Terrible, Wonderful 2

Happy Birthday Kate!

I can't believe that my baby is 2. Unfortunately I am afraid the fact that Eric and I missed her birthday party will always overshadow the remembrance of the day. It started off in a very normalish birthday way. She woke up and opened her presents with us and then we sent Alec and Chloe off to school. Since Eric had they day off, we decided to go and shop for a new car, since we had some time and had been meaning to do it for a few weeks. Well....looking turned into buying, and buying turned into several hours. We did get the birthday girl home in time and thanks to some wonderful family and a little luck, the party went off without a hitch, minus the birthday parents. We made it back just after cake was served. I am 100% sure that she will never remember that we missed her party, but I am also 100% sure that all that wonderful family won't let her OR us forget. Thanks everyone for helping out and making it a great party for Kate. Kate, you are an amazing little girl and and we can't imagine life without you!

Love you Baby!

Idaho Reunion

The last weekend in July, every other year, Eric's family on his mom's side has a huge family reunion in Idaho. They rent out a large camping/recreation area and we all spend a couple of days camping and hanging out together. Each family is in charge of certain meals and/or games throughout the weekend and on Saturday night the family band sets up and plays for a fun night of singing and dancing. I think one of the best things is that every year there is a humanitarian project that we work on.

This year we even rode the canal. It was the first time that the kids and I had done it. The funny thing is that in Idaho, a canal is more of what I think of as a small river. It was tons of fun and the kids had a blast! I am not sure if they liked jumping off the bridge or riding the rapids more, but they did not take a break for about 4 hours. We always have a great time and love seeing all the extended family. We can't wait for 2011!

Double Digits!

WOW 10!

It amazes me that we have been parents for a whole decade! This year for Alec's birthday, like Chloe, he had two parties. On his actual birthday all his grandma's and grandpa's, great's included, came over for pizza and strawberry shortcake, Alec's favorite dessert! His second party was much more exciting! I had heard an ad on the radio for birthday parties at the Living Planet Aquarium and immediately thought of Alec. He, Eric and Chloe watch the discovery channel all the time and their favorite programs are about the ocean. Alec hadn't had a friend party since he was 5, so we figured that 10 was a great age to get a party like this. He got to invite 10 friends and cousins to come with us. The party was in a sunken ship and then we got to go on a treasure hunt through the aquarium. There are even a couple "hands on" exhibits where you get to feel some of the animals. Everyone really liked the stingray. It was amazing to reach in and touch them as they swam by!

Alec also really liked the shark tank and the anaconda.

Alec, we hope you had a great 10th birthday! You are such a great kid. I can't believe how much you have grown up in the last couple of years. Thanks for all the help you give me at home and with the girls!

We love you bud!!

Vacation, Prettyman Style!

For our bi-annual vacation with Eric's family, instead of the usual trip to Bear Lake, this year we went to Wolf Creek/Pineview. It is an incredible vacation spot. The condo's have a great pool and water slide and tons of room to play. We had a talent show where our family put on a magic act.

Alec did his famous card trick and conjured up a pranks, Chloe helped Eric and I with some thrilling illusions and Kate's pants "mysteriously" disappeared, as they do on a regular basis! Every family participated and there were some very clever and cute acts! We had relay races, morning exercise, a day at the lake and a trip into Ogden to the Treehouse Museum. It was such a fun week and we loved spending time with everyone! Thanks Grandma!!

5 is FABULOUS!

Chloe is so excited to be 5. She asked for a new bike for her birthday. Not just any bike though, a Barbie bike that Barbie can ride on too. Also, it has been more than 6 weeks since she got her ears pierced and she is able to change out her studs, so she also asked for some new earrings. I think she is a very happy girl that both of those birthday wishes came true!

The University of Phoenix zoo night fell on Chloe's birthday this year so she got the have a party at the zoo with Eric's side of the family. It was a lot of fun!

We also celebrated Chloe, Oma and Jordan's birthdays at Banana and Papa's with the first swim party of the summer.

We hope you had a great 5th birthday Chloe! It is so fun to watch you grow....now stop it!!

Bear Hollow field trips and Graduation!

