The Battle is On!!

Grandma & Grandpa Andreasen bought a Wii and we went over to help them set it up. Ethan thought he should "teach" grandpa how to play one of the games. I think they're playing a jousting game. Anyway, his idea of teaching was to beat grandpa at almost every game :) They were really getting into their competition and it was fun seeing them play together. You better start practicing grandpa...Ethan is ready for a re-match!!!!

Dancing Queen

This is my dancing queen! Payton is such a blessing in our lives. She makes us laugh every day and I swear that she is four going on twenty! Some of the things that she says sound so grown-up for such a little girl. I was checking the battery in my camera when she came running in...Mommy take my picture while I dance!! So what could I do? She jumped and twirled and posed while I clicked away. She makes me smile and I hope she continues to have the confidence that she has and let her personality shine through. Mommy loves you Payton!

Our little Rocky

My poor sweet boy!!! Believe it or not...this looks better! On the 4th of July we went to church, were hanging out as a family and had just set off some fireworks in the front yard. All in all...a pretty great day. Greg and I were starting to pick up the debris from all the fireworks when the boys asked if they could go to the park and play "ghost in the graveyard" with a bunch of the neighborhood kids. It's a little after ten at this point and so we tell them they can go, but they only have five minutes. Well, a lot can happen in five minutes! All the kids had flashlights and Wyatt needed one, so Greg let him use the one in his patrol car. You know the one....the big, heavy one that looks like a club that they blind you with when asking for your registration ;) Anyway, Wyatt runs off with that one and my final words were "just don't hit anyone with that thing"....I thought that was good advice :) There were kids of all ages running around in the dark and I guess one of the older boys in the neighborhood didn't see Wyatt and pretty much blindsided him. As he was falling to the ground, that big "club" in his hand came up and slammed him in the face and then he hit the ground. Poor thing, huh!! He has been such a trooper about it though, repeatedly telling me that he can see perfectly fine even when his eye is mostly swollen shut. So this boy has gotten a lot of hugs and kisses this week because I can't seem to look at him without my heart hurting and maybe one of these hugs will magically heal it. So add to your list of things not to run with: big club-like flashlights (especially in the dark!)

St.George Woo-Hoo

We took an awesome trip to St. George a couple weeks ago, before the weather got warmer here. The downer was that I was sick the whole time! I guess if you have to be sick that lounging by the pool is the place to do it! The kids had a ball though. We had the whole pool to ourselves most of the time and they got really brave. Spencer & Ethan are starting to swim and Wyatt is finally brave enough to go IN the water. He has made awesome strides the past couple of years. Payton has always been our fearless little one! She had no problem jumping into the deep end (life jackets on of course!) Sometimes the best trips are the ones where you have absolutely nothing planned. We ate when we were hungry, rested when we were tired, and played HARD the rest of the time. Love these times!

Our Dad is Awesome!!

I have the best husband in the world! I could not ask for a better dad for our kids. He loves them unconditionally and anyone who knows him can see it. One of his favorite things to do is spend time with his kids. He loves to play with them and joke around with them. The kids most request the "Cracken" The best way I can think to describe it is a combination of King of the Mountain and wrestling....which ALWAYS turns into tickling! I can't think of a better gift that I could ever give my children than a dad that loves them and they know it. Every single one of them wouldn't hesitate to tell you how much their dad loves them. On this Father's Day I wanted to recognize the most important man in my life and the love and happiness that he brings into our home every day. Greg you are one of our greatest blessings. I love you with all my heart!!! Happy Father's Day!

Wyatt's First Admirer...AAAHHHH!

