Swimming 2010

Tara and Dallin moved down from Utah and the kids have been having so much fun swimming at their apartment pool.  They beg and beg every day to go swimming.  We had fun swimming with Jonah and Marcus one day when Aunt Tara was babysitting them.  Scott got a great picture of Jonah jumping in the pool.  Brig is now swimming.  I don't trust him completely yet but he is doing a great job.  He still gets tired and takes breaks using a floaty but he is very impressive.  he can swim the width of the pool and swim to the bottom to get diving sticks too.  Lila loves the water as long as she is not confined to a floaty.  She either has to be held or playing on the steps.  Little stinker.  Dallin and Alden just swim all over doing their own thing.  They were apparently not in any of the pictures swimming so maybe we will have to get them next time.

Last Day of School/Sleepover

 

They boys had a really good school year.  Alden and Dallin both really enjoyed their classes and both did really well in school this year.  We had their cousins Jonah and Marcus spend the night the last day of school to celebrate.  The boys had so much fun running around outside and playing video games.  They stayed up way too late watching movies and woke up way too early.  At about 6:30am I went out to get Lila and Alden and Jonah were already awake.  I asked them what they were up to and they said they were trying to figure out if "Mark" was a prophen or not because Jonah thought he was and Alden didn't think so.  I thought it was so cute.  They had Alden's scriptures out and everything.  Then Alden had to show Jonah all the cool bookmarks and pictures he keeps in his scriptures.  Jonah turns 8 this month and I think he is super excited to get baptized!!!  I was very impressed with them that morning, although I wish they would have slept in a little later.  Jonah also had picked up all the popcorn off the floor and cleaned up all the extra toys and blankets while everyone was sleeping so they would have "more time to play".  He is such a great kid.  I am glad my boys have him as a friend and example.  I wish I would have had a video camera to capture the boys singing Taylor Swift songs at the top of their lungs too.  It was very funny.  I can't believe how high pitched they were singing.  Give them a few more years and they would be able to do that anymore!!!

Random Lila pics, just cuz she's cute!

11 months old.  She loves baby dolls and is just a super cute little girl.

Dallin Lost his first tooth!

On May 23rd, while trying to bite apart two lego pieces that were stuck together Dallin popped his first loose tooth out.  I think it surprised him a little.  He looked like he might be sick for a second or two (probably the taste of blood in his mouth).  Then he was all excited after that.  The one next to it is loose too so he has been wiggling it some more in the hopes of getting another visit from the tooth fairy.

Brig's Preschool Graduation Party

Brig had his preschool graduation party on May 13th.  They met at Peter Piper Pizza and had a great time.  Mrs. Amber is the best teacher ever.  He has absolutely loved her.  He will be going to her a third year next year too since there is no more free pre-k program offered through the school district.  I know I have said this several times before but Brig is so lucky to have fun cousins his age that he got to go to preschool with.  The top picture from left to right is Ryker, Gavin, Brig, Logan and Jalyn.  Ryker has one more year of preschool too and then he and Brig will start kindergarten together.  The other three kids all get to start this year.  Brig continues to keep us smiling with all the silly things he does and says.  He is Mr. social and a lot of fun. 

Alden's 9th birthday!!

 

Alden had a great birthday.  He got a new bike and a machine nerf gun.  He also got Transformers and money from his grandparents.   Scott set up a scavanger hunt for him that was really fun but really hard.  He had to find picture clues and on the back of the pictures was another picture that had to be put together like a puzzle (there were two differnt sets of those).  He also had to figure out a crossword puzzle.  It was pretty funny to watch him.  I don't know how Scott ever became so creative but he is awesome at that kind of stuff.  We went out to celebrate with Grandpa Steve since they share the same birthday at Texas Roadhouse.  Alden was a little embarassed to get on the saddle but said it was worth it for the ice cream.  I kind of felt bad not having an actual party for him with his friends but there was just a lot going on and kind of hard to find a time to have one.  It was nice not having to stress about party stuff though.  I am thinking of maybe just letting the kids have parties every other year on even # years.  Anyone do anything like that with their kids.  I would love some ideas for keeping birthdays special but more low key.

