This will always be one of our favorite videos. I’m so thankful we recorded Beck interviewing Grandma Joy Joy :).

Lots of Rocket love in this house.

Beck had a hankerin’ for some ice cream, and he’s never tried Maraschino Cherries before, so we had a little bike ride date to Fry’s :).

We had a Muffins with Mom morning at the boy’s school!

It’s really fun seeing these three boys together at school. It’s been such a blessing for Carter and Asher to be in the same 5th grade class this year!

Bike rides in the rain!

One of our favorite things to do is ride around the neighborhood blasting through puddles!

We had some crazy weather this month! It brought hail and snow to the valley!

In the 19 years Jeremy and I have lived here, we’ve never seen snow like this on these mountains close to us. It felt like a historic moment, and we had to drive out and see the beauty!

We had a fun night celebrating Dada’s birthday :).

We took a picture to remember our Wednesday Early Release tradition of going to QT for treats!

The boys’ sweetest Doctor came and had a Valentine’s Dinner with us! We had such a great night! So thankful for Dr. Mia and all she does to care for our boys and our family!

More soccer memories!

Random February memories!

Paxon Ray. You’ve changed our lives. We love you. Always and forever.

Asher’s Acrostic Poem from Asher for Beck :).

Big boy keeps losing his baby teeth!

He’s so cute.

Park time.

Fun at home.

Beck really wanted to push Grandma Joy Joy :).

Pretty hike!

Strong warrior boy.

And…then…we…got…a…dog! Meet Rocket. Beck gets the title of naming him. He’s super cute and cuddly! He did however turn our family upside down, ha! Grandma Olimb and I drove to Tucson to rescue him. We walked through our front door holding Rocket, and Asher starting crying as soon as he saw him. It was one of the sweetest moments. The boys are on cloud 9 to have a puppy, and dad and I are still deciding if we made a mistake, hahaha! 

Whew. This was a fun-filled, busy month. But we made many memories we’ll never forget!

Auntie Dana bought us all tickets to go to the Suns vs. Timberwolves game. It was a great night, with a great victory…not everyone was thrilled with the outcome though, ha! Go Suns :).

Asher’s turn to put the star on the tree this year!

We love hearing the ice cream truck coming!

AZ love.

It was a super foggy, morning this day. One we don’t see a lot in AZ, so we had to walk over to our park to enjoy the unique morning. Walking back from the park, we found out that our sweet neighbor of 16 years had passed away. We will never forget you and the stories you shared with us, Mel. Our family loved you so much. 

Sweet friends over for dinner!

It was our first year driving through this light show, and I’m pretty sure we would all vote to do this again :).

Their 4th Grade teacher used to call them the Three Musketeers. Since we changed schools, Asher doesn’t get to see them as much as he would like. It was so fun watching them spend a night together being silly and enjoying being friends.

We enjoyed showering our neighborhood and the boys teachers and care team at the hospital with some Christmas love!

Dates with our boys :).

The boys and I went to the high school right next to us to see an early screening of Annie. We are so thankful for all the memories that Hope Kids bless our family with.

I just had to include a couple of pictures of Beck’s journal and homework because it’s too adorable not to. I can not believe how good my day was! Oh the sweetness…

Sweet Christmas memories with our Olimb Family.

Christmas at home.

Then we hopped on a plane and headed to MN to celebrate Christmas with our Necas Family. We had to race to the lake to beat a big storm, and were able to show the boys just how cold it can get in MN. Thankfully we had a really nice couple of hours enjoying some tubing, we all had a blast! We loved getting to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa!

The boys made a scavenger hunt for each other :).

Then we ended our trip with a family day at the Mall of America! We had a blast riding rides all day! And, this memory was so cute. Asher came down to join us for breakfast in the hotel in his socks like he was at home, haha!

Happy Birthday, Grandma Joy Joy!  We love you!

The boys are so blessed to have a Daddy who loves to take them out on camping trips and spend time with them :).

The boys did great at the fun run this year!  They also made some silly videos for the Grandmas and Grandpas to donate to their run :).

This cute little turkey had a cute little performance at school!

Mario family fun night!  Daddy’s the best!

