Creativity and Ingenuity?

Well, I have to say that yesterday, I took a deep breath and had a long sigh, being the first official day of Spring Break, and the kids were desperately bored. The weather has not exactly cooperated, and with snow yesterday and snow in the forecast for a few more days, it seemed as though it would be a very long week off for the kids. They all had friends over today, and for awhile it was VERY quiet, too quite - then VERY loud! When I went to check and make sure there were not injuries, this is what I found...

The girls (who adopted Alex on their team) began a war downstairs with the boys...Here are the girls in their war outfits-
This is what the boys looked like - a little more put toghether than the girls, but not as creative!
After awhile of door slamming and banging, I had the "war" move outside, but made sure to get a picture - for dates and yearbooks - of course!

A Day Out With Dad

Today was the first day of Spring Break, and although McKaleigh and Colton were not with us, we took Alex out (and it is a good thing we did, because the next day it snowed 3 inches up here!). We went to the park, library, Costco, IHOP, Barnes and Noble, and Best Buy! What a day...
Here is a picture of Alex, need ing a drink after a big soccer game with dad!
Here they are playing in the park! I just love our park...
Alex is our little daredevil! He loves to find the biggest, longest slide and go down - he usually chooses feet first, on his tummy.
Alex and mom - playing it safe near the little slide.
See that bar across the top? He likes to grab that and swing/hang - it just scares me to death, because he could just drop down, and fall!
Daddy is so great about following our buddy where ever he goes!
Alex found two little buddies himself, and we spent quite a bit of time following these guys around. We ever found some leftover bread to throw at them!

Dinner With the Cousins

Today we picked Uncle Brian up from the airport, because he is spending his Spring Break here in Utah. After picking him up, Bri and Colton played legos (a great new set from Aunt Katie for Colton's b-day) and Bakugon! We actually did not see much of them for the night!
Alex and cousin Elliot are such great buddies, they played outside for a few minutes (it was still pretty cold) and were so cute giving each other huggies!
Mallory got a flying barbie doll from our family for her birthday, and of course Uncle Eric had to give it a test fly out in the yard (after conducting some important business).
Here are all of the kids out front waiting for their turn to send the barbie up into the air...it was so much fun, even the little boys liked playing with it...Notice Aunt Katie shivering in the background.When it was time for everyone to go, our little buddies had to get one last hug in! They are so great together!

Colton Turns 8!

I finally have a minute to sit down and share Colton's 8th Birthday! It really has been a week long celebration! We began with a small family party on March 19th, his actual birthday. He chose burgers and fries for his birthday dinner and opened presents from family - his two big presents were scriptures (we did not want to wait for his baptism) and his red Hummer remote control vehicle. I put daddy in charge of picking out this gift, since I don't know much about the remote vehicle world - and I do believe we now own the largest remote made! Here are a few pictures of it. It will actually climb over the kids, other remote vehicles and goes all terrain in the field behind our house - it has been hours of fun. We had planned his party (this is a party year - we do a friends party every other year) for Saturday. He wanted to invite friends over to the Nickelcade for pizza, cake and hours of nickel fun. Wow, it is amazing how fast 8 little boys can burn through nickels! But I think a fun time was had by all and he was very excited to be able to run around and visit with his friends in this environment. On Sunday we went to Grandpa Rod's and Grandma Deb's for his birthday dinner and a few more gifts! Instead of a cake for his birthday, Colton asked that grandma make Hershey Kiss Peanut Butter cookies - here is a shot of his blowing the candle out! We came home from grandma's and watched Madagascar 2 for the finale...All in all I think it was a success! Colton is such a good kid with a big heart! He loves the out doors, and picks up any sport with ease! He is playing competitive baseball this year and has really enjoyed the challenge. He has quite a few friends in our neighborhood, and they are always up to something - inside or out. Our next big event will be his baptism in a few weeks - with lots of family around it will be great!


Here is a shot of the birthday wall at the Nickelcade (a great place for an 8 year old boy's birthday!) and all of his buddies. Even Brett enjoyed the games - there were even some from back in my day (Burgertime, Gauntlett, Frogger!).

Here he is at Grandma's with his "birthday cookies."

Opening gifts with Grandma and Grandpa


The movie and popcorn rounding out our week of festivities - Alex was really in to Madagascar2 and danced to the "We Like to Move it" song!

MiniVan Family!

I never thought the day would come when I would be excited for a minivan - but it has come! We shopped all kinds of larger crossover vehicles looking for the perfect fit for our family, and despite the appeal of a more sporty car, with a 3rd row seat, the space was kind of limited. If our reason for getting a larger car was more space, then we had to go with the "soccer-mom-van." We are really pleased with what we found - and when Brett brought it home, you would have thought he brought a pony! The kids were climbing all over the seat with the horn and hazards going - they think it is great and can't wait to go for a ride. I think this will be a great ride for years to come! On a similar note, we feel so lucky to be able to have the blessings we do...