Soccer!

For the past year, I have been wanting to put Keagan in a local soccer league.  There is one that is really close to our house and I have heard really good things about.  It is six weeks long and it is only on Saturdays.  It only lasts for 1 hour starting with a 15 minute practice.  It seems like a great way to see if it is something your kid is interested in.  I always hear about it too late to sign up.  But this time, I called to see if it was too late and to be asked to get on the mailing list for next time, but instead she said she had room for Keagan. 

Today was Keagan's first game.  He was so excited about playing soccer and every day, sometimes twice a day for the past week, he would ask if today was his soccer game.  I was a little concerned about how Keagan would do because he always gets scared and shy of new things.  I made sure I got there a little early before it got too busy.  We went up to his coach and they started kicking the ball around.  The coach had a little practice and then they started playing.  I was so proud that Keagan was out there playing. 

After about 20 minutes, he came over crying because there was so many kids.  I talked to him for a few minutes and with the help of our good friends Dan and Angela who came to watch him play, he went back out there.  Then after a couple of minutes, he got kicked in the knee and that was the end of it.  I really hope that next week he will get back out there and play again. 

Yesterday, Keagan said to me:  "Mom when I am playing Soccer you need to say Go Keagan, Go Keagan, Go Keagan".  I told him I would.  This morning at breakfast he said to me: "Mom, when I  am playing soccer you need to say Go Keagan, Go Keagan, Win Keagan, Win Keagan".  I again told him I would.  When we were driving to his Soccer game, he again told me "Mom you need to say Go Keagan, Go Keagan, Win Keagan".  I told him I would and that he told me that this morning and he said "I know, Mom, I just don't want you to forget".

Here are a couple of pictures, courtesy of Dan and Angela. 

BSU Football

Monday night (Labor Day) was BSU's first game of the season.  We decided to have some friends over to watch the game together.  We all put on our Blue & Orange.  Andrew even got out his orange pressure garments from years ago to help cheer them on. 

On Sunday Andrew, Keagan & Deker made football and helmet shaped Sugar Cookies and then I had fun decorating them with Blue & Orange frosting.

Earlier in the week, our friend Dan called Andrew to see if there was a way to hook up 2 TV's downstairs.  Andrew thought the idea was a good one and decided to try it out.  It even worked. 

Of course, our boys can't let an opportunity of having so many people over go by without convincing at least one person to read a book or two.  It is a good thing that we have such good friends that will do it. 

Everybody brought snacks and we had a great time watching football, talking, eating and playing outside during halftime.

Caliente Time

I am, once again, behind on my blogging.  I meant to get this post up a few weeks ago, but it never happened, but I did want to make sure and record it. 

At the beginning of August, my three boys and I had a wonderful trip to the great metropolis of Caliente, Nevada.  Where is that you ask?  It is a very small town which consists of about 1,000 people which is where I grew up.  On Wednesday, August 4, my amazing mom flew up to Boise.  We picked her up from the airport and we began our drive to Caliente.  Because it was lunch time, we had sandwiches packed which we ate as soon as we got in the van.  Our drive went well and we arrived in Caliente around 10:30 that night. 

Thursday morning, my Dad along with most of the guys in the family went on their annual Guys campout/Fishing trip.  Andrew wasn't able to go this year because he wasn't able to get the time off.  Because all the guys were camping, my sister Marie came over from Cedar City with her 4 girls Thursday afternoon.  We had a lot of fun playing with them, here are some highlights:

On Friday, we helped my Mom get her classroom ready (she teaches 3rd grade), by putting up bulletin boards and a few other things.  The kids had fun playing on the playground outside her window and drawing.

After that, we called our Sister-in-law, Melissa that also lives in Caliente and we all went swimming.  My boys did not like that idea, but after talking, asking, begging and finally just dragging them in the water, they finally decided that it was OK.  Keagan decided it was OK when my sister, Marie, took him and showed him how the scoop the water with his hands like a tractor digs the dirt.   Deker decided he loved it after we started throwing him up and dipping his head in the water.

We enjoyed the nice cool evenings by on walks each night.  One evening when we were headed out for a walk to the park, Marie and I thought that my Mom was inside, but when we looked out, we realized that she had already started walking with the grandkids.  I thought this was too cute a picture to pass up. 