Oh....young love! Wyatt has his first admirer, Baylee Verde. She is a very sweet and cute girl that was in his preschool class. Wyatt is not sure how he feels about the situation! He is the typical boy that thinks all things "girl" are not cool and someone that wants to kiss him is just gross :) He does think she is nice but he "does not want a girlfriend!" I think it's absolutely adorable and Baylee loves to torture her dad with the fact that she is going to marry Wyatt someday! Hey, we'd make awesome in-laws Brandon so don't worry so much :) Baylee made a movie for Wyatt on Jibjab and I put the link below. It is so cute...I laughed and laughed. Wyatt was not amused at all the "love" but did think it was cool that in one point of the movie, he is dressed like a ninja. Check out the link....it is too cute to miss! Don't give up Baylee......you're a great catch and so is he!

http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/9rYbP7yj3W9e1SAi1ufS

Wyatt's Graduation

Wyatt had his preschool graduation yesterday at Teacher Wendy's house. I can't believe that he is going into Kindergarten next year! He has grown and changed so much this past year. He has become much more outgoing and talkative-Sorry Wendy :) and thankfully has finally shown interest in learning!!!! Wendy gave all of the kids a booklet to take home that had different activities they could do over the summer to keep their brains working! He came right home and wanted to open it up and start working. It made me think....maybe I could make different "booklets" throughout the summer and claim it's a new one from Teacher Wendy! Apparently it is much cooler then! Hey...I'm not above a little deception now and then!!

All the kids were extremely cute and all got to do a nursery rhyme. Wyatt did Jack & Jill. He was so sweet as he was watching his friends take their turn at the microphone. His friend Jaren had his turn and when he came back to sit down, I saw Wyatt give him a thumbs-up and tell him he did a good job. It's nice to see him being so considerate to others, even if it is just his friends. We're working on the whole loving attitude with your brothers too! They seem to love to terrorize each other and tease relentlessly. Greg tells me they're grow out of it.....or they'll just get old enough to move out and then I won't have to deal with it anymore! I'll guess we'll see which one comes first! Anyway, we were very proud to see Wyatt graduate and take that first step towards Kindergarten. He is a special boy and he brings so much happiness into our lives. I don't know what our lives would be without him...definitely not as exciting! We love you Wyatt and are sooo proud of you!!!

The Journey is the Destination

We went to Escalante for our first campout of the summer. Greg loves southern Utah with all the red rock and has made me love it too! We hiked a couple of slot canyons, Spooky & Peek-a-boo. The kids loved hiking through the narrow canyons and had no problems navigating them. I on the other hand had a few tight spots!!! Greg had to take off his backpack most of the time to make it through and I was brushing one wall with my back and the other with my front :o It was definitely worth the hike. The way the light shines down the red rock walls is so beautiful! I can't wait to do more camping and hiking this summer. Greg is on a mission to "toughen" up our kids! Last year we didn't have a chance to do much hiking and the one that we did go on....they asked if we were done...and we could still see the car!!! He then dubbed them "wusses" and vowed that we would toughen them up this year. Our new family motto for the summer is "The Journey is the Destination"

More fun pictures from my trip :)

Girl Trip!!!!

I am back from the dead!!! I can't promise that I'll keep this up, but I'm definitely going to try! My awesome brother-in-law flew me and my sister-in-law Stephanie to Georgia to hang out with April. We had such a good time hanging out with her family and friends. One of the highlights of our trip was going to Savannah with just the girls! We shopped on the riverwalk and took pictures of all the beautiful historic buildings. April and I are both into photography and that town is definitely a photographer's dream! We both had out our "big" lenses one day and had a woman ask us if we were students. Savannah is a big art school town-so we thought we were pretty awesome!! Not bad for a couple of moms! We went to the beach which is actually quite relaxing when you don't have to worry about who was sunscreen on and how close to/or how far out in the water everyone is! Someone should have been watching Stephanie though---poor thing got fried! Sorry Steph! Our big finale was going to a "rock-a-billy" concert with all the girls. We went to see the Psycho DeVilles. They are awesome!! Their music is a combination of Johnny Cash, fifties big band, with a rock-n-roll twist. We all dressed up in fifties attire and rocked the night away! Couldn't have asked for a better trip! Love you Dan.....You're the best!