the waiting is over

for this kid.

Thankfully this early birthday trip was planned only six days before leaving and it also helped that Cody was busy working on a science project for school so that the last few days went by a little faster.

He loved working on this project but loved even more talking about the Lego convention to anyone who would listen, he had so much to share, too many thoughts on what it might be like.

Cody was worried about wearing the BSU shirt that I had picked out for him because he was afraid that it might offend the people of Washington but I told  him that it would be okay.  He also told the ladies at check in when someone made a joke about Ryan maybe having to go with them that "Ryan couldn't go because my parents were trying to make this trip as cheap as possible". 

 I am so happy for Cody and this perfect little trip.

I'm only bummed that I'm going to miss out on all of his new experiences, the funny things he says and seeing the excitement on his face.  What a special time for him and Heath.

I've told Heath to take lots of pictures and to try and remember everything to tell me,

but we all know how great Heath's memory is so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

and my boys are off! 

We hope they have a wonderful trip, we miss them already!

apple pickin

This week Amanda and I headed to the orchard with the little kiddos to pick some apples.

Thirty to be exact.

So I could help her can some apple pie filling.

How yummy does that sound.

Our two little helpers were quite the handful don't let their looks fool you.

 They had endless amounts of energy  

 and kept going

 and going.

 It was a fun day being with friends

and spending time with my little guy

 and the apple pies won't be so bad either.

treasures

Ryan came home from school and was so excited to give me a gift hidden away in his backpack.

He had made me a necklace with some bling on it and had me put it on right away.

How cute is this?

Now I just need somewhere fancy to go so I can wear it.

 He was in a creative mood so he also made Heath a Gears of War necklace for him to wear with a skull on it.

He delivered a home made crown to the neighbors and made many more necklaces to share with his friends and brothers.

He worked really hard on this little man and football for Heath to have.

It is so tiny that I almost threw it away thinking it was scraps, good thing I didn't. 

What fun little treasures our little guy made for us!

things to remember

Ryan

This kid is just a nut!  The cutting inappropriate things with scissors hasn't stopped, not only has he cut his hair, a hole in a brand new shirt but also his leg hairs all while in school. 

In Kindergarten the kids have a sixth grader reading buddy and it turns out that Ryan's is the neighbor girls from across the street.  At their first meeting they didn't recognize each other but after Ryan told Victoria that he had a dog named Ruby she was pretty sure who he was so she asked him a few questions.

She asked, "Do you live in this neighborhood?"

Ryan answered, "No, I live in North America."

She asked, "Do you live close to the school?"

Ryan answered, "No, I live in Idaho."

I think she gave up asking questions after that.

The other exciting news with Ryan is that he is a reader now.  Just this last week he started reading some Dick and Jane books and hasn't stopped since.  He wants to read all the time so we are so happy for him.

Luke

With only two more football games left, Luke is starting to figure out the game a little more.  He loves it that Heath is there to help coach and talk to him about the plays and positions.  This past weekend Heath took Luke to the BSU game (just like they did last year together) so I guess it's becoming a tradition now.  They had to go to Red Robin again and drink strawberry lemonade because that is what Luke remembered from last time.  He was super excited to hang out with his dad for the night.

Luke is still loving everything about having his pet lizard (I like him too and find him fascinating to watch).  The one thing that I don't like about the pet is the three crickets that I have found on the loose in my house (one on the stairs and two in my closet), they really gross me out.  Luke does so good taking care of him and feeding him and is getting more and more comfortable with him all the time. 

Cody

This kid makes me laugh all the time.  He has been asking for his own email address for awhile now so finally we set him up with one and he couldn't wait to start emailing his family and friends.  Without me knowing he even emailed his teacher this which I thought was hilarious:

hello ms irvine today remember that spelling test this morning? well i got confused and mixed up the regular words and challenge words and i got them mixed up so im sorry that i did that but after all i did get a 100%

love cody

On one of his emails that he sent me, he made up this: remember your average idea is never a bad one, which he said was going to be his new motto.
He also came home from school the other day with some news about a club that him and a few friends started up.  He told me it was called the JERK club, which I was shocked by and then he told me what it stood for. Juvenile Educated Rich Kids, which I guess he is the Vice President of, who even knew we were rich?

We have also had the pleasure listening to him play his recorder for us, Hot Cross Buns is the only song he knows so we hear it a lot around here. 

Even though Cody's tenth birthday isn't for another month he found out yesterday that he gets to celebrate it a little early with a trip to Seattle with Heath for a Lego convention called BrickCon.  We surprised him with it last night because we were finally able to make it work for the right price and they leave this Friday and come home Sunday.  Since neither of them have ever been to Seattle they also hope to see a few other things like the Space Needle and Pikes Place.  The kid is beyond excited!

