Update

On May 4th, Star Wars Day, Our poor little Zachy had broken his arm. He was playing outside on Our monkey bars and fell. He was so relieved to get his cast off. He's still a little nervous about anyone touching it even though it is healed. He had such a great doctor. She and the staff sure loved him and got some good laughs from things he'd say. Not to mention they all loved his red hair.

 Right after breaking his arm

 Waiting in the ER at Primary Children's Hospital

 After his medicine. He did so awesome!

 Before surgery to get a pin in his arm

 I hated seeing him hurt, but was so grateful for the ability to get his arm fixed.

 His awesome doctor gave him a glow in the dark cast so it was kind of like a lightsaber.

Our Summer vacation has been pretty low key for the most part. We have season tickets to Lagoon, so we've been filling our down time with that. The kids have loved every minute of it. We were finally able to coax Tali to ride all of the roller coasters including Cannibal. She now loves it! I'm so glad she has overcome her fears of them. I'm really looking forward to when Jairus is big enough to ride it.
Tali & Jairus have also been attending an art camp with a friend of ours. They have really enjoyed it so far. They've made T-shirts with their self-portraits on them as well as made some really cool looking mugs.
Back in June, Tali had the opportunity to attend a STEM (Science Technology, Engineering, & Math) Camp in Denver, Colorado. She was able to make two different kinds of robots, participated in some CSI stuff where she did blood drops investigating along with some crime solving, she also was able to dissect a cow's heart. She stayed in a form which made her a little homesick, but she still enjoyed it. I'll post photos later.
I recently got accepted to BYU Idaho as part of the Pathways program through The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints which will be much less expensive. My goal is to receive a Masters degree in Marriage and Family Studies and eventually become a counselor, but also have the tools and skills to help me and my family. I have a bit of anxiety because it's been 12 years since I've been in school. It will be a long journey, but when I heard of this opportunity, I felt prompted to apply. Overall things have been pretty good.

Mismatched Day!

Tali and Jairus on Mismatched Day.

The Toothless Wonder

Our little Jairus had his 2nd loose tooth. He had the idea to tape a string to a soccer ball and he would kick it...well, he would either tap the ball or chicken out so we decided to have him stand on a table and drop the ball and it worked. He was so excited. 

On the upside, he did it all himself!

Freeze Dried Mangos & Blueberries

Tonight for after a Costco run we decided to start freeze drying again. It feels good to be storing food and trying to prepare for emergencies. I can't wait to try them when they are done! Silas has been having a hay day with our freeze dried peas and corn. He loves them!

Mmmm! Some of my favorite fruit!

Dr Seuss Crazy Hair Day

Yesterday for Dr. Seuss week, the kids had crazy hair day. While I was doing Tali and Jairus's hair, Zach thought it would be fun to do crazy hair day too so I obliged. I thought they looked great!

Ward Family Feud & Food

Last Saturday we had such a great activity planned for our ward. It was a spin off of the tv show Family Feud. It was put on my the Elder's Quorum. Our neighbor across the street who is the EQ President acted as the host and did a fantastic job! I've posted some fun pictures below. We were supposed to have brought a homemade cookie recipe, but we didn't have time to bake anything so we bought some Keebler cookies and Brian came up with this clever idea for the recipe.

It was a great night!

Mr. Magnificent!

I'm going to brag about my hubby. He is such an incredible dad!

He is so good at helping them with their homework...Tali had been struggling with some math and he was so good at helping her.

He helps soothe their pain...Silas was teething so he got a cold, wet paper towel and Silas loved it. At one point it soothed so much he started dozing off in his seat.

I am on lucky girl. I've got such a great man and a great life!

Soccer Picture Day

Last week the kids and their teams for soccer had their pictures done. I was able to snag some of my own.

2nd Breakfast Anyone?

Our little Silas has learned that he is able to get into our cereal. This particular day,his very helpful older sister had made him breakfast to which he ate it all. About thirty minutes so so went by. I then went to the bathroom for a few minutes and when I came out, I found our little Silas like this.

He knew he was busted! Haha! I just love this kid.

Forever Friends!

We have been so lucky to have such amazing people in our lives. These friends of ours have been long time friends. We have seen each other through a lot! Brian knew our friend Lynette in high school, but I met her at LDS Institute. We've been best friends ever since.

