Busy, busy, busy

I always think things are going to slow down, but it appears I'm only tormenting myself with the thought of it. Thankfully, we've had a lot of fun things going on, and that makes it all worthwhile. This past Friday, after Melanie, Paula, and I pulled off a successful teacher appreciation luncheon for 103 people, Dave and I and the kids traveled to sunny St. George (80+ degrees = me happy) for my cousin Justin and his beautiful wife Bri's wedding reception. The kids got to help with napkins and gifts, and Dave was an official ice cream server along with my dad and uncle Steve. They were the life of the party, and I can't BELIEVE I didn't get a picture. Lame.

Justin is in the United States Marines and honestly, in my boys' eyes, he could not possibly get any cooler. He was helping them work on their serious soldier faces.
I remember when Justin was born, so this whole getting married thing is a little weird for me, but he and Bri are very happy and so cute together. We're so happy for them.

Our family with the happy couple ... plus my cousin Mason on the far left. Mason has Down Syndrome, and he LOVES Dave. He writes Dave letters and loves it when we come to visit. He follows Dave everywhere and just chats away. Dave is his favorite, and it is SO CUTE. There was no way he was missing out on the picture.
London with the beautiful bride. Bri was nice enough to let London hold her bouquet and take her own picture with her.
After the reception, we changed into play clothes for a quick stop by the outlets and then on to the park for a game of soccer and playing on the playground at 9:00 at night. It was warm and nice and SO FUN. I love St. George.
T.J. and Jackson played at the park while Austin and I schooled Dave and London at soccer.

Jackson is such a good brother and is always so willing to play with T.J. and make sure he's having fun.
If it hadn't gotten dark, they would have played all night.
T.J. loving staying up WAY late playing, playing, playing. Sometimes I forget he's only 4 ... like when he's at a park at 10:00 p.m.
Dave and my dad took the kids hiking around behind Grandma and Grandpa's house in Ivins on Saturday morning.
They came back covered in red dirt, but they said it was worth it.
Dave and his kiddos. I'm so glad he's a hands-on Dad and loves to hike and play with his kids. They LOVE it ... and he does too.
Ewwww.
Grandpa loves to hike around with the kids too. He apparently captured the creature in the picture above for the kids. Thanks Dad.
The boys had a piano recital a few weeks ago. It was their first one, and they did great. They were both kind of nervous. They haven't been taking piano for too long, but they're doing great and learning a lot.
The front porch swing. T.J.'s favorite napping spot. Mine too actually. I love it when he just decides he's tired and lays down for a snooze. Could he get any CUTER?!!
T.J. wanted to play X-Men and was trying to figure out how to be Wolverine. I heard him rustling around in the pantry, and this is what he came up with. Not bad.
London turned 7 in April. She wanted a bigger bike SOOOO bad, so she was pretty happy about her new bike. I can't believe she's 7 already! She's growing up way too fast. She's grown a lot this last year. She's been working extra hard on her reading in school and is doing great! She set a goal a while back ago to get 100% on all her spelling tests, and she's done it for four months in a row. She's a good helper to me and does just fine keeping up with her brothers. She's playing baseball for the first time and really enjoys it. She's learning a lot in school and is looking forward to being a big 2nd grader in the fall and getting baptized next year. We sure love her and all the excitement she brings to our home.
London wanted to go to Chucky Cheese for her birthday, but Dave and I distinctly remembered their food being disgusting, so we suggested Pirate Island instead, and she went for it. Great move. Their pizza is really good, and the atmosphere is FANTASTIC! They have arcade games, balloon animals, and a little playground. The kids LOVED it and can't wait to go back.
T.J. playing with his monkey balloon animal.
Our pirate waitresses singing happy birthday to London. She was a little embarrassed but loved the ice cream they brought her.
T.J. has radar for trains. He can see and hear a train before any of the rest of us can. He LOVES trains. He heard this little train making a train-like noise from halfway across the restaurant and searched around til he found it .... and he was very happy once he did.
The boys favorite game at the arcade.
This is the WORST thing ever invented. Racking up tickets on arcade games to cash them in for THE STUPIDEST JUNK EVER. Not only that, but it takes FIVE HOURS to decide on exactly which stupid junk to spend the tickets on. Nothing in the whole case was worth more than 5 cents, but I spent 20 minutes trying to divide it up between four kids, including one birthday girl. SERIOUSLY?!!!
This is the entrance to the arcade area. I'm telling ya ... this place is really cool and way decked out. It reminded me of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland. Ahhhh ... Disneyland. Hmmm.
The whole gang with a pirate. Very cool.
After Pirate Island, we headed up to Laura and Kalani's house. Their daughter Autumn's birthday is the day after London's, so they had a party together, and Laura had the awesome idea to rent horses for the afternoon. They came to Laura's house and the kids went for rides over and over again. They loved it.
I don't think T.J. has ever been on a full-size horse before. It took some talking to get him off. He loved it!
Jackson and Austin were good sports. They had a nice time with the horses but weren't too sure about the dorky helmets.


London was Student of the Month in April. Good job London! She has loved her teacher this year. Mrs. Frampton has spent a lot of extra time with London on her reading, and it has definitely paid off. It's been fun to see her improve and get excited about reading.
Austin participated in the Hope of America performance along with about 8,000 other 5th graders from Alpine School District. I wasn't really sure what to expect, but it was a remarkable night. I love the kids getting involved in patriotic things and understanding what it means to be part of this country. I want them to feel the sense of gratitude and pride that I feel at being a part of this great nation. One of their songs was about being grateful for the military and the sacrifices made on our behalf, and it was accompanied by a slide show. It was really touching. There is so much negativity in our country right now, and really all around us. I want my kids to understand that we still need to be grateful and still need to have perspective, and above all, we have a reason to hope. It's so easy to get caught up in the bickering and nonsense and forget that we live in a promised land of freedom and so many of the things we take for granted every day are more than so many in the world could even dream to have.
Austin worked hard all year learning the songs and actions for the performance. It was fun to see him all excited about their performance, and it truly was a great night! Can't wait to go again next year with Jackson as a fifth grader.
We went bowling a while back with the Mortons for all the March Birthdays (my family has an overabundance of them). The kids, as usual, had a great time. And Jackson, as usual, is pulling faces at the camera for some unknown reason.
T.J. and Chase enjoyed some time "thinking" they were playing video games. And again with Jackson in the background. Don't ask.
Austin and Colby were stuck with the serious bowlers (Dad, Dave, and Brady) - no messin around on this lane.
Melanie, Kati, Mom and I supervised the kid lane. We put the bumper pads up for Melanie, and the kids decided to use them too. They had lots of fun rolling the ball down the lane. We had some close calls with balls almost rolling back towards us due to low velocity, but after a while Melanie picked up her speed. I wasn't cleared for bowling yet after my surgery, so mostly I just made fun of ..... you guessed it - Melanie.

And one last picture .... just in case you forgot how handsome he is. :)