7 Year Old Jace

Oh my goodness.  It is utterly painful when your birthday is the last in the family.  Downright torture.

Jace could not have been any more excited about his birthday and he had BIG plans... and even bigger expectations!  First on his list was breakfast... french toast with heavenly syrup AND whipped cream, scrambled eggs with bacon and cheese but with no vegetables (bell peppers) and apple juice in a fancy cup...

 As it turned out, his birthday was during Scout Camp, so Dallin, Eli and Daddy were gone on his actual birthday... and Mimi and Papa got the keys to their new house (*sniff*sniff*) so they started moving out... and, while helping them move wasn't on Jace's agenda for his birthday, he had a great attitude about it.  He was sooo strong, and only grew bored of being a helper when we were about wrapping it up for the day.

We got cheeseburgers from Boomer's for dinner, of which he took exactly 1/2 of a bite and then instead filled up on candy.  While helping move, his spirits were kept in the green zone all day with the promise of ice cream with anything/everything he wanted on it when we got home, so even though his nutrition had a negative subtotal for the day, naturally we had to end with this:

let's see... chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream and fudge swirl ice cream, brownies, sprinkles, whipped cream, chocolate chips, M&M's and oreos... with a side of airheads.  Delicious.

So basically, he ate candy all day for his birthday.  Sounds like a perfect day for Jace! 

He wanted to wait for his brothers and dad to get home from camp to open presents- I couldn't BELIEVE how patient he was, waiting TWO whole extra days to open them!!

He got a couple of Lego sets, but they were nothing compared to him finally getting his motorcycle bike- he's been dreaming of it for, well, actually for several years.  He was "saving" his money for it, but then we'd go to the dollar store and there'd go all his money...  I finally grew tired of the 2 bikes he was riding because they were so trashed, so I got him the motorcycle bike and donated the other two.  Everyone's happy *wink*

He has to close his eyes and turn around when we brought the bike in:

I was worried when he first sat on it because he couldn't touch the ground... but as if THAT was going to stand in his way!!  He was quickly riding like it was the perfect size for him- BECAUSE IT WAS!

Jace at 7-
Favorite color: red and blue
Favorite restaurant: Mac Daddy's
Favorite food: brownies
Favorite drink: apple juice
Favorite thing to do: play with cars
Best friend: Mirek Janout
Favorite movie: Spiderman Into the Spiderverse
Favorite TV show: Phineas & Ferb
Favorite toy: cars
Favorite animal: cheetah
Favorite book: King of the Zoo
What he wants to be when he grows up: a worker and a custodian

Trek

Nathan and I were called months ago to be a Ma and Pa on our Stake's trek this summer- We'd been asked numerous times in years past, but always had to decline because we had little little kids or were pregnant.  Now we just have little big kids *wink*  We were especially excited to go since Bryson would be going!

For the first time in my life as a 'mom', I had more girls than boys, HA!  We had 4 'daughters' Abby, Corrine, Natalie and Addy and 2 'sons', Ammon and Christopher "Topher"

After an almost 3 hour bus ride, we were off! Westward ho!

We managed to bump into Bryson a few times along the way...

It was so so hot and dry and dusty and the whole time, there was all this suspense of whether or not there would be water in the creek... 

Ahh sweet bliss! It was cold and clean and I could have laid down right there.

And finally we reached ZION!  It really did feel like the promised land, what with all the lush grass and shady trees and fun and NOT pulling carts!

It was such an amazing experience.  We loved all our kids and appreciated how hard they worked and chose good attitudes and made the best of tough situations.  It was hot and dry and dirty, but we worked together and had a great time.

Off to the Races!

We got some tickets to channel Nathan's inner redneck and watched some races last night!  The anticipation was high as soon as we got out of the car in the parking lot- it was SO loud, we could hear the cars LONG before we could see them, Jace could hardly walk in a straight line because he just kept looking for the cars!

Did I mention it was loud??

Eventually we acclimated to the volume and just watched-

It was so entertaining to watch!

Afterwards we got rolled ice cream- a new experience, and so yummy!

Baseball

*Whew* FOUR kids in baseball this spring!  Fortunately, Dallins middle school season finished up right when little league was really getting going.  We also decided to move Jace up, so he and Hailee played on the same team and Dallin and Eli played on the same team- that equaled baseball four nights a week! 😳

They always love playing pitcher and catcher the best:

Eli and Dallin both got lots of opportunities to pitch again this year...

It was definitely busy, but so much fun to watch the kids compete and get better and have lots of fun!

