Cole

I am going to try to get caught up on what is going on around here kid by kid. School started and things got busy real fast. Cole played soccer and had a great time finally being able to be on a team with his closest friend Brian. Next came little grizz football! Not just flag football but they got pads this year and played tackle.The funny side note about that was when school started we knew that football was going to be with pads and Cole was so excited. When Michael was going to give Cole his fathers blessing before school started he asked me if dad would mention doing well in football this year. He has never thought of getting a blessing for soccer so maybe I was wrong when I thought Cole was following after me and my passion for soccer. The football season went well and Cole had a great time. Cole and Brian were on opposite teams and Brian became Cole's nemesis. Every time I thought Cole was about to score a touch down Brian would come out of nowhere and tackle him and when you see the picture of the two of them and see how much smaller Brian is than Cole you will be even more impressed by Brian's ability. It was a good thing Cole loves Brian so much or I am sure there would have been a lot of complaints about that boy who kept tackle him. Cole also ran for student body president and won. He is enjoying being part of the student counsel and coming up with new ideas to help improve the school. Cole also got an award at an assembly for speaking with a purpose. That means not using your words to hurt others and saying kind things to those around you. It is a nice recognition I just wish he did the same at home:)

Cole turned 11 on November 6th. The time just seems to be flying by and I can't believe in a year he will be 12 and I will have two sons who can pass the sacrament. Cole requested for his birthday dinner to consist of potato pearls (which are dried potatoes), homemade rolls, and whatever meat I wanted to come up with oh and brown gravy. He likes that better than anything cake with the caramel in the cake and Skor candy bar on top. I love watching my kids grow and mature it just brings with it so much responsibility and I just don't know if I am doing enough.

Cole is a great student and has a lot of success in school. I love watching him get excited about a new subject. I hope his passion for learning always stays with him and he keeps up all the good work.

Cole was a nerd for Halloween. A pretty good one if I do say so myself.

Cole also got his arrow of light award last week. That is the highest award you can get when you are a cub scout. We worked on things this summer so he could accomplish all he had to do. We barely got it done just in the nick of time. At the pack meeting on Thurs. Cole received his award and we had a little ceremony for him. It was nice and instead of being the cub master that night I just got to be the mom. The ceremony went well and most of the family was there for it. It is really nice having family around I know it makes the boys feel good when they come and support them.

Camping

It is the great debate in our family Camping or the Lake? I would choose camping every time and Michael would choose the lake. So we try to compromise and do both. I feel like I get the short end of the stick sometimes because it is a lot easier to run to the lake for the afternoon than it is to get all packed up and head up the mountain. This year we got to go three times and it made me happy every time I got to go. Unfortunately the first time we headed up I went a day early and Michael came up with Cannon the following night and by the morning that Michael was there it was snowing. The weather never quit either and we had to cut our camping weekend short. The next weekend we went the weather was perfect. Todd and Emily came up and spent the night and the kids had a great time together. I love being on the mountain because there are no distractions. All the technology and whatever else draws us apart when we are home together isn't on the mountain and my boys are forced to spend time with their good old mom and dad. We played a little game of baseball while on the mountain and it was a blast. We of course roast marshmallows morning noon and night and just get good and dirty! The third time we went up it was for Labor Day weekend always our last trip before the snow comes and school and activities take over. We always go camping with the same families that weekend and we always have the best time together. We all plan our meals together play games and ride horses(which is the highlight of Travis' and my weekend!) I love being up on the mountain there is just something about the beauty of it all that just makes me so happy inside. There is nothing better than a weekend away with the kids and just having some slow mountain days. I don't especially love being dirty but all the other things that I get to experience while on the mountain is worth all the grime. When people say you are closer to God on the mountain I agree. It is no excuse to miss church but I do feel a special spirit when I am camping. I just am grateful we have such a close beautiful place to do our camping at.

Sails Away!

One night, this summer, Michael decided to take the boys out to the lake and sleep on the sailboat. Yes, we own a sailboat and it was an interesting summer to say the least. I have found out that I have a fear of the boat that doesn't make sense and the fear takes over and I get irrational and beg to just get back on solid ground. Anyway, Michael took the boys one night and I stayed home for a little peace and quiet. The weather here was great and so the fam headed out for a night of food and fun and I believe a movie on the boat. When Michael and the boys got to the lake the wind had picked up and when Michael tried to paddle his way out to the sailboat on our big tube he had a hard time fighting against the wind. Michael was about to give up and head back to the dock when a big gust of wind picked up and it blew him directly toward the sailboat. The boys all got aboard and they went back to the buoy the boat was tied up to and started to watch a movie. Unfortunately the computer was not fully charged so the boys ended up having an earlier bedtime than they had planned. As I had mentioned before the wind was really picking up and it rocked the boys right to sleep.

