Schools Out For Summer!

Just thought I would post some before and afters. Here is a group picture of my boys the last day of school. May 25th 2011.

Cannon first day of school Fall 2010. Going into 8th gradeLast day of school Spring 2011. Next year High School! First day of Middle School Fall 2010. Look how young and innocent he looks:) Last day of school Spring 2011. He did some serious changing this year. Cole is sure he will be taller than me by end of next year. I think he might be right.First day of school Fall 2010. Trav was all ready to be on the big kid side of the playground.

Last day of school Spring 2011. He has loved playing with all the kids at recess. And all the older students have been so nice to him!Adam was in pre-school this year and loved every minute of it! Fall 2010.
Now Adam is really looking forward to going to kindergarten next Fall. He can't wait to be at school with his cousin Ben! Here he is on his last day of school. He got the best thinker award.

Cole's Middle School Experience

Cole started his first year of middle school this year at the new Rocky Mountain Middle School High School. It has been an exciting but all to quick year. Cole has had a pretty good year. After having things come pretty easy in elementary he has had to work a little harder in middle school. It is good for him. Cole is very responsible about getting his work done and in all accept for practicing his darn tuba. He has elected not to do band next year and just do choir. I did get a new camera around Christmas this year so the amount of pictures taken increased quite a bit for the second part of this school year. I missed his entire football season and his basketball season. Cole played quarterback and some other positions that I don't know the name of. He did really well in basketball and got to play on the 6th and 7th grade teams. He really enjoyed that. It is fun to watch him play. Cole is a great fundamental player. Sometimes he looks as if he is moving in slow motion but he really does have a good time.
Right before the Christmas band/choir concert. Cole played his last season of little league basketball this year. Track season was cold and fast just like it always is in Wyoming. Cole did the high jump the triple jump, the long jump the 100 yard dash and the 200 hurdles. At the conference track meet (5/6/2011) Cole got his personal best in every event he did. He got three 1st place ribbons and two 2nd place. He did really well. His goal is to break the record Cannon set this year for the triple jump when he is in 8th grade. We will see how that goes. Well Summer is almost here we are winding up the month with concerts and field trips and baseball baseball baseball! Cole is signed up to be in a 3on 3 tournament the first weekend school gets out. The summer already seems to be booked up but it looks to be a fun one:)

RMHS Basketball

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Just a few pictures I have taken this season. I hope to get many more. I am not so good at the action pictures but it is fun learning.

Fun in the Snow

We went sledding on New Years day and it was so fun and sooooo cold. I have not been so grateful for gloves and warm clothes in a long time. I don’t know how the pioneers did it. I am pretty sure if I was without those things I would just lay down and wait to die.

On a more possitive note we had a blast and Michael got some great pictures!

Travis was a crazy man on the snow. I don’t know how many times he went up and down that hill but I am pretty sure it was more than anyone else. These pictures are so good of Sarah. She had quite the Superman flight. But as you can see she got up with a smile.

Christmas

We had a great Christmas this year. For the first time in 8+ years I got to be with my family for Christmas. With basketball we just haven't traveled. This year Michael was feeling soft and conceded to travel. We had a great time at my brothers. The kids played and played and played. My brother has two boys and two girls. It was fun to see what is under the tree for a girl at Christmas. There were a lot of dolls and stuff to take care of their dolls. When does changing a diaper go from fun play time to "no it is your turn!" I know when there is something in it. My brothers oldest daughter actually got a doll that will dirty her diaper if you feed her special food. Now who signs up for changing dirty diapers before you need to? Anyway we had a wonderful time. My parents met us at my brothers also and it was really nice to be with them.

The children all dressed up on Christmas Eve and we went through the Christmas story. We haven't really done that before the boys have done the Nativity with the primary and we always read it together the night before Christmas but it was fun for the kids to act it out. Cannon even was the donkey that Mary rode into Bethlehem on.

Christmas morning was a little crazy with that many presents to get passed out. But presents are always fun so who can complain about that. Becky my sister made the whole family slippers this year and it was quite impressive. She really tried to personalize them for all my boys. She made Adam and Travis' look like cowboy boots and Cannon and Cole's had either their basketball number on them or Grizz. It was very thoughtful. I know it must have taken her a really long time and she was worried that no one would like them but we all did and the boys wear them like crazy. It was a great idea to just give gifts that we made instead of store bought stuff. At least the Simmons family benefited. I hope Jenny liked the things we sent.

Santa came to my brothers house for the boys but we decided to just leave the gifts from mom and dad at home and open them when we got back. So of course the boys were eager to get home. We got back late Sunday night so we decided to wake up the next morning and open gifts then. It was fun and it was like having two Christmases. The boys all seemed happy with what they received and we had a nice slow day on Monday.

One more thing. On our way to my brothers house we got to Greybull which is only about 45 minutes away and our car started steaming really bad. We pulled into a gas station and they told Michael where a service station was and we cautiously drove our smoking car there. The mechanic quickly diagnosed it to be a bad water pump and told us he could get a new one and have it put in and it would only take him 2-3 hours. I know that sounds long but just a few minutes earlier I was thinking the engine to our car had just blown up and I was not going to be with my family for Christmas. So replacing a water pump and it getting done fast enough that we could still head to my brothers was fantastic news. The mechanics at the service station were very nice and patient with my kids who after about 20 minutes got bored and started using the tires and what ever else was in the waiting area as something to play on. When Michael and I were on our way again to my brothers we realized how blessed we were that our car broke down when and where it did. There are many stretches of Wyoming that are bare and endless with no one in sight and our car could have broken down in those type of places. But instead the car started showing signs of problems just as we were coming into Greybull. So we thanked our Heavenly Father for watching over us. I am so grateful for the knowledge of my Heavenly Father and His son Jesus Christ. I appreciate His hand in all things good or bad because He knows what I can and can't over come. And obviously I couldn't handle being stranded in the middle of nowhere with four boys:)