What WE do in the Summertime

Scott surprised the kids with a slip-n-slide and pool as a last day of school gift.  It was too cold on the last day of school to use it, but we finally were able to on Memorial Day, and have nearly every day since.

Ha!  I never get tired of seeing him in goggles.  It makes me laugh everytime!

Lounging by. . . or on the pool.

We heart summer BBQ's!

Forts in the backyard

Tree swing

Trent LOVES to go on summertime wagon rides around the neighborhood!

Triathlon

Scott competed in his first Triathlon this month in St. George.  He did really well.  Scott's mom and I were close to tears several times-- just so PROUD!  He finished 10th in his age group (FANTASTIC for his first time!).  The kids, Grandma Sue and I were all there to cheer him on.  It was such a great experience.  He definitely "has the bug" now.  He's already planning to compete in another this summer.

The kids. . .waiting. . .waiting. . .waiting for Daddy to bike past.

Go DAD!!!!!

FINISHED!!!!

Dancing Queen

Before we left on our Spring Break excursion, Sierra had her Spring dance recital.  She danced to "Zipp-a-dee-doo-dah" and "I hope you dance".  Two years ago, I never would have thought she would be comfortable on stage. Wow, has she changed!  She was SUPER excited to get to dance on a real stage.  When it was her turn to dance, she went right up, looked out at the audience and smiled the whole time while she danced!  She was ADORABLE (I'm not biased, of course).  I was completely entranced, she was lovely.  Her brother, on the other hand, kept asking after each routine (14 in all) if it was over yet, to which I gently reminded him how many ball practices and games she has sat through to support him.  Due to technical and lighting issues, we don't have any great pics of her actually dancing (and I'm having troubles getting the video to upload), but here are some cute shots of her before and after the recital.

Grant surprised Sierra with flowers after her performance.  He picked them out himself (of course he picked THE BRIGHTEST ones available).  Despite what the picture portrays, he was very excited to give them to her.

On the stage after the recital

Baseball and Prophets

Grant is in Sunbeams now, and that means he gets to participate in Junior Primary!  Recently, he was given the opportunity to give his FIRST TALK in Primary.  I was excited for my little boy, but unsure of how to engage his interest in writing and giving a talk.  Now, Grant is obsessed with interested in 3 things:
1. Playing BASEBALL
2.  Talking about BASEBALL
3.  Watching BASEBALL

He wears Dallin's old baseball jerseys or some other baseball shirt nearly everyday.  It's normal for kids to have imaginary friends at this age, but he has an imaginary baseball team-- the Rangers.  He has regularly scheduled games and practices, and informs me when it is my turn to provide treats for his imaginary baseball games.  He sleeps in his baseball cap.  He is outside "practicing" even as I type this (note: it is 9am and not yet 40 degrees outside).

The topic Grant was given for his talk was "There is Safety in Following the Prophets".  I figured the best way to get him excited about this topic was to relate it to baseball.  So, throughout the week we talked about following prophets as we played baseball. We played catch and talked about how our mitts keep our hands safe-- just like how the prophet's counsel keeps us safe.  I pitched for him and talked about how his batting helmet protects his head-- just like how we'll be protected if we listen to and follow the prophet's teachings.  He ran the bases and we talked about following the rules and how the commandments are the "rules for life". When Sunday came he was excited to give his talk.  He went right up and with some help from mommy related following the prophets to baseball.  It was cute.  Here is his talk:

I like baseball. (held up a picture he had colored of a ball and bat)

I want to be safe when I play baseball, so I do 3 things:

First, I wear a batting helmet to keep my head safe. (put on his batting helmet)

Second, I wear a glove to keep my hand safe (put on his glove)

Third, I ALWAYS follow the rules.

Heavenly Father wants us to be safe too.

So, he gave us a prophet to help us.

Thomas S. Monson is our prophet (hold up a picture of Pres. Monson)

If we follow the prophet, we will always be safe from the bad things in the world.

