Happy Birthday Matthew!

Matthew turned 37 on March 28. It was a Sunday, so the kids let him sleep in a little....while he was sleeping, they got creative in card making and book making.....we had fun letting the kids read their cards/books to him.....then for dinner, he really wanted some GOOD steak.....not sure if we really got the good stuff, but he did end up grilling some steak for dinner!! We also gave him some blu-ray dvds so we can try out the new bluray player on our computer (Matthew said that was his real gift....the fact that we spent a little more on our new computer for him to have bluray!....i couldn't just not get him something, so i was blessed to find a fabulous sale on some bluray movies!)

Jessica's New Pet

Jessica bought herself a new pet.....a guinea pig....she named Rosalie(yes, from Twilight)......she has committed to paying for the food, etc. for her.....I have to admit, I think she is my favorite pet we have ever had! She is very content to let the kids hold her and pet her, and yet when they let her run around in the hallway, she puts on a fun little show!!!

Secret hiding places....

I remember growing up, it seemed at each house we lived at we had a special "secret" hiding place in our yard.....not that they were too secrative, but it was a fun place to go and play with my siblings....in Maine, I remember a little path that had rhubarb growing from our yard to another yard, I remember by the sand box in Marayland, there was a big tree area.....anyway, it has been fun to watch Jared and Kayleigh find their place in our yard....they seem to venture to the side of our house, and play on this rotting picnic table that we inherited with our house :)....they love going there b/c it is the "gold mine" for bug/frog collecting/finding!!!!

Happy Birthday, Jessica!!!!

Jessica turned 14 on Monday, March 22! It is hard to believe that it was 14 years ago that we were bringing her home from the hospital!!! As we sat on Monday night for FHE and watched a home video of bringing her home, I was amazed at how young we were, first of all....and it brought to memory the excitement and nervousness, and cluelessness that came with bringing home your first baby! I realize that all of those feelings continue to exist....but most of all, the happiness that we had with bringing her into our family and home continues to be the thing that really still exists....she sure does bring a lot of happiness to our lives......schooling is going well this year....she just finished her 2nd trimester with almost straight A's.....Math gave her a B+....but she is excelling well, and really applying herself well with academics.....she is enjoying her Young Womens experience at church.....including getting ready for a regional dance festival....which has her dancing with boys!!!....are we really ready for this????....speaking of dancing, now that she is 14, she will get to start attending those stake youth dances!!!--I have many fun memories of my own from those years!!! Jessica is also a good friend....she loves having a social life...just last month she hosted a girls night out with about 12 girls from church and school....they came over, played games, and just enjoyed being together and hanging out! On the homefront, she is good to babysit for us....she is good to give Jared and Kayleigh lots of love....we all love her, and we are thankful she is part of our family.

Now, here are some pictures from her B-day Celebration(s)!

First Celebration....

On Friday, a few of her school friends threw her a surprise b-day party!

On Saturday, Alisa, Ryan, Owen, Liz, Travis, Calvin and Miles came to help us celebrate....that is when we had the cake! Jessica wanted a Jonas Brothers cake

above: The cake

below: the book that I was going off of

Liz, Alisa and families gave Jessica a gift...some yummy candy bars, a couple of scarves and this SUPER ADORABLE SKIRT!!!!

we went to the school playground for part of the afternoon....it was a beautiful sunny day! We played a little 4 square!

Sunday morning.....Jessica wears her new skirt and scarf from Alisa and Liz....it is so fun to have aunts in the area who have some good fashion sense.....she was looking and feeling so cute/pretty!...she had many compliments from friends at church!

And, finally....Monday.....she opted to save present opening for THE DAY....so it would feel like her b-day! Her biggest gift was a new camera.....she is also excited to spend some b-day $ from Grandma and Grandpa, and she got a few new books, and the New Moon---Twilight movie.

(Jared or Kayleigh took over camera duty.....but this was the only picture we have of her and her camera.

Cub Scout trip to an Airport

Jared went to a local airport with his scout troop on Thursday. Matthew went too.....sounds like they both had fun! Some of the pictures that came back made me wonder who had more fun....the boys or the dads! checking out the airplain
taking control of the airplain

Jared and his friend, Jaden

And, the big boy!!!!

Jared's first official Pinewood Derby

Jared had his first official pinewood derby race a few weeks ago.....I say first official one b/c my family had a family pinewood derby that he participated in several years ago.....but this was his first cub scout pinewood derby experience.

Basketball!!!

Kayleigh played basketball this year! My family that I grew up in is a basketball family, so it was fun to have one of my children play! Once she got over her social anxiety issues, she seemed to progress well for her first year.....she play in a K-2nd grad league....poor girl was a little too short to make a basket this year, but she tried her hardest.....she was a great passer on her team, and her number 1 contribution was rebounding! She knew where to plant herself under the basket to get those rebounds...and she would fight for some of those rebounds! I think she is off to a basketball career!!! This is her trophy that she got at an end of the season party.

Kayleigh's friend, Brooklyn and her family came to cheer her on for one of the games! Thanks guys!!!

Kayleigh dribbling her ball she got for Christmas!

Notice, she was on the blue team.....her favorite color!!!!