I hope I don't ever meet an unrestrained alligator!

I saw this on my friend, Megan's, blog (which is very entertaining and is worth checking out) and I just could not resist taking the test myself. These statistics are good to know...I think most of these animals (besides the sharks) can be found at the zoo. Mason keeps begging me to take him there, so hopefully there won't be any escapes when we go!

I had David take this test and I couldn't believe it...he seriously has a 100% chance of surviving everything! I made him go back to make sure he filled it out right. I am sure lucky to have him around...and hope that he is with me if I ever encounter a wild animal!

The new snack food

The other day I was rearranging a few things in the freezer. I came to realize that I hadn't heard much from Mason, so as every mother of a two year old does, I quickly went to see what trouble he was getting into.

This is what I found:

Before I got a good look at what he was eating, I figured that he had found a bag of chips that I knew had been left out.

A closer look revealed that his treat was actually this bag of frozen vegetables!

He was snacking on the frozen vegetables...while they were still frozen. He must have snagged the open bag while I was organizing the freezer. :)

I don't think that I got any pictures of him actually eating the vegetables, but he really was. I tried them myself...not bad...but definitely not like the frozen treats that I prefer. I think I'll keep Mason snacking on these rather than real popcicles as long as possible though! :)

Party Details

Mason's party was so fun! Mason played lots and was showered with love and attention. He is really into Cars, so we ordered a car-shaped pan and made him this cake, it's definitely not professionaly done, but it worked! The black frosting also left a lovely impression on Mason and Levi's faces.

Mason was excited to blow out the candles!

It was so fun to see his reactions to the presents. :)

He received a dinosaur that walks and roars. Later, when he was playing on the equ

ipment, he refused to let the dinosaur and the singing birthday card out of his sight, well actually out of his hands. It was really cute, but he had to be watched extra closely to make sure that he didn't lose his balance since he didn't have any hands to steady himself.

Carter, as always, was well-cared for at this party!

The best Two years...

On Friday, on June 6 , Mason turned TWO! It's no surprise that I'm way behind on posting these, but I have an excuse that our computer is being difficult when it comes to loading pictures.

We had a fun day-he got to get a happy meal and then we went to play at a park. After that, the real fun began! David took Mason on the Father-Son campout that our stake had. They had a blast and I'm waiting to get pictures so I will leave the details of that adventure to its own post. Since most of the boys were at the campout, we had his party at a park a couple days later. It was so nice to have so many members of our family there, but we definitely missed those who could not make it. I'll post most of the pictures from that party separately, too.

I always like to see the difference that a year makes. These two pictures are Mason on his first birthday...and here he was when he turned two!

Here are a few pictures from this past year that I never put on the blog, but that are definitely blog-worthy. The commentary doesn't really go with the pictures, I just wanted to record a couple things about Mason at this age.

Mason, at the age of TWO, still loves to read and if we read slow enough, he will repeat the words that we are reading to him.

He especially loves music, dancing and singing! His Grandpa Ford picked out the perfect birthday card for him-it sang the Shrek song when he opened it. As soon as he opened this card, he didn't care about anything else, he insisted on listening to the song over and over again and dancing to it. Look how happy he was:

We had to really work to get him interested in the rest of his unopened presents.

At nursery, his leaders tell us that he loves singing time and usually makes them sing the 'Popcorn' song first, even if they have started on a different one. When we tell Mason that it's time for Family Home Evening, he gets excited and starts saying "popcorn" and doing the actions.

Maon is such a good big brother! He loves to be around Carter and if I don't get to it quick enough, he always jumps in to help wipe up Carter's spit up.

Mon loves to play outside, especially with his cousins. He gets so excited when we tell him that he gets to see them.

Mason really loves animals-all kinds. The animal sounds and names were the first words that he learned. He received some plastic animals for his birthday and they will keep him occupied for hours. He even takes them to bed with him!

Mason has the biggest smile that is so contagious, he literally jumps up and down when he is excited about something.

Mason also likes to mix things and help me cook. He always has to have his own container and his own mini version of whatever I'm making.

Other things that he loves include: Milk, shoes, Elmo, 'George' (as in curious George), fruit snacks, bananas, being in the stroller and especially the wagon, rocks and sticks, blocks, sleeping in mommy and daddy's bed, bubbles, balloons, rough housing with Daddy, making messes, playing in the water, the zoo (everytime I talk about it, I have to spell it out 'cuz otherwise he gets so excited and thinks we're going, it is so sad to squash that excitement!)

