The month we celebrate Punkie Bear.  For three years he’s been bringing us joy.  We really are so blessed to have you in our family, Beck.

List of our favorites about you:  Your bootie shakes; The fact that it was a big deal for you to start using “windy hands” in the bathrooms; When you call shovels, “shugels”; When you say “puz” for because and “hum” for him.  Daddy and I like to ask you questions that we already know the answer to just to hear you say the word, “puz” for because; How awesome you are at playing Mario on Wii.  I mean, seriously, you’re remarkably great for a little 3 year old!;  How you ask us all the time, “will you hoche me” when you want us to hold you; how you mimic everything your brother does; your sweet, sensitive heart that does not like disappointing Mommy and Daddy; how much you love chocolate milk and cheese sticks; how polite you are…so many things that make you perfect.

We love you, Beck.  Even though you insisted on wearing your Thomas the Train mask for your pictures, we love you :).  Happy 3rd Birthday, Sweet Boy!

We had a fun day of celebrating you!  We had a little party with some of your neighborhood friends, and got to spend the day together with Grandma and Grandpa Olimb at the Train Park.  You are one special boy with a lot of people who love you!

There is one thing that’s a bit of a challenge with you, and that’s getting you to smile for pictures.  We’re getting used to you not looking at the camera, or covering your face with your hands, or just shouting “no” and running away, ha!  We definitely have to bribe you and get a little creative to catch your sweet smile :).  You couldn’t help but smile from ear to ear on your birthday train ride!

Here’s the booty shake, and what I get when I ask for a picture, ha!  Thank you, Asher :).

Asher had an awesome year with soccer!  He scored 12 goals this season!  At the end of the year party his coach handed him a very generic trophy, but said she was giving it to him for all his fancy footwork :).  The assistant coach of his team called Asher “an animal” on the field.  He truly loves the sport.  He plays soccer every day twice a day at school.  All of the kids wrote little notes to each other, and with the exception of a few, most of the kids made a comment about how great he is at soccer.  This is so cute, because in little kids minds, I’m sure they’re thinking that they never see him on the playground because he’s always playing soccer with the big kids…therefore, he must be good.  It’s cute.  But, he really is great, and he works super hard at it!  So proud of him!

He totally deeked the kid here, which I think is pretty amazing :).

Happened to catch a goal on film :).

So happy to be back out on the field.  I love this montage.  It’s so classic Asher.

Asher had some very special guests come and cheer him on for a game!

Goal, baby!

Just because.

We got an extraordinary amount of rain that the boys enjoyed riding scooters and playing in.

Punkie and I rode bikes up the rode to meet Asher and Daddy coming home from soccer practice.  Jeremy and I switched partners for the ride home :).

Beck graduated to his new, big boy, Sunday School classroom.  He loooooooves going to his Sunday School class!  We’re so blessed to be able to let him be a part of the ministry.

Park date with this cutie, who let me steal a kiss while we were swinging :).  He’s also still working on his thumbs up :).

Asher has been wanting to go to Feed My Starving Children for awhile, because Jeremy and I have gone and we’ve told him about the ministry.  So we coordinated a time we could go with friends and their children as well.  We will definitely be bringing him back.  Asher absolutely loved it, and he was so focused and on a mission to pack as many boxes as we could.  It was such a great time!  Total bonus that we got to share the experience with Grandma and Grandpa Olimb too :).

Family bike ride up to a pizza restauranut.  We couldn’t find Beck’s helmet, so we had to borrow one from a neighbor :).

Asher put together his first science board for school.  It was so cute how excited he was about making it cool, and how much time he spent on it.  They studied about the pilgrims this quarter in school.  The job Asher said he would have liked to have on the Mayflower is a carpenter.

The boys got to go and check out Top Golf.

Those iphone people were genius allowing you to flip the camera, because I can actually get a few pics of Beck’s little face…even if it’s a duck face :).

Out for a morning run :).

Daddy works all day, and then comes home to this.  The boys are so blessed.

Every clinic Asher does his PFT’s test.  They test how much air volume can be moved in and out of the lungs, and how fast the air can be moved in and out.  This picture makes me teary.  I love his determination.  He was exhaling so hard and fast and long that Jeremy and I were saying, “ok, buddy, good job, you can breathe now.”  He’s so strong.

