Walking & Playing Football, Two Essential Life Skills

And sonlicious has got them down...kind of.

Joshua's Birthday Cake

As advertised, Josh had a great time eating his birthday Cake.

The Binky Game

Here are some pictures of one of Joshua's favorite games. You take the binky and then he takes it back. Great Fun.

Mikayla Hanging Out on the Sofa

Rocks & Acorns...Acorns are More Favorite

Josh demonstrates his serious rock and acorn eating skills in a few videos. Part IV is the best one, but also the longest.

Reading on the Old Park Bench

Mikayla and Lucy looked so cute reading on the bench out back.

Back Yard Photos

The back yard is starting to come together. Hopefully we'll be able to get some plants in the flower beds come spring.

More Shots for the Silver Screen

Here lies a collection of some of the great videos recorded over the last few days. We've got Joshua talking on the phone and darting from his mom as she tries to dress him. Enjoy.

Another Camping Trip to Stone Mountain

We went to Stone Mountain State Park again this weekend. This time we took some friends and showed them the way of the Stone Mountain Zen Master.

Believe it or not, a few people thought it was warm enough to swim in one of the creeks in the park. It was plenty warm outside, but that water was darn cold.

A big surprise for the trip was that Jose was able to climb to the top of Stone Mountain and back down without us having to carry her (1.5 miles roundtrip). We were pretty pleased with her. She's growing so fast, as is son-a-licious.

Some Bigtime Footage

Happy Halloween!

Strawberry Puzzle-Cake

Mikayla has a 60+ piece puzzle of Strawberry Shortcake. She loves to put it together and calls it her "Strawberry Puzzle-Cake."

Clapping and Having a Good Time

Farmer John

Bedroom Change

Camping at Stone Mountain State Park

Yesterday, we went on a camping trip to Stone Mountain State Park in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. It was only a two hour drive and a place we will definitely return. We've got several pictures of Dad & Mikayla 'reeling that sucker', Joshua eating rocks, and Mikayla being a big sister to Joshua. The Dad & Mikayla fishing team managed to bring in a couple of 10-12" rainbow trout on Merrill's fly rod. Josh managed to spit out all of the rocks he tried to swallow, thank goodness. The reasons we will definitely go there again have nothing to do with the fishing, of course.

We also threw in a few pictures of the namesake of the State Park.

Joshua pushing around a stroller

As promised, here are the pictures of Joshua pushing a stroller around the house all by himself. He did this for the first time last week.

Mikayla and Josh Playing Around the House

Mikayla has really got into creating paintings lately. She's been trying to duplicate some work she's seen on the home and garden network. Josh still likes eating things, including Mikayla's paintings on some balloons.

Now, even I'll admit that these pictures of Josh in a Sundevils get-up look just like a little Eddie (or a Big Eddie, depending on how you look at it).

Dad grew some facial hair

After four days without shaving in Mississippi, I decided to go for another few days with my lovely facial hair. Cami said she liked how it looked, but not how it felt. I think she's just jealous she can't grow a beard.

Mikayla, the Piano Teacher

Mikayla is no dummy. She picked-up on Cami teaching piano lessons very quickly. Here we have a picture of her teaching a friend how to play. She also gave daddy a lesson and kept telling him to put his hands on middle-C and play like this (as she would demonstrate).

Son-licious on the Move

Josh is really starting to get around. He loves pushing things across the floor, but gets really mad when he hits a wall. We'll get some more pictures of him actually walking behind a stroller soon.

Oh yeah, and he still likes to eat.

Workin' in the Yard...Again

Here's a part-way done set of photos of some work we're doing in the back yard. We're trying to get some flower beds and trails laid out.

Trip to Hattiesburg

Merrill went to Hattiesburg, Mississippi with 17 other Elders and High Priests from our ward. We helped people in the community cut down and clear out trees that had fallen in their yards as a result of Hurricane Katrina. The trip was short, but definitely worthwhile. There should be additional photos posted as we get them from others who took more pictures.

Joshua found the flour...

and Mikayla was quick to join in on the fun. Cami found this so amusing that she just watched them for a while. How could you resist?

Surprise, I'm Eating Again

Use your best National Geographic narrator reading voice as you read the following sentences:

In these pictures, we find Joshua thoroughly enjoying an otter pop while his mother watches attentively. She appears to be full of glee as she watches her young enjoy a special treat.

At the Hill's Home in Virginia

Since we obviously hadn't received our fill of DC with our trips in July and August, we went again last week while Merrill was at a research conference in Bethesda. Cami, Mikayla, and Joshua stayed with Bridget, Benson, and their family while Merrill was at his conference. Here are a couple of pictures with Mikayla and Hayli.

