Not Too Big

We have a Christmas tradition of unwrapping and reading a Christmas book each night in December.  The boys all gather around and I read the book to them.  On this night, McKay was sad he was too big to sit on my lap.  I told him he would never be too big to sit on my lap.  So he then decided it was his turn to sit on my lap.  Kayden insisted that he share my lap and below was the results:

I love my boys.

Jaxon decided that he wanted a part of my lap too.  When did my kids get so big?

8th Grade Beasts

McKay loves to play football.  This year was no exception.  He took what he learned last year and improved more than ever!  He even prepared for football season by being in shape.  He was out running a couple of times a week before school and in the early mornings of summer.

McKay makes one handsome football player.

McKay's team.  They called themselves the 8th Grade Beasts.

McKay with his team celebrating a win earlier in the season by grabbing a post game drink and snack.

Post game coach's pep-talk.  McKay's coach (pictured with the hat) is one passionate man and would get fired up.

Another passionate post-game chat after another win.

It was a successful season and McKay's team made it to the tournament.  McKay was sad to see the season end. But we were able to celebrate the success of the season at a dessert banquet.  Above McKay is lined up with his team.  The coach highlighted each player and gave each player a small gift.

McKay receiving his gift from Coach.

A few weeks after the regular season ended, the team went down to Mesquite, Nevada to play in a weekend tournament.  Just McKay and I went down.  We thought we would enjoy some warmer weather (it being the end of November), but instead it rained the whole weekend and we froze!  McKay is bundled in a blanket above waiting for the tournament weigh-ins.

It was so chilly, that McKay did some dancing during warm-ups to stay warm.  He has got some moves! 

Hanging out with some of his team buddies at Pizza Hut for lunch.  It was fun to watch him interact with his friends.  And it was fun to see him relax and enjoy himself so much.

A pre-game breakfast at McDonald's.  We learned through Google that McDonald's was one of Mesquite's top 10 restaurants.  That shows you the quality of Mesquite, Nevada.

Once the tournament was over, McKay's team gathered for one last post-game pep talk.  Coach brought up each player and talked about their good qualities and all that each player added to the team.  He talked about how this was only McKay's second year playing football and how hard he worked.  McKay played on the offensive line this year and also played corner for the last part of the season and for all of the Mesquite tournament.

One last team huddle.  McKay really was sad to see it all end.  He loves football season and being with his team.

Team tournament photo.  McKay was so appreciative and thanked me many times for taking him to the tournament.  Despite the weather and losing games in the tournament, it was a good weekend. 

Muscle Man

We got our carpets cleaned a while back. To help the carpets dry faster, we put a fan on the carpet. Kayden stepped in front of the fan and realized it looked like he had huge muscles as air blew up and into his shirt.

Laughing muscle man.

Tough muscle man.

Jaxon's Rank Advancements

Jaxon attended his first court of honor as a boy scout this month.  He earned Tenderfoot, Second Class and First Class rank advancements in addition to a few merit badges.  He has been one busy scout!

 Jaxon's Dad got to present his rank advancement awards to him since he is the scout master.

 Getting "pinned" by Jaxon.  We only made him pin on one of the three pins.  He got off easy.

Proud parent moment.  Way to go Jax!

Josh's Week in Review

Josh has had a big week.  Remember his birthday party last week at Hang Time?  Well apparently he injured himself while he was there.  He had been complaining about his heel hurting for about a week but Jeremy and I just kept blowing it off thinking the pain would go away or that Josh would forget about it.  Well, long story short we were at a BYU basketball game a few days after his birthday party and suddenly Josh burst into tears saying over and over again that his heel hurt.  We decided it was time to do something.  So I took him into Instacare the next morning.  After a series of tests and x-rays, it was determined that Josh has a strained Achilles Tendon.  He now is in a boot for the next 1-2 weeks: 

Stylin'

A close up shot.

As I was taking him to school after he had been fitted for his boot, I told him everyone would want to know what happened to his foot.  He asked me if he could tell everyone that it was none of their business.  I told him he couldn't say that because the people that asked cared about him.  I had him practice over and over, "I strained my Achilles Tendon."  After school, I asked him about what he told people.  He told me, "I said to them that I broke my muscle."  I guess that explanation works too.

The next event in Josh's week was he earned his Wolf award at Pack Meeting.  I went with McKay to Mesquite (more on that later), so I missed pack meeting.  Thankfully Dad stepped in and was there with Josh to receive his award.

While Mom is away, Dad will play.  Jeremy gave Josh a faux-hawk without Josh knowing it.  Josh usually is very particular about the way his hair is combed.  He likes it to look nice.  Jeremy distracted him after he finished combing his hair so Josh wouldn't know about his faux-hawk.  Then to prove he got away with it, he snapped a picture and sent it to me.

The final event in Josh's week was we found this while at church today:

Josh's first gray hair.  Don't you think 9 years old is a little young to be finding gray hairs?

All in all it has been a big week for Josh.  Who knows what will be next?!

Squirm!

Josh and the rest of the third grade put on a little play at school all about things that make you squirm.  It was a cute show and they did a great job.  Here are some highlights:

 Josh is the cute one in the bright orange sweat shirt dancing while singing.

Here he is singing along with everyone in his class.  It was such a cute program.

