My cousin Michelle and her husband James are having a contest on their photography blog to win a free photoshoot! They are in the Rexburg/Idaho Falls area, but even if you don't live there you can give it to someone you know who does. They do awesome work- check it out at http://www.rognonphotography.com/
Then go to their blog www.rognonphotography.blogspot.com to enter the contest!
My sister Sarah lives in Utah and we don't get to see them very often. She had a baby a couple weeks after Cannon was born and I have yet to see a picture of him- until today. They made an awesome video of her boys and their cousin doing secret service. James is the baby they push in the swing. You can watch it on youTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avrKnN0rA_U
Lately Brigham has been wanting to do everything for himself. I've heard about this stage, but I honestly don't remember Joseph ever going through it. In fact Joey still wants me to get him dressed, put on his shoes and socks, and buckle him up. He would be in heaven if I rocked him to sleep every night too. But Brigham has decided to declare independence! He has always been good helper (unlike Joey), but he is beginning to exceed his boundaries. Not only does he want to button his buttons, he wants to button yours! And the hardest thing to understand is how he screams if you do anything for him. You would think he would be grateful you pulled down his pants and put him on the potty so he would make it. But instead he cries, climbs off the toilet and pees on the floor (occasionally while trying to move his step stool to climb back on, but most often while simply crying at your meanness.) This recent action has led to a general regression in potty training. He was using the toilet regularly until he decided he has to do it himself. He does not want to put his pants back on, but if they must go on, he wants to do it! Even with them off he makes no move toward the toilet until there is a puddle on the floor. Maybe he's saving his place so he will know where to resume playing? Sorry I have no pictures, I'm too busy helping Brigham clean puddles off the floor. Would you want any anyway?
Last Saturday after hunting around garage sales Ben decided we should go on an adventure and we drove up to Kings Canyon to see the huge sequoias. We had so much fun on this spir-of-the -moment trip; we are deffinately going back! The drive up was beautiful, except that Cannon has decided he hates riding in the car for very long and cried a lot of the way. That is quite a change from our other boys, and I'm not sure what to do with him. Even when we stopped and fed and changed him he cried as soon as we got back in again. Poor guy.
This is Hume Lake where we all waded at the end of the long day. Since we didn't plan the trip the boys had to swim in their underwear.
Walking through a fallen tree.
It is hard to believe Joseph is four. Here is a picture of him blowing out the candles on his Word World birthday cake. 
He could hardly wait for Ben to come home so we could have cake and open his presents! Luckily it was a short day and Ben was home by noon. Then we went out to lunch, played at Chuck E. Cheese's, and went to a movie. We never go to movies, so you would think it would be a treat, but Joey told Ben he didn't want to go and then played with his new hot wheels the whole time. After that we went to watch Ben play softball. It was a busy day, and hopefully fun for Joseph.
One final down, three to go...
Graduation is so close it's a feeling in the air. We are all pretty excited about it, even though it hardly means school is over for good. I guess Ben still could decide not to get his Doctor of Physical Therapy, but even then he would still have clinicals all Summer and his licence exam in the Fall. Since he is doing the Doctorate Program, it also means more classes and research until next May. After that we will still be staying around Clovis while he works a year or so for a company that gave him a scholarship for this summer.
I am excited about having family come visit for graduation, Ben not having homework to do when he comes home, Joey turning 4, and going to visit family for a week while Ben goes to conferences in Baltimore and Boston in June.
I loved Mother's Day this year. Ben was so busy I knew not to expect anything, and that is okay because I'm not his mother after all. I hope it will always be more about honoring my mother than about me for me. We made handprint cards for Grandma which surprisingly got there on time, and at the last minute decided to go visit our mothers for the day. My highlight was singing to my mom (with accompanyment, thanks to my awesome sightreading brother Logan) "Mother is Another Name for Love" by Penelope Moody Allen. And for me? Ben made me french toast and I bought myself a hot air popcorn popper.
Hellmann's Mayo
Most people don't know that back in 1912, Hellmann's mayonnaise was manufactured in England. In fact, the Titanic was carrying 12,000 jars of the condiment scheduled for delivery on May 5th in Vera Cruz, Mexico, which was to be the next port of call for the great ship after its stop in New York. This would have been the largest single shipment of mayonnaise ever delivered to Mexico. But as we know, the great ship did not make it to New York. The ship hit an iceberg and sank, and the cargo was forever lost.
The people of Mexico, who were crazy about mayonnaise and were eagerly awaiting its delivery, were disconsolate at the loss. Their anguish was so great that they declared a National Day of Mourning, which they still observe to this day. The National Day of Mourning occurs each year on May 5th and is known, of course, as Sinko De Mayo.
And now you know where the name originated!
Received from Tina Gardner.
I got this joke from The Good Clean Funnies List and thought I'd pass it on. I don't love Mayonaise and I'm not Mexican, but I've always liked Cinco de Mayo. Maybe It's just an excuse to eat Mexican food. We're having Chicken Enchiladas tonight!