Good, Clean (dirty) Fun

Ethan and I joined a group of friends from church to take part in the 1st Annual Mudslinger of A-Town. Its a 3 mile run/walk/obstacle course with a giant mud pit at the end. I told Ethan I would do it, if he would stay with me the whole time... he agreed and so this became our "date" for the week.

Here's our group... at the starting line they were asking people where they were from (as in what group or organization) we were really hoping they'd ask us so we could shout at the top of our voices that we were the Mormons! But they didn't... guess we should have dressed alike, the painted faces weren't enough.

Ah, it feels good to be on a date and to be clean...
So during the course of the run, we faced a balance beam, a wall to climb, a tire run, an inflatable slide, and hurdles. We had to pull a giant tire from point A to point B, roll some barrels across a field, army crawl under a huge net, and the main event... the mud pit... Ethan stayed with me the whole time, but when he saw that mud he took off. I guess he was excited.
What do you think? Does he look excited? He just went for it...
I was a little more timid...
... but got down and dirty in the end. As one of our friends said, "We're here for the mud!"
We crossed the finish line together, isn't it romantic?
Of course, the post wouldn't be complete without an after pose... we did it! It would have been more dramatic if we had worn white, but hopefully you the idea.

I thought it was funny that this is our shot after we'd "cleaned up" a bit. It was a super fun way to start the day. We had a great time! We may have to find a Mudslinger in our next town... where ever that will be. :)
Thanks Babe for sticking with me to the end!

Labor Day 2011 Part 2

You know, we have some really amazing friends. In fact, they are literally our family away from our family. The Bryners have shared birthdays and holidays with us for as long as we've been in Texas. We love them so much! They invited us over for a fun Labor Day BBQ and it was awesome!

The kids had all sorts of fun, enjoying the bearable temperatures (the first in months!) although they played so hard they look like it was 100+ degrees.

Levi got a bloody nose somehow, I can't seem to remember. I do know that Bishop B wasn't too happy with one of the kids who did it. As you can see it really slowed him down...
Acrobatics were done on the slide. Jill showing her amazing splitting ability.
Jonas the incredible head first boy.
Ooo. And Levi got in on the action, bloody tissue and all.
Miss Eliza sat on this chair and it toppled backward, she wasn't quite sure how to react... to laugh or cry. But my girl, stood up, put the chair back and tried again. She fell at least four times... luckily she figured out that she was OK to just laugh about it.
And success on the chair! Miranda is such a sweet little babysitter already. She walks around with Eliza or Bolton and helps them get things they need. She plays with them, holds them, reads to them. Too bad she's only 6 and I can't hire her!
Aw. Such a sweet duo. Sure love these girls! Isn't Brandi beautiful?
Laughter. The best medicine.
My bunch of monkeys.


And Bolton found the Cozy Coupe...
Lucas wasn't quite ready to share it...
... I guess he likes to be in the driver seat. :)
We had a perfect time! It was just what I needed and I loved spending time with my family away from family. Thanks Bryners for welcoming us and loving us! We love you!

Labor Day 2011 Part 1

Labor Day weekend is always a little bit of a downer for me. Its one of the only times of the year that I get really homesick. My family has a super fun weekend reunion and I really miss it and them.

This year, I tried to talk Ethan into driving all day one day, staying in UT for 2 days and then making the drive in a long day back to Texas... silly guy didn't even consider it. Instead, we planned a trip to San Antonio. We kept the kids home from school on Friday and started down. The first stops were to look at some trucks Ethan was thinking about buying. The kids were not excited about staying in the van while he test drove, so we let them out to play in the dirt. As you can see, we have a baby boy who really loves the dirt!

Harry Potter made an appearance. On a side note, Jonas asked me the other day if Harry Potter was invented when I was a kid, when I said no, he gasped, "REALLY?!?!" I don't know what was more surprising how old I was that Harry Potter wasn't invented, or that there was life before Harry Potter.
I know its the wrong angle, but you can see the joy even still. I love that baby.
Even the kids' hearts were in Utah...
After the test drive (and no purchase) we were blessed enough to go play with our sweet friends, the Sclaters. The girls were far outnumbered, including adults, 9 boys to 4 girls. The kids had SO. MUCH. FUN. I told Jenni and Rod that my kids were in HEAVEN and would probably cry when it was time to go.

The Sclaters spoiled us beyond belief! Pizza, licorice, popcorn, capri suns, dessert pizzas, chocolate kisses, chocolate milk, they even got up early to buy fresh doughnuts for breakfast. We flew threw those 3 boxes!

They even have boxing gear they got out so my boys could go at it. I didn't get any pictures of them, but Jenni did... you can see them here... Bolton was super excited to get his hands on the head gear.
He even tried it on...
"Ugh... I don't want it on!"
We stayed through the first half of the BYU game. Then Ethan said we should stay until they scored... but it was getting to be time to head out. We got as far as Boerne and Rod called and told us we should have left earlier, BYU had just taken the lead! Go Cougars.
Amazingly, the kids went to bed quite easily. There weren't any big fights with all those kids. The Sclaters were super generous (beyond what you've already read) and they watched all our kids so we could go to the temple together. It was a perfect little trip and we are all anxiously awaiting our next get together with our new friends... our place next time?

Thanks a million times over Sclaters! We loved every minute of our time together. You took the homesickness totally out of my system by making us feel right at home!

First Day in the Third Grade (clap, clap, clap)

And the First Grade (clap), and Kindergarten. Better late than never, right. I'm finally getting around to posting about the first day of school 3 weeks ago! The kids were all very excited to start school this year.

Levi's teacher is very kind and he is loving Kindergarten. Nap time is "always short" so he is a happy camper! He is in speech a couple times a week still, but I don't know if they'll keep it up all year. He has improved tremendously! He is also quite the little artist and getting better at writing his letters!

Bryant got to start at the big Intermediate School and says, "Third grade is the best!" They have two teachers, one teaches math, science, and social studies. The other teaches language, reading, and ? I don't remember... sorry. He has a science lab and is excited that he is one of the best readers in his class. His math needs some refreshing, but just for speed's sake.
Jonas wanted his picture on the rope because "Bryant did when he started first grade!" He is doing super great! I am so excited that he is getting more excited about reading and improving by leaps and bounds. He reads 3 or 4 pages in a little chapter book to me every night and then I read to him. He's excited to read some books that Bryant hasn't read so he can have movie night with mom and dad.
At the bus stop.
Don't you just love Eliza's bed head?
And her funny face? She was so cute the first day, I told her we were going to go see Dad at his lunch and she said, "And my brothers?" When I said no, she replied, "But I want to see my brothers!"

Someone spotted something at the duck pond across the street. I sure love my kids.

Getting on the bus. Such big kids. Isn't it amazing how quickly they grow up? I know its bound to only get quicker...

Playgroup Firehouse

For the last big playgroup before school started, we met at a local fire station and had a tour. We missed the first part, because I had an appointment, but got there in time for the super fun stuff! Playing in the fire trucks!

The fire men were super nice and very informative. Just the kind of guys you'd want to give your kids a tour.

They even let Bryant try on their super heavy fire gear.

And at the end of the tour they handed out little fire man hats. So fun!
Our group. Nope, not a day care, they belong to the 4 of us that were there (oh, except one, he tagged along with a friend).
My kids are so willing to pose for a quick picture. Little stinkers. :)