Beck started his first real chapter book series, The Boxcar Children.

Asher has been a cooking machine!  Here he is trying out a rice pudding dessert to see if he wants to make it for Thanksgiving.

Steaks!

We had a really fun soccer season this fall! Here are some highlights.

Asher scored six goals this night!

Lots of park time!

Little date with Punkie Bear.

Beck’s class had a little Book and a Blanket time, and Grandma and I were able to bring in lunch to have with Beck and read a book together.  It was really sweet to get to see him in the middle of the day…except he really did not want us to go afterwards :).

Thanksgiving!  It was a big year for Asher.  Dad taught him how to carve the Turkey :). 

Unfortunately, Uncle Bob passed away this week, so everyone’s Thanksgiving was a bit sad.  We will miss him greatly, and loved him much.  

While Dad was gone the boys and I got extra squeezes and time with Grandma Joy Joy, which means the world to us.  The boys and I also got to go on a few dates together.

This was the sweetest.  Beck had to get his flu shot, which are really hard for him.  Asher used his own money to buy Beck a new, “Bear Bear” because his old one had been lost, and he wanted to cheer up his brother :).

Breakfast and a Movie!

Angel tree gifts for children who have incarcerated parents.  It’s such a sweet ministry we get to be a part of!

We got to have sweet little Gigi for a sleep over :).

Beck and I got to have a little date to go and see a Winnie the Pooh play thanks to Hope Kids.  He loved it, and I love being able to expose the boys to theater!

At home.

It’s hard emotionally going to fundraisers, and seeing our boys up on the big screens…but we’re so thankful for the Foundation and all they’re doing!

October is notoriously full of fun and busyness for us.  We love it all…and we simultaneously let out a sigh of relief when we flip the calendar month :).

Soccer season is in full swing.  It’s a blast cheering for the boys as they work so hard on the soccer field!

Asher worked really hard making his Wardrobe from “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” for a school project.  It was complete with a coat rack and view of Narnia inside.  He even made his first real adult phone call to Lowe’s to ask if they have a refrigerator box he could have for his project.  We were so proud of all his hard work! 

Another big appointment for the boys.  Beck’s lung function looks great, we’re really encouraged by his numbers, and give a lot of credit to his week in the hospital giving him the boost that he needed.  Asher’s numbers were down again, and so we did 2 weeks of a pretty hard core antibiotic, three treatments a day, and we knew we were heading to the beach (salty air) for a week, so we were hopeful that combo would be helpful to him.  

Asher and I had been wanting to go to a Phoenix Rising game for quite some time.  Auntie Dana came along and we had a great time!  We’ll definitely be back!

They’re just so stinkin’ cute.

School Pictures!

Playdate with Nixon.

I love our board…mostly the boys’ additions to our questions :).

Beck and I went to the fabric store and he picked out two fabrics to sew his own pillow case.  He picked out baby elephants and a super soft material that’s fun to snuggle up with, but not so fun to sew, ha!  Asher and I did this same project when he was little, it was so sweet to share in the same memory with Beck :).

A visit from Mr. Chad!

A very special boy turned 11 years old this month!  We worked hard to celebrate him and love him up all week long.  We are so thankful for you, Asher!  It’s a joy to watch you grow, and be a part of the things you enjoy about life.  You love God, your brother, soccer, cooking, math, having responsibilities, video games, reading, babies, relaxing, being silly, being generous, making people laugh, fishing, riding your motorcycle, being a helper and going to church just to name a few.  We’re so proud of you and love you so much, Asher!

The last time you’ll be 10 years old!

Games and pizza with your forever bud, Carter!

Little deep fryer so he can have his favorite treat – fried shrimp!

Play time with his bro at a really new, cool facility we found!

Family Birthday presents and cake time!

On the note of Asher being generous.  This may have been one of his sweetest acts of kindness.  He gets reward dollars at school for good behavior, and at the end of the quarter they have a shop setup where kids can buy items with the money they earned.  Asher spent all of his money to buy this Dumbo for me, because we’ve been looking forward to having a date to see the new Dumbo movie.  He’s just so sweet and sentimental!

Pumpkin carving + Vikings night with Grandma and Grandpa!

