T-ball for Matthew

My sports freak Matthew got to do T-ball this year.  He loves to play baseball with daddy every day so I knew he would have fun playing ball.  Sure enough he had a ball.  He is a pretty good player too.  He is a great team player and enjoyed playing first base and front base (his version of pitcher).  We are proud of him and what he did in T-ball.

 Playing catch with daddy before the game.  Kimberly took the pictures and was going for an action shot.

 He was an Oriole and loved looking the part.  He was so good to listen to his coach and not play around.

 His teammates.  Most of them were stinkers and did some crazy things.

Waiting to bat.  Luckily we were in the shade this day.  Whew it was a hot season (all of 1 month).

Swimming 2012

Our annual swimming lessons at Sports Acadamy this year didn't disappoint.  The kids learned a ton and did a great job.  Both loved their teachers.  They are little fish in the water.  I am so grateful for their love of the water.

 Kimberly swimming and cheesing it up.

 Matthew in his class.  He is in his alien green goggles.

 Kimberly side swimming.  This is the one thing she learned and did great this year.  She may not have the best form but she still gets to the other side of the pool.

 Matthew cheesing for the camera.

Matthew doing his back float.  He always asks me if he looks like a dead fish when he floats.  I tell him yes he does and I am so proud.  haha

SLC with friends

We took a fun trip to Salt Lake with our friends the Guerrero's.  The trip was basically to get out of Logan and do some shopping.  It was a very hot day but we had lots of fun.  Shopped around City Creek for a bit while the kids had fun playing around the mannequins and clothes.  Walked around Temple Square and saw a bunch of brides and grooms.  The girls loved that one.  Then we cooled off at the Book of Mormon exhibit and let the kids play around.  Lots of cool things to do there.  We are so grateful to have made friends with such a fun family.  Can't wait for more adventures with them.

 Our crew in front of the reflection pond.  I love Max and Matthew looking so big.  And of course my cheeser on the bottom.. Jacob.

 Nephi's boat he built.  Jacob loved this boat.  He could have played here all day.

 Max and Matthew building towers to knock down.  Ok, maybe just Matthew was knocking them down.

 Jacob's favorite truck.  I had to drag him out of it so other kids could play in it.  He takes after his father!

 More stuff to play.  I caught Stephanie... hahaha

 Max and Matthew being great buddies.  Glad they found each other to play with.

 Kimberly and Ashlie showing off their dancing skills.  We could not get the boys to put on the boy outfit and dance.

 Two peas in a pod.  These girls are the cutest!

Ended our hot day at the splash fountain at City Creek.  The kids got so wet but it felt so good after our hot journey.

Dinosaur Park

This summer we decided we needed to do more things with the kids.  One of the first things we thought we would try was the dinosaur park in Ogden.  The kids love watching Dinosaur Train so I knew they would love to see the dinos.  Kimberly was a bit scared until she realized they were not real.  Matthew and I were naming all the dinos we saw from Dinosaur Train.  Jacob really loved the playground.  It was a great way to beat a few hours and it wasn't very hot the day we went so we didn't sweat to death.  Lots of fun.

 I wish you could smell Kimberly fear in this picture.  It was all she could do to sit under this fake dino and take a picture.  She can be a little scaredy cat sometimes.

 Jacob didn't want to stand for a picture.  He wanted to crawl in it and see what was inside.

 This slide was a hit for my children.  If you can't tell, it is a dinosaur.  But it was fast and fun and they all loved it.

 Even Jacob wasn't afraid of it.  He loves the slide and this one was so much fun.

 Kimberly looks like a giant on it but she enjoyed it too.  I love Brian in this picture cause he is laughing at how much Jacob loved this slide.

 Aren't they cute... I mean the family, not the dinosaur!

This picture has a story behind it.  We went up to this one to take a cute picture and it started making noise.  Well Kimberly and Matthew thought it was scary but funny.  Jacob freaked out.  He wanted far away from this dinosaur.  In this picture you can see he is dragging me away from it.

We had a great time here.  Just one of our many adventures this summer.

Reasons to love summer

Here are my reasons for loving this summer:
1) I don't have an infant this year.  I have a toddler that loves to play outside.  We are going to be outside all summer long.
2) Kimberly is old enough to watch Jacob and Matthew outside without me being out there.  Today she took them outside for an hour and went for walks all while I cleaned up the house.  LOVE IT.
3) It is warm already.  Which means we can already break out the pools and play in the water.
4) We don't have a lot planned for the summer.  That means we can do a lot more spur of the moment things.
5) Brian and I are celebrating our 10 year anniversary this year (11 years together).  WOW where has the time gone.
6) Resort wedding in Crested Butte CO in July just for Brian and me.  4 days without the kids!
7) My 20 year (yes I said 20 year) class reunion happens this summer.  I honestly am excited to see some old friends.  They are planning a dinner for adults in the high school on one night and a summer picnic for families the next day.  Should be pretty fun.  Kind of excited to show Brian my old high school.
8) Exercise.  Exercise.  Exercise.  I am so a fair weather gal when it comes to exercising and I started running and walking but only like to do it in good weather.  My goal is to be in a 5k.  Might not happen this year but definitely next year.

That should about do it.  I love summer!

Last day of school

Here is Kimberly on her last day of 2nd Grade.  She was happy but very sad to be leaving her friends for the summer.  Maybe I was sad when I was her age but I only remember being happy for summer.  She sure has blossomed this year.  She is an amazing reader and an all around smart kid.  She loved Math (struggled a bit with speed tests), especially learning multiplication.  She loves to write and has some goofy stories.  I can't believe she is going to be in the 3rd grade next year.  Way to go sis!

