Kennedy turns "8"

So my Kenna has turned eight and totally in style! We celebrated a few different times. Not pictured, yet, was her Halloween Birthday party. Wow, it was really fun! We were excited to have Grandpa Dave here for her actual birthday and then Great Grandma Ross and Aunt Peggy surprised us and came up too. We headed to Texas Roadhouse for a fun lunch to celebrate. The firt pic is of Kenna in the saddle getting wished a very happy "Yee Haw"! Afterwards we headed to the park to play horseshoes and then home for cake and ice cream. It was a great day! Then an even better day was a couple weeks later when Kennedy decided to be baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It was a very special day to say the least. All the talks were wonderful beyond compare and the spirit was so strong. She was glowing all day, and for good reason. It was an emotional day but in a good way. We were excited to have so many family and friends there to share it with us! I am excited for Kenna and the choice she has made! She is a ray of sunshine in my life and I am blessed to have such a wonderful daughter. She has always had to be my helper being the oldest and she is so nice about it. She loves to draw and create. I guess she did get a little of me considering she looks just like a ross. She also loves reading and school. That part didn't come from me. She really is just a good little girl. She loves to help in the Kitchen and bake with her easy bake oven. I love her so much!

Tag, because pics won't upload!

Well I can't get my pictures to upload so I am going to fill out this tag and hopefully get pics done tomorrow!

What is your favorite color? Orange

What is your favorite pizza? Canadian Bacon & pineapple & peppers

What is your favorite restaurant? Um, not sure. I like Zuppa's, Panda Express, Rodizio Grill and Hamilton's (their shrimp is awesome)

What is your favorite Holiday? I like most HOlidays, but I love Christmas!

What is your favorite day of the week? Saturday

What is your biggest pet peev? When people act like your friend one day and not the next!

What is something you accomplished this year? Read more uplifiting books and played competitive volleyball again, thanks Nat!

What is something you would like to accomplish this year? Finish Kenna's bedspread

HOw many places have you lived? 7 different cities/towns

What is your dream vacation? Probably somewhere on a warm beach with family and friends (Meagan and Cory that means you!!)

What is something you desire right now? Josh to find a good job

What is your favorite treat? My new fav treat is fondue!! Yummy

What did you make for dinner tonight? pizza and breadsticks

Who is someone you look up to? President Monson and his wife

What do you have to do tomorrow? Halloween costumes, party at Cody's, and laundry. In no particular order!

What is your favorite movie? Right now, probably "Hocus Pocus" (buck toothed firefly)

What is something you would like to learn? Scuba diving or crocheting! Ha ha, how about that for polar opposites!

How many states have you visited? I think 9

Can you name all 50 states in 1 min? probably not, unless I had a map. Hee Hee. Try it, it is kind of hard.

Who do you want to tag? Anyone you wants to participate!!

I know, I know!

I know it has been a long time and I have a ton to catch up on, so when I get a minute I will post a bunch of pics and maybe a few words. I know you will all wait in anticipation next to your computer just for MY update! Just don't hold your breath!

First Day of 2nd Grade AND First Day of preschool pictures!

So the time has come. The long summer nights are gradually getting shorter and the morning air is cooler. It must mean that the new school year is here. Boston started preschool this year and absolutely loves it! I think he loves having something of his own. At last he is not the one left behind, Griffin is. I am happy he is having fun and hopefully learning things along the way.
Kenna is Kenna. She loves and thrives on school. Three weeks ago she was so jittery she couldn't hold still waiting to find out who her teacher was. I hope her love of school and learning stays forever. I know mine dwindled after time and is slowly itching its way back. Kennedy's comment after the first day was "Mom, it was fantastic!!" I remember my very first day of 2nd grade, I threw up all over my desk in Mrs Vance's class, cheerios, I think. Sorry too much info. I am glad Kenna had a better first day to 2nd grade.
Here's hoping for a great year for my beautiful kids and everyone else!

More of Griff's "2" Birthday!

Here are more of Griff's birthday pics. He and Grandma Roche's birthdays are really close so we celebrated them together. It was a fun evening with Grandma, all my siblings and Mel and her girls. Griff was so funny, he got scared when we told him to help blow out the candles. Jess made an awesome carrot cake and I made some lemon desserts, yummo! I think Griff's favorite part was going around and finishing off all the pop cans that were left unattended. I love my Griff and my Grandma!