Arlington National Cemetary

While we were in DC, we went to Arlinton National Cemetary to watch the changing of the guards at the tomb of the unknown soldier.

The National Zoo, Part II

We went to DC again over the 3rd weekend in August to see Ashley, one of Cami's roomates from college. Ashley is married to Lee Phillips and they have a 2 yr. old, Morgan. Here are some photos we took while we were at the zoo with them.

A Morning Ritual

Cami usually wakes up with the kids early while Merrill sleeps in for a bit longer. Josh is getting to the point where he'll join Mikayla in watching a cartoon while Cami steals a few extra minutes of precious sleep.

Mikayla Goofing Around

Here are some cute pictures of Mikayla playing around the house.

Introducing the Bullrider...AND...

THE FACE! Josh was making the funniest face while he was eating yesterday afternoon. We shot off several shots on the camera trying to capture THE FACE and finally succeeded. We'll let you decide for yourself which photo contains THE FACE.

We should also note that Mikayla is rubbing off on Joshua a little bit. We even got a couple of pictures of his serious concentration face...as he drags something along the table (see next post for details on his dragging habit).

Joshua and a stick

Josh has loved to play with anything that he can drag back-and-forth across the floor in front of him. He's still not crawling, so he'll just sit up and drag whatever he's holding along the floor. In these pictures, he's dragging a stick across the floor in the hallway and trying to hit a piece of paper with the stick. If he wasn't successful for a while, then he'd just pick up the paper and throw it, then try again.

Mikayla's Photo Shoot

Joshua's First Haircut

Dad cut Joshua's hair with clippers on Saturday evening. We don't have much practice cutting hair on someone squirming all over the place, so the cut was marginal at best. However, the clippers really caught his attention (as you can see in the pictures) and it seems that he liked the final result. Then again, he smiles all of the time anyway, so who knows.

Time for a Nap

A few cute pictures of Mikayla & Josh sleeping.

Cami's brother Dellma came to visit

Dellma came for the first few days in August. Soon after his visit he had to travel back to Afghanistan for work.

Hansen Family Reunion - July 2005

Cami's family had a reunion on the Mogollon Rim in Arizona around the beginning of July.

Hansen Family trip to Havasupai

Cami's parents, Dellma, Anne & Carlos hiked down to Havasupai in the Grand Canyon at the end of July. It looks like they had a really great time.

Some additional photos from Cami's Family

Here are some other miscallaneous photos we've received from Cami's family from this summer.

Monthly Friday Night Paint Fest

Our monthly turn for babysitting on Friday date night usually begins with pleas to paint. We wrap the kids in plastic trash bags and let them go to town with the finger paints.

Breakfast Time

We were eating some waffles for breakfast and I got up to get Mikayla some milk. Josh quickly noticed my unattended plate and siezed the opportunity to grab a full quarter of my waffle. Then he proceeded to stuff it in his mouth as rapidly as possible.

He's Figured Out How To Get Himself Stuck

Yeah, Josh has figured out about enough movements to get himself stuck. The pictures not in very good focus :(, but you'll get the idea.

Mikayla Still Enjoys Reading to Josh

Yes, Mikayla still enjoys reading to Josh (and we threw a couple of pictures of Josh in his rally-cap style Steve Spurrier hat for good measure).

Mikayla and Josh In His New Swing

We finally got around to getting a swing for Josh to use on the swingset in the back yard. Mikayla enjoys pushing him. And when he sees her in the swing next to his, he gets really excited.

Mikayla's Phrases

Mikayla has already started to claim amnesia for her faults. The other day she exclaimed in the car: "I just for-keep-getting!"

She also gets after her babies when they aren't dressed modestly and insists on wearing her hair out (no ponytails) because that's how Ariel does it. We overheard her talking to her babies and she said: "They want me to put it in these [ponytails], but I want to be beautiful like Ariel, so I don't want to put up my hair."

Off to Topsail Beach...Again!

Make sure you click on page 2 of this set of photos on the frame that comes up.

We went to Topsail Beach again on Saturday, this time with Spencer, Brooke, and Kirsten Cutler. We had a great time and this time we didn't get sunburned! I guess our tanning sessions at the local pools are working. We picked up the "Freaky Tiki" body board on the way to the beach. The Cutlers already had a body board, so we all had a great time riding the waves.

On Sunday, Mikayla kept saying: "And the bubbles, the bubbles were going to get me, the bubbles!!" We finally realized that she was referring to her brave venture into the ocean captured on photo for proof.

Mikayla's Ballet Skills

Mikayla was demonstrating her ballet skills last Sunday. She was making up new words to "I Hope They Call Me on a Mission" as she flailed her arms and danced around.

