Visit with Grandma Mickie and Papa Phil

My parents are currently serving a three year mission at the Detroit Temple in Michigan.  They don't get to get away much during their service, but, two times a year the temple undergoes a very deep cleaning and during that time, it closes for a two week period.  This year during the closing we got the pleasure of having my parents come to visit. 

This is also the same week that Dave took his new job with UCB, Inc., so we really put my parents to work, painting and patching and helping to get the house ready to put up on the market.  When we weren't cracking the whip, we got to do a couple of leisure activities.  One of those was going to Onondaga Caves  .  I had never been here before, but we do live in the cave state, and so I thought it was high time that changed.  We had a great time and the drive down there was beautiful and the weather was exceptional. The cave was AWESOME.  I highly recommend it if you're looking for something to do here.

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Labor Day Weekend

Wow, am I ever behind.  Wow, do I ever say that a lot.  One of these days I'm going to be on top of it.  One of these days....

But for now, here are some pictures of our first Missouri float trip that we took over the Labor Day weekend.  We had such a great time.  It was even better because we were able to enjoy our day with great friends. 

 Getting loaded up

 Phillip and Harrison

 Dave retrieving a lost paddle

 Phillip LOVED paddling

 Exploring a cave

 When we stopped for lunch, Phillip and Harrison kept trying to take off by themselves

 Ryan hitching a ride on the back of Noah's kayak

  Love these girls

 Dave coming back after ALMOST jumping off a cliff

 rock jumping

 Jordan Robinson came to help these guys get over to the rocks

Maddie, the Gardener

Last year it was pumpkins, and this year Maddie tried her hand at cantaloupe.  She recently harvested her first of many and we enjoyed it with dinner.  You can see she is becoming quite the gardener.  Papa Doug will be so proud.

 Proud gardener

One of the best ways to enjoy cantaloupe...or anything really for that matter!

He Tri's...Er...Bi's?

Yesterday Dave ran his first triathlon.  Unfortunately the morning started out with rain and sightings of lightning, so the swimming portion of the race was canceled (that begs the question: did he shave his head, and legs for nothing?).  They continued with the rest of the race in the rain and by the time the running portion came around, the rain had let up.  The spectators were very appreciative.

Dave did a great job and finished 1st in his weight division (Clydesdale-over 200 lbs, which he is barely).  It was fun to watch and all of the kids enjoyed cheering him on...well all except for Phillip who found a nice pile of dirt to play in which kept him entertained for the most part.  We are all so proud of him.  What a great accomplishment.  I have a feeling this will be his first of many.  The kids all enjoyed the excitement of it so much that they are now talking about wanting to get involved too.  Maybe this will become a family affair...

Swim Team

Our summers for the past several years (wow, I think this was the 5th) have consisted of lots of sitting, sweating, swimming, and swearing (ok, not really on that last one, well maybe from Dave a little... I was getting carried away with my alliteration).  In other words, we've (well, the kids, really) been on the summer swim team.

This year was especially fun because it was Phillip's first year.  He started getting excited about being on the swim team close to a year ago when we bought him a speedo on a clearance sale.  He couldn't wait for his first swim meet to actually get to wear it.  One of my favorite memories of this summer is at our first swim meet when he actually got to wear it.  He had just gotten out of the pool after warm-ups and someone mentioned to him that they liked his Speedo.  His response was: "Well, it doesn't have much speed...people kept passing me.".  I think he thought that wearing a SPEED-o would put some speed in his swim.  I love it.

I volunteered to be in charge of the concessions for our home meets this year and that was quite an adventure.  I was in charge of buying all of the inventory to sell (drinks, candy, food, supplies, etc.), as well as prepare the meat for our "walking tacos" (basically a small bag of either Fritos, or Doritos topped with taco meat and all the fixin's....if you've never tried one, I highly recommend them....YUM!)  During our first meet we ran out of a lot of food and I quickly learned how to better judge quantities of items to buy.  Thankfully my kids put up with me.  They knew that Mondays were "mom's crazy days" and would try extra hard to get along and to help me out where they could.  Finally, by the last meet I felt like I was getting a handle on things, which will hopefully give me a leg up for next year (yes, I was crazy enough to volunteer to do it again).

