Lots of Fun Packed In

We finished off a busy week with a busy Friday and Saturday. We've been getting to play a lot with Amanda and Matthew lately and we love it.

Firday's neighborhood fieldtrip was to the Treehouse Museum. They market the place as somewhere to "step into a story. It was a good 45 minute truck to get out there but the kiddos did have a blast. I was happily surprised to find out that they had tons of great stuff for Rori as well as Kai (now that she can pull herself up and stand). It really was a great place where you could spend lots of time.























Saturday morning Kai had a Primary Pioneer themed activity. The kids got to play games that the Pioneer children would have played and got to help make butter. It was very cute.







And finally Saturday afternoon Kai and Amanda went to a birthday party for a buddy from the gymnastics class they used to take. The party was at the Children's Discovery Gateway. We had never been there before and once again all the kiddos had a great time exploring all of the kid friendly learning exhibits. At the birthday party they all got to dress up like princesses and knights which Kai thought was fun.















And now we all need a very long nap to get ready for next week.

Welcome Cousin Ella

Congratulations to Tyler, Kimberley, Kennedy and Jack on their newest addition. They didn't find out the sex of this baby in advance so it was very exciting to find out that it was a baby GIRL. Baby Ella was born at 9:08am this morning. She weighed 7 pounds 13 ounces and was 22inches long. She's beautiful! We went and visited her tonight and had so much fun meeting the newest cousin. It is now 3 Boys to 5 girls in the cousin count. Little Kate, Rori and Ella are going to be quite the buddies no doubt.

My Best Friend

It has been an amazing 8 years. So many wonderful adventures- Living by the ocean, living by the mountains, living overseas, law school, taking and passing 2 bar exams, buying our first home, amazing vacations, 2 beautiful kiddos, and on and on. A popular song right now has the chorus "Lucky I'm in love with my best friend" and that is how I feel. I'm looking forward to all that is still to come.

Soccer

Tonight was Kai's 1st soccer game. It was hilarious. At this age some of the kids still struggle with not picking up the ball, the concept of playing inside the lines, which direction to kick the ball, and other distractions on the field like orange cones and grass. Kai was really in to it and had a blast. Plus they all looked so cute in their uniforms.

Fathers and Sons / Firm Hike

Kai and I went on the Fathers and Sons campout Friday night. We camped in Weber Canyon above Oakley - not far from Smith Morehouse. Good times were had by all. Especially since we avoided the rain. Here are a few pics.

Kai in front of tent:

Dad in front of tent (taken by Kai): Campfire: Playing around: Kai's 5th Ward buddies:

After we came home, Kai took a nap and I joined my firm on a hike up Brigham Fork in Emigration Canyon - highly recommend the hike - its very family friendly. I didn't get very good pictures because of the incessant rain, but here are a couple:

Father's Day 2009

Happy Father's Day to our great Dad's. Hope you had a nice day! We feel very lucky to have such supportive and encouraging fathers. They both are amazing men that have set a great example for us. We are very lucky to have such great Dad's in our lives.

And happy Father's Day to Lance. I can't say enough about how lucky I feel to have a husband that is such a great Dad to our kiddos. He loves them so much and they adore him. What a strength it is to have such a wonderful Daddy in our home. We love you!

Summer Began...

..this week but someone forgot to tell the weather. Actually it has held up just fine for swim lessons in the morning, but Kai did get rained out of his first soccer game on Wednesday.

He has swimming M-Th and so far he is having a blast. He is 1 of 4 kids in his class and there are 2 teachers. Can't beat that ratio. 2 of the other kids in the class are cousin Kennedy and best buddy Amanda. He is in heaven being with 2 of his favorite girls.



On Friday we had our neighborhood Friday fieldtrip to the Zoo. That was the first sunny day of the week so it was great to be outside.



Lance is going to post about the big Friday night activity.

On Saturday night Lance and I went to dinner and a movie to celebrate our 8th Anniversary (tomorrow- June 22) is our true anniversary. We had a yummy dinner at Macaroni Grill. We don't think we'd been to a movie in a movie theatre since before Kai was born so it was a treat. It was great to have a real date.

This Is The Place

Yesterday Kai and I went to the Denitst. Kai has been before, but they had just counted his teeth. This time they did the whole deal- cleaning, x-rays etc. He was a bit nervous about it beforehand, so I was shocked when he went in the little cubicle next to mine all by himself with the hygentist. I could hear the little conversation they were having and it was so cute. He did super the entire time and was so excited at the end when he got a Cars toothbrush and got to pick a toy from the prize chest. Grandma Utah watched Rori for us and claimed that she didn't cry the whole time. We have been going through a severe case of separation anxiety lately so that is big.

Afterwards we made a quick trip to This Is The Place. It is across from the Zoo so it is super close and yesterday it was free. It is a place where you can learn about pioneer and Native American history. We met up with Kai's buddy Drew so he was in heaven. We rode the train twice, ate our lunch on the grass, checked out some of the exhibits and animals, and enjoyed our free ice cream cones. We only did about 10% of the things they had going on, but it was enough to get a feel for it all. Plus just as I was putting the stroller in the car as we were leaving the BLACK clouds that had been threatening the entire time finally came pouring down.

On the Train:


Wondering If This Is a Good Idea:


Learning How the Pioneers Did It:


Infront of the Church Where Lance's Cousin Caitlin Was Married (remember the cute ring bearer and flower girl):


Learning About the Pony Express:


We have been having so much rain- every weather forecast for the past few weeks has had rain clouds for some time everyday. It has been wonderful for out water and air conditioning bills. Truthfully we actually really like it, but next week our true summer activites begin and they would really be so much better without rain. We'll be keeping our fingers crossed for some sunshine. Soon it will be HOT though and we'll be wishing for rain. So it goes.