Spontaneous day of fun....

 On a very impulsive decison- like deciding Friday night at 8ish- we decided to take our kids to Lagoon the next day (Saturday). Our friends had some really good discount coupons which made it cheap (for Lagoon anyways.)

The only downside- the older Jim and I get, the more we are realizing "spinny" rides are not our favorites.  Roller coasters- heck yeah. :)

Anyways, here are some pictures from our fun day:



Most kids growing up in or near Utah probably have
a picture very similar to this :) Absolutely adorable!
 

Afton welcoming Lilly back from her drive
 

Ironic that Ethan is the youngest out of all three boys here yet a full head taller.

Majority of our group eyeing the approaching waterfall  on Rattlesnake Rapids.

Getting DRENCHED by waterfall

Closer look of the drenching :)

Love that the girls are getting tall enough to try out some of the "bigger" rides. 
 Here is Afton on The Bat.

Lilly (age 5) and Savannah (age 7)

Boys getting ready to go on The Rocket. 
You can see Colin leaning over to ask his dad when it is going to go. 
 I don't think he was able to finish his sentence before it took off :)
 



Jim taking some of the girls on the Tilt-A-Whirl.



We hadn't been to Lagoon since 2009. The weather on Saturday was absolutely perfect  (mid 70's) and since it was still pre-season it was the least crowded I have ever seen Lagoon. Plus we got to spend the day with some of our good friends and their kids.
  Yeah for spontaneous days of fun!



 

11

Ethan had a birthday and is now officially 11 years old.   I blinked and suddenly  he is turning into a young man that very soon will be taller than his mom.  Very, very soon......

Here are some of his festivities......

On his birthday (Thurs.) : We went out to eat at Brick Oven Pizza with grandparents. Fun little tradition we have made up.  We usually go on Birthday Eve but Wednesday night got kinda busy.  Great place for our kids since there is a buffet and all you can eat pizza and pasta.  

Friend Party:
Friday night we had some of his friends over. 11 year old boys are pretty easy to plan a party for.  All you have to do is supply some food and they are good to just hang out :)  They ended up playing capture the flag for over an hour, had some pizza, soda and cake, opened presents and then played some Wii until it was time to wrap it up for the night. 

Amazingly enough all of these kids are 5th graders.
 The height difference is amazing.  Ethan keeps his spot as the tallest.
 There are about 4 of these kids that are always at our house on a rotating basis.
  He has such good friends right now which I am really grateful for.

Ethan with some of his presents



I know the boys probably didn't care if they went home with a party favor but we still did one.



Family Party:
On Saturday we got to have family over to help us celebrate Ethan's Birthday.

Perhaps a sign we need to expand our house. 
Thank you everyone for being willing to be squished
 until we decide which way to remodel our house.

Pumpkin Pie for this boy!!

My new favorite picture: 

An 11 year old boy in the Lego aisle

with some birthday money to spend :)

 

We are so grateful for Ethan in our family. 

 He is kind, funny, smart, patient, creative, and much more. 
We are honored to be his parents. 

Easter

 

They are getting to the age where when mom says "I need a picture"
they decide to add their own style :)

 And one with the dog

 Our three beautiful daughters.

 Easter fun:

 

 

 

Spring Break 2013

We had a very enjoyable, busy, fun and fast Spring Break.  The kids had a whole week off but it went much too fast. Total picture overload but I am going to tell myself in 20 years I will be mad if I had too few pictures... not too many :)

 

Monday: The first two days of the week we planned a few activities with neighborhood friends.  On Monday we all rode Trax downtown, walked around Temple Square a bit, went over to the Church History Museum and explored City Creek.  That night we all meet at the Hadfields home for caramel apple bar, Easter egg hunt and FHE on our Savior (perfect for Easter).

 

 

Some of my favorite kids from the neighborhood. 
Watch out... these kids are going to do amazing things in this world.

Afton and Lilly fishing at the new kids
 section of the Church History Museum.

City Creek

Tuesday:  Day at the park with with  neighborhood friends and then that night we all rented the Party Room at Dimple Dell for dinner and swimming.  Lots of fun until Afton ended the night early by getting sick.  These two days with friends reminded me again of  how grateful I am for where we live and the great friends/ families/ kids we have here. 

 

 

Wednesday:  Got ready and packed up to leave to Vegas.  Left around 3 and drove the rest of the day :)

 

 

Thursday:  Explored Red Rock just a little ways from Vegas.  EXCELLENT place for different kids of hikes. Thanks for the idea Nate and Liz!!!  I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

 

 

 

 

 

Friday: We went to the Las Vegas Museum of Natural History.  I was quite impressed with it and had a lot more fun than I thought we would. A+ to the workers there that were so nice and so knowledgable about telling us about their exhibits.  

 

 

 

We also gave Ethel M. Chocolate factory another chance.  Not impressed again.  I so want it to be one of my favorite places but the past two times we have gone they aren't making chocolates for us to watch and the cheapskate in me doesn't want to pay their prices for chocolate. Darn....

 

 

Saturday:  Before heading home we got to spend some quality time with Nate and Liz which included....

 

Storytime with Aunt Liz

 



Hanging out at the Park

 

 

And.....



YOGURTLAND!!!!!!

As usual, thanks to our hosts for letting us stay, eat all your food, play with the kitties and enjoy your company.