Easter

Easter was beautiful, as always, and we had fun celebrating with all our families.  Saturday afternoon we enjoyed some time with the Gibson family.  Here are most of the grandkids under 10 years old.  Of course both Austin and Ethan are kind of hidden behind kids, but this is the best picture I've got.

Emma and Austin are special little buddies.  They live in our neighborhood, so at church they get to play together each week.  I think she is like a little mother to him.  Here he is eating his jelly beans, and she is carefully going through his basket closing each opened egg.

I set Lauren down on the grass, and though she didn't complain, I don't think she liked it.  Notice she is keeping her feet off the grass.

Ethan and the bunch of cousins his age: James, Michael, CJ, Joel, Kyla, and Ethan.

Lauren found this golden egg in her basket, and didn't let go of it...

Finally we decided to just open it and give it to her.

We also had fun with all the Kirk family on Easter Sunday.  Here are almost all the grand kids with Grandma and Grandpa.  We are just missing Nate and Emi, and soon-to-be-born Kaden.

Dylan earned his Wolf

Dylan had a goal to earn his Wolf by the end of the year, but was able to earn it instead just before he advanced out of wolves.  He loves scouts so much - what a fun program!

Happy Birthday Ethan!

Ethan is 5 years old!  He is so excited to be 5, and he says he feels older now.

For his birthday he got to start it out right with a few presents from the family:  clothes, a couple Bob the Builder vehicles, and a bike helmet. 

As you can figure out for yourself, but I'll state the obvious anyway, he had wanted to have a Bob the Builder party.  Here is his awesome cake.

Luckily the weather cooperated, because we invited way too many kids.  We invited all the kids he plays with fairly regularly, but the list ended up huge. I thought about not inviting some, but there wasn't really anyone I felt good about not inviting, so we just had a big group - 10 of the 11 invited came.  Add that to my own 5 kids, and we had 15 kids at my house.  Devon was late getting home from work... you can imagine a little of my panic.  But it all worked out.  I just turned on an episode of Bob the Builder to keep them busy while we waited for everyone to arrive, then just as we were finishing with that and ready to go outside, Devon made it home.   I think this is the first time we have had a party outside, and it was so nice!  If the kids didn't want to play the game, no big deal - they could just jump on the tramp or play on the play set.  It was great! We used a robot claw like a crane and built a block tower.  Then the kids had fun building walls of boxes and knocking them down with a "wrecking ball."  Of course I think the kids wrecked the ball more than a wall. I had just used string taped on to the ball like a net - but not very strong. It was good enough for the intended use, but not good enough to hold up to the kids hanging on with it and using themselves along with the ball to wreck the wall.  They had lots of fun, even if I was a bit tired of fixing the "net" on the balls.   The kids also tried to throw bean bags into a tractor and dump truck.  After that all wore off, we did a wheelbarrow races and let the kids see who could make it all the way across the yard. 

While Ethan unwrapped presents, Austin had fun unwrapping the boxes for the brick walls.  It worked out perfect.  He was entertained, and there wasn't a problem of him wanting Ethan's presents.  Who knew those bricks would serve a dual purpose?

Back row: James, Ethan, Graham, Abbie, Michael, Jayden
Front row: Sam, Graysen, Ethan, Cade, Austin, Cole, Austin

Ethan:

• Loves Bob the Builder, Jay Jay the Jet Plane, Phineas and Ferb, Blues Clues
• Best friends are Ethan and Graham
• Loves to eat carrots, celery and peanut butter, apples and cheese, spaghetti
• Loves trains (Thomas and GeoTrax)
• Loves to play with friends
• Loves to ride his TWO WHEELER (he just learned how)
• Is learning to read
• Is good at coloring in the lines
• Loves to sing
• Does not love to be laughed at
• Loves to tease
• IS LOVED BY OUR FAMILY!!

Happy birthday, Dear Ethan boy!

Happy Birthday Dylan

News Flash: We have a 9 year old in our house!

