girls weekend!

This weekend I was able to get away with some girlfriends from my ward.  A lady in our ward has extended family that owns a huge cabin up in northern Arizona and it was wonderful to escape the heat and reality for a few days. We did it last year (see post HERE) and there were 17 of us.  This year only 6 of us could go (3 from last year and 3 newbies).  It had a very different feel to it but it was still very fun.  Last year was loud and a partying atmosphere with many conversations going on, this year was calmer and more relaxing and we hung out all together most of the time.

Of course we had to try out the awesome go-karts again, which was fun right up until Amy fell hard and hurt her knee pretty badly.

Then we had a little photo shoot.  Sarah is a professional photographer and taught us a lot of fun poses and we played with the auto-timer on my camera.  From L to R: Stacey, Marsa, April, me, Amy, and Sarah

Marsa made us a fabulous mexican dinner and we actually got to bed at a reasonable hour this time! Most of Saturday we spent on the porch chatting and laughing and relaxing.

It was so nice to get away, even if it was short.  It was great to get to know these ladies better and build deeper friendships.

family update

Gone are the peaceful, relaxing summer days.  We have been so busy these past few weeks it's unreal!  So here's a brief re-cap on what has been going on for everyone:

KEVIN: 
We went to visit Kevin at his new job right before school started.  Here is a picture of his office.  His window overlooks the manufacturing facility.  The windows on the other side of the building overlook the airport runway, so even though this isn't quite as fun, he's definitely more productive! It's too bad the assembly line workers were at lunch so we didn't get to see it in action!

He also got his business cards.  Everyone their baby photos on their office nameplates and business cards.  We're still not really sure what it has to do with skin care products, but they are very cute! Work is getting busier for Kevin, but he manages to come home at a regular time each day and does not have to do any work from home (yet), so we are all happy about that!

Other than his job, he is still Elders Quorum President which is always time-consuming, and he tries to make it to the gym a few evenings a week.

DANIKA:
Everyone keeps asking me what I'm doing with all my "free time" now that all my kids are in school.  My answer is, "what free time?!?"  I feel like I'm busier than I've been in 10 years!   I switched to a different cub scout den (Wolves now), so that has taken some time to get all the records updated, plans made for the next few months, attend roundtable for the first time, and clean out the box of stuff that was passed onto me.

In addition to cub scouts, I have been spending many hours doing PTO work.  I am the Vice-President this year.  We are ramping up for our fall festival in November.  I think it's safe to say I will very busy and stressed out until mid-November!  Right now I have been spending extra time trying to coerce people into volunteering. And our President is going into major shoulder surgery this week, so I will be covering for him for the next few weeks.  Thankfully I work with amazing board members who are fun and extremely helpful and diligent at their assignments.

I have also been trying to get to the gym more often and catch up on deep house-cleaning.  And let's not forget two weeks of late nights thanks to the Olympics that have left me exhausted.  Tomorrow starts a stake scripture class that I hope to attend weekly. And I'm trying to plan our fall break vacation.

BRANDON:
Brandon is off to a good start in 5th grade.  I keep holding my breath, waiting for the homework load to explode, but so far so good (he usually has less than Tyler!).  His teacher is new to the school and seems very nice.

He is back to piano lessons.  The kid definitely has a musical gift and he never ceases to amaze me.  His teacher currently has him working on a duet to play in Sacrament Meeting with her son.

Since he turned 10 last week he is officially a Webelo in cub scouts now and has already earned his first pin!

TYLER:
Tyler has decided second grade is much harder than first grade (and it's true, especially at this school).  His teacher is nice, but has very high expectations.  But Tyler has suddenly become an avid reader in the past few weeks.  He is reading through simple chapter books at the rate of one per day and he is doing great on the Accelerated Reader tests. 

Tyler started piano lessons and is loving it.  He often tries to learn the next songs before he is assigned them and he sometimes just sits and plays for fun.

NATALIE:
She is doing great in Kindergarten and loves having homework.  She lost her first (behavior) stick last week for talking to a boy. Not surprising at all!  And she comes home with a different "best friend" every day!

She was very excited about being chosen as the first Star Student, where she gets to do something special each day for the class (poster, guessing jar, sharing sack, parent letter, favorite book, etc.).  She got to keep Liberty Bear at our house to play with the whole week. She introduced Liberty Bear to her pink bear. Between school, homework, and gymnastics she suddenly seems so grown up!

