Brooklyn and Samantha's Birthday Party

At the beginning of the year I set a goal to atleast do one home birthday party. So I've been planning a water party for Brooklyn for months. It was perfect because her actual birthday fell on a Saturday so it was one fun day. I filled Brooklyn's room with balloons before I went to bed. She loved it when she woke up.

 Since Samantha's birthday is only 3 days before Brooklyn's, we combined their parties. So we have all been busy for weeks getting ready. We made a giant water bubble out of painter's plastic and duct tape. The kids LOVED it! It was awesome and it held up really well.

 We didn't serve lunch, but we had a snack table.

 Sean spent the whole week creating a drink station. There is a tube that is frozen inside the block of ice. You pour the juice in the funnel at the top and it comes out the bottom. It was pretty cool.

 We had a bunch of pools, slides, and the blow up slide. I think we had about 25 kids. It was a ton of fun.

 4 years old!!!

 The party was at noon and the kids stayed outside playing until 7! We quickly bathed them, got in their jammies, and headed to Menchies for frozen yogurt. The kids loved picking out all the fun toppings.

 When Brooklyn walked inside she saw her final present...a new bike! She loves it and we've already gone on a bike ride. Happy Birthday babe! We love you!

Brooklyn's First Day of Preschool

All last year Brayden and Brooklyn went to preschool together. Different classes but at the same time. So she was really sad when Brayden started going to a different school from her. But finally she got to start and she loves it. 

Jimmer

My parents gave Josh and Brayden their VIP tickets to a fundraiser dinner for Jimmer's foundation. They had dinner and a silent auction. Josh went a little crazy with the auction and spent way too much money. It's all for charity, though, right?! Awesome. They had a lot of fun and got a few things signed. Thanks mom and dad for the tickets!

Ward Luau

Our ward had an awesome Samoan Luau. We combined with the Samoan ward and it was a lot of fun. We had dinner, then the Samoan youth danced for us. Josh and Brayden were invited last minute to a Jimmer fundraiser, so it was just me and the girls. Aren't they cute?!

The Pond Pit

So...we've lived here for almost 2 years and it was finally time to figure out what to do with the pond hole in the backyard. We could either move our sandbox to it, get a load of dirt and fill it in, or dig more and put the tramp in the hole. We have always wanted to have an in ground trampoline, but knew it was a lot of work and  expensive. I finally was able to find someone that would dig the hole for pretty cheap. When he showed up he told us he needed a spot for the dirt and our beautiful Rose of Sharon bush had to go :( He said he could transplant it for us, which is what I always wanted to do anyway. So with one scoop he picked up the bush and planted it next to the house for me.

 It took him most of the afternoon to dig out the hole. He even taught me how to use the backhoe:

 We decided to not dig the hole straight down so we didn't need to build a retaining wall. Instead he dug the hold more bowl shaped and left a shelf around the top of it. That way we could take the legs of the tramp off and place the frame on top of cinder blocks. Sean and I spent the next week getting cinder blocks, leveling and spacing them, then cementing the stubs of the legs into them. It took quite a bit of time, but it has been SO much better for the kids. They LOVE it! We got it done just in time for Brooklyn's party. Btw, in this picture, you'll notice that there are no mounds of dirt next to the tramp. Sean and I spent 2 weeks hauling the dirt around to different spots of the yard. It took forever! And it was hot, hot, HOT! Thank goodness Sean was around to help so much or it never could've been done in time for the party.

Gymnastics

Brooklyn has been loving gymnastics. She's doing really well and loves the bars the best. Brayden and Brynlee come and this is how the hour goes:

 Keep up the good work Brooklyn!

Jordanelle

Our friends Brian and Andrea invited us and a few other friends to Jordanelle to have fun on their new boat. I was a little hesitant since it's been so long since I've been out skiing. Unfortunately it was too choppy for the ski, however we had too much fun surfing to care. I didn't think I could even get up since I've never even wakeboarded. I was surprised when I popped right up. It was SO much fun. It was nice to be able to surf and not get exhausted like when you are skiing. We were all able to get up and it was a ton of fun!

Sadie's Birthday Party

We went to a park to celebrate Sadie's 3rd birthday. The kids had a blast running around and playing. It was a beautiful night and a lot of fun. Happy Birthday Sadie!

First Day of Kindergarten

Brayden has been excited to go to the big school ever since we moved to this house and drove past it everyday. The day finally came and he couldn't be more excited. I took him to school to drop him off and held it together until he started lining up with his class. Brooklyn yelled out, "Bye Brayden! I'll miss you!" and I lost it. I still can't believe my little Brady Bug is big enough for school!

 With his buddy Elijah. They even get to sit across from each other.