Thanks, Grant for helping me gain a better understanding of the Gospel!

Recitals, Triathlons, Spring Break. . . OH MY!

I've attempted several times to begin another marathon post to catch up on what we've been up to, but haven't made much progress.  So, over the next several days I'll try to post mini-updates.  First things first, after our last post I'm sure some are wondering what Trent's up to (or should I say IN TO?).  It didn't take long after learning to climb our two stairs that step down into the family room for him to make it up the big stairs.  Here he is the first time he made it:

Just checking Mom is still there. . .

Whew!  He made it!  (Can he sit any closer to the EDGE!?!?!)

Busy

Trent has reached a fun stage.  Yesterday not only did his first tooth finally come through, but he also learned how to climb stairs.  He is MUCH happier now that he has some independence (ie: he can crawl wherever he wants) and is increasingly curious. . . which means trouble!

Here he is in his first successful stair climb:

Now that he is more confidant in his abilities, Trent has decided to move on to more challenging feats like:

Conquering the big stairs...

Navigating through obstacles...

Exploring rugged terrain. . .

And "organizing" the house. . .

Aren't 7 month olds great?!?! Can't wait to see what fun we'll have when he is 8 months! :)

Late. . . as usual

I've decided to stop pretending that I am a good blogger.  No more apologies every time I post for my lack of blogging.  Just expect this:  I will go in spurts-- sometimes blogging multiple times in one week and often going several weeks with out an update.  When I finally do update I will likely do marathon blog posts including several unrelated pictures and comments about what we've been up to.  whew!  Now with that said, Here's what we've been up to:

Look how big Trent is getting!  He is 6 months now and 18lbs! (that's 60th percentile for those who care about that kind of thing-- He's 2 lbs smaller than Grant and Sierra at this age!).  He is DROOLING excessively!  No teeth yet though.  He can sit by himself,  rolls ALL OVER!!  He is tries to crawl, but always ends up stuck in a corner.  He likes to babble, dadadadada.  And has the best belly laughs around.

 He prefers to feed himself-- meal time is quite messy.  I've tried giving him is own spoon while I feed him with another-- he just grabs the one I have and tries to stick both in his mouth.

In January, we went sledding a couple times.  The snow in our front yard (that we've had since November) finally all melted last week.  We're running around in short sleeves now-- a heat wave at 41 degrees today!!

Dallin has been going to basketball camp while Sierra goes to dance class (no pictures of Sierra's Dance class-- Sorry!).  Scott and Dallin practice down at the school playground on Saturday.

We went to visit Grandma Sue and Papa Mike in St. George in January.  We were excited to spend some time with Grandma D who was also visiting! 

Grant "helping" Grandma D with her puzzle.

I thought this was cute.  Dallin and Grandma have the same expression on their face as they are looking for a puzzle piece.

Grant convinced Grandma D to play Cootie with them.  Apparently she was the only one concerned about the instructions and rules of the game.

The kids are already asking to go back to visit Grandma Sue again.  We are glad that she is closer now!

On my mind. . .

 Here is a picture of my little cutie pies before church the Sunday before Christmas:

 And here's what Sunday morning looks like in our home:

Look at all those freshly pressed white shirts in various sizes! This image makes me smile.

I love my boys! 

 

Christmas Time!

We had a wonderful Christmas this year!  Here are some highlights for your viewing pleasure :)

Here's the Gingerbread house we made (assembled and decorated, that is,  thanks to Costco)

 

Dallin tried to stay up Christmas Eve.  He came downstairs a couple times to check Santa's location on the computer.  He made it until 10:30 and I found him asleep sitting up in bed.  Despite going to bed so late, he was still the first one up!

 

Sierra got lots of art supplies.  She started coloring right away!

Grant got tools!  Scott made him a little wooden tool box to keep them in-- just like real tools.

Trent was very excited to open his stocking!

Both Dallin and Sierra made special gifts for Scott and I.  They were so proud of their crafty presents.