Deker had fun crawling  under Samantha.

And then trying to do it himself.

Bauer enjoyed sitting on his blanket and being outside.

Marie left on Saturday and my Dad, my grandpa, my brother Cory and his oldest boy got back that afternoon.  We had a nice relaxing Sunday.  On Monday, Andrew flew to Cedar City and drove my parents car to Caliente.  We all enjoyed having him with us again.

That evening we had went to Kershaw Ryan State Park which is a beautiful park about 5 miles away.  We had a cookout and enjoyed our last day in Caliente.  My boys started by playing in the little wading pond with their Dad.

After that, they had fun digging and playing in a dirt hole and climbing around. 

On Tuesday, we sadly said goodbye and started our long drive back home. 

We all had such a wonderful time visiting with our family that week.  Thank you Mom & Dad for such a wonderful time and for making this happen for us!

Cristie's Visit

My Aunt Cristie's oldest girl, Amanda is now in College at SUU in Cedar City, Utah.  We had the privilege of having them come visit us on their way through.  They arrived late one Sunday night in August.  On Monday, we all went Minature Golfing.

Then, while my aunt, cousins and I played another round of minature golf, Andrew took the three boys inside to the kids play area, where they had a lot of fun.

Keagan was quite enamored with Samantha.

On Tuesday, Cristie left with her oldest daughter to take her to college, but Samantha stayed with us for a few days and Cristie picked her back up on jer way back to Washington. 

We had fun with Sam and we hope she had a great time with us as well.  Please come back anytime!

Water and Skating

I have been wanting to get the sprinklers out to play in this summer and we finally did it this past Friday. I wasn't sure if the boys were going to like it, but they liked it a lot more than I thought they would. 

Bauer enjoyed watching from a nice dry place in the shade. 

A few weeks ago, Keagan & Deker were playing out in the back yard.  At one point, Andrew and I looked out the window and Keagan had gotten a board and was Skating/Skiing down the hill.  I was pretty surprised that he thought of it and did this all on his own.

He had a lot of fun until he happened to fall and get a bee sting on his knee.  We were able to get this video of him doing it again a few days later. (Sorry the movie is sideways, I can't figure out how to change it.)

Backyard Camping

We really wanted to take the boys camping more this summer, but with a new baby we knew that it wasn't going to happen.  Andrew and I have been talking for a while about setting up the tent in the back yard and Andrew, Keagan and Deker sleeping in it. 

Last Sunday, we finally did it.  After dinner, we told the boys of our plan and they were very excited, to say the least.  They had so much fun helping Daddy set it up. 

After the tent was set up the air mattresses and sleeping bags went in.  Can you see how excited they were?

When it was bed time, we read books in the tent, then Andrew and I said goodnight. 

They didn't end up falling asleep until after 10:00 that night and woke up at 6:00 the next morning, but it was a lot of fun and they can't wait until we can do it again.

The Zoo

Last weekend (July 23), our good friends Angela & Dan had Angela's Mom & Grandma visiting.  They decided they would like to go to the Zoo and invited us along.  We had a great time and my kids got a little spoiled.

The first couple of times that I went to the Zoo, I didn't know that they had a little petting area, but we discovered it when we went with Keagan's preschool this year.  I made sure that I had some quarters so that we could feed the goats as well.  Keagan loved this part and Angela even showed him how to kiss a goat (Dan got a picture of that, but I haven't gotten them yet). 

Deker didn't really like the petting Zoo, but here he his sporting the latest big bump that he received earlier at the zoo. 

When we came upon the Carousel Angela & her mom paid for my kids to go on it twice.  That is something that we hadn't done before, and we all really enjoyed it.  The boys weren't quite tall enough to ride by themselves, so Angela and I got to go with them.

Towards the end of our Zoo visit, Angela's brother bought my boys a Root Beer Float to enjoy complete with an Elephant straw for each boy. 

We ended our Zoo visit by eating our picnic lunches.  We had a fun day and the boys took really good naps that afternoon. 

Thank you Dan, Angela, and their family for the wonderful day at the Zoo!