I'll start with Dylan since his birthday is
today. I'll start with his birthday, which honestly has been a crazy,
busy day. We started at school with the Valentines Day parties for all
the kids. I helped in both Dylan and Alex's class today with their
parties. They had a great time, but the teacher actually wanted to
celebrate Dylan's birthday next week, since they had so many treats with
Valentines Day. Anyway, then one of Dylans friends from school has the
same birthday, so he invited Dylan to his friend party at Jump Around
Utah. They let Alex go with him, so they all had a blast. When they
got home, we went to see a movie that Dylan wanted to see with his
cousins, then went to dinner, and now we are having a sleepover with the
cousins. So it could be a crazy night! The kids don't have school
tomorrow, so I figured they could stay up late and have some fun.
Dylan
got some fun toys, Wii games and accessories to other Wii games he
has. Yet to come for him is his family party on Sunday, and his friend
party next week. We decided to avoid the holiday weekend for his friend
party since some of his friends will be out of town and Jared has to
work on Saturday. He wants to go to a trampoline park. That should be
fun with a bunch of 5 and 6 year old kids!
So I'm amazed at
how much Dylan has grown this year. Even since school started his
jeans are starting to get short on him. He is really thinning out, not
so chubby anymore. He's pretty tall for his age and just keeps getting
taller. His baby face look is almost gone. Although he still has
little stubby, chubby fingers! They are so cute!
It's been
a fun year for Dylan. He's graduated from preschool and now is halfway
through kindergarten. He is really smart. We just had parent teacher
conferences yesterday and he is at or above grade level in every
subject. He is really good with number, like Alex and is a good reader
for his age. He is just a bright kid. He is also well-behaved which I
was a little nervous about him because he can be pretty stubborn at
home. He definitely knows what he wants and is hard to convince
otherwise. But at school, he is very good to listen and do what the
teacher asks. He likes Kindergarten.
We had a fun summer
last year. We spent some time with Jared's parents which the kids
love. We do lots of swimming, ride the four wheelers, and play lots of
games. It's always nice to go down and visit. We also went to our
annual trip to Bear Lake which is also a family favorite trip. The kids
love playing on the beach and swimming in the pool. They love playing
lawn games with their cousins and just hanging out. It is always a fun
trip. We went camping several times over the summer. It's always nice
to get to the mountains. We also spent the summer swimming at the
pools, going to lots of playgrounds and just hanging out with friends.
All the kids are getting to the age where they want to play with friends
all the time. It's nice that they have friends in the neighborhood and
I can just send them out on their bikes, looking for friends to play
with. We ended the fun with a trip to St. George with my family for a
family reunion in the fall. It was very nice to get away for a few days
and enjoy the sun (and a little rain) during the school year. We are
actually going back to the same house this May with the family again.
We also spent a few days in Albuquerque for the hot air ballon fiesta in
October. We have some friends that moved there a few years ago and
we've been trying to get out there to visit them for the past couple of
years and finally made it. It was a fun trip, but long! We stopped at
the 4 corners which was fun. It was nice to see our friends and the
balloon fiesta was awesome! There isn't much to see in Albuquerque, but
that was cool.
Dylan played soccer this past spring and
seems to be getting better at it. He still doesn't love it and I'm
pretty sure the only reason he plays is to get the treat after the game,
but I think he will start liking it better. I know it took Alex a few
years to get the hang of it and now he loves it. Dylan tried baseball
this past fall and that was about the same as soccer! He liked it ok
but was more excited for the treat! I was his coach, so that was fun.
Then Dylan played basketball this winter. Same as all the
sports...there for the treat! I'm hoping he will like sports a little
better. He's still pretty young so I'm not worried.
Dylan
is a great kid. I love his spunk and his strong yet loving
personality. The kid loves to play games of any sort, board games, wii
games, Ipad games, and outside games. He loves to cuddle and will ask
me everyday after school if I will cuddle with him for a few
minutes...my favorite time of day! He is very loving. He loves to play
outside and ride bikes. He likes to read books every night and is
getting good at reading himself. He is just a great kid! We love him
so much!
Now for Alex. I'm pretty sure I didn't give
you an update on his last birthday so I'll try to catch you up. He's
also growing like a weed. He is getting really tall, although he still
is about the same size as most of the kids in his class and he is older
than most of them. He is doing great in second grade. Like Dylan, he
is very smart. He is above grade level in most subjects. His big
problem...handwriting! He has the sloppiest handwriting and it's just
because he wants to get everything done so quick. When he takes his
time, he is much better at it. I'm sure he will get better as he gets
older. He also has a very good behavior at school. His teacher is
always very complimentary on how nice he is and what good manners he
has. He really is a great kid and is so sweet. He is always the first
one of my kids to want to help and is a hard worker. I love watching
Alex grow and develop into a strong, young man.
Alex
is way into sports. It's been fun to watch him develop because he
blossomed this past year. He really discovered that he's pretty
athletic and figured how to be aggressive and it's fun to see him get
better every game. He played soccer in both spring and fall and really
loved it. He figured out how to score and also be a team player. Alex
also played basketball this winter and loved it. He's played for three
years and this is the first year that he finally got it. He made his
first basket this season and then he went crazy, making 4 or 5 baskets a
game. He absolutely loves sports. I'm trying to talk him into playing
baseball this spring, but I'm not sure if he's sold on that sport.
He's really good, but baseball is kind of slow so maybe that's why he
doesn't want to play. Anyway, I guess we will see what he wants to do.
Alex
loves playing with friends and is very social. He is always out riding
around the neighborhood hitting up friends to play. His new thing is
to shoot hoops with his friends in the driveway. He's been playing a
lot this winter, making good use of the warm weather.
Alex
was baptized this past summer. It was a very special day for him and
for us. He was so excited to get baptized, but I think that might be
because he knew he was going to get presents! The kid loves presents.
On his birthday and Christmas, he cannot wait to open presents. He rips
through them so fast he doesn't even know who gives him what. I have
to hide his presents to keep him from peeping! Anyway, back to the
baptism, it was a very nice day. Lots a family and friends came to see
his big day and it was great. We had a party in the backyard after,
feeding about 50 people, waffles, his choice! I'll just say that it was
kind of a pain to make waffles for that many people! But it worked and
it was fun. Alex really is a good kid. He actually tries to like
church, even though you can tell that it is long for him.
