Learning to Swim

I thought it would be a good idea to enroll Adarius and Tavian into swim lessons this year. Adarius is getting older and it was funny because as we were walking up to the pool, the first day of swim lessons he said "What no floaties"? and "Where are the noodles"? Apparently he thought he knew how to swim and he was gonna show them his skills with the floaties! I explained to him that swimming lessons is actually leaning how to swim without floaties. Complete terror came over his face "WHAT" he said!! As you can see in the photos that fear lasted but about a minute. It was private lessons which worked out really well because of the one on one attention. He did so well and I was so proud of him!!! Way to go DD
Tavian had alot of fun learning to blow bubbles and play "motorboat" with the teacher. He will do anything Adarius does so it really wasn't that hard to get him in the water! Way to go Tavian!!!

Mass Update Ya'll!!!!

So the computer has been down for quite some time - 4 months to be exact. So, basically I took all of Sunday afternoon and updated the last 4 months of what's been going on in our lives. It's close to 9 different posts that I have added, so keep on reading!! By the way, I do my hair only on special occasions - LOL. I'm sure you will notice all of my hats!! Happy Reading.

Our Colorado Trip 09

Congratulations Elaina and Lane!!! What an awesome trip this last weekend was to Colorado. We love weddings. Audrey was so beautiful walking the beautiful bride down the aisle. (P.S. Audrey is Elan's aunt, our angel, who saved his life by donated her kidney 2 years ago) The ceremony was so sweet it made me want to re-do mine and copy all her ideas!
Uncle John and Aunt Mimi (Shirani) played the part well as handsome groomsmen and pretty bridesmaid. What a good looking couple!!Adarius and Tavian did such an amazing job as the ring bearers. Adarius came down first followed by Tavian holding his cousins Milan's hand. Tears were brought to my eyes witnessing this precious moment. Really, Milan is so sweet, cute, and everything a little girl should be!
WOW!!! All I can say is I loooooove this picture!! We miss our family in Colorado very much and can't wait to go back for another visit very soon!

Hole in the Rock in Moab

The last day in Moab we stopped off at a little tourist place called "Hole N" The Rock it was quite an interesting place. Inside of that huge rock is a 5000 sq. foot home. It was really cool but at the same time a little creepy. There was a little petting zoo that the kids could pet and feed. They had a camel, wallaby, pigs, deer and lots of others. It was extremely hot so we finished off with some of the best ice cream ever!!
This place had very random art work located on the grounds. The boys wanted pictures with everything they saw. Tavian called over to Elan and said take a picture of me standing next to my friend. That kid has such an imagination! Love the hand in the pocket-and notice the superhero belt!

Moab Camping Trip

We headed down to Moab for a weekend of camping and hiking with some of our neighbor's and their kids. I have to say Moab has some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen. It was absolutely amazing. We were able to do a few little hikes with the kids, but mostly we did a lot of driving. The kids enjoyed themselves especially because they had their friends to run, play and explore with. I definitely can't wait to go back and look forward to when the boys are a little bit older so we can do some more challenging hikes. It was a great little get away and camping wasn't all that bad either, even if we did stay in cabins with running water, toilets, air conditioning, and a swimming pool for the kids- LOL
Adarius, Jayden (JJ) and Drew
This was a little boys dream come true!! They could get as dirty as they wanted and their mom could do nothing but smile and say "Are you havin' fun?"

4th of July 09

This 4th of July we had a really exciting and eventful day! We woke up and headed out to see the grand parade in Provo. We had the best seats ever and got there just in time to see it start. The boys really enjoyed themselves and I am not gonna lie so did I! I love the 4th of July, it is one of my favorite holidays. After the parade we headed over to grandmas for a BBQ, swimming and some fun family time with cousins, aunts and uncles. After that we headed over to Mr. and Mrs. Snowdens house for more food and fun. They had rented an inflatable jump house for the kids and they had so much fun. We ended the night with a great "kiddie" firework show then off to bed. The boys were exhausted and we were too.

The Air Show 09

This year we decided it would be fun to take the boys to the Air Show up at Hill Air Force Base. It was "super" fun (Adarius' new word - Super). Elan was very prepared with umbrellas for the ferocious hale storm that we encountered. After the storm had calmed down they did an amazing air show with the jets. It was very loud but VERY entertaining. After the show the boys were able to go and meet the pilots and get their autographs - which they could have cared less about. I just kept telling Adarius "Come on let's go get his autograph." He kept saying "What is an autograph?" and "Who cares about an autograph?" Oh well. It was still really fun.
I'm sure the pilot in this picture wishes now he didn't pull that face! Not so cute- Adarius and Tavian are with their friends Alexis and Kole Larsen.
Daddy and his boys

Memorial Day 09

We had such a great holiday weekend with my family! We all headed down to St. George to spend time all together. Elan and I had rented a home that was so perfect. It had a swimming pool and also a little putting green for the kids to play golf. We celebrated my niece Morgan's birthday, had great food and birthday cake, great company, and the adults even got to go to Mesquite for the night for a little bingo playing and dinner while the older cousins babysat!! The kids just couldn't get enough of the water, some of them stayed in there literally for 6 hrs. straight. We missed my mom due to here having a hip replacement but she insisted that we all go. We had such a fun time and hope to do it again next year!!

