The Fun Weekend

We decided to take a mini vacation with the kids this weekend, kind of a celebrate/ "sorry we've been so preoccupied with the house and now we can have fun". We went to Utah to the Stadium of Fire and the Hogle Zoo. The kids had a lot of fun and it was nice to just relax and not have to think about house anything. We stayed at a hotel and went swimming for a little bit. Emery and Jacks don't have fear, Cam and Beck do. 

 We were able to find shirts for the boys but not Emery. Cam's mad at like 100000 different things, really I'm not sure what, he wouldn't say. 

 But after we ate he was happier the rest of the night. There were a TON of people in and around the stadium. Just as many sat on the streets and lawns outside as had tickets and went inside. Which meant we had a bit of a walk to get to the stadium. 

 When we finally sat down everyone was tired. 

 There were 4 people who jumped out of a plane and came down onto the field with flag. It was cool to see how much control they had. There were also jets and black hawks that flew over. 

 This shows some of the crowd and all the dancers. The opening ceremonies was really cool to watch and it just got better. 

 Journey was the main performer and they were amazing. Emery didn't like it at first because it was too loud, but she got better as the night went on. They did all of their popular songs and sounded really good. 

When they were done it was firework time and there really isn't anything I can say to justify how good they were. Some lit off in the seats in the stadium and some in a field behind it. The whole show was at least 30 min if not more and set to music. We left just before the finally, because trying to get 4 kids out of the stadium the same time that 60,000+ people are didn't sound fun. The boom as they lit off was so loud and interesting to hear. 

We met up with one of my friends today and went to the Hogle Zoo. There were dinos there too, so it was even more fun for all the kids. We had a little rain, but thankfully it didn't last too long. 

Jacks loved this poster and had to have a picture with it. 

 Prospector Camden. 

 Emery has a new best friend, Emma. She told me that Emma is the friend she wants to have some to her birthday and Jacks can marry her some day. The kids have played with them before, it's just been a while and they defiantly missed seeing their friends so much. 

 Jackson's new best friend is Preston. They were always right next to each other all day and Jackson was mad that we had to go home and he couldn't go home with his friend. 

 Beck posing with a lion. 

 And of course the always fun Carousel....

After lunch we went back home to Twin. All the kids were sad to go, but...

Very tired too. 

And just to end on a fun note, this is the type of pictures you get when you let the kids play with your phone on the way up to Utah.... Jacks made an interesting face. 

Home Sweet Home

We are finally moved in and settled... well for now. My parents are amazing for all they are helping us with this and how much they have opened their house to us. The kids love the rooms they are in and have a few things to make it their own. 

This is all pre-finished of unpacking....

The House

Well it happened, we sold our house. It's a little different situation but we are happy to have the ball rolling on closing. This is our first night out of the house and I have to be honest, I didn't know how emotional it would be to move. The first day I really started to pack I decided to take pictures down first, bad idea. Just look at that wall. I got emotional and well it wasn't fun to look at. 

It's been a very emotional 2 weeks of packing and cleaning and everything to get done to move out and I for one am glad it's over. 

We had a final treat/movie/sleep out night. The kids loved it and it was a great way to put a close to living in this house. 

I took a picture as we left tonight. Ugh I know we are ready to be done with this house, but I didn't know I'd care so much. A lot has happened in this house. It was the first house we bought and the longest we have stayed in a house. Six years! Emery learned to walk here. Jacks came home from the hospital here. The boys and Emery started school and did preschool here. We bought it with a dead backyard and rock front yard and fixed that up. We have painted collectively in all the rooms at least 15 times, probably more. Two arms have been broken, 6 surgeries, and many band-aids. All the kids have started in primary here and made a lot of friends at school and church. We've had 3 different cars. We had lots of pool parties, summer and Christmas projects, picnics, sleep out and movie nights. Six Christmas', many birthdays. We had a friend live with us, which the kids loved. In the 6 years we have been there we have really grown as a family and grown closer as a family. I have loved living here and loved the area,  I know it's time to move on, but it doesn't make doing that easy. I will miss this house and all the memories made here. It does make me excited for the family moving in, all the fun they hopefully will have there and for our new house too. I'm so glad I have this blog and we are able to go back and read all the fun we've had here. Now the fun begins in finding that next house to make our own. 

Jacks

The other night we let the kids stay up to watch a movie in the boys room. When it was time to sleep they all kept changing rooms and by the end of he night Camden was the only one left in his room and everyone else was in the toy room. It took a little bit for me to find Jacks. He and Beck fell asleep behind the rocking chair. I'm not sure how that seemed like enough room for 2 people, but they slept there for a while. Jacks did wake up at like 1 and wanted to watch tv, but we put him back in bed. 

 What do you get when a 4 year old tires to run through the house with his pants half way down? A hole in the wall.... Jacks thought that was a good idea and tripped and fell and hit the back of his head on the wall. Not sure how he spun around, but it's a good thing he did or his head  would have a visible bruise. Good think also he had a big ol' head.  And yes, the hole is fixed now. 

Dance Recital

The kids had their year end dance recital today. They have all loved doing dance, but I think we are all ready for a break. I know Cam and Emery want to do it again next year. Beck is a little stiff and wants to try something new. These are their pictures, and they turned out pretty cute. 

