Summer Fun

I have had a blast enjoying all sorts of summer activities not having to follow a strict school schedule! The kids spent the first two weeks of summer doing swim lessons at the PG Pool, Abbey started up piano lessons and Braxton is playing it up in T-Ball! (And Landen gets dragged all over to the activities.) We have been so busy having fun that I haven't blogged for several weeks and know that I have so much to catch up on w/ our family and hopefully so much to read about everyone else's lives.


Strawberry Days was a blast! We pretty much had at least one activity to do every day for it and enjoyed each moment. We started off w/ the free family swim night at the pool on Monday, free concert and free strawberries 'n cream on Tuesday, children's parade and carnival on Wednesday night, a day to ourselves on Thursday night (I had other obligations), Huck Finn Days on Friday morning w/ a fun afternoon at the pool with all of the cousins and then the big parade and a party/bbq at our house afterwards on Saturday! The kids had a blast dancing all around during the entire concert and eating as many strawberries as they could handle. It was funny cause at one point Bryce was flipping Abbey around dancing and knocked her tooth right out of her mouth! (It REALLY needed to come out!) We braved the rain for the children's parade and decided to leave the camera at home during the carnival and just enjoy watching the kids have fun (instead of stressing about taking good pictures). At Huck Finn Days there were so many activities going on and the kids had a blast doing each one. They had face painting, pony rides, inflatable slides and bounce houses, pet shows, bubble gum blowing contests, fishing ponds, donut walks and more. I think that their favorite though was trying to catch fish in the pond that they made. No luck for us but their cousin, Tyson, let them hold a few that he caught. Here are a few pictures:

Braxton had a spiderman done first and then wanted a mustache painted on later. It was a hoot!

Abbey w/ her strawberry-- this is before she realized that they didn't put little black seeds on it... she wasn't happy when she saw it in the picture.

Landen loves balls so we figured a baseball would be appropriate for him.

Ila sitting so still while a flower is painted on her other cheek.

Landen, Braxton, Porter and Brayden (Porter's neighbor friend) sitting around having a good chat after trying to catch fish.

Poter & Ila enjoying Tyson's fish.

Braxton loving his turn to hold the poor little fish!

Ila just couldn't get enough of holding the fish! She LOVED it!

This picture cracks me up to see Karen in the background while Ila is holding the fish. I don't think that Karen thought that Ila would actually like it and she is shocked!

My nephew, Tyson, holding one of his two fish that he caught.

Landen finally got brave and went into the ice cold water for a try at a fish.

Bryce trying to help Abbey get a fish.

My neice, Ila, and my brother, Dave, having some fun!

Landen LOVED to jump in the muddy water and watch it splash!

Bryce helping out the boys... Braxton & Landen.

Freshly painted faces: Back row- Mikayla , Abbey, Whitney, Kristie, Braxton. Front: Ila & Landen.

There is so much more to post but it will have to wait for another night. Hopefully that will be soon!

He Did It!

Braxton finally earned Splinter! The Easter Bunny gave Braxton and Landen each a Ninja Turtle in their Easter baskets. They loved them and it made Braxton want the rest of the collection. He had a hard time saving money cause he would lose it, Abbey would con it out of him (give him a penny for his quarter... little stinker) or spend it on gum/treats. Since his system wasn't working I made him a chart w/ boxes on it for every 25 cents till he reached the $8.50 mark. Anyway- Braxton had to do extra chores (after his regular chores were done) to earn a box marked off... and it wasn't easy. Unloading the dishwasher was worth 2 boxes, cleaning the toilet (inside and out) was one box, etc... Somedays he would knock out several boxes and other days he had no interest. It has been a long road for this kid but it was SOOO much fun to see him be so excited today when he could mark off the last boxes!!! He sat and colored in his boxes for about 3 minutes to get them nice and dark so we could all see that he was finished (and he didn't want Splinter down from the top of the freezer till he finished coloring).

Braxton- we are so proud of you for sticking to it! WAY TO GO!!!!

Inspiration

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhLlnq5yY7k

I saw this link on my friend Angi's blog a while back and it totally inspired me and gave me a greater sense of self worth thinking about the talents that Heavenly Father has created me with. I tend to down play anything that I feel might be a strength or talent but after watching this I know I shouldn't be embarrassed about talents I am blessed with. It also gave me inspiration and validation on things that I like to do and "create."

Now- here is an assignment for all of YOU... all of you! Bloggers or not. Please comment and share at least one thing that you have created. Help inspire each of us with the talents you have been given!

