Ruby is 1!

Ruby is a big ONE year old. We celebrated by having the Deans over and we had pizza and cake and ice cream.  Ruby had a red velvet cake and she loved it.  She gobbled her whole piece and then begged for more.  She loved her new toys and all the attention. 

She's such a sweet, fun little girl.  She is tiny for her age and for our family, and she walked early so that made her seem even smaller because it didn't look like she should be able to walk yet.  But now she loves to run and dance and tackle Seth. She and Seth play great together and are good little buddies. She has her own opinions and lets us know what she wants.  She loves to tease and play.  We all love our little "Ooby"!

Halloween

This year we had a lego guy (Bob and Danny worked hard on that one and it turned out awesome), Medusa, a lion/Darth Vader, elephant/baseball player and a frog. The kids got to dress up several times for the Deans' halloween party, school parties, trunk-or-treat, and trick-or-treating.  They brought home so much candy!

We also went to "the Farm" with the Deans for Nevada Day. There was a hay maze and hay rides and the kids fed the animals.  They have so much fun with their friends.  We love hanging out with the Deans.

Aaron is 6

Aaron is a big six years old now.  His birthday was on a Wednesday so that day Bob got up early and got him Krispy Kremes and chocolate milk.  He took candy to school to share with his class.  And that night he requested Dominos pizza for dinner.  And we all jumped on the trampoline and opened presents.

Saturday was his friend party.  He had four friends over and they played in the backyard and on the trampoline and had a paper airplane contest off the balcony. For his cake, Aaron wanted funfetti cake and he made it easy on me and just wanted the number 6 on top. He got several lego kits as presents and they were all built by the end of the day.  He's getting really good with legos.

Aaron is such a fun, dynamic kid.  He brings a lot of excitement to our family.  He's doing great in kindergarten and he's reading really well.  His testimony is growing and he says some of the sweetest, well-thought-out prayers. He's having fun on his soccer team, he loves to ride his bike and jump on the trampoline. 

Danny loves Origami

It started with ninja stars a few months ago.  Bob showed Danny how to do it and he was hooked.  He gets on origami websites and and youtube to find new things he can make.  He even found a book series called Origami Yoda that combines Origami and Star Wars! Some of the things he has made: ninja star that transforms into a frisbee, crane, frog, Yoda, Darth Vader, wallet, flower, claws, spikey ball. He takes paper everywhere he goes and is always folding something.

Rachel's Baptism

Rachel was baptized on September 3. We had a great weekend. Ryan and his family and Dustin and Grandma Zonda and Grandpa Cliff came. Rachel chose to go to her special lunch at Red Lobster because Danny had talked it up so much from when he went for his baptism. And she invited Danny to come since he's baptized too.

Her baptism was perfect. Her friends Savannah Dean and Jaclyn Salmon and their families and our old neighbor, May Robinson came to watch. She was so excited to get baptized. We're so proud of her.

First Day of School

The kids had a successful first day of school at their new school--Goynes Elementary. Danny started 4th grade in Mrs. Sanders' class. Rachel is in 3rd grade with Mrs. Cupit and Aaron is in full-day kindergarten with Mrs. Gourley. They were all a little extra nervous since we moved into a new school zone with our new house. But they seem to be getting comfortable quickly.

End of Summer Bash

We had our annual End of Summer party. This year the big hit was water balloon volleyball. The kids loved it. Even Seth loved playing and he was the official "balloon getter". It was his job to reload the towels with balloons when we popped one. We zipped Ruby into the trampoline and she watched happily and safely out of the way there. We also swam and barbequed at our party.

Blue's Clues

We set up Netflix on our Wii this summer. And Seth was introduced to Blue's Clues. He instantly loved it and has watched soooo many episodes. He sings many of the songs from it. He "skadoos" (jumps and twists) all over the place. Then Grandma Linda came to visit and among the many treasures she brought was a little pumpkin-shaped spiral notebook. That has become Seth's prized possession. He puts a pencil in the spiral, just like Joe does. And he carries it everywhere. It makes him so happy to draw clues in his notebook.

