Happy Birthday James

We celebrated James birthday in Idaho because it's always more fun to celebrate with cousins. First we went to "Blast off" where they had a huge playground with tons of things to crawl through and huge ball pits. James loved it.

Then we had a car party.  Daddy and Grandpa built some amazing ramps to have races outside.

We had a car pinata

Kate and Olivia and Rebecca and Jason drew this amazing car map that is like driving across the United States- We saved it to hang in their room when we finally get to move back.

James got tons of presents- Thanks everyone since we haven't been on the ball enough to write thank-you's

And topped it all off with a race- car cake.  James was very happy to have his special day. 

First Laugh

The Navajo people have a tradition that whomever makes a baby laugh first has to throw a huge party for the rest of the family- extended family included.  They usually slaughter a sheep and have a huge party. We have adopted this tradition, but toned it down a little.  While we were in Idaho my niece Kate made Carrie laugh for the first time.  She and I made carrot cake (her choice) for a little party.  Carrie loves Kate and Olivia (and just about anyone else who will hold her without making her fear for her life... ie Spencer and James)

Yellowstone

We went up to Idaho for the first few weeks of June because my sister and my parents just left on their missions. While we were there we took a trip to Yellowstone. We met up with Gabe and his family and Emilee and her family and Natalie and my mom came, so we had quite a crew. We chose the coldest day in June, it was freezing, but we still managed to see a lot and have a good time. Carrie was glad to stay in the car with grandma.

All bundled up- it really was that cold

Natalie scaring Spencer on the hike.

Mystic Falls, this was a fun pretty easy and short hike with a great view at the end.

The caterpillars were hatching, and they were everywhere

James and Ruby were in-separable the whole time we were in Idaho, which was actually really nice.

The brave ones (Devon and the boys and Gabe's family) camped over night.  this was the boys first camping trip and it got down to 25 degrees and snowed, so I guess they are ready for scouts.

Thanks for taking us camping daddy

By the falls

The weather turned nicer and they got to see a lot of wildlife the second day.  They saw bison (of course) a whit fox, moose, beavers and more but that's all I can remember.

Kindergarten Graduation

This year Spencer went to a private Seventh Day Adventist school. We thought it was a good experience. Here is his teacher Miss Lydia. Spencer really liked his teacher.

They sang a few songs at the graduation, Spencer's knows quite a few classic "gospel songs" now.  He stopped singing so Devon could take a picture, how considerate.

The boy to the left of Spencer was the only other kid in his class.  Mostly that was nice. 

Spencer got awards for being a good citizen and a super reader.  He was very proud.

PS here is James with his preschool teacher Ms.  Morris.  He loved preschool.  He also had a graduation, but Devon couldn't come and I was holding a baby, so sorry James, I don't have any pictures.

Mystery Valley

For the annual staff trip this year we went on a tour of Mystery Valley. I have wanted to go there since we moved here, so I was really excited to go. It looked totally different than I expected, different than Monument Valley, which is right next door. Here come the pictures.

We rode in these big trucks with school bus type seats.  We made quite a few stops where you could climb up steep rocks, which the boys thought was great.

At one place you could climb a ladder and then be boosted by daddy to a high cliff.

"James, look at the camera!"

Pretty amazing formations, how did all of those holes get there?

A different view of Monument Valley

We found a very clean horse skeleton, here's the spine.

Spencer using ancient pottery for a nose, maybe that's what little kids did back then too.

Samantha taking a picture of Spencer, I thought that was pretty funny.

Yes Spencer you can do that when you are as old as Steven.  This is called "Honeymoon Arch"

James playing our guide (and neighbor) Larry's drum.  Larry played and sang for us.

Spencer got tired of waiting for us, so he went off on his own and gave me a heart attack.

What would we do without Daniel and Samantha?

I am really tired, also this hole is big enough to take a nap in.

 Our one family picture, not that great, but it's the only one we've got!

 

These are the trucks we rode in.

The tour was great, we had a lot of fun and climbed a lot of steep rocks with a baby strapped to my front.  On the way back it started to get super windy and rain and hail.  That was especially fun in these trucks, but it did add to the experience.  We had a great time, I love living where my boys get to experience so many different things.

Spencer is 6!

