4th of July

The 4th of July continues to be one of my favorite holidays. I love everything about it- the warm weather, the patriotic colors, the parades, the BBQs, swimming, fireworks, patriotic songs, etc. We started off the day going to our ward's annual 4th of July Breakfast. The boys were so excited to decorate their bikes and ride in the bike parade.

Max loved wearing his hat and riding around in the wagon.

I have to give credit to Jon for helping the boys decorate their bikes and the wagon at 7:30 that morning since we got home at midnight the night before from our waterski trip (pictures to come). They did a great job!

We couldn't get the boys to leave after it was all over- they just wanted to keep riding around in the parade!

Our attempt at a family picture!

After the ward breakfast we came home and the boys and I made our traditional sugar cookies. They're really into making silly faces in pictures right now!

They helped me roll them out and cut them into stars. They then helped me frost them.

The finished product (okay, these are the ones that I frosted, but I did let them frost a few)!

After the cookies were done we headed up the street for our annual neighborhood party. The boys rode in another bike parade. This time all of the kids lined up and then rode up and down the street at the same time instead of calling them one by one like they did at the ward party.

Jake and Nathan were a little confused by this and they just sat there for a minute while all of the headed down the street! They finally figured it out and rode around for a while.

They then had a water balloon toss and Jake and Nathan got 4th place- thanks to a balloon that wouldn't pop no matter how many times they dropped it!

I made my traditional flag cake to take out to my parent's house for dessert. Unfortunately they ended up making homemade ice cream and everyone got full on that. So we ended up just dividing the cake out at the end of the night for everyone to take home- bummer!

We then headed out to my parent's house for swimming and a BBQ. The kids swam for hours. Nathan had fun playing with Laney and Jack the whole time.

This is how Jake jumped into the pool every time. Thank goodness for his life jacket that absorbed some of the pain from the belly flop! By the end of the day Jake's poor little eyes were really red and swollen. I think we might be taking a break from swimming for a few days until they get better!

Max and his cousin, Scotty, had a great time swimming together in the little baby pool.

Love this smile!

Max discovered that he loves BBQed corn!

My dad said that when he was a kid he and his brothers would always fight over who got to lick the paddle after they made homemade ice cream. He finally got his chance and he had the face to prove it!

That night we headed out to Christy's house in Ladera Ranch and watched the fireworks from her backyard. While we were waiting for them to start Will had fun pushing Max in the little car- it was so cute!

We all hung out in the backyard until they started and once the first firework went off Jake freaked out as usual. So Jon took him up to Christy's bathroom and played on the iphone with him so that he couldn't hear anything. We were really hoping that this would be the year that Jake wouldn't be afraid of the fireworks, but no such luck!

Overall, it was a busy, fun filled day. I feel so blessed to live in America and enjoy the freedoms that we have. I always get a little teary eyed listening to Lee Greenwood's "Proud to be an American" song because it makes me feel so lucky and proud to live here. I hope that everyone else had a happy and safe 4th of July!

End of School Year Festivities

Things got a little crazy towards the end of the school year with all of the festivities that are planned. It's a busy time of year, but a lot of fun!

Jake was chosen to be one of the clowns in his school's assembly. He had to ride around in a circle on his tricycle and then switch directions when the 'ringmaster' told him to.

He did such a great job! Pedaling a tricycle is one of the many goals that Jake achieved this year!

The last few days of school for Nathan were dress up days. I'd have to say his favorite was "Wacky Day!" I think he wore his shirt backwards the entire day- funny kid!

The second to last day of school for Jake was Field Day. He got to go around to several different stations and play games and activities. I volunteered so that I could be there with him. It was fun to watch him get so excited about everything. This was him running underneath the giant parachute.

Here he is racing his friend in a sack race.

He was pretty excited about the spider he had painted on his face!

The last day of school for Nathan was a picnic in the park. Here he is with his teacher, Ms. Cari. She has so much energy and is a lot of fun- Nathan really likes her.

I had to post this picture because it's so cute! I love the drool! Poor Max got drug around to everyone's activities, but he was a good sport.

Jake was so excited for his Open House so that he could show us all around his classroom. He went from thing to thing teaching us how things work and showing us his art projects.

Here he is with his teacher, Ms. Kruse. Jake is going to repeat Kindergarten again next year and we are so grateful that he gets to have Ms. Kruse for another year. She is awesome!

Jake loved showing Nathan how the listening center worked.

