Logan, 4th, and more

We made our way down to Logan very late (after 11 thanks to YM / YW) on Wednesday the 23rd. Casey was up early the next morning to go work with the guys while we played around Grandma's house. I got to visit Nana that evening. Peter got to open his birthday gifts. He got Lego's from Grandma and Grandpa. Aunt Katherine gave him a fun dragon puzzle, and the book Grumpy Monkey. Katherine was so sweet and gifted me a primary music book! 

Friday we took the kids four wheeling down at the shop. Andy and Campbell came as well and we got see them for the rest of the day! We ate some pizza, then the kids played night games. We had a movie night that night with Pinacoloada's and watched "Your's, mine, and ours."

Saturday we joined Billie and her kids at Jump Zone. Alice and Maggie had fun bouncing all over the kiddie area, while the big kids did all of the other areas (dodge ball, foam pit, big trampolines, rock wall). 

After church on Sunday we joined Billie and her kids on the trail walk by the Logan golf course. The kids spent the first while in the stream skipping rocks and enjoying themselves. We walked along the path a while, and found a geo cash on our way back to the car. Alice and Maggie were so cute and held hands and had little conversations together the whole time! That evening we ate Sunday dinner with David, Anica and crew. The kids built "log houses" out of pretzels and the kids played no bears are out tonight. I joined my Dad for a visit to Nana. 

Peter and I took lunch up to the guys on Monday. Peter was able to spend the afternoon at with Anica and the boys playing Lego's and such to his hearts content. 

Tuesday afternoon we joined Anica and the boys for an afternoon of water play. The kids had so much fun together. Anica pulled out water balloons and the kids had fun playing with them, bouncing them on the trampoline, and carrying them around like "babies" : D.

Wednesday Casey hurt his finger at work (another nail gun episode). Luckily it wasn't to bad. We had an easy going day at my parents. David, Anica, and their kids came down for dinner and play time. The kids had a Lego competition. Such a cute idea. Peter built a boat, Kendal a heart, and Alice built a "diving board?". 

Thursday we went back to Jump Zone. This time Emma was back so Kendal had more fun ; ). The kids jumped around played away. David and Anica were so very sweet and had the kids over to play that evening. Casey and I ate some "Sweeto Burrito" and talked a while at a church park. We had a quick mallow roast at Davids to end the evening. 

Friday we did a short trip to the shop so the kids could ride the four wheelers around. I thought it'd be fun to give Kendal and Peter their first "driving lesson" they drove in an oval next to the shop and both kids were nervous, but enjoyed it. That afternoon we joined Billie's family, David / Anica, and co. at the pool to swim. The kids had a good afternoon together! It was a hot day, and the pool was overflowing with people, but the kids had to much fun to notice! I went to visit Nana that evening, it was nice getting some time to chat and hear her stories. 

We got up early Saturday to go to Lewiston for the parade. The kids were in candy heaven and had a good time! We headed over to Tony's around lunch. The kids played in the kiddie pool and bounce house while we all lunched and chatted. It was hot, but such a good afternoon together. We opted out of going to a big firework show and had our own at my parents house that night. Casey and Eric had a good system going on and we had a solid hour plus of watching and enjoying fireworks. Kendal, Emma, and Peter got to light some as well. It was a perfect ending to our holiday festivities! 

After church on Sunday Casey and I got to go in and have a visit with Nana. We had a family dinner that evening while the kids played around outside. 

Monday morning we headed out to Hyrum for anther parade. We joined Billie and her family, and were happy to have Sally and her family there as well for the fun! The kids gathered more candy and had a good time together! After lunch we joined David's crew and went to a mini golf place in Logan. All of the kids had fun putting around and "wining" at each hole. Kendal, Casey, Mom, and I got holes in one! We ended the evening with another nice family dinner! 

