A New School Year!

This year the kids wanted to do the k12 program again which means school from home using a free public charter school that supplies all the online lessons and workbooks and materials. I'm a little bit nervous because this will be my first time having 3 kids doing school at home! Hopefully, it will all go well, and the kids will help each other. Last time we did school from home (the year before last), Gavin and Connor grew really close together and we all really grew closer together as a family and spent more time in outings and less crazy homework/dinner/sports practice evenings. The kids will still do sports, but there's no homework and they get done with school earlier in the day so they do have some free time before sports. I also like how each child can move ahead with what they're good at and get extra help with what they need help with.  Of course, there are pros and cons to having the kids go to school vs. doing school at home which is why so far we've ending up doing each one every other year lol. Here's to a new year and hoping all goes well!

Aidan all ready for Kindergarten.

Connor all ready for 3rd Grade.

Gavin all ready for 4th Grade.

Love these kids!

This picture really shows their personalities...Gavin being funny, Connor being sweet and snuggly, Aidan being a wild man, and Owen already thinking up some mischief refusing to get dressed! lol

For Family Home Evening before school officially started, we had a lesson about Fathers giving their children priesthood blessings in the scriptures and how we can still do that today.  Jason gave Gavin, Connor & Aidan each their own fathers blessing laying his hands on their heads while they sat in a chair.  After Aidan was done, Owen ran up to the chair and sat down and folded his arms with a huge grin on his face :)  He wanted a father's blessing too, so he got one and he was so happy :)  It was one of the cutest things I've ever seen.

Just an ordinary day....

Owen & Connor

My little heart-breaker!

New House Going up Behind our House

The boys will miss the bike path they had at the empty lot behind our house, but they're enjoying watching the new house be built...hopefully we get good neighbors!

Connor's New Bike

Connor needed a new bike because both of the inner-tubes had holes and both tires were worn completely through on his old bike...it costs about $30 per tire to fix both the tubes and tires, so about $60 total. Connor really wanted a "trick" bike where he could give his brother's rides on the sides of the wheels. We found one at Walmart for $80, so I told him if he earned 1/2 I'd pay the other 1/2. He saved his allowance all Summer and did extra chores when he could to earn extra money. One day he was counting his money when Aidan gave him all his money, then Gavin asked him how much more he needed and gave him the $9 to have enough for his bike! Then the boys laughed and hugged and danced around so excited that Connor could get his bike :) I love moments like this as a Mom! Love my boys!

Owen!

Owen was a busy boy one morning...I woke up to find the couch looking like this with PERMANENT marker all over it! Luckily, baby wipes, a magic eraser and hours of elbow grease eventually got the stains all out! Good thing he's so cute!

Boys!

These are all the pants my boys burned through this year!  I spent a good part of a day sewing them all into shorts for Summer.

Gavin's 10th Birthday!

Gavin turned 10 on July 2nd. We had a family birthday party...he got some games and a bike and a cool light-up feature to put on one of the bike wheels that shows pictures as you spin the wheel or even can tell you how many mph you're going.

Family Home Evening

One of the kids' favorite Family Home Evening (FHE) lessons...we put a paper on the outside of the balloons about a "quick judgment" about someone, then we pop the balloon and learn some cool things about these people that we would have missed out on if we didn't get to know them on the inside too.

Baseball Season

This year Gavin decided he didn't want to play. Connor and Aidan played...Jason was Connor's coach, but Connor only got to play the first game before he broke his arm! He got his cast off a few days before the last game and was able to play the last game.

Connor.

Aidan.

Owen would entertain himself at the games by running around and playing at the Splash Park.

Church History Museum

In June, we met up with some good friends from Idaho who were visiting Salt Lake City. We went to Temple Square with them and also visited the Church History Museum. The kids had a lot of fun together, and it was great to catch up with an old friend!

Church History Museum...Owen was dancing along to the demo video of Latin dance! It was cracking me up!  Just wish I had it on video!

Church History Museum.

Aidan at the Church History Museum.

Ruth, Gavin, Connor and Rose...their friends from Idaho.

All the kids getting a closer look at one of the fountains on the roof of the Conference Center.

Such a cute bunch of kids :)

Connor

Connor broke his wrist on a growth plate falling off a swing at school in May. He ended up only playing the first and last baseball game of the season which he was bummed about since his dad was the coach! Here he is on the last day he had to keep his cast...it came off in June about 3 or 4 weeks after he got it.

First Family Camp-out!

We went on our very first family camp-out after the last day of school. The kids were SO excited! We roasted hot dogs and s'mores and all squished into one tent. It was good we had all that body warmth because it got below freezing that night!  Poor Gavin got motion sickness on the way up the mountain and ended up throwing up in the middle of the night (outside of the tent thank goodness!) which woke me up and, being pregnant, made me realize I needed to go to the bathroom which woke Owen up who started crying and waking everyone up!  Eventually, we all fell back to sleep.  We ended up leaving first thing in the morning and getting breakfast at a Subway sandwich on the way home, because it was just too cold to make breakfast. I also had morning sickness and wasn't feeling the best. The kids still had a lot of fun...I told them next time we go it will have to be later in the year when it doesn't get so cold at night up in the mountains!

Aidan was our little adventure boy climbing trees and exploring.

Connor & Jason.

Gavin.

Squishy face...a.k.a. Owen

Owen & Mommy.

Owen having fun in the backyard.

Owen wearing his "Eagle Powers" shirt from the movie "Nacho Libre."

Owen's 2nd Birthday :)

Owen turned 2 on April 22nd.

Blowing out the candle.

Cake time!

I was there too! lol

Owen wasn't very happy...

Until the presents came out!

Connor's Baptism

When you turn 8-years-old in our Church you're considered to be at an age of accountability where you can choose right from wrong and you get to make the decision to be baptized and become a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It's a special day, and we're so proud of Connor for his decision to be baptized like Jesus was. Jason's parents and grandma were able to make it to the baptism. We also had some nieces and a nephew there :)

The best family picture we could get. lol

All ready for the baptism.

Grandparents and cousins.