Blue & Gold

This was Kade's first pack meeting, which happened to be the Blue and Gold Banquet.  This was also his first time helping post the flag.  He couldn't have been more excited.  He's a true scouter-- even though he's never done it.  He just lights up when we talk about anything that relates to scouts.  I'm thrilled that there is such a program that fits him so well.  Here's to many adventures buddy!

Team Bongo Boarding

Abby came to play today. It is so much fun to watch her and Kade play. They come up with random activities and they just have the time of their lives. Here is one of their activities today. I had to quickly snap the pictures with my phone so they aren't great but it was so fun to watch them try to work together to balance on the board. I'm sure it wasn't the safest way for them to use the board but they both came out unscathed.

Skiing Day!

Darryl was invited to go skiing with people from one of the news teams and so he go to take me along.  I was a little nervous going into the day.  I haven't been skiing for years and now I was going to be skiing with a bunch of avid skiers.  They were very generous and did some slower runs for me and then about half way through the day they headed to lunch and I headed back home.  There were too many things I needed to get done and wanted to pick up Cole as soon as I could since Wendy had a birthday to get ready for-- ya, she's amazing.

Wiggling with Friends

Wendy had Cole today while I went skiing with Darryl.  They were planning on going to the rec. center so they took the Plasma Cars.  Alex, James, Andrew, and Cole had a great time wiggling all over the open floor. Thanks Wendy for watching Cole!

Redmond Tubing Day!

What an awesome day! In years past the tubing days have been great but this year topped them all. Soldier Hollow built higher hills on the runs so the rides down were more thrilling so that made the day great. However, the best part of the day was to see Kade be able to be independent and not have to worry about him. He felt so big because he took his tube and headed to get hooked onto the tow line and up the hill he went. He would go down and then race to the tow line again and again. We would see him in different places at different times and he would be so proud when he would wave. I love letting him have the opportunity to fly solo especially when I knew he would be safe.

Night with Dad

As you can see Kade had a most amazing night with Darryl. :)  When the kids turn 8 we get them their own set of leather bound scriptures so Darryl and Kade went down to Desert Book tonight to pick them out.  They detoured to Farr's Ice Cream to get a treat from their frozen treat bar.  (Darryl took me on another occasion-- I think Kade's expression says it all, YUM!)

Kade is 8!

Kade turned 8 today! It's so hard to believe that I have an 8 year old. I remember when my siblings first child turned 8 and I thought they were SO old. I don't feel very old and I don't feel like Kade is super old either. Funny how perceptions change. For Kade's Birthday he wanted to go to Build A Bear and he wanted a lightning bolt chocolate cake with blue icing. Well he settled for red velvet instead of chocolate and loved it. He thought the lightning bolt was awesome too. I think his actual words were, "Snap! That's awesome, right?!." He's going through the strange stage of realizing things are "babyish" and wanting to be a "big" kid. Hence the new language.  I found some trick candles and had to get them.  I knew Kade would think that was so funny. *Reference the last picture.*  It was hilarious.  He would blow them out and then they would relight again and again and again and again.  It was worth every penny.  Life was so crazy this week trying to get things taken care of before we went on our cruise, and we would be gone on the 12th so we celebrated a few days early. Kade loved Build a Bear, which surprised me.  I have never been able to understand the hype it has.  Well after we went I understood.  They make the experience so fun for the kids. Kade loved giving his bear a "bath" and combing it.  We decided to let Clint and Cole get bears to but they didn't get accessories.  They put a heart inside the bear that you can push and hear/feel it beat, plus a little music box that plays, "You don't know your beautiful" by One Degree.  Kade danced to that for days.  Since Build A Bear was Kade's birthday party we let Cole and Clint get an animal too.  Kade's specialty treatment was that he got to pick out an accessory to go with his bear.  He chose a little tent for his bear.  These are Kade, Clint and Cole's Build A Bear pets.

Cruising!