Everyone had fun and improved.  Phillip started off not even being able to make it across the pool and by the end he not only mastered that, but also figured out the backstroke.  Ryan continued to improve on all of his strokes and has decided that he too would like to join  the year-round team.  Maddie was a huge help.  Not only to me on swim meet days, but to the coaches at practices.  After her practice, she would always stay after to help during the little kids' practices and was always willing to stay after practice to help put away the lane lines.  She also continues to swim great and enjoys it.  Sophie helped with the coaches a lot too.  I think her favorite part of swim team is that the competition is not quite as fierce as during the year-round season, and so she consistently pulled off 1st place finishes.

Firsts and Lasts

Summer is officially over.  It might not be by the season's standards, but it is according to the school district here.  The three younger kids started school today.  Sophie is going to home-school this year, so we haven't officially started yet, but the other three are off and running.

Maddie was so excited to start her first year at middle school.  She packed her lunch last night and set out her clothes.  She got up at the crack of dawn and got her own breakfast and was ready to go.  the only problem was that we were not expecting the bus to be EARLY.  We heard it pass as we were upstairs putting the finishing touches on her hair.  0 for 1 so far this year.  We'll do better tomorrow.

The boys also almost missed their bus.  As we were outside trying to find a good place to take their pictures, we heard the rumble of the bus starting to head down our street, so the only pictures I have are of their backsides going to the bus stop and one of them getting on the bus. 

I guess one good thing came out of our hectic morning; I didn't have time to contemplate the magnitude of this year and let my emotions get the better of me.  However, now that I'm sitting down and thinking about it, it's another story.  Where are those tissues?

Maddie's first day of middle school.

Ryan's last year of elementary school.

Phillip's first day of Kindergarten.

My last child off to school....tear!

Vegas Baby!

I love getting to spend time with my family.  It's the best.  This year my sister, Kristin and I thought it would be fun to get our girls together over the summer for a week or so.  Sophie and Kennadi are only two months apart in age and Maddie and Kami are only 1 month apart, so they really enjoy being together.  Since we live so far away from each other, times that they actually get to do this are few and far between.

Thanks in part to the girls each earning 1/2 of their tickets and frequent fly-er miles (I guess there really are some perks to Dave traveling as much as he does), we were able to fly out to Las Vegas where my sister and her family live.  Originally just the girls were going to fly out, but as we started thinking about the logistics of flying two underage girls by themselves, one of them having diabetes, Dave suggested that I tag along too.  Well, ok, if you insist!

We had such a fun and relaxing week and my other sister, Nenn (so her name is really Jennifer, but when nieces and nephews started coming along and learning to speak, it morphed) got to come out from Utah and spend a few days with us too.

We got to eat, play games, eat, get pedicures, see some sights on the Las Vegas Strip (one of them being a nice pole dancing show as we were making our way from the parking garage, through the Caesar's Palace to The Belagio fountains.  Do I hear "mother of the year" anyone?), eat, shop, swim, relax, and eat some more.  What more could you ask for?

 Enjoying dessert at "Serendipity"

Can you say "spray tan"?

At the fountains in front of The Belagio 

(Left to Right: Jake, Kacey, Sophie, Kennadi, Jordan, Kami, Maddie, and Nenn)

Putting the finishing touches on our delicious 4th of July dessert

Riding "X-Scream" on top of the Stratosphere

Sophie and Kennadi making a break for it

This ride is called "Insanity".  It swings away from the building and spins you around mid air. 

 Getting ready to be catapulted up in the "Big Shot"

Me and my sis at the top of the Stratosphere

Gimme Five!