I will start:

*I am blessed with the talent to organize things and create order from clutter
*I like to create beauty outside with flowers, plants, etc... Still working on this one but at the moment my plants are still alive!
*I do like to do artwork. I really enjoyed doings grayscale pictures w/ pencil and hope to one day have time to work on that again.
*I love to create "treats" (cookies, brownies, cakes, all sorts of tasty things to eat). When I mean "create" though- I follow somebody's recipe... but to me it is still a creation! :)

PLEASE share some of your talents! It will make my day!!!

Videos of Landen

Bryce has taken a few radom videos of the kids on his phone. Here are two of them that he took recently of Landen:



Landen getting in bed all by himself.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmxDEY5PHM4





The other day Landen thought that he would be tricky and get off my bed by sliding down the end and through the bars of the footboard. He is a skinny kid but I don't think that he thought about how his head was going to fit and got stuck.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hh5jWCFjddw&NR=1

The Citizenship Award Goes To.... ABBEY!!!

Abbey w/ her teacher, Mrs. Collins

Congratulations Abbey! Each teacher picked one boy and one girl in their class that they thought exhibited great citizenship throughout the year and Abbey was picked from her class! It was no surprise to me since she is always looking out for others and trying to make sure everyone is happy has a friend. I am just so proud of her and it will serve her well in life! Way to go Abbey!

Memorial Day 2009

The kids at my Grandma Bezzant's headstone in the PG Cemetary.


The kids w/ Grandma & Grandpa Bezzant. We ran into them at the program and mom had to show me exactly where Aunt Carolyn's grave was... I was off a few rows and couldn't find it!




We had a FABULOUS day together! Just our little family went to the PG Cemetary for the program and to put flowers out. We visited several graves including my Grandma Bezzant's and my Aunt Carolyn's. Then we headed off to Macey's grocery store for donuts, did a few errands and then we picked up lunch and went to a local park to eat and play. It was such a nice day, Bryce and I could relax for a second and the kids could be completely wild! I snapped a few pictures of them having fun on the swings:


I couldn't get a close up of Abbey on the swings cause she was moving to fast for me to really capture a great shot so I had to settle for this cute one.

I love the pure expressions in these pictures. They had no idea I was taking them and it was so much fun watching them!




Bryce tried to teach Braxton how to pump on the swings and he wasn't completely interested. He would rather just have "underdog" pushes every 5 seconds. Bryce and Landen had a blast sharing a swing and you couldn't go high enough for Landen. Abbey also enjoyed getting up as high as she could go. She is great on the swings.

The evening ended w/ Bryce taking Braxton up A.F. Canyon for a motorcyle ride with Bryce's brother, Dustin and his little boy, Traegan. They had a great time. The rest of us hung out and home and chatted a bit with the neighbors.

We loved being able to go at our own pace all day and there wasn't one thing that we had to worry about being on time to. I get all choked up on Memorial Day (especially at the programs) when I think about all those people and their families who sacrificed so much for me to be able to do as I please with so many freedoms. I also think so much about the legacys different family members have set for us to follow, enjoy and reap the benefits of. I am truly blessed. It was a great day!

Braxton's Preschool Graduation

The school year flew by and now the end has come. Braxton has had a fantastic year at preschool w/ his amazing teacher, Miss Heidi. They have done so many creative activities w/ all sorts of hands on experiences. I am glad that he will get to go back for one more year!

Here are a few cute things that he has said this year that Miss Heidi kept track of:

Braxton: "If I were the President, I would watch the cartoon station."

They were talking about being thankful for things. Here is Braxton's thought: "I am thankful that Santa brings me presents."

In February they wrote down something they loved. Braxton: "I love Parker." -- his friend in preschool.

They had a week about careers and such and talked about how they could be anything that they wanted to be. Braxton: "I can be a Star Wars Guy!"

Braxton said that his favorite color is green cause it is the color of a light saber and a crayon.

Braxton's favorite thing about preschool was riding the 2-wheeler bikes and making skid marks on the sidewalk. This kid is going to have lopsided tires from all of the skid marks he makes.

He cracks me up with the things that he thinks up! Miss Heidi, Miss Mistee and Miss Paula all said how quiet he is at school and finally this last month has started opening up to talk to them with random stories. Braxton... quiet? Maybe they don't play indians, star wars, and such at school. :)

Anyway- I am proud of Braxton for doing so well in school this year! I never had to drag him out the door to go and we usually remembered the backpack. :)