Kid Updates

It has been a while since I have posted anything on the kiddos so I thought I had better update you all on them.

Colin:
My little man is just so awesome.  In December he took his karate test and advanced to a purple belt.  This is the 4th belt color in the discipline of Goshen.  He loves karate.  We just got his report card a week or so ago and I couldn't be prouder, he has all 5's except for one which was a 4.  He loves to play games, whether they are board games or electronic games.  He still hopes to be a robot maker one day, which I would really love to see happen.  If anybody asks I have the best boy in the world.

Audra:
My little dancing queen and angel.  If I need anything this little girl is on it.  She helps me with the baby and anything I ask.  She is an amazing little dancer and her whole class watches her to get them through the show.  She loves to dance.  She also is in karate now, she hope to kick the big brother's booty one day, and quite frankly she might.  She is incredibly smart, well liked and loves school.  She also rocked the report card with mostly 5's just two 4's.  I really love this girl and she is amazing!

Elyse:
The life of the party.  Elly is busy.  She never stops except when it's time to sleep.  She is learning so much all the time and it is so fun to watch..  She is now talking and starting to put 2 words together.  Some of the words she says are: baby, hat, hot, look, me, baba, blanket, snack, mama, dada, buba (brother), Neenee (Lynnie).  Emmer's wants to be included in everything and is very opinionated.  It is so fun to have her in the family.  She is the piece that makes this puzzle whole.

Boo at the Zoo!

One of my all time favorite pictures of my favorite little people!

Taken at Hogle Zoo. October 2014

Summer...Had Me a Blast

Today was much like the Beach Boys song chorus "We'll have fun, fun, fun!"  It started with a surprise visit from this guy!

Which was awesome!  The kids loved seeing their elf in the middle of summer.  Plus, he brought a treat that I just don't buy.
After the shock value of having Jack here, we worked on making some Lego creations.  It was a lot of fun to get down and play with the kids.  Since we had the Lego event today, we wanted to make sure to enter the contest too.  The event it self was not fabulous, but the kids had fun.  They made Lego masks, Lego heads, and played with friends.  The one thing they did not love was the HEAT!

SO on the way home, we cooled down for a second at Great Harvest with a free slice of bread.  They walked back home.  On the way home Grandma Debby met up with us.  She suggested playing in the water in the backyard to cool down and it was a hit with all the kids!

After, it was off to track and more heat, but for a few moments it was a cool time in the summer heat!

Learning a Skill

Yesterday, we went up to see the property that Grandpa Garry and Neeners are renting for the year.  It needed a little TLC, so that we can camping on the property.  So, we went to help.  There were some fallen trees on the property that would make good firewood, so Grandpa thought he would teach Coli a new skill.

Yep!  He was teaching him how to use a saw.  I am all for this skill as long as it is supervised.  Audra was happy to watch for a few minutes.

But, those that know little missy, know that it was just a few minutes until this little spitfire jumped into the mix.  She was not going to miss out on learning this skill.

Movie in the Park

The kids have been wanting to go to a drive in movie.  However, my hubby feels like the Redwood Drive In, is not a safe place to take our family.  So we have not gone.  He said if we found a movie outside at a park or something that would be closer enough.  Well, one of our friends told us that Cottonwood Height Rec Center was playing Frozen in the Park.
Once she committed to going, I was game.  I got Elly tucked into bed and Bri stayed with her.  Carter was having a planned sleepover, so I grabbed the big kids and we went to the park to see Frozen.  It was so fun, they even had a Scales and Tales event before the movie started.  Plus, Cami was a rockstar mom and brought glow in the dark bracelet/necklace kits.  The kids had a blast.  Carter and Lynnie both fell asleep, but it really was a fun night with the bigs!

Memorial Day Weekend

WOWZERS!!! I can't believe it has been so long since I posted last.  I know I keep trying to do better, but life...

So, this past weekend was Memorial day weekend.  It was a little crazy.  Friday night we sold "Hulk Smash," which was a bittersweet moment for Brian and the kids.  Saturday, we shopped for a car for almost 10 hours, and didn't buy a single thing.  The kids really did quite well, but they were going crazy!  Bri and I were super grateful when Grandma Debby and Grandpa Steve volunteered to stay with the kids while we shopped for a couple more hours.  

