We're right in the thick of spring sports season for our family. We've got three of the four kids in sports and are having a great time. I love to watch my kids playing sports and having so much fun. I love to see their faces light up when their team scores a point or they get a chance to make a play. I love cheering on the sidelines as loud as I can and stealing a quick wink and a wave when they look over for encouragement. I love how excited Brandon and Caleb were when they got their uniforms and wanted to sleep in them every night for a week and how even Kelsie was just as (secretly) excited about her own uniform. Most of all, I love spending this time together as a family, cheering each other on and watching our children grow.
This is Caleb's first time playing any kind of an organized sport. He was a pretty nervous at first, but once he got on the field and was given his uniform, it all changed. He can't wait for his Friday practice each week, followed by games on Saturday. He counts each and every goal during the game and makes sure that we all know the "score". He devours the half-time snack of oranges each week and is usually pretty happy about running back out onto the field. Right now for him, it's all about F-U-N. He can be pretty cautious about getting in on the action, but every once in a while surprises us all with a good kick.
Brandon's a natural on the soccer field. He has a tendency to hang back on the field and play the defensive role. He also has some pretty fancy footwork as he dribbles the ball down the field, as he puts it "I'm pretty much the best dribbler on my team". Humble, I know. He has yet to score a goal, but definitely not for lack of trying. He is totally in his element out there and is having such a great time playing. Being one of the smallest kids on the team doesn't stop him at all. He's pretty quick and has no trouble keeping up with the bigger kids. They put him in as goalie one game and I think he forgot what he was doing and ended up all over the field and the other team scored two goals on him. They've kept him out on the field ever since.
Kelsie is trying out volleyball this time around and it seems to be a pretty good fit for her. She also seems to be a natural at the sport and is on a great team of girls. It has been such a positive experience for her and she has gotten a lot more confident since starting. She only complained of her arms hurting after the first practice and now gets excited each week. She's a fast learner and has picked up on all the different techniques pretty quickly. She even made some friends with some older girls whose younger brother plays on Caleb's soccer team that play volleyball. They've been teaching her and practicing with her during soccer practice. I love to see her excited about each game and having so much fun!
Our lives have definitely gotten super busy around here with all these practices and games to get to. Isaac is loving all the attention he gets at all the different games, which makes up for all the interrupted nap times and eating schedules that he's had to adjust to. Having these kids is so much fun!
Running off the field after practice
Exhausted after his first game and waiting for Caleb's game to start
Her coach watches as she serves during a game
Caleb (and Brandon) listening to his pump-up song before the game
I can't remember the last time that we had near summer-like weather in March and April. As much as I feel for all my friends in colder climates (Chicago) I'm totally loving this weather! The wind is really the biggest nuisance around here, and we were plenty warned. I love putting on my t-shirts and flip flops everyday now. My kids are diggin' the nicer weather too. Brandon is pretty much all over the pants and is only in shorts these days.
I went out to take some pictures around our house and in the neighborhood of our "blooming" spring which has mostly already bloomed. Being in a new place, there's a lot of things that I don't recognize. I am really curious to see what they are going to turn into. I have to admit, I do miss the foliage I was able to photograph last year. All except the picture of me. I don't miss that at all!
I'm really not sure what this is going to turn into, but I've never seen it before. It's growing on a tree in our backyard.
We had spring break a few weeks ago and finally got around to posting some (a lot!) of pictures. We were able to go up to Denver to spend some time with family for the last half of our break, something we haven't been able to do for a really long time. I guess that's another advantage to living closer to family now! We had a lot of fun and Grandma and Grandpa and all our cousins made sure we had a great time! We were able to go to the Butterfly Pavillion with Grandma one morning. I was really impressed with Kelsie, Caleb, and Ryan who each took their turn holding Rosie, the tarantula. Brandon really didn't want to do it but was so excited about all the butterflies! It's always so fun to see them in their "natural" habitat and to see so many flying around. They also had a great time running through the maze and trying out the zip line! That night we spent time at the rec center swimming and sliding down the water slides. That is until the pool was closed because some other kid had a diaper explosion, and not just the wet kind.
Clockwise from top: Caleb holding Rosie; Brandon lovin' the butterflies; Kelsie smiling at the camera; Ryan holding Rosie; Mom and Isaac; Kelsie holding Rosie; Butterfly; Look, butterflies!
Clockwise from Top: Isaac chillin in the stroller; Ryan sitting on the big caterpillar, All of us standing under the giant praying mantis; 3 kiddos posing on the caterpillar; Ryan having fun swimming; The three girls smiling; Brandon and Ryan hanging out in the spider's web, Trevor and Caleb.
