Soccer

My boys just finished their soccer season.  Here are just a couple of pictures to sum it up.

This is how Jack wanted to spend most of his season.  If he wasn't playing goalie he just wasn't interested.  He was actually a pretty good goalkeeper, but he said that he thinks that fishing is going to be his fall sport from now on.  : )  Jeremy coached Jack's team and they had a good season.

Tad spend most of his season like this.  He loved going to the soccer fields and watching his big brothers play.

Thomas had a good season.  He was an asset to his team, kicking some goals and providing some key passes that resulted in goals for his team.   He played all positions during the season, but was mostly a midfielder and forward.  It was nice for him to have a good season, since last year his team really struggled.  This year his team only lost one game and they were the team with the best record when the season ended.

Dallin had another great season.  He has been really fortunate the last couple of years to be drafted by coaches who put together great teams and provided really fantastic coaching.  Dallin was a key player on his team.  He scored goals in the double digits and provided great assists and defense when needed.  He also proved himself a real clutch player, pulling off key penalty kicks during tournament games.  He spent the year playing forward and sometimes midfield.

At Dallin's level they have a tournament at the end of the season.  His team was the top seed going into the tournament.  It was double elimination, but they never lost a game and won the championship.  Way to go guys!!

It was a good season and we will miss watching our boys play.

Drake is Five!

Drake just had his fifth birthday!!

He had a fun day starting with a breakfast out with Mom and Dad, moving on to chocolate cupcakes and presents, and then ending with the ward trunk-or-treat.  He also had a quick visit with GG and Granddad and a phone call from Grandma and Grandpa.

We love having Drake in our family. He is super smart and fun and he is also very diligent about doing what he should.  He absolutely won't go to bed at night until he has changed into his pajamas, brushed his teeth, said his prayers, and given Mom and Dad a hug and kiss goodnight.  He is a fantastic little boy and we are so glad to have him in our lives everyday.

Happy Birthday Drakers!  We love you!!

Disneyland

Well, here it is - - the promised post on our Disneyland trip.  I really don't like Disneyland, and this trip reminded my why.  I just don't like such crowded conditions and waiting in lines - Ugh!!  It makes me kind of crazy. Luckily the week we went was not too bad, I guess it got WAY worse after we left.  I have a hard time understanding people who want to go to Disneyland for every vacation.  It is just too expensive in my mind and the geographer in me feels that there are so many places and things I would like to have my kids experience rather than having the fake Disneyland experience over and over and over.

Regardless of my feelings about the place, I still felt like my boys should experience going to Disneyland a time or two while they are still kids.  Ultimately, they had a good time and I think it was worth the expense - at least this once. ;-)

My mom and dad, and my sister and her family met us there, so it was a little mini family reunion which made it a lot more fun - especially for my kids.

So, here you go, a few pictures of  my kids and their cousins at Disneyland and California Adventure.

The older cousins at the little water park area at the hotel.

We also spent a day at the beach.  We took the Ferry out to Balboa Island and it was perfect.  The weather was just right, the waves were great and it was not too crowded.  We had so much fun there.  It was the perfect escape from the craziness of Disneyland.  I think my kids had at least as much fun there as they did at Disneyland.  Here are a few pics . . .

Good times all around!!

London Bridge

Last week we finally took our boys to Disneyland. It was a trip we had saved for for two years and I will write more about it later, but I wanted to post first about a little side trip we took on the way.

 Before I was a resident of Arizona I had no idea that the London Bridge was located in Lake Havasu City.  Not just a replica, but the actual historic London Bridge - from London, England.  Ever since I found out about it, I have wanted to see it, but it is about 4 1/2 hours away, so that doesn't make for a very easy day trip.  As I was planning our trip to California, I discovered that if we took I-40, rather than going through Phoenix, the difference in time was only about 30 minutes, but it would allow us to take a little side trip to Lake Havasu City to see the London Bridge.  Decision Made!!

I am so glad we took the time out to see this bridge and learn a little more about it and how it ended up in Arizona.

This is the actual bridge that spanned the Thames River.  It was built in the early 1800's, replacing the rickety old wood bridge that had been there since the 1300's.  The bridge was so busy that in the early 1900's it was widened to accommodate the heavy London traffic.  Unfortunately, this caused the bridge to start sinking.  In the 1960's it was decided that the bridge would need to be replaced by a new modern bridge and the old bridge was sold at a silent auction.

The winner was American oilman Robert P. McCulloch, who founded Lake Havasu City.  In 1967 the London Bridge was dismantled and each piece was carefully labeled and numbered and shipped to Arizona.  The reconstruction of the bridge was completed in 1971 and successfully turned Lake Havasu City from a spot in the road in the middle of nowhere into a successful tourist attraction and retirement destination.

The stonework on the bridge is really beautiful, so I took a bunch of pictures to really appreciate it.

Jeremy and the boys on top of the bridge.

The boys in front of the bridge.

