Birthday Sabbath

A special birthday prayer. (Robb is the one being shy.)

Wrestling with Nana.

Warming up with mama after swimming.

Today was a special Sabbath for Zeke, as he was celebrating his birthday in Sabbath School, so he was excited to have Nana and Papa along. We enjoyed a relaxed afternoon, then more swimming at the hotel. A very good day.

Work and Fun

We've had an IKEA dresser sitting in our living room for a few days now, so today was the day we were determined to finish it up and move it into place. Zeke was pretty excited about the chance to use his tools along with daddy. Then on to study some French from one of mommy's old textbooks.

Such hard work deserves some fun, so swimming at the hotel pool seemed like a pretty good idea!

A Visit from Nana and Papa

Running with the doggies.

Doing a little work in the shop.

Watering the blueberry plants.

It's never a good time to go inside.

Nana and Papa rolled in this evening (along with Abigail and Oliver!). Zeke had a blast giving them a tour of his new home and staying up later than usual.

Happy Birthday, Little Boy!

My ramshackle, 4-tier, animal-cracker birthday cake.

Jesse and Zeke building some track.

Enjoying cake and tickles from Auntie Cheris.

Though I can hardly believe it, our little man is a whole two years old. Seriously, where does the time go?

A Visit from Grandpa

The guys blow up some balloons for Zeke.

I think he tries to pop them just to make mommy nervous.

Reading stories with Grandpa Robert.

Ezekiel was excited to have his grandpa drop in for a few days. Well, pretty much just his birthday, but it was very special.

Fackenthall's 50th

I got to cuddle with Pepper for awhile
by feeding her a constant stream of berries.

The Fackenthall grandchildren singing their tribute.

A huge highlight of the festivities was the (unattended) soft-serve machine.

Almost two years ago today, Robb and Zeke took a similar picture.

It was so much fun to attend this weekend event. We actually had a pretty big family picnic yesterday as well. There was a crazy wind/rain storm, so the whole thing got moved inside, but today was perfect.

Zeke's Birthday Surprise

Helping daddy fill the pool is part of the fun.

The inflatable friends try out the slide first.

Since they sustained no visible damage, Zeke gives it a try.

For his second birthday, we got Zeke his very own little wading pool with slide. After playing in Kennedi's all morning (and crying when we left) I told him that he would have to ask his daddy for a pool. He practiced all afternoon saying "pease, dada. immin ool" and got pretty good.

So, this morning we set it up and let him have a go at it. It isn't quite his birthday, but I'm not sure that mattered to him as he frolicked and splashed.

The Trouble with Tall Boots

Nearly every day Zeke has been trying to put on my new gardening boots. He has tried several tactics, but today it got out of hand. He finally decided that the best solution was to do a headstand, and it actually worked pretty well. Finally, "Bama" gave him a hand and he was pretty proud tromping around the living room.

Great-Aunt Lila

It was fun to watch these two take to each other. Lila is great with kiddos and loved tickling, teasing and reading to Zeke. She also has a good firm hand with him and made sure that he picked up all of his toys and didn't let his sippy cup tip over.

Ezekiel Photo of the Day

There is some sort of correlation between how messy a food is and how much Ezekiel enjoys eating it. This picture was actually taken before he really got going. He likes to get the sauce all over his face, arms and tray before he's done.

Cooling Off

It got a little warm today, so Zeke was looking into options for cooling off. First, he tried out the sprinkler. Then he figured he would just take over the hose. He was good and drenched by the time lunch rolled around.

Spinach Flavor Saver

There's nothing quite like an errant piece of spinach. Zeke spit this one out, only to discover later that it was still hanging around.

Intrepid Explorer

Cutting a swath through the giant thistles.

Helping to water the tomato plants (and himself).

There is just so much exploring to be done. Zeke wandered around this evening with Daddy and Saphira and tried to find as much mischief as possible.

Digging Time

This afternoon it was back to the ranch for a few hours. Zeke has been grouchy lately when I drop him off, but always enjoys himself once I'm gone and is his sweet cheerful self when I pick him up. Today he got to play in the sandbox for quite awhile and then after his nap he did bean sorting! This is the first time he has shown any interest in actually separating the two types of beans, so that was rather exciting news.