Girls Craft Day

On the weekend of May 14 while the boys went on the father/sons campout we had a girl party.  My totally awesome and talented Aunt Kim came down and we did crafts the whole weekend.  It was so much fun and I can't possible thank her enough for doing that for me.  Thanks to everyone who came too.  I had such a good time chatting and eating with everyone.  Thanks to Tanya and Sandee and Lorissa for helping me with with all my stuff since I signed up for way too many things.  I never would have finished.  I made chore charts for the whole family that include magnetic gems with pictures for the kids, a place I can stick their picture under their name and dry erase on it since it is plexiglass and another magnetic area so stick birthday invites etc. It also has hooks for a reward system.  I loved the St. George temple picture and the USA blocks go with the rest of my Americana decorations, the smaller blocks that say "Thanks"  all have several letters one on each side so I can spell out all sorts of sayings and the the colorful wood puzzle has more than one way it can be put back together and is already one of my kids favorites. They all fight over whose turn it is to play with it.  My Aunt Kim was awesome to have around, she not only helped me tons by pretty much doing my chore charts but she also took Lila.  I was surprised how much Lila liked her too. She did great with her better than she does with her own Grandmas and Grandpas.  She is such a stinker about anyone but mom or dad holding her and she didn't mind Kim one bit.  I was on a crafting roll too so in addition to these crafts I also finished a FHE chart that we did in relief society over a year ago and mine has just been sitting around waiting for me to do it.  It is hard to tell in the picture but the flowers on the FHE chart each have a different color gem in the middle so each person gets their own color to know whose is whose.  And I made a billion flower hair clips for Lila and some of my niece's.  Earlier in the week I had made Lila some braclets too so she is pretty much good to go.  She will be able to get all dolled up for any occassion.  Some of my favorites are in the picture below.

Father & Son's Camp Out- May 14-15, 2010

 The boys had a great time at the father/sons campout . The whole marble family use to be all in the same ward but since it has grown so big and been redivided and new wards made we are now in three different wards. They were lucky enough to all be able to go on the camp out for their dads ward though. It is so fun for the boys to get to go with friends and also all their boy cousins. I asked Scott if he would have someone take a picture of all the dads and sons from the marble family since they were all there. It didn't happen which I was really sad about but they still have the memories I guess. Usually one or two are missing so it was nice everyone was able to go.

Brig had a tough time waking up. He takes after his dad and likes his beauty rest!

The boys were glad that Grandpa Steve was able to come.

For their activity and games on Saturday, someone brought up a chicken. The object was to release the chicken and then see who of all the kids would be able to catch it and bring it back for a prize. Problem is, the chicken, when released, shot straight through the circle of kids and bolted off into the woods with about 30 screaming kids chasing after it. Camp got really quiet for about 30 minutes till one of the leaders finally was able to corner the chicken and bring it back. The game didn't really work the way it was expected to, but I think the boys had fun.

The boys had so much fun sleeping under the stars, playing with pocket knives (so glad I wasn't there to see that), playing games and hanging out at the fire.  They had a rough end to the trip though which included Scotts truck having issues something to do with a fuel pump or something and they had to get someone else from the ward to pull the trailer home.  Thank goodness there was someone there able and willing to do that.  For the most part it was a fun get away and it was nice for me to have a break from all those boys and have some girl time.  (that post soon to follow!)

Gila Valley Temple Open House

On Wednesday May 10th we took a road trip with Ryan & Heidi's family and Tara & Dallin's family up to the new temple. It was really neat to be able to walk through it with the boys. They really liked it and said the mirrors and the baptismal font were their favorite things. It was a fun day. We ate lunch and stopped by Heidi's parents house to see the cows and donkeys and then headed home. It was a really nice day. I am excited for the dedication and think that we will really like it. I have never been to a dedication before and I am excited that Alden will get to be able to see it dedicated too. What a special time we live in. We are so lucky to have temples being built all over.

Going through the temple was a great way to help the boys start building a testimony of it. Alot of my nieces and nephews were able to go through it too. I am glad so many of us were able to see it. I hope all the kids realize how lucky they are to have had such a neat experience.

