Big news for Ryan!

Sorry, no pictures today, but I wanted everyone to know that if you are around the Draper area on Friday night, Ryan will be singing the National Anthem at the Draper Rodeo! I'm really proud of him and I know he will do a great job!

Swimming lessons

My kids aer now int he second session of swimming lessons at Shinsel Swimming School. They love the water and really enjoy the lessons. This is really great for me, because I am very afraid of water, and I don't want my kids to have the same fear that I do.

Allie is really taking to the water again this year. She loves the fact that she is a big girl and gets to go in the water by herself without mom. She loves to float on her back and tummy and loves to jump off the side and splash her teacher!

Sheldon really had a hard time because they wanted him to put his face in the water so much and he hates to have the water in his eyes. So this session I bought him a pair of goggles and he is doing so much better. He will even go to the bottom of the pool and grab things now.

Okay so he looks a little bit like a nerd in his goggles, but he has a bit of OCD and always has to tighten them and so the sides poke out so that he can tighten them whenever he needs to.

They make them swim the last couple of feet to the stairs by themselves, Sheldon is starting to get the hang of it now and doesn't fight so much to get there.

Ethan and I just sit on the side of the pool and watch, but I am thinking that I might try to get in with him for the last session in August. He loves bath time so much that I think he would really enjoy being in the water twice a week. We will see if they have any openings!

Sunday night surprise

After dinner on Sunday Ryan and I were getting the kids ready for bed when Ryan got a call on his cell phone. Now this isn't such a surprise, because his cell phone is always ringing. The surprise was that it was two people from his mission that he had baptized.

They were in town and going down to Temple Square and wanted to see him.

So we packed up the kids and headed down town.

Here we all are. I never though we had a big family until I see us all together in a picture! :)

Julio, Ryan, Sara

They did there best to try to include me in the conversation, but it was a whole lot easier for them to speak in Spanish. I could pick out a few words here and there, but not enough to really know what they were talking about.

After we were done talking, we walked around a little bit and took some pictures of the kids. Sheldon was very happy to pose for some pictures.

This picture is a good example of what happens at our house all day long. Allie is trying to figure out how Sheldon is standing that way so she can do it too.

Monkey see, monkey do, and monkey get in trouble too!

Doesn't she look so sweet! She loved laying on the grass and smelling the flowers.

I don't realize how much my kids look alike until I see them all together like this. Ethan's first experience with grass... he actually didn't mind it too much.

I kept lifting Ethan up in the air and them bringing him down to kiss his cheeks. He was laughing every time and as a result so was I.

I just had to end with the beautiful picture Ryan took of the sunset. It was so beautiful that night and the sky was awesome.

Fourth of July Fun!

Every year my family goes up to our cabin to spend the fourth of July.

This year was no exception.

We have a horse shoe tournament. I haven't played in it for a few years, but Ryan loves it and his team took 3rd place this year! Way to go Babe!

Allie loves watching the horse shoes, but she loves to pose for Daddy's camera even more! :)

We did bubbles with the kids. The best way to do bubbles in our opinion is with fly swatters. It blows a ton of bubbles without having to actually blow the bubbles!

We also did a treasure hunt, boys vs. girls!

And a coloring contest!

Ethan even got to have some fun with his first taste of Salt and Vinegar potato chips.... he wasn't a fan! :)

Reports of the new baby!

Okay, so all of you know that Ethan had a pretty traumatic birth. And as a result he has always had a weird body position. The past few weeks it has really started to bother me. I think the more that it was just me around him and the more I saw of him sleeping at night, and the less I saw of him sleeping in the day I started to become very concerned. Ethan has never really slept during the day... he would take one or two 15-20 minute naps, but nothing that lasted any longer. It was becoming very draining. One night after getting all of the kids in bed for the night I went back into check on him and his back was arched in such a way that I became very sick to my stomach that something was wrong.

Then next day I talked to Ryan's mom who works at a chiropractic office and told her about it. She called me the next day and told me that I needed to make an appointment for Ethan to come see the doctor. I did, and have been taking him every other day for a week now. I swear to you that Dr. Frogley switched my baby with another one. This new Ethan is an amazing little boy. He takes two 2-3 hour naps every day, he eats really well, is happy and smiling all of the time, and now goes to bed between 7:30 and 8:00 and will sleep until at least 6:30. He also no longer has colic. I am so sold on chiropractic care for infants that if Ryan and I have anymore kids the first thing I will do when we leave the hospital is take the new baby right over the Dr. Frogley.

p.s. I know that babies aren't suppose to sleep on their tummies, but when they start rolling over at 3 months there isn't a thing you can do about it! :)

A day at the park

Today is such a nice day that I figured I would join a few of the sisters in my ward and go to the park. We had lunch and let the kids play for a little while, which ended up being two hours. :)

Allie just loves the swings and would be happy all day if she could just sit in one and be pushed.

She was very happy to pose for the camera. :)

Sheldon loves the swings too, but doesn't like to go as high as Allie does. He is much more timid when it comes to activities like that.

Ethan loves the swings as much as his big kids do, of course Ethan really just likes to be outside... He really could care less what he was doing as long as he feels the sun on his face.

Ryan thinks this hat is silly, but I think Ethan looks so dang cute in it.

We spent so much time on the swings it wasn't much of a chance for me to chat with any adults, (which I am in desperate need of right now), but it was nice to get out in the fresh air and see the kids having so much fun!

Tonight is our first day of swimming lessons, so check back soon to see some new pictures of the kids swimming!

Chocolate Cake Anyone?

On Saturday our ward had an old fashioned picnic, with Sloppy Joe's and lemonade. Our young women were having a bake sale to raise money for camp. This was a perfect opportunity for Ryan to make his made from scratch layered chocolate cake.

Sheldon and Allie were very happy to help when Daddy asked for a couple of assistants. They put on their chef hats and aprons and were ready to go.

Allie really just wanted to put on her apron and pose for a couple of pictures.

So here is the end result. Doesn't it look so yummy! It was a big hit at the picnic, it sold for 2 dollars a slice.

My master chefs!!!