Framing Nears Completion

It has been interesting to watch our new house take shape. Things have been moving along rather quickly, even with all the rain we have had, they aren't too far behind. The framing is almost completed and this week they will be doing the duct work, electrical and plumbing.

The view here is from standing in the kitchen towards the staircase and front hall. Kind of hard to imagine.

The front garage and entry way.

Standing in the great room looking to the kitchen and the Juliet balcony.

Standing on the balcony looking down towards the great room and front entry way.

Standing on the balcony looking at Kayden's room.

View from the great room looking out through the windows to the backyard.

Standing in the backyard looking at the back of the house.

The front of the house. There is Kayden checking out all the wood.

Framing is just about completed. They were just finishing the roof and a couple of other things. It looks completely different now.

The back of the house with the framing almost completed. We are looking forward to using that covered patio!

Dance Dance Dance

That's right--THREE kids in the school's dance festival this year. It was so fun to watch each of them dance and enjoy a lasting tradition that my kids' school has each year. We will definitely miss it at this school, but I am sure we will enjoy the traditions of our new school next year. Here are some highlights of this year's dance festival:

McKay, along with the rest of the fifth grade, were able to sing and do sign language for the Star Spangled Banner to start out the dance festival.

Josh put on quite the show during his dance. They danced to It's A Small World and had to dress in clothes from a different culture. Josh is sporting a Cozumel, Mexico t-shirt along with a Mexican Sombrero.

Josh really got into it had I loved watching him take his dancing so seriously.

Jaxon and the rest of the third grade dance to the Hawaiian Hukilau. He was very good.

At the end of his dance, Jaxon put motioned his finger down his throat (as in gag) to let me know that this was not his choice of dance festival song and dance. However, I enjoyed it.

McKay and the rest of the fifth grade did a medley of songs for their dance and was a lot of fun to watch. Here McKay (in the center with the black cowboy hat) is dancing to I Love the Rainy Nights.

They also danced to Sing, Sing, Sing, Sing and a street song, and Dynamite (which is a favorite among most of the kids at school).

I loved the dance festival this year and so did the kids (even Jaxon). It was entertaining and fun! Way to go boys!

Josh's Kindergarten Program

Joshua's kindergarten class is wrapping up the year and so they put on a program to show us some of the things that they were up to this year. I was so proud of Josh and loved watching him. It was a proud parent moment and I even shed a tear or two.

Here Josh is all ready for his program to start. I love the hats that they made for their program.

Josh is telling everyone what it is about school that he likes. It the program he said, "I like school because school is fun." Later when he came home he told me that really he likes school because of recess.

Josh doing a little jig during the program. He is one cute kid.

During the program they played the song What A Wonderful World and showed pictures that the kids painted to go along with the song. This is Josh's picture. His pictures does show what a wonderful world it is.

Here is Josh with his good buddy Kaden and his teacher Mrs. Bigler. Josh has had a great year this year and Mrs. Bigler has been great!

On the way out to the car, Josh put his arm around Kayden and led him down the crowded halls. I love it when my kids show love and concern for each other. This time I was lucky enough to catch it on camera.

Boy Scout Awards

McKay is an 11 year old scout and received his first scouting awards. He received his First Class and his Tenderfoot. I am new to this boy scouting thing and at times it seems a little overwhelming. But McKay is working hard and is doing a good job.

Bro. McAllister is McKay's scout leader and he does an amazing job. McKay is his troop's patrol leader and he does a great job.

McKay is pinning on the mother's pins. Not sure why I got these, other than the fact that I take McKay to scouts and pick him up from scouts every week. :) None the less, I am proud to have them.

The Magical Journey Opera

Jaxon's third grade class wrote and performed an opera. It was all about mean teachers who put all their kids in detention. Then Little Red Running Shorts comes and tells the kids to run away from their teachers and come with them to a mansion. The kids get lost along the way and the teachers are mad they escaped and go looking for them. While looking for the kids some witches agree to help the teachers locate the escaped kids. Only then they run into some talking owls that just confuse them. Finally the kids reach their destination with the help of the owls. They are happy to be with Little Red Running Shorts. The teachers keep searching for the kids until they agree with the owls and Little Red Running Shorts that they will be nicer to the kids. The kids are glad that the teachers will be nice but now everyone is ready to go back to school. Only they need a key that is a dragon's tooth. They find that they need to work together to get home. In the end everyone is friends and all is well.

Jaxon was a mean teacher. Here he is singing, "You're going away! You're in detention!" Then proceeds to tell the kids to get away from him. Wow. That IS a mean teacher.

