Bragging about Ethan

I have to take a minute to brag about Ethan. He is such a great kid. Really, I couldn't ask for anyone better. He won the Student of the Year award in school today. His prize was a new bike! He was so excited! He called me and asked if I could come pick him up because he got a prize from school. I never expected a bike. He is such a great student. Every parent/teacher conference his teachers tell me how wonderful he is. He is smart, kind, helpful, good natured, gets along with everyone. He is in the gifted program at school, gets straight A's, does band, student council, sports, volunteers with the younger grades. He is just an all around good kid! I am so proud of him. He is turning into such a wonderful young man. How did I get so lucky? I'd like to think that it was all the hours I spent at home with him when he was little. All the time we spent reading books, building forts, going on walks and playing pretend. I'm pretty sure it had nothing to do with me though. He's always been this way. Just part of who he is. He is such a blessing a home too. He is my peace keeper. He is always smoothing over fights between the younger kids, helping me out. I don't know what I'd do without him. I am so proud of his accomplishments.  Although I hate to see him growing up so fast, I am very happy with who he has become. We love you Ethan :)

Pinewood Derby

Andrew and Clay waiting for the races to start.

The boys watching the racing.

Andrew's car is the green and silver. He named it "The Silver Bullet"

Andrew with his car, his 3rd place trophy and his award for best paint.

This year was Andrew's first Pinewood derby. He had a great time working on his car with Jeremy. Last year Ethan won first, so Andrew had high expectations of his Dad! His car turned out really nice. All of the boys got 4 turns to race. Andrew came in third place this year. He was a bit sad that it wasn't first, but he was proud to have won a trophy. Way to go Andrew! (And Jeremy of course :)

Hershey's Track and Field



Ethan and Andrew holding the school sign in the opening ceremony.



My awesome boys!



Ethan jumping. It was dark and hard to get a picture through the fence. He has some springy legs!



   It's that time of year again...track and field! Ethan and Andrew both qualified for the Arizona State Hershey's track and field meet. It's a big meet where kids come from all over the state to participate. It's amazing to watch how fast some of these little kids are. For some reason, their track coach only entered everyone in one event this year. They were a little upset by that, since last year they got three events. Andrew ran the 200m. He was really nervous. He was the youngest in his group, but he did good! He came in 12th place overall. He was a little sad that he didn't do better, but it's his first year and it was a great experience for him.

  Ethan did awesome this year. His event was the standing long jump. He jumped his best ever, 6'10 1/2". I think that is amazing for someone as small as he is. Half of the boys were a whole head taller than he was. He has got some spring in those legs! He came in 4th place for the state. We are so proud of him. Way to go Ethan! It was a great night.

Camping

Eli in an alligator juniper tree. Emma was nervous that alligators were going to come out of it!

Emma and her buddy Dad. No matter how many times I washed her face, it kept on getting dirty again! I guess that is all part of the camping experience.

Ethan was planning on running fast with Maisy. He said "Ready, Set, Go!" and she took off running so fast, he fell trying to keep up with her on the leash.

Here we are on a hike.

Emma trying to stay warm with Dad. It was really cold and windy.

I dared Ethan to kiss the horny toad he found. It didn't turn into a princess :)

A huge tree!

Andrew by the fire.



We hiked to the top of the mountain that was near our campsite. Quite an accomplishment for 4 kids and 2 dogs!

We were finally able to go camping for a couple of days. It has been forever since we went last. We had a good time. We found a place to camp in the pines, west of Prescott. The kids were so excited to go. I love camping, but I sometimes think it takes so much work just for a couple of days. We might as well have been gone two weeks! The 5th wheel makes packing much easier though. I used to like roughing it when we camped, but having kids sure changes things! I'd give anything for a toilet and some running water these days. The kids were good. Over excited, didn't get enough sleep. I don't know why I ever expect anything different, it always ends up that way! Andrew came down with a fever and sore throat. It seems like someone always gets sick when we go. Other than that, it was nice to get away for a little while and spend time together. I am so glad we were able to go for a few days. We needed it!

Scripture Chocolates

I wanted to come up with a treat to give out at the Primary Activity last week. The Primary theme for the year is "I know the scriptures are true." Our activity centered around scripture heroes. I found this idea online somewhere and they really turned out cute! The scriptures are the mini Hershey bars. I think the kids really liked them!

Cook Out

Eli and Emma cooking their marshmellows.

Roasting hot dogs.

Is there anything more fun than a flaming stick for 6 year old?

My silly girl.

Mesmerized by the fire.

Toasty.

Emma thought marshmellows were too sticky!

Eli's dirty face at the end of the night!

We always like to have a cook out over spring break. It's one of the things we look forward to each year. It seems like the weather is always nice. Cool once the sun goes down, but not cold. Ethan used his awesome boyscout knowledge to start it up for us. We roasted hot dogs and made foil dinners. Then of course no campfire would be complete without Smores! We had a great time together talking, laughing, and watching the stars. It was a great way to start our spring break! The best part of all was being able to go inside, take a hot shower and sleep in our own beds! All the fun of camping, with the comforts of home :)

Happy Birthday Eli

We did a dragon theme this year. It was a lot of fun!

A new DSi. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

The wheels on the bus go round and round...

Andrew and Jackson.

Eli's cupcakes.

Happy 6th Birthday to my little buddy! I can't believe how old he's getting! He was sick for the past week, so unfortunately he wasn't feeling the best. But we still managed to have a good time. The boys had Monday off from school, so we headed to Chuck E. Cheese for lunch. This has been Eli's place of choice for the past two years. We met Aubrey, Jackson and Tyler over there. It was fun to have them with us to celebrate. We of course played lots of games and got some prizes. Eli had a good time.

Tuesday was his birthday and he ended up staying home from school. He's got a cough and stuffy head that just won't go away. He didn't mind having some extra time to play with his new toys. When we finally got around to letting him open his presents he exclaimed "Finally! It feels like a year since I've opened birthday presents!" Silly boy :)