Sunday, we went to church and just recovered from spending the whole day looking for cars.  Monday is when the fun began.  We found the car to buy that morning, thanks to Neeners and Grandpa Garry for helping with the kiddos.  We ended up buying another Honda, but the CR-V this time.  We are very happy with our new car.

After, we thought we would try it out and go for a hike up Big Cottonwood Canyon.  We had a great little adventure with the family hiking around Silver Lake.

Jedi Knight Colin Turns 7

Coli wanted to have a bowling party this year for his birthday.   We ended up at FatCats because the kids could play games too.  Colin has been so excited about his birthday party for months!  It turned out super great with alot of his friends showing up.  The cake and party favors were Star Wars themed because he and his school buddies play Star Wars at recess.  It ended up being a fun little party, but keeping track of that many little boys.  Oiy!!

Rock Wall Climbing

Brian and I, have talked in the past that we want to try rock wall climbing with the kids.  Neither of us have ever done it, so we thought we might try it out as a family.  We did just that on President's Day.  The kids immediately loved it.  They had some much fun trying to the climb the walls and they couldn't wait for Bri and I to belay them.  Bri and I learned how to belay and everyone tried climbing.  I have to say that it makes me a little nervous and I have a hard time climbing to high.  I get really hot, and my palms sweat and it just freak out.  But I had a great time just like Colin, Audra and Brian did.  I look forward to going at it again in the future.

Traveling the World

Back in November, Bri came home from work and stated that he wanted to do more with our kids.  (Oh, dear! Was my thought.)  He said he wanted to teach them something two nights a week and he wasn't sure what or how, that was my job! (Great! More stress!)  Well, after a few days he stated he wanted to teach the kids about the different countries in the world one night a week and then work on writing another night of the week.  I told him he was going to have to share the burden of teaching.  One week I would teach the country info and that week he would teach the writing, with the next week flipping the responsibilities.
So, off on this adventure we started.  I told him I would teach the first country and I thought it should be the USA, so they have a basic knowledge.  Then I issued the kids "passports."  And we bought a nice big map of the world.  The kids really got excited about this.  Bri and I decided we would try to make food that was like the food in each country and teach the kids some neat facts.  Sometimes, if we are on top of the game we even plan an activity.  I have to say we actually have had a lot of fun with this.  The kids love the learning and ask "where are we going?"
So, this past week went went to Saudi Arabia.  I had a hard time coming up with an activity, but I wanted the kids to understand how important the Muslim religion is in the country.  So, I had each family member put similar head wear on, so that when the kids see people in the USA with this head wear they will accept them.   (PLEASE, do not take this as mockery or unkind, I am trying to teach my kiddos acceptance.)

Over all, this idea Bri had has been fabulous.  When the kids see or hear things that we have learned about they get excited.  One day, the hope is we will really be able to travel the world together.

A Day at the Museum

This past weekend, Brian was feeling really bad.  In fact, he went to the doctor and was told that he had Bronchitis, a sinus infection, and a cracked rib.  So, I called Neeners and Grandpa to find out what they were doing for the day.  After so back and forth, the kids decided that going to the Museum of Natural History would be fun, especially since the museum was having a special bug event.
We ended up taking Carter Man too, since his mom was looking for a new home.  Which turned out to be great because, the kids love spending time with him.  The bugs were not as big of a hit as we were hoping, but we ended up spending over 3 hours at the museum.  I would dare say that they had a blast, especially at the end, when they played dress up.  It was a great way to spend the day.

Pumpkin Time

Last night for family home evening, we carved our pumpkins.  Both kids had a nice sized pumpkin that Neeners and Grandpa Garry had gotten for them.  Colin was really into it this year, he grabbed some of the guts with bare hands and basically carved his own pumpkin. Bri and I helped him a little bit, but he really did the majority of the work.  Audra, is not quite strong enough and therefore, Bri ended up carving the majority of her pumpkin.  Elyse, was a part of the fun and watched from her seat, as well as tried to climb into one, but it just didn't work out.  Now we have 2 great ghost pumpkins.