Dylan had a great birthday.  He got to invite a ton of friends and cousins since we did it at his karate.  It was such a fun party!  Master Pierce taught some basics of karate (he even had the adults participate).  Look at our moves!

Next was an obstacle course for the kids.  They would see how quick they could get around it, and then break a board at the end. 

Then they had some free time.  It was a bit crazy, but they all had fun!

I made this awesome ice cream cake.  The day was kind of busy getting ready.  I finished this "cake" right before the kids got to our house to carpool over. I hurried and cut out a stencil from paper of a karate guy, trying to make sure it came out okay, then hurried and put some words on the cake, then into the freezer it went.  It wasn't until we were getting the cake out to serve that I realized I had not payed attention to the orientation of the karate guy and my words.  Oh, well.  I think it still turned out pretty good.  It still tasted fabulous!  My favorite was when we were serving it up and I would ask the kids which ice cream they wanted.  They would insist they wanted cake, not ice cream.   I would just smile and laugh inside, and dish them up ICE CREAM cake.  There was no cake in it, though... just ice cream than had been softened, smashed into the pan, then whipped cream for the frosting.  They said it was delicious.  When Master Pierce had some he was asking me how I made it. He said it was soooo good. 

Master Pierce brought out a special knife to cut the cake... or should I say sword. 

I wish I had gotten a good group picture, but I honestly didn't think about it or get a good chance.  Dylan had a great birthday, and I guess that's all that matters. 

We actually had the party on the Saturday before his birthday, since his birthday was on a Monday, and Devon was flying out of town that very evening.  So on his birthday he recieved a pet fish, and we took him to dinner to Chuck A Rama (his choice) on our way to the airport.  He had been telling me that for his birthday he wanted a pet wolf...  if not a pet wolf, then a baby wolf... if not a baby wolf... then a scorpion... and if not a scorption then AT LEAST a goldfish!  Devon and I talked about it, we debated back and forth of what to do.  There was a tiny bit of tempation to get him a dog - he would LOVE it and be so suprised and excited, but the reality is he isn't ready to take care of a dog.  We talked about lizards and turtles, but in the end a fish won out.  They are cheap to buy, so is the setup, so is the care. They are easy to care for.  And... the big clincher... can't escape if the lid is left open.  We got him a betta fish.  He was so thrilled!  He kept saying over and over: I'm so glad I got a pet. I really wanted one!

At nine years old:

Dylan tries to be a helper in our home.  He loves to try to make things easier for me by helping his brothers or sister - if they will let them. He really wants to be able to change wet diapers for me, but Lauren and Austin are a bit too wiggly for him. 

Dylan has a strong testimony of the gospel.  He knows so much, and it is so fun to hear him think things through as he tries to do what is right. 

Dylan's favorite sports to play are baseball and flag football. 

Dylan LOVES BYU football and hopes to be able to play on the team someday. 

Dylan loves legos, nerf guns, Lego Hero Factory, and army men.  He can play for hours creating things out of his legos.

Dylan loves to read.  This is an understatement.  I can't get the kid to stop reading!  For school we are supposed to keep track of what he reads.  I honestly just guess, but I know it is way under. This last month we turned in him having read over 1600 minutes, but I'm guessing it was probably double that - its just so hard to measure it.  He reads every chance he gets, including (or should I say especially) when he is supposed to be doing something else like getting dressed, cleaning his room, or brushing his teeth.  His favorite books are Star Wars, Magic Tree House, and Harry Potter. 

Dylan loves to play with his brothers.  If he's not reading, he's usually playing with them.  They come up with all sorts of fun things to do, and often I think Dylan is the one who comes up with the ideas. 

Dylan has a great sense of humor.  He laughs at jokes that I wouldn't think he would understand.  He loves to read the comics and laughs and laughs as he reads them.

Dylan looks the bright side of things.  When something goes wrong, he is usually saying "Well, at least..." and can see the good in just about any situation.

All in all, Dylan is such a great boy, and we love having him in our family!