So if you don't hear from us for awhile, this is why!  We are happy and healthy and staying very busy!

natalie starts gymnastics!

It was a tough decision what to sign Natalie up for this year.  She loves dance but after researching dance studios I decided we were not ready for the drama and the expense of costumes and recitals.  So I started looking into gymnastics.  Natalie enjoyed tumbling this spring and has a petite, flexible body which usually helps.  And best of all, there is a gymnastics place right around the corner from our house! 

Natalie and her good friend Tatum took a trial class this summer and loved it so we signed them up.   They warm up with the older girls class for about 30 minutes.

Sorry for the picture quality - we were not allowed to use flash, they were constantly moving, and I was quite far away!

Then they do about 20 minutes on the bars (which was on the far side of the gym so photos were impossible), then 20 minutes on the floor doing tumbling.  Natalie is in the purple next to the guy.  They have 3 kids in their class and 2 teachers - a great student to teacher ratio!

And they do about 20 minutes on the beam.  The first class they were on the high beams but since then they have thankfully been on the low ones (Natalie had a hard fall just minutes after being on the high beam).

It's a 90 minute class once a week.  Natalie is LOVING it and doing really well.  Who knows?  Maybe she'll be an Olympian someday?

brandon's 10th birthday party

Brandon had a Mario Kart Wii birthday party this year. It was fun & easy to plan and host!  We played Mario bingo while we waited for everyone to arrive.  It always surprises me how such a simple game like bingo can hold kids interest.  Or maybe it was that we let them eat however many skittles were on their board each time someone won!  And I was surprised how well they all knew the Mario characters.

Here are all the boys that came (we had one who didn't show):
Top Row (L to R): Ethan, Tyler, Santiago, Collin, Cole
Front Row (L to R): Andrew, Liam, Brandon, Brian, Dallin, Caleb

Don't let them fool you - here's what they normally look like!

We let Brandon open his presents next.  He has very generous friends.  Only a couple duplicates, but he can return them.  He is excited to add his allowance money to that and finally be able to afford the Skylanders game set he has been wanting.

Next was cupcakes and ice cream. I found this cute Mario mushroom cupcake idea online.  Who would have thought these would be the hardest part of the party?!?  The frosting kept running because it was so warm in our house!  It was a delicate game of putting the frosting in the fridge to thicken it a bit, then quickly taking it out, frosting and decorating a cupcake, then getting that cupcake back into the fridge before it dripped!  But the boys thought they were "so cool" so I guess it was worth it!

 

Then for the part of the party that the boys were really looking forward to - we had a Mario Kart Wii tournament! We set up a chart and let them each race 4 times for a total of 12 heats.  They scored points based on what place they got in each race.  Then we had a championship round for the top 4 scorers.  The grand prize winner (Brian) won a box of Mario candy.  They did this for over an hour!

I was concerned because I know how ruthless and competitive boys can get, but I was very impressed with everyone's sportsmanship and positive attitude. There were no hurt feelings or rude words. It was a fun, easy party and Brandon is lucky to have such great friends.

happy 10th birthday brandon!

I am having a hard time believing Brandon turned 10!  This kid's feisty personality (exactly like mine) still frustrates me on a regular basis, but he truly is a wonderful boy and often makes my heart explode with joy and parental pride.  He is so smart and talented and we are blessed to have him as our son.

As always, I did a birthday interview with him!

Favorite Color: blue

Favorite Number: 10

Favorite Drink: root beer

Favorite Food: dill pickles

Favorite Game: Stratego

Favorite Animal: tortoise

I feel sad when: I have to do chores

I feel mad when: Tyler doesn't do what I say

I like it when my friends: come to my birthday party

I like it when I get to: play Wii

I wish I could: have no homework

Who is your best friend? Joaquin

Why? because we like to talk and play

What makes you laugh? good jokes

What is your favorite movie? Megamind

What are you most afraid of? scorpions

What is your favorite song? Nephi's Courage

What is your favorite activity? Pokemon

What do you want to be when you grow up? a secret agent

Do you think it would be hard to be a mom or a dad? yes

Why? because you have to pay all the bills

If you could have a magical power, what would you choose? to fly

What three things are you are good at? Legos, Pokemon, and Wii

What is the best thing about being 10? double digits!

What is your favorite memory? meeting Joaquin

What is your favorite thing about mom? she helps me with my homework

What is your favorite thing about dad? he lets me play on his Kindle and his phone

What makes you special? I have a lot of talents!
  

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRANDON! 

WE LOVE YOU!