Kansas

I was able to drive with Amber and girls out to kansas last month. It was fun to see a new place and spend time with Amber and the girls. We drove all in one day and the girls did great. We saw lots of deer and antelope and i'm pretty sure we hit a rock chuck somewhere along the way. The oil wells in the feilds were pretty cool to see, I've never seen those before. I even conquered a fear by flying on a small plane to Denver. The landing with the small plane was actually smoother than the larger plane. It seems like a really nice place they are moving to and I hope they like it. Thanks for the opportunity Amber it was great!

Watches

Hey just a little note that I will have my mom's watches at my house tonight from 6-8:30pm. Come if you want and tell anyone you would think would be interested. I am not sending invites, it is just by word of mouth. I don't get anything out of this, people just wanted to see them so I'm bringing them to Logan!! See ya'll tonight!

Griff is "2"

Our Griff is two years young today! Oh how time flies. Just yesterday we lived in Vancouver and Boston was "1" and Kenna was "4". It is so fun to see their accomplishments, but I know someday I will look back and wish they were still little. I guess I am having a sad time that my baby is two already. He has been really cute so far today, he doesn't realize it's his birthday, he just loves the extra attention!
Here are a few pics of my sweet baby boy (who actually prefers his daddy over me)! We are headed out to Great Grammy Roche's to sing happy birthday to her and Griff! Her birthday was yesterday!

Summer Activites!!!

Dinosaur Park, Father's Day, Baseball game with Grandpa Dave, Cheer camp, hiking to the wind caves, bbqing in Logan canyon and hitting the pool are the things we've been up to lately! Here is a picture fest that is all mixed up with the various pictures. The wind caves pictures do not do it justice. The hike is very steep and the kids did great. Boston almost jumped off a cliff, but luckily he didn't fall over the edge. Good Times!




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Our Kenna!!

Our Kennedy has had quite a bit of fun the last few weeks. I am hopeless that I will ever be up to date on this blog, as with my scrapbooks or any other project. But better late than never. First Kenna and all the first grade classes put on a program. It was called "One Big Happy Family"! It was so cute and tender. As I was trying to get good pics it was to no avail in that gymnasium but the experience was so cute. All their songs were about family and I think that is so awesome!! I think Kennedy's favorite song was the sign language one about mothers and fathers. Or was that mine?
Next her school put on the "Wildcat Run"! All the students trained for a one mile marathon. They trained for like 6 weeks. It was awesome. We were heading out of town, but decided to stay and let her run the race. Josh was able to go and run with her. She had a lot of fun, AND as we were on our way out of town my good friend called to let us know Kenna had won 3rd place out of the first grade girls with a time of 9min 13sec. SO we turned around and went to the awards assembly. Oh, it was awesome and she was so excited!! She received a bronze medal and everything. See hard work pays off! I need to follow her example.
After that, I was able to go on the first grade field trip up Logan canyon. It was fun to see Kennedy with her classmates and also know that I could be of help. I love to volunteer and thank Jessika for watching the boys for me so I could. It was a perfect day for a hike and the kids just loved it! After the canyon we headed to willow park for lunch and playtime!! Kennedy had a really great teacher this year and a really great class. All of them were very polite and obeyed all the rules. It was fun because all of them knew me as "Kennedy's mom". Without this sounding boastful, I really think Kennedy enjoyed having me there.
Then came the last day of school. Bittersweet for a first grader. Kennedy really has loved school and probably because she is good at it. Josh and I have it really easy with her. She likes to do her homework and read, heaven knows she didn't get that from me. It shows because Kennedy did fantastic on all her exams and testing! She is above average in everything! Can I get a whoo-whoo! She is awesome!
She loves her teacher and will miss her friends. I just hope she keeps this enthusiasm even when things get a little tougher.
I have to say I am excited to have her home. She is my helper and friend. So here is to my Kenna. I love you! You are the best little girl ever. Don't grow up too fast!

In a minute. . .

