Friends

These two little girls are best friends. They were born 5 days apart and have grown up side by side.

There is nothing better than a really good friend.  I am glad Aeva has one.

The Beauty of a Box

Sometimes I think my kids would make good homeless people. This is why I think that...

I have never seen so much joy come from a couple of large cardboard boxes.

The paper packaging inside was almost as good.  They would tie up their dad and see if he could break free.

I think Troy liked it too because it made him appear buff when he could break free of the strong paper wrapping with just one dramatic wave of his arms.  The girls were so impressed.  Check out their faces.  They had to stand way back to avoid being struck by all of the muscles that were flying around.

When the girls saw dads impressive demonstration, they had to try it too.  I am happy to report that everyone was able to escape from the paper chains with very little damage to themselves or others.

I have to say that I am pretty happy I don't live in a box.  Nevertheless, I am proud to say that we are prepared should the need arise.

Kindergarten Round-up...the last one.

This cute little girl is headed to Kindergarten.

We went to school and turned in all of her official paper work.  Not sure what I am going to do without this cute little face following me around every day.

She is way too excited to play with her friends every day like her big sisters do.  I might have to follow her to school and look through the window all day.  

I'll miss you!

Special Needs Mutual

Troy has a friend from high school that is involved in the Special Needs Mutual program. He invited us to one of his programs the other night in Salt Lake. We debated on whether to send Troy by himself or take the whole family because it was a school night and we would be getting home late if we went. In the end, we decided that this would be a good experience for the girls and loaded them up.  We had no idea what Nate had meant by a "performance."  We were pleased to find out, when we got there, that it was a take off from several of the Disney Princess stories.  

We thought Nate had told us that he was a pirate but didn't know for sure.  Finally in the middle of the Little Mermaid scene, we spotted him.  He was a merman.  He job was to blow bubbles as they wheeled him around the stage in his chair.  He was pretty impressed with his duty and blew bubbles with pride.  Here he is.

He finally saw me taking his picture and pointed at me.  Come to find out later, he thought I was his sister.  Oh well.  At least he knew someone was cheering for him.

Up until now, Nate was the only Special Needs person that my girls knew.  By the end of the night, they knew that Nate had a lot of friends.  Pretty incredible friends at that.  I think the girls saw that Nate wasn't so different from them.  They saw him laugh, sing and have fun doing the same things that they enjoy.  We ended up having an amazing time and my girls learned a lot about the Special Needs Mutual and the service it provides for those that aren't exactly like the rest of us.  I think that is an important lesson and there was no better way to teach it.    An evening they will not soon forget.  

Thanks, Nate, for an amazing night!

A Red Dot

One day Aeva came up to me and said, "Do you see that red dot?"

She was pointing to a paper she had gotten in Primary.  She had taken it and drawn a red dot on the mother's forehead.

She told me that the dot means the lady is married.  It appears that they are learning about India in preschool.  Funny girl.

1st Place!

Maddie's soccer team took 1st place in their second session of indoor soccer!

Way to go, Dynamite!!!

The Wheeler is Back

The "wheeler" is back out again. That makes for some happy girls.

Real Salt Lake

We decided it would be fun to watch a real live Real Salt Lake soccer game. I knew that the younger two  girls wouldn't sit through a 90 minute soccer match so we made a day of it and took Grandpa Gordon and Grandma Carole with us.  They agreed into being tricked and took the younger two girls back home with them after dinner.

We took the Front Runner down to SLC from Ogden.  The girls LOVE riding on Trax.

Then we took the Trax trains to the Old Time Spaghetti Factory where we met grandpa and grandma for dinner.  Not sure why I didn't think to get some pictures at dinner...slacker, I guess.

Then Troy, Maddie and I made it to the stadium!  Maddie had a Real tattoo placed on her arm to show her love for the game.

Troy and I then found a table and signed a paper saying we wouldn't drive drunk and got a free drink for it!  I didn't have to write on the paper that I had never had an alcoholic beverage in my entire lifetime.  A bonus.

For some reason the sprinklers came on while the teams were warming up.  I have to assume that was a mistake.

Half way through the game, the crowd started passing this huge parachute with REAL written on it.  It was headed our way.

I think Troy is as excited as Maddie about the parachute coming.

Cool red coloring from the light coming through the parachute.

Maybe Maddie needs a parachute for Christmas.  That is a pretty big smile.  Troy might like one too.  Maybe they could share???

The XANGO Lion (I'm sure he has a name), was running around the bleachers so we chased after him for a picture.  Must have been quite obvious that we weren't season ticket holders.  Oh well, we are not proud.

After all the fun, we picked up the younger two from grandpa and grandmas house.  This is what they looked like by the time we got them back home.  Zonked out!  I think I was right in saying that they would not have made it through the game!

Go Real!

Chili's

I have noticed a trend. Every time my family goes out to eat without me, they end up at the same place...Chili's!

Aeva still putting bunny ears on herself.  One day she will grasp the idea.  Until then, I think it is cute.

Best friends.

Yummy food and bottomless chips.  I can understand why the go!

Mad Faces

The other day I asked the girls to show me their mad faces. Here are the results:

I think I like them better smiling!

Practicing for Disneyland

Troy's parents went to Disneyland for a little time off. When they came back they had these cute shirts for the girls.

The girls LOVE the shirts and wear them as often as I can get them washed and back in their drawers.  I think we are headed to Disneyland this Fall...I am guessing these shirts will be coming with us!

Early Games

Maddie has some early soccer games. Her earliest so far has been 7:00 AM. That makes for some early rising at our house. Then again, maybe it is just Troy and I that are rising early...

Check out our progress!

We got our second ski day out on the slopes. The girls LOVE it and Aeva is getting better by the second!

 

She still takes random breaks when she gets tired.  Here we have a skiing snow angel.  This is how she prefers to wait for her sisters to "catch up" to her.

Gracie and Bailey.

Maddie and Oakley.

I think our skiing days are almost over!  Maybe one more Spring Ski Day this weekend.  I like to ski when the sun is out!

One Amazing Man

Many of you may know that I went to Weber High School.

You may not know that this man, Earl Heninger, is truly an angel.  This was my principal for the 3 years that I went to Weber High.  He was AMAZING!!!  He recently passed away and I was honored to attend his viewing.  

This is him with his sweet wife.  She was by his side every step of the way.

This is how I remember him.  He was at EVERY game and activity that he could possible make it to.  At some point during the games, he would stand out in front of the whole student body.  He would then raise his hand in the air and say...

Everyone would jump to their feet with huge smiles on their faces.  We would cheer and yell like only a bunch of adolescents can.  He made everyone of us feel like we were someone special.  That is a pretty amazing feat considering there were 650 kids in my graduating class alone.

Thank you, Mr. Heninger, for being a Warrior, a leader, a smiling face, an example and, most of all, a friend to everyone.
You are truly missed.