Dare Devil...

Unfortunately this post will have no pictures of the story I am about to tell...I didn't think I would need the camera so I didn't bring it...needless to say, from now on I'm taking my camera everywhere.

Last night we took the kids to the Joseph City pool (yes we have an indoor swimming pool) because it was the last night for open swim.

The boys loved it.

Kaysen is doing so much better at holding his breath under water...thanks to a second round of swimming lessons.

I believe that was the 2nd time Gage has been in a real pool.

The kid was in heaven.

We taught him how to blow bubbles in the water and he actually did amazing.

I knew Kaysen would want to jump off of the edge of the pool and have us catch him but I didn't want Gage doing it because I know how brave he is and that he will jump off with no one there to catch him.

I was right.

Luckily we were always there to catch him...but he wanted to jump when we weren't ready.

He saw the diving board and immediately started running there.

So...Jerry swam down to the 10 1/2 foot deep section while I walked Gage along the diving board. He was a bit scared as he walked along but as soon as he saw Jerry he crouched down and jumped right off...twice.

He wanted to do it again and again but we didn't let him.

That kid is definitely going to be my brave little dare devil that I will have to watch out for all the time. The boy isn't even 2 years old and there he is doing what 6 year olds were scared to do.

Oh man I hope I have the endurance to keep up with this boy....

On His Own...

I have just recently come to the conclusion that my almost 4 year old is growing up way too fast.

Just this week he has proven to me that he does not need pushed on the swing anymore.

He can pump his legs all by himself.

He is loving that he can go to the swing anytime, meaning he doesn't have to wait for me to get there to help. He wants to be out there ALL day now...

This is how high he can get...when only pumping for a few seconds...look at him go.



For the past week he has been telling Jerry and I that he wants his training wheels taken off of his bike.

We tried and tried to tell him that he wasn't quite big enough and that he would probably wreck a lot on it.

That did not discourage him.

So last night we took the training wheels off for the first time.

He made sure to put his 4 wheeler helmet on while he rode his "dirt bike"

The little stink did really good actually. The first few tries he only went about 20 feet but after about 30 minutes of working with him he could eventually go about 100 feet before he quits pumping those legs. He has also learned to put his legs down to slow down, this has greatly decreased the amount of wrecks he has had.




However, after each wreck he just gets right back up and tries again. He is determined to ride his bike like "the big boys do."

ps. I have some great footage of these little rides, but they are on my video recorder and are pretty long...I'm sure pictures will suffice.

Independence Day...

This year we stayed in JoeTown for our Independence Day Celebrations and I'm so glad. We haven't come for the past 2 years and this was the perfect year to go. They had so many things for the kids to do. My boys loved it.

Here's our patriotic boys getting ready to go to the park and watch the 5 minute parade.

Once we got to the park we saw many booths set up for the kids.

They had mini golf...the boys liked it but it took them quite a while to get the hang of it.

They had water slides/pools. This was definitely their favorite place to be that day. We took them back about 3 times. I dont' blame them though...it was major hot out that day. This one was just perfect for Gage. He went up the little stairs and down that slide a million times and never got sick of it.

And Kaysen LOVED this one. Here is is sliding down for the first time. He was a little unsure because once he hit that first bump he caught some good air and went flying. He decided he loved it and continued going down all three slides on this thing. As you can tell, it was a hit with all of the kids.

Every year they even have activities for us big kids. This year Jerry and I were on an outdoor volleyball team with our sister in law, Kylie, and Jerry's Dad, Nelson. It was single elimination though and we lost our first game but it was close and we had so much fun. Jerry and I also competed in a horseshoe tournament but didn't do too well there either. We only made it to play 2 games. Maybe next year we'll do better??

This is my cheesey boy taking a picture, enjoying his snow cone as we watch some volleyball.

And this is my other cheesey boy that won't show that typical smile because he is WAY too busy enjoying his snowcone.

We enjoyed some delicious hamburgers while we sat and watch volleyball too. You can see the remains of the hamburger on Gage's face below....This picture of Gage is just 2 minutes after sitting him in the car. I took the pic just as his eyes were closing. We sure wore him out...and the rest of us too.


We headed home for a little nap before we headed to the gym for Jerry's 3 on 3 basketball tournament. His Dad and brothers, Jeremy and Tyson all played. I can't believe how active his dad is...he will be 61 years old but he's out there every year competing in all of the events. I hope Jerry and I can say that when we are his age. They actually did pretty good too...they won 4 out of 6 games, not sure what place that is but that was pretty impressive to me. The 3 on 3 tourney is a major hit here every year and they always have a lot of good teams.

After the basketball tourney we headed to Jerry's parents house to eat dinner and play my favorite card game...ROOK. They've hooked me on that game.

Holbrook had their firework show on Sunday so we headed over there and parked the truck to watch. The boys were a little stir crazy from sitting in the bed of the truck for an hour but we battled that with Dora. Luckily we had our DVD player in the truck or else I would have gone crazy.

Once the fireworks began they sat still and watched...for 10 minutes.



Once they decided to start getting crazy again we decided to leave. We headed over out Bill and Sandy's house to play 6 man wahoo. We had never heard of it but decided to give it a try. Its a game like aggravation with a little bit of a twist. Krystin and Kyle won the first round, then Jerry and I won the second...thanks to Bill for killing Kyle before he could put his last man in place :) Then we realized it was nearly midnight and our kids were still awake so we headed home.

We had a fun and busy 4th and we are so grateful that we live in a town that makes it so much fun and special and we are so grateful that we live in a country where we have our freedom. Thanks to all the servicemen and women out there who make it possible!