Let's Go Flying

Jack has been so excited to turn three.  We talked about a few things that  he could do once he reached this milestone.  One is he gets to go skiing.  Okay, check, we got their ski passes.  Two is he gets to go to preschool.  Check again, he's going to the Mountain Green Kids Club Preschool.  Three is he also gets to fly in a small plane like James did.  Now check that off too :)  He went with Steve and loved it!

James all geared up

James headed out first to show Jack what to do

All smiles and ready :)

Jack's turn, no problem here, completely happy and ready to go

Mommy waiting for her turn while holding Jonathan

Jonathan at 5 months being a happy little lad

Steve's son Trevor and James waiting at the airport

Safest place was on top of the car (well, maybe not the

safest, but we could keep track of them easily there).

Love living here

What a B-day!

July 21st!

That is a big day around here as it's James AND Jack's 

birthday.  They were very excited, and boy was this a day to remember.

First they got to watch a movie in their jammies:

 Morning of their birthday, showing how old they are!

At the gym they got to have a special treat bag, and

then we had a birthday lunch at Mc-a-D's and we spent

extra time and played in the play place part.

That afternoon we played at home, and got ready for

a fun dinner.  Kirstin came from Provo; Grandma and Papa

came from Syracuse; and Aunt Ann, Uncle Mike,

Kira and Tanner came from Clearfield, Tyler and McKell 

came from Kayesville, and Uncle Jason, Aunt Nicole and

Emily came from Sandy.

Everyone for dinner

The dragon birthday cake by Grandma!

Three candles for Jack

Blowing them out

Five for James

Wrestling with Tanner 

Happy Jonathan with Papa

Dragons from Jack to James

A dragon from James :)

New cars!!!

Walkie-talkies and a new red cape

Kendra and Tanner

 (who has grown up so much recently!)  just chilling during the present opening

Everyone standing out front as we sent up some fireworks for their birthday before heading
to the park.  Their favorite are "parachute guys", so we got two boxes to do.

The fireworks plus a shaved ice truck,

party at the park:)

 and everyone was invited.

I love where we live.

The boys asked why we were having a party at the park,

well, it was for Pioneer Day which is a holiday here in

Utah to celebrate the pioneer heritage on July 24th.

The celebration was held earlier up in our community,

and since it was on the actual birthday of my boys, 

they think it was for their birthday.

Best celebration for them ever.

There were kids running all over the place,

and no one really worries about them running off.

Seriously the best place to live ever.

The fireworks, it was quite spectacular.

Uncle Mike and Jonathan at the park

These fireworks rivaled the bigger communities fireworks,

it was the idea of a neighbor of ours to get everyone to pitch in

then head up after the 4th to Evanston to buy fireworks.

He is also a very good salesman and negotiator, so he

talked the vendor into a sweet deal for us. 

Thank you to everyone who came, called, sent cards, and made their day extra special. I'm hoping this fireworks party becomes an annual thing around here, wouldn't that be neat!

How To Train Your Dragon Party!

We love dragons around here, so for James' 5th

and Jack's 3rd birthday party we hosted a

"How To Train Your Dragon" party. 

We gave out to our "Dragon Trainers" invites to

come to "Dragon Training".

 A sign on the door and a dragon to greet

When the kids got there we first had lunch!

 Complete with "dragon" themed food:

Dragon Teeth= pretzels

Dragon Eggs=Grapes

Dragon Fire Balls= cheeto puff balls

Dragon Food= Goldfish Crackers

Viking Hotdog Ships

 One of my favorites...Dragon Trainerade :)

 The incredible cake 

made by ShaRee Shupe

 Cute little fondant Toothless on top with Hiccup

 Everyone getting directions so that we could

get our food and head outside

Everyone eating outside, that was a great idea,

and the kids still loved it!

Then we sang and blew out the candles so we could eat

our cake ouside too picnic style. 