Here are their numbers. It was nice because there was a rehearsal the day before, so it was easy to get a recording of it. Jacks even got into it and danced until he noticed he was being watched. 

YouTube won't let the sound play through on this song, so you just get it imagine it's there....

Boy Things

Cam and Beck have wanted to earn money and since I didn't have anything for them to do they decided to take it into their own hands. They made a flyer, but we didn't let them hand it out due to their high cost.... 5 min =$2, 1 hour = $24 and 1 day=$200. They are a little off on how much they get paid to do chores. 

 We cut the boys hair the other day and Camden wanted his shaved. We buzzed it but he asked for a razor cut, like Uncle Paul. So we shaved it all gone. It was super soft. He wasn't happy that when I took the picture I put a dot on his head. He didn't believe it was a reflection. It's starting to grow back and very poky. Time for another shave... 

Celebrating a Decade

It's crazy to think that about 11 years have gone by since Brad and I met, and 10 years since we were married. In that 10 years we have had 4 kids, live in 5 different places, had 4 different cars, 6 different pets and 1 unbreakable bond. :)

This is from Vegas, I hate getting my picture taken, so this is us at year 9, we look about the same. Aren't we cute. 

I remember when we were dating and planning on getting married we were told we were too young (well mainly me) and we should wait. I'm so glad we didn't listen and got married. It hasn't always been easy but it's always been worth it. I get to be with my best friend  every day, He makes me laugh everyday and I love spending time with him still. We can still stay up until 2 am just talking about life. He is the best dad to the kids. They love to be with him and know that he is the one to say yes most likely. This past year has been one of the best so far. We have learned so much about each other and grown closer than ever before. I have loves all of the past 10 years (well you know, most of it) and can't wait for the next 10 and the 10 after that.  

Camden's Piano Recital

The year Camden wanted to learn how to play the piano and so I have been teaching him. He defiantly has natural talent for it and has picked it up quick and done well. He has some quirks like I did playing, which is frustrating to teach. I have to remind him about his hands a lot, he sit at the piano 'wrong' (which so do I) and he can hear something once and get the tempo and then thinks he doesn't have to count. I have been playing long enough that I can tell he isn't counting and get really annoyed when he tried to tell me he is. I did learn that my brother Paul is the same with his kids playing, so I don't feel that bad. I get now why my parents liked me to play for other people, its like a 'good job' when he plays for other. Good thing for him is he likes the attention that comes from playing for other people. He's been working on some songs for a recital for the past few months. Even though I have been teaching him, I wanted him to have as 'normal' of experience as he could possibly have. He did a great job, and even wrote his own song, "First Prey." He did a duet with Grandma Barnes and Me (mine I forgot to have someone record). He's doing so well I may need to have him go to a real teacher that does this all the time. 

Emery Graduation

Yesterday was the last day of kindergarten for Emery. She will now go into 1st grade. She has done so well in school and loved every minute of it. Emery reads really well and is way too smart. She is starting to read things over my shoulder when I typing things out, which gets annoying. Emery loves to leave notes on our bed telling us she loves us. She still seems to tin to even be in school, but especially 1st grade. 

She says she wants to be a cheerleader when she grows up. When she was at home a few days ago she asked if she should be a cheerleader or a dancer. 

Jackson's 4th Birthday

Jackson's birthday was Sunday and he turned 4! We will never have a 3 year old again and one more year until he is in school. We had a piano recital/birthday on Sunday. After Camden's mini recital we had cupcakes and presents for Jackson. He is the easiest kid to shop for. He pretends all of his food it a toy, so he loves to play with everything and and loves all things boy. 

 We wrapped his presents on Saturday night and showed him but he really didn't care. I still don't think he quite understood the birthday thing but once he started he understood pretty quick. He got a lot of fun things and had played with them nonstop. 

 Jackson is defiantly my baby. While I'm not sad that hes growing up, it's a little bitter sweet to think of all of his first and monuments and how that will be the last time they'll happen in our house. He is a lot of fun, but also a lot or work. I'm so glad he wasn't a twin or we may have only had the 2 kids. Jackson loves to make people laugh and does funny things all the time. I'm pretty sure he'll be the one the teachers have to talk to me about. While he loves to play with others, he loves to play alone and will have a who world set up with toys and play alone for hours. He has such a great imagination and like I said uses food as toys almost every meal. Right now he is obsessed with Mario. We borrowed a Wii and he wants to play or watch someone play Mario all the time. He loves dinos, cars, super heroes, stuffed animals. He shares a room with Emery and they usually do well with just going to sleep. A few times they have talked a little too much and when they do that I take Emery and put her in the toy room and Jacks falls apart. He cries and cries calling for Emery. Emery is ready for her own room, but I have no idea how we'll be able to get Jacks to be ok with that. He is really into kissing right now. Jackson will usually come up to me throughout the day and just say "I love you mom" and give me a kiss. He is starting the thing Emery did where he just kisses and holds his lips on you for a long time. It's super sweet but super annoying at the same time. The other day he tired to kiss Emery and she didn't want it and she said to stop. He told her but you have to have a kiss and she said no. Then he said' "everyone needs kisses.Everyone likes kisses. See mom loves my kisses." and he came over and kissed me. His favorite food is chicken and fries, his favorite toy is dinos and his favorite show is "Big Hero 6." He's a big ball of energy and keeps us on our toes and laughing. He's really been a good and fun kid.