May Fun

May has been an interesting and eventful month.  With getting ready for the end of the school year and making plans for the summer and everything else we are doing, I have gotten so far behind in blogging.  I am trying to catch up now.  To tell you the truth, it is actually October 1st when I am writing this post and the future posts...  I will try to remember everything.

May started out with the return of old man winter... 

As you can see, we "thought" April meant Spring.  Apparently the tulips thought it should too because they were growing beautifully.  Then Utah weather decided to say "Ha Ha just kidding, its still winter!"  and it snowed another 2 inches.  Yeah I was not happy...

Thankfully though, Spring punched Winter in the face and said, "I don't think so!"  and the snow melted by the next day.  I seems like we always have those fluke storms late in the year just to freeze off all of the fruit blossoms.  Hopefully we will still get fruit this year.

After that the weather warmed up a lot and we have had a blast playing outside in the warmth finally!

Logan was invited to his friend's, Lincoln, birthday this month.  He had a great time.

Logan said Lincoln's party was so fun because there was a bounce house and cars to drive and all of his friends from school were there.

One crazy thing we did this month (that we said we would never do) was get a kitten!

Our neighbors, the Wood's, found out that a stray cat had her kittens in their window well.  They are both allergic to cats so they were wanting to get rid of all of the kittens pretty quickly.  I decided to take the kids over there just to play with the kittens.  They were instantly smitten with the kittens and begged to take one home.  Well look at Charlotte's face and tell me if you could say no to that!

We named the kitten Chester.  The kids love him so much and are so good about feeding him and cleaning up after him.  Russell was the one most against getting a cat and look at him now!  He cuddles with that thing more than anyone.  Chester likes to climb on his shoulders and just sit there and look at everything.

Chester will eventually be an outdoor cat but right now he is too small to leave outside so he lives in this box by the back door.  He is usually fine in the box but he is starting to learn how to jump and scale the side of the box and get out.  Because of this, we put a blanket over the top of the box so that he can't get out.  On morning however, I got up to check on him and what I found is the picture above.  Somehow, (I still don't know how he did it,) Chester got out of the box and was sleeping on top of the blanket like a hammock.  The blanket was not moved at all and was still draped over the box on all edges.  It was like the cat teleport-ed from inside the box to the outside of the box through the blanket.  It was so weird!  Finally we decided he needed a taller box and we moved him out to the garage.  Then, he did it again!  I found him on top of the blanket on top of the box!  The only thing I can think he did was shimmy under the blanket to get out of the box and then try to just back in the box from the outside and got stuck on the blanket on top.  I don't know but we called him the Houdini Cat.  He is a crazy feline!

During the school year, Emily was involved in the Photography Club at school.  She learned how to use a DSLR camera and took pictures of all of the school activities and class parties for the yearbook.  She was also on the Yearbook Team.  At the end of the year, the Photography team had a gallery night to show off some of the pictures the kids had taken over the year.

These are some of the ones Emily took.  She did a great job.  Now she keeps asking me if she can use my nice camera.  I probably should let her because she does take good shots but I am kind of possessive about that thing...

Finally the last day of school came and of course it was Super Kids Day!  This is one school activity Russell and I love to help out on.  The PTA told us that they had us down for the water fight every year from now on!  

Super Kids Day is a fun water day for the kids.  They get to get wet, have water fights, play water games like volleyball and kickball, and just have a good time.  It is the school and PTA's way of saying good job this year.  Like I said, we were in charge of the water fight and the kids had a blast shooting each other with water blasters.  

Charlotte also loved being a part of the fun of Super Kids Day.  She played in every event and then came back to us to sunbathe on her towel.  We look forward to this every year.

So May was quite fun but we are definitely ready to be out of school and moving on to SUMMER!!

Kindergarten Graduation

I can't believe it is already the end of the year!  Logan has loved Kindergarten. He especially loved his kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Kendrick.  For kindergarten graduation, she put together this big production of songs and parts explaining all about what the kids have been learning in the Leader in Me program.

