The rest of our California pics...and a few others

Jace wrote in the sand, "I love Evan". Evan was in our thoughts often as we enjoyed the beach. We kicked some sand for Evan.
I just like this picture :)
Jace

Do you think he likes the water?

Jace and Lance made some friends at the beach.

Lance blows bubbles as Kyle looks on. What a great baby! He was so good in that crib for most the time that we were there. He even got a nice nap in it!

I really like this one, too :)

2 happy beach boys!

Lance's favorite thing to do!

So Jared bought this ping-pong set so that we could have paddles to take to the school and play ping pong with Dad on one of our visits to the school. They have a room there with a couple fooz-ball tables, a pool table, and, of course, the ping pong table. But who needs the real thing when we've got this make-shift at home? Watch out for the pots!

Lance petting Zoey (sp?) who is sitting in Aunt Jamie's lap. ( Gramma Kimmy's house)

Heads Carolina, Tails California!

Here's a few pics from our blast at the beach.

We dropped by the beach after church. How would it be to do that every Sunday?

Here's Our Soccer Dude!

Favorite position: Goalie

cousins Kyle and Dylan (2weeks)

The cousins at the zoo: Lance, Logan, Ethan, Chandler, Kayden, Jace, and Jonah

The look-alikes


Howdy, partner!

More of our hikes with the BOB...

Uncle Jimmy and Kyle bein' cute

Jace is getting iron filings out of the dirt with his magnet.

Jared is doing a dance for Kyle as Lance jogs ahead.

Our attempt at a family pic. Hey Kyle! The camera's over there!

Aaah! Look at the great outdoors! I think we'll call THIS our backyard!

This is how far we got with the BOB.

Here's our BOB! (and another cute pic of Kyle)

Meet the BOB!

Our first outing.

How can I NOT take a picture of this smile?

The boys trying on hats at one of Jared's favorite stores, "Cabela's"

Lance and Kyle.

Kyle in the swing in our "backyard".

Jace 'n' Kyle after church

Sorry it's been a while. What have we been doing? We had Spring Break this past week. It snowed, so we didn't go to the cabin. Jared got lots done here, though. We have been doing research on jogging strollers for two kids. Mine is getting pretty beat up, and I can't take it on the trails above our home. Well, today Jared went and picked up my dream stroller! It's like an SUV, but a stroller. I think I'll call it an early Easter gift, since Jared spoiled me for my birthday and got me a hair straightener that I've been wanting. It's so cool, though! You can go anywhere with this stroller! It's a BOB Revolution stroller. Don't you love the name? Whoever would have thunk to call a stroller "BOB"? Anyway, tonight the kids and I went for a test drive in the stroller while Jared went to the Priesthood session. We walked and walked forever! There was no limit! Well, there was... after we were up the mountain a bit and the trail got a little more narrow. But in the other stroller I wouldn't have even been able to go very far down the gravel road to even get to the trails. Jace was walking ahead of me and moving the rocks out of the way so we could keep going further. What a gentleman :) Once we got to our highest point, we hung out for a while while Jace caught crickets and Lance threw rocks. On the way back home, Lance jogged the whole way. He has really gotten into the jogging thing. We have been taking walks to Red Butte Gardens right here next to where we live, and he sees joggers all the time. He gets out and jogs, even when we're going uphill! A break for me! But I was surprised at Lance's endurance. Like his Dad! (Jared was in track) If I had known he was going to jog that far, I would have put some shoes on rather than the sandals he was wearing! Every once and a while he'd fall on his knees and sometimes cry, but he kept getting up and going! I'm excited to go on more hikes with this awesome cool new toy we have.

I can't believe he's already 5 MONTHS OLD!

Happy 5 MONTHS Birthday, Kyle!

Jr. Jazz Jace

Here's our Jr. Jazz basketball player :) Today was his last game :( They had so much fun!
He's looking forward to next year's season, and is now trying to decide between indoor or outdoor soccer, softball, or tennis. He says he wants to think about it.

Kutie Kyle!


I made Jared pose for the blog. He's in the middle of shaving his beard off. He tried a few different styles. How do you like this one?
Lance is wearing the pajamas he got from Great-Granny for Christmas! Thanks, Granny!



So just a quick update... Jared did well on all his tests. Woohoo! He's also been working out a lot lately to get back in shape. Lance pooped on the toilet yesterday. YEA!!!!!! Jace has continued ace his spelling tests - including all the bonus words. He's been reading "chapter books" and loving it. Tonight, he read to Lance at bedtime. Kyle's rolling all over the place. But it's just one way. He doesn't know how to roll the other way yet. I'm still doing the same stuff :) We're looking forward to the snow storm tomorrow - we don't have to drive anywhere! I love being in a snowstorm when I don't need to go anywhere :) Jace is getting really excited for spring. He and Lance got outside today and played some football, basketball, and softball. (just catching, dribbling, passing, and swinging at the ball.)

Happy Valentine's Day!

CELEBRATE!

Today is Kyle's FOUR MONTH OLD BIRTHDAY!
Happy 4-month Birthday, Kyle!
Look at those rolls! My how he's grown!

