Happy Birthday Benji!

Well the birthday countdown continues. Benji turned 6 yesterday and is turning into quite a young man. We celebrated his and Easton's birthday on Saturday with cake and ice cream in Price. He got to go hunting with Zac and even got to hold the pheasants that Zac got. He thought that was a blast. On Monday night, Grandma came up and we went to dinner at Sizzlers. Afterwards Benji got to do his favorite activity. Ice Skating! It was a lot of fun. Benji is a great skater and didn't even fall once. Alyssa wanted to do it on her own and took a lot of dives on purpose but it was fun to watch her. James came out with the most battle scars. As I was holding him up and helping him skate, a kid was trying to skate backwards behind me. I didn't see him and he didn't see me and hit me straight on. I tried to save James as much as possible, and hurt my knees in the process, but I went down so fast that James hit the ice face first. The poor kid ended up with a fat lip, bloody nose, and bruise on his forehead. Needless to say, he was done for the night. Benji made sure James was ok and then skated a couple more laps before we called it a night. He had a great time.

On Tuesday, his actual birthday, Grandma came with us to drop Benji and Alyssa off at school as she has never been to their schools before. After school, Nanny and Grampy took us out to lunch for Benji's birthday and then took Benji shoe shopping (Grandpa Dennis and Grandma Sharon's present). Benji had a great birthday and can't wait until he turns 7 next year. Grandpa Dennis and Grandma Sharon called and sang him Happy Birthday and so did Nanny Great and Pops. He thought that was great. Grandma and Grandpa got him clothes, pajamas, and some lego race cars. Nanny and Grampy got him a Jimmie Johnson helmet with race car. Dad, Mom, Alyssa, and James got him the Jimmy Johnson and Jeff Gordan hot wheel cars. He loves to race cars and I think Jimmy Johnson has already won 5 of his races!

Happy Birthday Benji! We love you!

Happy Birthday James!

Yesterday was James' birthday. I was singing Happy Birthday to him all day and he kept telling me "no, Benji". For some reason he thought it should be Benji's birthday and not his. I kept trying to get him to tell me he's 2 but he wasn't interested. We're celebrating his birthday with the family on Saturday but Ryan, Benji, James, and I went to Jumping Jacks in Springville for his birthday last night (Alyssa's in California with Nanny). The boys loved going down the slides and they didn't want to leave after we'd already been there 1 1/2 hours. It was fun to watch them play. I can't believe James is already 2 years old. Time sure flies by when you're having fun!

Happy Birthday James! We love you!

Random Things Tag

Ok. So I'm apparently not a very good friend. Ryan keeps yelling at me because apparently Stephanie has tagged me 4 times and I haven't posted it yet. Sorry Stephanie. Honestly, if I can just get through the day, I'm doing good anymore. Anyway, here it goes.

4 random things I like about my husband

1. He gets stuck with the kids an awful lot because of Young Womens and other activities that I have going on at night but he hasn't complained about it once.
2. The way he plays with the kids even when he's absolutely exhausted.
3. When the kids and I spend the night away from home he doesn't sleep because he misses us.
4. When I stress out he's always right there telling me everything is going to work out.

4 movies I could watch more than once

1. Kate & Leopold
2. National Treasure
3. You've Got Mail
4. Back to the Future

4 tv shows I watch

1. House (the reruns at 10:00 with Ryan)
2. What's tv again?

4 places I've been

1. Honolulu
2. Guam
3. Cape Cod
4. Louisiana

4 favorite foods

1. Steak
2. Mexican
3. Italian
4. Taco Soup

4 places I would like to visit

1. Italy
2. Sacred Grove
3. France
4. Jerusalem

4 things I am looking forward to next year

1. New baby
2. Alyssa being in kindergarten
3. James potty training
4. Spending another year with my family

Sam's Birthday Surprise!

Well we finally let the cat out of the bag that we are expecting another baby in May. The due date is May 5th to be exact. Everyone was pretty much surprised as they thought we were done, including us! But as we tell everyone, you can't be sad about a baby. Stressed, yes, but not sad. Benji was originally asking for a girl but has now decided he wants a boy. I think that's because Alyssa wants a girl. Alyssa is convinced it's a girl so we've had to tell her that it will be ok if it's a boy. She tells us no it won't because we already have 2 boys and she's the only girl. So everybody better pray that it's a girl for Alyssa's sake or I think we'll be paying for it! James is too young to understand and is oblivious to everything. I'm not sure how prepared we are for another one but hopefully the Lord will give us both the strength and the patience we need to add to our caous. At any rate, we are thankful for whatever the Lord blesses us with and we just pray that everything goes smoothly.

My birthday was great. It was nice and relaxing. Ryan had a real bad cold so we didn't feel like going out to dinner. So we did the next best thing. Mom gave us a gift certificate to Olive Garden for our anniversary that we didn't use so we used it for my birthday and Ryan brought Olive Garden home for dinner. It worked out great. I didn't have to cook and we didn't have to chase the kids all over the restaurant! Sometimes that is more of a chore than it's worth. All in all, I had a great day.

