Chase's 11th Birthday!

For Chase's birthday breakfast, he requested sweet rolls.  So I made "homemade" roads rolls sweet rolls.  The boys love devour them!!!  Chase was excited to eat on the "you are special plate."  I asked Chase if he wanted to be checked out of school for lunch but he wanted me to bring him Subway instead.  His sweet teacher lets the kids eat lunch with her on their birthdays.  So Chase chose Joseph, Sam, Sam and Zack to eat lunch with him and Mrs. B.  Mrs. B. has been such a wonderful teacher. Chase loves school so we treated her to lunch too.

Bridger was feeling left out so I met him in the lunch room with a subway meal and sat by Bridger while he ate his lunch.  He's still in the phase where he loves his mommy and wants to give me lots of loves in public.  I just love that and I'm soaking it up!

Originally it was Chase's year to just have a family party but most of his friends had parties and I figured it won't be long before he doesn't want any friend parties so I gave in and said he could have a friend party.  He was SO excited!  The only thing he wanted to do was go to Hang Time.  It's a big warehouse filled with different trampolines.  I was able to find some discount tickets on line so it made it more reasonable.  There are so many boys his age in our neighborhood so it was really hard to limit it and we still ended up with a big group.  But the boys had lots of fun.  Their favorite thing was the dodge ball and basketball area.  The boys jumped for over two hours.  Mom and Marilyn came down to help drive because Matt and I couldn't fit all the boys in our two cars.  

After jumping, we brought the boys back for pizza.  We had 14 boys (including Chase and Bridger) and they ate 8 pizza's!!!  We invited the C's to come up for pizza and cake.  Aliyah was too little to go to the jumping place.  Chase requested chocolate cupcakes.  He said that he's burned out on marshmallow brownies so it's nice that he's finally eating cake!  You can tell from the pictures that they're a fun group of boys!

The friends stayed until 8:30 and then we took them home.  They wanted to stay and play night games but I was done so I told them that we promised their parents we would have them home at 8 and it was already 8:30.  Chase was very excited with his presents.  He got a rubber band bracelet making kit.  (It's one of the latest crazes.)  He got a new swimming suit, the new Lego Marvel Wii game, and the Lone Ranger Disney infinity characters. His big gift was a basketball with a note from Jimmer.  Bridger got really confused and asked if Jimmer was coming to our house.  Chase gets to go to a basketball camp for three days that is taught by Jimmer.  He's going with his friend Easton.  Chase was SO excited!!!!  

Mom, Dad, Marilyn and the C's went out to dinner with us to celebrate Chase's birthday the next week.  Chase wanted to go to an all you can eat pizza restaurant.  Grandpa and Grandma R took Chase over to the outlets and let him pick out an outfit and some Nike Elite socks for this birthday.  Marilyn gave him so money to spend at Nike.  It's the first birthday that Chase has not asked for a toy but is requesting only clothes.  He's growing up!  After dinner, Matt and I took Mom, Dad, and Marilyn to see the Monuments Men movie.  We had given that to Dad for Christmas and were finally getting around to taking him out!  

Chase Basketball

Chase was invited to play on a competitive basketball team this winter.  Coach Cloward was great with the boys and Chase really improved!  They had so much fun that they continued to play in the spring season.  Luckily the spring season was shorter and it overlapped soccer by just a couple of weeks.  There were some neighborhood boys that weren't on the competitive team but were on the Rec team so Chase decided to play Rec basketball too.  It made our schedule very busy but he loved it.  His Rec coach was great too!  The team had several boys from our neighborhood and then boys from school.  Easton was on both teams with Chase so that helped with carpooling luckily!  Chase is constantly asking to go over to the church to practice basketball.  One day we'll have our own basketball hoop.

Grandma and Grandpa A came to one of Chase's most exciting games.  They were behind the whole game and then the last two minutes their team pulled ahead and won the game.  The boys were so excited!  It was like they had won the championship game.  It was awesome!!!!

Cabin Time

Matt had a few days off in March so we called my Aunt Kaye and asked her if we could go to her cabin.  She generously said "yes!"  We went up from late Friday night until Tuesday afternoon.  We left Friday after the boys came home from school.  Monday was a school holiday so they only missed one day of school.  We didn't know if there was going to be any snow left.  At the bottom of the hill the snow was all melted but by the time we got to Kaye's cabin, there was still 2-3 feet of snow.  The boys were in heaven!!!  Every day they would go out and play in the snow for at least 3-4 hours.  The snow was hard and frozen which made it perfect for sledding.  They were light enough that they stayed right on top of the snow.  Sophie LOVED playing in the snow too!  We had to bring her inside while the boys were sledding because she would chase after the sleds and get in their way.

