Sir Hunter

I was so proud of Hunter on Friday.  Every month at his school the teachers pick one of their students who exemplify the school values to receive an award.  Hunter was knighted by his principal in front of the whole school for his hard work, self reliance, quest for knowledge and productivity.  He became a Knight of Challenger and received a Knight's helmet with a white feather.  His picture will go up on the wall at school and as his principal said, "Once a Knight, always a Knight."  Way to go Sir Hunter!

Dancing Ninja

I have always had hopes of Michela becoming a dancer since I love it so much.  We tried a class a couple of years ago, but she didn't seem to care too much for it.  So I was totally surprised when she begged me if she could join the dance club at school.  One of her best friends, Sophie, was doing it so she wanted to join in on the fun.  I decided to go for it and hoped for the best.  The teacher, Mrs. Bly, is a lot of fun and let the kids pick out a theme for their dance and let them help choreograph it.  They decided they wanted to do a spy/Ninja dance.  They performed it in a school assembly on Friday and it was a big hit.  I video taped it for those who would like to watch it.  It was so much fun to see Michela up on the stage enjoying herself.  (Looks like the video file is too big so it won't upload. :(   )

Silly Siblings

The other day Hunter had thrown a fit after school so I told him to go up to his room to cool off.  After a while I sent Michela up to tell him he was free to come back downstairs.  I heard a lot of laughing and after about ten minutes they both came down looking like this-

What a couple of silly kids.  Michela said she got dressed up so she could make Hunter laugh when she went in to get him.  Hunter thought she looked so funny that he wanted to join in.  They insisted I get the camera and snap a picture of them.  Sometimes they totally surprise me!

Trafalga is the Best!

Hunter loves to golf, so a birthday party at Trafalga was a no brainer.  We got there right when it opened so no one else was there.  The kids were able to play all three golf courses without having to wait for anyone.  I asked them at the beginning if they wanted to keep score or just play for fun and they all yelled in unison, "Play for Fun!".  Don't you wish you were still a kid when everything was just for fun?

After golfing we munched on pizza and a Cold Stone Ice Cream Cake.  Yum!  Then it was off to the arcade.  Michela was all about how many tickets she could get so she could end up with the best and most prizes.  Hunter spent almost the whole time playing the car video games until he realized that tickets were necessary for prizes. 

The kids found one ski ball machine that gave out tons of tickets and they all lined up and took turns cashing in.  Michela ended up with like 270 tickets, alas it was not enough for the ripstick that she had her eye one.   I think she was short about 9,000 tickets. 

Hunter told me that this was the best birthday party ever.  I have to admit it was pretty awesome myself, especially since I didn't have to plan anything, clean my house or make any food.  How sweet is that?!

Skater Dude

Hunter had one thing he really wanted for his birthday, a skateboard.  He was so excited when he unwrapped his presents and there one was.  He immediately took it outside, strapped on his new helmet and put on his snow gloves (his idea) for protection.

He is the most timid out of my children, so he was very nervous to stand up on it.  He started out coasting down the driveway on his behind, then he ventured onto his knees and after a lot of coaxing and teasing he finally stood up on it. 

 Sometimes I don't know where he came from.  I was a no fear child myself when I was growing up and some of the stories that Mike tells me about his childhood leaves me to wonder where Hunter got his caution.  

Happy 7th Birthday Hunter

Hunter is 7 years old today!  He is growing up so fast and growing out of his clothes as well.  He is catching up to Michela, everyone always asks if they are twins.  He was always my happy smiley boy and he really is still that same sweet little boy of mine.  He has a beautiful smile and it just lights up his whole face.  He is getting so darn handsome, watch out girls he is going to be a heartbreaker for sure.  He is fun loving, sweet, sensitive, shy, smart as can be, silly and loads of fun.  He loves sports, building contraptions, reading, eating and riding his scooter.  He loves playing with Michela and Chase, and can't get enough of Aria.  I think he would be an awesome babysitter, he is so sweet with babies.  I love him so much and can't resist giving him a hug whenever I am around him.  Happy Birthday Buddy Boy!

Sweet Big Brother

Yesterday after we got back from the grocery store Chase decided he wanted to ride his bike around.  Aria saw the little baby trike, that my Mom had bought Michela when she was a baby, and wanted to climb on.  I asked Chase to push Aria around while I went and put away the groceries.  They were having so much fun that I had to take some pictures.  Chase was being a great big brother to Aria and was being so patient with her.  It made me so happy to see him being sweet with her instead of his usual tripping and pushing.  Aria loved the ride, she couldn't stop smiling and squealing.  What a fun time for the both of them.

Busy Saturday

Saturday was filled with lots of activities for us.  First Michela, Tiff and I drove up to Salt Lake for a Girl's Day.  We ate lunch at The Cheescake Factory, the Baja Chicken Tacos are so yummy and we sampled the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake.  Then we went to Kingsbury Hall and watched "Annie".  It was a great show and the little girls in it were fantastic, serious pipes and great little dancers.  Michela said she liked it, but sometimes she is so hard to read.

