Kate's Soccer Season

Kate has been playing on a U10 soccer team this season.  They changed the teams a little and made them smaller, so Dave and his friend, Bobby Judd, coached Kate's team.

Here are a few pictures from her game tonight...

 Annika & Kate

Jack got to play a few minutes during Kate's game.  There weren't many kids, so Jack played so the other kids could have a rest.

Go Portland!

Kite Festival

We went to the annual Kite Festival in White Rock.  The kids got to make their own kite and got a free t-shirt.

 It was really windy!

Grandma was an expert knot-untier.  She helped the kids untangle their kids and helped them get them up in the air.

 Nick enjoyed the kite flying from the stroller.

We finally left the kite festival because it was too windy! 

Nick's Blessing

We finally blessed Nick on May 15, 2013!  He wasn't quite 5 months old.  People teased us that we're going to bless him and baptize him at the same time since we waited so long.  Vaughn & Marianne were finally able to come visit us, so we waited for them to finish moving to their new house before we blessed Nick.

We blessed him at home on Wednesday evening.  The kids got home from soccer practice and changed into their Sunday clothes.  Brother Judd (a counselor in the bishopric and our favorite neighbor) and his wife, Lynda, came over. 

Jack took this picture of Brother Judd and Dave while we were visiting.

Grandpa Judi, Brother Judd and Dave blessed Nick.  He was pretty happy.  They held him so he was sitting up.  He was all smiles and then towards the end of the blessing he started arching his back.  I guess it was time for Dave to stop.  :)

We went out into the backyard and took a few pictures. 

Nick's First Real Food

Nick has started to get excited when we're eating dinner.  He watches us take bites.  So, I dug out the Munchkin Fresh Food holder and put a piece of banana in it.  He loved it!  He chewed on it and got lots of banana into his mouth (through the mesh). 

 He could hold onto it for a few seconds by himself. 

Photography by Kate of a Sunday Afternoon

Kate took this picture of the boys one Sunday afternoon while the adults and Nick were taking a much needed nap. 

Derek & Meagan & Kids Visit!

Derek & Meagan and their family came to visit us!  We let the kids miss two days of school, so they could play with their cousins. 

The first day Dave had to work, so we went to Bandelier without him.  We hadn't been back to Bandelier since the fire two years ago.  There was some flooding at Bandelier, so it was interesting to see the damage.

The kids were great hikers and loved the ladders!  Ty hadn't been up the ladders before, since he was too little when we had gone before.

 It rained a little bit on us. 

 After the ladder part of the hike, the kids had fun running ahead of us and scaring us.

The next day we went on a hike in town from Walnut Street park through the canyon and over a few bridges and ended up by the Aquatic Center.  We walked to Ashley Pond and bought lunch at El Parasol.  Then the kids played at the library playground and skate park.  Then we rode the bus home.  The bus was definitely a highlight for the kids!  I didn't take any pictures, since I had to carry Nick and the camera is too bulky.  It was fun!

Bouncy Chair Nick

Someone took a few pictures of Nick in his bouncy.  I don't think I did it...

 He doesn't really like being in the bouncy chair anymore.  He prefers sitting up. 

He tolerates it for a little while and likes to put his feet up on the toy bar.

Pirate Day

The kids' school has been having spirit days a few times a week.  Here's pirate day...

 Ty too!

She Changes Diapers!

The last month or so Kate has started to get up on her own each morning at 6:30.  She gets dressed and eats breakfast and sometimes makes her own lunch.  If she has extra time, she'll get Nick dressed.  This means that she changes his diapers!  Hooray!  So nice!

 

Jack's 7th Birthday

Jack is seven! 

 

He started out his birthday by opening up a few presents before school. 

  A firetruck lego set...

And a new shirt...

Jack requested Lucky Charms for breakfast...

 Jack's birthday was on a Wednesday, so the kids only go to school until noon.  At 11:15 the whole family got to go to his class at school, even Kate got to come.  We got to tell the class one thing that happened to Jack each year of his life.  We said something like this:
0-1 Moved to New Mexico from UT and started walking at 9 months.
1-2 Moved back to UT for 9 months and got his first basketball hoop.
2-3 Moved back to New Mexico. 
3-4 Learned how to ride a bike without training wheels when he was three.
4-5 Played on his first soccer, basketball and t-ball teams.
5-6 Got bucked off a horse and got right back.
6-7 Ran his first cross country one mile race.

I made a timeline with a picture of each birthday for Jack to show his class.  We brought bags of caramel popcorn to share with his class too. 

After school it was birthday party time!  He invited a few friends over:  Anna Miller, Megan Harden, Zack Stidham, Lyas Eidenbenz, Josiah Frequez, and Eddie Gartz.

They had pizza, watermelon, and veggies for lunch.  Then they played some games with m&ms and legos.  

After present opening time, Kate and her friend, Sophi, planned a treasure hunt for them.  Then we did an obstacle course. 

The boys played plenty of basketball, inside and outside.  The girls were happy watching.

Jack wanted a "Jimmer 32 BYU jersey cake".  It was chocolate cake and I attempted to make it look like a jersey.  Not exactly BYU blue, but that's as dark as I could get the frosting to be. 

 I think Jack liked it.  He got to put the candles on.

 The party gang, all 10 of them (11 counting Nick). 

 Josiah & Jack & Lyas

Jack spent the rest of the afternoon after his friends left playing legos.  Eddie got to stay and play a few hours after the party.  They played legos the whole time.  Then after a quick dinner of mini hot dogs and corn on the cob, we went to Kate's soccer practice in White Rock.

The day after Jack's birthday he got another present from Kate & Ty (a dinosaur lego set).  All together, he got four lego sets for his birthday.  He played legos for days!

Happy birthday Jack!

Here's a little about Jack:

• He's happy a lot!  (He's usually smiling and happy even when he's not listening and getting in trouble.)
• He is a sweet brother.  He is buddies with Kate at school.  He plays a lot to Ty and will read him stories.  He loves to hold Nick and is awesome at giving him his binkie while we're driving.
• He reads very well!  He reads with expression too.  His teacher told me several months ago that she loves hearing him read.
• He's shy sometimes.  He wants to do things right and doesn't want to break rules or get in trouble.
• He's awesome at every sport that he plays! 
• We LOVE Jack!