Logan had a blast learning all of the songs for the program.  He also loved learning the actions and dancing to the music.  All of the kids did an awesome job and those little kindergartners were so fun to watch.

Logan also had a speaking part for the graduation program:

He talked about Habit 4: Think Win-Win.  He said, "Thinking Win-Win means everyone can win." He said other things in his part too but I can't remember what they are right now.  He did such a good job memorizing his lines and then saying them in front of everyone.

Finally it was time for the diplomas:

They were all so cute and happy to be graduating.  Just think in 12 years they will be graduating for real!  This was such a fun program to watch.

Here is Logan with his favorite teacher so far: Mrs. Kendrick.

Mrs. Kendrick really was a great teacher.  You could tell that she really loved the kids in her class and was willing to do anything to help them learn.  She made all of them feel special to her.

Logan also had his best friend, Jayden, in his class.

This was fun for the boys because they always had a friend to play with at recess.

Now that they had graduated from Kindergarten, the rest of the school days were just filled with fun field trips.  First they went to the Jump the Moon art studio to learn more about art and how to be creative.  

They learned how music is art by dancing to the "Hall of the Mountain King."

They also learned how to paint a butterfly.  Charlotte had a blast coming along with the big kids and painting.

They also painted a few other scenes and learned how to fold and fly paper airplanes. This was a really fun field trip.  Logan was so excited because he got to ride the bus for the first time!

We love kindergarten!

Memorial Day

This year we spent Memorial Day weekend in St. George enjoying the warmth and sunshine!  

We recently purchased a second four wheeler because, with six people, the one four wheeler was getting pretty crowded.  Clay's co-worker was selling his four wheelers and gave us a really good deal.  We drove down to St. George during Memorial weekend to pick up the new four wheeler and take it out on its maiden voyage.  We decided to take it out near Gunlock Reservoir.

We had a great time riding and enjoying the sites.  I had never been on these trails before.  We were glad Clay and Clint could show us some new places.  As we were looking out over this lookout, Charlotte decided she wanted to drive and pushed on the gas.  The four wheeler lurched forward and I knew it was going over the edge.  Luckily, the movement scared Charlotte and she let go and I hurried and grabbed the brakes.  Russell rushed over and turned the bike off and put on the Emergency Brake.  It scared me so bad!  Thankfully we were all safe.  Then we drove out to the petrogyphs.

These petroglyphs were pretty cool.  You had to hike up and around this rock face to see them inside a cave.  The bigger kids went and saw the cool art while Logan, Charlotte, and I stayed on the rock face and saw a the few that were still there.  Sadly, a lot of the petroglyphs have been rubbed away from people stepping on them but the ones inside the cave were much better.

Charlotte loved seeing all of the cacti in bloom.  They were very pretty.  

The next day we took another four-wheeling excursion up to General Steam.

This time Tami, Terral, and Lacie went with us as well.  Once again it was a great ride.  We did go later in the day though and it had been raining so it was cooler.  That was okay though because that meant less dust.  We took a picnic dinner and had a great time with family.

Colby loved hopping over the stream at General Steam.  He is our explorer and he loves to find new trails and areas to explore. 

Monday we headed back home with our new four wheeler.  We had a great weekend and we were glad we were able to get out and explore new places on our bikes.

Soccer Players

It is that time again for spring soccer.  Emily has given up on soccer but still likes to play for fun.  Colby and Logan, however, still love the game and wanted to keep playing this year.  They are getting pretty good at it as well.

Colby's age group is getting more and more competitive so he has learned to run faster and kick further.  He likes to play defender though so he stays near the goal and then kicks the ball out of the way before it gets too close to the goalie.  Here are some fun shots of Colby:

He had a blast playing this year and took every game pretty seriously.  He didn't know many of the kids on his team but after working together in games, they all got to be friends.

Good season Colby!  He even scored a few goals of his own as well as blocked many of the other teams' attempts.

