The father of a young boy thought to have been killed with his brother by their mother has spoken of their "innocent joy".
Phillip Stevens, five, and two-year-old Izaak are believed to have been killed by their mother Melanie, 36, before she hanged herself.
The bodies were found at their home in Trawsfynydd, Gwynedd, north Wales, at around 8pm on Sunday night after concerned relatives alerted police.
In a statement issued by North Wales Police, Nicholas Smith, from Gwynedd, the father of Izaak and ex-partner of Ms Stevens, said: "(They were) two such beautiful boys, lovers of trains, footballs, cars, puddles and tickles.
"Izaak and Pip absorbed all the love they were given from all who knew them and returned it a million times over.
"They will never lose their innocent joy at the wonders of the world around them, they will forever be two beautiful little boys."
Post-mortem examinations revealed both boys had been suffocated. The death of their mother is not being treated as suspicious.
An inquest into the deaths has been opened and adjourned by the North West Wales coroner Dewi Pritchard Jones.
Ms Stevens, a divorced mother-of-five, had lived at the house on Chapel Street for about two years having moved from the nearby town of Blaenau Ffestiniog.
Residents in the village, which has about 700 residents, said the family seemed "happy and pleasant".
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