Jace took this picture of us. I think he did pretty good :)

Hangin' out at the Provo riverside. Can you believe this is part of the backyard at the cabin? It was another Paradise! (Next to the beach, of course :)



Jace cannot put Harry Potter book #2 down!

Jared went fly fishing while Lance played in the river and Jace caught fish with his net.

Basketball Boys!

Jace practicing with his new bow. He hit the same spot in the bullseye twice!
Lance following his brother's footsteps...

Lance playing softball

Can he look any more content?

Jared practiced with his target here before the hunt began. Isn't it a beautiful view? He shot a few bullseyes as well. Odds are looking good for the deer/elk hunter...

Lance loves his baby Kyle

Do you know any boys that can pass up the chance to throw rocks in a river?

I love this photo!

Icecream, you scream!

Aren't they so sweet? More pix from the cabin to come...

Love My Kids!

I want to write a few happy notes about my kids. I cannot believe Lance is going to be THREE next month. He is talking more and more clearly each day. He loves being outside. His favorite cereal is "Life". He loves building "tall" towers with Legos. He loves tractors, trucks, firetrucks, and buses. (Daddy took him for a ride on bus and the Trax train one day and, every few minutes, he said with a big smile, "Dad! We're on the BUS!") He loves the colors red and pink. At the grocery store, when he and Jace go to get a helium balloon, he asks for a pink balloon. How does that saying go? "Real men wear pink"? Also, there is a pink bike with training wheels outside that he just loves to ride. So I got Evan's bike out and he has enjoyed riding it since.
Kyle has begun his first steps about 2 weeks ago. He took 5 steps yesterday. GO KYLE!
Jace just finished reading the first Harry Potter book. He still loves catching bugs. Lately he has been more interested in praying mantises. He continues to feed his lizard, "Sandy" and clean her poop out, etc. He is also really good at mopping the kitchen floor! It makes me so happy to walk on that floor when he's done and know that he did that :) He just bought his first bow and arrow with his birthday money at Cabela's. (Do you think Dad had anything to do with that?) He is looking forward to practicing with it at the cabin this week.
Jared is going to enjoy his last week before school starts at the cabin with us. He's going to scout the deer before he shoots it with his bow and arrow on the first day of the hunt, Saturday. Optimistically, we will come home from the cabin with a deer and Jared will be ready to start school on Monday, the 20th. Then Jace begins the following week.
Yesterday we went to the Water, Fire, and Ice Festival in Kearns. (Swimming, Fireworks, Iceskating) It's quite an event. We had so much fun! They had platforms and diving boards, and a huge bucket that dumps a huge waterfall every 10 minutes or so - which Jace did ONE time. I joked that he had to do it again so I could get a picture, and he wasn't up for that. Lance ran back and forth between the water and his towel. Kyle actually waded in the water and took some steps!
I was amazed with their ice skating rink. It was used for some of the races in the Olympics, I believe. It had Olympic pictures all over the place. Jace also couldn't wait to try out the ice. So while Jared took Lance and Kyle to the silent auction, etc., Jace and I tried out our skills on the ice. I was so impressed with Jace! We talked about how to fall safely, and he did so well! He didn't even get discouraged from falling numerous times. He held my hand or to the side and just wanted to keep going. I asked him if he was okay on his own while I skated around the rink. Of course he was :) After I got back around to him, he had two friends with him that he'd just met. They were talking like old buddies as they skated along and held on to the side. I was so proud! We skated for quite a while and when I asked Jace if he wanted to go, even though he said his feet were cold or uncomfortable, he wanted to keep skating. I guess I was just amazed that he wanted to keep going even though he was having to work really hard to keep his balance.

Anyway, I just wanted to get these notes down because I'm just so happy with and proud of my kids!

I can't believe he's TEN MONTHS OLD!

Look how big he's gotten! He's growing up! I took these today in celebration of his 10-month birthday. Happy Ten Months, Kyle! Look at that happy face!

Jace was thrilled to have Kyle in the sandbox. It's Kyle's first time in, and he kept most of the sand out of his mouth! He loved running his fingers through the sand.

July Fun

Here are the pictures from Jace's birthday party, but first:
These are the only pics I got while we were at Cottonwood Heights pool last Thursday. Jace getting warm on the hot patio and Lance just enjoying the water. It was a blast! We went with some friends, Jared played with the kids, and I spent a lot of time over at the diving boards. They had several platforms that I didn't dare go on, but I found to my surprise that I can still do flips and dive! Woohoo! I asked Jace if he wanted to come watch me dive. "Na." He was having his own great time. Who wants to watch some Mommy dive? So what if she does cool tricks?

Kyle, Jace, cousins Logan and Kayden, and Lance cooling by the misters at Hogle Zoo.

Jared's Dad, and us (Kyle sleeping outta sight) at Red Lobster celebrating Jace's birthday. We used to live by this Red Lobster in Layton, and Jace would ask quite often if he could go there. We told him, maybe for your birthday.... He ordered his favorite - crab legs.....Is he spoiled?

This is Jace's birthday bash in the backyard. He asked for yet another backyard water party. Jace is easy to please :) We had grilled hotdogs for lunch and Jared kept us cool with misters attached to our shade. He had a lot of fun setting it up :)

Having a splashin' time!

Cooling off with Otter Pops

Jace and his buddy from Layton that happened to move closer to Salt Lake and came to the party - Yay!

What a team effort!