After we got home from that and ate a quick dinner, the whole family jumped in the car and went to UVSC for The Flash's last game of the season.  It was a lot of fun and the kids were having a blast cheering the Flash on and trying to catch free stuff.  

Michela went out on the court with a bunch of other kids to do the Macarena, but she didn't know what they were supposed to be doing.  When I came back from getting some paper towels to mop up Chase's spilt drink I found Michela in tears and Hunter pouting.  I guess the little blimp that flies around dropping free tickets and stuff dropped some over them and Michela and Hunter almost had them when some "adult" snatched them away from them.  Michela said "the adult" had slapped her hand away to get them.  I'm glad I wasn't there because I probably would have gotten into an argument with "the adult".  Mike was pretty much clueless as to what went on, so the kids were pretty ticked off that he hadn't helped them.  Oh well!  The highlight of the night was the half time show.  This tiny Chinese lady climbed up onto a really tall unicycle and performed a balancing act.  She would put a bowl on her foot and flip it onto her head.  Each time she added one more bowl.  At one point she was flipping five bowls on to her head at one time  and she already had a bunch of bowls balancing on her head that they had to go into!  Pretty cool stuff.

Our Little Miss

Aria had her 15 month checkup yesterday and she is still our Little Petite Cherie.  She is 29.7" (23%) and weighs 19 lb. 15 oz. (2%).  Her head measured at 45.5 cm (38%).  I asked the doctor if I should be worried about her growth, but she said she is doing fine, she's just little.  She was cracking me up at the doctor's office.  She was giving all of the nurses her big cheesy grin and running all over the room squealing and babbling away.  She also kept backing up to the door and banging against it with her bum just to be silly.  Anyone who has been around her knows she is as happy as can be and is growing up so fast.  She is still a cute little chubby thing and loves to eat so I guess I'll just let the worry go!  We love her so much, she brings so much happiness to our lives.  Just look at that sweet face, don't you just want to kiss her?!  And I'm loving the ponytail on the top of her head, I just couldn't stand her hair in her eyes any longer.  She looks like a little pixie.

Conference Weekend in St. George

Since it was Conference this weekend we decided to go down to St. George and hang out at the condo. The weather was so perfect. We were able to listen to conference as well as have lots of fun.

The kids loved playing all the games that Sara has stocked the condo with. (FYI Sara, all of the 20 dollar bills and the dice have disappeared from Monopoly. Are Trevan and Kaden using them to stuff their piggy banks? :) )

The most favorite activity was playing in the pool. We all had fun swimming and splashing around. Aria loves the water and likes to hang out with her Dad. Chase and Hunter love their Spiderman boogie boards (thanks Tiff) and Michela was diving for quarters from her Dad.

Mike also brought down his airplane and flew it around from across the street from the condo. He had a few close calls when he got it a little too close to the buildings. The kids loved it and liked to go and retrieve it after it had landed.


My sister Tiff was a big help, she babysat the kids so we could go to the concert Friday night and the kids loved having her around. Thanks Tiff for coming down with us! It was fun being down there at the same time as the Denisons so our kids had some pals to hang out with.

Aria enjoyed roaming around the condo and getting into everything. In this picture she had been trying to carry her blanket around and Hunter's flip flops but she kept dropping one of them. Finally Tiff tied the blanket around her like a scarf so she could suck on the blanket and have her hands free to carry the flip flops. Genius!

Colbie Caillat

We had so much fun going to the Colbie Caillat concert at Tuachan in St. George. Our friends, Ben and Natalie (Thanks you guys!), invited us to come along with them. I have heard of few songs of Colbie's and I liked all of them so I was excited to hear some more. Oh my Goodness! She was awesome. Her voice is so pure and beautiful. I loved every song. It is always great to hear someone who writes their own stuff and sounds just as good or better live as they do on the radio. What a fun night. We had great seats so I was actually able to tell it was her in my pictures. And this was the first time I have been to the Tuachan ampitheater and it was amazing. The backdrop of the red rock cliffs was so beautiful. We are so blessed to be able to witness the miracle of this beautiful creation we call home.

Rat's Nest

Michela hates to brush her hair out after she takes a bath or a shower so it is usually a snarly mess in the morning. This is what her hair looked like yesterday morning when she came down for breakfast.

I thought it was hilarious! Who says fine hair can't have any volume or body. She was a trooper and let me snap a shot, actually I think she enjoyed it, she would much rather take a funny picture than a nice one. She asked me to put it in a pony tail and I warned her it was going to take some effort. She persisted and after a lot of muscle, detangling spray and a lot of "Ows!" we were able to rectify the situation.

She ended up leaving for school as cute as can be!