Meanwhile, Josh was busy doing what he likes best: adding some more weight to his huge girth.

Working in the Yard

We had a lot of fun trying to find the leak of the water main in our front yard. Merrill dug a trench about 8 feet long and 2 - 3 feet deep. He had to get some of those sweet plastic goloshes to wade in the muck. The ground was so saturated that every time he'd shovel out some mud, more water would pour into the hole from the sides. Well, after a day or so of digging we finally found the pipe and then took about 20 minutes to fix it. That night, we used our hot date time (with Mikayla at the babysitter's) to backfill the hole with the nasty clay mud.

On a happier note, we've been working on terracing the playset area in the back yard. Here's some photos of our action in that arena. This is a multiple weekend job, so we'll post some more photos after we've completed the job.

Nauvoo Temple Replica

Cami sewed and sewed and drew and drew and cut and cut for a couple of weeks in order to make this Nauvoo Temple panorama that was used for a Stake Youth Conference trek in June. The Raleigh-based newspaper did a nice piece on the trek.

Some Pictures in the Yard

Here are some pictures we took in the yard a few weeks ago.

4th of July Fireworks

Josh was looking pretty smooth in his Yankees hat (even though they stink) and Mikayla was ready for some serious fireworks action. None of us were disappointed.

Museum of Natural History

Mikayla really enjoyed the fossils. She ran around saying: "I haven't seen that one before." There are a lot of pictures on this page, so it may take some time to load.

Iwo Jima Monument

You can't get a sense for how large this monument is from pictures. The platform is about eight feet tall and the soldiers must each be 15-16 feet tall. Their determination is unmistakable.

Vietnam Memorial

These rows and rows of names go one for about 100 yards in each direction from this corner of the monument. It seemed fitting to get the Washington Monument reflection in the background.

Korean War Memorial

Some nice night photos of this memorial that really makes you think about what these people did for us.

Washington DC Temple

On Sunday afternoon we paid a visit to the beautiful Temple in Washington DC. After we'd been there a while, Mikayla decided she needed to go...and the caught her doing 'The Dance.'

Lincoln Memorial

Some of these pictures of Lincoln Memorial are blurry for the same reason as those in the National Archives, it was nearly dark and we didn't have a tripod to steady the camera for night shots.

Washington Monument

A few photos of Washington Monument. The really good ones on the bottom were taken from the base of the reflection pool near Lincoln Memorial.

The White House

Our visit to the White House. Don't try placing your backpack on the ground when you take a picture. A few people did and the people with big guns promptly told them to pick up their bag.

The Capitol Building

Here's a few pictures we took near the Capitol Building. The latter pictures were taken from our location for the fireworks show.

National Archives Room

Here's a few photos of the room that holds the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, and Bill of Rights. The room is fairly dark and there's no flash photography allowed. We were able to use the night photo setting on the camera, but with no tripod they turn out blurry (I guess I don't have surgeon's hands after all).

Josh in some nice glasses

I guess we forgot to post these nice photosof Josh doing his best Stevie Wonder impression. They were taken sometime in April.

The National Zoo

We went to the National Zoo on Saturday. Mikayla was really interested in the small monkeys. We couldn't seem to pull her away.

Cookies & Milk

Mommy was gone, so daddy decided to feed me some cookies and milk. Any food that mom or dad will let me stuff in my mouth is favorite, but cookies and milk are definitely a little more favorite!

Mikayla making her favorite food

Here's some shots of Jose making her favorite food - pizza. She'll down 4 slices when we go to the local cheap pizza buffet. Oh yeah, we also have one of her nursing her baby.

Maybe He'll Learn How to Crawl After All

More Photos at the Hansen Home

Our Annual Pilgrimage to Black River

At the Hansen Home in Snowflake

The Go-Carts

The Showdown in Show Low

Hangin' out with the cousins

Amie Graduated!

At the Birdno Home in Show Low

Greatgrandparents Birdno

Mikayla playing with Play-Dough

Day Trip to Topsail Beach with Eyre Family

We had a great time at Topsail Beach on Saturday. We went with the Eyre family and all got toasted, but had a wonderful time. Mikayla was a little hesitant to get in the water, but conceded after some coaxing. Joshua Jay didn't want anything to do with the water-it must have been too cold, because he loves his baths.

I'll help you with my rice cereal, mommy

Joshu-uh like to grab anything and everything, especially plates, bowls, etc. Here he demonstrates his expertise in grabbing a cereal bowl away from his mother.

We also took a quick video (with poor lighting), but there are no guarantees that it will work. It may require Quicktime (not sure if the Windows Media player will show it?). You may need to right click on this link and select the download file option on your browser. Just clicking on the link opens the video in a new browser window for us, so maybe you can do that as well?? It will probably take a while (a long time if you're on dial-up) to download, because it's 7 MB. Good Luck! Let us know if it works.