The kids found a cool frog outside and had fun looking at it. It was very interesting looking and so we had to take a picture. We are dorks we know. :)

First Water Hike

On May 1st we decided to be spontaneous and go on a hike. We figured it would be the last cool day for a long time and we better enjoy it. Tara and Dallin were brave enough to join us and we had a really good time. The boys had so much fun climbing up rocks and exploring. I was a little nervous they would run into a rattle snake or something but we didn't. Alden had sharp enough eyes to spot a gila monster though so that was pretty fun to look at. Brig wasn't brave enough to climb up as high as Dallin and Alden but he did a great job and hiked the whole thing with us (about 4 1/2 miles total). I was very impress he did such a good job. Dallin's shoes are off in this picture because they were having fun watching things fall down the side of this rock hill thing they had climbed up. Boys sure know how to entertain themselves.

Lila really enjoyed being out doors. The weather was really nice and she had a great time. I was very happy that she did so well the whole time.

Dallin and Hyrum Chillin out while we took a water and snack break. Hyrum didn't seem to enjoy it as much as Lila did and they ended up turning back early with him. He fell asleep finally when they were heading back. Poor guy he had just had too busy of a week with them moving into their new apartment and so much craziness going on I guess.

Scott and the kids. Lila was asleep for this picture she took a nice nap and woke up ready to play some more and eat lunch.

Me and the boys. We got enough sunscreen on that no one got sunburned. I was really worried about that since we are all so white and we were outside for so long.

The boys wouldn't sit still for too long for pictures they just wanted to keep going. If only I could bottle up some of their energy and use it for myself we would be doing just fine. We had a great time and plan on hiking some more next fall when the weather cools off a little.

Lila pics

Lila has discovered cupboards and the dishwasher. She happened to pull out this bowl that looks like a hat that the boys like to use for popcorn and she stuck it on her own head. It was so funny and so I ran to get the camera. By time I was back and ready to take a picture she had moved on to something else. We tried to pose her but she wouldn't go for it. Lila has figured out how to climb onto the dishwasher lid. That is her favorite spot and she loves to play in the water and get the dishes all out as I am trying to load them in. She is so funny. She is very determined and not easily distracted either the little stink.

When the boys go into the bathroom to take a bath Lila is very jealous. She loves the water and bath time is her favorite. She stands at the door and bangs with her hand while yelling. It is one of the funniest things ever. She use to crawl over to the door and lay down trying to look underneath and cry so she has improved and I was never lucky enough to get a picture of her doing that. I can't believe she is already 11 months old. She is getting so big and independent.

Dallin's "Let's Play Music" recital

Dallin did his first year of "Let's Play Music" this year and really enjoyed it. It is such a fun class and really helps the kids get ready for regular piano lessons. The kids had a recital to end the year and Dallin sang and did all the actions very well although we could not crack a smile out of the kid. He looked like he was not very happy to be up there. I guess he must be related to Alden. Puppet shows were one of the favorite parts to the class the kids loved watching the story unfold while listening to music with out any words.

This year the kids played bells they had so much fun with it, but all year long Dallin kept asking when he was going to get to play the piano. He is very excited that finally when it starts up again next school year he will be on the keyboard.

The kids doing the solfeg signs (sound of music anyone??). They learned so much with this class I really would recommend it to anyone that wants to give there children a strong foundation at a young age and it is so much fun they don't ever realize they are learning so much. It has made such a differece for Alden now that he is in piano lessons. Sorry the pics are so bad we got there just 5 minutes before it started and were stuck clear in the back. His teacher combines with a couple other teachers so it makes for a large audience. Dallin has had a really fun month. In addition to finishing up his music class he also got to go to the Phoenix Children's Museum for a kindergarten field trip. Scott went with him as a chaperone and he was soooo excited about that. They had a great time. Unfortunately Scott didn't have the camera with him though. He is a fabulous student and is such a good boy. He impresses me all the time with how much he is willing to help out with Lila and be my helper. I never would have imagined when he was 2& 3 years old and throwing tantrums that he would turn into such a wonderful kid. We are so lucky to have him in our family and I hope he always knows how loved and appreciated he is.