Colter's First Haircut - April 28

After almost 2 1/2 years, Danny convinced me that it was time for Colter's first haircut. I didn't cut much, just enough to keep him looking like a boy!

Colter's Truck - April 19

Colter discovered this truck in a box of outside toys and quickly claimed it as his own. He drives it all around picking up sticks, rocks and anything else that isn't moving and then finds a spot to dump it all out.

Sedona, AZ: Little Hikers - April 10-14

It's hard to believe that just a couple of years ago we were taking backpacking trips where both boys were being carried. Now they hike on their own and do a great job! Of course a hiking stick and a snack always helps!
Danny has more pictures from our trip on his blog www.griffisfamilyoutdoors.blogspot.com.

Sedona, AZ: "Rocks!" - April 10-14

While Wyatt was busy identifying and collecting trees, Colter was picking up every rock he could hold and then looking for "wa-wa" so that he could throw them and make a "big splash!" When we were hiking and he would find a rock, but didn't see any water, he would ask me to put it in his backpack. Every 30 minutes or so we would have to discreetly empty his backpack so that it wouldn't get too heavy! But as soon as he found water (even if it was just a puddle) he would stop, pull out all of his rocks and start making them splash.

Sedona, AZ: Our Resident Plant Expert - April 10-14

Wyatt's favorite part about our trip to Arizona was collecting branches from all of the different trees. He quickly learned their names and would identify them as we were driving down the road.

"Look! There's a Ponderosa Pine! It's really big!"

Danny and I also had to learn some new plants because Wyatt wanted to know the name of every tree and shrub we encountered. Thankfully Danny thought this might happen and brought the tree guide book with us to make things a little easier!

Sedona, AZ: Camping Fun with Anna and Kara - April 10-14

We met our good friends, Brad and Missy Griffin, and their daughters Anna and Kara, in Sedona, Arizona for a camping and backpacking trip. The kids hadn't seen each other since our trip to Yosemite in July, so they were happy to get reacquainted again over their favorite activity - playing in the dirt!

Easter Egg Hunt - in the Snow! - April 7

We had a fun treat this year - a snowy Easter! There wasn't much snow, just enough to turn things white for a day or so and to make hunting eggs a little chilly. After they found all of their eggs they even threw a few snowballs at Daddy!

Easter Fun - April 5-7

We had lots of fun decorating bunny cookies and...dyeing Easter eggs.
Here are the boys with their favorite eggs.

Wyatt's Easter Party - April 3

Wyatt enjoyed his preschool Easter Egg hunt, even though he didn't end up with the most eggs. He learned very quickly which eggs he wanted and would walk right by the hard-boiled eggs and even shake the plastic ones to see how they sounded before deciding if he was going to put it in his basket or back on the ground! Colter, who doesn't like to be left out of anything, got to hunt Easter eggs with the younger kids. He is so ready to go to school next year!

Water Gun Fight with Daddy - April 2

For Danny's birthday the boys decided he needed some water guns. They were excited to find a package of four so that we could each have one. A few days after Danny's birthday, he came home from work and Colter greeted him at the door saying "wa-wa dun. outside." What Daddy can resist an invitation like that?

Patriotic "Stars" - April 1

Wyatt's preschool class participated in "Dimmitt Follies" (a variety show at the high school) this year. He had fun being up on stage and told us he was going to sing loud enough for us to hear him in our seats!

This was a picture I took after his teacher told the kids to sing louder. Wyatt made sure he did his part!

"Dan-De-Li" - April 1

Colter's first attempts at talking could be classified in two ways: repeating the first syllable of a word (Wy-Wy for Wyatt, wa-wa for water, pot-pot for potty) or using sounds (choo-choo for train, shhhh for airplane). This has continued for many, many months! Lately Wyatt has been working very hard to get Colter to repeat words back to him. I think Wyatt just thinks it is funny to hear the way Colter says the words, but Colter plays along with it. Dandelion was one of his first three syllable words that resembled an actual word!

Planting "Trees" - March 24

One of Wyatt's favorite new activities is "planting trees." It started with him "planting" pieces of mulch in the flower bed and calling them a forest and has progressed to "planting" limbs from trees in the yard. If you ask him, he will tell you that he is just "pretend planting" because his trees don't have roots. This has triggered a huge fascination with trees, which is a little strange since we live in an area with very few trees! When we are driving out of the city (where there is mostly pasture and farmland) he will often look around and say "Hey! Where did all of the trees go? Did someone forget to plant them?"

Jacksonville, FL: St. Augustine - March 19

Before leaving Florida, we drove down to St. Augustine to tour some of the old forts and see the lighthouse. The boys especially loved the old cannons.
Aren't they cute? : )

St. Augustine Lighthouse

Jacksonville, FL: Hunting for "Sea Turtle Eggs" - March 18

Since it was so close to Easter, Danny's mom planned a "sea turtle egg hunt" on the beach for all of the cousins. They had a great time digging in the sand for the eggs and then opening them to find prizes inside. It was the first of many egg hunts this Easter for our boys!

Jacksonville, FL: The Wedding - March 17

All of the kids did a great job during the wedding...but they were happy to be able to run around again after it was over!
Wyatt, Colter, Abbie and Emma dancing at the wedding.Colter enjoying some cake - yummy!

Jacksonville, FL: The Slide - March 16

One of the highlights of our trip to Florida was the inflatable slide that Aunt Cheryl set up in her backyard. All of the cousins had a blast climbing up and sliding down and our boys were no exception.

Jacksonville, FL: Cousins - March 16

We traveled to Florida for the wedding of one of Danny's cousins and were able to spend several days with Danny's family. Danny's brother and his family drove down from Tennessee and Danny's parents flew in from Colorado. Wyatt and Colter loved playing with their cousin Abbie and meeting their newest cousin, Georgia.

Party Time - Again! - March 9

Noni, Papa, Aunt Kim, Uncle Craig, Aunt Megan, Aunt Cathryn and Uncle Jerod all drove up from Lubbock on Friday evening to help Wyatt celebrate his birthday.

Wyatt requested pizza, salad (he like the leaves!) and strawberry-pretzel jello for dinner.

Wyatt's birthday cake - a drum cake with orange icing (his favorite color!).

And a musical birthday just wouldn't be complete without some musical instruments. Wyatt got a ukulele (which he calls his "guitar") and...
an accordion, along with some maracas and a xylophone to add to his growing collection of instruments.
One of his favorite presents was a "big boy" sleeping bag and sleeping pad that is "just like Daddy's!"

The night ended with a campfire and marshmallow roast in the backyard. Then Wyatt, Colter and Daddy slept out under the stars so that Wyatt could try out his new sleeping bag. Wyatt said it was a great birthday!

Four Years Old! - March 9

Wow - four years old!

This was taken after Wyatt had finished eating his favorite lunch, peanut butter and honey sandwich. You can even see some of the peanut butter if you look closely!