These incredible friends of ours just bought their first home not too long ago, so we went to see them and their new home. Their home is really cool. I have to admit I was a bit jealous with how roomy their kitchen was but the coolest thing was just how close they live to the temple. We're talking walking distance! I'm so happy for them though. They have waited very patiently to get their home and it is awesome! Anyway, below are some pictures I took while we were there. Since this was their first home and seeing how Spring is right around the corner, we wanted to get them some nice house warming gifts. We got them a very nice shovel and rake along with some seeds for their garden. We love these two! They are the BEST!

They forgot to do a serious face! Haha! 

My friend and I finally got a picture together. It's been a while!

Her daughter was totally photo bombing.

Such a beautiful place! I loved being able to see the temple...even if we were just driving by. I had to hurry and take the picture because we were stopped at a stop light, but it had turned green.

It was such a great day!

Stansbury Sunsets

Lately we've been able to see some pretty amazing sunsets in our area. Here are some examples. I love where we live. It's such a blessing to be able to see so many beautiful things.

Soccer Sillies

So Zach has been not as interested in playing soccer, but he sure keeps us entertained. This kid is such a ham! He kept pulling the jersey over his head and walking around. At least he could still see through it.

Stake Conference

Today I was really struggling to feel the spirit. I had a difficult time this morning and the kids had a difficult time during Stake Conference. Thankfully, I still managed to somehow take notes.

My daughter decided it would be more fun to play with the toys in the nursery and take Jairus with her. I was not having it. I told her she needed to listen and take notes...which she wrote me a note to tell me she wasn't going to take notes. Ugh! I feel like it's a losing battle to try to teach them about the things that are so important. 

Then after I brought them back to the room we were in, Jairus was as good as could be!

And then this. He's going...going....

Gone!

And then there was this kid. Let's hope they eventually want to learn and become strong in the gospel. He was so loud! I felt bad for those around us. Oh yeah, and did I mention the only seats were on the FRONT ROW?!? Yep, it was awesome.

Silly Silas

We love this silly boy!

Valentines Day!

We had some very happy Valentine cuties to start the day out. The night before we went to the store and picked out some Valentines donuts for Valentines Day breakfast. It was great!

The rest of the day would have been stressful were it not for the help of my amazing husband who took the day off of work to help me. I had to do some last minute things for Tali's class party that day Thankfully, the party went well and now I can breathe because I don't need to plan anymore parties for a while. Here are some photos from the party.

Daddy & Baby Silas

Me & my Baby Girl

I also got these super cute Valentine socks from my awesome friend/neighbor Camilla. She knows me too well!

Later that night, we made dinner for our dear friend Leora. She's is like family. I didn't want her to be alone on Valentines Day. She lost her husband a little over two years ago and so Valentines isn't her favorite holiday. I got the impression that I should probably invite another woman that lives across the street from me who was also a widow. We bought them each a box of chocolates which they were so thankful for. We had great conversation and had some good laughs. I really enjoyed their company! 

Earlier that week, we found this big giraffe that my daughter told me we HAD to get for Leora since it was her favorite. It wasn't a tough decision. It just needed to be hers so we gave it to her later on Valentines Day. She LOVED it! It made me so happy seeing her so happy and excited. 

The week or so leading up to Valentines Day my kids and I decided to heart attack about four people in our ward. I think we got caught too. I swear they saw us! It was fun anyway. All in all, it was a great Valentines celebration.

Learning Fun!

Jairus and Silas found their Alphie toy and started playing with it. Silas was just laughing so much because of it and his big brother. It was really cute to see! Jairus is such a good big brother!

Book Battle!

About a week ago, Tali participated in their annual "Book Battle" where they read certain books and then ad quizzed on them. Tali only answered one question right, but she had fun anyway.

Not Again!!!

About two weeks ago, went to Brian's parents house. Everyone seemed fine, until around 4-ish and then Silas started getting a fever. It was so weird and random. We unfortunately didn't have anything but gave him some Tylenol when we got home. I snagged these two photos of the kids before we left.

The kids love playing with Grandpa Monson's glasses.

Silas only started running a temperature from early evening until the next morning. This went on for a couple of days, but no one knew what it could be. The doctor's office did a flu and strep test that both came back negative. They just told me he had some kind of virus. No rash or anything that would indicate Measles (which apparently there has been a few cases of in Utah). Thankfully, he is now back to his sweet self again.

Car Wash!

A couple of weeks ago we decided our van desperately needed a bath, so we took the kids. They thoroughly enjoyed it! We really need to get out more! Everyone was so amazed at how clean the van was. It was really kind of funny and yet kind of sad and pathetic too. 

I loved the kids' enthusiasm about it though.

Yep, this is how you "entertain" them. Days later Zach kept asking if we could go back to the car wash. 

Crazy kids!