I am hopefully going to blog sometime today. I know ya'll can't wait for it. Hopefully I can download in a couple hours. Naptime is all I need to say!!

Food for thought . . . especially for Dave.

Here are a couple of meals we made lately. The first is what we call Carne Mateo, a london broil marinated in jalapenos and pepperoncini's then grilled to perfection with a salty crust. It turned out great thanks to Josh's grilling skills. Yes, my man's got skillz. Then with grilled pineapple, rice and salad complimenting this perfectly balanced meal makes for some good eats!! Check that out Alton.

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Next is a birthday dinner dedicated to Dave. I say dedicated because today was his birthday and we couldn't celebrate with him. So I say why not celebrate anyway. So this one is thanks to Emeril! Stuffed pork roast with roasted cauliflower on the side. The stuffing was made with sausage, apples, parsley, and toasted almonds. OH MAN! I worried because the roll didn't look really pretty, mainly because I didn't get the right string to tie it with, but it was great! I complimented with a bbq/dijon mustard sauce. Holy cow Dave, wish you were here. BAM BAM!!

Okay I am missing watching the food network, so this will have to do. Besides I get to actually taste it instead of look at it!

A few cool things, I didn't know before.

So last Saturday my Stk had a women's conference. It was a long one 9-1, but I mustered the energy to go because I knew I wouldn't be sorry and I wasn't. It was really fun. Don Aslett (aka the cleaning Guru) was there and Sister Phillips accompanied him. She is a organizational expert who also raised 8 kids. They have done segments together at BYU education week and seminars around the country. Then we could choose out of 6 other classes to attend. I went to the gardening one first and then the parenting one. They were both really great and helped me a ton!! Here are some cool products I learned about on Sat.
So this post is jumbled like most of my others but I really like this stuff! The bathroom cleaner is not harmful to kids if they get it on them or their clothes (they probably shouldn't drink it) and the scrubbie doo microfiber mop is awesome. And the best part is that the scrubber comes off and washes in the washer. No replacing heads. Okay this sounds so dumb that I am posting about cleaners, but hey anything that is less expensive and better to use and helps get things done faster is worthy of a blog in my book.
The pic of the toothbrush is Sister Phillips daughter in laws design. She is a dental hygienist (sp?) and decided to design a toothbrush that is soft all over to help prevent mouth injuries in toddlers. I was the lucky recipient of a free one so here is my two cents to help promote. It really is cool.
The other classes were great too, I'll post later when I get my garden in and if the parenting techniques work! Later.

Okay once again I am in big trouble for taking so long to post. Ah well, here it is. We have been really busy but up to nothing really. A ton of sick kids, a sick husband and no time for me to get sick. That was pretty much March in a nutshell. April has been better with more sun and less sickness, till last night. Now the next phase of pink eye is on. Bring it! Here are a few pics of Easter with the King's. It was a lot of fun and we were happy we could be here this year. I really think it has been about 5 years since we have been home for Easter. I love Easter and as I get older (Yeah I know) it means more and more. I appreciate the true meaning of Jesus' atonement and resurrection so much more!

My Boys!!

I honestly didn't realize how long it had been since my last post. Sorry, I am a slacker!! Well nothing super exciting here at our place, just the excitment of every day life which is sometimes good and sometimes not so good. Here are a few pics of my boys just having fun. They are so cute and lots of fun, stress, and everything all wrapped up in 19 months and 4 yrs. My little Griff is turning into a little boy. He says "NO" and "tatch" (catch) so what else does a little boy need to say? Not much. Oh and he loves bananas and watching the next door neighbors dog out of our windows. He is a big time daddy's boy!!
Boston is well, Boston. I love him lots and he teaches me a lot of things, especially patience and the need to be prepared. Am I always prepared for the day, hmm nope! He has been loving his "homework", you know scribble in a notepad. He also loves scooby doo and riding his bike. He is a big helper when I let him be and he is really good at fixing things.
We cannot wait for the warm weather to set in. We had a couple of nice days this week which made for some fun outside, and good vitamin d. And then it snowed again. I really don't mind the snow, but I do mind the teasing. Our lawn was starting to melt and I was getting all excited for flowers and gardening. Ah well, it will come.