There have been several times recently when I've thought "I wish I could blog about that" and yet I've been so far behind for so long that I wondered if I should just give up on the idea. Then I pulled open the blog and remembered how much I love having a record of what we have done and when. With our busy lives we do a lot, but without recording it, it is easily forgotten. So, here is a little over a year at a glance, but at least it's a summary I can look back on! Then I hope to be able to keep up a little better.
Adam does Destination Imagination with a group of kids each year and they do a fabulous job on some tough challenges! Team "I Forgot What I Was Going to Say"
For Spring Break we went to Utah! We had a wonderful time with Nana and Papa - we did lots of fun things, one of which was going bowling!
In June Brian, Seth, and I went to Victoria for our anniversary! It was such a wonderful trip and even though it was only one night, we had two very fun-filled days!
In July we got to go back to Utah! Lots of fun times included going to the Owlz game with Nana and Papa, the boys got to hike the Y, and then even more fun times with the cousins! The 4th of July was a blast with the pancake breakfast, balloon launch (but they couldn't launch with the wind), the parade, lunch at the park, and our traditional BBQ and fireworks! We also got to go to the Stadium of Fire and the boys loved it!
Another VERY fun activity in Utah was that Nana and Papa had set up an
AMAZING Race for us! They split us into teams and sent us all over Utah Valley to some fun and memorable sites and race to the finish! Brian, Nathan, and Matthew were very happy to be on the winning team! It was a super fun race for all!
We also got to take some fun trips to Wenatchee! We love that Brian's grandparents are there in the summer too and his grandma got to meet Seth for the first time!
We had fun going to Alki beach together and renting a six-person bicycle!
We had loads of fun going with our friends, the Hartmas, in their boat! The boys went camping on weekend and the girls met up for a day of boating, and then we also rented a house on the Columbia river with the Hartmas and Hesses for some fun days of boating!
For Labor Day weekend our friends, the Smarts, invited us to Long Beach to stay with them in their family beach house! It was a super fun trip and we got to go up to Portland later on Saturday to Sunday for Joshua's baptism and Luke's blessing!
And then summer came to an end - and the first day of 5th and 2nd grade came!
A week later Nathan started on his last year of preschool with Mrs. Cloud!
We had a great summer and fall - what cute boys!
Nana came to visit us in the fall and although you can't see it in the picture, we went up to Mt. Rainier together - it was a beautiful evening!
Our fall was filled with soccer! With all three boys on different soccer teams it was a crazy season trying to get them all to their practices and games! We did need to emphasize several times with Nathan that he can't play soccer like he does with his brothers - at home he just tries to tackle (to the ground) whichever brother has the ball and then go with it from there. He got it after a little while...
We love the pumpkin patch and love going with our friends every year!
In October we got to go on a fun trip to California with Brian's parents! The highlight was three days at Disneyland and going to the Not-So-Scary Halloween party!
While in California we spent Saturday on the beach playing in the waves and Sunday we got to go to the Mormon Battalion Visitors Center after church and to the San Diego Temple. It was a great weekend and ended with a great dinner with Brian's Aunt and Uncle that live in the area - it's always great to see family!
Halloween is always a fun time! Adam was Harry Potter, Matthew was a Storm Trooper, Nathan was a Wipeout Big Ball, and Seth was a little monkey!
Adam's last year in Night of the Notables and he was John Adams!
We got to go to Utah for the week of Thanksgiving! I had such a wonderful time with all the family, but especially loved the times with mom and Caryn - they're the best! We had a great time cooking lots of recipes from my Grandma's collection too that my mom has been blogging about. It was a great way to remember Grandma during Thanksgiving!
The boys LOVED being with their cousins!
For Christmas we got to go to Wenatchee! The kids loved being able to stay at Grammy and Grandpa's with the adults staying at the Ginos house. They had a blast with their cousins, loved caroling, crafts, making goodies, and going on hikes! Lots of wonderful memories and a fun Christmas morning at the Ginos house for us!
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The week after Christmas we had a quick change of plans and Adam and Matthew got to go to the Ashtons for a few days while Brian and I took the two little boys to go visit my parents for New Years! It was really fun to get to see them again so soon!
For Hanna's 15th birthday we got to take a girls trip to New York for the 'So You Think You Can Dance' auditions! They were being held at the building where my brother works, which is the only way we could get to see it without auditioning and Hanna is a wonderful dancer! We had a wonderful time touring the city, seeing the 9/11 memorial, taking the bus tour, going to Mary Poppins and Phantom, and going to the top of the Empire State building! We loved all the shopping too and it was wonderful having Cam be our guide!
Load of snow in January for us! Also a terrible ice storm that left us without power for about a day. We had fun, but didn't mind when it got back to the mid-50's.
Matthew's Harry Potter birthday! He had a super fun party with potions, care of magical creatures, defense against the dark arts, and much more! Super fun day!
Seth taking his first steps - on Matthew's birthday! Took him a while to figure it out, but then he took 5-6 steps when he first tried it out!
Matthew had been excited and preparing for his baptism for months! He was so excited to take this important step and was happy to have so much support from family. He got to be baptized on Nathan's birthday, so we got to have double the celebration!
Nathan wanted a Wipeout cake! With loads of help from Uncle Jon and Uncle Jerem it turned out just how he wanted it! He LOVED it!
Brian's grandma had been sick for most of the winter and he took a very impromptu trip to Arizona and he got to take her our cards and visit with her one last time. He had a wonderful visit and she passed away just a few days later - we were so glad he had that time with her. She was one amazing lady and is missed so much.
We decided to go as a family down to Arizona for GiGi's funeral - the boys have been so close to her and we wanted to let them be there. It was a very nice service and we were glad that we could be there with the family.
On the way down we went by way of California and decided to make a family trip and break up the trip a little. We got to go to Disneyland on the way down and the Grand Canyon on the way back home.
We also got to stay at Jacob Lake Inn on the way to Utah, which is by the North Rim and where I got to work when in college. We then got to go to St. George to see my grandparents! It was so good to see them and we had a wonderful visit!
Adam got his Webelo and his Arrow of Light in Scouts!
We got to go to the Mitchells for Easter - we had a wonderful time and got blessed with beautiful weather for the trip! We had a great Easter egg hunt, a fun afternoon at the park, and a great time coloring eggs on Saturday and a wonderful dinner on Sunday!
Nathan was thrilled to be an honorary Pine Wood Derby driver! With both Adam and Matt making cars this year Brian helped Nathan make one too and when we got there that night they needed an extra car to race so he got to participate! He was in heaven!
Hard to believe Adam is already 11 years old! He is growing up so fast, but is such a great young man and we couldn't be prouder! Excited to have a babysitter too!
Adam got to go on the 5th grade Camp Casey - he loved it!
Adam's science fair was on Tape Wars - trying to see which tape is the strongest!
Went on a hike to Twin Falls on a nice Spring Saturday! It was a beautiful hike!
It has been a great year and I regret not keeping a better record of it! Hopefully this will help us remember it and I can do better from now on!