The next morning the family woke up to find that the big tube that was tied to the sailboat had gotten loose and was nowhere to be found. They had breakfast and decided to raise a small flag they had bought. When they tried to lower the flag it wouldn't come down. So first Michael tried raising Adam up the mast but Adam got too nervous and begged to come down. So up Travis went and retrieved the flag from way up the mast. It was a good thing I was not there because that flag would have stayed up there before I would be okay with any of my kids going up that mast! After breakfast and the excitement with the flag they boys all decided to go for a little sail around the lake to see if they could locate the inner tube. They looked for quite a long time with no luck when someone spotted something down one of the little coves. The sailboat was too big to go all the way into the cove so Michael sent Cole down in to retrieve the tube. He was successful but he had a bit of fear and was sure he heard the rattle of a snake.

They then took the boat out of the water and began the process of putting down the mast when yet another thing went wrong and something very important broke and luckily no one got hurt, accept the sailboat. They all finished what they had to do and got everything squared away and headed home.

After they all got back and showered and told me the tale of their weekend I asked them if it was even worth going and they all exclaimed that it was one of the best nights of their lives and that they would do it all again in a heartbeat. I guess you never know what will become a bonding moment. Family is great and I am thankful for a husband who is willing to sacrifice and spend what was probably not the most comfortable night with his boys and even though nothing seemed to go his way he still said it was one of the best times he has had with his kids! Thanks honey for all you do!

Happy Birthday Adam!!!

Adam turned 4 on Sept.12th and has been begging to ride the motorcycle ever since he learned to ride a two wheeler so Michael let him on his birthday. I was for sure nervous that he was going to run into our fence or the huge tree in the yard but he didn't and he seemed to have a great time.

Dad also got a new motorcycle so he took Adam for a ride. They all really like riding together. Cannon got a new bike too so now they can all go riding together and we don't have to have as much bickering about who gets to ride what and for how long. I knew motorcycles would be a part of our lives and I don't mind them. Ever since I got in my accident on Michael's bike I have a bit of fear of riding them myself but it is fun watching the boys ride and have fun. I am just happy following behind on the four wheeler or sitting in the truck reading is just fine with me:) It is great being a mom of four wonderful boys and I feel blessed everyday that it is my job to raise them in the ways of the Lord.

Summer Part 1

Wow! What a fast moving summer we had and now we are already into fall. The summer started with our trip to Texas. We had so much fun and the drive wasn't horrible(I don't think it is something we want to do every year but not to bad.) The boys had already started baseball and when we got back the season was really busy. We ended up taking 2nd place for the season. Cannon had a great season he was very successful both in the field and at bat. Cannon also got to play on the all-star team. Cole had a good year it was his first in little league and by the end of the season he was much more confident. I think next year he will have a great time.

I thought once baseball was over we would have a lot more time to go camping or spend time as a family but I was wrong. Right after baseball was finished Michael, Cannon, and Cole left for basketball camp at BYU. They had a great time. Cannon's team did really well and Cannon won a couple of the competitions. Cannon had a boy on his team whose dad played for the Utah Jazz. Cole on the other hand did not have as fruitful a team but had a good time being there just the same. Every night when the boys would call to check-in Cannon would go on and on about how well his team was doing and Cole would just say we lost every game. He was one of the better players on his team and he did like that. Cole has a great attitude about getting the most out of what he is doing instead of only focusing on whether or not he is winning.

The boys got home in the wee hours or the morning on Friday and on Monday Michael and Cannon left again this time to go to scout camp for the week. Michael is the scout master and it was nice that I knew Cannon couldn't get into too much trouble at camp because his dad would be there. Cannon had a great week he got a lot accomplished and he is now at the rank of first class. Another benefit of Michael being in the scouting program is that he can keep Cannon right on track to earn his eagle and I won't have to do too much prodding. Michael had a good week also but could have slept for a week to make up for the hours missed during camp. Earlier in the summer Michael went to what is called wood badge. It is a week long training for scout leaders. They do some of the activities the scouts do and they do a bunch of team building. Michael was dreading going but when he got home he had many great stories to tell and his dad and brothers were there and I think they had a great week together.

To all you moms out there with more than one child that can walk and talk you will understand what I am about to say. The two weeks that the two older boys were gone first both to basketball camp and then they were separated one home and one to scout camp were two of the best weeks of my summer. There was not any fighting, the two younger boys don't really fight they get along so well(Travis has a lot to do with that he is so kind to Adam.) And there was no one walking by the other one touching him or pinching him just to see what kind of reaction he could get out of the other. It was so peaceful and the only thing that would have made it better was if Michael could have been here to enjoy the tranquility along with me. Well, my post is getting quite long so I will blog more later.

What my kids were doing while I was coupon shopping

More Summer Fun!

I had a wonderful week. I got to do a little service on Monday and so to help motivate the boys to babysit/get along I promised them once I got back we would go ride horses and so we did. We then went to Five Springs for FHE and had a great time there with family. Thanks Emily A. for planning it. Summer is almost over and it seems we are just starting to do all the things I wanted to do together. We also got together with a few families this week and played kick ball and on Wednesday we went to the lake and Cole found a snake to play with while we were there. That always makes him happy(who needs a boat). Then on Thursday we went up the mountain to camp. Thursday night and Friday were beautiful but we woke up Saturday to rain mixed with hail and decided to come home early. Even though we didn't get to be there as long as I had hoped I still just love to be camping and getting away from everything. My boys all had a great time and we saw a ton of wild life unfortunately my camera did not work but trust me we had fun!