We got to go on another cruise!  We left Feb. 8th and got home on Feb. 17th.  It was so great.  This cruise was all because Darryl got bit by the cruise bug on our first cruise.  He just couldn't get over how great it was and so he arranged for another cruise.  He invited anyone that wanted to come along to join in on the fun.  The people that joined us were: Vance and Melanie, Jason and Tracy, Paul and Wendy, and Andy and Megan, We went to the Caribbean again but we went to some of the western islands this time.  We left out of Houston and went to Belize, Roatan, and Cozumel.  It was a great time as always, but if you were to ask which cruise I like better I would say the other cruise because I really liked being in a new port every day.  On this cruise we started out with a couple sea days and so by the time we hit land I was very ready to get out and see the beach.   We really took a vacation on this one.  We didn't take any pictures and I forgot to write about it until now (it's 2.5 years later).  SO... I can't recall the details but I do remember we had a great time.  The time we spent at each of the islands was perfect!  In Belize we did a river tour on inner tubes.  It was incredibly beautiful.  At our next spot, Roatan, we went with Paul and Wendy to a little private beach resort and just paid for a day use pass to access their beach and use their amenities.  It was like something out of a dream in a movie.  There were canopy beds on the beach with thin white covers flowing in the breeze.  You could get a massage on them or just enjoy laying on them.  We really wanted to snorkel so we asked some of the people selling stuff on the beach where the best place to go would be and before long we were on a boat with a crew of 2 people, one was the boat driver who spoke English and the other was a boy, I'm guessing he was around 16, who would be our snorkel guide.  They took us to a coral reef that was amazing.  It was a trip of a lifetime!  It reminded me of the movie Nemo where beyond the reef is just dark and looks empty, but you know there are things much larger than you swimming around over there.  We were happy to see the brightly colored fish, lobsters, and plant life where we were.  Darryl and I wanted to just go off and do our own thing for the day so while we were in Cozumel we went looking for fun.  We settled on parasailing.  What an awesome experience.  We went higher than the cruise ships.  However, I wasn't expecting to be as nauseous as I was.  That put a little damper on the experience.  It was still amazing but I wasn't too sad when the ride was over.

I just copied some pictures of Paul's Facebook page.  They'll have to do.  There were much more photo worthy sights we saw but no one used their camera. :*(

This was what Salt Lake looked like when we left.  The crew was running around frantically to get us off the ground before the big expected storm hit.  We made it out just in time. Phew!

Wendy, Jason, Traci, Mel, Vance, and Megan enjoying a sea day.

Roatan

Cozumel

Pen Pals

At school Clint's class has been writing with a class from Soldier Hollow. This is one of the letters Clint wrote his pen pal. I'm not sure how many they traded but I thought this one was so cute. It says, "I could just hug you right now! I like to play x-box 360. At school I like computers. I like to watch Hotel Transylvania. My favorite shape is a star. I like to read Magic Tree House. Your friend Clint Dahl Bosshardt."

Books & Buddies

This morning before school they had Books & Buddies at the Elementary.  Parents and family members could come and read with their children in their classrooms before school started and get a muffin and juice to enjoy.  I love these little activities even though I probably don't show it well.  Instead I think I come across and annoyed and stressed, because. . .  well, I'm annoyed and stressed.  I just try to spend time with each of the boys in each of their classes and it just is a short time so it is a rush to do it.  The reason I love these activities though is because the boys are so excited about it.  I can tell it just means so much to them and I love when little things like that are so grande in their eyes. Oh stay little-- please.

"Deeto!"

Cole was eating his apple slices today when I could hear he was excited about something.  It was hard to tell what he was saying because he was clearly talking with food in his mouth. I look over and was able to I figure out what he was saying, "I Deeto!" He was referring to Bandito-- the main character from plays at the Pickleville Playhouse. Bandito has a thick black mustache. The things they come up with!

Clint's Primary Spotlight

It was Clint's special day today!  In Primary we spotlight one child and give them a red plate to take home and eat off from that day so everyone know they are special.  Today was Clint's day.  The parents list three things that make the child special and the leaders read them to the primary then they ask the primary children if they know something special about the child.  A few things the kids said about Clint were:

• He's a good friend
• He's funny
• He listens and helps out great in class(that was his primary teacher from last year)
• He's a good brother

Here are the few thins we said about Clint:

• Full of gratitude.  In his prayers he sincerely thanks heavenly father for many things such as the commandments, church, and the Book of Mormon.  If we ever go out to dinner he thoughtfully thanks us for taking him there.  At the dinner table he often thanks me for making the food--mainly when he really likes it.
• Has a great relationship with his brothers.  He and Kade have a hard time knowing what to do with themselves when they are apart.  Cole randomly gives him big hugs(clearly loves him).
• Very easy going.  Ever since he was born he has been a pretty easy going kid.  He can have his moments that he gets upset but for the most part he's good to be flexible and work out solutions.

We know the primary is lucky to have him in there but we feel super lucky to have him in our family all the time. We love him and his quirky personality.