Another Utah Trip

Twice a year Fred and his dad guest lecture at BYU and usually the boys and I tag along for the trip. The boys look forward to these trips and love going to see the Salt Lake Temple, hike in the mountains, see our good friends The Riches, and our traditional stop in Bryce Canyon. This year Fred's dad joined us in Bryce Canyon and we brought our quads so we could go riding through the National Forest right outside of the Canyon.

Highlights of our trip were as follows:
Chair Lift ride up Sundance Mountain and hike.

Temple Square and the Conference Center

 Hiking the Loop in Bryce Canyon

Quad Ride with Grandpa and Daddy... very cold but worth the view!

Soccer Mania!

Jared also made a MSC United team and there are quite a few boys on his team that have siblings on Tyler's team. That makes it really fun for getting together off the soccer field! Jared is the tallest and most "solid" guy on his team and does an excellent job as defender. He is often found looking around wondering what happened to the opposing teammate that he just "nudged". Most of the time he finds him on the ground!

Soccer has been a great confidence builder for Jared. He is still a little less physical than some of the smaller boys on his team, but that isn't suprising if you consider his tender heart. He has said to me before, "I don't want to hurt anyone Mom." His team has played in three tournaments so far and have done very well.  This is the first year playing competitive soccer for most of the boys on the team, but they don't play like it! They moved up a divison due to the success of the Fall season.

Jared's coach has now split his team into two teams, and Jared has been asked to play on both! So... that means our Saturdays just got a lot busier! Nate and Derrick have two great examples in being team players, good sports and hard workers.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year... and the Busiest!!!!

We had a full house for Christmas break, and lots of things to keep us busy.  The first event was Tyler, Jared and Nathan's school Holiday Concert. The boys were lucky enough to have 2 sets of grandparents there, Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Heather and Papa and Grandma Susan. It was a great kick start to Christmas Break! Jared's baptism was on the 17th of December. So many wonderful friends and family came to share that day with us and we are so grateful for that. Papa and Grandma Susan came from New Mexico and Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Heather came from New Jersey. Nana wanted to come from Idaho but it is a busy time of year for the bridal business! She was in our thoughts and Jared sure enjoyed talking to her about his special day! A lot of our friends came over for dinner after the baptism and then we headed down the street to visit with Santa! As you can see in one of the pictures Savannah Gardner was NOT thrilled to be taking a picture with Santa!!

Papa and Grandma Susan weren't able to stay and celebrate Christmas with us, but Grandma, Grandpa and Heather were. Nate was able to wear his pajamas the last day of school before break and made a Gingerbread House with Grandma and Grandpa. He was pretty excited to show his grandparents and his Daddy his classroom and friends! Santa was very good to us this year... he better be careful because he is setting quite the standard for Christmas gifts! Derrick got his "DS" (a leapster 2), Jared got a lot of Beyblade accessories, Tyler got a HUGE Star Wars ship, and Nathan got a really neat Spy Set. Freddie got me an amazing sculpture of Christ called The Christus. It was nice to have a Christmas on a Sunday so that we could recover from all the work it took to get ready for it!

For New Years we headed to the sand dunes, and looked forward to showing Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Heather how we celebrate the new year. We had a ton of great food, great company, and great weather! Tyler and Jared both learned how to drive their dad's powerful quad, and went on rides with the grown-ups.

The boys spent dawn til dusk on the tracks and going on rides with the grown-ups, and then had a great time by the fire at night.  We loved sitting in our camp chairs by the fire and staring at the countless stars above our heads! I don't think we could have had a better time celebrating Christmas and New Years. We made memories we will cherish forever!

Happy, Happy Birthday!

This time of year isn't only busy because of the Christmas season but we have three birthdays within a month! Derrick turned 4, Jared turned 8 and Nathan turned 6! I can't believe my youngest is 4 years old! It is amazing how time flies. We had family parties for Derrick and Jared as well as letting them go game crazy at Gameworks! Nathan got to go to build a bear and then celebrate at home with the family including Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Heather. He chose a monkey AND a bear... I believe their names are Charlie and Snuggly Bear. He is rarely seen lying down without them but he is nice enough to share his monkey with Derrick every once in a while. Needless to say, we have had our fill of birthday cupcakes and birthday ice cream cakes! :-)

Outdoors "Men?"

There is no doubt that my boys are boys! They would much rather be camping and driving anything that goes fast than doing anything else. (Makes no worries for Mom right?!) We try to go camping as often as we can and once we arrive at our campsite the boys get busy! Building forts, tracking wildlife, and blazing trails on quads. Derrick is not quite ready to try the Suzuki 50 quad on his own but doesn't hesitate to hop behind Nate. Fred and I could get dizzy watching them ride circles around the campsite!

