Brothers at play

Disclaimer: I'm still trying to get caught up on our summer memories and stories, so this post is filled with lots of pictures.

With M being home this summer, he and Li'l J got to spend A LOT of time together. Sometimes they got tired of each other, other times they enjoyed being together.  Here are some examples of the times when they were enjoying each other's company.

One family home evening activity included a game of stick pull...just like Joseph Smith liked to play.

Get ready, get set...

Go!

And the winner is...

Okay, so-o Li'l J got some help from J-rod but M was a really good sport about it.

One thing the boys enjoyed doing together all summer long was building forts in our living room. Once built,

the boys would use the forts as rooms for reading, playing their hand held video games, or even sleeping in them.

Not only did M sharpen his chess playing skills through a tournament at Cub Scouts this summer, but he shared what he learned with Li'l J by teaching him the basics of how to play too.  Along with playing chess together, they also enjoyed playing the classic game of marbles (something M also learned at Cub Scouts.)

All summer long M enjoyed many a sleep over with friends, something that made Li'l J feel a little left out.  To help Li'l J feel a bit more like one of the "big boys", one night M and I set up the boys Cars play tent in the living room so that they could "camp out"/brother's sleepover that night.

In the red tent

Another night while J-rod was at work and I was cleaning up the kitchen from dinner, the boys went upstairs to get ready for bed.  After a while I realized that not only were they taking a rather long time, but they were also being extra quiet (always a sign that they are up to no good) so I wondered what they were up to and headed upstairs.  I found them in the bathroom, not brushing their teeth and couldn't help but laugh when I realized what they had been doing instead!  So of course I ran right back downstairs and grabbed my camera.

Needless to say, as happens each year at the end of the summer...Li'l J is really missing having his big brother around now that M is back in school!