Bridger and Chase enjoying some hot chocolate after playing in the snow all day.  We had such a great time at the cabin.  It didn't work out for anyone else to come up and be with us so it was just our little family the whole time.  It ended up being nice and quiet.  We played lots of games together and watched movies at night.  We went for long walks every day.  The weather was beautiful!  The last day it snowed just a couple of inches so everything was white when we woke up.  We needed the rest and relaxation!!!!

Chase's Arrow of Light

 Chase has had a great Weblos leader.  Chase worked really hard and finally earned his Arrow of Light.  We have a man in our ward that cuts out these "Arrows of Light" paints them and then donates them to the ward.  Chase was very excited to get his "Arrow!"  He's been very diligent in going to scouts every week and working on his achievements at home.  We're so proud of him!

Bridger Finally Lost a Tooth!!!

 So one morning, Bridger told me that his front bottom teeth were hurting him. He said "I can feel something poking me."  So I looked in his mouth and I could see his bottom front teeth pushing through even though his baby teeth were still there!  I called the dentist in a panic and they said to just wiggle them for a week and if they don't come out then to bring him in and they'll pull them out.  I told that to Bridger and told him I didn't want to pay the dentist. So for the next two days, Bridger was constantly wiggling his two front bottom teeth.  They didn't seem to be budging very much.  I was tucking Bridger into bed and I told him I wanted to try to wiggle his tooth.  So I gave it a good yank and it almost came out.  But it hurt a little so Bridger wouldn't let me try again.  So while I was talking to Chase, Bridger said "Mom! I pulled out my tooth!!!"  I couldn't believe he did it all by himself.  We came running downstairs to tell Matt the exciting news. So then Matt gave the other tooth a good yank and it came out!  So Bridger lost two teeth in one night.  He was so excited to finally have lost a tooth.  He wrote a letter to the tooth fairy that said "Dear Tooth Fairy, please give me money but don't take my teeth. Love, Bridger"  He really wanted to show his teeth to his teacher and friends.  Bridger wrote in his journal "First my tooth was wiggling.  Next my mom tried to pull my tooth out but it didn't come out.  Then I wiggled it a lot.  Finally I pulled my tooth out all by myself."  Is was such an exciting night!!!!

Way to Go Bridger!

 Last year Chase did the Reading Triathlon.  He had no desire to do it again but Bridger was really excited to try it.  Bridger earned his Bronze medal in the Reading Triathlon.  He had to read 8 books, do one hour of service and run 4 miles.  For his service project, he counted raking our leaves last fall.  He ran at least 4 miles in the running club at school.  He was so excited to earn his Bronze medal.  He's hoping to earn his silver and gold.  Luckily he loves to read so it's been really fun!  February 24, 2014

 Bridger was feeling all bad that he has a summer birthday and doesn't get to celebrate it during school.  Luckily his teacher picked a day and celebrated his "un-birthday."  Bridger came home so excited that he got to celebrate his un-birtdhay at school.  The teacher had all the kids write Bridger a birthday note.  They said some very nice things about him.  I can tell that he is a good friend!  February 28, 2014

Bridger really wanted to participate in the Story Telling festival at his school.  I knew we were going to be out of town so I tried to discourage it but there was not changing his mind.  He picked out the story "I was so mad."  He worked so hard on memorizing it.  On February 18, he performed his book in front of his class during library time.  The next day he was told that he was chosen as one of the 1st grade finalist to compete in the next round of the competition.  He was so excited!!!  So on February 27th we went to a little program and he competed against 7 or 8 children from kindergarten through third grade.  He worked so hard on his book.  He needed to make it a little longer so he added a few extra lines.  He did a great job!!!  I thought it took so much courage to get up in front of a big group and tell his story.  He got a certificate and he picked out a candy bar.  As we were walking out to the car he said "I want to do that again next year."  He's so brave!  Unfortunately he didn't get picked as the finalist to compete at the district level but we were still so proud of him!!!

Skiing

I asked my doctor if I could go skiing this season and she said "definitely NO!!!"  So the boys haven't been very much.  We haven't had a great snow season plus we've been busy with basketball games on Saturdays.  But Matt finally took the boys skiing.  He didn't want to deal with the weekend crowds so he pulled them out of school and took them on his post-call day.  I thought I had everything lined up but around 9:30 Matt called me and said that Bridger had left his coat and ski pants at home.  So I threw on some clothes (instead of going in my pj's) and headed up to SD.  I watched them ski for a couple of hours and then ate lunch with them.  We fixed sandwiches and ate them in Matt's truck.  I headed home after lunch.  They stayed for a couple more hours.  The snow was really soft and not fresh so it made it harder for the boys to ski.  They're not used to skiing in cream o'wheat.  Bridger's legs got really tired so they came home around 3:00.  I asked the boys if it was worth it and they said "the snow wasn't that great but it was better than going to school."  That's for sure!!!

Spoiled Sophie!