We love our Mason and our family would not be complete without him!

Breaking Dawn preview

Has any one else seen THIS yet? I am getting really excited for August 2nd! David got me her other novel, The Host, for my birthday and I'm trying not to read it too fast so that it lasts longer.

Carter's blessing

Carter was blessed the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend. It was so special to have so many family members there. We really missed Brian, Aaron, and Cindy, though!

We have Levi to thank for the adorable blessing suit. The Bronson's have kindly lent it to us for both Mason and Carter.

Now it is a tradition and hopefully all future grandsons will be able to wear this suit on their blessing day. :)

I guess our boys don't enjoy the cute blessing hat...including David. He never lets me keep it on them while they are getting blessed because he doesn't want them to wear a bonnet. :)

One of these crying boys is Mason and one is Carter, can you guess which one is which?

There is also another picture of Mason mixed in the next few pictures. If anyone wants, I'll tell you which ones are Mason later.

I tried to get the sideways pictures turned, but I couldn't do it...sorry!

Here is Carter waiting for the meeting to start:

David gave Carter a beautiful blessing that said that Carter would be an example and help others and that he would serve a mission and marry in the temple, among other things.

It is so wonderful to know that David is worthy to give our family priesthood blessings when we need them!

About 10 minutes before Sacrament meeting was over, we looked over at Mason, who was unusually quiet and noticed that his head was nodding. Then...he fell over! Our sweet Mason had fallen asleep! That's what happens when church falls at the exact same time that nap time does!

Even though I was happy that Mason was getting the rest that he needed, my visions of a good family picture were gone. Not that this picture isn't good..the photographer (Brandon) was excellent...I just wish that the boys were smiling instead of sleeping. :)

This is our family a little less than 2 years ago at Mason's blessing. Time sure flies!

Memorial Day Weekend

For those of you who read my sisters' blogs, this will be the fourth time that you will have read about this...so I don't blame you if you skip it...but I wanted it for our blog book at the end of the year, so here it is (I'm always a little behind on blogging):

We had a great Memorial Day Weekend! We were so lucky that both Grandpa and Grandma Park and Cindy and AJ were able to visit. We spent lots of time together and my parents graciously hosted the activities. The main reason that everyone was in town was that my youngest sister, Katie graduated from high school!

Congratulations Katie!

We are so proud of her! I am excited that she will be staying at Helaman Halls at BYU this fall. I'm not only excited because that is where I stayed, but also because they tore down DT this year and they are making some freshman stay in Wymount...I am glad that she didn't have to do that!

All things considered, Mason was pretty good during the ceremony. I had to spend a lot of time standing behind everyone with Carter, so David got to entertain him. Understandably...the little ones got a little bored, so we were glad that they were able to read books for a while (a nice, quiet activity!)

Here is Carter in his carrier after I had been holding him with a blanket covering his head for most of the ceremony. David said that he looked like a nun...

Diana has the shot from the other side of this picture on her blog. When there are lots of people around, whoever is holding one of the nephews, usually ends up holding both! If you notice, AJ is in the background with Tori on his shoulders...he is always willing to jump in and help the kids get the attention they all want!

Here is a group shot of the table at Marie Callendar's after graduation. Thanks again, Dad and Mom, that is such a fun tradition! If you'll notice, almost everyone in the picture is either eating or getting ready to. haha.

Here is Mason entertaining himself. We are thrilled that he has taken such an interest in unwrapping crayons...it can keep him occupied (and quiet) for up to 1/2 an hour! Here he has finished unwrapping them and decided to stuff them down his straw.

Grandpa Park made a treasure hunt for the kids where he hid coins in the sandbox in the back. Each child also had a 5 dollar bill buried for them somewhere. It was so fun to watch them get so excited about finding their treasure! Mason doesn't quite understand what money is yet, so as soon as his bag was full, he would promptly dump it out and start to refill it again.

Carter sure thought Grandpa and Grandma Park were neat! :)

Carter and Aunt Cindy really bonded during this weekend! He loved being held by her and was always happy. I was so glad that she got to be here and that she held Carter so much, and still managed to shower the other nephews and neices with attention and make them feel special!