Sunglass Bandit Hits Pinata!

This week can be defined in one word:  Sunglasses.

Yup, Luke is sporting a new look with some cool shades and a styling hat.  Perfect for the beautiful sunny weather we had this week!

And to go with Luke's new big boy style is a whole ton of big boy feats!

"I am Luke, hear me roar!"

Luke said his first grammatically correct sentence!  He had climbed up on the bench by the front door and without us saying anything gave us a huge smile and said "I'm sitting on the bench!"  WOW!

Busy at work on the playground

Next is a fun new game he actually made up about two weeks ago.  He'll start by saying "DA-ddy" or "MO-mmy" using two different tones.  Then whoever was called will say "LU-ku" using the same two tones.  Then Luke will call them again, only using two new tones, and the game continues until he gets bored or we tickle him to death!  What a musical little boy.  :)  

Cute!

Luke likes to help Mommy cook either by helping by stirring the food in the pot (heart attack for Marinda being afraid of him getting burned, but she's crazy, so she still does it) or helping to put food in the blender for smoothies.  His favorite is "Peanut Butter Milk" which is Banana, Milk, Yogurt, Peanut Butter and Flax Seed (why flax seed?  Because it's in the cupboard - and you really don't need a reason better than that.)

Chillaxin' after a long day outside

Cinco De Mayo was this week, and our Community Center had a Mexican dinner catered in for everyone to eat (Marinda didn't have to worry about dinner!!!!  YAY!!!) and then they had a pinata out back for the kids to break open!  They started with the youngest, and then let the one tween that was there go at it.  The kids before Luke were a little shy and needed their parents to help them do a few light taps, but Luke had NO problem grabbing that bat and showing those Minions who's boss!  Sure he hit it with the wrong end, but he did such a great job that everyone was laughing at how cute he was.

Step back everyone, let me show you how it's done!

Take THAT!

I can't really explain it,
but this  picture perfectly exemplifies what toddlerhood is all about

"Quiet" time reading with his friends.
The other day he was walking around the house
holding all three of his stuffed animals
saying "All My Friends" over and over again.

Cool guy with his peanut butter milk

This now brings us to Mother's Day.  Marinda was joking with Amit that our church really only has two high holidays where the service is guaranteed to be different than every other week, and those days are Christmas and Mother's Day.  Those are also the only two days a year that missionaries are allowed to call home.  Missionaries are also required to write their mothers a letter once a week - they are not required to write their fathers or anyone else.  Says a lot about how important we think mothers are.  :)

It began like every year with Amit and Luke waking up Marinda to breakfast in bed, only this year Luke was running and threw a card on Marinda's lap before running out the door again to eat breakfast.  Marinda opted to eat her french toast with her family at the kitchen table, and felt like crying when she read the beautiful card Amit had made for her.  Then Luke gave Marinda the card he had made in school, and Marinda was a near blubbering mess again. 

As promised the service was different complete with little kids singing about how much they love their mothers, and six speakers instead of the usual three - all youngish father types (think Amit's age) talking about how their Mother's had shaped their lives and testimonies.  It was beautiful and touching and Marinda was so glad that none of them said "my mom was great because she did the dishes every night" and instead said things like "my mom was great because she talked to me about my life and showed me what living the gospel actually means."  

Then that night Amit made a super yummy salad for dinner and Luke and Amit gave Marinda her Mother's Day gift of three new wooden spoons!  Marinda was super excited and felt like getting something ridiculously functional and being excited about it meant that she really was officially a mom.  Well, not every gift was functional...  Amit's parents had sent chocolate covered strawberries (THANKYOU!!!) and Marinda's parents had gotten her an electric smore maker (anyone who has ever been camping with Marinda knows how awesome this gift is.)

A final thought on our own Mothers - you are the two most caring, loving people in the world and we wouldn't be anywhere near the type of people we are today without you.  We love you!!!!!!

Luke carrying Mommy's Mother's Day Present home from the office!

Have a great week everyone!

Reading time with Daddy - Luke's favorite part of the day