The boys and I took a trip to ride their scooters across the Pedestrian Bridge at Tempe Town Lake.  They were so distracted with all the water and fun that they couldn’t coordinate their smiles :).

I love this.  Beck whipped his shirt off in 2 seconds.  Asher turned around and busted out laughing when he saw his little brother shirtless, lol!

Such a fun big brother.

I really cannot believe how quickly the months tick by.  It’s currently the end of April.  But, these memories are too precious to gloss over… Bike rides with Grandma and Grandpa.  Beck really enjoys teasing Grandpa about taking him through the tunnel and over the bridge, and not holding his hand, ha!  Teasing Grandpa about drinking his chocolate milk and using his bathroom are also really high on his list of favorites too :).

Punkie is doing awesome at his swimming lessons!  He got to ring the beloved bell, and graduated to his next class.  He’s now a “Sea Lion”.

Thank you, Hope Kids.  This beautiful organization has given us so many fun memories with the boys!  I got to take Asher to his first Phoenix Suns game!  God blessed us with a super exciting and close game too.  We won by a few points, but it was a total nail biter!  Asher and I were jumping out of our seats, and our throats hurt from yelling so much :).

Beck loves to wear his masks!  He frequently needs to pause the wrestling matches with Daddy so he can go to his room to change up superheros :).

At teacher conference, Asher’s teacher gave us this letter that Asher wrote. It’s such a crack up, and definitely a forever keeper. It says, Hi I am Asher Olimb and I am the author of this book what makes me happy. The thing that makes me happy is drum roll please, my brother Beck. He makes me happy because I love him so much and when I go to school I miss him so very much because I don’t get to see him in 5 hours and that is so long but here is the exciting part, at the end of school I get to see my brother. And that is it, I will see you next time when I will write about my happiness. He loves his brother so much!

His brother loves his so much too!  This video at Asher’s Fun Run is so cute!  Beck was cheering for Asher, and he was so desperate for a hug…and to tell him that he bit his finger :).

Speaking of Fun Run.  Asher ran 58 laps!  His goal was to run 35.  He did amazing!!  And, he let his cheerleader come with him on his victory lap :).

The cutest selfies ever.

I love date nights with Asher.  He’s getting so big.  He legitimately beat me twice at air hockey this night!

Walking “brodder” to school.

Poor little Punker’s bike got swiped from our front yard.  We left his bike out during our week for uncontained trash, and someone got a really cheap, and beloved bike of ours.  I hope some little boy is really enjoying it right this minute!  That thought makes the sentimental feelings hurt a little less :).  Grandma and Grandpa Olimb bought Beck an early birthday gift to fill his little heart back up :).  Welcome to the family Major Damage Magna!    

Asher is still WAAAAYYYYY into Pokemon.  He organizes his binder of cards, has several books about Pokemon that he pours over, trades his cards with his friends…he’s a nut about it.  It’s cute.

Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Olimb, and Grandma Joy Joy, Jeremy and I got to get away to celebrate Jeremy’s birthday!  We enjoyed two days in complete beauty!  We’ll never forget it!

Jeremy and I had one of our favorite getaways with the boys to Flagstaff.  It was incredibly relaxing.  At one point Jeremy and I fell asleep on the couches upstairs, Asher fell asleep on the couch downstairs, and Beck worked on going pee pee in the potty by himself, and watched some tv while he built his blocks and snacked on some pretzels.  It was awesome, ha!

We love that we can drive a couple of hours to play in some snow, and then come back down the mountain and not have to live in the snow :).  The boys had a blast though playing around…and when you have a fire place to warm up at, it just all goes together so beautifully.

We will remember this trip, as the trip when Double Solitaire invaded our family, when the boys were introduced to 80’s music, and when we really were working with Punkie on swallowing his pills :).

We were laughing at how huge his jacket was, and how he barely fit in his car seat, ha!

Of course we missed the big snow storm and fresh snow by about a week!  But, we were able to find a couple small areas in the woods where we took the boys sledding, which made them so happy!  Then again, back for the fireplace.  It was such a beautiful trip!

