not peace and quiet (which I adore)!

It's Emily. Playing the piano. She opened up the Children's Songbook and is sight-reading her way through "I am a Child of God" and "Reverently, Quietly."

She's doing an incredible job.

And I'm not biased.

Oh, and just a reminder: she's 8, almost 9.

Amazing.

Back to Routine

School started one week ago! Emily is in 4th grade (yikes! where did my baby go?), and Josh is in 2nd grade (yikes again!). I can't believe how fast the summer went! And we didn't even do anything terribly exciting as a family this year, other than reunions. But we have enjoyed a lot of time together as a family.

It is good to be back to a routine - sort of! Life seems much more pleasant (for me at least) when there is structure! Everyone knows pretty much what goes on in a day, and there is plenty to keep us all busy. But, it is always nice to not have to be ready so early, to enjoy carefree mornings with the kids, to just BE! I always miss that once school has started!

I was pretty impressed with what the kids accomplished this summer. Emily read all 700+ pages of Harry Potter #4 - and it only took her 6-7 weeks!! Josh read and read and read, too. He started the first Harry Potter book, but we had to return it to the library before he finished it. We'll have to go back and get that one soon because he keeps begging me to take him (always after the library has closed for the day)! Emily finished off one set of piano books and is cruising her way through a second set, and Josh is making good progress on his set. They both got very good at cleaning the bathroom, and more importantly, keeping it clean between cleanings! And Rachel and Caleb have turned into quite the two-some! If he's not bugging her, she's bugging him! But they hardly ever do anything apart!

I have loads of pictures -when I get some time I will do a picture post!

Just a Typical Day

Here are a few shots of a typical day around our house...

If Emily is not off reading, she is playing the piano! I don't have to beg and plead to get her to practice, I have to beg and plead to get her to stop!! She's great at multi-tasking too...see the cracker in her mouth?!!

Caleb's new favorite activity - climbing to the highest surface he can! Yes, he's standing on the cedar chest which is up against the railing, which is the only thing keeping him from taking a flying leap down the stairs! In a 5-mintue span, he has managed to climb onto the kitchen table, be removed, climb onto the cedar chest, be removed, climb onto the end table, only to be removed yet again! I hope I can survive this kid! In fact, I hope he survives himself! But how could that face not instantly melt you?!?

Rachel is synonymous (spelling??) with sweetness. She just bounces around with her ringlets bouncing right alongside! She has discovered how to be a little impish, though! You can see it in her eyes! She is usually the one showing Caleb just how fun it is to climb onto things, or she's right behind him encouraging him to go farther!

And Josh...well...just look at the picture! Would that drive you nuts?? He prefers to wear socks, and this is how he wears them 99% of the time!