Summer

In case you were wondering we are still alive and we have been having a fun and busy summer and maybe someday I will actually blog about it.

Trip To Texas

I don't know what is wrong with me but I have really procrastinated blogging our trip to Texas. I hope I have not forgotten anything I intended to write. Well we left for Texas on Friday,May 22nd the last day of school for our kids. They had a half day and we left as soon as they got home. When I really started to pack and prepare for our trip I must admit that as we got closer and closer to the day that we would actually spend two days in the car together I started to rethink the importance of traveling to see my parents. But in the end with the minivan loaded we headed out. We drove the first night to Colorado Springs about 9 hours from Cowley. We seemed to find every rain storm between here and there. We got to Colorado Springs about 10 and went straight to bed knowing we were going to have an early morning. I woke around 4:45 the next morning showered and cleaned the car up a little woke the rest of the family and off we went. We knew the second day was going to be the harder day we googled it and it estimated my parents house to be about 15 hours from Colorado Springs. Well we got there and really it wasn't that bad. I can't even think of any huge meltdowns but really with video games DVDs and MP3 players there really is a lot to distract kids in the car. Oh and I did have a huge bag full of snacks that we don't usually have mostly CANDY! The kids did great and we got to Nana and Papa's in record time total I think it took us 21.5 hours(Google said it would take 24 hours.) It was nice that the first day at my parents was Sunday so we just relaxed went to church and came home and relaxed some more. Monday we went to the San Antonio zoo. It was Memorial day and there was a lot of people there Culture Shock I forgot that there was that many people in the world(or at least in San Antonio.) The kids had a great time sweating their brains out and looking at all the animals. Nana and Papa sprang for ice cream. There were so many people at the zoo we had to park really far away from the exit and it was a hot humid day and Adam was done walking so about 10 feet away from the car Adam gave up and decided he was going to stay on this nice patch of grass and go no farther. We eventually all got back to the car and found our way back to Nana and Papa's. That night we went to an all you can eat pizza place and my boys definitely got there moneys worth. I think Cannon and Cole both ate 12 or 13 pieces of pizza! Monday night my sister and here 4 kids showed up and we got to meet Claudia and Angelica Kristy's foster daughters. They were great and all the kids had a great time together. Tuesday we went swimming and relaxed and rested up knowing that the next day we were heading to Sea World. Wednesday at Sea World we had a blast. I think Cannon thought it was just going to be a glorified zoo and it was so much more than that and Cannon was pleasantly surprised. Sea world has changed a lot from the last time we were there. They have roller coasters and water slides and many other attractions besides the animal shows. I loved the Shammu show Adam was just amazed that the people can swim with the whales. The kids sat in the soak zone and weren't to soaked but they got to see everything up close. At the very end of the day Cannon and Michael convinced me to go on this roller coaster that you strapped in to so your feet were hanging down and then it seemed as if we just spun in circles for about 10 minutes and all I wanted to do was get off and throw up! The ride made me sick for the rest of the night. When we stopped for dinner that night I couldn't even get out of the car. By the time we finally got home I was feeling better but I will never trust Cannon or Michael again when they say that the ride is not so bad(come to find out Michael bet Cannon a buck that he couldn't get me on the ride.Thursday we decided to rent a canoe and a kayak and spend some time at a private lake that belongs to a friend or my parents. We got there and the lake wasn't as full as it had been,the water was pretty scary looking. So we had lunch there and decided to go and find a good swimming spot along the Guadeloupe River. It was so much fun. The cousins loved spending time together and they really enjoyed racing each other in the boats and flipping the canoe and chasing turtles. We were all sad when Kristy left on Friday. She had to get back so the girls could get ready for girls camp. We went to the movies on Friday Cannon played a little tennis with grandpa and we spent another relaxing day with Nana and papa. Saturday my twin sisters came to my mom's with their kids and we had a barbecue and played crochet and the kids played in the kiddie pool. The cousins did great together. It definitely got louder when we were around the younger girl cousins than when it was mostly boys. It was great fun but it made me feel sad that we don't all live a little closer so the cousins could see each other more. I hate that it takes a while for every one to warm up to each other because they just don't know each other very well. But I guess it is better than not seeing each other at all.We lefton Sunday and we got home Monday early evening just in time for the boys to make it to baseball practice. The trip was great and the drive was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Adam the night we got home said the blessing on dinner and in his prayer he said"Heavenly Father thank you so much for letting us go to Texas it was so much fun because we got to eat so much candy in the car the whole time" so if you too want to have a successful trip any where according to Adam all you need is plenty of candy and you know what I think I agree.