He didn’t want to go.  He was so cute all bundled up with his stiff waddle and pouty lip.

Asher ramped up the adventure with the leaf jumping this year :).

Off to Grandma’s I go!

We were so blessed to be gifted tickets to the Pro Bowl game this year!  It was so fun to get to have a special date with our boy, and experience something really cool together!

Special times with my boys.

Starfall.  Asher used to play this game all the time when he was a little peanut.  It’s been fun hearing all the same music and games, and watching Punkie enjoy it.  He calls it is “Punkin Game”.

Beck also started wearing big boy undies in January!  It took about 3 days, and he really had the hang of things.  We’re so proud of our big boy!

Lots of Pre-Christmas fun!

The boys were able to go to a special Hope Kids event where they had Santa come in and read a few stories while having cookies and milk with the kids at a really pretty resort.  Because Santa always knows the best resorts to travel to :).

Christmas lights with Grandma and Grandpa Olimb!

Asher, the photog :).

Our annual Christmas dinner with our Hoverson family!!  The kids are getting so big!

Nativity scene at our church!

Attempted making our own Christmas ornaments with a homemade dough…major fail.  Michael’s pre-made ornaments FTW!

Asher and Beck had their Great Grandma, both their grandparents, and their Auntie Dana here for Christmas this year!!  Seriously.  And, they got to have two Christmas celebrations.  How lucky are they!

When Grandma and Grandpa Necas were here, they rented a house with a heated pool…which was about the best Christmas gift!  The boys swam their little hearts out!  And, one day the pool was so warm, it was like swimming in a really large hot tub.  Truly.  We were all a little red when we got out, ha!  It was so fun!

He had a momentary lapse in his joy, resulting in one of the most hilarious sequences of pouting, ha!

Our sweet Paxon.  We spend a lot of time over the Christmas season remembering his life, and how he changed ours.  He was irreplaceable.  We still miss him so much, and wish things would be different.  One day it will be.  God is on a mission to make things right in this world.  One day, there will be no more tears.

It can’t possibly almost be February!!  Seems insane that I’m putting up pictures from almost five months ago!  Oh well, these are still worthwhile memories for keeps…

First, our dear friend, who happens to be the most talented photographer, captured the boys in the most perfect way.  They are loud and crazy and so rowdy, and so SO loud (worth repeating :)) but they’re also full of love and fun.  We wanted this season of our lives to be bottled up, and Jen did such a beautiful job giving us forever memories.  We love these two so much!

We thought it would be fun getting a few pics of the boys in their Halloween costumes.  Jen, made the idea awesome with finding us a real Falkor :).

We were blessed to have Grandma and Grandpa Olimb, Grandma Joy Joy, and Auntie Dana in town for Thanksgiving!  It was so special having everyone here to spend the day together, and celebrate the many blessings that God showers us with.

Thanksgiving Day Parade had Thomas!  He jumped up and down, with his Thomas jammies on :).

My favorite Thanksgiving picture!  The dressing was a little slim this year thanks to the swiper :).

Bean bag competitions!

Our Thanksgiving Tree was pretty full of blessings!

Beck was adamant that we all lay down and look at the stars :).

It was a Happy Thanksgiving!

I thought we were bringing Beck to his first movie, but Grandma Necas said they brought Beck over the Summer.  So I guess this was OUR first time bringing Beck to the movies, ha!  He did awesome, and loved it so much he fell asleep :).

Wrestling with Auntie Dana is the best!

Going to say “hi” to Grandpa at church!  So sweet!

Beck started working on swallowing his pills before Christmas!  We put applesauce on a spoon, and put the full cap on top (we usually have to break open the caps and dump them into the applesauce).  He did it for the first time on our little lunch date at the mall :).  All big boys who start swallowing pills get to celebrate with a train ride :).

Meals can be challenging with the boys.  Their bodies need 120-200% more calories than someone their same size without CF.  The problem is that they’re wiggly, and they already sit so much for treatments.  But, the burden is still there, and it’s so important for their lung function that they eat like mad men.  There is usually a lot of bribing and deal making going on.  But, there are times sprinkled throughout when it’s a bit magical.  They sit, they’re quiet, they eat.  This was one of those times, and totally deserved a picture :).

