Highlights

Troy completed his first piano books! We used Piano Adventures by Faber and Faber, primer level. So proud of him! 

Liam wanted some camera time too. 

Can't forget these two. 

Troy started piano with me in June. I love having that special time with him. 

Here are some highlights of our week. Notice I said "highlights." If you want to see our real lives, go spend a day with a young family. 

Katelyn and I had some of our own special time this week while Liam was at joy school. 

Troy still loves to take pictures before we walk to the bus. 

Jackets! They were a bit premature, but we were excited. 

This is Liam's favorite place of all time. 

Library time while daddy is at wood badge training. Who actually reads at the library? Apparently not us. Katelyn is rearranging the chairs in the very left. But she was quiet! Luckily we were the only family there!

I'm so excited for women's conference tonight! Missing my family a lot more today, but the excitement for the messages and answers to my questions is still there. Happy Conference!

Pinewood Derby

So, here we are at the pinewood derby activity. It was legit. Track, digital display of racers and times down to two decimal points. 

Katelyn enjoyed being held most of the time. 

Liam wanted to press the start button, and got to!

Troy got a little disappointed by the performance of his car the second and third time. 

Haha. One of the wheels fell off shortly after we were done. He took the rest off on the way home and decided it's better like that. Now it can fly. 

His friend, Michael, won the whole thing! He did the most hilarious victory dance. It's hard to beat a car that's painted like batman ;) Or maybe it's the pro pinewood derby maker of a dad. The Boyer's are so cool. 

This week

Liam started preschool (co-op.) There are only three kids and one got sick for the first day. We had a great time ! At the end, they did those shape puzzles for 45 minutes. If you know these two, that is amazing!! 

Troy made his first pinewood derby car. (Well, mommy and daddy helped too ;) The Boyer's helped us make it with all of their tools and knowledge. Troy even got to choose vinyl stickers. He chose spider-man, superman and transformers. Have I ever mentioned how lucky we are to be near the Boyer's?! Our ward has a real track and timer thanks to the family who used to live in our house. It's on Saturday, so we will see!

Ben was at young men's last night. They were learning about guns (safety and how to use them.) So Texas. They get to go to a shooting range soon. I really need to take more pictures of Ben and I. The kids and I decided to do races at home. 

Katelyn runs as fast as she can ;) Liam and Troy are very serious about winning. Neither of them have learned how to lose graciously yet. We ended up just watching Katelyn run back and forth and cheering her on. I had to keep the boys from pushing her because they wanted her to go faster. They love their sister so much. 

I'm always trying to find a new dinner recipe to try. Pioneer woman is my latest discovery. Apparently, I'm the last to know. These nachos were SO good. But I'm a sucker for nachos. I sent a picture to Ben to help motivate him to work fast and get home. 

Thanks to the Torbits for the California avacodos! 

The kids

I am enjoying my time with Liam and Katelyn while Troy is at school. We do a lot of eating, book reading, playing with toys, eating, failing at sharing, talking about sharing, giving up and distracting with a show, and loving their big smiles after nap time. 

Katelyn always wants to put shoes on and go outside. "Pleeeeeease?!" How could I say no? But it's still pretty hot. So we come back inside after 10 minutes and her head is sweating. So, we go to splash pads! Perfect outing. 3 days till ac repair!!

I got all of her hair into pigtails. Barely. 

Troy loves school so much. This was him on the way to the bus stop this morning. I think he likes the bus just as much as going to school. He loves to tell me what he did at school, letters, writing numbers on the white board, p.e., snack time of course. He likes to tell me about lunch and who he sits by and why he gets in trouble. He told me he shouldn't bring his Lego to school because then he doesn't pay attention. He must have had it in his pocket. Love this boy. 

Catching Up

Last Monday we got to go to the pre-season game of the 49ers against Houston. Ben was SO excited he couldn't even handle it. That excitement was toyed with during traffic. I believe I literally lost it. It took us 3 hours to get to the stadium, which should have only taken us 45 minutes. If you want to know every wrong turn to take and every bad street to go down, and then be told your parking lot is full and you have to go back to where you started, just ask us how to do it. But in true Texas fashion, the people were SO nice to us once we got in, it turned our frowns right upside down. The man next to us shared his popcorn. The cop gave us a ride to the stadium, which was the favorite part for Troy and Liam. Not to mention, Ben saw the 49ers score right next to us! (He's a HUGE 49ers fan, but can't usually go to a game because they are on Sunday, obviously) What a great night!

I finally introduced the kids to peanut butter balls. My first batch was okay. Jason gave me some tips and the second batch was perfect. The kids ate these faster than I did. THE best snack. 

Katelyn's first pig tails where I fit all of her hair in. It didn't last long, but I am loving this girl stuff!

A Visit from the Kitchens

Oh how we love the Kitchens. I'm so grateful they came to visit. Sometimes you just need your friends when you've been dealing with a/c and insurance companies for too long. They got in Friday night and we talked till we literally could not keep our eyes open. The next morning, Brock and Ben went to help my Uncle move and Liss and I got the kids ready for the beach!

We had a blast. I was worried at first because it was pretty muddy. But it actually turned out really nice! Plus, we had a photographer with us! (Liss) Love seeing her with her camera. It's so natural.

Our husbands are just bigger boys. They had a great time.

Katelyn would not touch the sand for awhile.

Oh I love this family!

Of course, they had to bury the boys. 

Katelyn finally got used to the sand and fully embraced it. 

We came home, had dinner, and relaxed. 

Liam, Troy, Cohen, Brendon 

Troy (5), Cohen (5), Brendon (3), Liam (3)

They came to church with us. I spoke in sacrament meeting on the Sabbath Day. They left shortly after lunch and we miss them already. They just have a good influence on whoever they are with. I know anyone who knows them would agree with me. They encompass charity. I feel rejuvenated. Can't wait to do it again! Probably after little boy Kitchen arrives on Thanksgiving.. fingers crossed ;)