A Very Proud Moment!

We are very proud to announce that Adarius has graduated from pre-school. It was a cute little presentation that the boys put on. Adarius recited the Pledge of Allegiance. He also sang many songs and got up to the microphone and read a book all by himself! He loves school so much and can't wait to go to kindergarten. Way to go Adarius!!! We love you!!
Adarius and his pre-school teacher Miss B.

It's Potty Time!!!

Who-Hoo!! Tavian is potty trained! My creative way of potty training looks very strange to just about everyone. I've heard "You put the potty in your living room?" or "You really stay home all day for 2 days straight?" Let me tell you, it WORKS!!!! Basically I just turn the TV on and load him up with tons of juice and water. I swear every few minutes I am saying "come on take a drink pleeeeeease!" I also entice him with lots of toys for the first day! (dollar store baby) Every time he pees he gets a toy. This strange potty training has worked for both of my boys. Even better they are done in 2 days and they both were 2 1/2. OK, so I do have to admit after the 2 days you are feeling a little crazy and you feel like your vocabulary only has very few words like-

Do you need to go Potty?
Hurry hold it down the pee is going everywhere?
Run Run hurry sit down-
Do you need to go Potty?
Do you need to go Potty?
Do you need to go Potty?

We are so proud of you Tavian!!! I am a bit sad because we no longer have diapers in our house. Just another indication that my baby boy is growing up!

Adarius's 5th Birthday!

Adarius this year picked a "Star Wars" themed birthday party. It was so much fun planning for this party. I thought it would be fun to have the boys challenge "Darth Vader" to a fight. I made each of the boys a light saber out swim noodles that I had bought from the dollar store. Darth Vader didn't have a chance with 9 boys ready to" DESTROY" him! He was down on the ground in about 1 min. I couldn't stop laughing it was the funniest thing I have seen for a long time. -Poor Elan
We played lots of fun games. Poor Lorrie (my sister) got caught in the middle of this game where the kids could not let the "asteroid" touch the ground or it would explode! We played pin the asteroids on the planets, and played find the hidden asteroids.
Elan says that the boys look like they are in some sort of cult with their white t-shirts that they decorated for their Star Wars attire. Hey, I was just trying to be creative!
Here is his Light Saber cupcake birthday cake that I made. It was super easy and the kids had a blast trying to cover the top with candy. What a fun day Elan and I had! Hopefully the kids had just as much fun as we did!!

Happy Birthday ADARIUS

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! I can't believe he is 5 years old. He is getting bigger and smarter every day. We are so lucky to have Adarius in our family. He is so creative and brings so much ENERGY to our family. He is such a loving boy and can't wait for kindergarten to start. We love you Adarius!!!!

Animal House

Ever since Pettis has been gone it seems as if the all animals are aware that we are in need of some extra love. We never noticed how many cats were in the neighborhood till recently. The other day we opened the door and a kitten ran in and spent some time with the boys. There have been several cats that have come to visit us since then. It is amazing to us because we are not "cat" people and these cats are the nicest, sweetest and cuddly cats ever!! On top of that, last night we were walking my mom out, and the cutest little doggie ran up to the porch. We have never seen it and new it wasn't one of the neighbors. He felt comfortable enough to walk in the house and make him self at home. It turns out he was lost all day so we sadly returned him to his owners.
The cat pictured above is one that amazingly figured out how Pettis's doggy door works. Elan and I were putting the boys to bed and I thought I heard the doggy door but thought it was just the wind. Sure enough, here comes this cat strolling in our house just as if he has lived there for years. No he is not our cat but yes that is our bed he is fast asleep which he has spent all night in. We really need another animal!!!

Easter 09

Easter was a lot of fun this year! We colored Easter eggs on Saturday, and on Sunday Adarius and Tavian woke up and were so cute and excited to go look for their Easter baskets that the Easter bunny had hidden. The Easter bunny also hid some eggs that they had to go find. We went to church and they had a great Easter program. After church we headed up to Aunt Lorrie's and Uncle Ken's house for dinner and a fun easter egg hunt for the kids. The kids had a blast and dinner was so yummy!

Soccer here we come!

Adarius had his first soccer game tonight. The outfit is a hideous one but he was warm and I guess that's what counts. We were so proud of Adarius he showed us such self-confidence by making new friends and really participating in the game! He did a great job and we can't wait to cheer him on next week! GO ADARIUS