Dance Class!

Leah has been looking forward to dance class for a loooooong time! We signed up back in May and it's been a long wait. When we found her leotard and some tights, she put them on and showed me her dance moves. Same thing when she tried on her new ballet slippers. Then they were packed away to wait till now.

We walked into the large room where other little girls were waiting for class to start. It was pretty quiet except for one little girl who was in tears with her parents and didn't want to stay. Once the teacher, Miss Kelli, called the girls over, Leah took off. When her name was called, she raised her hand and was all smiles.

She was a great listener during the class. She noticed how some of the other ballerinas were not always following directions and didn't listen to Miss Kelli.

She worked on pointing her toes, walking on her tip-toes, reaching high like a giraffe, and keeping her feet turned out. At the end of class, the girls were given ribbons and got to dance like princesses! The class wrapped up with a ballet-shoe stamp on the hand! Can it get much better?

She loved it and keeps asking when her next class is!

Girl Time

With Dillan at school all day and while Drewby naps, Leah and I have had some fun moments together.
To start, we've started our own little "homeschool." We read stories, we practice our letters, writing her name, coloring, and finish up with lunch. Hopefully we'll get a little more sophisticated as we go along, but it works for now. She loves calling me teacher, and asking when its lunchtime.

Other times we dress up princesses or browse the computer, looking at dresses. She's been concerned about what she is going to dress for Halloween. She changes her mind every few minutes, but keeps coming back to a princess of some kind.

She talks about any and all things her little mind registers. She discusses Disney World and the Princesses she wants to see. She talks about going to school with Dillan someday and the kind of backpack she wants. Just random ramblings. And we love it.

Her lesson in Sunbeams must have been about being thankful because she came home with a 2-sided picture of the two things she is most thankful for:



Yup, that's my girl!

1st grade

1st grade. It means all day at school. It means leaving the sheltered little Kindergarten world behind and venturing out to the rest of the big school. We're at a different school this year, and we don't really know a lot of people! But he's ready!
We tried to get a few school year traditions going this year. The first was a father's blessing. Dillan and Leah both got blessings. In the morning we made a special breakfast and Dillan got to choose what we had for dinner. Something new we tried was we made a big cookie for the first day and decorated it with the year in school for a surprise dessert.
Dillan's teacher this year is Mrs Hall. On the first day we lined up with other parents and kids, so we could meet the teacher and give her our info and paperwork. Dillan found his desk, slapped on his nametag and got to work like he'd done it a million times.
Many of the parents lingered, but we skedaddled and left our big first grader to his coloring.

When he came home, he said he was exhausted because he had done sooooooo much work at school. He talked about the boy he sits next to in his class, and the rule for using the bathroom. We look forward to a great year!

Leah, unfortunately is NOT going back to Ms Carol's school this year. It was a difficult decision, but we're confident it was the best choice. And if not for the move, we'd be part in a joy school, the two of us. Darn. So, on Dillan's first day, she got dressed and put her backpack on because she was ready to join in the fun, too. As we were walking to Dillan's school I explained to her how she's not in Kindergarten yet, but next year she will be. She then asked, "So what school am I going to?" I asked her what she would think if Mommy was her teacher. She jumped up and down with excitement. Totally not expected. When we got home, she sat at the table and started calling me Teacher. She asked what we were going to do today. Ummmm, Mommy's not EXACTLY all the way organized to figure that out, so I told her to color a picture. Then she wanted more. She called me teacher all morning and kept asking when lunch was. So, I promised by Monday I would have something figured out and we would get started. Officially. I figure it's a good home schooling experiment to see how much she will let me do with her in getting ready for Kindergarten. I know we will definitely have to get some play dates organized, so she'll have more fun. She's pretty social anyway.

Lots of fun times!

Last Fling of Summer

To celebrate the end of summer, we decided to take the 2 big kids to Knotts Berry Farm. We were fortunate to have a sweet friend take care of little Drewby for the whole day! This was the kids and Chris' first trip to the park, not counting Mrs Knotts restaurant. In the car, Leah asked where we were going. I said "Knotts Berry Farm." She replied, "Oh we're going Not Very Far?" "No, Knotts Berry Farm!" "Yeah, Not Very Far." Chris and I were rolling.
I hadn't been in a VERY long time. We had a blast!
The kids loved all the little kiddie rides and rode all of them at least twice.
We wondered over to the bigger rides, but weren't quite tall enough for the roller coasters (not that they minded.) Then we found the log ride. Oh the log ride! Leah sat in front the first time and got soaked, especially in the face. She also said she didn't like the parts in the dark. She did NOT care to ever see that ride again. Dillan, on the other hand, could not contain his excitement. He loooooved the ride! It's all he wanted to do the rest of the day!
Eventually the day winded down and we were getting ready to leave. Chris was convinced he could get Dillan to go on the one roller coaster that he was tall enough for. It wasn't huge, so it would have been a good test for him. He threw a fit for about 10 minutes on how he didn't want to go on it, but the log ride instead. What seemed like forever, we finally convinced him to do the coaster and we'd hit the log ride one last time.
Leah and I waited for them and when they saw us Dillan ran right up to us and said "That was AWESOME!" Chris said he loved it. Of course he did! I was so proud of him and I think he learned that it was okay to give new things a try. Hopefully his courage will hold up!