L to R: Kyle, cousin Chandler, me, my sister, Jamie, Jace, and cousin Kayden visiting Jamie's team "Don't Give Up!" at Relay for Life.

Lance loves going to see the fish and ducks at Red Butte Gardens, right by where we live. We're so fortunate to live in such a beautiful place!

When mom answers the phone, it's the perfect time to grab the food off the counter and set it right here next to where I'm sitting. I can take care of myself!

One way to sleep....

Mom, where are those photos of me sleeping funny?

The look-alikes!

7-07-07!

(photos taken on 7-07-07)

On 7-07-07, Kyle turned 9 months!

(Jace was sick on his birthday, so we didn't get any great photos, but I'll post some soon of his birthday party.)

Come see Evan's website! Scroll down to the bottom of the site for a Cute that Lance said today and also a Cute by Jace. I had fun making the new homepage photo. The background is the Bear Lake beach, taken this year. This photo will be in the slideshow at the Relay for Life in Clearfield. It's tomorrow night at Clearfield High School's track. My sister, Jamie, is co-captain of team, "Don't Give Up". GO, TEAM!

Independence Day!

Here are our ALL-AMERICAN boys! We just took Kyle to Kiddie Kandids today. This outfit has lasted really well. You wouldn't even guess that I bought it at a yard sale - the matching one, too!

Party plans...

So I asked Jace today what kind of a birthday party he wants to have and what he'd like to do.



"Bugs.... playin' in the sandbox...."

"So do you want to have like a beach party?"

"Beach and bugs... and go to California."



He just would like to go to California sometime. So if anyone has any suggestions as to how I can incorporate bugs into a beach party, please let me know!

I asked Jace yesterday what he would like for his birthday and he said, "A telescope that I can look at germs with" (I think he means a microscope :)"and a baby". Whatever happened to a new bike or roller skates? Isn't Kyle still considered a baby? He's starting to stand up, but he's still little! Jace has really been keeping after me about wanting more siblings. He loves having lots of family around, I think. Every time I pile all three boys in the bath tub he says, "I wish Evan was here... Then we'd really be crowded!"

Here are some of Jace's interests:
Right now, Jace has been fascinated with finding iron filings in the dirt with his magnet. He loves science and doing experiments. He still loves finding butterflies, praying mantises, and bugs for his lizard to eat. Oh! He would like to have a gecko, but we don't really have space right now for another aquarium. He really enjoys reading books. Today he enjoyed reading some mythology with me. (We've been reading a book together during Lance's naptime, called "What Every 2nd Grader Should Know" - it's great! It has History, Mathematics, Literature, to name a few subjects. He really enjoyed the Tall Tales about Paul Bunyan and such. The Civil War and slavery was really interesting to him, too.) On his own, he reads the Box car children books. He's always interested in endangered species. He is looking forward to catching more fish at Bear Lake this weekend. He loves making tunnels and sculptures in the sand. He has a passion for pretty much anything outside!
That's our Loveable, soon to be SEVEN year old, Jace!

Happy Father's Day!

"A Dad is someone you look up to no matter how tall you

get".

(This is at the cabin a few weeks ago - we plan to visit the cabin a lot this summer since we live closer now )

When we got home from church today, we were still sitting in the van about to get out when Lance said:
"Happy Father's Day, Dad!" he exclaimed loud and clear. It was so cute. I asked Jared, "Did you guys tell them to say that in nursery?" (Jared teaches nursery with another Dad) He told me they did. I turned around and gave Lance five. "Good job, Lance!" Then he exclaimed happily, "Happy Father's Day, Mom!"

Meet "Sandy"

Jace named her. I think it was appropriate. He decided she's a girl because she laid ELEVEN eggs! We were stunned! (The rest of the eggs had already been moved- serious!) Jace caught her in California while we were there. Sandy was just on the front porch of Gramma's house and Jace had a great time capturing her. He kept her in his bug tent all the way home from CA. His friend in Vegas was fascinated, as was Jace. (We like to stay over with them on our trips to CA - They're a great family, and it makes the trip so much easier!) Once we got home, Jace kept it in the tent for a few weeks, and then we decided we'd better give Sandy a nicer home. We got back from the pet store with an aquarium, heat lamp, some sand, and a water dish. Sandy could NOT wait to be in her new home. She laid 11 eggs that night while still inside the tent. We put the tent inside the aquarium and opened the door so that Sandy could come out and into her new home as soon as she was rested from laying all those eggs! Then Jace and I carefully spooned the eggs out and into the aquarium, next to the water dish. Sandy covered them with sand. I hope they live! Wouldn't that be fun??? I have really been getting into this lizard thing. Did you know that the sex of the baby is determined by the temperature around the egg?

The eggs were born on May 21st, so 2 months from then, they should hatch. We'll let you know!

Tunes and Evan

Dontcha just love that music? I love visiting my blog just for the music :) Okay, I like looking at my kid's cute pictures, too! I love that song about California. Lance really got into it, too. Today, this new song popped into my head and I thought about putting it on our blog. Evan loved this song and he would ask me to play it over and over again so he could dance to it. He said, "I want that one again!" and we'd repeat it and Jace, Evan, and I danced again and again.

Here is Evan and his cowboy uncle, Casey (Jared's brother). Evan is being a rodeo star. He's wearing Casey's hat, as he always liked to do when Casey came. Casey made him laugh sooo much!

"Up" by Shania Twain