Happy Birthday, Riley!

At the end of August, we celebrated Riley's Birthday. 7 years old! Riley is such a great little man and what an easy going kiddo. I love his easy going personality. Every once in a while (when he repeats it more than once) he will let us know when he is concerned about something or wants something. I love that he let me know for a couple weeks that he needed a scripture case because lets face it, carrying your scriptures in your hands is just too hard. Anyways- I think it shows his character that he rarely asks for much and yet his scriptures were a priority for him. Of course I whipped him up a cute scripture tote and all was right in his world again. He is mellow most of the time-except when asked to set the table - that is just too much too handle! But for the most part willing to help when needed. I love that he is sound asleep 2 minutes after his head hits the pillow. I love that he loves Legos, Hero Factory, and Lego anything for the wii. Such a creative kiddo. I just love him to death! 

       Riley requested a Lego cake for his Birthday and as for his presents we let him pick out a couple of wii games- Lego Pirates of the Caribbean and Lego Batman 2. Leatham cousins gave him Big Nate and Power Ranger Legos- they sure do know what he likes! 

The traditional streamers- he was so concerned since I worked the night before, that Ben would forget to put up the streamers!

Not my best cake but hey- worked the night before and he loved it. Thats all that counts!

                           

Back to School 2013

Here are a few pictures from our First Day of School photo shoot. It has been determined that our kids are way cute and a little on the crazy side!

ETHAN

JAKE

JOCELYN

RILEY

OWEN

Of course Will had to get in on the action although he's not in school!

For some, things went south- fast! For others- well, Jocelyn couldn't help but cheese it up and Ethan and Jake couldn't resist bugging each other. 

                

                

Another teenager!

Early in August, Jake turned 13. Eeeekk! Two teenage boys! I'm not worried though, Ethan and Jake are great boys. This cute boy has become an amazing young man. Jake is always the first person to have chores done, he works hard at his good grades, he's always hanging out with friends, practices hard at soccer (and expects everyone on his team to give the same effort), such a big help with Owen and Will, usually he can distract Owen and get him calmed down- better than any of the other kids! He is also the first to ask what he can do to help, rarely complains, neat freak, still loves Legos, loves his new long board, Wrestles a lot with Ethan, but still lets Ethan get under his skin- wrestling usually turns into more than just a friendly wrestling match! He's just an easy going kid. Love him! His birthday party totally reflects his personality- pizza, soda, cupcakes, candy, soccer and all his friends. We hosted his party at the elementary school soccer field. The boys ate, played soccer, and just hung out. The weather was great- threatened to rain but it just managed to cool the temperature- perfect soccer playing weather. What a great group of friends Jake has. He was able to pool all his gift cards, and purchased a new long board. It has been used well. From his dad and I, we replaced his broken itouch. He really had a great birthday.

Jake asked for an ice cream cake- love how easy that was!

Our tailgating soccer party!

 Jake prefers to play goalie or midfield, unfortunately his team really needs him as defender. It has been a learning experience for him- almost weekly lessons of -"sometimes you go where you are needed, not where you really want to be" (Hmmmm- a precursor to a mission call?) He takes it in stride but in his heart hopes for a change in his position.

The boys played forever- till the sun went down and then I packed them all in the back of the Expedition and went back to our house where they were off again into the neighborhood to play night games. So grateful for his great group of friends!

One Day....

One day I will be caught up on my blog...one day. Today is not that day, but it is the day I thought would be good for a summer recap. Where did the summer go? The kids and I made a "bucket list" at the beginning of summer and not even half of it was accomplished! It didn't bother me so much until the last week of summer and then an urgency to fill that week with memories took over- that and the fact that when the kids go back to school I wanted their "What I did this summer" papers to be filled with adventures- not "I sat around and played video games"! But as I look back on our photos, we did a lot and made some great memories! So our bucket list is already ready for next summer. Yeah! I'm a step ahead! So here is our summer in glance....

We finally made it to the Manti Pageant! (minus Jake who was scout camp) The kids loved it! We were able to meet a few cast members, visit the bathrooms a million times, eat tons of snacks, enjoy the view of the temple and then watch a great performance. Afterwards we settled into a hotel for the night and the next morning on our way home, stopped at seven peaks for a family swim. Tons of fun!

The next week Ethan was fortunate enough on Pioneer Trek to Martins Cove in Wyoming. From what he tells us he was a hard working pioneer and had a good time. I think he made great looking pioneer.

He loved his hat- wanted to wear it everywhere!

The next day after Ethan returned we made our way to McCall Idaho for the Allen family reunion. We stayed in a great cabin. We had access to a pool, tennis courts and an elementary school playground was out the back door. We were able to hang out at the lake the entire day- swimming, waterskiing, eating and just good ole' hanging out. The next day Ben and the kids went mountain biking. Will and I  returned to the lake to play in the sand. We were pretty excited when we purchased our 5-bike rack for the trip and I'm so glad we did. The kids loved the bike ride and I'm sure we have more riding in our future. Back at the cabin we did some swimming at the pool, (belly flop contest was the best!), watched videos of our auntie from Ireland, played family Jepordy, destroyed a pinata, and did some more family bonding with staying up late and just hanging out. Good memories! The kids are already talking about next year! 

We were sad to leave such a great place with great family. I think we successfully wore out all the kids, which lead to us having a quiet 4th of July. The day after we returned from our family reunion was the 4th and we stayed home and relaxed, had a bbq and roasted smores. We set off our own fireworks- had a great finale and then gathered in the backyard to watch the Thanksgiving Point fireworks. Low key- just what we needed. 

The summer continued with more scout camps, hanging out with cousins, swimming, Real soccer games,  family hiking and so much more. The summer flew by. 

One of the best parts about this summer was my 20 year high school reunion. I was absolutely ecstatic to fly by myself to Moses Lake. I had the best time! I was a little worried about my family but only because on the drive from Spokane to moses they called me over 5 times. Once by Jake just to tell me about a security company calling about a new system- he couldn't find Ben so he called me! And another with Jocelyn crying cuz she missed me and was surrounded by stinky boys!  I was so excited to be with my high school besties. (Sad that 3 of our group were unable to go) It felt like we never were apart- I love those girls so much and am grateful that we were able to share our lives with each other. I learned so much over the time we were together. What great women we have become! Although the reunion was a little lame, we still had a blast. We stayed up late each night, went boating (flattered by some young boys-we still got it!) went to church together (loved listening to Emily sing in the choir), and relished in the fact that old boyfriends did not have wives that were as cute as us! What a refreshing weekend- I sooo needed this. I couldn't help but laugh and then cry as I thought back on my weekend as I drove to the Spokane airport. Can't wait for Vegas in a couple of years! Love these girls!