Muddy Buddy!

Reese and I entered the Muddy Buddy challenge in Orlando thanks to our good friend Dolly.

Here's how it works.  You and your partner start at the same place same time, but one is on a bike and the other is running.  There are four different points over six miles where you must do an obstacle and take off running (or biking if you had previously been running).  There is a mud pit at the very end of the race that you must crawl through.  Our bike broke on the second leg of the race, so we ended running more than we'd expected.  We're going to do it as a family next year.  They have a mini-muddy buddy for kids.  

Hau Ruk!

Hau Ruk (I have know idea if I spelled that correctly) is the German version of spoons.  We used pennies instead of spoons and had to mark our faces if we lost.  These three people are from our ward, one of whom is from Germany.  We had SO much fun with them.  I can't believe it took us that long to have them over.  

Reese, me, Dolly (in the back)

Gary and Walt Burns (she's the one from Germany)

Isn't Family Great!

Reese's parents are moving away and we are DEVASTATED.  We have been SO blessed to have them close to the last two years.  Each of our children have a special bond with their grandparents that they wouldn't have otherwise developed.  As a result of our close proximity to Mom and Dad, we have enjoyed frequent visits from family members we don't usually get to see.  We have seen Jane and Brian, Doug, Shar, and Shacey, and Steve and Karen.  We have been able to see more of Reese's siblings and their families.  Don't stop visiting because Mom and Dad are gone guys!

Lucy, Payte, Isaac, Dak, Tagg, and Tay (baby Emma not seen)

Aunt Morgen is an AMAZING story teller.  She went to the girls' school to perform for their classes.  The kids were totally captivated.  They all thought she was the BEST story teller ever!  

I think this picture of Tagg and Anabelle was taken at Easter.  To Tagg, all little girls are Anabelles, and all little babies are Lilas.

This was taken at MaShay's bridal shower in February.

Rub a dub dub

Paintball wars at Mom and Dad's.  I don't participate in this one.

Mom is the best!  She's always game for anything.

Piano Recital!

Tay had her first piano recital two weeks ago.  We would be hard pressed to find as good of a teacher if we moved away.........and we're not anytime soon.  Mrs. Frueh is GREAT with the kids!  She is sweet and fun, yet expects a lot out of the kids.  She pushes them and they really don't want to disappoint her.  I am shocked at some of the pieces she assigns the girls thinking, "There's no way."  Yet, they rise to the occasion and learn their music.  Tay is further advanced after one year of playing than I was after four.  The right teacher can make a HUGE difference.  Paying the extra money for an excellent teacher in this case is worth it to me.  

Tay and Mrs. Frueh

Payte didn't play in the recital because she just started.  She loves it!

Camping!!!

We wanted to take the kids camping one last time before it became unbearably hot and humid. We had a BLAST! 

Tagg wants to do everything we do.  He was frustrated with not being able to scale the "castle" wall by himself.

We put Tagg in the tent and the rest of us slept outside (with lots of bug spray).

Eating foil dinners

This is me scaling the wall.  

At the Drive-In

We took the kids to the drive-in to see Monsters vs. Aliens.  I thought the movie was dumb and the kids might have too, but they were too  busy loving the experience to care.    

We Love Florida Because....

....there are all kinds of critters to catch and birds to chase.  I can't walk out my front door and not see a lizard dashing off.  I regularly see ALLIGATORS along the bank of a pond I roller blade near.  We often have to stop to let peacocks cross on our way to school.  We've seen wild turkeys and loads of cranes.  There are lots of snakes and frogs too.  I'm okay with all of these things as long as they don't end up in the house.  The kids fished a huge dead frog out of our pool the other day (disgusting, I know).   Frogs are my least favorite of all the above.  They are slimy and fat, and I'm about to loose my dinner thinking about them so I'll stop.

Tay caught a lizard and Dak caught a little snake.  The lizards will bite down on her fingertips and she walks around with them dangling from her hands.  Is she mine?

These sandhill cranes frequent the neighborhood and let us get quite close.  

Sandwich Switch Up

"If you complain about dinner you'll get it for breakfast too."  That's what we say to our kids though we rarely follow through.  Our kids just know they HAVE to eat what they are served. 

Payte always wants a ham and mayo sandwich for lunch, and Tay, PBJ.  I make the sandwiches side by side and didn't realize that one day I packed Tay a peanut butter and turkey sandwich and Payte a jelly and mayonnaise.   I didn't hear about this until about a month after the incident.  Neither of them complained to me.  They just ate it all up, YUM!

The Harts!

Reese's good friend Greg Hart's parents were called  as senior missionaries to the Florida Tampa Mission.  They left two weeks ago and we were SO sad to see them leave.  The kids knew Elder Hart as the MONSTER!!!   We all loved it when they came over.  

Any Bostonian should be familiar with the book "Make Way for Ducklings."  They gave it to us for Christmas.  We miss you Harts!  

Tagg's Birthday

Tagg turned 2 in February.  I know, I know, that was a while ago.  I love this cutie! 

We went out for ice cream on his actual birthday.

Here he is in the junk drawer.  The junk drawer my place for things I am to lazy to put away at the moment.  

We didn't have birthday candles so we used BIG ones. Jane, Brian, Kristi and Van were visiting from Wyoming.

Soccer Dudes!

I took these pictures months ago.  I've been a bad blogger.  Dak completed his first soccer season and Payte her fourth.  They LOVE Soccer!

Two of the four goofballs

Dak worked super hard every practice.