Seth and Sam: 15 months old

Wow, I can't believe that the boys are now 15 months old! We've had a very busy couple of months, and let me tell you: these twins are keeping me running! Ben and I are having a blast watching the boys grow and learn every day. We are also exhausted from them jogging everywhere, climbing everything, and developing wills of their own. Here's some of what Seth and Sam  have been up to lately:
-Saying quite a few words: Dada, Mama, cracker, hot, eye
-Lots of animal noises: meow, ruff, moo, baa, quack, meow
-Doing motions to the song, "The Wheels on the Bus"
-Singing along to Old McDonald, "Eee-iii, eee-iii" (no "o" yet)
-Pointing to lots of body parts
-Mimicing every day tasks such as combing their hair, patting mommy and daddy on the back, stretching with daddy, putting on shoes
-They are obsessed with playing with brooms. I'm really not sure why, but they are. Initially I tried hiding ours because that is all that they wanted to play with (and really, our brooms are gross!) Finally, I gave in, headed to the dollar store and bought them each their own broom.
-They LOVE playing outside. They spend their days exploring dirt, trees, plants, and rocks, and pointing to planes in the sky.
-Seth and Sam have also learned to throw some doozy fits. Yikes. They are arching their back, pushing us away, getting mad when we take something from them, screaming, etc. I'm learning that kids of "good parents" still throw fits, it's just what the parents do about it that matter..
-Our kids stare. When they see a new person, they don't smile and wave. Nope. They stare. In fact, they stare with a sort of scowl. Oh, and sometimes they point. Great.
-At least once a day, I find both boys laying on their backs under the coffee table "exploring". They point their little fingers at things they see and just chat away. It is very special.
-They love playing chase.
-Seth loves to read, and tells quite the stories while he looks at books. A lot of times he looks at pages and cackles. It's so cute.
-Sammy continues to be a daddy's boy and often times cries when Ben leaves in the morning. Both boys stare at the window in the morning as daddy leaves. It's so cute. They are both struggling a little with seperation.

Sam left, Seth right. Then Seth combing Sammy's hair.

Top picture, Seth then Sam, Bottom, Sam then Seth

Visit to Uncle Nathan and Aunt Holly's House

This past weekend we headed over to Maupin, Oregon to visit Ben's brother Nathan and his wife Holly (and their dog Gracie). It was great fun! In the evening we went to the Wasco County fair (quite the experience in and of itself) to see Caleb and Levi's pigs. Seth and Sam got to see a lot of farm animals; it was great practice for their ever growing list of noises: baa, moo. neigh, ruff, meow and quack. They also spent a lot of time climbing on tractors and exploring.

Sam loving playing with his brother.

Sammy checking out a tractor with Uncle Caleb

Seth touching a pig

Grandma Didi shows the boys a bunny

Sam petting a sheep

Uncle Nate is a fly fishing guide on the Deschutes River, so we had to go down and show the boys the river. They had a blast throwing rocks in the water. Nate spend some time showing Ben how to cast his fly rod; I think he's trying to entice Ben into becoming an avid fly fisherman! 

Am I a Homemaker or what?

Finally, a clothes line. I feel like such a stay-at-home mom now...and our house sure looks it! While many Portlanders may applaud me for being "green," I'm actually just doing this to be CHEAP. Why not harness the power of the sun. I have to say, I just love this picture!

It was cloudy one morning, and I had these adorable fall outfits that I'd been wanting the boys to wear, so we had a little photo shoot. I had also been dying to put the boys in their Nike shoes that Papa Ruda bought them. Doesn't it look like they're ready to go to school in their new clothes :) (Sam is in orange, Seth in blue)

Alaska Cruise Part 3: Skagway and Going Home

Our final port for the cruise was Skagway. Initially we were going to take a train ride through the mountains, but Ben researched that we could rent a car and drive into Canada for less money! Come to find out, Ben had nostalgia about an old computer game (called the Yukon Territory) and it was his goal to go to White Horse, the capital of the Yukon Territory. So, we drove to White Horse and saw a ton of scenery along the way(mountains, lakes, etc.), ate at a park, stopped at a suspension bridge over the Yukon River, and then drove back to Skagway for some final souvenior shopping. It was a great day!

That evening was our last chance to see the Alaska scenery from our ship (we were headed out to sea), and to spot some whales from the deck. So we bundled up again, and went whale watching. Ben, with his great eyes, spotted a couple spouting, and we saw some great mountains. The next two days were spent at sea, which was perfect for Ben and I. We spent time just relaxing: hot tubbing, watching shows, reading, playing BINGO (lost a BINGO again!), and eating some great food. Friday night was another formal night, so we dressed up again. Ben sported his $7 Goodwill jacket again, looking quite handsome. That evening we watched a comedian and then a very hilarious marriage game show...it was a blast!

For our final dinner on the ship, we decided to pay a little extra to eat at a special Italian restaurant. It was well worth it and such a wonderful experience! Ben made fun of me for taking pictures of the food, but I just wanted to remember the presentation of everything (as I returned back to my days of cutting food into little pieces for the twins). It really really fun: instead of picking out an appetizer, they brought you a little of each one on the menu to sample. They did the same with 2 different pastas. We then got to pick an entree and a dessert (Ben chose 2 desserts). This was definately one of my favorite experiences of the trip!

Thus ends our Alaska Cruise and now we plunge back into real life. I'm so thankful for this experience and would totally recommend it to anyone. Overall, it was just great to be only with my husband for a week and invest time in each other and our marriage. Upon returning we felt very refreshed and ready to be parents of twins again. Seth and Sam did great while we were gone and we were so thankful to both sets of Grandparents for watching the boys while we vacationed. We are so blessed!

Alaska Cruise Part 2: Tracy's Arm and Whale Watching in Juneau

Wednesday morning we woke up early because our ship was headed through Tracy's Arm: a waterway with cliffs on each side and a glacier at the end. We bundled up and staked a claim on the railing at the front of the boat...for three hours. It was freezing, but well worth it for such amazing landscape! On each side of the boat were beautiful cliffs with waterfalls spilling over the sides, or glaciers in the background. As we drew closer and closer to the glacier, we'd see ice chunks floats through the water. The glacier was quite magnificant, just so much bigger than I could have imagined! On the way out of Tracy's Arm, we sat in a hot tub and enjoyed some scenery from the back of the boat; it was an amazing beginning to the day!

Now to my favorite part of the trip: whale watching! So seeing whales was one of my dreams in life, and I actually got to do it on this trip, isn't that awesome! In Juneau we went on a small boat for a whale watching excursion. I was trying to not get my hopes up on seeing too many whales, but God gave us such a gift! First we saw 2 different whales (all whales were humpbacks). They were fun to watch, but nothing compared to what was coming! Our boat found a group of 12, yes 12 whales that were bubble feeding (meaning they all rush to the surface in a circle to feed). It was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. One of the times  as they were rushing to the surface, our captain put on underwater speakers and we could hear the whales calling out to each other...I'm getting chills just describing it. It was hard to narrow down pictures, but I tried to put in some that showed you just how many whales we were seeing. Also, make sure to look at the mountain scenery behind the whales; such a perfect setting! The final picture is of Mendenhall Glacier, which is right in the town of Juneau. Someone asked me if I photoshoped the picture to enhance the colors: nope! They were just that brillant!