Jon and I took a 10 week parenting class towards the end of the school year. While we were in class the boys attended a class of their own where they learned social skills. Here they are the last day graduating from their class. Can't you tell by the picture how much their behavior has improved?!!!

Carli graduated from high school this year. This was definitely the biggest day of her life up until now. She was so excited to have us all there cheering her on as they called her name. Carli kept raising the roof with her hands as she walked back to her seat!

The nieces were all trying to catch the cap to see which one of them will graduate next!

The first day of Summer we invited all of the cousins over to our house to play on our waterslide. They played on it for about 3 hours straight. I seriously love this thing- it is going to be my saving grace this summer!

Here are all of the boy cousins that were all born last year. I'm just grateful that Rob and Bethany's son, Scotty is big so that Max isn't the only chunk! They are sitting in order from oldest to youngest (Max being the oldest).

So Jake got one day off of school and then Monday morning he headed off to Summer School! He is riding the bus just for the summer and he seems to be enjoying it.

Jake also had a singing concert that the Kindergartners put on, but those pictures are on our laptop that is broken. I 'll have to post them when I find them. Jake did such a good job at the concert. I was worried he was going to stand there with his deer in a headlight look, but instead he sang and did all of the actions to all of the songs! I was so proud of him!

We made it through the school year and now we are ready for Summer! Bring on the fun!!!

A Birthday, Father's Day and a Seizure

(Our laptop is broken thus the lack of blogging lately. I am on our desktop and I have no idea why it puts "Sarah's Pictures" on the bottom of every picture- I guess no one will be confused as to whose pictures these are!)

Thank you to everyone for your birthday wishes, presents, dinners, etc. I had such a fun birthday this year. The celebration started with going out to Beach Fire Grill with some of my closest friends. It was a lot of fun to just sit and talk and enjoy delicious food! Thanks Cortney and Josie for organizing it and for the princess balloons and tiara- you really know me well!!!

Friday night Jon took me out to dinner and a movie. We went to Savannah's Chop house and enjoyed steak and halibut. During dinner Jon got a phone call from a patient who had chipped her two front teeth and had a graduation party to got to that night. So of course Jon being the nice person that he is agreed to meet them in his office to put some bonding on. I ended up being his assistant and almost 2 hours later the girl looked as good as new! We then went to the later movie and saw The Proposal which I loved- such a cute, funny movie. It turned out being a fun night even though it didn't go exactly as we had planned!

Saturday I got a phone call at 7:30 in the morning from my mom telling me to come to the door. I went down there and found my mom, sisters and sister-in-law all standing there with a giant balloon kidnapping me to go to breakfast. I was so surprised! We went to Cinnamon Productions where I ordered my favorite thing in the whole world- Cinnamon Swirl French Toast. I seriously love it. It was so fun that they all went out of their way to get up early and take me out!

Sunday was my actual birthday and was also Father's Day. We were a little perplexed as to who was going to get the day off and who was going to get breakfast in bed, etc. We decided to just get up all together and make a nice breakfast and then share the duties for the day. Jon surprised me with the best gift. He published my blog from 2007! I have been wanting to do this for a long time, but haven't gotten around to it so I was really excited that Jon did it. He said he worked on it for about 15 hours! Hopefully this will get me motivated to do the next 2 years. I seriously love it. He also got me a new lens for our camera- another fun surprise!

After church on Sunday we went to Christy's house for a big family party. Everyone was so helpful which made it so nice for both Jon and me. Carli did her usual spotlight, but this time she stepped it up a notch and made a power point presentation on her new laptop that she got for graduation. We all look forward to our spotlights on our birthdays- they are a tradition in our family. Thanks, Carli for always doing such a great job and making us all feel so special!

My mom got me my favorite dessert- Linda's Fudge Cake from the Cheesecake Factory. The thing weighs about 30 pounds and is the richest, moistest, most delicious chocolate cake in the whole world!

Thanks to all of my family and friends for making turning 31 so fun!

We also celebrated Father's Day while at Christy's house. Jon is such a wonderful, fun dad and it is very evident that the boys love him a lot.

All of the older cousins organized games for the little kids such as "Daddy Says" and "Pin the Tie on Daddy" and they taught them Father's Day songs to sing to the dads. Here they are blowing a kiss at the end of one of the songs. It was so nice of them to entertain the little kids so that we didn't have to. We didn't have one problem with Jake the entire day!

My parents gave Jon a Dick's gift card and a Laker's Championship t-shirt! It was pretty funny when he opened it up seeing as though Jon hates the Lakers! He's starting to warm up to them a little since he's realizing that the Jazz stink and they may never win a championship!