 The other day I couldn't find Sophie.  I found her on Bridger's bed happy as can be.  She acted like it's her bed.  Before Bridger goes to sleep, he calls for Sophie and tries to get her to sleep with him.  Sometimes she only last a couple of minutes and other times she'll snuggle with him all night.  I love the picture of Bridger's foot resting on Sophie.  What a spoiled dog!!!!!

Happy Valentine's Day

Our flight out of Puerto Rico was cancelled for Thursday so it threw our plans off.  We weren't able to get out of Puerto Rico until Friday because of the big storm hitting the East coast.  We enjoyed our extra day in Puerto Rico.  I told Matt that I didn't want to go anywhere I just wanted a relaxing day.  So we slept in, then went and worked out and then sat by the pool for a couple of hours.  It was a perfect way to end our trip.  We flew out on Friday around 1:00.  It was a long day flying but we finally made it home around 10:00P.M.  Mom and Marilyn picked us up at the airport.  The boys were waiting for us with these awesome signs.  I have to admit that I teared up.  It was so good to see the boys!!!  We missed them so much!  Matt joked that it was a great Valentine's day because he didn't have to buy me any flowers or presents. Our trip was a great Valentine's present.

Luckily the boys made their Valentine boxes at school.  Grandma helped them with their Valentines.  She bought a cookie kit so on Saturday we frosted the cookies and ate them.  The boys got a Disney Infinity character and a cool new summer outfit.

Puerto Rico

The Summer's invited us to go on a "work" conference with them.  We knew I would be 26 weeks pregnant so we didn't know how things would work out with my pregnancy.  So we booked our trip a little later than them just to make sure everything was going ok with the pregnancy.  Because of that, we weren't in the same hotel but it still worked.  We needed to rent a car so we just kept the car at our hotel and then Matt would drive over to their hotel for the conference.  It made it nice to have a car so we could see lots of things.  We went to a beautiful beach one afternoon.  The waves were very strong and they pounded us but we still had fun.  Tiff forgot her sunglasses so she bought new ones during our first shopping day.  While we were playing in the ocean, Layne told Tiff to take her glasses off but she said "they're on tight. They'll be ok."  The next wave came and knocked Tiff over.  When she came up, her glasses were gone.  It turned into our joke for the rest of the trip.  We had such a good laugh at poor Tiff's expense.  Luckily she was a really good sport about it.  But she didn't buy any more sunglasses.  February 10th.  

I laugh when I look at this picture because Tiff bought a really cute sun hat.  So I saw how cute she looked in hers and I thought I would were the one I borrowed from Shan.  After I saw this picture, all I could do was laugh!!!!   Tiff looks much better in her sun hat!

We found the "Original Pina Colada" place that we discovered when we went on our cruise with them.  We were walking around the town when we stumbled upon it.  We wrote down the address and came back for the best ever Pina Colada's on February 13th.  

Our taxi cab driver recommended the restaurant Barrachina to us.  It ended up being really good but it was ALL meat!!!!  The men were in heaven!  Look at those ribs!!!! February 13th.

We wanted to go to the Rain Forest so on Tuesday, Layne and Matt skipped out a little early and we drove over an hour to get to the El Yunque rain forest.  We went on a mile hike to get to the La Mina Falls.  It was beautiful and well worth it.  (The hike was not too bad.)  We played under the falls for a while until we got too cold.  The water was freezing at first but we had worked up a sweat from the hike so it felt good at first.  The best part was watching Layne and Matt goof off under the falls.  Tuesday, February 11.  

We went on a little excursion one night through the Bio Illuminesence lagoon.  Most people take a kayaking tour but they wouldn't let me because I was pregnant so we had the "lazy" tour and were on a boat.  I was worried about the boat ride but it was an opened boat and it had to go really slow.  It ended up being an awesome night!  The scenery was beautiful!  It was a full moon so we were worried that it would make things too bright but we were still able to see the lights in the water.  

Once it got dark, they gave us pvc pipes to stir the water around with.  As you moved your stick in the water, the water would light up because of some fungi that's in the water.  I don't understand the science behind it, but it was really cool!  Wednesday, February 12th.

We were supposed to fly home on the 13th but because of a big storm hitting the east coast, our flight was cancelled in Atlanta.  Luckily the airlines called us on Wednesday, February 12th and told us to reschedule our flight home.  It looks us almost a day to finally reach a real person on the phone and reschedule our flight.  The earliest we could fly out was the next day on Friday the 14th.  Mom and Marilyn were great to stay with the boys an extra day.  Because the storm was so massive, we were worried that we could be stuck until next week.  But luckily we were delayed by only a day.  We were just grateful that the airlines called us ahead of time and that we didn't get stuck in an airport.  It was really rough to spend an extra day in Puerto Rico.  It ended up being my favorite day because I told Matt all I wanted to do was relax!  So we slept in and I sat by the pool for a couple of hours.  Then we went out to dinner with the Summers.  What a great trip!