Big Graduate!

Dylan graduated from preschool.  I was pretty worried he might not make it, but he pulled through in the end!  All of my kids have been in preschool with Miss Fidge and she is amazing!  I love the graduation program that they put on.  They prepare all year long for the program and it is so fun!  They sing tons of fun songs and they each have their own speaking part that they memorize.  It really is so amazing.

Good job on making it through preschool, Dylan! Now, on to Kindergarten!

Easter 2014: The Weekend in Photos

Dylan's 5th Birthday

Dylan's birthday is always around President's Day.  We almost named him Lincoln.  We usually spend President's Day with Jared's parents in New Harmony.  Which means Dylan usually celebrates his birthday in New Harmony.  This year was no different.  We celebrated Dylan's birthday with a fun Sunday dinner and an awesome bad piggy and angry bird cake.

But as always, there can never be just one party! We also celebrated his actual birthday at home with dinner and a trip to the "Lego Movie" with the family. Dylan ended the day with opening his presents, and immediately ignoring his toys and playing his new Wii game. The kid is addicted!

I really am in shock that my baby is 5. I can't believe how fast he is growing up. He is such a fun kid with a fun personality.   I love him so much! Happy 5th Birthday, Dylan!

Legends of Roundball

Every season we encourage the kids to try some new sports.  Get outside of their comfort zones and experience different things.  Over the winter we've had a ton of fun with Kennedy and Alex both playing basketball.  Sure, we've shot around in the driveway over the years, but the kids have recently wanted to play in organized games.  It was time for more Junior Jazz basketball!

Alex played basketball last year and it was a struggle at times.  The younger boys don't really have any structure to the games and it pretty much rewards the kids who are most aggressive.  Aggressive is not a word I'd use to describe Alex.  He is much more interested in being part of a team, rather than taking over.  I was hoping things would be different this year.  Well, not so much.

Alex was able to score a few times this year, but he was still on a team where the most aggressive kids took all the shots.  He still had fun, but I'm hoping that he'll get on a team that teaches the boys how to play - I know, sounds like I'm volunteering to coach....


My biggest surprise this season was Kennedy.  She's never expressed much of an interest in playing basketball, but she decided to try it with one of her friends from school.  At first it was a bit of a struggle, but by the time the season ended Dede girl was really starting to have fun!  She took advantage of her height and was able to rebound/defend like a pro!

One of our best moments came over the weekend when Kennedy was able to score two baskets in a row!  This was a girl who could barely shoot last year and now she was making it happen.  She may take the scoring title away from Kevin Durrant, but Dede was having fun and making buckets!  What a big deal for our amazing little girl.

Jr. Jazz basketball - You Gotta Love It!

New Year's Resolutions

A couple days ago our family sat down to talk about goals for the new year.  We wanted to let each of the kids set a few personal goals and, as parents, Tara and I wanted to create a few family targets for the year.  Here are some of the highlights:

Family Goals:

1. Run in a 5K together.
2. Go on a family vacation to Canyonlands/Arches National Parks.
3. Start Reading the Book of Mormon together.
4. Update the blog weekly (I already know how long it's been).

Kennedy:

1. Go to AFV and win $100,000.
2. Read the scriptures.
3. Exercise more by riding bike and jogging.

Alex:

1. Get baptized.
2. Run on the treadmill.
3. Go on trips to Park City, Bear Lake, and New Harmony.

Dylan:

1. Limit time playing Wii and watching TV.
2. Eat more apples.
3. Be nice.

We didn't think our talk about goals was sinking in until a few days later when Dylan's teacher sent us a photo of his project at school.  Classic!