This year I was able to go with Chloe on two field trips.

The first one was at the beginning of the year and we went to Cabellas. We had a great time looking around at all of the animals and the best part was we got to watch them feed the fish. Chloe and Tyson's favorite thing was, of course, the shooting gallery

The second field trip was to the zoo. It was the last field trip of the year and we were excited about it for months! It seemed like forever by the time we FINALLY got to go!

I am really glad I was able to spend those fun days with Chloe and have those memories from preschool with her!

Chloe graduated from her second year at Bear Hollow. They had a really fun program with several songs about all the animals they had learned about all year long! Chloe had been singing them around the house for months and knew all the songs so well for the performance. She won the "Always Happy" award for the second year in a row! Chloe had an amazing year with Miss Molly. She is reading and learned to count to 100! She learned so much and is so ready for kindergarten, although I am not ready for her to be that old! Chloe we are so proud of you and how hard you worked all year! We know that you will be amazing at anything you do because you have such a passion for life and learning and put your heart into everything you try! Don't ever change Chloe Belle!

Nadia??..No, it's Chloe!

This past year, Chloe took gymnastics. We wanted to put her in something that she would really enjoy but also help her with her balance and coordination. Here are a few pictures from her class. One of her favorite things was at the end of every class when they would give a cheer and say "We love gymnastics!"

Chloe got to participate in the spring exhibition. It was AMAZING! They set it up like a real gymnastics meet. They had four rotations and they marched to each one just like real gymnasts do. She did the bars, floor, beam and vault, which in this age bracket is just jumping off the spring board and landing with your hands up, but still way cute!! Anyway, to say the least we were stunned with how much she had improved during the year! She did so good and everyone that came and watched thought she was incredible!

Good Job Chloe!

Rocker Alec!

Alec participated in the end of the year 4th grade this year. Even though they dressed like rockers and sang rock style, the songs were actually about ROCKS. It was a fun concert and Alec did a great job!

Congrats Graduate!

This past Saturday my little brother graduated!! He got his Bachelors Degree in Business Management from the University of Phoenix. Eric was excited because he actually had a few students who he has taught graduating and, of course, Jordan, so he had a reason to sit through the ceremony this year. It was fun to see you both in your robes! We are so proud of you and all your hard work! Congrats Jord! We love you!

By the way Becca, that is one of the cutest baby bumps I have ever seen! We can't wait to meet Caidence.

Nobody likes me...

...everybody hates me think I'll go eat worms. Chloe and Tyson learned the famous worm song in school a couple of weeks ago and she has been obsessed with them ever since. She thinks they are so cute and she just wants to take care of them. She finds them a good place in the dirt to live and makes sure that the mom's and the babies stay close together. Oh well, I have said it before and I will say it again, when it comes to Chloe....This To Will Pass!! Oh how I love that girl!

Easter '09

Easter this year was a lot of fun! The Monday before Easter we had family home evening that Grandma and Kyler and Jenna and the boys came for. We had homemade pizza and then decorated egg sugar cookies! The week before our lesson had been about the upcoming General Conference and the kids started a conference packet that would help them listen to the talks. For this family home evening we each told about our favorite talks. It actually worked out really well, the kids had fun and I think it helped them pay attention a little better. We were glad Kyler and Jenna and Grandma could join us. Thanks everyone for adding to our fun, yet spiritual??, night!

We then had a whole weekend of Easter celebrations. On Saturday we had a party at Banana and Papa's, complete with good food, an egg hunt, fun games and baskets for the kids and adults. Thanks, it was a great party!! On Sunday the kids woke up, not to early actually, and found their baskets that the Easter Bunny had hidden for them. We then had a Easter Egg Pancake Breakfast, which sounds kinda gross but it was just pancakes shaped like eggs and dyed pastel colors. Sunday afternoon we headed to Grandma's for another party, complete with good food and an egg hunt. The kids had so much fun looking for the golden egg, hidden by Kimmie and Michael, and Alec has assured me that next year he will be the one to find it! Thanks Grandma and Kim and Michael for making it so fun!!!

