Becca's 1st day of Preschool

Zachary Football

1st day of School

Zachary excited about 5th grade:



Jesse & Zachary-Back to School breakfast:





Jesse heading off to 10th grade:



Zachary & friends:





Becca's new Ballet class:

Mexico

Zachary and I went to Riveria Maya, Mexico to be in my friend, Erin's wedding! Erin is a close friend who I met working at the Thousand Oaks Rec Center a few years ago.
We stayed at an all-inclusive resort and loved it. Zachary's first comment when we got there, "This is my dream come true!"
Zach's favorites: All you can eat food, ordering room service, buying souvenirs, snorkeling, swimming at the beach, learning spanish, the jungle and icecream anytime.
My favorites: Bluest water I've ever seen/beach, snorkeling, seeing Erin/Travis & family, the monkeys, attending a branch in Mexico, the nightly shows & resort activities, and of course the food (including the pina colada's & icecream)





Iberostar Quetzel in Riveria Maya, Mexico








The Resort Jungle:








Snorkel Trip:





The Wedding of Erin & Travis: (Zachary was a Junior Groomsman & I was a bridesmaid)










Erin & Zach dancing at the reception.
This is Zachary breakdancing at the wedding reception.

4th of July/Park City

We went to Park City with Eddy's family. It was fun to celebrate 4th of July there with the parade and fireworks. The kids were in the parade! We did several activities during the week, including the alpine slides and activities provided by the resort. Our favorite activities were the arts & crafts, pool games, tournaments, & scavenger hunt.

Manti Pageant, Camping at Palisades

Our family went on a 2 day camping trip to Manti & Palisades State park. We were sad to leave Catelyn at the Lytle's but realized it was for the best. She wouldn't do as well at the camping site! The first night we camped at the Temple Hill Resort. The crazy thing was it was pouring rain all the way there. We were about to turn back. I called the Pageant & asked if they were still holding it that night with the rain. The lady told me we would be fine; the rain would stop. Miracles do happen; maybe that's why it's called the Mormon Miracle Pageant. Right when we drove into Manti, the rain stopped. It was a clear sky the rest of the night! We set up the tent, went to the Pageant & then spent the next morning at the campsite. They had a pool, playground, minature horse, volleyball, etc. We laughed about the pool because it was advertised as a "heated pool." Well, it was freezing cold. I asked the manager about it and he replied, "It's heated by the sun." Next, we went to the Manti Temple visitor center. What a unique and beautiful temple. We also went to a Pioneer dugout. In the later afternoon, we checked into Palisades State Park. We signed up for this Family Camping experience but didn't realize how cool it would be. We met another family from our area and had such a fun time. They provided the camping, food & activities. We played in the lake, went golfing & fishing, had smores & played family games. This was the first time I have been golfing or fishing. It was fun to golf with the family, esp. since it's Eddy's expertise. They gave each of the kids their own tackle box but we didn't catch any fish. It's nice to get away once in a while with the family, away from the busyness of our lives & really enjoy each other's company.

Discovery Museum at Gateway

Zachary tennis class

This is dedicated to my Dad who loves to play tennis. Zachary, along with his cousins Chris & Rachel Roberts took a tennis class this summer. They were competitive with the other kids & had a fun time. Now they are ready to beat their grandpa!

The Ogden Family

The Ogdens visited us from Boise. Their stay only made us miss them more and more. They are such a wonderful family and our kids get along well. Zach & Zack crack me up because of their similarities. When the Ogdens arrived at the front door, the Zach's were wearing almost the same outfit. They have always been close friends and want to room at BYU together (after they serve a mission as companions of course)! We also love Owen, who is the same kind-hearted boy who used to hang out at our house in Meridian. Avery and Becca immediately became best friends. We got a chance to go to the Oquirrh Mtn. temple with their family and the two girls were holding hands the entire time. We are so blessed to know Esther and Jeremy-what great friends and wonderful examples to us. We also spent the day with Zack and Owen as their parents & Avery went to a wedding. We went to Huck Finn days with my sister, Cassie and her kids. Then we went to her house to ice block and go slip & sliding. When Esther & Jeremy got home that night, we went to an outdoor movie night at the park. We had a fun time and it was hard to say goodbye!

Webelos Cub Camp

Oquirrh Mountain Temple

What a beautiful temple! We went through the open house and loved it. I was only able to take Becca and Jesse since Zachary had cub scout camp. Eddy was working from home so I left Catelyn to take her morning nap. The kids enjoyed being with their cousins as we walked through the temple.

This is the Place

We went to "This is the Place" and had a fun time. It doesn't happen very often where every child in the family is happy at the same time. My new fave animal-Lambs! These baby lambs were so cute with the kids, esp. Catelyn who loved them. We enjoyed watching her with the lambs. We also went on the train, got icecream, learned Pioneer dance moves,visited the Pioneer homes and stores, and played Pioneer games. Zachary and Jesse had a fun time with the potato sack races. Becca enjoyed the pony ride. The best part was when we got in the car to go home, it started pouring. We just made it!

Humanitarian Center

This was such a great experience for Zachary and his friend. We went on a tour of the Humanitarian center and then did service. We boxed baby clothes for children in Peru, which had to be shipped that day. The boys were excited to see how many they could do in the time we had. If you are ever looking for a great opportunity for your kids to serve, this is a good one!

Happy Birthday Becca!

Becca's 4th birthday was on Tuesday. She got a new bike (with training wheels). She was excited to open her presents. The kids were in school so we spent the day having a picnic at the park (she asked for McDonalds) and playing with her new toys. It was a fun day and I'm excited for age 4-great stage coming up!