I surprised Jon by getting him 12 mini authentic college football helmets to put up in his office. I think he was pretty excited since he is obsessed with college football and has already bought BYU season tickets for this year. That's right, he plans on flying up to at least 3 games this season- he is crazy!

We will definitely be going to the BYU v. Utah game in Provo- Jon can hardly wait!

Overall it was a fun day for both of us except for how it started out. About 4:30 Sunday morning Jake woke up with a raging fever and then had a bad seizure. It's always so sad to watch him go through this- I think Jon and I both cried this time, but we are at least glad that he is always okay and that he never remembers them. He hasn't had one since September so I guess he was due for one. I'm just hoping that the behavior medication we have him on isn't interacting with his seizure medication. The doctor doesn't seem to think so, but we'll see if he has any more. At least the rest of the day turned out to be fun!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SARAH!

S- Sassy, Sweet, Sexy (She manages to pull of all three of these at once)
A- Awesome and Powerful (Little inside joke. When we were first married we taught sunbeams. We went to the store and bought a coloring book for the little tykes to color every sunday after our lesson. One of the pictures said "God is Powerful. God is Awesome!" While this is true, it hit a cord (or is it chord?) with us. We know quite frequently say, "Sarah, you are powerful!" or "You're awesome, Jon!")
R-Resolute (When Sarah believes in a cause, nothing will derail her. She is passionate)
A- Arms (I love her arms. She will be mad I wrote this and it will probably be erased as soon as she reads it, but I think she has great arms. Maybe it is because our babies are so huge and she has to carry them for over a year. i.e. our Max is still not walking.)
H- Honorable and Happy ( Sarah really enjoys life and holds mothorhood in the highest regard)


Sarah, I love you. Happy Birthday!

Jon

Father and Sons and a Wedding

Last weekend was our ward's Father and Sons campout. Jake and Nathan were so excited to go camping and especially with just the boys. I mean, what's not to like about camping- dirt? good. tent? good. marshmallows? real good. (This all has to be said with a Nacho Libre accent!) Needless to say the boys had a great time!

They got to the campsite and set up the tent. The boys loved just playing in the tent for a while...

Then they played with their flashlights for a while...

Then they sat by the fire and roasted marshmallows for a while...

Then they ran around and played until it was time for bed.

The next morning they climbed on the rocks and trees, had breakfast and the traditional egg toss with the left over eggs, packed everything up and headed home.

I love the cheesy grin and the dirt on his glasses!

As for me, I stayed home with Max and enjoyed a quiet evening almost to myself. I can't wait until next year when Jon takes all three kids- one of the perks of having all boys!!!

Saturday we went down to San Diego with my parents for my friend, Yasser's wedding. Yasser joined the church right before we graduated high school- 13 years ago yesterday. He took the missionary discussions in our home which was such a neat experience. It was so cool to be in the temple all of these years later and watch him and Emily get sealed together for eternity. We wish them all the happiness that they both deserve!

My dad made the comment that Jon and I looked like we were going to a funeral, not a wedding! Come on, black and white is appropriate for any occassion, right?! I love the San Diego temple and I was glad that we were able to go down there.

I have so much more to blog about- I am way behind right now so stay tuned...

Mud Run

Jon and I ran the Mud Run down at Camp Pendleton yesterday morning. It was so much fun! It's a 10k which is 6.4 miles, but it's a crazy race. The first mile or two was spent standing and waiting to get through narrow passages since there were 4000 people running the race. It was frustrating because you would just be getting momentum and then you'd have to stop and wait again. Once we got through that and to the big hills, the mob separated out and then it was fine. We had to cross rivers, lakes, mud pools, climb over walls into mud, crawl through tunnels and mud pits, etc. all while the marines sprayed water on everyone periodically throughout the course!

Here is the clean before shot...

and here's the muddy after shot!

We took a disposable camera with us on the course so we could capture a little of what it's like. These pictures are horrible of us, but you get the idea!

There were several shallow rivers to cross...

Some were muddier than others...

Some were deeper and longer...

and the hills were out of control. They were spraying water at the top of this one creating a muddy stream going down the hill. I tried running up it but after falling a few times decided that I better just focus on getting to the top and not sliding back down!

This was Jon's first race ever and even though we were just running it for fun, Jon's caught the racing bug and wants to run more! We totally want to do the Mud Run again, but next time Jon wants to train a little harder so that I don't have to wait for him as much! Just kidding, Jon, I didn't have to wait that long at the finish line so that we could cross together!