 Spencer turned six on May 14th.  Here he is in his clothes from Grandma Gosney holding up his Spiderman from Grandma Coombs.

This is how James felt about Spencer getting all of the presents. Spencer was really good to share, but James was just mad that it was someone else's special day.

This is what Spencer really wanted, a Razor scooter.  He rides it all of the time, inside and outside of the house. 

We also did a pinata

And fruit pizza

And invited all the neighbors because that's what Spencer does, invite everyone, sometimes when I don't know that he did.

We will miss these people, about half of them will be gone next year.  I guess that means we get to make even more friends, the old and the new.

My boys

i just found these on my desktop.  I wrote them before Carrie was born, but probably right before since I never published them.  i just wanted to record my favorite things about my boys.  Lest you think they are perfect all of the time, I decided only to record the good stuff, that's all I want to remember anyway.

James

James is my calm child.  He can get plenty crazy when Spencer is around, but on his own his is quite mild.  James loves people.  He remembers the people that we know and always says hi to them.  He is good at noticing lonely people, and makes them feel welcome.  Everyone likes James.  Now that he can talk I love to ask James to tell me about things.  He usually includes sound effects and his own made up language when he is unsure of what to say next.  James loves to sing.  He walks around all day making up songs and singing them.  At sacrament meeting he always opens the Hymn book and sings some nonsense while smiling at me and making a very cute face.  James is very good at telling us he loves us, and will keep repeating it until he gets a reply, which sometimes takes a while with Spencer.  James is good with directions and remembers how to get places, which is usually good until he runs home when I don’t see.  James likes to play whatever Spencer is playing, but when he is on his own he usually plays cars.  He loves anything with wheels, and recognizes people’s cars in the parking lot.  It would be okay with me if he learned to fix cars since Devon and I have no clue.  James loves preschool and has no fear of being left alone.  He always asks me “Can I say good-bye mommy?”  Which means, are you going to leave today?  He rides the bus home and always says it goes “super-fast and Crazy.”  James is always happy to see you, he runs and gives Devon a hug everyday when he gets home.  The other day Devon was walking up with our friend Christy and James ran up saying “Christy, Christy,” and then hugged Devon instead, it was pretty funny.  James likes to have people around and asks me all day when we can go get Spencer from school.  James likes to cuddle and always wants me to carry him although I have to tell him no now, he is too big with the baby.  He is a mommy’s boy and always climbs on my lap when I’m working on the computer or anything.  James is a very good bike rider and may get rid of training wheels before Spencer does.  I remember he could ride his bike and steer before he could walk.

Spencer

Spencer is defiantly my crazy boy, but I remember before I had him I thought “I hope if this is a boy he’s curious and wants to learn about everything.”  I sure got my wish.  Spencer loves to know how everything works and is constantly experimenting with stuff.  Spencer loves to make things out of anything.  I can tell when he doesn’t have school because our house is a lot more messy.  He is really good at drawing, but he always draws imaginary things like machines that make toys and candy.  Spencer loves to make up games (like his dad).  The other day he found a block and said “I have a game, lets roll this dice and when it lands on the cherry we can take a bite of our snack.”  I try to say “yes” whenever I can to his crazy ideas, they are usually messy and time consuming, but very creative.  Spencer has a huge imagination.  I can see him writing a fantasy book when he grows up, he is fascinated by fantasy stories.  Spencer is in Kindergarten and tolerates school.  He loves the learning part, but not taking a rest or having to sit still.  The other day he told me he wanted the angels to take him up to heaven because then he wouldn’t have to take a nap.  I told him he has to wait to go to heaven for a while.  Spencer memorizes things really well.  They study Bible verses at his school and he has about 15 memorized.  Spencer has so much energy.  He loves to wrestle with his daddy and have races (if he wins).  Right now he loves sledding, and goes everyday on the little bit of snow that we have left here in MV.  He loves to explore and always wants to go to the field behind our house.  I see spencer being a writer when he grows up and traveling to find cool places to set his stories in.  He loves reading.  I got a graphic novel once from the library and he looked at it all the time.  He also loves super heroes and can tell you the names of most of them.  Spencer says the craziest things and is always making us laugh.  He loves to be scared.  He always decorates our house for the next holiday and makes Valentine’s for people all year round.