Luke's Birthday

Luke turned 6. He was really excited to invite a school friend, a couple of friends from the neighborhood and AJ and Landon to his party. We went to Classic Fun Center. They played in the big playland and laser tag. Luke didn't want any pictures at his party. If he saw the camera out, he would take off and I couldn't find him. He got a lot of fun new toys and he's still playing with all of them. Kira stayed home and took her nap during the party but was so excited to see the cake and kids when we got back.

October

I have been busy lately and haven't had much of a chance to write on here. Todd turned 34 on the 24th and he had an uneventful birthday. Then, Halloween started. We don't do that much for Halloween but Todd and his brothers took the 7 kids to Hogle Zoo for trick or treating on the saturday before Halloween and they got a lot of candy. Unfortunately, Jonah put his bag down somewhere so he had to share with Luke.

They carved these pumpkins while I was gone one night. Luke did Batman (until he cut his hand), Jonah did the vampire (with help from Uncle Tim) and Todd made the smiley face for Kira.

On Halloween, we got really busy. As Todd was walking out the door for trick-or-treating in his mom's neighborhood, I handed him the camera and told him to make sure that he got pictures of the kids in their costumes. Well, he got lots of pictures of Kira in hers but the boys were running as fast as they could with their cousins and so we still need to hit up Tim to get pictures from his camera. Hopefully, he has some. Kira loved trick-or-treating and trunk-or-treating and knows which candy is hers. She likes the suckers the best.

Today is Election Day and so my neighbor offered to watch Luke & Kira so I could go vote in peace. But, there was absolutely no line when I went to vote. Anyway, my neighbor, Jill, really just wanted to get her hands on Kira's hair. Kira wanted to be behind the camera and not in the picture. By the way, she would never hold still this long if I was trying to do her hair. And, it looked really cute.

Todd is going to Minnesota first thing in the morning. He will only be there for a day and a half and apparently he has will be about an hour and a half from Minneapolis and so who knows if he will be able to see Reed, Allie and Jensen. Hopefully!

September

September came and went in such a hurry. We are just getting in the routine of school, homework, dinner, and bed. For most of the month that's all we had time to do. But, we're getting it down and so now we can hopefully get out of the house again. Todd has been in Wendover during the week since August but he should be done this week. Keep your fingers crossed that he'll get to do a job in SL because I am very tired. We went to the zoo with Allie & Jensen while they were here. And, we had so much fun. I didn't have my camera with me. My kids love Jensen. So, he managed to leave Utah with the sickness that we shared with him. Souvenirs from Utah don't get any better than that?

1st Day of Kindergarten

Here is Luke before his first day of Kindergarten. I was very worried that he was going to have a hard time. It wasn't great but he did pretty good for him. We went to meet the teacher last week and he didn't say one word to her so him talking to the aid on the first day is huge. He wants to walk home every day after school with Jonah but Jonah hates walking home. So, we'll see how that goes. I have had quiet afternoons to myself so far. Kira takes her nap while Luke is at school. I am enjoying having time to read and sew while everything is quiet at my house.

This is a cute picture of how creative he is. He is always thinking of ideas. He got this bat and knew what he wanted to do when we got home. So, here is Batman thanks to the cape that grandma sewed him two or three years ago for Halloween.

First Day of School

Today was Jonah's first day of second grade. He has Ms. Aggers who also taught him in kindergarten. He wouldn't let me take a picture at school unless I promised to get the shoes in. Please notice the Ecko's that are on his feet because that was the most exciting part of his first day.

Kindergarten starts a week later at our school. So, Luke has another week to worry about starting at his new school. His teacher is Ms. Clark and she was new last year so we don't know much about her.

Last week of Summer

We went to Bear Lake for three days last week. Grandpa came with us and we had a lot of fun. The boys loved having him there. Luke and Kira love the sand and Jonah loves the water and boats. Kira and Luke were really sick the last night and on the way home but we had a great time until then.

Thursday, we went to Liberty Park with friends and played in the water. That night, we had a fun party at Wheeler Farm. Luke is still talking about the funny magician there.

Friday night, we went camping for our ward campout. There were only a few families there this year. It's a good thing because Kira kept most of them up for an hour screaming. We think she still didn't feel great but after many attempts she finally took the cookie bribe we were offering and went back to sleep. We played games, roasted marshmallows and played in the river.