Halloween!

The boys had a fun Halloween day at school with parties and a parade.  They wanted to be two characters from Fortnite, so we worked hard crafting away to build their costumes :).  It was so cute following behind Beck in the parade, because so many kids knew who he was…Drift…and Asher’s brother :).

And we did get to see Asher in the parade too :).

Beck’s Halloween party at school!

Beck with the school Nurse Ms. Vanessa, and the Principle Dr. Henry.

We enjoyed a beautiful night walking around collecting candy from generous people :).

The loot!

Random cuteness.

Another sunset pic by Asher.

We are always so thankful we get to take this trip every year!!!  We love that our boys have a plethora of beachy fun memories for keeps.  Every year has a different vibe.  This year everything was pretty much perfect.  Beautiful weather.  Beautiful sunsets.  Boys were feeling good.  Lots of laughs.  Lots of boogie boarding.  Good food.  Good friends…we’re so thankful.

Oh how we’re so very thankful for Hope Kids and all the memories they allow our family to have!  Free tickets and parking to the Cardinals game!  So fun being able to bring the boys to their first NFL game!  Too bad the Cards are having a rough year, but we had such a fun day with the boys, they loved the experience!  Hope we get to go again!

Loved being able to go camping with our friends to Christopher Creek!  Love watching our families kids, who have been friends since they were babies, growing up together!  God placed Asher and Carter in the same classroom at school this year, and we’re so thankful for their bond and friendship!

We love ourselves some day trips!  Jeremy and I have been talking about making this trip for years.  Love that we finally took the time to do it!  We drove up Mount Lemmon, which is close to Tucson.  It. Was. Beautiful!  There’s a science tour that we listened to while we drove up, which we all loved hearing the history behind the discovery of the mountain, and the science behind the different zones you experience while you drive up the mountain.  It was such a great day!  Asher wins the award for being the biggest trooper.  He really wasn’t feeling well this day.  We were going to take a hike to a little creek, but instead just wandered around for awhile, which ended up being perfect.  So thankful for these memories!

School stuff.  The boys love seeing each other in the cafeteria.

After school hangouts with Carter!

Some of the art that Beck created in his art class.

Bingo night at the school!

We’ve started a tradition of going to QT on Wednesdays to celebrate their early release.  This week, Beck was tired and I was again struck by what an awesome big brother Asher is. 

The boys and I had been watching the Christopher Robin trailer and talking about going to the new movie for months!  It was finally here, and we all absolutely loved it!  It was the sweetest movie!

Happy Birthday, Auntie Dana!  We love you! 

Well.  This is a keeper *heart bursting with love*

Once again, thankful for Hope Kids!  They were so awesome to let us bring Auntie along for the fun time too since Daddy was out of town.  We got tickets to go to a magic show from Magic Mike, who won America’s Got Talent.  It was loads of fun!

Beck and I were twinsies at church :).

The tooth fairy has been working hard over here :).

Enjoying the night at Asher’s soccer practice.

Reading like crazy now!

So many beautiful skies in AZ.

Asher was excited to snag this picture!  He did a great job!

Beck has the sweetest little friend.  Isaac’s mom told him that he got to be King of the Day and pick one friend to celebrate his birthday with.  Isaac had his birthday while Beck was in the hospital, and he chose to wait to celebrate his big day until Beck was feeling better.  What a sweet, sweet friendship.  These are the kinds of friendships we pray for. 

Grandma and Grandpa Necas bought Beck a lab coat.  He still wants so badly to be a scientist.  He was thanking God for his talents the other night and asked God to allow him to grow up to be a scientist :).

We flew back to attend a cousin and friend’s funeral.  Many tears and much sadness.  We were able to see some more Olimbs though, and it was sweet to have the boys together.  They’re all getting so big!

I love that we can go in and have lunch with the boys whenever we want!  It’s super sweet that the boys get to see each other too :).

So blessed that God put Asher and my best friend’s son, Carter, in the same class together!  More friendships that we have prayed for!  Such a gift!

Beck and Hannah took a little art class together :).