Wildfire Fuel Reduction

The last few summers brought wildfires way too close for us, so we decided to be proactive and thin our trees and cut back underbrush to reduce the risk... 

Before:

During:

The equipment the guy used was fascinating to watch- he was here for several days and we would just sit and watch him because his machine was incredible!

After:

The pictures really don't show what a difference it made!  It's beautiful!  In all, he worked on the 10 acres surrounding the house and while it wasn't cheap, it was money well spent.  It's pretty amazing to walk around (just to be able to walk around in general!) and explore areas we've never really gone *grin*

Happy Father's Day

What more appropriate tape could be used on the Fathers Day gifts for our handyman-dad, than electrical tape?!?

This little gem was handcrafted by Eli for Daddy for Father's Day:

When Eli gave it to Daddy, Jace commented: "Dad, he looks nothing like you... He's got brown hair." 😂

With it, came this sweet note:

Dear Dad,

I love you more than any star, because you're always there for me.  You're #1 just by being you.  I want to be just like you, because you are so nice when you spend time playing with me.  You are the light of my life, because you are always there for me when I am hurt, scared, sad, or even sick.  I love playing games with you like basketball, because you teach me tricks like how to do a great hook shot.  I love you more than donuts, cake or any sweet, because you are my favorite Dad. Dad please keep being who you are.

Love, your son, Eli

We got together with the fam at Kim's house- Hailee and Sydney played with these dolls for like 1/2 an hour!!  I'm sure they were acting out scenes from Hailee-land... er... Sky City...

I am so thankful for all the dad's in my life... my husband, who is so so good with our kids, my dad (it's been soooo fun having my parents live with us, even if it is just for a few more weeks 😡) and Nathan's dad- all such great men who are the best of examples for my boys!

The Things They Say...

Whilst out driving, dad pulled up alongside a Sheriff's car...

Jace:  {frantically}DAD!  {a little more calm}Dad.  {very seriously}Drive with responsibility, there's a police occifer RIGHT THERE, you DON'T want to get arrested.

Field Day and Last Day of School

I can't believe I've barely got one kid left for field day!  I missed Hailee's class's turn outside, but was there for Jace's-

The last day of school, we celebrated the official first day of summer break by having lunch up at Mac Daddy's!

 Bring on the summer!!

Another Teenager

Sporting his favorite shirt on his birthday:

MATH IS EASY!

Find x

it's right here!😏

Dallin is such an easy kid- he is just generally cool with whatever- unless video games are involved anyway!  His one-liners and quips are the best!

For breakfast on his bday he changed up the trend we've had going on around here for birthday breakfasts and we had waffles w/ strawberries and heavenly syrup AND whipped cream- with some scrambled eggs, so it's not ALL sugar...

He loves school (especially math and science), baseball, scouting and being with friends- which makes me happy since he used to be sooo quiet and shy- that reserved boy is GONE!  He generally just does the right thing because it's the right thing to.

As per usual, he could NOT decide on anything for his birthday!  Ugh!  He says he just doesn't need anything.  But then, a few days later, he bashfully said he'd finally thought of something... Super Mario Maker.  😐  I'd told him I was done buying video games, so, with a smirk, he asked me for cash for his birthday instead, enough cash to buy Super Mario Maker 😏 I ended up just buying him the game, and it's pretty great- it definitely uses imagination and creativity more than other games, so it's not all bad!

Dallin at 13-
Favorite color: blue
Favorite restaurant: Mac Daddy's
Favorite food: hot Italian sandwiches
Favorite drink: Sprite
Favorite thing to do: scouting activities
Best friend: Parker Vernon
Favorite movie: Avengers Endgame
Favorite TV show: Agents of Shield
Favorite toy: a basketball
Favorite animal: a dog (but, he wants the record to show that the coolest animal is a sponge)
Favorite book: Michael Vey Series
What he wants to be when he grows up: an atomic scientist

Memorial Day

I think it's becoming a tradition to take a trip to Tri-Cities and Vale for Memorial Day!

First, a little shopping at Plato's *grin*  Nathan gave his permission to include this picture, he's such a sport, putting out the s-curve vibe!

We got to see some of Aunt Dayna's chicks hatch, so cute!

Too Cool:

Vale High School was hosting a fundraiser that we got to go to, super fun!

Bob, as the girls basketball coach had a shoot off in the gym, we had walking taco's, listened to live music and played lots of games for a good cause *grin*

 So glad that we live close enough to be able to visit family!