The whole family at the fountain in the English Village at the bridge.

We also took a short side trip to see the Parker dam.  Who knows if we will get out that way again, so we decided to take a look.  Pretty interesting.

The Colorado River at the Parker Dam.

This was a fun side trip that broke up our long drive.  It is something definitely worth a few minutes drive out of your way if you are ever in the vicinity. and if you decide you would like to stay awhile, Lake Havasu has beaches to play on and small working lighthouses that are fun to see, plus lots of shopping and restaurants.  It would probably make a good vacation destination.  We enjoyed our time there.

Dallin

A quick post about my awesome son, Dallin!!

Dallin has had a couple of exciting things happen to him over the past few weeks. . .

First, he moved up to the Intermediate School.

Second, he ran for student council at the Intermediate School - - and won!!  Way to go Dallin!!!

Do you love the Napoleon Dynamite inspired campaign slogan?  The intermediate school does not waste any time. Dallin came home one day and said he was running for student council and the election was the next day, so we hurried up and helped him write a speech and I silk-screened this shirt for him. We told him that none of the kids would get the humor, but a few actually did, and even those that didn't thought it was a dang cool shirt. :-)

Finally, Dallin turned ten years old.  He thinks it is pretty cool that he can claim he is a whole decade old now.

Dallin is an all-around great kid.  We could not ask for a better boy to be the oldest in our family.  He sets such a good example for his little brothers.  He is friendly and kind to everyone.  He is obedient and helpful to his parents.  He is a really great big brother, and most of all, he tries his best to always do what is right.  I feel so blessed to be his mom, and our whole family loves him with all our hearts and we are so grateful that he is part of our family.

Catching Up!

I imported the pictures from my camera onto my computer today, and decided to do a quick catch up post with a little bit of what has been going on lately and a couple of other random pictures.

This summer went soooooo fast.  We were in transition the entire time, due to the timing of the sale of our house, moving, family reunions, and other travels.  We never really settled into a routine, and that made things hard on everyone.  I think for the first time ever, I have been completely ready to send the kids back to school, and they were ready to go.

Right before school started Jeremy and I and the two little boys took a quick trip to Laramie, Wyoming.  We drove up the fast way I-40 to I-25 to I-80, but on the way back we took the scenic route through Colorado.  It was sooo beautiful and we had such a good time.  Here are a few pictures from that trip.

We drove out to the Lincoln Monument, just outside Laramie.  It was pretty interesting, and is a cool sight as you are driving along I-80.

A little rest stop along I-70 in Colorado.

More scenery along I-70.  I had never driven this far on I-70 before and was shocked by how beautiful it is!!

Beautiful Ouray, Colorado.

More views in Ouray.

 We took the short hike to see these Box Canyon Falls in Ouray.  They were really cool.  Definitely worth seeing.

Another picture from our hike.

We took a little time to stop and enjoy the river in Durango.

Isn't it pretty?  We loved it, but of course we are from Arizona where we are pretty parched most of the year.

Now onto some random pictures.

I had to take a picture of this little lineup in our bathroom the other day.  Scenes like this are a common occurrence at our house, but when I saw this, I had the sudden thought that I had better take a picture.  My youngest is three and I have a feeling that the days of seeing these cute little scenes at our house are coming to a close. Sigh!!

Future awesome husbands in training!! The days of scenes like this are, thankfully, not coming to a close anytime soon at our house.

This is the view from the backyard at our apartments.  At our old house we had a lovely backyard view of our neighbor's house.  I have made no secret about the fact that I have had a hard time with leaving my house and squishing into our little rental property, but this is the one area where I believe I traded up.

This was the scene that greeted us in the backyard the other morning.  The boys love it!!!

Finally, the boys started school again yesterday.  I took a couple of quick pictures before we headed over to drop them off.

Jack started first grade.  His teacher is Mrs. Gillespie.  She is the same teacher that Dallin and Thomas had for first grade and they loved being in her class.  She is one of the nicest ladies of all time and I know that Jack will love being in her class too.  Sadly, she is retiring after this year, so my other boys will not get to have her as a teacher.

Thomas started third grade.  All of the second grade teachers moved up to third grade and kept their same classes, for the most part.  So, Thomas gets another year in Mrs. Birtcher's class.  He is sooo happy because he had a great year with her in second grade last year.

Dallin started fourth grade and moved over to the Intermediate School.  He used to visit that school a lot when he was little, since it is the school where his dad taught, but he was still a little nervous about starting there as a student.  He had a great first day yesterday and was looking forward to school this morning, so I think the nerves are gone.  His teacher is Mrs. Olsen.  I don't know her, since she started teaching there after Jeremy left, but we hear good things about her, so I think Dallin will have a good year there.

We had some fun travels this summer, and we are grateful that our house sold so quickly, but Summer - - I am not sorry to see you come to a close this year. We are looking forward to a good school year ahead (and hopefully a move to a larger home sooner rather than later.) ;)