St. George 2014

Our first trip of the summer was up to St. George for a week long Stander family vacation.

Ready for photo overload?  There's a ton even after I scaled it way back.

A few highlights of our trip - 

3 legged races on the golf course,

Many trips to Swig

Hiking in Snow Canyon

Photos of all the kids at the temple

(So much sass walking away)

And a visit to the splash pad in Hurricane.

Not pictured?  Hanging out at the pool, a day at the lake, movies, games of pool and general fun hanging out at the house, water gun fights, shopping trips...we just had too much fun!

Dirty Fun

A few weeks back, the boys had their best little buds over to play since everybody would be going in different directions for the entire month of June.  What started out as normal rough-housing in the back yard ended up as a huge mud pit instead.  It was an entire group effort and kept everybody happily occupied for a couple of hours.

One of the boys tried telling Jessa that she needed to stay inside so she wouldn't get all dirty...he was really trying to be sweet and helpful.  She was surprisingly patient about it; just looked at him like he'd lost his mind and when he shut the door in her face she just turned around and looked at me like "Are you even kidding me??".  She promptly made her way outside to show those boys what's what.

After everybody had gone home and my children had gotten cleaned up, they all sat together in the floor to share some popcorn.  This little pow-wow was done on all their own; I just happened to notice it while walking by.  I love that they love each other so much!

Summer Kick Off Camping Trip

For David's birthday, we got him a brand new tent (seeing as we sold ours after we sold the truck).

We finally got around to using it Memorial Day weekend - just as the boys got out of school.

We went up to Deadhorse Ranch and had a blast.

We did, however, find out that David and I are WAY too old for sleeping on the ground anymore.  We didn't mean to find that out; our air mattress died on us.

The Slide Rock fires were in full swing this weekend, and we could see and smell the smoke quite heavily while we were there.

Thanks to Ashley, we were able to eat!  The fire restrictions were changed literally hours after I last checked them.  She was kind enough to run into town to get a stove so we could cook.

Our poor little Arizona sun rats.  Once the sun started setting, they started getting cold.

(No.  It wasn't really cold.)

Jessa spent 95% of her time right there - in close proximity to all consumables.

 The boys playing hide and seek with Lala.  

Evidently this is the best hiding spot they could come up with.

It's a good thing Brychan insisted on bringing his tooth fairy pillow with him!  Sure enough, his 4th tooth fell out while we were up there.  It's also a good thing the Tooth Fairy was prepared and managed to find us.  Not that he really cared...he gave his spoils to Kehlton first thing in the morning.

Our last evening there, another family "moved in" right next door.  All of the kids were the same ages and they had a blast.  Isn't it amazing how children just instantly bond?  They don't care who the other kids are, where they're from or anything else.  They just want to play.

 Have I mentioned before what an easy baby she is?  She still took her two naps a day while we were up there...I just walked her around camp for 5 minutes each time and she went out.  I don't think I've ever seen a child that likes her sleep as much as Jessa does!

Last Day of Kindergarten

Brychan's last day of Kindergarten started off on the wrong foot.  Brychan and I fought the entire time getting ready for school (he did NOT want to wear the shirt I was making him wear, he did NOT want to wear his tennis shoes, he did NOT want to brush his hair...you get the idea).  We finally made it to school and I realized that I had left the camera at home (which I am still so upset about) and my phone in the car.  Between David and Lala, we managed to get a few (very blurry) photos and video of what turned out to be an absolutely adorable program.

Luckily, Brychan's mood changed drastically before the program started and he had a blast.  The kinder teachers did an amazing job putting their program together and I had a really difficult time not bawling through the entire thing (disclaimer: I always cry when there are large groups of children doing anything.  Primary programs get me every time - and always has, so it's not just that my son is getting so big.  However, that doesn't help matters at all).

Best friend Nate

 Mr. Fishencord (AKA Mr. Fish)

I am so sad that Mr. Fish is moving to a brand new school next year, so there's no chance Kehlton will have him when he's in Kinder.  Fish is a great teacher!!

 So happy to be a 1st Grader!

Ice Cream Party/Last Day of PreK

One of the preschool traditions at Desert Harbor is an ice cream party for the families on their 2nd to last day.  It's only one of two times in the school year that families are invited to spend the day in the classroom, and we always love it!

This year is kind of bittersweet as this will be our last year with Ms. Mellisa.  She taught Brychan for two years and then Kehlton this year.  It has been decided that Kehlton would benefit more from the community classroom rather than the special needs classsroom (he will still get the speech therapy that he needs) so we will have a new teacher in the fall.  We LOVE Ms. Mellisa and are very sad to be leaving her.  Hopefully Jessalyn will find a way to sneak into her classroom when it's her turn for preschool!

Muffins with Mom

Last week was Muffins with Mom at Brychan's school.

And events like these are what I live for.  I LOVE being able to go to all these fun school events with my children.  I just really love being a mom (even when the 18 month old has been screeching for two days straight - thank you new teeth - and I just want to put cotton in my ears to drown some of it out).

We met up with the Carney's (surprise!) to eat our breakfast.  It's a good thing Tiffany and I are friends too; as much as all of our boys are joined at the hip.

 My cute boy

 (who still smiles like Chandler Bing for all photo opps)

Less than 3 weeks of school left.  Can't wait!!

Easter

Just a few fun photos we took Easter Sunday after church.  

Obviously, everybody was more interested in playing and climbing trees than taking photos!

 Can you tell who runs our household?  I love the attitude oozing out of her...

Sweetest little boys!

I adore everything about this photo of Jessalyn.  It portrays her little personality perfectly.  She loves all things girly; the headbands, the bracelets, the shoes.  However - she is NOT about to miss out on anything that her brothers may be doing.  EVER.  She does a really good job of keeping up with them!

Easter Egg Hunt 2014

As per our annual tradition, we spent the Saturday before Easter at the Dolly Sanchez Annual Easter Egg Hunt at the Peoria Stadium.  This was Jessa's first egg hunt, so everybody was especially excited for her!

Daddy and Jessa waiting for the mad dash!

 She took to it like an old pro!  

 Between egg hunts, there were plenty of activities to participate in.  We did a family scavenger hunt, the kids rode a train, bounce houses were played in and pony rides were taken.

Brychan is trying really hard to not smile.

And Jessa?  Well, it's taken her well over a year to decide she likes Biggs.  So...riding on a huge, strange animal was just about the last thing she wanted to do.  There were lots of tears at first, but Daddy managed to get her to calm down and try it.  She still wasn't convinced by the end, but at least she was tolerating it!

Well, and Kehlton is obviously too cool for any of it. ;)

Why are Easter bunnies so creepy?

All in all, is was a fun and successful morning!  Brychan's egg hunt was less than perfect; after a couple of false starts and much older children being allowed in the 6 year old age group, Brychan ended up with nothing. For a child that doesn't even really like candy, he was extremely sad and disappointed.  However, a quick trip to the store fixed the problem for everybody!