ST. AUGUSTINE BEACH TIME

The beach house we rented was right on the most beautiful, quiet beach. We spent a good part of every day and most of the nights there just walking around, looking for shells, and fishing. In the evenings the tide would go way out and there were lots of tide pools to play in. Here are some shots from Easter evening.

Little Man found his first starfish in a tide pool. He was thrilled to have found it.

The boys were so happy to be able to run and play on the beach. Here's Dellin, happy as can be.

Israel got lots of holding time and love from everyone. Here he is with aunt Tyra and cousin Abby. 

We took a bunch of family shots. Here's the Hawkins family jumping on the beach. Hawkins hang time.

Getting a family picture was nearly impossible since the boys just wanted to run and play. We got two good ones. The lighting was unreal. 

This one is my family. Look at all the cute boys. 

The sunset in the background was so beautiful. I could easily spend every night of my life walking up and down that beach, watching my boys run and play.

Easter Sunday in Florida

We were lucky enough to spend Easter Sunday in Florida with Jake and Tyra and their family. This is our third Easter in a row with them, and we're really liking the tradition.

We went to church and then came home and had a egg hunt. The kids were hungry and tired and more than ready to hunt for treats. Here's Dellin and Sterling with their buckets.

 Israel got some shakers in his bucket, he was thrilled. Gouverneur got a car and loved searching for eggs.

 Sterling Henry and Dellin loved the egg hunt too. They both raced around like mad men and yelled out every time they found one. Here are some good action shots.

Jake took this picture for us. (The boys were a bit tired by this time.)

This picture make me so happy. I am so grateful for my family.  I'm grateful to my Savior for his Atonement and Resurrection that will allow me to be with them forever. I love Easter and love celebrating the life of Jesus Christ.

Next year, we need to plan better and do our hunt on Saturday, so that we can focus on the Savior solely on Sunday. Hopefully we'll be with Jake and Tyra again next year. And hopefully we'll be in Florida again!

We came home to this cute basket brought over by our darling, 81-year-old neighbor, Val. We love her and she clearly loves us. She is so good to us!

Someone got a haircut...

...And he looks so bigtime. It's hard to believe that Gouverneur really had those curls, but he did. He went from a baby to a big boy in just a few minutes. Breaks my heart, but it was time.

ONCE THERE WAS A SNOWMAN

The day that Grandma and Grandpa Fillmore flew in, we got a bit of snow. The boys had been dying to make a snowman all winter. Dad and Grandpa saved the day and went out late with the boys to fulfill their winter snowman dreams. The snow was perfect for building. Grandma and I hung in the nice, warm house, holding baby Israel. It was a perfect night.

Here are so action shots of the boys with their daddy and grandpa. These are the memories that I just loved documenting.

I love this picture. The boys with Frosty.

 A few weeks later, we got some more snow and I went out with the boys to build a snowman. I haven't built a snowman in YEARS. I forgot how fun it is.

Me with my three big boys... And Frosty the 2nd.

Sterling and I both have such fun memories of playing in the snow. Now our kids are making those same memories.

5 Months Already???

 Baby Israel is growing up way too fast. He is 5 months old today! He is such a darling baby boy. He is happy and sweet and so intrigued with life.

Israel cut his fist two teeth today. He has been a bit off and I could see that they were coming soon. I looked last night and they weren't through. Then first thing this morning, one was through and the other one followed a few hours later. He is the second earliest teether in our family. (Sterling Henry holds the record of getting his first two teeth at 4 months.)  Israel has been a pretty good teether so far.

He is still sleeping like a champ. He goes 10+ hours a night and take 3-4 good naps during the day.

He has had lots of visitors over the last month including 2 grandmas, 1 grandpa, 2 aunts, and a cousin. He's quite a popular guy. The held and kissed him like crazy.

He finally fits into his dads old outfit. Grandma Fillmore made this for dad when he was a baby, but never finished it. She sent it out to me after I had Dellin.  Here's Israel in it. 

I had to include this picture of Dellin in the same outfit. Dellin was 8 months in the picture. They both have red hair, so it's only fitting to have them both wear the cute red outfit.

He is so into watching his brothers play. I can tell he is just dying to be one of the rowdy boys. They adore him too and try to involve him in things. They are always sharing they snugglies with him. Gouverneur has shared his binky on many occasions. Sort of gross, but really thoughtful and sweet.

He did get in on his first dog pile the other night. Good thing I had a good grip on his ankle, because he almost flew right over the top.

We sure love you Israel. Thank for being such an easy-peasy baby!

