Happy 6th Birthday Josh

Today is Josh's birthday!

It is hard for me to believe Josh is 6.

When we asked him what he wanted all he said was new DS games.

However Emily had a better suggestion.

For Christmas Joe wanted to be tricky in his wrapping, so he wrapped Josh's gift in an empty Ritz Cracker box. Christmas morning when Josh opened his present, he was so excited when he saw the crackers he started telling us that they were all his. Then he opened the box and pulled out the Angry Birds shirt inside, and was a little disappointed.

Emily thought we should buy him a real box of crackers. So we did,

and he loved them. We did get him a DS game, but I really think that the crackers were his favorite present.

We celebrated josh's birthday at Classic Fun Center.

(Left to right) Sarah, Nate, Camdon, Ryker, Aiden, Joe, Emily, Jackson, Valerie (you cant really see her), Ben, Josh, and Rowan all came to the party.

They had so much fun playing Lazer tag, Bouncing in the bounce houses, Climbing in the jungle gym,

Playing blaster ball, and skating.

Josh even won a few prizes from the birthday wheel and money tube.

It was so fun watching all the kids play. Josh is getting to be such a big kid, and I am so grateful that he is a part of our family. We Love You Josh.

Happy Birthday!

Boo at the Zoo

Saturday we decided to go back to the zoo for their annual "Boo At The Zoo."

Cooper, Addie and their cousins Beckham and Easton joined us.

All around the zoo there were booths set up with candy for the kids to Trick-or-treat. We were not sure how long the kids would last waiting in line, but they seemed entertained watching the animals while we waited, and I think the incentive of candy at the end was good too.


To be honest the lines really were not bad at all, and they moved quickly. Because we had just been to the zoo, this time we really just came for the Boo at the Zoo activities, but we had fun seeing the sites too.

And Valerie really enjoyed the candy.

We ended our day with a Halloween train ride.

It was great to have one more place to wear the costumes. The kids all seemed to have a lot of fun too.

Going To The Zoo

Thursday was the first day of the UEA weekend, so we headed to the Hogle Zoo. Some friends came with us too which made it even more fun.

It was a really nice day

So the animals were all outside playing.

We tried to see how much everyone weighed together, but someone (we wont name any names, but she is the youngest in the group) wouldn't stay on the scale

The line for the carousel was a little long, so the kids had a lot of time to pick out the animal they wanted to ride. Luckily we ended up being first in line for our ride, so they got the one they wanted.

I also want to note that Emily had her animal picked out. When I asked everyone what they wanted to ride she was the first to call out "The Cheetah." She may be in Young Woman's now, but she is still a kid at hart.

Just like the animals,

We had a lot of fun playing outside.

The Late Night

Joe had been wanting to invite some friends over to play night games in our yard. I told him last weekend that I thought Friday would be great for that. Then the weather turned and I realized that Friday was going to be cold, and maybe a little wet. So I told Joe we had to have a change of plans. Now instead of inviting anyone he wanted to come play outside, he needed to narrow it down to no more than 4 friends, who could come over for a late night, where we would play indoor games.

Joe thought that sounded great too, I told him to only invite three or four kids, because any more than that would make it hard to find games to play, and I didn't want things to get too crazy. Joe knew right away who he wanted to have come and started inviting them. I got busy looking for games that 6 boys (Josh of course was going to be in on the late night too.) would have fun playing. I really considered just having a movie, but Joe wanted games.

Friday night arrived and the late night began. We started off with just having the boys play with Lego's. I put out a few goodies (mini candy bars and popcorn) and the night was starting off nice. When the Lego building started to slow down, I brought out the first game. Being October we decided to have a mummy race. I divided the boys into two teams. One boy was the mummy and the other two boys on the team had to wrap them in toilet paper. The first team to run out of toilet paper wins. The boys loved this. At the end of the game the two mummy's ripped themselves out of the toilet paper. I asked the boys if they would pick it up and put it in the trash. They picked it up all right, and then the toilet paper fight began. Before too long there was toilet paper everywhere, and the boys were having a great time.

When the toilet paper throwing starting getting too crazy we put it all in the trash. Then we went for a calmer game and started playing Apples to Apples. We ended the night with a good old fashioned game of charades. Which somehow ended in a big wrestling match.

I am still not quite sure how that happened.

It was a great late night, and all of the boys had lots of fun. I am sure we will have a few more of these, but for some of them I think we will watch a movie...........Although I have a feeling that could end in a wrestling match too.

Independence Weekend

Because the 4th of July was on a Monday we were able to celebrate all weekend. On Saturday our friends invited us over for a cookout and fireworks.

The kids had a great time playing with all of their friends, and they were all excited about the fireworks. The dads started off with some of the noisier fountains, and Valerie did not like those,

so she came and sat in my lap. After the first few she fell asleep.

When the show was over the kids did sparklers.

Someone had brought the really big long sparklers. The boys had a great time with those.