Tyler enjoys riding his quad, but recently has wanted to work on his carving and firebuilding techniques. I usually sit next to him and try not to make it visible that I am biting my nails out of fear that he will lose a finger! But his dad made sure to give him the safety talk and he does a really great job of paying attention to what he is doing.

Fred has really been enjoying being able to go for quad rides with Tyler and Jared. They are old enough now to go trailblazing with their dad, and I think that is one of the main reasons they enjoy camping so much. They can leave the "womanfolk" at camp and go be MEN!!! Arg arg arg! (I am so disappointed to have quiet reading time by a nice campfire... NOT)

We try to always have families come with us and go hike the Tonto Natural Bridge. It is an amazing hike and is different everytime we do it. The boys are becoming pros... almost TOO confident! I never thought moving to Arizona would allow us to do so many things outdoors ALL year! Pretty neat!

We are the Champions!!!!

This year Tyler made the MSC United Soccer team. We have met so many amazing people through his team (and Jared's too).  He has learned so much and it is so fun to see how he has become a more well rounded soccer player. Those of you who have seen Tyler recently know that he isn't the TALLEST boy on the team but he always seems to go against the "Goliaths" from the other team! He doesn't back down and usually takes that ball from them! Woo hoo!

His team ended the fall season in first place and moved up one division. They won their last two tournaments and just won the first game of the spring season. Let's be honest... it's always more fun when you are the CHAMPIONS!!! Coach Chino is awesome and does a great job teaching these boys to have fun.

One of the most awesome things about this team is that Tyler met his current best friend! Tyson Ray.  Due to the similarities in their names the coach and team call Tyson "Ty" and Tyler "Hock". I think Tyler likes the fact that his dad's nickname has been passed down to him! ;-)

Between Jared's games and Tyler's games we are pretty busy on Saturdays but I can't really think of a more fun way to spend it! And I know you are all wondering... YES... I am the crazy mother screaming on the sidelines!!! But it is always encouraging and positive! Yes... my nose just grew!

For those of you in Arizona,  Tyler and Jared have a tournament the second weekend in February.  We invite anyone who wants to come cheer them on to head on down.  We will let you know the location when it gets closer.

Our Vegas Trip

So, I have kinda resisted taking the kids to Las Vegas the previous times Fred has invited us to tag along on 1 of his business trips. I didn't think their "art work" in that city is always appropriate for my 4 sons and I was imagining the many questions that would get asked, and I would have to answer! I also envisioned walking along the strip constantly telling the boys, "Don't take that flyer!" But I am really glad we joined Fred this time.

I drove with the boys while Fred took a flight. The boys were really good on the drive and did a great job helping eachother so I could focus on safe driving. We arrived in Vegas in the evening and met Fred outside of a restaurant at Mandalay Bay to get the hotel key so we could get settled. (He had to work so we didn't get to hang out with him that night until late). Right outside the restaurant is a series of sculptures placed in various places on the wall from floor to ceiling. These statues are "body parts", a foot or a face, ect, and there was a certain female body part displayed (in the chest region... ahem...). As we walked by, Tyler looked up and while shaking his head said, "That is just wrong!" And I thought... you won't think that for long! It is funny because Jared, Nate and Derrick were totally oblivious to the sculptures. They were more fascinated with the fountain surrounded by sculptures of singing frogs!

Vegas in the daytime was a blast with the boys! We went swimming at our hotel, walked and explored all the various themed casinos and ate yummy food. The one afternoon we got to spend with Fred, the family bought the yummiest $12 cup of you-pick-your-multiple-flavors ice cream I have ever eaten! We just wished that Fred could have joined us more.

Last funny story from our Vegas trip:  One night we walked around and caught all the outdoor shows (Mirage Volcano, Bellagio water show and the Pirate show). It was about 10:30 at night by the time that we made it to Treasure Island for the Sirens of T.I show. We were fortunate enough to be right in front of the sirens boat (the girls boat... so I guess fortunate for Fred), and during 1 part of the show the Pirates launch an invisible cannon at the Sirens ship. The result... a lot of hot and REAL fire!!! Derrick was sitting on my shoulders so he could see better and all I felt as soon as the fire exploded from the ship was uncontrollable shaking followed by a very LOUD and terrified scream! So... he spent the rest of the show in my arms with his face tucked into my shoulder! The lady standing next to me when the fire erupted looked at at Derrick and said, "Oh he doesn't like that at all!"

So, Fred... you were right! We did have a fantastic time! Thanks for making it possible!