Cousins

This week my boys had the extreme pleasure of spending some quality time with their cousins Ellie and Jett. I don't know why this is a rare occurance since we only live 15 minutes away from each other, but it is. It seems like whenever they're together it's for a party at grandma's house and they never have enough time to really enjoy each other. They started their adventure filled evening playing on the slip and slide. I happened to snap a few pix of this moment. Jett kept saying how he was gonna sit in the 'wa wa'. Ellie was very persistent about showing us all her 'tinkerbell' swimming suit and telling us about all the accessories she had to accompany it. After this they gorged themselves on hot dogs fruit and chips. Jett is the only person who was allowed to sit in Zac's spot at the table. I don't think he realizes how fortunate he is. After dinner we all headed to Canyon View Park for some fun. They played on the playground, the monkey bars were the hit, swung on the swings (is that really a word?), teased the dog with her toy, then played wiffle baseball together. Upon returning home they had some chocolate cake of which they all said was 'yucky' then started to ride bikes and scooters around the block. This is when the real magic happened. Ellie had been struggling on her two-wheel bike at home, but wasn't going to let Zac beat her so she proceeded to teach herself how to ride on Zac's bike. Her mom and dad were pretty proud of her. Let's hope the good luck on the bike continues at home. As I was snuggling my boys in to bed that night and they were drilling me on when their cousins can all have a sleepover it dawned on me how much I really love these little offspring of our siblings and how I really want to have them around alot more. It made me want to call Jodi immediately and schedule a babysitting night with Paiton and Saige. I know she and Rory would have no objections to this. Children are the life and light of our lifes and they grow way too quickly. We need to enjoy them now while their young, even though it is definitely the most difficult time to raise them. Love ya kids! Aunt B.

ode to Wade on fathers day

My man is the best husband and dad in the whole wide world. Now, I know everyone says that but you have to believe me that it's true. Let me give you a few examples. He is the best gift giver in the world. Birthday's, Anniversaries, Mothers Day, anytime there is the need for a gift for his wife he goes so far above and beyond that he puts all others to shame. Example 2, he is the best father of our 3 little boys imaginable. He goes to every program, game, competition, practice that is allowable under the Funeral Directors Law of Overworking. He helps coach when possible and always spends individual time helping the boys fine tune their chosen sport. He is a great disciplinarian always being the voice of reason saying 'calm down, we did the same thing when we were young' whenever I am threatening military school for one of the boys. He has managed to get the boys to school, day care, grandma's etc. for 10 years while I have been allowed to have a career outside the home, something that makes me feel I am contributing to society and not just wiping noses and tears all day at home. He cooks, he cleans, he does windows, he treats me like a queen. My favorite quote from Wade is "You never have to feel bad or ask permission when spending money on girlie stuff" Now I ask you, can a girl ask for anything more?

birthday boys x3

Ah, its summertime again and that means a month stuffed full of birthdays. It also means being completely broke. We started our birthday bonanza on May 9, when Jake turned 8 years old. His favorite gift this year was a Boston Celtics Jersey with his name printed on the back. A few weeks later we had a combined Jake and Zac birthday party with friends at Jumpin Jacks. They ran their butts off for about 2 hours. I'm sure they all slept really well for their parents that night. It was really nice to do a 2 for 1 party this year and get it all over with at once. On June 8, Luke turned the big 13. That means he's officially an onery teenager even though he's been acting the part for years. We have a firm family belief that 13 is too old to be having birthday parties but he's planning on taking a few friends to the movies in a week or so on mom and dads wallet. He would have preferred having a boy-girl party with the music loud and the lights low but we just had one on New Years Eve so it will have to wait another year. Luke's favorite gift was his 3 Nike Ignite golf clubs that he needed to finish out his set. On June 11, Zac turned 5. That means he's a big boy now who gets to go to kindergarten, and have late nights and sleep overs. His favorite gift was a bike ramp to do jumps and tricks on. Our little gaggle of boys is growing so quickly. Life seems to get a little easier as they get older because you can give them more freedoms and you don't have to find a sitter everytime you walk around the block. On the other hand they get much busier with activities, school, sports etc. so it seems like we never have an evening at home as a family any more. It reminds me everyday how fortunate I am to have a husband like Wade who is super involved in every aspect of their lives and won't let a game or practice go by without him being there if it's humanly possible. Wow that was really sappy. More later!

preschool grad

Zac has officially graduated from preschool. His teachers Mrs. Hansen and Mrs. Barney were really great this year. They really helped bring him out of his shy little shell. He is much improved on colors, letters, and numbers from last year. I think he will do just fine in Kindergarten now. He had a really hard time going to school for about two thirds of the year because he is such a momma's boy and would rather hang out with me, but then he decided school was pretty fun and started to enjoy it. I had been really worried wether he was going to grow up enough for me to send him to Kindergarten next year because of his shyness, but now I'm sure he'll be fine. Just another confirmation for me that preschool is not about the scholastics learned but more about the social maturity gained throughout the year. His favorite part of preschool was going on field trips and pet day where he got to bring Lexi to class with him. I have attached a video of one of the songs they sang in their final program. I hope it works!

jake's big day

On Saturday may 31 Jake was baptized. It was a very special day for him because he got to wear his new 'tuxedo' and people brought him presents even though it wasn't technically his birthday anymore. He was baptized by his dad which was very special to us. They had been practicing in the hot tub. Talks were given by his big brother (which was quite a big feat) and his mom. His grandma's gave the prayers, and his grandpa's helped with the man stuff. He loved having a big party afterwards with all his little cousins over in his honor. It was a beautiful spring day to fit the mood and we were all very proud of him.