On Monday the 4th we had all of our family that lives in the area (and my mom and dad who are visiting from Washington) over for dinner and fireworks.

In keeping with the tradition that Ryan's mom has set, we had a parade after dinner while we waited for it to get dark.

My mom showed the kids how to make newspaper hats.

Then we all headed to the garage to decorate the bikes and other vehicles.

Then the parade began. Valerie led the parade in her wagon. And Jon and Jenny were good sports and pushed baby violet in her stroller to end the parade.

Our parade route was just around the block, but we didn't get started until 8:30pm, so there were a lot of people out. When we got about half way around the block some kids came out to watch us pass, and Joe said, "Oh mom this is embarrassing." Emily said "Try being my age and doing this."

I am glad that even though it might be a little embarrassing they are both good sports about it, and I think secretly they liked it. Because other than that little conversation, they were waving their flags and having a good time.

When the parade ended the fireworks began. The laws in Utah changed this year and we were able to do Aerials. This made the show even better, and with all of the neighbors lighting off their fireworks we were very entertained. Not to mention the two show stoppers my dad got for the end of our show. It is always fun to get together with family.

Happy Independence Day!

First Hike Of The Season

The weather has finally started cooperating, so we headed into the canyon with a few friends for a hike. Because there are still quite a few feet of snow in the mountains we started our hiking season off at Bell Canyon Reservoir. This hike is about 3/4 of a mile to the reservoir. With an elevation gain of about 500 feet.

Two of our hikers were small, but they were determined to do it themselves. This slowed the pace a little so the older kids got a few extra breaks while they waited for us.

I was impressed with how well the kids did, especially the little ones. We got almost 1/2 mile before they started wanting to be carried.

Then after a few minutes of being carried they would try to walk again.

The view was really cool on this hike.

the kids liked looking out over our city and seeing places that were familiar. We had a really good view of the park in our neighborhood.

Somewhere along the trail Joe found a great walking stick. He was really excited. He used it the rest of the hike, and then brought it home to use on our next hike too.

The first thing we did when we made it to the end of the trail was have a snack.

Then we headed over to check out the water.

The water in this canyon is part of the watershed.

So that means no swimming.

But it was fun to look at, and throw rocks in.

Valerie was tired, so I carried her back down the trail most of the way. I think the other kids liked this because that meant we could go faster.

It was a great day for a hike and with the water so high this year, everything was very green and pretty. I can't wait for the snow to melt a little more, so we can check things out a little higher up the canyon.

6th Grade Graduate

It is hard to believe that Emily is finished with 6th grade. She finished off the year with her Country fair.

She chose to do her report on France, because that is where Ryan served his mission. She has been working on her France report all year, and she did a great job. Lucky for her Aunt Tracy visited France during the year and shared her pictures with Emily. Emily liked doing this report and I could not believe all of the things she learned and remembered about her France.

Then to celebrate the completion of 6th grade and Elementary school, the PTA threw a 6th grade party.

The rule was student attending had to bring a parent with them so that meant I got to go too. the party was basically a dinner and a dance. It was fun to watch Emily with her friends.

I got some fun videos of them dancing, but Emily does not want them posted. So out of respect for her I wont, but they are really cute.

The kids all had a good time and they are all ready to move on to Jr. high..........So ready or not here they come!

Sledding Season Begins

The snow is here and the kids are ready. Yesterday morning we headed out to the sledding hill.

Emily took Valerie down the hill a few times, and she loved it.

To add to the fun the boy's friends Aiden and Rowen were also there.

The sledding season has begun, and my kids can't get enough of it.

Melanie

On Emily's first birthday, we packed up our things and headed to San Diego to begin a new phase of our life called Law School. We did not know anyone in San Diego and were both excited and nervous about our move.

Our first Sunday there, we went to church and were introduced to The Black Family. They had just moved to San Diego too and had a little girl named Melanie. Melanie was only one week older than Emily and as soon as the girls met they were instant friends. I was surprised how quickly and easily these two took to each other.

It was not just me thinking they were getting along either. They truly where kindred spirits. A few weeks after we moved there we were sitting in Sacrament meeting when Emily spotted Melanie across the chapel. She was so excited she started yelling her name, (at least her word for her name.) Then Melanie stood up and yelled back to her. From then on if we did not sit close to the Blacks, we at least had to make sure they saw each other before the meeting started.

For the next five years Melanie and Emily were inseparable. They loved each other and had so much fun together. They went to different schools, but that didn't matter. If you asked Emily who her friends were Melanie was always at the top of the list.

After Kindergarten our family's had to go their separate ways. Melonie's dad got a job with the foreign service and they were off to see the world. Ryan had found a new job in Utah so we were also moving. Luckily for the girls Melanie's grandparents live in the two places we venture in the summer, Utah and Oregon. So about once a year these two friends get together. This year they came just after school started.

It is so fun to see how much the girls have grown, and how much they are still alike. I am grateful for Melanie. It was so great for Emily to have such a good friend at such a young age.