Seminary Graduation

It was Kendal’s and Vanessa’s graduation last week, both from High School and Seminary. We didn’t have our camera for high school, and we only took two from Seminary. But both were really good ceremonies. Lucas actually did pretty well in sitting in both for an hour. He ended up in the row behind us playing with some girls during the seminary graduation, but it kept him happy!
Kendal and Lucas at seminary graduation
Vanessa and Lucas at seminary graduation

New Pictures

Here are just some random pictures I’ve been meaning to upload recently and haven’t had time to get to it.  I’m done with school now for the summer and am just working away.  I’m still doing the same work stuff, only expanded, plus I’m helping out with a website.  I also met with two different people this past week that wanted web work done so hopefully that pans out as well.  Needless to say, I’m just as busy if not more busy then I was during the school year.

Kryssi is doing really well being pregnant.  She struggled with being sick at first but she has done a lot better lately.  She’s been able to feel the baby move for a while, but I just felt he/she kick a few days ago, which was pretty amazing.  In about a week and a half is when she goes back to the doctor, and we get the ultrasound which should tell us if it is a boy or a girl.  Kryssi wants a girl and I’d be happy either way.

Lucas and Dad wrestling He wanted to sleep behind the couch, so we gave him a pillow and blanket. Didn't last long though.
This is Lucas' favorite shirt. He loves the red bike, as red is probably his favorite color and he loves bikes. Kryssi's Mother's Day gifts from Lucas. I got a license plate cover from EITC, and for whatever reason, probably only known to him, Lucas liked putting on his face and head.
His new haircut! I'll probably get blamed for it but Kryssi is actually the one that wanted it this short. The fort Lucas and I built. Lucas and dad in the fort.
He loves playing with his bouncy ball, or any ball really. He likes to have us hold our arms like a hoop and he shoots it. Playing in the fort. Trying to dress himself. He's actually taken all his clothes off before, when he was supposed to be taking a nap, and he put his shirt back on backwards and inside out, which was quite a feat.
Lucas loves running around in his diaper but it hasn't been warm enough to do it much. This is a picture Lucas took, with no help from anyone else. He saw me using the camera so he wanted it. I showed him how it worked and he started taking pictures on his own. He probably took 30 pictures of Kryssi, but some were actually pretty good.

Temple

Here are some of the pictures we had taken before we got sealed in the Rexburg Temple. It was kind of cold, but it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. There were multiple weddings taking pictures that we had to avoid, but they all had dispersed soon enough. Lucas was even pretty happy the whole time!

Picture our photographer took of the Rexburg Temple previously.

Easter

We had our annual Kotter Easter Egg Hunt on April 10th.  That was the same day we were sealed, so it was a very busy day.  The weather was great, so we were able to be outside the whole time.  Lucas seemed to understand what to do, and he really enjoyed it.  I think Kryssi and I probably enjoyed hunting just as much though!

All the little kids waiting on Grandma Kotter’s steps.  Lucas had his basket stolen.

Lucas and Grandpa playing with an old trike they found in the barn.  Lucas loved it.

Family picture in front of the barn.

After the easter egg hunt, we rushed home to get ready to go to the temple.  We went and had some pictures taken in front of the temple before hand (which I’ll post some later) and then we were able to go inside.  Lucas was brought up to the children’s holding area, and he was great.  Everywhere Kryssi and I went in the temple getting ready, someone stopped us and told us how cute our son was and how they wanted to take him home.  We were just glad he was happy.

He wasn’t very happy during the sealing though.  He started crying once they brought him in, but it was okay, nothing worse then what we were thinking.  All in all it was a great experience.  We are so happy to be sealed together as a family for all eternity!

Temple and Baby!

I’m assuming most have heard the good news but for those that haven’t, here it is.  We (Kryssi and I) went through the temple for the first time on Tuesday, March 30.  It was a great experience and something we have been working towards for awhile.  It was great to have family there to support us, even though we missed those that couldn’t be there.  We are going to be sealed in the Rexburg Temple on April 10.  Anyone that wants to be there is more then welcome!

Also, we are expecting our second child!  He/she will be born October 19 (or sometime around then).  We are excited to continue to grow our family.  We know Lucas will be a great older brother and it will be good for him to have a younger sibling to play with/tease.  Kryssi hasn’t been as sick as she was last time, but she still has to deal with it more then she would like.

Easter Eggs!

Today we had some Easter fun!  Between the morning and afternoon sessions of conference, we colored eggs and had a small easter egg hunt at Kryssi’s parent’s house.  It was way to cold to be outside (it actually snowed the night before) but it was still a lot of fun.

Coloring some eggs.  This was the first time Lucas did this, and he seemed to like it.  There was only one accident, when he spilled one of the cups of dye, but luckily we were doing it on trays so it wasn’t hard to clean up.

It was to cold to have an Easter Egg hunt outside so we did it inside.  Lucas seemed to get the hang of it but we still had to help him somewhat.  Here he found an egg behind the door!

He liked to examine the eggs and open them more then looking for new ones.

Opening all the eggs and inspecting the candy.

Nursery

I was going to mention before that Lucas has been going to nursery that last 3 weeks.  You can start going to nursery at 18 months, but he had a cold that lasted for awhile.  It kept getting better then worse, so eventually we took him to the doctor.  Turns out he had a sinus infection.  So the doctor gave him some medicine and after about a week, he was better.  We didn’t even have any problem getting him to take the medicine.

But after he was finally better, we finally got to take him to nursery.  It wasn’t a problem at all.  He walked right in and started playing with the toys and never looked back at us.  I think it was harder for Kryssi then him.  But since then he’s loved  it.  I can’t get him to tell me much of what he does, other then he shoots the basketball (they have a basketball hoop in there).  But the teachers all say he’s a sweetheart so that is good.  Hopefully he stays this good with nursery.

Feeding the Ducks

Well it has been starting to warm up slightly around here, so we went the other day to the greenbelt to feed the ducks.  There wasn’t many others there, but there were a ton of ducks and geese.  I couldn’t believe how many there were.  Lucas loved it.  I thought he might be scared but he loved throwing them bread.  That’s all he talked about the rest of the day (saying “Quack, quack” and showing how he threw the bread).  But we didn’t bring the camera.  So a few days later we went again.  This time there were a lot more people, and not very many ducks, since they were all in the water.  He still loved it though.

Lucas liked to eat the bread more then he liked throwing it. The ducks we were trying to get the attention of. Lucas couldn't get the bread fast enough.
The ducks were fine but the geese kind of scared us. Kryssi says there's never any pictures of me so I guess this proves her wrong! By the falls, with the temple in the background. Lucas was distracted by a dog that was by us.
Here's another picture of the temple. We were across the river from it. I got a new shaver so Lucas likes using my old one whenever I'm shaving. He dropped something behind the couch and found out he could sneak back there. Which reminds me I need to take pictures of our new apartment and post them.
He sure likes the pudding!

23rd Birthday!

It was my birthday this last week and even though I had school that day, it was still a fun time.  Kryssi made a birthday sign that she hung up, and then later that day we went to a movie, while my mom watched Lucas.  The day before we went out to lunch with my family.  So all in all it was a great birthday!

Happy Birthday Darin

My cards

My cards and other assorted presents.

Darin with 3-D glasses

Me with all my gifts and my 3-D glasses from the movie.