Happy Birthday Jared!

I can't believe my little guy is 4 years old! Jared had a fun zoo party. His friends came over, ate hotdogs, played together and ate cake and icecream. The party went so fast that we didn't even have time to play the fun games we planned. Bummer, huh? (Dallin, Jared, Jenna and I played them later. Talk about ultimate fun! It's just not quite the same without more people!)

Man, I love this little guy! How can you not just adore that smile! After sticking all of those animals on the cake, I realized I should have sanitized them first. (Just kidding! They were clean!)

Jared got some fun gifts for his birthday. He received Tinker Toys, 2 Transformers, a Carrs carwash, a magic show box, a tennis racket and some other fun things. Dallin could not understand why he had to wait a whole week to open his!

We wanted to do something fun for Jared's birthday (Does he look like he's having the time of his life?), so we went to the airshow. When the boys heard the first loud jet fly by they started crying. (It was actually more like hysterical screaming!) So after sitting in traffic for an hour and a half to get there, we left after about a half hour. Man, I hate it when that happens! Sorry Jared! Happy birthday anyway!

Camping

You know it's been a good week for Brett when he's convinced me to go camping! How can I turn him down when he, along with 3 kids, bat their eyes at me and beg?! "Please Mom, please can we go camping! We promise we'll be good!" And they were very good. It's just so fun to see how excited they get!

We arrived at our campsite pretty late (11:00 or so), but still had plenty of light to set up our tent. (I love not needing a flashlight here in the summer!) After awhile all of us fell asleep except Jenna. She was so wired, jumping from one sleeping bag to another saying, "Night night!" I don't even know when she finally crashed.

I think they're a little excited! What do you think? I didn't even have to ask them to smile for this picture!

Brett did a great job teaching the kids how to build a perfect fire. He is a true Eagle Scout!

The boys had fun crumpling up the newspaper for the fire.

Get some wood for that fire, Jenna! She just had to be one of the boys!

While Brett worked so hard making a nice fire to keep us warm, I went all out on breakfast! Pancakes are just too much clean up! Fruit Loops are the only way to go!

After a nutritious breakfast consisting of sugar, the kids loaded up on.... more sugar! Dallin just had to make a GBD marshmallow! (golden, brown delicious) He did a fantastic job!

Fun With Grandma and Grandpa

We were so excited to have Grandma and Grandpa Lacey visit us. They missed their grandkids so much that they just had to come! (I think they may have missed me a little too!) As you will see from the pictures below, we had a great time!

The boys got some dinosaur cookie cutters at a garage sale and have been dying to use them. Their mean mom hadn't done it yet, so Grandma came to the rescue. (Hmmm, I'll have to hide those cutters until she comes again. I'm not a big fan of making sugar cookies!)

Yum! Dallin really enjoyed testing the finished product! Yikes! I think his lips are stuck together!

Great decorating skills, Jared! Is that a stegasaurus or a diplodocus in your hand?

Grandma and Grandpa even got to enjoy a couple of soccer games and a sunny day while they were here!

Dad is the best chef around. Look at those colorful veggies and our skinny Grandpa!

Jenna is giving Grandma a round of applause for playing her favorite Primary song, "Popcorn Popping."
Jenna warmed right up to Grandpa when he was here and loved to sit in his lap and look at pictures and video clips from his computer.

Soccer x2

Let the games begin! We officially started our first soccer season today. It's kind of a crack up with these younger kids. They all chase the ball at the same time and don't even care if they steal it from a teammate! Dallin and Jared both ran hard and chased the ball so much! They'll get the hang of it I'm sure.

I was laughing my head off watching Brett pace the sidelines. I could tell he just wanted to give pointers and it was killing him to watch these little guys run around like chickens with their heads cut off! We were so loud compared to the other parents who were there. Hopefully they won't think we're too obnoxious by the end of the season!

Strike a pose soccer boy! Dallin's looking forward to scoring lots of goals!

Jared was so fun to watch today. He ran around the field with a huge smile on his face the whole time. He really didn't even come near the ball, but he loved kicking the dirt and having fun with the kids on his team! Jared's favorite part of the game was the chocolate pudding after the game ended! He also loved his new uniform and even slept in it!

Run, Dallin, run! Look at that determination! (By the way, both boys get all of their athletic talent from their mother! Ha ha!)

Although Jenna is too young to play, she cheered from the sidelines! "Go Fireball Munchkins!"

Spring is in the Air

The sun is shining, (kind of) the mosquitos are thick and everything is so green and beautiful! Spring has definitely arrived so we decided to beautify our yard with these lovely flowers. While Jenna was napping, the boys dug in the dirt, played in the water and investigated the creepy crawly things that are making themselves at home in our yard.

Awww, isn't Dallin such a good boy to help his mommy!

I have such nice boys! They were so proud of their finished product!

My Baby's Growing Up!

My baby has officially graduated from kindergarten! I can't believe it! Everyone always says to enjoy your kids while they're young because they grow up so fast!

Dallin had a wonderful year at school. He loved his teacher, Mrs. C, and really took off with reading and writing. Of course he especially loved the social aspect of school! He is so girl crazy already! We are soooo in trouble!

I am amazed by how much he learned this year. Brett and I are in shock because when we were kids, kindergarten was a time for learning ABC's, numbers and colors! Now they enter first grade already reading novels, publishing books and doing algebra! (Okay, a little exaggeration, but it's fairly close!)

Dallin loved his teacher......"with the long, blond hair"! He was so well-behaved that he didn't even have to pull a single card the whole school year!

Dallin's school put on a very fun field day for the kids. He was anxious to get the potato sack race started!
SWING batter, batter! I taught him everything he knows!

Dallin and his friend kicked everyones' cans in this race! They really worked together and were pretty fast!

Happy Mother's Day to Me!!

Okay, so the snow is gone, my depression is over and I'm ready to blog again!=) This has been such a wonderful weekend. Yesterday Jenna and I had fun hosting a baby shower, cleaning the garage, shopping, and getting cleaning projects done while the boys went on a Father-and-Sons campout. Whoever planned the campout on the same weekend as Mother's Day deserves a medal! I was able to get so much done and had fun spending time playing dollies with Jenna. The boys had a blast on their campout and were so excited to tell me all about it when they got home.

Mommy spoiling continued early this morning when Dallin slipped a present under the door. At school he had made a spectacular picture frame for me with a handsome picture of himself inside. Then I was treated to a lovely heart pancake breakfast, made by Brett and the boys. I even got to eat off of the red plates!

I am the luckiest mom in the world! I received a soft pad for my lawn chair, plants for the flowerbeds and lots of beautiful cards! (Jenna was just a little unhappy this morning!)

The best present of all was having my hunk-of-a-honey make dinner for us! We had chicken with potatoes and carrots, a salad and angel food cake topped with whipped cream and strawberries! Yum! While he was busy in the kitchen, I took a nap and called my mom! Can life get any better than this?!

Oh, aren't they cute! Dallin and Jared really wanted to take the big tent, but Brett wanted the small one so they could stay warm. A compromise was made, and they ended up with the small tent inside the big tent. That gave them room to stand up and have room to hang out but kept them nice and toasty! (I swear my husband is a genius!)

They came home and told me that they didn't have any success fishing. Hmmm, I wonder why?! I mean I'm the queen of casting (ha ha) and even I can't cast my line that far! (Later they did go down and actually fish in the water!)

I sure love my boys! Jenna and I enjoyed our clean, quiet house and girl time, but we sure missed these handsome fellows!