Go Cougars...

Since last year Cael has been in love with BYU.  I was lucky enough to score the hospital seats for the opening night of Cougar Football.  Cael was so excited about going and actually sitting inside the stadium.  The game didn't start till 8:00 which is usually his bed time but he was a good sport about it and didn't complain.  They led Washington State the whole game and we ended up leaving after 3 quarter so we could beat traffic and get home by midnight.  We had a really good time and I hope we can go again.

Back to normal...

It finally feels like normal in our neck of the woods.  With all the neighbors having tons of summer fun I have hardly seen my "Other" kids.  Today we celebrated our reunion by the kids drawing me a chalk house that covered my driveway.  The power lines are across the top and then Brax added a robot that builds roads.  It was perfect.  Welcome back Normal!

Brax, Alex, Addie, & Kensie

Back to School 2012....

It's that time of year again for bed times, homework, and most of all a routine!  Man has this summer went by fast, but it has been a good one and we were able to do a lot of fun things.  This year the school added several new teachers and Cael was put into Mrs. Stevens class.  She seems really fun and Cael was excited to start after we left back to school night.  The last couple of weeks he has been bored and missing his friends.  This year he was also excited about Cooper going to 1st grade so they can share lunch and recess together and ride their bikes to school.

Cael & Mrs. Stevens

Ready to go...notice the white bulldog hand sanitizer hanging from his backpack.  Out of everything fun we bought for back to school this was his favorite.  Funny kid!

Waiting to get in with Carter Mcpherson & Will Harmon.  Cael was so excited that Carter was in his class again this year because as he put it "Carter is Sooo funny".  Will and Alex Jackson are in Mrs. Websters and in fact has never been in Cael's class, but they have become good friends on the playground.  It amazes me how easy he makes friends.  I hope Kensie has the same luck but so far she claims to not have any friends.  I keep telling her she's not going to have friends if she keeps being so bossy, she just looks at me and yells for me to get out of her room.....we will pray for a miracle for that little attitude!

He got some good reviews on his ultra bright blue shoes.  He loves them almost as much as his hand sanitizer....goof ball!

I took this the second day of school and if I must say he is quite handsome.  I've had more older ladies comment on what a ladies man he's going to be.....I have a feeling he's going to cause me some serious stress in about 8 years.

Juab County Fair 2012

August 8, 2012

It's been a couple of years since we participated in the Junior night rodeo in fact Kensie has never done it, but I thought I would still sign her up.  Cael had agreed to muttin bustin but unfortunately they had a weight limit of 65 lbs so I signed him and Gavyn up to ride a calf instead.  (A funny side note was the girl that was doing the sign-ups said when the sheep owner told her there needed to be a weight limit she laughed and said there was no way a kid under 8 could weigh that much.  Another mom was standing in line with me and was shocked to learn Cael weighed that much since her son, who is a month younger, looked like he weighed 30lbs soakin wet)  Cael is by no means overweight he is just solid muscle and sports a six pack.  Back to the rides...Cael was nervous about riding a calf, but I reassured him that Gavyn and Conner were both doing it too so he agreeed to try.  Kensie on the other hand a complete melt down and refused to even get near.

Casey, Brady and the kids waiting to get on.  Wyatt is standing back behind.

Coop had a hard landing, but took it like a cowboy.

Halle was a champ and hung on tight.

Candy Dig before the calf riding.

Conner was up first and made it 8 seconds.

Gavyn drew a really wild calf, but held on tight.  That is my cousin Tyson in the chute helping the boys.  He is truly the big brother me and Nikki never had and is always helping us out.  I honestly know he wants ours kids to succeed just as much as his own and is always encouraging and helping coach the boys.  He's awesome...We love him!

Cael was one of the last ones out and had told Casey he was just going to jump off as soon as they opened the gate.  Tyson told him he needed to stay on and get in the money and that he did.  Luckily his calf was on the mellow side, but Cael rode him to the other side of the arena.  He said the clowns finally told him to jump off. 

It turned out he had the best ride of 18 kids and won a buckle.  Some of the kids were really into it and had their Cowboy hat, glove, chaps, & riding vest on.  Cael wore his surf t-shirt and BYU hat with a flat brim....talk about city slicker.  He was really excited about the buckle and wore it the next couple of night down to the fair.  I was so proud of him.  A couple of years ago I had a celebrity crush on one of the Brazilian PBR rider name Guilhermie Marchi...the man is gorgeous.  Well Cael tans really well in the summer and I'm always telling him that he tans like his dad...Guilhermie.  The next morning Casey commented that Cael must have inherited his bull riding skills from his dad...Guilhermie.  Now if only he could inherit some of him money!

The kids also put projects in to be judged.  This is all because they have the best aunt ever who is on top of it and keeps them involved.  Nikki said Kensie was the most into it and spent hours working on her projects and even did some of Gavyn's.  It's true hard work pays off because she was the only one to received blue ribbons on all her crafts.  She was so excited!  They entered Shell families, foam magnets, tin foil art, hand print art, painted wood angry birds, and a ceramic.

Kensie's is the pumpkin, Halle did a boat, Gavyn did a self portrait of him riding a calf, and Cael drew a blue bird

Kensie's hand print pumpkins...with eyelashes!  You can tell she was a fall baby...she love pumpkins.

Aug 10, 2012

We did the bicycle barrel race again this year.  That morning I set up a coarse out front and had the boys practice the pattern.  Cael had broke it last year so I wanted to make sure that he understood.  All the practice payed off because he placed 5 out of 30+ kids and Cooper place also in his age.  We are going to step it up next year and win for our district.. I mean neighborhood next year. ( a little hunger games humor for ya ;)

We ended fair week with the ATV rodeo on friday and the Derby on Saturday.  They had a packed house at the derby and reached a new record high for tickets sold.  We also tried to go to the livestock judging during the week and watched Libbi place in the diaper derby.  We had a great week and I can't wait until next year!

Swimming Lessons 2012...

It's that time of year again to get brushed up on our mermaid skills.  My kids love swimming and I'm thankful they didn't take after their dad and sink to the bottom of the pool.  They both advanced up this year and learned loads.  Kensies teachers were Cami Jacobsen, Hilary Dyreng and Chantel Harmon and Cael had Alicia Johnston and two others that I didn't know.  Cael can now do some freestyle swimming and actually move forward in the water.  It took him a couple of days to get comfortable with going off the diving board, but sure enough was able to jump off and swim to the other side without a life jacket.  I said before that with the new splash pad I know we will be going more so hopefully he will continue to improve.  Kensie is still getting use to the water and loved playing with the float boards.

Does this not remind you of sandlot????

Holding her breath under water.  We practiced this a lot in the tub at home.



He's swimming....better than both his parents!



Diving practice

Welcome Baby Meghan...



Today was a great day for our family.  Chris and Jakoye welcomed a healthy baby girl.  Miss Meghan not only decided when she would come, but she chose a very special day....her brother's birthday.  He would be 2 years old and not a day goes by that I don't think of him and what he would be doing.  Jakoye was a trooper and I can't even imagine the emotions she went through.  I'm glad everything worked out and excited to have a new baby in the family.