Cal is 1

At the end of April, Calvin turned one. It came and went as most 1st birthdays do around here. Just a little celebration amongst ourselves and he was excited as we sang to him. He was the center of attention, what more can you ask for at 1?

Here is some of his recent stats and pictures. He is 25lbs. and 34" long. He is still in the 70% for his weight and off the charts for his length at this point in the game. He has 6 teeth, 4 on top and 2 on bottom, with 2 more on the way for the bottom. Not walking yet and makes the funniest faces.

Tour de Phoenix

This past Saturday was the Caden's biggest ride yet. He rode the 26 mile distance in the Tour de Phoenix along side Spencer.

On our way down to the race in the morning we were talking and I was telling Caden to make sure he went to the bathroom before the race started. Spencer reassured him there would be reststops along the way and at those there would be water if he needed a refill. That there would be fruit or bagels so if he wanted to eat, he could. Caden looked at him and said, "Dad, this is the race, not a practice!" We just looked at eachother and laughed. He was ready for his ride and excited for it to finally be here.

Lining up at waiting for the start of the race


Some of his biggest fans



Crossing the finish


After the race


Caden did awesome. He was the youngest rider (7 years old). Spencer had thought they would make it around 3 hours, maybe just under that. He said Caden did well, didn't want to stop much and pushed it. Their finish time was 2 hours 25 minutes!

Meet Colin

This is my youngest brother Luke. I'm not sure how old he is here, 3 maybe 4.

Here is today's Luke (or last years Luke). He is currently serving a mission in Perth, Austrailia and will be 20 this summer.

This post is not about Luke, but I needed to show you who he is so I can make my way into this story...

About 2 1/2 years ago or so, we were on our way to Globe and Caden & Paxton started to fight and bicker. Spencer told them to stop or he was going to tie them to the grill of the truck, just like we used to do with their older brother Colin, when he was bad in the truck.

And although they never had an older brother Collin, that day, he was born. Since that time, when the kids are doing something naughty or boneheaded, Colins name comes up. Spencer will say, "that's how Collin died" (Collin has experience many different types of deaths). A new story is fabricated and the kids start to wonder. Depending on the details of the story, they start in with lots of questions, tell Spencer he's making it up or sit with big eyes trying to figure out if they believe him or not.

Now back to the first picture of Luke. This picture was in my computer desk drawer with some other very random pictures. A few days ago the kids got into the pile of pictures. Caden and Paxton brought that one to me and Paxton asks, very concerned and interested, "Mom, is this Colin?" I am a bad liar. I thought for a second weather to let this continue on or end it. So I just asked them who they thought it was, but they didn't know who it could be. So I told them no, it wasn't Colin, it was their Uncle Luke as a baby. They went about their way, while Caden was saying...."there is no Colin". He is always suspicious of Spencer, because he is always teasing.

The next day I was laying on the couch and Paxton comes up to me, again very serious and asks, "Mom, do you miss Colin?" I laugh and then very straight forward tell her there was no Colin. Dad is always teasing you about him. She then defends Spencer to me and says he doesn't tease.

So what can I do, I tried to come clean, yet she didn't want to hear it. So I guess we may hear more stories of Colin in the future!