Wheeler Farm

We went to Wheeler Farm for the Summer Library kickoff. It was fun to see all the farm animals. My sister, Emilee came with us so we had a lot of fun.

Happy Birthday Catelyn

It's only been a year and look how much she has grown!! Happy 1st Birthday, Catelyn!!

New Sunday dresses

Butterfly Ball at the Library

The pictures are finally bigger. I finally figured it out. Yeah!!
We went to the Zoo on Memorial Day as part of Eddy's family tradition. We had a fun time & especially liked the bird show where Eddy was chosen to have a rather large bird take his $5 bill.

Becca's Fancy Nancy Party

Becca's Fancy Nancy party was stupendous (fancy word for wonderful). My sister, Cassie, helped decorate the place to look fancy. When the kids arrived they decorated their plain bags to make them fancy and made fancy necklaces. Then I read "Fancy Nancy" and played the game "Fancy or Plain." We then had a fancy tea party with cherry 7up, cupcakes & parfaits (fancy word for ice cream sundaes). They liked the sprinkles the most. Then we played Fancy Nancy bingo and went on a treasure hunt. During the hunt, the kids found candy but the treasure was at the end of the hunt when Madame Cassie handed out jewelry. They each received a necklace,bracelet, ring, boa, jewelry box, pretend earrings, and fancy pink glasses. Becca's cousin Jaden was the only boy so he took home a water gun, bubble stick & fancy boy sunglasses. We had a fashion show where the kids walked down the runway showing off their fancy clothes. We had an unexpected guest arrive, my sister Emilee, who I volunteered to show us how to model. The best model was Jaden who walked down, did a somersault, and turned out in a pose. He reminded me of my brother! After the fashion show, Becca opened up her gifts and said, "Merci."

How do you raise your hand in school?

We ask Catelyn, "How do you raise your hand in school," and she raises her arm up to be tickled! When we say, "How big is Catelyn," she raises both arms as we say, "So Big!"

Gardner Village

Gardner Village is a fun place for just the girls. Emilee invited us to spend the day with her on her birthday.

Jesse's Band Concert

Jesse did really well in band this year. As you can see he made some new friends. He also made the Alta High School Wind Ensemble for next year!

Zachary's Principal Award

Zachary's Lacrosse games

Zachary has won and scored 3/4 games. He loves lacrosse & it's really fun to watch!

Becca's 4th birthday party invitation

Make a Smilebox invite

Zachary's 4th grade Recorder concert

Catelyn 11 months

1st game, 1st score

Zachary had his first Lacrosse game today. His cousin Luke told us how fun it is so he wanted to give it a try. He loved it! He also scored his first goal!!

We went to a fun place called Jumpin' Jacks with a bunch of bouncy activities. It was a free admission day to promote their summer passes. The kids had a great time.

Easter

We went to 2 different Easter egg hunt, one with my sister Emilee (shown in the pictures). Jesse was visiting his mom in AZ during Spring Break. The kids had a good time and Becca won the golden egg prize-a bunny stuffed animal.

April Fools...or not?

I've been known to play April Fool's jokes on the kids from time to time. Last year, I told Zachary that school was cancelled due to a snow day. He believed me but failed to look out the window since there wasn't any snow. Another year, I made a vegetable pot pie that I knew the kids would complain about. However, this time I used pudding for the middle & starbursts as the veggies. They were totally fooled! This year, Zachary told me a couple of weeks earlier that he was ready for my jokes.
We had planned a surprise birthday trip for him a few months before. We had some airline miles to use so Eddy and I decided to fly Zachary & myself (with baby Catelyn) to CA to visit my parents. When Jesse turned 10 we took him to D-land so we decided this would be a fun tradition even though we couldn't take the whole family this time. Additionally, Disneyland is giving away free admission on your birthday along with a 2fer ticket for SO. CA residents, which means he would have two free tickets to Dland & CA Adventure. He also had a pass to Legoland from his Lego membership.
So, the joke was on him. When he got home from school on April Fool's day, we had the table set up for his birthday dinner. He asked why I would go through so much trouble just to be funny. Then we gave him a couple of gifts, things wrapped up around the house so he would think it was a joke. The final gift was a trip to CA. He reacted just as I suspected: with disbelief. We were laughing so hard because he was actually getting fooled even when he thought we couldn't fool him. We had him pack that night but he didn't believe me until the next morning when it was no longer April Fool's day.
We were able to visit some friends, hang out with Ryan, Ashley & Kennedee at the beach where Ryan taught Zachary how to surf for the 1st time (Zach got up on the first try and rode the wave), watch Conference all weekend with my parents, and then headed out to Disneyland, CA Adventure and Legoland. We actually surprised him with D-land & pretended to take a drive that night but accidentally arrived in Anaheim.
Great fun & it was a birthday he will never forget!!

CA-Zachary surfing

Legoland

California Adventure

Disneyland

How do I make my pictures bigger?

I check the image size "large" and the pictures are coming out tiny. I used to be able to make my pictures small, medium or large and now it doesn't work. Please comment and let me know what I need to do to change this feature. Thanks!

Cub Scout Blue & Gold Banquet

As the Cubmaster (Don't laugh too hard), I was in charge of the Blue and Gold Banquet for Cub Scouts. The theme was "America" so we decided to have an indoor picnic with chili dogs, salads, chips & rootbeer floats (very economical & American). One of the cub scouts said to me, "This is the best meal I've ever had at a church activity!" I had to laugh. We also played wiffle ball (baseball is very American) in the church gym, which the boys loved. Eddy was the pitcher. It turned out great & the best part was easy clean up since we didn't have tables set up!

Catelyn in the laundry basket