(I had fun with this picture - the background is the Bear Lake sky last summer :)

February 5

Life at the Martins is going good. Jared just took his first exam this semester in Biochemistry. How'd it go? I don't know. I haven't seen Jared yet today. But he studied hard! Next Monday he will also have another exam, but it's in General Physiology. Then the following Monday is his exam in Human Genetics. The he gets a break for that next Monday but then the NEXT Monday is his next Biochem test. This is different from last semester when they gave them a bunch of tests at the same time, like all in the same week.
Jace is really enjoying Junior Jazz. His team won their first game last Saturday! They beat a team that was undefeated until they met. Jace and Dad went to the Jazz game against the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday last week, and it was SO FUN! We won! Jace got to learn what "Nose-bleed Seats" meant. They got the tickets free for being on Junior Jazz. He's also doing well in school, from what I see. In spelling he got all the words right PLUS the 3 bonus words, so we're having a popcorn party tonight!
Lance is enjoying his art class. Every Wednesday, he gets to go and learn different ways to express himself with colors and paper. This last time, he made a cool flag with different shaped stamps and paint. The stamps worked for a while, but when he discovered that it's easier to just put his fingers in the paint and spread it all around, he had a lot of fun with it, and it changed the whole picture! Right now he really enjoys playing catch and also pushing around his Hot Rod cars. He's really good at dumping all the toys out of the box. It makes a great sound! He puts them on the race track and races them down the spiral. Everywhere we go, he's got cars (and his two little helicopters) with him. He keeps them in his coat pockets.
Kyle continues to be a sweet, soft, cuddly baby. Actually, he's getting to be quite solid! Jared weighed him on the scale here at home and it said he weighs 17 LBS! He's also getting quite mobile. Last Thursday, he rolled over both ways! Then Friday he started grasping toys! He's growing too fast!
I was able to get outside today with Lance and catch some rays from the sun. It was beautiful outside, and we had a great time at the playground with the other kids and moms.
I'll put pictures in the next blog :)
Thanks for visiting!

Here is a pic of us at the Holiday Ball put on by the MSA (Medical Spouse Association). I had some fun with this and added the background. The background is taken (last January) from the front yard at our house in Layton.

Happy Birthday,Evan

Yesterday was Evan's 5th birthday. We had this picture laminated and also a cute letter Jace wrote to Evan. We put them up at Evan's grave along with a little Christmas tree with 5 white bows on it. The baby on the left in the flower shape is Evan just after he was born. ( The one on the right is Kyle)
Evan's Minute tree at our old house is being well taken care of by the current owners. They are wonderful people. She decorated it with ornaments, bows and lights. I love them!

Here is Jared's last wish he granted. This is Ross. The guy on the right is another Make A Wish volunteer that helped Jared (his son had a brain tumor also and also received a wish.)
Ross is 3 and a half and has A.L.L. Leukemia. He is still undergoing treatment. His wish was to have a Fire House in his basement. His wish was granted, complete with his fireman uniform, a pole to slide down, a kitten stuck up in a tree, and a ride with the real firefighters in their fire truck. It was an amazing day. He was on several news channels and in the paper. He is a really dang cute kid. Jace loves being a part of these Make A Wish things. He keeps asking dad when he is going to do another wish. It has been a great experience for our family.

Kyle is ONE
MONTH
OLD!
Aaaw... aren't they sweet? Hey, check out that middle finger on Jared! He got in a fight with his truck. He sliced the tendon above his knuckle in two working on the engine. Didn't he break his arm 2 years ago when Lance was a newborn? Jared, if you really don't want to change the diapers, just say so!

A pile of boys!
I caught Lance smiling again in Grandma Judy's arms!

Boys 'n' their babes
Who do you think Kyle looks like?
Jared wasn't sure how he was going to tell the boys that the firetruck that was inside this huge box wasn't for them, it was for his Make a Wish kid. When it came time to open it and put it together, he explained to Jace that it was for this boy with Leukemia. The first thing that came out of Jace mouth was, "Can I have the box?" He and Lance had a great time decorating their house.

This is the helicopter Lance got for his birthday. He keeps it close by him all day, and even sleeps with it! We have a helipad right by our apartments now. The Lifeflight Helicopter is temporarily using this one while they do construction on the other one, so Lance has gotten to watch and hear the helicopter take off and land many times. He talks nonstop about "the teletopter!" Maybe he'll be a pilot someday :)
Jace vaccumed the carpet and had so much fun, he wanted to vacuum the couches, too! He took them apart and really gave them a good deep vacuum cleaning. He has become quite the handy helper at home. Aside from helping in the kitchen with setting the table and unloading the dishwasher, he can't wait 'til he's tall enough to turn on the washing machine! Today, he got Lance dressed for church! Thank goodness, or we would have REALLY been late!
I have asked Jace if he would stay home from school to help me. He said, "Mom, I want to go to school!" He wouldn't even take a ride with me to school one morning that I was going anyway, because he wanted to ride the school bus.

Lance is a caterpillar, Kyle is a little pumpkin, and Jace scared everyone at the Halloween party with his vampire costume! He even won the "Scariest Costume" prize!
Lance is enjoying the cake he won at a Halloween party cake walk.