Back to School!!!

I don't know about anyone else but I have learned a lot since school has been in. I've learned that my house is so clean while everyone is gone. I've learned to let Jaylee talk in her bed when she wakes up from her nap until the kids are home. Most importantly, I've learned that I love a quiet house!!! However, I do love my cute little kids and I look forward to them coming home after school. Sabree is now in 2nd grade and her teacher is Mrs. Monroe. She is loving school! Her teacher is really great. Oliver is in Preschool at the Elementary. He attends the afternoon session. He loves it! Jaylee stays home with me but takes a nap the whole time that Ollie is gone.

Ollie and his teacher. First day of school!
Jaylee and Ollie working on a number puzzle before school.

Sabree and her teacher. First day of school!

Back to school breakfast with Grandma Adams (she works in the lunchroom).

I can't believe I have a second grader! She is so cute!

Lots of Faith!

Last week Sabree, Oliver and I had plans to go to Aunt Jana's play...Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. It was at the Scera Outdoor Theater in Orem. The problem with an outdoor theater is obviously the weather! It was pouring rain. The kids wanted to go to the play so bad but I was not going to sit through a play in pouring rain with freezing cold, tired, wet kids. We sat in the car for about 10 minutes to see if it would stop raining. Sabree came up with an awesome idea...she wanted to pray for the rain to stop so we could see the play. We did say a prayer and the second we ended the prayer the rain went from down pour to drizzle and a few minute later it completely stopped! Sabree said..."we must have so much faith!" I'm so grateful for that experience! The prayer of a little girl and boy was answered. It's an experience that they'll never forget. I'm so proud of Sabree for thinking to pray. It's something we should all think of more often...for big things and small things. There is nothing that is too small or unimportant to a loving Father in Heaven.

Happy 7th Birthday Sabree

We had a very fun day with Sabree for her birthday! We started out with Mickey Mouse waffles and bacon followed by putting on makeup while wearing her new tutu that Aunt Jill made her. She went to art camp followed by a special lunch with mom and dad. The day was ended with an awesome birthday party with a bunch of her friends. We had sprinklers under the trampoline, a slip and slide, water balloon volleyball, water balloon fight and water balloon duck duck goose. The party was from 5-7 so we had pizza for dinner, cupcakes and ice cream for dessert and lots of presents! It was a successful 7 year old birthday!

At least we know Jaylee enjoyed the cupcakes!

Sabree is such a special little girl. She has always been a very helpful child. There are many times I wonder what I would do without all of her help. She's great with the kids and helps so much with cleaning and things around the house. She is a great example also. When I was out of town last week she planned the entire Family Home Evening. She worked all day to get it ready. She planned a game (bingo...she drew pictures on all the sheets), she planned the lesson, she had everyone act out the First Vision, they had a song and prayer and every bit of it was from Sabree. I'm so proud of her and all that she does. She is one amazing 7 year old! We love you Sabree.

Mouse Party!

We read the book Mouse and the Motorcycle with the kids this summer along with some friends in the ward. On Tuesday we had a mouse party with the other families (Lou Anne Randall and Signe Leatham). It was a lot of fun. We ate Mickey Mouse waffles, made a mouse craft, played a mouse game and read several other mouse books. The kids loved it! We look forward to reading many more books and having many more parties!

Flying with Grandpa

We had a fun day today. My parents flew to Fillmore to see us. My dad flew Sabree and Oliver around Millard county 2 different times. They just couldn't get enough flying in. They had a great time. They were asking grandpa so many questions. One of Sabree's questions taught me more about my dad. I found out that he actually had his first flying lesson with an instructor at the age of 8. I had no idea that he had real lessons that young. Can you imagine, that's only 1 year older than Sabree! CRAZY! I don't know how I'd feel about her preparing for her first flight lesson! Anyway, I love seeing my dad fly. He has been flying commercially for about 18 years but I never get to watch him in the cockpit. I think is takes a lot of talent to do what he does. Good job dad!

I just want to thank my mom and dad for taking the time to come and see us and fly the kids around. We really appreciate it!

(Pictures to follow in the next couple of days!!!)

Little Monkey's

We had a great Hogle Zoo trip. We were there right at 9:00 in the morning when they opened. All the animals were alert and there were no crowds. It was the best zoo trip I have ever had! The kids were totally into it. Jaylee loved the monkeys and the elephant. Oliver loved the spiders, snakes and lizards. Sabree loved the Giraffe.

Don't they look so excited!

The train ride is always the most exciting part of the zoo...for everyone! I love having those couple of minutes to relax and catch your breath in some shade!

Father and Sons

Luke and Oliver headed on a Father and Sons ward campout a while ago, of course I'm catching up. I just thought that Oliver was so cute when he was leaving with his dad. They had a great time, even with all of the rain. Here are a few pictures from that event.

Cutest face in the world!

I couldn't resist! This has got to be one of the funniest pictures!