Rachel is 8!

Rachel had a tye-dye themed swim party for her 8th birthday. She even had a tye-dyed cake that we were quite proud of. Rachel was so excited to have a swim party. (It's hard to think of things to do in Las Vegas for a birthday party in August that don't include water.) And she learned how to ride a bike so she could earn her party.

We are so thankful to have Rachel in our family. She is a wonderful sister. Her brothers and sister all adore her. She helps me so much with Seth and Ruby. She has a fun, easy-going personality. She is becoming quite the pianist and tennis player. She loves her friends. She has a strong testimony. I asked her if she's nervous or excited about school starting and she said both. Then I asked her the same thing about getting baptized and she said she's not nervous at all. I asked her about her testimony and what she knows about the church. She said "I know Jesus will take care of me". She said it with such faith and surety. We sure love her.

Legoland

After Grandma's party we went down to Legoland before going home. What fun. It was perfect for our kids. There were a few good rollercoasters--Danny, Rachel and Aaron all loved the Technic Coaster the best. In one of the lego shops they have all the pieces to make lego "guys". So we made each member of our family. We loved a couple of boat rides that our whole family could go on together. And the miniland was great. Star Wars and Las Vegas were our favorite areas. There were also several smaller rides that were just right for Seth and he loved it.

Grandma Monte's 80th Birthday Party

We went to Ryan and Venessa's to celebrate Grandma Monte's birthday. We got there Thursday night and Friday we went to the Hurricane Harbor water park next to Magic Mountain. We had a great time. The lines were long, but the kids loved the lazy river and wave pool. Saturday we went tubing at the lake next to Ryan's house. Danny, Rachel and Aaron loved it. Rachel was the bravest and got knocked off the tube. And that night we had Grandma's party and got to listen to her talk about her life and testimony. What a great grandma!

We also just had a great time hanging out at Ryan and Venessa's and being together. The kids took advantage of all the grown-up toys and borrowed ipads and ipods whenever they could.

Saturday we went to Ventura beach. It was cold and windy but the kids didn't mind. We walked the pier and then played in the water.

Things to remember about kids

Rachel--Could eat anything if it has lots of salt or whipped cream on it.
Seth--When we ask him if he has a poopy diaper, he says, "no it's gas, it's nu-sing"
He also likes to sing Viva, Ba-begas (Las Vegas)
Ruby--holds her mouth sideways when she breathes--Popeye-style


Danny--He's saving his money to buy an IPad. And when we went to DI this week he just had to buy a set of crutches and he uses them all the time now.
Aaron--Asks to ride his bike every day. He spends his money on candy whenever he gets the chance.

Lake Tahoe

We went to Lake Tahoe for a wonderful vacation again this summer. This year Wendy and her family came too and we had a CSC (Clark, Smith, Cox) Reunion. Amanda and the Smiths are terrific hosts and their great new house was perfect for all 6 adults and 12 kids for the week. I loved getting to spend so much time with two of my best friends. I love those girls!

We played carnival and minute to win it games.



Went to the beach several times. The kids loved playing in the sand and digging "kiddie pools" for the babies. And they were really excited to try out Kevin and Amanda's new jet ski and kayak!




Danny and Bob got to go to a Celebrity golf tournament where they got lots of great autographs and Bob was most excited to see Jimmer Fredette.


The adults played Settlers of Cataan every night.

We had such a great time, we even stayed a day longer than we'd planned and went to Carson City again. We have such a great time there. The capital grounds are gorgeous. We had a McDonalds picnic there and the kids are so happy to pose for pictures there so we got tons of great pics. And we went to the Nevada State Museum and had a fun time learning more about our state.

I asked the kids what their favorite thing from our vacation was this year and they agreed that it was the jet ski and kayak and being together.