Up, down, up, down....

Caden the Climber. It's like Bob the Builder. This child LOVES to climb. It doesn't matter how big or small the incline is, he will go up and down as many times as you'll let him. We were at the park this morning and I got some pictures of the climber in action. It's hard to tell from the pictures how steep the hills are, but you'll see from the sweat that he's really working hard!

Going up.....

Coming down.....

Oh, the concentration. I can't tell you how many trips up and down these stairs he took. I wish I had his energy!!

Now here's a man on a mission. Check out the determination on his face as he tackled this hill!

Jaela's 7th Birthday party...

The family got together today to celebrate Jaela's 7th birthday. We had a swim party at Jennell's apartment complex and the kids had a blast!
Here is a picture of Caden and Mommy hanging out by the pool. Caden enjoys the water, but only for a short period of time. So mom was thrilled when he opted to sit with her poolside for a little while.

Here is Caden and Daddy taking a dip!

One part of becoming a Ramirez is understanding that your children are going to be picked on, tortured, and dangerously tossed around. I am still trying to get used to this. Here is a picture of Caden being thrown back and forth between his Dad and Uncle David. I am grateful for the water to catch his fall; that's not usually the case!

Finally, here's a picture of Caden and a beach ball. He carried it around, threw it, rolled around on the ground with it. If there's a ball in sight, Caden will find it.

Four weeks old!

Our little Dallin is four weeks old today! It's amazing how quickly he is growing and changing. His eyes are still very blue and we're wondering if they'll be green like mommy's or turn brown like Daddy and Caden's. We saw 2 little smiles yesterday and another this morning, but he's being a little stingy with them! Dallin is becoming more and more alert to what's going on in his surroundings. He will watch mom go from the living room to the kitchen... and then he goes cross-eyed.

Fun at Nana's

These summer months are sooo hot! To you and I, we'd be perfectly content staying in an air-conditioned house doing a whole lot of nothing. Not Caden!! The longer he can be outside, the happier he is. It doesn't matter how hot it is or how much sweat he has pouring down his little face. He just loves to be outdoors. Unforunately, we are in the process of redoing our backyard and have denied Caden all access. He often stares out the back window just wishing...
So today I packed up Caden and Dallin and we went to visit Nana in Tempe. Caden had a great day playing with his cousins. He especially enjoyed some baseball with his cousin Jaden and riding bikes. He made motorcycle noises the whole time, not minding that they were girls' bicycles. His cousins sprayed him with the hose to keep him cool, but it wasn't his favorite part of the day. Regardless, he was one happy little boy to spend so much time outdoors. Nana to the rescue!
Dallin was content as well.... he ate twice, filled his drawers, and took a long nap in Aunt Ashley's room. Oh, to be a baby!

Off to the park!

Justin and I took the boys to the park this evening. Caden was getting a little stir-crazy in the house and his energy was that of a 16 month old. So we loaded Dallin in his stroller and took him for his first walk around the neighborhood. He didn't say much and wasn't too interested in the scenery, but he did pipe up when he lost his binky. Needless to say, Caden had a blast running around with Blaze (our dog), sliding on the slide, and throwing sand. He even tasted a handful of sand!!

Dallin is fast asleep!

What a brave boy!

So handsome!

Behind the Times...

So I've recently been informed that the Ramirez family is officially 'behind the times'. The latest and greatest means of capturing family events is through a blog. Forget scrapbooking, forget family photo albums, forget those old paper and pencil journals. I guess THIS is where its at! So I've been inspired to start our own family blog and I'm eagerly looking to steal ideas from the sites of all our friends. Enjoy!