4 year old superhero!

 Cole wanted to have a Superhero party for his 4th birthday, so we had all of his friends dress up! Iron man Cole loved it!

Cole's good friend, Mac.

 We played games, including pin the bat symbol on Batman.

 Cole was spoiled by all of his friends and got some fun toys, like a switch n' go dino and an airplane! Ryan and I got him a much anticipated remote control car. It was a big hit!

 Cole made it easy on me this year. He picked cupcakes with batman tops on them. Easy peasy and he loved it.

I took Cole and Sophie to see Planes earlier in the day and then Grammy took him to lunch and shopping. It was a fun filled day for this much loved boy. Happy Birthday, Iron Man Cole!

First day of First Grade

 Hayden started first grade back in August. She was beyond excited! 

 She's officially a Riverview Otter. She is in the Chinese Immersion program there. It was really stressful on all of us the first 2 weeks. Hayden was always ornery, tired and difficult! Before she started the class the teachers warned us this would happen due to all of the initial stress of starting the program. After those first weeks, she got in a groove and is doing an amazing job. It really is so amazing to see how quickly these little 6 year olds can learn Chinese. Hayden can count to 100, sing many songs including Happy Birthday, read and write many Chinese characters. It's really impressive!

She spends half her day in Chinese with Mrs. Ackerson and the other half in English with Mrs. Helm. 

Hayden is doing so well in school and loves to read, write and do math! She is a little smarty pants!

Little Gymnasts!

Hayden and Cole were taking grmnastics at Gymcats. Hayden went for about 6 months and Cole did about 4 months. Back in August they were able to do a performance with their classes. Both sets of Grandparents and Brynli and Brogan were able to come support them.

 Cole loved running and jumping around. He is really nervous and afraid of heights, so it took a lot of courage for him to do a lot of the moves. I'm so proud of him for trying so hard and improving a lot! 

Cole was most excited about getting a medal! Love that smiley boy!

 

Hayden is a great little gymnast! She is usually very shy and reserved in these type of settings. But during this performance, she was very confident and self assured. It was so great to see!

She loved to learn new moves and spend time at home practicing them. She even learned to do a kick over!

  

I'm so proud of these two. We've been taking a break from gymnastics for the last few months. Hayden may start up again soon, because she did a great job and loved it!

Cole with Ms. Kim

Hayden with Ms. Laurel

This little princess just hung out and enjoyed the show :)

Mission Call!!

 My parents got their mission call on July 31st. We were out at their pool when the mail came. Their envelope was inside! We had to wait until later that night for the group to get together before they opened it. It was a long few hours!!

 We all wrote down our guesses and my Dad read them all. None of us were even close!

We had everyone ready and 3 phones on speaker.... Kyiv Ukraine! We were all in shock. My mom actually screamed when she said it. No one was expecting that! They will be the Humanitarian Directors for the entire country. They were supposed to leave in November, but their Mission President called and asked them if they could leave on October 7th. They of course said Yes. So, they will be going to the MTC in less than 2 weeks! 

I'm so thankful for my wonderful parents! I'm thankful they have taught me the gospel of Jesus Christ and have been such great examples to me and to my family.

They are going to be AMAZING missionaries!

Tree House Museum

My good friend Jackie and her cute kids came to Utah in July and we were lucky enough to meet up with them for some play time. I was so excited! I miss my Illinois girls and loved being with Jackie!

 We met up at the Tree House Museum. We had never been. It is such a fun museum! 

 The kids dressed up and put on a play for us. Ella's not quite sure what to think of my 2 crazy kids!

 Brooklyn didn't want to miss out on any of the fun!

 They played in the music room and the cowboy area.

 Brooklyn and Jack Jack. Aren't they so cute together.

 By this point my kids were exhausted and melt downs were imminent! So, we took some last pictures before we left.

Then we had to say goodbye. I hate that part! But it was so great to get together! Hopefully we'll be able to do it again before too long :)

4th of July

We had a fun, relaxing 4th of July this year.

 After lounging the morning away, we went to Silver Lake and walked the trail.

 Then we headed to Natalie and Cody's for dinner, sparklers and poppers, and play time!

 After all of that fun, we went to Thanksgiving Point to watch the big firework show. Cole has super sensitive ears, so he did not like the fireworks and kept asking when they were going to stop. I like fireworks and I still thought it was too long. I was good after 15 minutes. Maybe I just have a short attention span!

The kids also played with glow sticks and made some fun creations, like Isaac's ball.

I'm so thankful to live in this great country and for all of the freedoms we have here. I'm also thankful to all of the people that make these freedoms possible!!