Luke is such a good dad. He also slept out in the tent in our backyard. We stayed up until about 10:30 p.m. telling stories before I came in the house to my comfortable bed so I could "listen for Jaylee" while Luke slept out with Sabree and Oliver. It was a lot of fun staying up late telling stories though. Plus I didn't feel too bad...Luke and the kids had mattresses in the tent. We really know how to "rough it" around here!

#&@% Ollie!!!

This evening I was trying to get prepared to head up the canyon for dinner. I walked out of the side kitchen door just in time to see Oliver throw a rock right at the van. It SHATTERED the side window on the sliding door! There is also a dent in the door...I'm sure it wasn't the first rock of the evening to hit the car! FUNNY KID! I wasn't laughing at the time, but I'm laughing now. What makes a little kid think that it's okay to throw a rock at a car? I don't think I'll ever know what was going through his head but I am quite certain he won't be throwing rocks at windows ever again (cross your fingers!). It's a good thing that he's so dang cute! It's hard to stay mad at his cute little face!

We did finish the night off in the canyon with some friends. It was a lot of fun. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. The kids had a great time playing in the river and climbing all over the rocks. We also ended with a bedtime story of Luke's childhood days. He threw a bat through a window! No wonder he wasn't too upset. It's pay back time - he had it coming. For the record - I never threw anything through a window. I was an angel!

1st Place!!!

Our little swimmer won 3 more races in yesterday's meet. Once again she improved her own time by 2 seconds too. She's doing so great! It was a really long day. She had to be at the swimming meet by 9:00 a.m and it wasn't over until 4:30 p.m. She had a great time though. I just wanted to thank all of her fans for coming out to support her too. Grandma and Grandpa Adams were there and so were cousins Ellie and Addie. Also thank you Grandma and Grandpa Oliver for coming to her Provo swimming meet.

Happy Father's Day...Late!

Everyone knows that I'm way behind on my blogs but I couldn't let this one go by not only because the tie that the kids made was so cute, but because I wanted everyone to know that Luke is an awesome Father! Our kids adore their dad! It is rare to see Luke without one of the kids on his lap but more frequently he's got all three on his lap or climbing all over him! They love that he plays the "tickle game" with them and he's been so fun to jump with on the trampoline. He works so hard for our family and yet he sets aside time to golf with Oliver, coach Sabree's t-ball team and watch her swim at her meets, and jump with Jaylee (who is actually really good on the trampoline)! Luke is also a great husband. I'm so grateful for his love and support. I love you, honey!

All the grandkids made Grandpa Adams a tie

Cheer Camp!

Gracie, Ellie and Sabree with the cheerleaders

Sabree in the middle, Gracie to the right

"Who rocks the house?" We've been hearing a lot of that the last couple of weeks! Sabree attended cheer camp and has been cheering non-stop since. She had so much fun at cheer camp. She was able to attend with her cousins Gracie and Ellie. When Sabree and Gracie get together they constantly come up with dances or songs to perform for everyone; lately, it has been a lot of cheerleading. It's really cute! Sabree is so much fun. She has so much energy and she's such a good helper. We're having a great summer!

Busy Summer!

For some reason I thought that living in a small town would be a slower paced life but I'll tell you what, we have managed to stay pretty busy this summer. Sabree has been on the Fillmore swimming team. She has really developed into a great swimmer. She has competed in several swimming meets and has improved her times by at least 1 second per swimming meet. It's pretty awesome to see her progress in such a short amount of time. Sabree has won a total of 17 - 1st place ribbons. Since she is the youngest on the team and some of the opposing teams don't have kids as young as her, she automatically gets first place. She swims against the 8 year olds and sometimes wins them too. We're really proud of her.

Oliver has also been swimming. We're on our 3rd session! He's on a roll so I didn't want to stop him. He's really enjoying it! The teachers love him and think that he's so cute! He never comes out of the water without the biggest, cheesiest grin on his face. You can't help but laugh. He's such a happy boy! We're proud of him too.

Jaylee has no problem watching at the swimming pool. She does not like the water for some reason. When we go swimming as a family she'll sit at the side of the pool and watch us or throw us balls but she doesn't want to swim. Hopefully she'll get over that soon!

We had a very fun and busy 4th of July. We started out with the parade in Provo. Afterward, Luke watched the kids for a little bit while I went shopping with my sisters and Mom. Then we went to Nelsons Park in Orem. It has a catch and release fishing pond that also has ducks. The kids didn't catch anything but they still had a great time. Jaylee would feed a duck then herself, then the duck, then herself. Pretty funny! After the park we had dinner with all of my family, which doesn't happen very often, followed by fireworks. The fireworks were a lot of fun. They are always a little too loud for the kids, especially the little ones like Jaylee. She was having a hard time with the fireworks until my dad brought out his noise canceling ear phones. Jaylee was very content and loved the fireworks after that! It sure made for cute pictures too!

Oliver on the slide at Nelson's Park

Sabree with Grandpa Oliver

Jaylee's fishin'. Oliver and cousins in the back.

Sabree fishing!

Pretty Sabree with sparklers

Huge headphones

Jaylee's first sparkler experience!

That's all we need...Jaylee with TNT! She's a fireball by herself!

Oliver with earplugs...cute!