Here is a little snippet of Josh singing about things that make you squirm:

Nine is Fine

Joshua celebrated his 9th birthday yesterday. He had a great day at school and gave his class his favorite treat: Oreos. Once he came home, the real partying began. He had his good friends come over and we took them to Hang Time in Orem (with Kayden and his friends).  Josh had a great birthday and just kept partying on through the rest of the night.

My nine year old.

Josh with all his friends.  From left to right: Brigham, Jack, Owen, Matt, Josh, Jace, Connor and Eli.

Josh and his friends love playing basketball together.  Add a trampoline and they were heaven shooting and doing slam dunks.  Above is Matt, Brigham and Eli.

Josh doing a slam dunk with some rim hang time.

Singing Happy Birthday with his brother over some pizzas.

The whole gang.

The whole gang being silly.

Present time!

After all of Josh's friends left, Josh opened his presents from us.  He got a big Lego Star Wars set and a glow in the dark Frisbee ring.  One of his friends came back over and he and Josh spent the rest of the night playing with all of Josh's new toys.

McKay giving Josh a nice bonk on the head.  (I made McKay squat so he would fit in the picture.)

Nine Things We Love About Joshua:

1. Josh loves everything sports.  Whatever sports season it is, that is his favorite.  Right now he loves football (he played flag football for the first time this year) and basketball.
2. Josh likes to keep busy.  He is always outside playing with his friends or riding his bike and/or Ripstik.  It is surprising to find him watching TV or playing video games.
3. He is funny.  Just ask all the kids in his class.  He came home with a bunch of birthday cards from his class yesterday.  I would say 85% of them said something about Josh being funny.
4. Josh is sincere.  He always is telling me the sweetest things straight from his heart.  Especially at bed time.  "Mom, I am glad you chose me to be your boy."
5. Josh loves being with his friends.  There is hardly a day that goes by when he isn't with a friend.
6. He loves math and is good at it.  (He definitely didn't get that from me.)  He says it is his favorite thing to do at school.  He comes right home after school and gets his homework done.
7. Josh is a good brother.  He watches out for Kayden and loves hanging out with him.  He loves it when McKay and Jaxon go outside to play football with him.
8. Josh is a Daddy's Boy.  He loves to have his dad come in his room at night and chat with him.  Josh loves having that time with his dad.
9. He is still one of my best helpers.  He will sometime surprise me by cleaning up without me asking and he will do his Saturday job with out complaint--most of the time.  (You can't expect him to be perfect all of the time!)

Happy birthday Josh!  We are so glad you were sent to us and that you are our boy.  We love you!

Kayden is 6!

They say time flies when you are having fun.  It must be true because it doesn't seem like this kid should already be six!  He celebrated his 6th birthday a couple of days ago, but I waited until tonight to blog because he had his friend birthday party tonight.

Kayden on his birthday.  6!

We went to JCW's for dinner as part of Kayden's birthday celebration.  He was being silly by having the bacon from his hamburger dangling from his mouth.

He had to wait all day to be able to open his presents and it was pure torture!  But the time finally arrived and McKay gave him a nice "bonk" on the head.

"I wish you...I wish you....I wish you..."  He was so excited to open his presents that he had a hard time coming up with wishes to give us.  He finally came up with: 1. A trip to Florida.  2. A free trip to the zoo.  Gee, thanks!

This kid has been asking for a dog Pillow Pet since last Christmas.  Finally he got one!

Watching Kayden open presents is like watching your grandparents open presents on Christmas morning.  (Well, at least my grandparents.)  He took forever!  He finally ripped into the wrapping paper.

Kayden got his very own scooter.  He and his friends have been in to riding scooters lately.

Kayden's scooter wheels light up.  He loves it!

We waited for Josh's birthday (more on that later) to have a friends birthday party.  We took both boys and their friends to Hang Time (a trampoline gym) for some fun.  Kayden invited some of his favorite friends.

Bryton making his way through the  foam pit.

Kayden landing in the foam pit after doing a cool trick.

Chase having fun throwing foam blocks.

Kayden doing a flip into the foam pit.

Ian preparing to do a fun trick.

Getting ready to play some dodge ball.

Kayden climbed to the top of the dodge ball arena.

After Hang Time, we went back to the house for some pizza.  But first we had to sing Happy Birthday.  We put some candles in two pizzas instead of a cake and sang our hearts out.

Kayden and his friends being silly.

Presents from friends is always fun!

Six Things We Love About Kayden:

1. His giggle.  Just thinking about his giggle makes me smile.
2. He loves school.  When it was time for fall break at school he was mad and said, "I don't like fall break!  I want to go to school!"  He is doing very well in kindergarten and is a smarty pants.
3. He loves playing with his friends and is always wanting to get them to come play at our house.
4. He is a good helper.  He is great at making his bed and he is an awesome stairs duster.
5. He LOVES playing and being with his brothers and is very loving.  He will stop whomever is leaving the house so that he can tell them good-bye and that he loves them.  He will also add a "Be safe!"
6. He is one stubborn kid.  Sometimes it is hard to love his about him since I am stubborn too, but someday I hope he uses his determination in a positive way.

We love you Kayden.  I am so glad you are our boy.  Happy Birthday!