We’re missing some of our people, but still a memory for keeps!

Scootin’ with Grandma Joy Joy!  They have a weekly scootin’ date together :).

Mr. Jim and Miss Lorraine brought Asher to the circus!  This video so perfectly exemplifies the joy that he had in going to the show!  He felt so special, and still talks about the circus, how funny it was, how everything there cost five dollars, and how he got the best face painting ever!  He really did.  This is the best face painting I’ve ever seen!

His laugh makes me so happy!

Outdoor dinners and bonfires are the best!

We celebrated Asher turning 7 years!  Seven years.  1-2-3-4-5-6-7.  That’s a lot of years old.  He’s so big.  I was looking through old pictures, and came across this one of Asher (who was about Beck’s age now) and Daddy flying kites in the park.  This day feels like yesterday.

The years are short.  Happy Birthday, Asher!  We love you so much!!

We celebrated the big boy with cupcakes, kickball, and friends at the park for a Pokemon party!  Asher has really been into Pokemon this past year.  There is lots of nerdy Pokemon talk going around the house, and it’s really cute.  It’s fun listening to him get so excited about the game.  He literally studies the characters and their attributes.  And, his love only grew after he received a whole new stockpile of Pokemon loot at his party :).

Our talented friend drew Asher and Pikachu :).

Asher’s real birthday day was a couple of days after his party, so the celebration continued – family style :).  Bowling, arcade games, and bumper cars.  We had an awesome night together, and we know that Asher felt loved and special.

We totally scored with getting a youngster who was manning the bumper cars, because she held pretty loosely to standard protocols.  She was ok with Punkie getting his own car, and all of us being able to be together for an extra birthday treat for Asher.  It was so fun!

Beck and I brought cookies into Asher’s class to sing Happy Birthday with his school friends.  Asher was on cloud nine showing his brother off to everyone.  He was laughing telling everyone stories about his brother, telling Beck to say, “chicken butt” (Beck’s favorite thing to say whether he’s happy or upset), showing him around the room…they both loved every minute of it.

Asher also was “Star Student” at school the week of his birthday.  He got to share lots of pictures, favorite toys, a special letter from Daddy and Mommy, he received a card from everyone in his class, and several other star student luxuries.  I wish I would have taken a closer picture of his poster and answers here, because they were so hilarious!  His favorite “Catch phrase” is “Is it recess yet?”  LOL!  That is so him :).

Special sleepover and baking cookies with Grandma and Grandpa Olimb!

Pumpkin Patch fun with friends!

Halloween!  Asher and Beck dressed up as Atreyu and Falkor from the NeverEnding Story!  They were so cute together!  We looked all over for a white puppy dog costume for Beck and sadly couldn’t find one…but thankfully Daddy is a master at photoshop :).  Jeremy and I are nerds about the movie, and decided it was high time to introduce Asher to it.  When we asked Asher if he thought it would be cool to be Atreyu for Halloween, he was super pumped about it and watched the movie several times beforehand to make sure he learned his character, ha!  I love that the character he dressed up as is a warrior boy…because Asher is just that.

Halloween was a blast this year!  Grandma Olimb got to walk around with us, and Beck was so into collecting candy and saying Trick or Treat to everyone it was cracking us up!

Speaking of cracking us up.  Here he is, really thinking he’s funny with a sock on his head :).

Asher had a bit of a rough month with his belly.  He had several xrays, and had to stay home a couple of times from school to do complete clean-outs – only liquids and high doses of miralax and ducolax.  The evenings were the hardest for him…and being around a little 2 year old who is constantly snacking.  We’ve had to change up Asher’s daily medicines a bit, and we’re hoping long term this will help to keep him clear and we can avoid major belly aches like he was experiencing.  Here he is, on Halloween before school, at his doctor’s office.  Like I said, he really is a warrior boy.