Some amazing things

Our little guy is officially 6 months old! He takes to the bottle like it's nothing new, and he's tried a few kinds of baby food. Starting to fill out his shorts too! He now sleeps in his crib till the early morning hours and prefers his thumb over anything else you put in his mouth. He's the most mello child you'll ever meet and such a blessing to our family!

Dillan has become super confident in his swimming abilities this summer. He does cannonballs without fear, has jumped off diving boards alone, and gone down the big slide at the community pool. Once he tried both, there was no stopping him. We couldn't keep him away and he couldn't get enough.

Leah also braved up and went on the EZSki behind Papa's boat. She battled with herself the whole day on whether or not she'd try it, but finally gave in. Also, when Grandma first set up the pool on July 4th, Leah would NOT put her face in the water for anything! Now, a month later, she dives into the pool and swims to the opposite side underwater! She's taught herself to swim. So typical! What a superstar! Hopefully both kids will maintain their bravery for the next 30+ days when we hit Walt Disney World!

Since moving into Grandma and Papa's house, there have been some adjustments and a lot of questions from the kids. "Why can't I have my own room again?" "I miss our old house" "I miss my friends." But they have been troopers adjusting to a new ward/primary, soon a new school, and sharing a room. They asked how long we would be here. We told them we weren't sure, but told them Daddy needed a new job so we could have a new house. It was something Mommy and Daddy had been praying for for a long time. Soon they started praying for Daddy's job too.
The beginning of July, Chris planned to take off 3 weeks from work for Shaver and visiting some family in St. George. Just days before that time started, 3 days in a row, he had some job leads. One was from a couple buying a TV who worked for Northrop Grumman, the company Chris had been applying to for years (where Papa works). The second was from a friend in our former ward who worked for a cell phone company. And the third was a text from a Best Buy friend Chris had not heard from in many months.
He started applying, making and returning phone calls and things took off.
He had an interview with his friend for a job that sounded perfect. His friend knew he was the perfect person for the job, too. He was primed for the interview. He nailed it. After he left the room, the hiring panel said "That is an A+ winner." He was the top interviewer. He got the job. Since that day, Chris has been standing a little taller, breathes a little easier, and is much happier than before. It has been years of persevering and heartaches to get to this point. We tried to keep hope alive and knew it would happen, it's just so hard to believe it is actually REALLY happening. He starts his new job training in a little over a week. We are so proud of him!

St George

We got home from Shaver, threw some clothes in the wash, repacked and headed out again. This time we traveled to St. George to see Grandma Donna, Papa Bob and our favorite
cousins of Arizona.
We went on a neat hike and saw lots of tadpoles and frogs. The landscape was amazing.


We got in lots of play time with all the boys and we were spoiled rotten from Grandma and Papa while we were there.

Normally Little D just gets his toes wet around the pool, but this trip he took in his first real swim with Daddy and loved it!

This is what summer memories are made of!

Shaver Lake 2011

We look forward to Shaver every year! This year the kids were especially excited, probably because we get a week filled with COUSINS! On the drive up we heard "Are we at Shaver Lake yet?"and "Are Roxy and Dono going to beat us there?"

Its just so much fun anticipating and getting ready for the trip. We watch Papa and Chad get the boat ready and we make a list of everything we need to bring. Once we're in the car and we see the big trees and feel our stomachs churning, we know we're close. Thankfully no one got sick this year (even Mommy)! Some kind of record.

We love seeing family and catching up with eachother. Relaxing in the sun, taking in the water, trees, and family. There's nothing like it. It's such a special tradition with some of the most special people on the planet!

It's always fun to see how much the kids have changed every year. They love to play in the sand and wade in the water. There are always kids to play with and new games to invent. They also become more brave with the water and try new things.

Every year there's something new to experience and enjoy. This year Grandma and Papa brought Kayaks that were a BIG HIT, Dillan and Leah got a little pulling behind the boat, and Drewbee got to experience it all for the first time!

Thanks Grandma and Papa for all you did to make this an enjoyable week! We loved it and love you!
Can't wait till next year!