Thankful for Grandma and Grandpa Olimb and Grandma Joy Joy for loving on the boys and allowing Jeremy and I to go and see our favorite band at a beautiful venue with the ocean as a backdrop!  It was one of our most favorite memories together!

Memories together.

Beck, Daddy and Grandpa Campout!  Beck is so lucky to get to have these memories :).

Asher worked his tail off at a soccer camp this week.  He loved learning new soccer skills and prepping for the new soccer season, we were so thankful for Grandma and Grandpa Necas treating him to his club level training.  While Asher was at camp, Beck and I got to have some dates which was so so very sweet.  He’s just the best little Buddy to run errands and spend the day with :).

He wanted me to buy this.  Rice is his favorite :).

After Asher’s soccer camp at the end of the week, he got in the car and said, “Mom, let’s go on a date to see the Incredibles!”  How can I say no to that :).  Love him so very much!!!

Beck’s lung function had been dropping quite a bit since March, and his Doctor wasn’t ok with it…and neither were we.  Beck has never been admitted for a cf clean out before, and so we hadn’t really gotten a good picture of how his lungs are doing.  Beck went in for his first admit for a picc line to receive 2 weeks of iv antibiotics and to have a bronchoscopy done to look at his lungs.  The concern was that there was a bacteria that wasn’t showing up on his throat cultures that was growing deep that we needed to address.  The whole admit, and the procedures were quite similar to what Asher had gone through last July. 

We had one last appointment in hopes that his pft’s would have increased, but instead Beck and I went home to pack some bags and wait for a call that his room was ready.

We wanted a family picture before Beck and I took off for the hospital.

We were on a strict schedule on antibiotics every four hours, and four treatments a day.

He loved getting to eat whenever and whatever he wanted…it was mostly fries :).

These two.  They’re brothers AND friends.

We were in lock down during our 5 days there, but when we found out we were going home, we got the approval for the Child Life Specialist to take Beck on a little picture scavenger hunt around the floor.  He was so happy to walk around.

This.  Sigh…this was the worst for everyone.  His picc line had been placed too far, it was actually in his heart (ugh!) so they needed to take off all the dressing and move the line.  This resulted in the most heart-wrenching moment I’ll never forget.  Beck asked Asher to go with him to hold his hand.  Beck lost his mind because it was hurting him so bad, which caused Asher to start weeping while he was holding Beck’s arm and pushing his head against me.  Seeing both my boys broken was all a bit too much for me.  There was no chance of being strong.  We were all a mess.  Unfortunately, he needed to have his dressing changed two more times after this.  This was definitely one of the hardest parts of the whole time for Beck, but he was so very strong and brave.

We were so thankful to be able to be discharged from the hospital and be at home to finish out Beck’s round of antibiotics and care.  Beck, you did a really hard thing, and we were so proud of you!

Grandma Necas came for a visit and got us all ready to start school!  We were so thankful to have her help, and it’s always fun that she can be here to celebrate the boys starting a new year.  The night before school starts, we like to have a family dinner and a little interview with the boys as a sort of time capsule to remember this stage in their lives.  

More family fun memories, including Auntie Dana moving down, and Beck losing another tooth :).

Part 2 of the fun!

It was cute for us to hear from a couple of the neighbors about how much they loved watching the boys play together :).

We found a new, cute farm to do some strawberry picking!  We’ll be back next year!

In the middle of our trip we were able to take Daddy to his favorite place in the whole world to celebrate him working so hard for 4 years through Seminary School. We’re so proud of him!!

Asher had a little hard time there, he had major belly cramps, which was hard to help with in the middle of nowhere.  And his overall emotion during the trip came out when we were driving home and he said, “I’m never leaving Beck for this long again.”  Grandma Necas said that Beck’s overall emotion about the trip came out when he said, “I hate the Boundary Waters!”  Ha!  We’re so thankful for their love :).

Asher lifted him up!  So cute!

Asher’s first big wipe out!

I’m pretty certain the boys had a incredible Fourth of July!!  Beautiful night, swimming in the lake while watching huge colorful fireworks and a grand sunset!  It was pretty awesome!

Thanks for all the memories, Grandma and Grandpa Necas!  Boys are already counting down the days until next year :).