Halloween 2010

So this year the kids decided to be a vampire, Snow White, and a witch. Deryk is still loving vampires - his jack-o-lantern even had to be a vampire. He went around trying to scare people all night. And laughed at himself when they were scared. Maycee kept telling people that it was really her, Maycee, because she thought nobody would recognize her. And Shaylee ended up not feeling well and is still sick. It was a fun weekend! Thankfully Halloween is only once a year!

The Adventures of Deryk

This picture says it all. Deryk is so full of sneaky, interesting ideas and experiments lately. Every time I turn around there is another "mess". He is a little tornado that never stops. It's no wonder I'm wanting to go to bed at 8:00 every night. (I wouldn't trade it for anything) :)

Josh found a frog in our driveway and brought it in for me the other night. (I just love frogs! Something about them are adorable to me.) We put it in a jar so the kids could see it the next day. Deryk wanted to play with it, so we let it out in the back yard. He spent an hour trying to catch the frog and gave up. Cute!

I ran upstairs to check email for a minute and came down to Deryk making a "tomato and banana soup". That's what he called it. He had climbed onto the counter with a big bowl, put the bananas I had ready for banana bread and the 8 tomatoes from our garden and mashed them all together with some tongs. He was very serious about it. Thankfully I managed to divert his attention later on so we didn't have to eat any of it.

Back to School

School started a few weeks ago. Finally getting pictures up. Shaylee is in 4th grade with Mrs. Garrett and Maycee is in 2nd grade with Mrs. Coleman. They both love their classes and school! Deryk has adjusted to the girls being gone, but he was sure lonely for a while without them around.

Maycee's 7th!

Maycee had a great birthday! She was mostly excited because Grama came home from the hospital on her birthday and we had her party at Grama's house. (My mom had both knees replaced and is doing "remarkably" well, according to the doctor.) Mayc wanted a shooting star cake this year, so this is what we came up with in a very short amount of time due to everything else going on. She still loves Polly Pockets and Littlest Pet Shop and can sit for hours playing with them. Maycee is such a thoughtful little girl and always wants to be making a new friend or help someone. She loves to read and teach school to Deryk. Her bright, dimply smile can make anyone else smile back. We are so lucky to have her in our family!

More Summer Stuff.......

Deryk's first swimming lessons. He loved the diving board by the end of lessons!

Maycee swimming across the pool.

Shaylee working on freestyle.

Had lots of fun cousin times this summer. Jake and Kennedi were here for a week full of fun stuff!

Eating at Taco Bell.

Swimming at the city pool.

Deryk's 3rd B-day

Our little Deryk isn't very little any more. He had a fun birthday and loved all his presents. He brings many smiles to my face every day. Example: today I was attempting to rest/take a nap (never happens, but I can try). The phone rang and Deryk quietly opens my door and whispers, "Mommy, the phone is calling!" We are so blessed to have him in our family!

He wanted a football cake. (frosting would not stick to the sides for some reason)

Lots of great helpers when he opened presents.

Cheesy grin!

Blowing out candles.

Playing with his new monster trucks.

Freida Manning Reunion

We had SO much fun at the reunion! Took home lots of amazing memories.

Paddle boat at the pond.

Zip line across the pond. Should have worn a swimsuit. Got wet at and on the end!

Rode horses. Shaylee loves doing this!!

Did a lip sync to "Dig a Little Deeper" from Princess and the Frog. Maycee was Mama Ode, Deryk was Ray the firefly, I was the crocodile, and Josh and Shay were the frogs.


Kids doing some painting and crafts.


Lots of beautiful wildflowers - not good for allergies. :)

Summer so far......

Hard to believe just one more month of summer fun before school starts! Here are some of the things we've been up to so far:

Piano recital. Maycee's first one. They both did great!! She accidentally broke off some flowers that were there and thought it was funny for some reason. :)

Deryk was so excited to finally get his "big boy bed." He has done great with the transition and has never gotten out of bed yet after we tuck him in for the night.

Western Days parade.

Had a ward party where the bishop was voted to kiss the pig. Josh came in second place so he was lucky enough to hold the pig. I think he would have rather kissed the pig than hold it. Very stinky!

Vampire!

So Deryk has a huge obsession with Scooby-Doo right now and loves to watch all the movies. We even found one at the library that he hadn't seen yet about aliens and "the gang." He knows all the monsters (the Creeper, Frankenstein, Vampires, the cyber virus, etc.) and loves pretending to be all of them. Right after I tucked him into bed this is what I heard:

Haircuts

Shaylee and Maycee have both wanted to donate their hair to Locks of Love, so last week we got their hair cut way short and gave their hair away. Shay wasn't sure if she would have enough, but she did because she went so short. They both look so adorable! This was our excitement on spring break along with going to picnics and enjoying the warming weather. Now I have to figure out how to fix short hair again......

Featherville

We went on an overnight snow getaway last weekend. Josh got a dispatch to do some plumbing work for Sears in Featherville (apparently no one else would go there), so we thought that would be a perfect excuse to go along and have some fun. My aunt and uncle were so generous to let us use their cabin up there. Thank you!! It is a beautiful place to be able to regroup and get away from the every day things. We just played in the snow, watched movies, and went swimming at the hot springs pool. Since it was cold outside the hot water at the pool had a lot of steam floating around it. You can barely see us through the steam in the picture. I wish all pools had this feature so you can hide behind it. :) The kids loved the weekend and didn't want to leave. (I didn't either!)

Shaylee is 9!

I am a little late posting Shaylee's birthday. She had a fun week and is definitely acting like a 9-year-old. Actually, it could be a 12-year-old because of the attitude issues. I'm not sure I am ready for it all. :) We had a fun family party on her birthday and then she had a friend party on Friday. It was a pajama party with games, nail painting, a movie, and treats. Eight silly girls running around for 2 1/2 hours. They are cute! I'm not too sure Shaylee was happy about her cupcakes at her friend party. They ate pizza and then I said, "Oh, I forgot the rest of your dinner." Then I brought out the spaghetti cupcakes. They all looked at me like I was insane (which I could have been at that moment) and then they giggled a few minutes later. It was great! Shaylee is an amazing girl and we are so blessed to have her in our family!!