Logan also had a blast playing this season.  He is still getting the hang of soccer but he is picking it up quickly.  He is especially good at running fast to the ball and kicking it down field.  He is getting better at dribbling and was able to take the ball down the field a few times. Here are some fun shots of Logan:

Logan also scored a few goals for his team this year.  This is a fun age to watch play because the kids are all just happy to be there playing and having fun.  Logan also didn't know many on his team but was soon best friends with all of them.

Good job, Logan!  Keep on practicing boys and you will be great!

I wasn't going to let the boys be the only ones having fun so I took the ball from them a few times and made them chase me:

It is fun to get out and run and play with the kids.  I really should to it more often.  Colby was amazed that I could dribble the soccer ball and run faster than them.  Yes boys even though I am old, I can still out run you!!

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day!  I had a great Mother's Day this year.  The kids were so great and Russell was too.  We just had a relaxing day at home after church and I even got a nap in!  So perfect.

The kids gave me some really great gifts they had made at school.  Each of them had their own special touch and message to me.  I loved them all.  Even Chester sat on my lap nicely and didn't bite me or claw me to death.  

At school on Friday, Logan had a special Mother's Day Tea and program in his kindergarten class.  

He did an awesome job reading the note he wrote to me and singing his songs with his class.  I may or may not have cried a little...  My favorite part of his note to me was when he said I was 23 years old!  Ha I wish!  However that was how old I was when I became a mother for the first time.  He and his class were so cute!  

I love these four little knot heads with everything I have in me.  I really do not know what I would do without them.  I know I am not perfect or the best mom but I do try my best and I hope they know that I love them and would do anything for them.  I hope they remember the good mom moments rather than the mean mom moments when they grow up.  I love you kids!!!

Firefighter Engineer

What a great day for Engineers Promotions. I thought this day would not be here for at least another few years, but it came a few years early. Over the last year I have been working hard to become an Engineer for my department. When I first heard the department dropped the years to test to 2 years and 4 years to promote, I was excited but nervous. It was a hard decision to make at first because I liked where I was in my career and I was learning a lot. I liked being in the back of the engine and fighting fires. I had some long conversations with some great guys on my department. My Captain at the time told me I would be a fool if I did not test. He told me this kind of opportunity would never come again. This is a first for Logan Fire Department to test like this. I studied hard and worked hard for this and it paid off.  

Part of the promotion is a swearing in and pinning to make the position official. After the swearing in, I had Tiffany came up and pinned my badge on. It was a great experience. While we were up there, Emily had fun taking pictures, she felt so cool doing this. 

We also had to sign our names to the oath we took during the swearing in.  This made it official, I was now an Engineer Firefighter.  After the swearing in and pinning, Chief Hannig spoke for a bit and gave some great advice. One thing he said stuck with me. He said, "If you want to succeed know the position below you and the position above you."  You are never too good to serve others.

The night was fun. I had the whole family there supporting me. I have always thought of this day when I became a firefighter. 

Along with the Engineer promotions, we also witnessed the swearing in and pinning of the new guys.  These guys have been in the department for one year and are finally off probation.  As you can tell, there were a lot of them there for one year of service awards and only three of us for engineers promotions.

This guy, Chief Doug Fullmer, is an amazing guy. He had a lot of faith in me in getting promoted. He helped me get to this position by doing a pump chart and little projects to help me get to where I am at. It was cool to hear him tell Tiffany, "Out of all of the guys, your husband deserves this promotion more than anything and I am not just saying this. It is true and he has worked hard to get this promotion."  It was awesome to hear. I am so glad that I was led to the best Fire Department. I have learned a lot in the last four years and I will continue to learn a lot more and keep moving forward. 

When all is said and done, I need to thank this cute family of mine and thank them for their help in getting me here. They were truly a support to me and encouraged me to keep going. I was gone quite a bit for classes and studying and they were very patient with me. I could not have done it with out them.

 Look these two cool boys and maybe future firefighters. They look good in the helmet!  We'll have to see...