We hope everyone had a great Easter and not only enjoyed the holiday, but also took time to reflect on the meaning of the wonderful day!

A little bit of Chloe is all we need...

During Priesthood session of conference last night, my mom, my sister-in-law Becca and I took the kids to the mall. As we passed Claires jewelry I asked Chloe if she wanted to get her ears pierced. Immediately, as she has done for the last year or so, she said "NO!" But then just a split second later she said, "Oh wait, yeah I do." So we went in and although I was not totally convinced she would go through with it, we got her all set up and ready. Luckily there were 2 people working and they did both ears at the same time because there was about a 2 minute period she was really sorry she did it and I don't think she would have both ears pierced. But she did it, they look adorable and she has been beaming from ear to ear ever since.

Oh....those pesky little green men struck again!

Hoops '09!

Alec just finished up basketball. It had been awhile since he played it as an organized team sport. The last time he played it was a jungle ball frenzy, which is not to be unexpected from a bunch of 7 year old's, but this go around....what a difference. He had an amazing coach that held practices outside of the 20 pre-game practice and Alec learned a lot!

He has become a pretty aggressive re-bounder, not a bad shot and Eric said more than a few times that he could watch Alec set up screens all day! The games were so much fun to watch that the 8:00 pm game time only kept me home with Kate a couple of times, the other nights we braved the late nights and enjoyed watching him play. Thanks to everyone who also braved the late nights and came to cheer him on! Great job Bud!

I think I know why they had fun at the games!

OK..maybe the late nights weren't always a good idea??

I enjoy being a girl!

Spring can't get here fast enough and Chloe and I thought that we would push it along a little bit by getting ready for sandal weather. Alec was gone, Kate was asleep and Eric had grading to do, so Chloe and I took off on Saturday and had a girls afternoon. This is the end result...

Good Old Family Fun!

We have had a few fun outings the past couple of weekends. The first couple were with Kyler and Jenna and the boys.

The first outing was to a BYU men's basketball game. The bench tickets were only $1 each and so it was a great way to have a cheap family outing. After the game we went back to our house for a bake potato bar and to just hang out.

Last Saturday Kyler and Jenna had gotten some tickets for the Draper Temple open house and invited us to go with them. We left Kate with my mom and dad so that we could enjoy the time with Alec and Chloe. It was amazing to be able to show them the sealing room and the celestial room and to be able to just enjoy the peace of the temple. I hope they felt the spirit there and that they will have the desire to attend the temple often as they get older.

A little later that night, Eric took Alec and Chloe to see his niece Stacie play basketball at Westminster.

She and her team from Montana were down for her last senior game here in Utah. Stacie is the one shooting the free throw. They had a lot of fun watching them play. One highlight, aside from seeing Stacie, was that John Stockton's son plays for Westminster and the men's game was right after the women's and John and Karl Malone were in the stands waiting for the game to start. They are hiding a little bit, but it really is them!

Dang, I can't believe I missed Karl! I had a life size poster of him on my wall when I was a teenager. I had a pretty big crush on him! I swore that his free shoot ritual was dedicated to me. If you don't know what I am talking about, it is probably a good thing, but if you do know, you now know something pretty embarassing about me. Oh well, those were the good days! The closest I have ever seen him is from the nose bleed section at the Delta Center. Maybe it is a good thing that I missed it!
Anyway, we have had a great few weekends, but are really looking forward to the weather getting nicer so we can get out of the house more! Anyone with me??

An Ice Fishing We Will Go!

For Christmas we all gave my dad a certificate to go ice fishing. He LOVES fishing and has been talking about going ice fishing for the last few winters and this year we wanted to make sure that it happened. He just had to pick the day and time and we would all take care of everything else. The day was picked and all the boys ready to go. Chloe loves to fish, but I wasn't sure she would be up for a day out in the cold. I was wrong, when I told her that we could have a girls day or she could go fishing with all they boys, I was told in no uncertain terms, "Girls can do everything boys can do!" Unfortunately Chloe was sick on the day that was picked, but 2 weeks later, with Banana in tow, they went again and she was able to go. They didn't have much luck either time, but they had a ton of fun and I am sure they will be venturing out again.