A Disney Trip to Look Forward To

Every since we blindsided Sophia with Tower of Terror last year, she has not been to found of Disneyland.  Everytime I announced we were taking a trip Sophia would say, "I don't want to go to Disneyland!"  What 4 year old says that?!   Well now that she turned 5 her response was, "Now that I'm five I'm going to ride all the rides now!"  And she told everyone that when she told them about Disneyland.  She was even more excited when she found out at her Dr. Appt. that she was tall enough to ride the 42 inch rides, which included the Grizzly Rapids.

Braving Tower of Terror

How does she know right where the camera is??

Grizzly Rapids victim!

Jenkins Family Reunion 2012

The next weekend , we headed to St. George for the Jenkins Family Reunion.  It was miserably hot there, and so the only thing to do was swim.   We also took a day trip with Matt and Nicole, to Zions.  I was looking forward to going there again.  The last time we went Boston was 6 months old.  We took the hike down to the trail head of the Narrows.  At one point the kids stopped in the river and had fun swimming.   We finally made our way to the trail head where they swam some more.  It was hot, and the adults found shade.   I just love it there.  It's so beautiful.  One day, when the kids are teenagers, I would love to do the entire hike.   When we got back from hiking, Matt and Nicole had a boot on their car.  They said we weren't parked in a real spot.  There wasn't a sign saying not to park there.   We had it out with the rangers.  We finally took it to the head ranger.  He said he could see our point, and we had a good case.  But our tickets were already written.  When we got to our hotel later that day, the people at the desk said that a lot of tourists were getting tickets there.  Oh well....now its a memory of Nicole and I calming the boys down and calling the park rangers "rent a cops!" 

The rest of the reunion was swiming, and playing games, a talent show... It was just too hot there to do anything outside.  I expect when I leave Arizona that no matter where I go I will get cooler temperatures! Haha.  Hoping next time it's up by Provo.  Cooler and easier for Great Grandma and Grandpa to just be able to stay at home!

SHOTS???!!!!

This summer (2012) I decided to get all the Dr. Appts. out of the way at once.  So the beginning of our Summer, after a fun Memorial Day with the Jarman's, was spent at well checks and dentist check-ups.  The kids kept asking if they need shots.   I thought the kids were all up to date on their shots, but I was wrong.  Aubrie needed a booster, which she wasn't too worried about, and Boston needed two shots, which included his Tetnis.  After Aubrie told him how that was the worst, he started getting more worried by the second.  When it was his turn to get his shots, he started to get panicked and as I was holding his hand he started to stare at me with a look of desperation that said, "MOM, Please save me?!!", and then he started to cry. That got me emotional, and when he saw me get emotional, it made him panick even worse.  When they gave him the shot he yelled out and half way through the yell he shouted, "THAT WAS AWSOME!"  and started to laugh.  Apparently it was awesome because it didn't hurt!  It gave everyone in the office a good laugh. We wish we had been recording it because it would have won us some money on AFV!   Boston never had any soreness from his tetnis shot so he really lucked out!  Guess the drama he had getting them was enough.
Here are all the stats from the kids
Aubrie 12 years
22 lb 20%
56 1/4  10%  (forecasted growth spurt in a couple of years)
Body mass 17.11  30% (gotta love the gymnastics!)

Boston 10 yrs
65 lb 20%
54 3/4  45%
15.24 20% (always my skinny boy)

Ethan  8yrs
56 lb 45%
50 1/4 45%
15.59 45% (see a trend?)

Sophia 5 yrs (I lost her sheet:( )
Her weight was in the 10th%
She was 42 1/4 inches (I remember that bc it was then we realized she could ride some new rides at Disneyland)
And her BMI  was 20%.

MY BABIES ARE GROWING UP!!!!

The Dental Appts. were a success...no Cavities.  Ethan had some sealants put on the next day, when Aubrie went for FOUR extractions to prep her for her braces that go on this month....which will be a good chunk of change!

Gymnastic Dance Recital

The end of the school year always comes with recitals.  This will be the first year in 9 years that we don't have a dance recital.  I have to say that it feels GREAT to have that freedom.  The dance recitals were always in the middle of June, so we had to stick around for them.  That meant no vacations until a couple weeks into the summer, and I think that is why I always signed up for swim and dive, since we were here already.  This is the first year there will be no swim and dive!   I'm looking forward to lots of trips and fun!  

Aubrie's gymnastic's recital was the weekend before school let out.  It was fun for the girls, but so amatuer compared to the Dance Recitals with Devney's.   It was fun, however, to see the girls tumble.  It was also nice to be done after only an hour!   Aubrie danced to Footloose, and to an Elvis Medly.   During one of her front handsprings, she almost fell on her face.  We had a good laugh about it.  After the recital was an awards ceremony, slideshow, and BBQ.   The Recital was moved to a Sunday for some scheduling conflicts, and they called us as soon as they found out.  We agreed to bring Aubrie to do her dances only. So we didn't participate in the other activities.   The whole family came to watch during Rehearsal.   Before we left,  Aubrie got her award.  She got an award for Bars.  That is her worst event, but I think they gave it to her because she sliced her hand the night before one of her meets, and she still competed on the bars with it.   Aubrie's best event is the vault and Beam.  She scores 9's on those events.  She really worked hard this year, and even though she missed half of the meets because they were on Sunday, she still remained one of the top girls in her level.   She has moved up to Level 5.  