We had a most delightful day trip to Flagstaff as a family!  The two weeks before, were anything but delightful with cf, so we were determined to have victory over the weeks and enjoy some time together.  Cystic Fibrosis has the power to completely consume and deflate everything in you.  We long for the day when Jesus is here, and everything wrong is made right.  Until that day comes, we will enjoy the great blessings God showers us with, even in the midst of the hard times, and fight for a cure for our boys.  We love them so much.

First time riding the chairlift!

When you live in the desert part of Arizona, and visit the mountain part, you use Daddy’s socks for gloves :).

When we got to the top of the mountain, it started hailing/snowing on us!

Everything was so so beautiful!!!

“Asher, can you believe your birthday is in a few weeks?!  How old are you going to be, dude?”  He flashed me this as he walked away :).

Asher and I, and Beck and Jeremy were separated for awhile wondering the woods.  This is what happened when the boys first saw each other from across the path.  Lots of shouting each others names and running towards one another.  Love.

He’s two, ha!

Thankful for more family memories.

We had a lot of fun during Asher’s break!  I was a little anxious going into it, wondering how things would go with both the boys at home for lots of hours and a huge energy tank that is joyfully emptied every day :).  But, God was so gracious to give us beautiful, cool weather, lots of park dates, and some fun activities throughout the 2.5 weeks that Asher was off.  It was a great break, and so sweet to have the boys get loads of brother bonding time together.

The Lord has placed some pretty incredibly generous and loving people in our lives.  The financial responsibilities that we have with two kids with cystic fibrosis is pretty heavy.  God always takes care of us.  But the reality is, we mostly spend our money our medications and co-pays and equipment, which means getting to do big, fun things together are a little more spread out.  This sweet couple bought a two night stay at a resort here in town at our auction, and gifted it to us!  Isn’t that amazing!  It was amazing.  It was such a wonderful thing to have on the calendar to look forward to over Fall Break!  We’re so thankful for the memories, and this sweet couple!

The resort grounds were beautiful!

We spent practically the entire two days in the pools!

I just can’t handle all the sweetness in this sequence!

Beck’s favorite thing…and the reason why Daddy’s back hurt the next week, ha!

I also have to record how excited Beck was to go to the resort.  Not for swimming.  Not for being together as a family.  But, for the elevator, ha!  We told him we were going to the resort 11 days too early, ha!  Several times a day…he would say, “asort, push ell llll lader four five so fun so fun!”  He talked about it so much Jeremy and I were nervous about him being crushed if they didn’t have an elevator.  Thankfully, they put us on the 2nd floor.  Here he is in his glory days :).

We’re pretty surprised this picture turned out in the slightest.  We closed down the pool, and it was super dark.  We look a little disheveled, but our hearts are happy :).

Asher also got to go to his very first concert!  We had a mother/son adventure together.  We drove down to Tuscon to see Rend Collective!  Asher was thrilled!  He’s a huge Rend fan, and got his first concert poster.  Definitely a night to remember.

The band announced that they had this compassion board and tables setup, and anyone could go over and write a prayer or a note of thanksgiving to God.  Asher bolted for the tables as soon as they announced it, and wrote this.  He even included his brother.  Gosh I love him.

Jeremy took Asher on another beautiful camping trip.  They had a perfect spot and deliciously chilly weather.  Asher loved wandering around adventuring, being with his daddy, whittling wood, and just enjoying being a kid and a helper to Daddy.

I love this picture of him.  He’s just getting so big.

Grandma and Grandpa Olimb, and Grandma Hoverson (now named “Grandma Joy Joy” thanks to Beck :)) are officially living by us!  Our lives are richer with them here :).

And, these three.  They are gifts.

And, when your baby falls asleep by the door, it’s oh so sweet.

How have I missed logging this in our family memories?!  My goodness!  I can’t believe I haven’t mentioned that our baby is in 1st grade now!  Oh, and he’s loving it!  We ask him practically every day what his favorite part of his day was, and he says, “all of it, I love all of it, I can’t pick a favorite!”  We’re on fall break now, and he’s counting down the days until he’s back with his friends, and learning.  He told me yesterday, “When I see my friends for the first time I’m going to say, ‘Long time no see, Baby!  Wait…what does that mean?'”  LOL!  He’s a beautiful, beautiful boy.  Full of energy, lots of sass, he loves playing with his friends and making everyone laugh, he loves following rules and learning in a class environment.  He’s a total blessing.  And, he’s incredibly beautiful.  And, he’s lost five teeth now :).