Tuesday morning we cleaned up. I got in one last visit with Nana, and we headed out after lunch. No joke, as soon as we were home the kids were off playing with friends. Tuesday evening Peter had Acitvity Day's. His group got to shoot off Paper rockets. 

The kids all went to the dentist on Wednesday for cleanings. All three came back clean and no cavities. Kendal went to basketball open gym that afternoon and then got to go to Kasota to swim and play with her young women's group. Peter was happy to be back with friends and swam at the Dansie's. 

Thursday Casey and I were able to go to the Temple!! It's been so long and it was a treat to be able to get a nice date with Casey to such a special place. 

Friday Casey had his dentist and eye appointments. The kids have been happy to be back playing with friends this past week. Casey took Peter and Kendal over to play with cousins while Alice napped, and I sported a headache and tried to nap. 

Saturday Morning I went to a baptism for a little gal in our ward to represent the primary presidency. Casey took the kids over to Good Neighbor Days. The kids got to watch the community parade and then play around at the city park. They had water slides and bounce houses for the kids. I joined after the baptism and we got to walk around the vendors and music. We grabbed a free lunch and enjoyed the music for a bit. That evening we let the kids stay up and watch Loki then we sat on the balcony and watched fireworks. It was a good show and we're spoiled with the view we've got. 

Today Kendal and Casey taught the lessons for their classes. Kendal also sang in sacrament meeting with the ward young women. Peter gave a talk in primary (Alice wanted to as well, and is disappointed she didn't get to ; ).  After church we came out to Raft River to have a family dinner. It's become a monthly tradition and it's been nice to get together so often. Not going to lie it's busy, but the kids love it! 

Runnin around

 June has only lasted a few weeks, but we've packed those few weeks full so far. 

Casey has been doing open gyms for the high school basketball team most nights this month. He took a couple of nights off for Young Men's activities (mini golf). He had an another basketball tournament up in Boise on the 11th and 12th. The girls played decently; he was stuck going back and forth across Boise though for two days helping out and splitting his time between the Varsity and JV teams that were playing in different places. He stayed overnight with his Aunt Stacy. He came home for a day and we were able to go out to Raft River for a monthly dinner with the Darrington's. We had a relaxed evening together with the kids playing all around and enjoying the evening. Casey left early the next morning back to Boise for some workshops for his "aware project" with a bunch of other teachers / administrators. He learned a lot, ate some good food, and enjoyed a lux hotel. We got to celebrate Casey on Sunday! The kids colored cards and we had an easy going morning together. We are so blessed and lucky to have this amazing man in our lives. He loves our kids so very much, teaches them, he blesses our family, works so hard, and is definitely the favorite at our house.

Kendal has had club volleyball open gyms twice a week. She's enjoying the opportunity to further her skills and practice some more. Kendal had her last track meet on the 9th. Se did a good job on her shot put (probably her best this season), her hurdles were cautious since she fell the previous week, she did long jump, and ran the 400. She's aging out of this little track club and will move onto middle school track next spring. Kendal got to go to girls camp this past week. She left bright and early Wednesday morning. She ended up in a tent since our ward was bigger, but she did fine. She had a difficult hike (6 + miles), but she persevered and made it to the top! She really enjoyed rec time where she did archery, ax throwing, rock climbing, crafts, and water activities. They did a skit night with the whole stake (near 400 girls), a testimony night, and a fun story telling night. She had a lot of fun and came back bursting with stories and fun! 