Jose's thoughts on anatomy...

Mikayla was helping Joshua chew on a plastic teething toy. I asked him if he enjoyed the help and she responded on his behalf:

"Yes, he likes it. And it goes to his bottom."

"What?" I replied, thinking I heard her wrong.

"I shove it way into his mouth and then it goes down to his bottom," Mikayla added.

Well, I suppose you can't fault her for at least having the right notion of what's going on!

A Fun Barbeque with the Alder's on Mother's Day

We had Brian, Lindsay (would you believe it if we told you she is 5 months pregnant?), and McKenzie over for some Souvlaki for Mother's Day.

Mikayla's Preschool Friends

Mikayla has preschool once a week with a few of her friends: William Barker, Lucy Eyre, Sarah Durham, Julia Hausman, and Allison Beck. They all had a final party last week at our house before most of them take off for the summer for jobs/internships that their dads will be doing.

Here are some photos we got of the kids, their moms, and their younger siblings. William is the one with a red shirt. Lucy has a red and white striped dress. Julie has a white shirt and pink pants. Allison has a multi-colored striped sweater. Sarah is wearing a pink shirt and blue pants.

Joshua's 5 Month Check-up

Josh went to the doctor today to get his 5th month check-up. He weighed in at a whopping 17.5 pounds and was 26 inches long. I wish I could catch a fish that big!

Unfortunately, he had to get four more shots and is feeling a little down this evening. However, he usually perks up pretty quickly after he gets his immunizations.

Sorry, no pictures to post on this story.

Silverstein Photos from Spring Break

These are the pictures Josh & Lindy took while they were here for Spring Break in March. There are a few of the gardens at Duke, Duke Chapel, a couple of Cameron Indoor Stadium, and several at the beach.

Since there are quite a few photos in this page, it may take a while to load.

Look mom & dad, I have a tongue!

These are some REALLY cute photos of Joshu-uh.

Fishing in the Backyard

Dad and Mikayla enjoyed digging dad's fishing stuff out of the closet (finally) and tuning it up a little for the summer. Mikayla really enjoyed reeling in plastic flashlight that dad was using to cast. We began to use the phrase, "reel that sucker" when it was time for her to do her part in the tune-up, which she thoroughly enjoyed.

More of Mikayla holding Josh

Fun in the Hammock

Mikayla and a few of her friends haning out in the hammock on Friday evening. We couldn't resist getting a couple of pictures of Josh in the hammock as well. His eyes are the same color as the hammock.

At the Raleigh Temple

The Stake had an activity day at the temple for Primary children last Saturday. We took Mikayla and had a really good time.

Mikayla and Josh Hanging Out

Sitting Up...with a little help.

Mikayla holding Josh...again.

Mikayla Holding Josh & Reading to Him

She really loves to try to pick him up these days. Most of the time when she actually gets him off of the ground, she proceeds to drop him...but he doesn't seem to mind too much.

Not sure what she's doing here...

Now you know why we call her Jose Loco-beans.

SSSHHHH, He's Sleeping.

Did we mention Joshua likes to sleep?

It's Bono (you know, from U2)

Nice Glasses Mikayla...

Easter

Here are a few photos of Mikayla coloring and hunting Easter eggs this year.

Spring Break 2005

Curty & Crystal and Josh & Lindy came to visit for Spring Break. They were welcome company and we had a great time. We didn't take many pictures with our camera, but when Curty and Josh send us the photos they took, we'll post them also.

Mikayla & McKenzie Alder, a good friend

McKenzie is the daughter of one of the Med School students in our ward.

DUKE vs. Miami

We had a great time at the Duke/Miami game on March 3rd.





We tried to get a photo of the mascot surfing on top of the band players as they roll on the floor, but couldn't get to the camera in time.




Can you find 'Crazy Towel Guy'??? At some point in every game, the whole crowd starts chanting 'Crazy Towel Guy.' After the decibels in Cameron are high enough, this guy stands up and waves his towel...





This is how we pronounce curses on the other team...




Just in case you are still looking for Crazy Towel Guy, I'll give you a hint. He's in this picture as well.

Sara, Madison, Mikayla, and Sidney

Some Really Cute Faces

Photo Shoot

'Hanging Out' with Dad

Making a Cake for Dad's Cub Scouts

More of Mikayla and Joshua

Riding with Dad

Mikayla finally used the pedals on her plastic tricycle...

Big Sister Has Lots of Jobs To Do

Yum, Yum

Some of Mikayla's Artwork...