New Year's Eve

The day started out with a movie. We've been watching the first 3 Mission Impossible shows with Jenny and Tyler the last 3 nights late . . . we couldn't help but see the new one on day 4 . . . and it was awesome! We all loved it!We left early so we could get good seats and it paid off. We were the only ones in the theater when we arrived. It gave us time to practice our "IMF" skills and crazy faces . . .

After the show we headed to Texas Roadhouse for dinner at 4pm. It was a little early but we were all starving. We thought we would walk in and eat but it was packed and absolutely crazy.

After waiting 40 minutes for our 15 minute wait Bret finally called it and we headed to Carrabba's. You can never go wrong with that choice . . . It was heavenly!

After a few bites of his spaghetti . . . Shawn had a taste of Bret's Sirloin Marsala and he was in heaven. He gave it a thumbs up . . .

But a thumbs down on the broccoli.

Jenny headed to a party later with some friends and we hung out and had Wii competitions. We're excited and ready for the new year to come.

Shawn and Soccer

We finally got Shawn signed up for his first Soccer team. We didn't know if he would like it but he's in heaven! He asks everyday when his next game is. He runs fast and throws in a few hops/skips and gallops as he goes. He is loving it!

The first two games he w0re white and they lost both times. He couldn't wait to be blue because "the blue team is SO good." The next time he was blue and they lost again :( That night he wasn't sure what color he wanted to be . . . he was so confused.

Back to School 2011-12

It came too quickly, but we're excited and ready. Jenny technically doesn't start until tomorrow but was asked to help with leadership for the new 7th graders today. So she was up and ready . . . excited to help. Tyler was up and ready with a smile on his face. He was excited to have me walk with him to school. He got to class about 10 seconds late and his teacher (which is the same teacher as last year) started teasing him about starting the year off being tardy. He just said it was his mom's fault . . . I was walking too slow. She laughed . . . Katy was up early enough to spend a few minutes with our new dog. She had to hold her for a minute and then she was ready to eat and jump in the shower. Her cute friend Julia stopped by to pick her up on her bike and Katy was off to get hers. I asked Katy if she wanted me to come with her since it was her first day, but she just said no. She was excited to go with Jules . . . they are cute friends. Tyler reassured me that he would go slow enough on his trike so he could stay with me as I walked . . . I love watching their different personalities on the first day of school.After I dropped Tyler off in his class I ran down to check on Katy. Probably just for a little reassurance for me . . . make sure she got there okay and to see if she was alright. She looked happy and confident . . no nerves on that girl this year. She's getting older and ready for a new year. She barely waved when she saw me peek through the door. I love her.

I've got a new excitement for this year at school. I think it's going to be a good one . . .

• Jenny is going to be busy with Student Government, and her classes are going to be a little harder then they were last year. She's excited for basketball and can't wait to see all her friends everyday.
  


• Tyler is the oldest in the school and he's going to be a leader. When I headed out the door from checking on Katy, Tyler was standing right there. Ms. Dennis had asked him to run the lunch money down to the office. It's good to know she trusts him and can count on him to get a job done.
  


• Katy's moving up to be one of the "big ones" at school now. She's ready to get back into soccer and basketball this year . . . no more gymnastics. She loves her new dog and wants to help take care of it.
  


• Shawn's going back to Miss Angie's for another year of reading and fun field trips. I don't know what I'm going to do next year when he takes off for the big school. I can't think about it . . . I'm loving the moments we're in now because we're healthy and happy and ready for the next phase of life.

We love you all!

Happy New School Year 2011-12!

Friday Highlight (Last Week of School)

Shawn's preschool graduation

Watching his cute face up on the stage while he sang and did his part.

"We're ready to gwaduate. We've waited so Yong (long)."

I loved asking Shawn if he wanted a little bit of a granola bar before the program started. He lifted his fingers up slightly and whispered, "Save it for Yater(later)" and then just sat there like a statue waiting for the program to start.

Watching him walk with his cap and gown to get his diploma

Thinking about how much I love Miss Angie . . . She has been the best preschool teacher for our family

Watching Shawn's eyes light up when he saw each of his Grandma's come walking in. He sure loves each one of them.

It was kind of crazy watching Shawn graduate . . . thinking he is my last one. I'm just so glad I get one more year with him.

Thursday Highlights (Last Week of School)

Field Day! Nothing beats the excitement of field day. I volunteered to help with some of the activities on the field which meant I got to watch Tyler, Katy and Shawn play and celebrate. It was a little chilly outside . . . wind blowing and clouds everywhere . . . 58 degrees? . . . but it didn't stop the excitement and fun . . . school's almost out and Summer is just around the corner.

The only thing that stunk was realizing that my babies are going to be 3rd and 6th graders next year. Where is the stop button . . . Time is passing by too fast . . .

Wednesday Highlights (Last Week of School)

I really loved going to Jenny's end of year awards assembly. She and a bunch of her friends had been working on a dance to perform for it. She was 1 out of 4 in 7th grade who were invited to be in the 8th grade dance. She came home everyday so excited because she was working so hard to do her best. And it paid off because she was invited to be on the front row. She did awesome. I was proud of her. She's got the cutest body and she really knows how to shake it :)

I loved having the kids come running in from school with their yearbooks and plopping themselves down at the table to look at them. They studied every page and laughed and commented about everything to each other. . . sharing stories and "remember whens. . . "

It was our first year doing the Hershey track meet and Katy was old enough to participate. She ran her heart out and qualified for district. She may have found something new she loves. It was a beautiful day to spend 3 hours at a track meet . . . perfect weather!