The next day we went to the Natural Museum of Nature and Science to see the Pirate Exhibit. It was pretty cool to walk through the ship and see how pirates lived back in the day. We also saw treasure (and lots of it!) and get sweet pirate hats at the end. We also spent some time looking around the museum and had the most fun in the Health and Wellness area. We were also able to take a tour of the capital building downtown and even got the VIP treatment from an old high school friend of Wally's sister. The best part was going all the way up to the Rotunda and getting a birds eye view of the city.
Out on the balcony of the Capital Building in Denver. We had to climb out a window to get there!
We were also able to celebrate Grandpa's birthday while we were there and had a great time hanging out with as many cousins, aunts, and uncles as we could! We ate homemade pizza cooked in Uncle Rob's super cool brick oven. It's now on the list of things to have when we finally buy a house and have a yard to build one in! As, you may have noticed, those girls were glued together at the hip the entire time we were there. It got even better with their older cousin, Aubrey joined the ranks. She's so awesome and the girls had so much fun hanging out with their cool cousin! She even watched the BYU basketball game with Brandon, and he had fun playing with her ipod later in the evening.
These girls had a great time together!
What's a party without cake, a trampoline, and a little basketball?
Grandma taught Kelsie and the other girls how to sew the simple skirt they are wearing in the photo below. She took them to the fabric store to pick out the fabric and then spent one night sewing together. They all did an amazing job and Kelsie is very proud of her work. We're so happy that Grandma has the patience she has to be able to conquer such a feat!
All in all it was a great spring break and we were completely worn out by the time we got home Sunday night. It's great to be so much closer to family to be able to make quick trips up north to see them now!
I can't believe this February marked four years since this little guy joined our family. I was in on again, off again labor with him for three weeks and had to be induced. He still took his sweet time. When he finally emerged, he was perfect. He has brought nothing but joy and lots of laughter to our family. He learned how to spell and write his name and ride a two wheeler bike this year. He loves to put words together and anything to do with Toy Story, Star Wars, and Legos. He is my little shadow during the day and idolizes his big brother. He and Kelsie share a special bond where they just "get" each other. He also loves to make Isaac laugh and smile and is quick to "shhh!" him when he starts to cry. He's generally a happy little guy and can easily put a smile on your face. We're lucky to have him as part of our family!
We decided to throw him a lego party this year to celebrate his birthday. He woke up to "green" oatmeal for breakfast, macaroni and cheese for lunch, and pizza for dinner. He was able to go to Lego Day at the library and tried to be really, really, patient for his party.
I got some good ideas from different blogs and tried to make these cake pops, but mine didn't turn out quite as well. It was fun to draw the little faces on though. I also got a lot of great ideas from this site where I was able to print off lego paper and find fun game and decorating ideas. Kelsie was my "assistant party planner" and helped me get everything ready.
I think it ended up being a really good day for Caleb. He loved all his gifts, especially the legos and has fun playing with everything since.
I'm also convinced that at least one of the kids has to rebel every time I pull out the camera. I think they talk about it behind my back.
Even Isaac got into the party. He had no idea what was going on and loved being part of everything. He would give us these silly grins when he wanted more to eat (no cake for him though, he's got to wait a few more months for his birthday!).
Happy Birthday Caleb! We love you lots!
One last look at my lego cake pops - I made a couple girl ones for me and Kelsie!
What did we do for President's Day? I'm so glad you asked! We've spent a lot of time at home lately, unpacking and all, so we decided to venture out a little bit and explore one of the hiking trails close by. I loved that we didn't have to get up early to go and that it wasn't an all day thing. We waited until Isaac woke up from his nap and drove about 10 minutes away from our house and boom, we were there!
The warning sign about the rattlesnakes made some of us (KP) a little nervous, but after reassuring that it was still too cold for snakes we were able to move on. There were a lot of cacti (plural, right?) and rocks around. We were even close enough to see the Tram on the mountain moving up and down.
This was Isaac's first time in the backpack and I had forgotten how much hair is fun to play with. Most of the time we were hiking he was pulling my hair and I was trying to keep it out of his hands!
We had to stop more than a few times to empty rocks out of shoes, check out the terrain, have a sword fight with a granola bar, and enjoy the view. Caleb got a little worried when Brandon told him that there were wild animals out there that would eat him alive.
We also found an arroyo that the kids had fun in climbing over the rocks. Caleb filled his pockets with rocks while Kelsie and Brandon raced up and down and all around. I am so curious to see what it's going to look like around here when things start to turn green less brown. We're looking forward to more hikes and possibly even a backpacking trip this summer. We may have to rethink that one since Isaac likes to pull hair and Kelsie almost had a breakdown when we talked about it, but it might happen!
It has been so nice here that we've finally had to break out the flip flops and turn off the heat during the day. I have been opening windows as well! I can't remember the last time I did that in February!