Matthew is 5 years old!

On May 30th, Matthew turned 5 years old.  He was so excited to be a 5 year old.  He knows that 5 year olds get to go to school.  This fall he will start Kindergarten.  He was set on this birthday having a Lightning McQueen birthday so that is what he got.  He was pretty happy all day.  He was so excited for his birthday that he couldn't go to sleep the night before and woke up pretty early birthday morning.  We did all his favorite things on his birthday... eat out for meals, play wii, open presents, play baseball, and enjoy his grandparents.
This handsome kid came into the world and gave us a hard time for a couple of weeks.  He turned blue his first night on earth (scared the life out of me) and was pretty jaundice for a few days.  After the first couple of weeks he turned into this sweet cuddly boy that was very strong.  I was able to stay home with him and loved every minute of it.  He is a joy to our lives.  He is truely the sports kid Brian always wanted but he does put on a dress every now and then to please his big sister.  haha.

We love you so much Matthew.  Happy Birthday!

2nd grade award

Here is Kimberly getting her 2nd Grade award for Most Awesome Student.  That is her teacher Mrs. Wright behind her.  She said that she is awesome in every category and she has told us she wishes she had more of her in her class.  We are very proud of Kimberly!

Kimberly's Dance 2012

What a fun year of dance at LaShars!  Kimberly's 5th year of dance was a biggie. She really wanted to perform more than just at review.  So we put her on a performing team.  What a great experience for her.  She performed a bunch of times in many different situations.  Her dancing improved so much.  I was amazed at the things she was learning.  She got a few trophies from her competitions (see above) including a 1st place medal in drill down.  Her teachers loved her so much.  We can't wait for next year.

Jacob

I need to blog about this cutie.  My sweet little Jacob Lewis is now 16 months old.  He is a blessing to our family.  He is such a joy and a complete stink all at the same time.  I am so glad he is with us.  He is funny... a born comedian.  He will crack himself up with just the littlest noise.  Then he will do silly things to get me to laugh... like climb into an Easter basket (see above).  He loves to give kisses and hugs.  He loves his daddy more than I expected.  He enjoys playing and tormenting his siblings.  They love him so much.  He loves our dog.  Duke and Jacob are best of friends.  Especially now that Jacob calls him Dukie instead of ruff ruff.  He loves to play ball and loves the outdoors.  He is all boy.  But what a doll. 
I love you Jacob!

Easter 2012

Easter this year was a quick Easter morning when you have to be to church at 8:30.  The kids were pretty excited though for the Easter Bunny so Kimberly and Matthew woke up early to see if he came.  Poor Jacob had to be waken because his brother and sister were just too eager.  The older two knew the routine and off they went in search of their eggs.  Jacob was new at this so after a few minutes, he finally picked up on the idea that he picks up eggs and puts them in his basket.  The candy threw him off though.  He thought he could eat everyone he picked up.  We had a nice morning, a great day at church, and a nice rest of the day.  I love to cook Easter dinner and we filled our bellies full.  One of our special treats on Easter Sunday is corn on the cob.  We love it and it just makes us hungry for summer when we can have it every Sunday.  We also indulge in deviled eggs.  They don't always agree with us but we love to eat them!  Ah we love Easter Sunday.

 The stash the Easter bunny brought for the kids.

 Kimberly hunting eggs and candy.

 Matthew hunting eggs and candy.

 Jacob finally hunting eggs and candy with the help of mommy.

 After they found all the goodies (note Jacob's goofy smile)

After church the kids got to try on their new outfits.  Good thing it was a nice day on Easter!

We love all the treats and goodies but we also remember the true meaning of Easter... our Savior Jesus Christ.  There is just something about Easter and Christmas at church when you feel the spirit of Christ so strong it brings tears to your eyes.  We are so grateful for everything Jesus did for us.

Bless you all!

Kimberly's Baptism and 8th Birthday

We had a special day on March 24th this year.  Kimberly turned 8 years old and was baptized.  It was a special day.  Kimberly had a lot of family come to support her and afterwards we had a nice brunch.  Then we enjoyed birthday presents and just the day with us as a family.  It was very nice. 

 This is how Jacob smiles for the camera now.  Silly kid!

It was a great day.  She shares a special thing with her daddy now by being baptized on her birthday just like he was.

Kimberly's 8th Birthday Party

For Kimberly's 8th birthday party, she wanted a dog party.  (Secretly I was grateful we didn't have a girly party)  We invited 16 kids (I know, insane) because this might be the last birthday party with all these kids together with everyone moving and what not.  The party was a hit.  The kids seemed to have a great time.  We started the party with some coloring pages and word finds then moved to games.  We blew up a picture of our dog and played pin the ear on the Duke.  Then we had presents and then played Feed the Dog.  This bean bag toss game was a lot of fun.  Then we sang Happy Birthday and ate dog bones (sugar cookies).  We then went out in the garage and busted up a pinata.  They make them pretty tough nowadays and Brian had to rip it apart after the kids all had a good turn beating on the dog bone.  It was time for a craft while they waited for their parents.  We found a cute craft online with clothes pins where they make a dog that holds their pencil.  The kids had fun decorating their dog I think.  I know one thing... it was great to do this for Kimberly but afterwards, I was tired!

I love birthday parties but I need to adopt some ideas from my friends and only hold parties every other year.
:-)