6th Grade Graduation

The last elementary school event ever!! It was a nice program, but of course it went over time. But, it I was happy to be there to watch my little Liam graduate from elementary school.

Good thing they had some brownies afterward. Gavin's craziness during the program needed to be rewarded. It's so sad for me to leave Cascade. I'm standing here in the same lunchroom that I ate in when I was in elementary school. It's sad to think it's the last time I'll go in. We are in a new school boundary now so Gavin will go to the new school. We couldn't make Liam switch schools and leave his friends. I'm glad he has had such a good school and such great teachers.

Dance Festival 2010

Liam and his friend Carsen doing the hoedown.

I can't believe it's his last dance festival! He did a great job, even though he doesn't love the dancing. Just give him a few years I guess.

Liam's a DEACON!

We are so excited to that Liam is 12 and is now a Deacon! He's such a good kid and we are really proud of him. Jim was able to ordain him the day after his birthday. So many of our family members were able to come and support him. It was a very nice day.

Looking good, but missing the ties. But of course that's the first thing you need to do when you walk in from church, right?

Grandma Sue and Grandpa Rick. Looks like even more time has passed allowing them to get out of those Sunday clothes!

Liam was really happy that his grandma was able to fly in from Kentucky. She's been very supportive of Liam and we were so glad she could be here.

And of course there's the food!! I'm pretty sure Stephen was the first one out of his church clothes, or maybe it was Melissa. All I know is that it was so crazy getting things ready to eat that I think I was the last one to get into the comfy clothes. As you can see, comfort is important to me. At least Roxanne's delicious salad was still there when I finally got to eat!

Thanks to all that came, brought food, and gave their support. We have a GREAT family!

Soccer or No Soccer??

I'll start by saying, YES I know the picture is blurry. I have a love hate relationship with my camera. I can't work it on many occasions.

So, Liam played on a competition soccer team this year. The first half - hmmmm - ranked almost at the bottom of the league. The second half - moved up to about the middle. But, it was a much harder situation than he was used to. More practices and much more demanding practices. A coach that loved to YELL and usually at the ref (sometime even using some choice words and getting called out). It was great having the ref against us. Anyway, after this season he's thinking that's it for soccer. He's pretty fast and is thinking about moving to track since he'll be in jr. high next year. I have to say I'm feeling a little depressed about that. I love to go and watch his games!! Maybe track will be fun to watch too. But, I only have one season to sit out before Gavin gets to start soccer! He's ready to go! Who knew I'd love being an actual soccer mom??

Catching Up....

OK, I have been horrible about blogging. I'm going to blame Facebook for it. I hear everything and tell everything on FB so I forget about blogs. I forget to post and I forget to read them. The bad thing is that my son's teacher has a blog with daily homework that we all could have really benefited from reading every day!! So, here's a quick catch up on the last couple of months.

Easter!

This was our first Easter in our new home. We did the same old traditions as usual - egg hunt, baskets, toys. But this year was nice because General Conference was on Easter so we didn't have to get up and dressed so quickly!!

Gavin got some things to use in his new sandbox! Too bad it took such a long time before he could use them.

Liam and his Nerf gun!!

And of course, the SNOW!!

Andrea's BABY!!

Was are so excited to have a new little cousin in the family!! My sister Andrea had her baby in April, 9 days early I think! He's such a cute and VERY good boy. Luckily I get to babysit sometimes. Gavin just LOVES him! When he was born Gavin went around the house and found things for baby Trey. He talks about him and is always so excited to see him.

Court of Honor

I never thought of myself as much of a "scout parent", but I've enjoyed Liam being in the program. It's been a good way for him to get to know boys in our neighborhood as we've moved over the last couple of years. I think it helps him to see that he is good at things and he is able to feel good about accomplishing things.

The ward we just moved into is way behind Liam. He's been going but hasn't had a lot to do. He had a Court of Honor on March 21st and received 3 more merit badges (reading, scholarship, first aid). He has already earned another 3 for next time (space exploration, law, swimming). With the 3 he had before the Court of Honor (environmental science, forestry, geology) I would say that he is making good time on getting these done. Now he just needs to earn $100 for his scout camp in July. They want the boys to earn it on their own. We sure have a lot of yard work available....lucky for Liam.