Less cleanup for mom and dad :)

P.S. Fondant will catch on fire and smells

like roasting marshmallows

After the food and cake we had games.

To become dragon trainers and earn their

viking hats, shields, and swords, 

everyone had to go through the challenges

There was an obstacle course where you had to

jump over dragon eggs (balloons taped to the ground),

go through a tunnel, then knock over a tower with your

new sword (made from cardboard).

Jack sporting the viking hat, he 

loved it and didn't want to take it off!

 Listening during games

We had a bean-bag toss where they had to 

"feed the dragon".

Then finally we had to slay the big bad

dragon (like in the movie).

The kids loved running at this dragon to

take a whack at it.

After games we opened presents.

This year I got smart, and even though we combined

a party for their shared birthday, I invited James'

friends for him and Jack's friends for him.

That way kids weren't feeling obligated to bring

a gift for James and Jack. 

Jack showing off a new train

James was covered in presents

Everyone got to take home their

swords, hat, and shield along with their goody

bag that had a little dragon inside, a few pieces of candy,

and a toothless party blower.

 

So the whole cake was edible, except for 

the inside of Toothless and our Hiccup actionfigure.

After the party I heard "hmmm, Toothless is yummy!"

Wha????  There is Jack, chewing off the black fondant 

from the tinfoil center?!  James too.

 Playing with their baby brother after everyone had left.

So that's a party :)

A big shout out and thank you

to friends Suzanne and Brittney who stayed

to help coral the kids around, and for holding

Jonathan when he got fussy!

What it's like having 4

The last day of June Kristie had baby Daisy, so we went

down to visit them soon thereafter.  

What a cutie!  I love new babies.

We are so happy that they were able to

add another baby to the mix.

Kristie and Daisy

Look how pretty they both are

Mommies and their babies :)

To help out with recovery we asked if we could take Lilah for a few days.

She's easy enough, my boys adore her, it's a win for all involved.

So last minute we brought her home for the weekend.

What fun having 4 little ones 4 and under.

Friday we went to Nathan's Equation Annual Party.

There were snowcones, face painting, and awesome

balloon making people there.  

Saturday we found a salamander in our backyard,

so we caught him and then took him down to 

the lake to let him go :)

Before letting him go I have hit a new one

of being a mom of boys.

We kept the salamander in that little

bug box, and were watching him until

Nathan got home from a bike ride.

Well, he was by the front door, and then James 

said "opps" I need some help.

The salamander had been trying to climb the

sides, which he couldn't very well, so James was

"helping" him.  That resulted in spilling muddy water

in our front entryway all over.  Not too big a deal,

he helped to clean it up.  Then I sat on our luckily

brown couch, and it was wet! With what I then realized was

dirty salamander water! That was the first place that 

James had tried to "help" the salamander climb the sides.

Yep, offically mom of boys after scrubbing the dirty 

water mostly out of the couch :/

We went to Snowbasin to play on the playground

and had a picnic there.

Cuties :)

Daddy wearing Jonathan

Then that night we made smores and

had a fire in our "awesome" firepit

(we didn't do a garden this year, so we 

keep the weeds down and dug a hole in 

the garden area, and will occasionally

build fires there now)

The kids loved it!

Sunday we took them all to church.

Mostly they we pretty good.

It showed me what it would be like to have

four kids someday.

This also showed me how girls are different 

than boys.  Lilah had gotten a mosquito bite on

her foot, so at church she had to keep taking off

her shoe because it itched.

James took Lilah to primary with him,

such cute little second-cousins :)

Lilah ended up not wanting the dress she

had packed for church.  Well, it just so happens that

I have a few dresses from when I was little that I'm

saving for a little girl that I hope to have. 

I brought it out for Lilah, and she LoVeD it!!

Then she let me curl her hair for church too,

and we had matching hair! :)

What a cutie to get my girl fix with:)

Thank you Tom and Kristie for sharing your little girl

with us!  And Congratulations on another little princess!!