Finally!

It's official.  Zach finally got his Learner's Permit, and now he can officially drive us around.  Only nine more months until the real license! 

Busy Month

We have had a busy month and with Christmas around the corner, it is going to get busier.  Our youngest, Tyler was baptized on November 12th.  It was bittersweet.  He was so excited to get baptized and I was sad to see my last child get baptized, but I am so proud of him and the awesome example he is to me.  Then, last week, a windstorm hit our neighborhood, hard!  Most the homes were okay with minor damage, such as blown tramps, a few shingles, Christmas lights blown off, etc.  Then the rest of us got hit really hard.  We lost 2/3 of our roof, broke one window and cracked another, destroyed our basketball hoop, ruined most of our soffet/facia, bent our garage door, broke some house lights by garage, completely blew out our fence on one side, and then minor crap like tar splashed all over our house.  The wind blew non-stop for about 10 hours.  It was the scariest thing ever.  To look out the window and see big objects flying through the air, is indescribable.  At the end of the day, the house is a mess, but it's only material.  Going through this, makes you appreciate your family that much more.

Halloween

Zach's Pokemon Pumpkin

Becca and Hayley as the "Dead Couple"

No, Tyler is not sick...He is an alien!

Just getting around to posting Halloween pictures. Pictures were taken by Dad this year, so they are a little more goofy and fun.  Enjoy!

Mini Bowl Champs!

After Game Celebrations

This weekend, Zach's football team went undefeated for the entire season and won the Mini Bowl Championship game at Weber State against West Point.  The score was 28 to 6.  It has been such a fun season, and the boys have worked so hard to get here.  For most the team, this was their last game together because most of them go to high school next year, and the team will be divided between two different high schools. Zach had an awesome season as wide receiver and scored 10 touchdowns!  We will miss the Farmington Eagles, but look forward to the Viewmont Vikings sophmore team next year.

Zach doing what he does best-catching!

Always a prayer before game

Student/Friends cheering section

In the endzone for the after point

Zach has a few fans of his own

Friends

The team with Coach MacQueen

On another note, Justin also played football this year for the first time.  His team struggled and didn't win any games, but maybe in 6 years, they will be Mini Bowl champions too! 

8th Birthday

Tyler just celebrated his 8th birthday.  Kinda sad when I think that this is my youngest and last to be baptized.  All Tyler wanted to do for his birthday was to have a football party (I couldn't get him to bite on Classic Skate Center or going to a movie with friends), so we had to plan an outdoor football party.  Fortunately for us, the weather was absolutely beautiful so we had the entire party outdoors.  We converted our backyard into a football field complete with a concession stand and had all the boys report for football training camp.  They had to earn tickets at different stations, such as passing, catching, punting and kick-off.  Then they spent their tickets at the concession stand for food.  Hayley and her friend Whitney were gracious enough to spend their Friday night working the concession stand, so thanks girls!  Afterwards, we had a pinata, then played a game under the lights.  The boys had a blast, and it turned out really well!  Happy Birthday Tyler!

Too Cool for Cake

Zach just celebrated his 15th birthday over the weekend. He is now legal to drive (with a learners' permit), a very scary thought! Being the cool kid that he is, he would not let me plan a hangout party with his friends, so after football practice, some kids just showed up, as usual. He did not want to do the cake and sing Happy Birthday, but some of his friends pushed him up the stairs. I guess this is the new norm for his birthdays, don't plan anything! Happy Birthday Zach!

Back to School

This year we have two in junior high and two in elementary. Boy, how fast they grow!

Cali

Kris thinks the black image on the right is one of the dolphins. Wishing for my other camera the whole time!

We just got back from a fun trip to California. We were trying to go to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but thanks to connecting flights and all the tropical storms, we decided our odds were better flying standby to Long Beach instead. It was a nice, relaxing trip with time on the beach at Newport, swimming with dolphins and sharks, literally! I wish I had taken my SLR camera because I could have caught it on film, but we had our cheap digital camera which has the worst zoom lense ever. Zach and Hayley were out boogie boarding with the surfers, and within a half hour of being at the beach, we saw three fins among the surfers right by the kids! Zach's first thought was that it was a shark, it didn't help that we saw Soul Surfer the week before going there! The dolphins kept coming back throughout the afternoon, then right before we left, some locals noticed a baby shark swimming in the shallow water by us. It was only about 18 inches long, but the kids were sure excited! We also enjoyed a Colorado Rockies game against the LA Dodgers. It was Tyler and Justin's first MLB game, and they were so excited! Tyler is a huge Tulowitzki fan, so he was thrilled to see one of his idols in person. It was actually on our summer bucket list, so it worked out great seeing them there in L.A. while on vacation. So nice to have a relaxing vacation...

Graduation

The Graduate
Halla, Katelin and Hayley

Madelyn, Hayley and Kelly

Singing the last song of her elementary career!

School is officially out, and my second child graduated from elementary. This makes me sad, because now I will have two junior high students and two elementary students. My kids are growing up way too fast! Anyways, congratulations Hayley on moving on to the next big adventure!

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Hayley up to bat

Hayley playing short stop

Justin

Tyler up to bat

Not sure about Tyler's form?!

Justin up to bat

Zach with his teammates after his first home run of the season!

Zach up to bat

Justin on third base

So, this is what we have been doing for the last 6 weeks (on and off, thanks to the rain)...Needless to say, most nights we have had a game (or two, or three and once four!) Good thing we love baseball (and now softball)!

Spring Break

Amidst a very busy week off of school, we were able to take a couple of days off and head to Moab. The kids enjoyed the sand dunes and the hikes in Arches National Park. Very pretty, one of our favorite national parks that we have visited recently (out of Zions and Grand Canyon, our favorite was Arches by far!)