I'm very proud of Liam and how hard he works. He really is a very good kid with a good heart. He likes to do well. We are glad he is getting Gavin excited for scouts already!

Skiing at Sundance

So, Liam and I were given free tickets to ski at Sundance this year!! I have not been on skis since before Liam was born. I have to say I was a little worried about how I might do. I was surprised at how easily it came back to me. Not that I'm a great skier, but I only fell one time. Unfortunately that one time was on a part of the mountain where everyone going up on the ski lift could watch. Falling isn't the hard part, getting up is.

Liam was able to take skiing lessons starting when he was about 5, but hasn't been up in over a year. He is much better than I am. He would just meet me at the bottom. Then, when I needed a little rest (and delicious cookie) he did a run on his own.

Here is our $100 pizza & $20 drinks....OK, I may be exaggerating a bit. Next time I will know not to eat at the cafe. Instead I'll be going to the building with the grill and buying from the little counter by the store. Their sandwiches aren't pre-made and they have a better variety. Just in case you are planning to go....

Here is the way Liam would go and leave me behind. He's a little tricky and went on little curvy paths. My knees can't take that.

It really was a fun day. I love spending time with Liam.

He's a good kid, even if he is better on skis than his mom.

I have to just say that it was snowing the first half of the day. That is why I look like this. No, I do not have goggles or a helmet. I just have to get my face and hair wet. Maybe if I can afford to ski more than once a decade I will invest in some nice ski equipment.

Birthdays

In our family we are lucky enough to have a birthday once a month for the first 4 months of the year. It helps us spread out our trips to Tucanos for our free meals. I realized that I had not updated the blog in a while and missed our first 2 birthdays of the year. With my birthday in just over a week, I think we'll try to skip that one all together and update again at Liam's birthday in April.

Anyway.....I made an awesome cake for Jim's birthday which was in January. Do you see how well I can decorate a cake?

Next, we celebrated Gavin's 3rd birthday in February. Gavin LOVES his birthday! We had a party with the Jim's family since Gavin and 2 of his cousin's have birthday close to one another. Gavin developed an excellent new smile for his birthday pictures!

Gavin developed an excellent new smile for his birthday pictures.

It looks like grandpa has developed the same smile.

On Gavin's actual birthday we had a small party with just our little family. Gavin got to open his presents.

Then the next night my family came over to celebrate. Gavin got a lot of birthday attention that month.

Apparently, Gavin doesn't love our singing!

Christmas 2009

Liam and Gavin putting their ornaments on the tree. Every year each family member makes an ornament for the tree. Pretty soon the homemade decorations are going to over-run the tree. Everyone gets to put their own ornaments on the tree. It's a fun tradition.

The tree is done and presents are ready to go.

Everyone getting ready to open Christmas Eve pjs. I'm already wearing mine.

Gavin seems to like his pjs.

Me and my boys on Christmas day.

Jim and Gavin checking out the Snuggie. For some reason Gavin has been obsessed with Snuggies. So, Jim got him one for Christmas. I don't know that it's as fun as Gavin thought it would be. Nothing will replace his "B". (B is the blanket my grandma made him)

First Presidency Christmas Devotional 2009

This year we were able to get tickets to the First Presidency Christmas Devotional! We have never been to see the Prophet speak in person, so it was a great experience.

We took Trax downtown. Liam and Trevan tried to see how long they could stand before falling over.

Liam and I in our seats. Same place we sat the last time we went.

This was Trevan's first trip to the Conference Center. Liam was happy not have another kid along for a change.

Me with all of my sisters.

Another pose with my Liam.

Temple Square 2009

This year we went with half of Jim's family to see the lights at Temple Square.

It's so nice to be close enough to do this every year as a family tradition.

Liam with the Nativity at the pool

Nativity scene outside the visitor center.

This year we went into the museum across the street. They have a lot of fun activities going on there at Christmas time. I recommend stopping in!

Even though it's blurry, it's a good pose of Liam and Santa at the Museum.

Liam "giving a talk" at the museum

Gavin and aunt Kristina working on the puzzle.