Mother's Day 2012

The Mother's Day tradition continued this year at Montezuma's Well.  This year we had to attend another
Ward in the morning, so we could make it up there in time.   Pleasant Valley Ward currently has the 9:00 am time, so we were able to see a lot of the "orginal" famalies we miss.   It felt really nice to be there.  After church, we headed home to change and get our things together.  When we got there, the place was croweded. There was a huge tour bus in the parking lot.  Luckily there were a few tables left on the other side of the park.  We unpacked and got settled, then had lunch.     Then Boston, Ethan and I played catch. After that we set up the crochet set, which I would say is the biggest tradition there, since that's the only time we play it!  After that, we took a little hike, that included Sopia falling in the stream, but only up to her knees.   We then went back and played another game of crochet, but this time we played teams.   It was an interesting take on the game, and made it more fun.   After that, we played a family game of soccer.  It was the three oldest against Ben, Sophia and I.  They thought they were going to beat us for sure, because they didn't realize I can actually play soccer!   We had a fun time, and the kids said that was their favorite thing.  After soccer, we packed up and headed home.  When we got home I wasn't feeling well, so we put off the steak dinner Ben had planned for me till Monday.  I went upstairs and rested, and that was actually a nice way to end the day.   I wish I would have started celebrating Mother's day like this a long time ago.  I love being able to enjoy my kids on Mother's Day!

End of School Year Fun 2012

Piano Recital

Castles and Coasters Saturday

End of Year Party

Ethan and Xander

Aubrie's friend on Labor Day!

A Day of Firsts

Today was a day of Firsts.
Today was the first time Aubrie went to the temple.  Surprisingly, she didn't have too much to say about it when she got home.  I guess I don't really know what I would expect her to say.  Maybe it's more of a mile stone for me than her. LOL   She said it was good, and that she did 5 names from Hungry and they were hard to pronounce.   She also said she was so little that none of the baptismal clothes fit her.   That is no surprise!   They left the church at 7:15 and were back by 12:30.  She fell asleep on the way home.  So just how I remember my first temple trip!
Today Aubrie missed her piano recital for the temple trip.  The first time we went to a piano recital with out her.   That felt weird.
The boys did well at their recital.  Ethan played Aluetta without music.  Boston played a piece from Swan Lake that impressed everyone. He has some skills.  I love listening and watching him play.  He really gets into it!  Then for the first time, the kids had to compose their own songs and play them.  Aubrie's teacher played Aubrie's song since she couldn't come, and the kids all got a book of all the composed songs at the Recital.
Another First today was that it was 80!  I don't remember the last time it was 80 after school got out.  After Aubrie got home, we played goofy golf at Castles and Coasters.  It was Sophia's first time playing, and she kept saying, "This is fun!"  She would hit the ball in her own way, and she made some miraculous shots.  She got a hole in one on the 15th course.   She was so excited and talked about it on the way home.   Tonight we are going to enjoy this weather with a family soccer game at the park.   You can't not take advantage of this amazing day!  I want to live in California!

WE SURVIVED BASIS

Well last week Aubrie unofficially finished Basis.  The last two weeks for her were actually kind of nice! She had half days every day.   The week of finals she didn't study like I wish she would have, but she seemed to feel that most of the finals were easy. I think she was burnt out!   I don't know if they were geared to be easy,  or if they felt that way because they really learned the information well. We are anxiously awaiting her grades.   The day of her last final we celebrated with a mother/daughter night!  I took her to Texas Road House, then we went to the mall, and followed that with a movie.  We saw the Advengers, which the boys already saw when Aubrie was studying for her finals.  It was a nice night for just the two of us, which I felt like we both deserved.  Aubrie's year at Basis was hard work for both of us.  I spent many hours the first semester helping her with papers, Math and Chemistry homework.   The beginning was so rough.  Almost everyday was a struggle, and there were many tears shed! I just wanted to pull her out.  She really put a lot of things aside so she could do gymnastics and go to this school.   Towards the  end I told Aubrie she could leave, but she didn't want to.  She really started to appreciate the learning and she also was liking her new group of friends.  Basis is now her home, and I really am impressed with how the kids adjusted and how they learned to study, and put forth big efforts to learn.  Learning is a priority for these kids, and Aubrie has learned independent studying.  Sticking with it really paid off.   I'm hoping to see next year be even better!
This last week was fun for the students.  All the teachers put together some type of weekly project for the kids, whether it be to make a music video, or learn about a different culture, etc.  Aubrie signed up for a cooking project.  She learned to make a variety of recipes, including some ethnic recipes.  Aubrie had fun doing that.  It was nice for the students to be able to spend time with their friends, with no stress of homework or tests.  I think it was a great way to end the year!

Dinner at Texas Road House to Celebrate!