2010 School Starts

Keira's first day of kindergarden.  She was so excited!  Especially that dad walked to school with her.  She wanted him to do it every day.  What a big girl, it was a little hard to watch her go, but the hug I got when we met her after school made it all ok.  She was glad to leave me for school, but also very glad to come home!

Zoe's first day of preschool. She loved it! We are doing joyschool with 4 other families in the neighborhood. I was a little nervous at first to see how it would work out, but it has been wonderful! She likes switching houses and asks everyday if she has school.

Bowling

We took the kids bowling as a reward for something....I can't remember now but we love going bowling!

A few action shots:

 Sasha is helping keep score.  I think she ended up deleting 2 of Kevin's frames and renaming Zoe.

 Look mom, I hit some pins!

 Keira is quite the bowler.  She had a few spares and strikes.  She even beats us when we play wii bowling.  Watch out for this girl.

 He cleaned up with a spare on this one.  That's my guy! 

Backyard Camp out

Last Friday night, we decided to have a backyard camp out.  Easiest camping trip ever!  We put up the tent, borrowed the firepit and got a fire going.  The girls liked eating marshmallows and running in and out of the tent.  Just in case you were wondering, mini marshmallows do not roast well over a fire, but they are fun to eat by the hand full, as Keira can tell you.  Kevin and I stayed up late sitting around the campfire and then I slept in the tent with Keira and Zoe, while Kevin stayed inside with Sasha.  We figured if I couldn't hear Sasha in the middle of the night, we might both actually sleep through the night!  Waking up smelling like campfire I almost forgot we were in our backyard.

Sasha turns 1!

I can't believe that Sasha is already a year old!  She has kept us on our toes right from the beginning (jaundice that required extra hospital time when she was born and a bili bed, enterovirus when she was 2 weeks old that included a 2 day stay at Primary Childrens, and H1N1 in November  - all that and she was only 3 months old!!) We still can't get enough of her and we are so glad she is part of our family.  She loves to laugh, loves being with mom, says dada all the time and thinks she is just as big as the other girls.  I love her strong and very sweet personality.

Sasha soaking up the sun at the splash park on her 1st birthday

We started the day by waking up to Keira singing "Happy Birthday" so Sasha in their bedroom.  Too cute!  We had to sing again when everyone was awake and then again when we opened a present.  We kept singing to her throughout the day just because her reaction was so cute.  She would get excited and then a big grin would spread over her face and she would pretend to get all shy and try to hide in my arms.  It didn't get old.  Keira REALLY wanted Sasha to open a present just as soon as we were all awake.  I think she was more excited than anyone about Sasha's birthday.  She was such a good helper with decorations and wrapping and making sure the cake was finished.  That girl loves birthdays.  To celebrate the day we went to a splash park in the morning and had a great time playing in the water with cousins.  In the evening we had family over for cake and presents.   A few pictures of the day.

Zoe and Lauren at Old Farm Splash Park in Riverton.
I love their hair!

Keira running through the water at Old Farm Splash Park

This turned out to be the favorite toy.  She wanted to play

with this and didn't want to keep opening the rest of

her presents.

Keira and Zoe "helping" open her present.  

Before shot of the cake

Aftermath - she mostly liked just the frosting

Squishing the cake through her fingers

All that chocolate frosting will make you thirsty

Cove Fort

On our way back from California we took a small detour and stopped at Cove Fort.  In the mid 1800's it was the midway point between Fillmore and Beaver and travelers would stop to stay the night.  The Hinkley family lived there for a time and would rent the rooms out.  I loved seeing the rooms furnished in period pieces and hearing the history of how it was built.  The trees behind us are the original black locust trees.  Father Hinkley would gather his family twice a day for family prayer to help guard his family from the outside influence of farm workers, even in that time he was worried about worldly influence on his family.  We also got to tour the huge barn and blacksmith shop behind the fort.  I had my eye on the huge garden they were growing as we were attempting to do the same at home.  Our sad little green beans however looked nothing like those we saw there, but I took heart that most everything else was at least recognizable.  It was a nice break in our traveling to get out and move around as we toured the Fort and then we were off to finish our journey home. 

Southern California, Part 2

The rest of our California trip we camped near the beach and headed to the water during the day and sat around the campfire at night.  We were there with family and cousins and our kids loved running between everyones campsites and getting all the treats they wanted from Grandma and Grandpa's trailer. 

Naptime was a little rough for Sasha. I hadn't seen Kevin for awhile and I was headed to relieve him from baby duty.  Kevin was the only one with the magic touch and this is how I found them one morning, both  snoozing away in the tent.  What a good dad :)

We didn't get a lot of sun while on this trip, it was cool and cloudy most the time.  It didn't stop us from getting in the water, playing in the sand, and generally having a great time.  This was at Oceanside where we spent a very windy day.

Another day we went to San Clemente.  Sasha discovered she loved the water and even let me bury her legs in the sand.  We tried to keep eating of the sand to a minimum. 

We visited one of my best friends from college who has kids the same age as ours, only hers are all boys and we talk about marrying them off when they are older....aren't they cute?  It was an enjoyable evening with pizza and a tasty strawberry dessert while the kids played and we caught up.  Thanks Rasmussens!

We loved our trip to the beach and can't wait to do it again!