Here is where the mean teachers have discovered that all the kids have run away (see Jaxon's "Oh no!" with his head in his hands) and decide to go looking for them.

In the end they all work together to get home. The teachers promise to be nice and the kids promise to be good.

It was quite the entertaining opera and fun to watch. The only bad thing is the first four lines of the opera have been stuck in my head for the last five days. Even upon waking at five in the morning, I find those four lines running through my head. It was quite a catchy tune. Here are a couple of clips from his opera. The first one is the first of the opera (the part that has been stuck in my head the last few days). The second one is when the teachers finally find the kids. Just know that this song may be stuck in your head the next several days!

Father's and Son's

It was our ward's annual Father's and Son's camp out last weekend. Jeremy took all four boys to the woods and they had a great time sleeping in a tent, cooking outdoors and playing with friends. They had a great time together:


I, on the other hand, spent the whole evening by myself. I went and got a pedicure, then a Cafe Rio salad and watched a chick flick. It was nice, quiet and relaxing. I know the boys can't wait for next year's Father's and Son's, and neither can I!

State Fair

The entire 5th grade put on a state fair this last week. They each had to highlight their state with the poster board that they made for their presentations. They were asked to display something along with their poster boards.

McKay had cranberries for everyone to try since New Jersey is the number two state in producing cranberries. He also had a display of some cars with a "bad guy" stealing them since Newark, New Jersey is the city with the most stolen cars in the nation (more than New York and L.A. combined).

Every few minutes, music would come across the speakers and the kids had to stand on their chairs and sing patriotic songs that they had learned through out the year. I believe McKay is singing "This Land is Your Land, This Land is My Land" in this picture.

Balloon Fun

McKay has a book that has taught him how to tie balloons. His brothers love it when he pulls out his balloons and makes them swords and holsters and cool hats. McKay went a little extreme this time and tried to make a spider's web. Instead it made a really cool hat:

He had to duck to go through door ways and shimmy in the halls to be able to go anywhere. Josh and Kayden loved their swords.

It was quite the hat. He has quite the imagination.

Framing Begins

Things look different every time we pull up to the lot now. They got this much done in a day with a two man crew (the other guy called in sick):

I was impressed. I thought it was a lot.

Until I came back the next day and found that most of the basement had been framed and that the next day the trestles were going to be laid.

Kayden having a good time finding his way around the maze of wood.

The basement mostly framed along with the trestles and ceiling in place.. Jeremy is standing in the hall between Jaxon's and McKay's rooms.

This is our walkout basement. There will be a rock wall there with a waterfall. There will also be stone steps leading up to the backyard.

The trestles and the floor from the top. The hole in the middle is the stairs leading to the basement.

My boys love going out to the lot to check things out and to play. They love the equipment that is out there and think that it is for their entertainment.

One day while we were there they placed the front kitchen wall.

Things really look different at the lot now being able to see things from the top. This day the garage and half the main floor was framed.

Here is my Kayden with all the work that has been done on the main level. The kitchen, pantry, bathroom, mud room, laundry room and living room has all been framed.

I was excited to see our steel beam go into place. This beam allows us to have a wide open space from the kitchen into the great room with no posts to block views. I was impressed that only six guys lifted this huge contraption into place.

I have loved working with our builders Scott and Brian from R.C. Dent. They are really fun and make me feel relaxed about the whole building process. I am looking forward to the rest of the building process and the final move in day!

Hope of America

All the 5th grade students in Utah County gather in the Marriott Center every May and sing songs that are dedicated to our country. McKay was able to participate this year and I loved watching and hearing he and his class (along with 300 other kids) sing patriotic songs.

Here is McKay getting ready to go with his friend Lane and his teacher Mrs. Moedl.

All the kids put together made quite a spectacular flag. McKay and his class are in the middle section, second red stripe from the top.

They sang a really cool song at the end called We Can Be A Light where they turned out the lights and the kids all had flashlights. It was McKay's favorite song in the program.

Now bring on the fireworks!

For Sale

It's bitter sweet. I am very excited about our new house. Yet, I had a hard time watching a "for sell" sign go up in front of my house this afternoon.

But it is official. Our house is for sell. So if you know anyone looking...

It is a great house in a great neighborhood. We will miss it here.

Jaxon's Cooking Lesson

Jaxon decided to make some Easy Mac (Mac and Cheese) for lunch today in the microwave. This was the result:

He forgot to add water.

It melted my bowl and made my house stink. Jeremy threw the bowl outside as fast as he could (hence the grass in the melted plastic) to minimize the smell, but oh the smell is nasty. I think Jaxon's lesson has been learned and he was he was full of apologies all afternoon. After all, he had to endure the smell just like the rest of us.