First Day of Preschool

Alyssa had her first day of Preschool today. She was very excited since she went to the same Preschool last year and her teacher just moved into our ward 2 months ago. Her daughter, Hallie, and Alyssa are friends so she already had someone to play with on the first day. James had a hard time with it. As soon as we got home he kept asking if it was time to get in the car to go get Alyssa and Benji. When I told him no he kept throwing fits. It's hard to be the youngest sometimes. Alyssa had a great day and can't wait until Thursday when she gets to go back again!

First Day of Kindergarten

Today was Benji's first day of Kindergarten. He has been bugging me to go to school all week because he knows the other kids started school last week. I was surprised that he wasn't up in my room at 6:00 this morning asking me if it was time to go. We got him up at about 7:30 this morning and he quickly got dressed. He was too excited to eat so he really didn't eat any of his cereal. School starts at 8:45 so Ryan went into work a little late so he could help take him to Kindergarten. Benji was excited that Dad was going to help drop him off at school. His teacher's name is Mrs. Morton. When we got there, Ryan, Alyssa, James, and I walked him to his class. After we got into the classroom, Benji pretty much said "see you" and was fine. It was mom that was a little nervous since this is her first kindergartener.

When we picked Benji up after school, he acted like he had been doing it for a while and that it was no big deal. His preschool had 24 kids in it so I guess he just feels it's just an extension of that. He says he had fun and enjoys his teacher and the kids in his class.

Alyssa is upset that she does not get to go to Kindergarten with Benji as they were in Preschool together last year. I have to keep telling her that she can go when she's 5 which is next year. She still doesn't understand that she and Benji won't be in the same class even when she goes next year. I have to keep telling her that Benji will then be in 1st grade so they will be at the same school but not in the same class. She starts back to Preschool next Tuesday and can't wait. One of her Preschool teachers just moved into our ward a couple months ago so it's got Alyssa excited to go back, especially since she's friends with her daughter.

Oh the joys of school and it's only starting!!!!

Alyssa’s Birthday

Alyssa turns 4 on Monday, August 18th. She's so excited. Mom on the other had can't believe it. We had her birthday party on Saturday at Nanny's house. She wanted a swim party and since Nanny is the one that has a pool, she was the lucky one to have it at her house. We barbecued hamburgers and hot dogs and had salads and chips for lunch. Her cake was princess cupcakes which made it a lot easier to serve and I didn't have any leftovers which is good. Every family had someone there and the cousins all had a grand time swimming.

Alyssa made out with her presents. She got a new wardrobe for school! We are so excited since she really needed clothes. She grows taller but doesn't fill out in the waste so it's hard to find things to fit her. She also got quite a few Hannah Montana things and has loved the locket that Bre, Dan, and fam gave her. Nanny made a great collage from a photo of Alyssa and Justin Johnson (a hockey player on the Utah Grizzlies team) which we're hanging in her bedroom and started a Build-A-Bear collection since mom doesn't like Barbies. Benji was a real trooper. He's known that Alyssa was getting a bike for her birthday since last Sunday and didn't tell her. I told him if he kept it a secret I would let him give it to her for her birthday. He did great and didn't say a word. I let him bring it out when it was time to give it to her and her expression was priceless. She was excited. She's already ridden it a few times and loves it.

Happy Birthday Alyssa! We love you!

Lagoon

On Friday we went to Lagoon with the Horsley family. We were supposed to meet at 11:00 but it ended up turning into 11:20 before Ryan and I made it there. We met up with Grandma, Kim, and Easton and rode the Tidal Wave. Then Scott, Zac, and Garrett met up with us and we rode it again. Afterwards, the Hathaway clan decided to go ride some of the big kid rides and Grandma, Easton, and us decided to go ride the train. That's where Kimberly, Mollie, and Sylvia joined up with us.

Ryan and Kimberly took Benji and Easton on the White Roller Coaster. Benji didn't like it when it went down the hills. Ryan took the kids on the Lady Bug ride and the Dinosaur Egg ride. Alyssa, Mollie, and Easton loved it. Benji wasn't so sure about it. They got off and everyone wanted to go again except Benji so I asked Benji if he would go on with me. He agreed and when we got on I told him he had to scream with me when the ride went down. I told him that it tickled your tummy more. He screamed with me and loved the ride from then on out. In fact, it was the last ride the kids went on before we left at 10:00 and it was Benji begging to go on it. It was fun. I spent most of the time with the kids which was fine with me. I loved to watch them go on the rides and have fun. Ryan did have a chance to go on Wicked and absolutely loved it.

The best ride of the day was Rattlesnake Rapids. The first time down Kim, Kimberly, and the little kids were in one tube and got pretty wet. Scott, Ryan, Zac, and Alyssa were in another tube and they all ran to one side to make sure the waterfall didn't get them. Then Ryan, Kim, Zac, Garrett, Benji, Easton, and Mollie decided to do it again. When it came time for the waterfall both Ryan and Kim went diving for the side that wasn't going to get wet. Ryan accidentally pushed Mollie in the face not realizing she was there as he was scrambling and Kim took the waterfall full on with her back. It was pretty funny to watch.

James went on two rides while we were there and screamed on both of them. The first one he went on by himself and screamed his head off the whole time. The second one he went on with Benji, Alyssa, and Easton and was fine until it started moving. Then he screamed his head off again.

All in all, the day was a big success. Everyone got to hit the rides they wanted to and didn't feel like they missed out on anything. We were planning on leaving at about 9 but we were having such a good time that 10:00 rolled around way too fast.