I can't believe my baby is five. If you were reading this, Phillip, you would be quick to let me know that you are not a baby. And I would be quick to remind you that you will always be my baby.

You are getting so big. The time is going so quickly. You just graduated from pre-school and you will be starting Kindergarten in the fall. It will be fun for you to be in elementary school with your older brother for one year before he starts middle school. You weren't so sure about starting pre-school this last year. Every day you would come home and tell me how you liked all of the other teachers better than your own. You also had one day this year where you stayed at preschool all day. That was called "lunch bunch". We put you in that so you could get a taste for what it would be like to be in all-day Kindergarten. You would come home from that every time and say "that was the longest day!". Full day will be interesting next year. Thankfully you grew to love your teacher, Mrs. Randazzo, and she sure loved you too. You always made her crack up. We will all, always remember your sweater vest craze. You're starting to grow out of it a little bit, but you LOVED sweater vests. You would sneak them under regular shirts and then when no one was looking, you would peel off the shirt to reveal your beloved vest. During your Christmas concert at school while you were singing, you kept looking at me and pointing to the vest you had on underneath with your sly little smile. I wish I had that on video camera. It was so funny.
You love the color red. If we get ice cream or a slushy it doesn't matter what flavor it is, as long as it is red.

You are growing out of your CARS and Buzz Lightyear fetishes. You have now moved on to super heroes. You love Batman and Superman and Spiderman to name a few. Most of your presents this year were Batman toys and of course you had a Batman cake.

You love to play video games. You would play them all day long if I would let you. Your favorites right now are Harry Potter LEGO, Indiana Jones LEGO, and Gladiator Duel. I'm always amazed at how well you can maneuver through those and you don't even know how to read yet.

You have the best laugh. It is contagious. It is a full and hearty belly laugh and when you get started we can't help but laugh too.

You have two best buddies, Harrison Hoyt and David Rodabough. But your best buddy of all is your Dad. You love him so much. When he is not traveling you always want to be with him. You want him to read you stories at night and you want him to tuck you in. You want to go on errands with him and you want him to sit by you at dinner. Last year when we were at our family reunion, I was giving you a bath and when it was time to get out you told me that you wanted Dad to get you out instead of me because (and I quote) "You're not awesome!".You still have such a sweet little voice with cute ways of saying things. For example you say INSEPT instead of except, and ACTUWEE instead of actually, and adding B to many verbs, such as battack! and bestroy!. You hold you hands out with fingers (or as you would refer to them, "swing-gers") extended and kind of twist them when you're trying to explain things. You also scrunch up your nose and kind of tilt your head to the side when you don't quite understand something.

You just started your first year on the summer swim team and you love it. You are getting better and better every day. You cannot wait to wear your Speedo on your first swim meet.

You have the cutest blond (although it gets darker every day), curly hair and I LOVE the smattering of freckles across your face. You love it when I sit down with you and name them all.

You HATE peanut butter. What kid doesn't like peanut butter? but you do love plain jelly sandwiches. That is definitely something I can count on you eating well. You are a little bit of a picky eater. You would be just fine with cereal for every meal. Some other foods that you like are hot dogs and most fruits and surprisingly, you love salad!

I love you so much and I'm so glad you came to our family. You make our family better by being in it. I can't wait to see what you will be up to next year. Well, considering the warp speed in which time is passing, maybe I can....

Cotton-eyed Ryan

Every year Ryan looks forward to the talent show. He loves the stage and the audience and performing. He doesn't have a shy bone in his body. He definitely did not get this from me. I'm so glad he is so uninhibited. I hope he always keeps this quality. Here is a little snippet from this year's talent show:

My Graduates

This is a big year for Maddie and Phillip. Phillip graduated from pre-school and Maddie graduated from Elementary school.

Maddie shaking hands with her D.A.R.E. officer after receiving the President's award for academic achievement (3.5 GPA or higher from 3rd to 5th grade)

Phillip's teacher, Mrs. Randazzo