Peter has done decently in track this year. He did make the choice to compete up a level against kids 1-3 years older than him, but It was all about his progress, not the competition this year. He did well on the 9th, and had his last track meet on the 16th. He got third in hurdles, and did his best in the other events. Last week Peter had a basketball camp with the high school boys for a few days. He enjoyed going and playing around with the big boys and cousin David was there as well. On the 16th The stake put on an Activity Days day camp at the football field. Peter got to do a bunch of stations (rope tying, wood craft, police, fireman, games, etc.) he had so much fun. It did make for a long day because he was there from 8:30-2 and at track from 3-6. Peter turned 9 yesterday!! We celebrated with Casey's parents Sunday night when they came for a father's day dinner. Peter helped with his Chewy cake and was giving me pointers all along the way to make it "perfect". We went up to Boise yesterday to celebrate by going to Roaring Springs water park.  Peter loved the lazy river the most (he spent the majority of his pool time there) as well as the tidal wave pool. He went done one huge slide with Casey and Kendal and vowed not to do it again, but we did convince him to do the tube slide a couple times which he ended up liking. Kendal was willing to do most things, but always with questions lingering about height and such on the huge slides. I'll go on about Alice bellow, spoiler she had an epic time! Overall the kids had the best time; we were there from 11 to almost 6. Peter chose chick fil a for dinner and all of the kids zonked out on the way home from having such an awesome / long day in the sun/water. 

Alice isn't in any of the "big kid" activities yet, but she's carted to most of them, and a trooper to boot. She occupies herself at track meets with Jemma or James, playing in the dirt or in the grass area. We get Jemm a couple of times as week so she's got a buddy around which is nice since Kendal and Peter are in an out with activities and playing at friends. We've started going back to story time at the Library. While she's still shy some weeks, other's she's really into it. At Roaring Springs yesterday Alice was our bold kid who ended up addicted to the water slides. She went down the kiddie ones over 20 times and also a lot of the bigger ones. She did get scared in a tube one that she rode solo and it gave her a nice bonk on the head so she wouldn't ride again, but other than that she was our thrill seeker for the day.

p.s. she learned how to turn on my camera phone 

Together we made a Lego zip line on a random hot day. The kids built their own creations and Casey tied a line from the kitchen to the other side of the living room. It was a lot of fun to do. When Casey was away on the 11th I wanted to give the kids a bit of fun so we went out to Nat Soo Pa to swim. I was a human jungle gym for a while. Thankfully Alice warmed up to the water and was willing to trust her floaties. Peter liked the water slide a lot and was either on that or ridding a pool noodle around like a horse most of the time. Kendal did it all; diving, hot tub, swimming, slides. Casey and I took Peter and Alice our for some frozen yogurt while Kendal was at camp (so they could have some "fun" to). We've had some more movie nights since the kids "can" sleep in, and enjoyed a few tv shows together (Lego masters, Loki, Luca, etc.). 

Zip line / frozen yogurt

Nat Soo Pa

Fun family faces! 

Cabellas / Roaring Springs! 

Last track meet together

 

Peter is 9!

 Peter is 9!

Peter has grown leaps and bounds this year. He's progressed a lot in school and ended the year with strait A's and good test scores. He did great with reading this year and had a passion for graphic novels (mostly dragons,  Geronimo Stilton, Dog Man,  etc.; really he tried almost all of the books from that section at school.) Peter has a big personality and a bigger heart. He feels all of the feels and they're always strong. He still has a strong stubborn side,  but he's doing so well in recognizing when he's stepped to far and adjusts his mood sooner. In recent years I've made a birthday card with the kids favorite this doodled in pictures on them. This year Peter got, Chewbacca, Legos, monkeys, marvel avengers,  dragons,  climbing trees, friends, shows,  and sports (soccer,  basketball, track) drawn on his card. Peter loves to go out and play with friends.  He's a natural at sports, (we just need to work on his competitive drive). Peter you are funny, sweet, stalwart, friendly, giving, and so so wonderful; we love you too infinity and beyond!

Peter's favorites at age 9!

Favorite color: Blue

Favorite animal: Monkey

Favorite food:  Pizza

Favorite snack: Pop Tart

Favorite book: Graphic novels

Favorite Toy: Legos

Favorite song: I am a Child of God

What he wants to be when he grows up: Teacher

Nickname: Pete

At 9 Peter is 4ft 4in. and he weighs in at 68lbs