More celebrating the start of 1st grade…and I’m not sure I could be more in love with Jeremy right here.  He’s the best daddy!

Waiting in line to go to his first class!  He’s a big boy now!  He has a “specials” class that he rotates through every six weeks, alternating with music, P.E., science lab, writers workshop, and media…he loves learning so much!

His buddy at school had been sick for a few days, so Asher made a video to cheer him up :).

Asher has been learning all about birds this first quarter. We had his first “Cottage Fair” when all the parents get to come in and have a little presentation from the class, sharing all they’ve been learning about this first quarter. Here are a few songs they sang for us…could Asher look any happier :).

Speaking of things I’ve failed to mention.  Beck has been in swimming lessons for a couple of months now, and he’s doing awesome!  Here’s his very first swim lesson.  I could watch his little leg kick and big smile at the end all day long!!!

We were so thrilled to get Mr. John as a swim teacher for Beck!  He’s the best!  He taught Asher how to swim, and so it’s extra sweet watching him with Beck too.

We also transitioned to a big boy bed!!!  Sheesh.  Talk about a transition I don’t want to do again, lol!  We were spoiled with him sleeping until 9:30am for almost a year…well, that gravy train came to a crashing halt when we said goodbye to the crib, ha!  We definitely can’t complain, because lil’ Punkers still holds the medal for best sleeping baby around :).  It is pretty fun getting to snuggle up with him and read at night though :).

He’s growing up fast!  He’s busy, and happy, and loud, and oh so loveable!

It’s been really rainy here this Summer, and we got the mother of all rain storms a few weeks ago.  Streets were flooded, and we gave Asher a rain day away from school and at home.  Jeremy and I grew up in the tundra, so we would have frequent snow days during the winter months, which was the best news ever as a kid!  So, it was fun to experience that with Asher on a different level :).

We’ve had so much fun during Fall Break.  The boys have gotten a lot of brother time together, and we’ve loved not having a schedule.  Asher is excited to go back to school, but it’s hard to find memories better than these…

Beck is now the rightful owner of Asher’s first bike and helmet.  It’s so sweet reliving these first memories with Beck again.

“A Pane!”

Daddy took a big trip to the Boundary Waters last month, so the boys and I got to play at a couple of different resorts and see Grandma Olimb and Auntie Dana.  We missed Daddy terribly.  But it did help having a couple of different pools and a bit of family time to help pass the time!

Jeremy bought the boys and I two nights at this resort as a super, duper treat to us while he was gone!  I could give a complete dissertation on why this resort is awesome and perfect for families!  Huge sandy beach, three-story waterslide, awesome service and restaurants, enormous rooms, beautiful grounds…Jeremy already promised we could go back next year to beat the summer heat for a few days, and the boys and I can’t wait to go back with Daddy!

The waterslide.  So fun!

Do work son.

There were so many sweet families at the beach, and so many who were playing with my kids which was amazing!  I didn’t get a picture of the boys with their friends, Miss Emily and Miss Chloe, but they win all the best helper awards I can muster up.  Just last week Beck said, “Mommy, Miss Emily cannonball, so fun.”  They swam with the boys for hours, and wanted to, and made me feel like my boys were blessings, which was worth a million dollars to this mama.  Here’s another couple of sweet girls who were building pools, and letting Punkie bomb them out, ha!

Splashpad.

The amount of times Beck pushed Asher off are countless.  They were both having a blast.

Lunches by the pool.  Beck gnawing on his hot dog here is a total crack up!  The boys would shovel in their meals and jump right back into the water.

Yummy breakfast on the beautiful grounds!

Punkie was so happy in the water!!

We had so much fun with this ball!

Treatments at the resort were pretty much blissful and easy…well, except the morning ones, because they wanted to get to the pool :).

And this picture pretty much wraps it all up!  LOL!!!!  Oh my gosh, I can’t stop laughing!!!