Fall 2016

This year seems to have flown right by, and/or I've turned into a blogging slacker! Here's our fall update for 2016.

October: 

We spent most of the month at Cornbelly's! Its right by our house so we decided to get "season" passes. It was totally worth it. We loved running over anytime we had a spare minute and got to go with several different people. (I have a million pictures but they are having a hard time loading correctly!)

We also can't leave out pumpkin carving and Halloween!! We have the cutest Boba Fett and Jengo Fett ever (they are Star Wars characters). And they wanted us to play along too so we were Darth Vader and Princess Leia.

We also had family pics! I just love pictures taken in the fall. 
  
November:

Thanksgiving - don't we have so much to be thankful for?! I didn't get many pics but we had a fun time sharing it with family. Also, we spent most of the month sick, so that was lame. We're extra thankful for good health now!!

And now Christmas is upon us!! I'll post all about that soon(ish).

Preschool + Soccer

Our Itty-Bitty is in Preschool! He is in the Ladybug class that goes Tuesdays and Thursdays. So far he loves it and is really proud of the fact that he is in preschool and is a "big boy" now! I asked him "before school" questions this year for the first time and his answers were so cute! His favorite color is blue, he wants to be a football player when he grows up (I think that is heavily influenced by his brother), and his favorite things are playing with his brother and his friends. His color/shape is the Brown Pentagon... So cute!

He played soccer again this fall ... and he finally gets it! He loves running after the ball and kicking it.  And he's willing to staying in the game the entire time. In his last game he scored three goals! Go Red Crush!

First Grade + Football

I can't believe Landon is in FIRST grade. It's been a little bit of an adjustment to all-day school, he's a trooper and has done just fine. He chose to be an "early bird" at school - meaning he goes from 7:55-2:15. I had serious doubts about it, but he has handled it like a champ - he gets up without complaining and is always on time. The early schedule allows Jeff to take him a good portion of the time, too, which is fun for both of them. I love asking the boys questions before the year starts to hear their answers. Landon said he wants to be a football player when he grows up, his favorite color is red (no surprise there), and that his favorite things are playing outside, his friends and playing Madden (football video game).

This fall Landon also started playing football! We said we'd NEVER let our kids play ... but Landon begged and begged, so we finally relented. And it's been a really good experience for him. It's hard work, and they demand a lot from the boys, but he's loved every single second of it so far. Go Skyridge Falcons!

Summer 2016

I can't believe the summer is over. Apparently we were having so much fun I forgot to blog about it! June brought the start of some major changes in our family. In early June I quit my job ... with a company I've been with for almost 9 years. I've taken something else - but for much less time each week and completely from home. I struggle with change, but I've been ready for a while, so I'm very excited. I'm officially done and settled into my new role and it's been a great change overall for our family. 

My cousin got married this June in St. George. We went down for the celebration - it was so fun! I also love the boys seeing good examples of getting married in the temple. It was such a fun weekend spent with family, friends and dancing!!

June also brought Girl's Camp! I was asked to be the Camp Director this year. I haven't ever done it, and I HATE to camp so I was really, really concerned. The planning and organizing were super stressful, but once we got there it was so much fun! Jeff came up to be priesthood for us, and really enjoyed it also. It was such a beautiful place, and I'm so grateful for what I learned along the way. 

The rest of our month was spent swimming, playing and just having fun! 

In July we went to Turks & Caicos! What an amazing and beautiful place. The beach is exactly what I picture when I think of "paradise" - it's shallow, with hardly any waves and beautiful white sand beaches. The boys fell in love with snorkeling! It was SO cute to watch them - they were seriously little fish out there. While Jeff and the boys were busy snorkeling I enjoyed reading on the beach - it was heavenly! The boys also could have spent every waking hour in the beach house pool. 

We also went to a local fish fry, walked around town and went to Iguana Island. The very best part of the trip (other than all the time together) was Parasailing! We took the boys us with us and it was AMAZING! Such a cool thing to do together, and a really amazing memory to share. 

Once we got back we tried to cram as much "summer" in as we possibly could - swimming, playing with friends and staying up late! 

Now school is back in session and football and soccer are in full swing! I'll blog about that soon, but for now here are some pictures of our amazing summer vacation!

They were really excited about the airplane rides!

For a first timer he was a CHAMP!

Preparing the land in paradise!

Such. A. Stud.

Me & my main squeeze!

"Our" beach for the week ...

His smile + those freckles = love

Local fish fry ... don't worry, I didn't actually eat fish ... 

Sandy toes

Local pirates ... beware

Seriously ... they lived like this 

There are no words :)

We found the chapel and went on Sunday!

My tribe ... 

Those smiles ... pure happiness!

Is there ANYTHING cuter?!

Aaaaand ... Mic. Drop.

End of the School Year Shenanigans

How on earth does a school year go so quickly?! We're already more than a week into summer vacation and I'm looking back wondering where the time went. We LOVED kindergarten. What a cute, fun year! Landon thrived at the elementary school, and had the BEST teacher - Mrs. Rigby. 

The last couple of weeks were full of fun days, like the 5K, Art Day, Science Day, etc. and our fave: the Teddy Bear Picnic. 

The kids all put on a dance performance at the end of the school year as well. Kindergarten danced to The Gummy Bear Song. It was so stinkin' cute! 

Then came Kindergarten Graduation! The first day of school was just yesterday, and here we are. We feel so lucky he had a great year, made good friends and had a great teacher. In his memory book he said he wants to grow up to be a construction worker because he has big muscles. He won the award for being the hardest worker. 

Landon wasn't our only family graduate this May either ... James graduated as well! How is he so grown up?

And now it's SUMMER! First order of business? Summer haircuts ... 

 

And now? WE PLAY! We kicked it off right with a Memorial Day weekend spent with family and friends outdoors ... here's to a great summer!