August

We went to Lagoon last week. Kira loved it except for the ride that she got sprayed in the face (Todd's idea to take her on). Luke didn't like the Wild Mouse (it's very jerky and you feel like you will fall off any minute) but he loved the other roller coasters like the Bat that your feet dangle below you. Jonah loved all of the big rides. He can go on any ride there so he tried to get on all of those. Grandpa Utah and Dad got too tired of the crazy rides to keep it up or he might have made it. There aren't many pictures of Jonah.

This week, we went to the Dinosaur Park in Ogden. It's pretty fun. We went with our friends that live up there. Here is a picture of the boys with Addie & Calder and one of Kira digging in the sand for dinosaur bones. She liked throwing sand more and climbing on the other kids but she tried it for a minute.

Days of 47 Float

The float was done just in time. There were some car troubles on the morning of the parade but three batteries got us through the parade. At the last minute, Luke was able to ride on the float because someone didn't come. It was a very long morning/ night. Todd was up all night and the rest of us had to get up at 4:00 a.m. Kira slept over at Barbees and had a great time over there. When the parade goes by, it seems like it is going really slowly but then all of the sudden there past you and digital cameras just don't go fast enough. Jonah's in green on the swing (sorry, it's really fuzzy) and Luke's in green under the globe. Before the parade, Luke was on the swing and Jonah was under the globe but they wanted to switch. Luke was not happy when I saw him during the parade but I didn't even think to see if there was something I could do to help him. They made new friends with the other kids and they had a great morning. That is also them sitting on the stairs when it was at the conference center where you could look at the floats up close. Todd is still really tired and not getting much done after work but that will get better.

Here are some pictures of the float. The two guys standing in front are the local newsanchors that were right by us all morning. They talked to several people about our float and they showed our float several times. So, there are some good shots of it on videotape even though the parade coverage didn't show the globe very well.

July

Yea! I am so glad that July is going so fast. Todd is so busy with the float. It is crazy! But, it is going to the South Towne Expo Center tomorrow for viewing and the parade is next Thursday. So, we are almost done. When I was there tonight, it didn't look very good but they were working fast and furious trying to finish up tonight. Here is a picture of what it looked like yesterday afternoon. Hopefully, I'll get pictures tomorrow when it's finished and it will look great!

And, our cute Kira. What is a blog post without pictures of our fun little baby? She is addicted to talking on the phone. You can't leave any phones down or she will turn them on and put them to her ear. She says "hi" but I think it sounds more like "ih". I didn't think I talked on the phone very much.

Here are pictures of our boys at our Utah Swimming Party. A slip 'n slide is totally acceptable in Utah since nobody has a pool. And, all the kids love our horse trough pool. And, finally, here are some pictures of the 4th of July Parade we go to. Todd considers it a sacred tradition to go to this parade. So, you can always find us in Kaysville hanging out at what we call the "Water Parade". Jonah is holding the fire hose with the bigger guy. Todd fills his truck with barrels of water to keep those buckets full. Luke & Kira don't want to play yet. And, this year, we had a vintage firetruck come up that belongs to the brother-in-law of our friends that we go with. Their whole family gets really excited too. And, Todd's family is starting to come. Our friend, Cyndi, is holding Kira.

We can't name most of the people in these pictures. But, they are with us. Our friends have a huge family and they all get involved. I just try to watch and make sure my kids don't end up in the street or lost.

Fyi: This post is long because I have had trouble downloading my pictures. But, I figured out my trouble today and so I hope I can post more often now.

Swimming Lessons

The boys had swimming lessons for 2 weeks. They are doing pretty well and are pretty independent at the pool by now. Luke is in an orange shirt and Jonah's is white.

Memorial Day Weekend

We went away for the weekend to Fruitland (by Strawberry Reservoir). It was pretty cold. The mountains of Utah haven't thawed yet. It snowed up there that weekend. But, we had a lot of fun. There were four babies, 8 kids, and 8 adults. We had a great weekend.

Kira's Birthday

Kira loves this birthday present. She also got a fun keyboard, bus, swimsuit, balls and dog that she really loves.

Here's Kira with her birthday cake when she was only eating the M&Ms.

1st Post

So, I finally decided to be a blogger. I don't want just anybody to look at it though. We're not very exciting at our house, so if I get a post on once a month I'll be doing pretty good.

Kira had a great 1st birthday. The cake was pretty messy. She loved the presents but she loved hugging Jensen more. She got lots and lots of cute clothes because she is so cute!!! Look at all of her hair and yes, she is walking all over the place. She LOVES dolls and stuffed animals right now.