ST. PATTY'S

We had a pretty low key St. Patrick's Day this year. We were having so much fun with grandma Fillmore, that I almost forgot about. Luckily, I had some green food coloring to spice up breakfast. The boys loved green milk and green German pancakes.

We also lucked out that the boys church outfits are all green. Baby Israel sported a tie for the first time, green of course! The boys with Grandma Fillmore.

This is our first family picture in months. I love seeing all these cute boys.

 The rest of the day was pretty relaxing. Dad grilled up so killer steaks for dinner and we spent the evening reading and playing with grandma. It was a great day!

Fossils and Stratford Hall with Grandma Fillmore

We had a pretty relaxing trip overall which Grandma Fillmore was here. We did get down to Stratford Hall one day to tour the house and look for fossils. It turned out to be a lovely day and the beach was practically empty, which is always nice.

We set up chairs on the beach at let the boys run wild. It's pretty rare to be out and about and have no one around. Here's grandma with and her fossil crew.

More of the crew.

Grandma got in of some fossil action. Here she is finding her first (or second) tooth. She loved the whole thing. The boys found this grimy, wet ball that they became obsessed with. Little Man has it here.

Dellin and Gouverneur helping their dad find teeth.

After we spent a few hours on the beach, we headed over to the house. Dad and Grandma took the house tour, and Little Man got to go with them. I toured the grounds with the little boys.  Little Man took this picture right outside of the house. Dad and Grandma Fillmore.

Here are all the boys with Grandma outside of Stratford Hall. This picture is great for lots of reasons. The top reason is definitely the fact that Gouverneur and Israel are in their pajamas. Awesome.

There were tons of daffodils that had popped up all over. Gouverneur loved walking through/on them. 

Such a cute boy in his pjs and rain boots.

Here are the finding from our fossilizing day. I'm still always amazed that these are shark teeth from millions of years ago. Amazing!

 

We had a great day with Grandma Fillmore. It was fun to take her to look for fossils and to see the boys in their element. 

Fossil Finding with Dad and Grandpa Fillmore

We love going fossil hunting. There is a place in Pennsylvania that Sterling has been dying to try. We have always looked for shark teeth, but this place has more of plants and ferns. He was supposed to have a Scout campout that fell through, so on Saturday he took the two older boys and Grandpa out to go look for fossils. I stayed home with the babies and Grandma Fillmore

On the way out there, they stopped by Gettysburg and looked around. Naturally the boys loved the cannons.

There is a really tall tower that you can climb up and look all around the battlefield. Here's Dad and Grandpa with the boys at the top. The view is beautiful. (Don't mind Dellin's pjs. I put those on him as an under layer on cold outings.)

Then they made there way to the fossil site. It was a bit of a walk, and they met a guy along the way with this ATV. The boys got to sit on it and try to drive it.

They found a lot of cool fossils and had a really great time. Here are the boys lunching.

This picture of Dellin wins for being the cutest picture of any outing ever. Dellin was pretty tire and towards the end of the day, he came and sat down next to dad, and just leaned his darling little head on dad. Grandpa snapped this picture for us. Thank you, Grandpa.

The boys got home pretty late and everyone was worn out and tired, but we still wanted to look at their findings.

The boys were really excited to show us what they found. Sterling is so good to give them their owns buckets and let them bring home anything they want. Best dad!

Here is a picture of just one of the many fossils they found.

It was a great day, made even greater by having Grandpa Fillmore there. Grandma and I spent most of the day relaxing. It was a whole lot of fun!

Aunt Amy Comes to Visit

We were lucky enough to have aunt Amy come and visit. She was originally going to come with Sterling's parents, but they pushed back their trip, and so we got Amy all to ourselves. Aunt Amy is fun with a capital F. The boys had a blast all weekend long. This first picture below says it all. She couldn't even sit down to eat without all the boys wanting to dance on the table right by her.

It was Amy's first trip out here to see us, but she'd been to D.C. before, so we took her to all our favorites. Mount Vernon is always on the top of our list. It was a super cold day, so we bundle up.

Checking out the livestock.

We went on two monument walks at night with Amy. Sterling and I each went on one of the walks and left the boys home with the other one since it was so cold. Here's Amy with Thomas Jefferson.

We spent a day at the museums, ate lots of yummy food, and I introduced Amy to the amazing thrift stores out here. But most of her time was spent reading, playing, and snuggling the boys. We all have a great time.

Thanks for coming to see us and for being so good to our boys. We're missing you already!