It was so late when we got done at the track meet . . . Bret surprised us with a quick trip for a smothered burrito . . . it was heavenly.

Tuesday Highlight (Last Week of School)

With no homework this week, we had a little extra time for other things. Katy decided to sell eggs. We had 6 dozen fresh eggs from the chickens and they needed to be sold. She packed them up in her wagon with a blanket underneath so they wouldn't break. She grabbed a water bottle in case they got thirsty. Shawn jumped on his wiggle racer and together they headed out to sell.

Katy was so brave and responsible. She wasn't sure if Shawn would make it very far but she said she would help him if he needed it.

I love how excited and confident she gets to sell the eggs. She is a hard worker and great big sister.

Monday Highlight (Last week of School)

Tyler's class invited all the parents who helped in the classroom this year, to come for a "thank-you" party. We each got a loaf of Great Harvest bread and a thank you note signed by all the kids. It has been so much fun to be in both Katy and Tyler's classrooms this year. I love getting to know each of the kids in their classes and helping them with different things.

I love hearing them yell "Hi, Tyler's Mom" or "Hi, Katy's Mom" when they see me around town or outside the school. I feel blessed to have been able to help in the classes this year. I have a spot in my heart for each of those kids. They are all darling.

Easter 2011

Happy Easter . . . a little late . . .

but at least you don't have to look at David G. anymore

or listen to the birthday song :)

We love you all!

Happy Day!

Hoof or Heel?

We discovered some "Mr. Incredible" socks in Shawn's closet last night. With Shawn having a new craze for being like Dash, he was so excited to wear them. He put them on all by himself and climbed into bed.

The first thing he said to me this morning when he woke up was,

"Look Mom! Mr. Incredible's face is on my Hoof!"

I tried to convince him that it's called a Heel not a Hoof.

But he's determined that he's right so . . . Hoof it is.

First Swim Meet of the Year

Tyler had his first meet of the year at the Provo Pool and he did awesome! It was so fun to see how much he's improved over the last several months.

While we were waiting for Tyler's turn, Ty asked Bret to write "Eat my Bubbles" on his back with a pen. Bret agreed . . . only he wrote his own little message. It took Tyler awhile to figure out what we were all laughing about.

Ty swam in two events this time . . . 50 Freestyle and 50 Breaststroke. He swam the 50 freestyle first and beat his time by 5 seconds. I wish I had a video of him when he climbed out of the pool. He was so excited! He was jumping up and down and yelling "YES". It was so fun to see his reaction. He beat his "50 Breaststroke" time by 3 seconds too.

I'm so proud of Tyler and the hard work he has put into his swimming. Beating your times at a meet makes all the hard work worth it. Way to go Bud!

Field Trip with a Buddy

Shawn had a field trip coming up and Katy was dying . . . she wanted to go so bad!

So I checked her out of school a little early and she came with us to the Orem Library. These two are the cutest buddies. They held hands all the way in.

We couldn't pass up the spiral "Rapunzel" stairs out front. Katy was so excited to show them to Shawn and yelled "Rapunzel, Rapunzel! Let your hair down."

The story glass window is always so fun to look at. We found lots of fairy tale stories . . . lots of favorites.

Shawn followed the librarian on a little tour . . .

. . . and then listened quietly to the stories

We have so many memories of this field trip . . . each one of the kids got to go when they were in preschool. It was fun to have Katy come with us. She was so excited to be a part of it with Shawn.

Jenny's Next Phase of Braces

Jenny has had her braces on for a little over a year, and her teeth are looking beautiful. They all look perfectly straight. But now it's time for the next phase of work on her mouth.

Jenny got this new appliance put on her teeth that is permanent and it looks so uncomfortable. It's call a Herbst. It's like a giant hinge that is built to pull her bottom jaw forward so it doesn't sit back so far.

She climbed in the car and took one look at her mouth and started to cry. I told her "Poop! You got this jaw problem from me." But she took a deep breath and was brave from there on out. 8 months with this thing seems long, but it will be over before we know it and then we will be homeward bound.

Bedtime Stories

I tucked Shawn in bed and was ready to read the book he had chosen. He told me we were going to read 2 stories tonight . . . one book and one Book of Mormon story without a book. This was news to me so I went with the safest one I had from memory.

After telling Shawn a little bit about Lehi and his family. . . specifically Laman and Lemuel and how they were always complaining when their Dad asked them to do anything . . . Shawn had a really concerned look. He said that if he were in that family, he would punch Laman and Lemuel in the face

(and he demonstrated a punch in the air).

I told him we wouldn't want to do that because it wouldn't be very nice. We should just ask them to be nice and not complain so much.

He listened to what I said and then put his hand over his mouth and giggled saying,

"I like my way better."

Shots or no Shots?

Well . . .

Bret said, "Yes" to flu shots this year

I said, "Hmm . . . Maybe not. . ."

and . . .

we didn't get them.

So, now we have the flu . . . Poop!

These little eyes tell me throughout the day how they are feeling at the moment. Every once in awhile I see a little sparkle, and then the fever hits again and they kind of glaze over. We've been through tons of medicine, and it looks like we are going to need some more for awhile.

But I count my lucky stars all day that these little bodies aren't so little anymore. I know that we are are big enough to fight hard, and soon it will all be over.