Wow, how was that for a recap!

a wish come true

Oh Yeah, (insert clapping), Woo Hoo

is the first thing that a seven year old boy says when he walks into his bedroom to be surprised with a new pet lizard that he has been asking for but had no idea that he would be getting today.

 Luke has been talking to us about wanting a lizard for awhile now (a lizard is the only thing that I would possibly consider out of the other pets that were on his want list such as (tarantulas, birds, and snakes), no thank you! Heath and I couldn't believe how patient Luke has been in waiting which is most of the reason why we decided that he could get one. He was so shocked when he first saw the leopard gecko that he didn't know what to do, he quickly came and gave us hugs, told us thank you and was wondering if he was dreaming.  He held him right away and listened to everything we had to tell him.  It didn't take but a few minutes before he asked if he could go and tell the girls and bolted to their house.  Before I knew it the gang was back here to help Luke celebrate his new pet and they were all just as excited as he was.

 So this little guy isn't 100% named yet but for now he is being called Desert.  Luke is already in love with him (I guess as much as you can love a lizard) and has been feeding him crickets and handling him as much as we let him.  I think he's going to take great care of him!

Even though this wouldn't be my choice of a great pet, how can I not be so happy for Luke when I see that big smile on his face.

a day to remember

September 11, 2001 is a day that the world will never forget

a day that we will always remember.

But TODAY is a day that we will also never forget

a day that we will always remember

because the boys were baptized today.

We were so thankful for Father Oscar who baptized them, he is very special to us.

He lost his younger brother in the World Trade Center so this day is very significant to him.

He has been a wonderful support to my family on this journey in our faith.

 Heath and I were also able to have our marriage blessed in the church where we repeated our vows to each other and had our wedding rings blessed.  This was the first time that Heath has taken his wedding ring off since the day we were married.  I loved that the boys were there to watch us, Ryan's only concern was that if we were going to kiss, which yes we did.

 We had to decide on Godparents for each of the kids to help guide and support them in their faith.

Jim and Nicole are Cody's

 Grammy and Papa are Luke's 

 and Summer and Matt are Ryan's

 As if this wasn't enough to celebrate something else happened that made this day one to remember.

Matt and Summer surprised us with an ultrasound picture.

They are having a baby (due April 7th)!

The family is so happy for them, we know that they will make an unbelievable little family.

What a blessed day this was for our family!

boating and fishing

this is what the boys loved the most about our last camping trip of the year

even though lots of us went tubing, Hailey and Tucker were our favorites to watch

their facial expressions were the best

Tucker is unbelievable and will not fall off for anything

he stayed on even after flipping up on his side 

and he even got up on his first attempt at wake boarding 

the kids love looking through Heath's tackle box and came up with some great combinations (worms, marshmallows, and fish eggs) that were sure to catch a few fish. 

Ryan insisted on fishing with his buddy Daniel (Dan is a friend of the family's) and wanted to be next to him all morning long. Ryan would constantly ask him, "Daniel, do you need a worm? Daniel, do you need a marshmallow?, it was pretty funny.

Cody got to help Heath reel in the only fish of the day

but wasn't ready for it when it started flopping around

 When you get to your fishing spot early enough (6:30 am) you get to see some beautiful sights

like the steam raising off  the water

   and the sun rising, so it's all worth it

Once back at home and after everyone had bathed Ryan saw how dirty the bath tub

was and said to me, "Mom, this bath really needs a shower."

On a different note...

This same little boy decided that he would cut his hair at school today because he saw another little boy do it and thought it looked like fun.  This all wouldn't be so bad if we didn't have family pictures on Saturday.  I guess this will go along with Luke's bruised goose egg on the side of his face from the hit he took in football practice yesterday, how can I not just laugh.

so long summer

I don't even want that to be true, I still want it to be summertime.

We have almost finished our first full week of school, it's so hard to believe.

Ryan absolutely loves it and is always so excited when it's his school day.  He doesn't have a problem leaving me at all, he talks about the new friends he's made, he eats his lunch so good, and has only gone to the back of the line once make that twice for talking (that I know of anyway).  He checked out his first library book today and was so happy to show me, "An Octopus is Amazing".  I love picking him up from school and seeing him all smiles and excited to see me.

Luke enjoys school even though he insists that it's longer this year probably because it's a lot harder work.  He's having to adjust to football practices three times a week and school so he is a very tired and emotional kid by the end of the day.  He has a good friend in his class and has met a new friend that he plays with so even though he complains about school in the mornings he seems to be all good by the time I pick him up.

Cody seems to just love everything about school except maybe Math, that seems to be his least favorite subject so far.  He never complains about going and seems to be fascinated by everything, especially the fact that he gets to learn how to play the recorder this year, how exciting is that. 

So even though we are back in school, playing football and the weather is changing

I really do want these summer days back...

so long summer of 2011

you were good to us