All about Breckyn

My little one started kindergarten yesterday! Definitely bittersweet. She was absolutely beaming as she explored her new classroom and saw all the little future friends she would make running around. Kyle and I, well we had to choke back some emotion but we did alright.



Breckyn has a shy side but I think she has been ready for something more to stimulate her little mind and I know she will thrive there and make lots of new friends.



I was absolutely dreading this day a few months ago but then new options opened up and things fell into place and now I feel at peace and happy about it. We have a bit of a drive each day but to me it is completely worth it.



Breckyn's teacher gave us this poem with a tissue attached as we left her yesterday. I loved it.

The cat is out of the bag...

So, we might as well disclose our little secret.

-We are expecting #4 in March
-This was an unexpected surprise for us
-It is amazing how fast you can go from completely panic stricken to 'Yipee!'
-We will have a 5 year old, 4 year old, 2 year old and newborn (!!!!!!!!)
-Please pray for us ;) (sort of joking... but not really)

Summer Vacation by Kyle

For summer vacation we did the three things necessary to be happy:
Fishing, Mountains and Family... See below!

Girls with their fish!



We climbed Mt. Timpanogos, 15 mile round trip, 5500 elevation change, tougher than many 14er's in my opinion!

BEAUTIFUL view!



The summit, 11,749 ft



Timpanogos Glacier, the fast way down!


Cousins: Sophie, Anyia, Dillon, Ryder



Feeding the cougar with cousin Mary



The girls with their Grandpa!

Gone fishin'

On Kyle's day off this week we packed up and headed off for a great day of fly fishing. We went to a beautiful creek Kyle's boss told us about. Kyle was in heaven, of course. I married a fisherman.


The girls and I had fun playing in the water and hiking around. I was so proud of Breckyn when she hunted down a snake with no fear. She is so my kid.

Kyra preferred to spend her time observing, while Breckyn and I wanted to explore and hunt snakes. However, I was happy she did a lot of the hiking without being carried this time. Here she is perched on her rock.


Ryder seemed 100% content just taking it all in from Kyle's back. He watched Kyle's every move very intently. I think he'll be ready to do some fly fishing by himself next time.

Happy 4th!

We celebrated with a nice hike this morning. Breckyn is a very serious hiker and of course beat us to the top and then down to the bottom. Kyra, well she prefers to be carried so Kyle carried her most of the way and also Ryder in the backpack. I had it easy carrying water and holding Breckyn's hand when "she wanted to help me."







Any excuse to make sugar cookies!



Now we're off for a barbecue and fireworks with fun friends! What a great day.

My little ballerina girl

Breckyn had her first dance recital this weekend. She loved getting all dolled up, while I sort of felt weird putting makeup on my baby. It was kinda fun to do the whole shebang but I think it is safe to say dancing won't be her "thing". She didn't love it so much so we'll probably move on to something else...


Her dance was called "ballerina girl" and there were three little ballerinas and one little boy. They were the teeny dancers that made everyone go "aaaaaaaawwww" when the lights came up. They all kind of looked at each other to know what to do and I had a mild heart attack with how adorable they were. I'm kind of sad she doesn't want to do it anymore because she was good at it, but hey if she doesn't want to, I'm definitely not going to force her.


God job Breckster. We love you!

Drake thinks he is a kid & Kyra falls on her head

I guess Drake has observed the children playing for too long. He wanted to join in. So he did!



He is still big enough to startle Breckyn though. Watch her fly down the slide when he comes up behind her. Classic!




On a side note, Kyra has inherited my enjoyment of taking risks, unfortunately she is not very good at it yet. We found ourselves in the ER (AGAIN!) after a mild concussion from falling off this very play set onto her head. This kid has been to the ER 4 times (FOUR! Yes, that is ONE. TWO. THREE. FOUR!) AND once we called 9-1-1 for an ambulance to come out to the house. She is 3. Is there such a thing as coordination lessons? I think we're in for a rough ride with this girl.

Summertime adventures - GLURCH

Remember last summers 'Adventures of the Day'? I loooove summertime. Long warm summer days, swimming everyday, bare feet in the grass, ice cream. I just love it. Well, I am trying my hardest to make this summer the best summer ever for my kids, at least until next summer, of course.

I've planned out all our 'adventures' as well as lots of extra stuff like the children's museum, swimming lessons, picnics, the local summer movie program and of course library storytime. And most important, we must leave time for long, lazy afternoons hanging out in the backyard.

We started it off with a bang last weekend in San Diego at Sea World and a day at the beach. Monday we went to Disneyland one last time before it gets too crowded and hot for us until September.

There are so many fun kids crafts out there to try we usually don't do them twice, but this one is so much fun we've done it several times. It never gets old and my kids go crazy for it. It is GLURCH. (Go there for specific instructions.) Never made glurch with your kids? Go buy glue and Borax and do it right now! It is that cool.


The ingredients:

Glue, Borax, water & food coloring

Mix Glue and water and then borax and water separately.




Add coloring of choice and borax mixture


Then stir.


And stir some more. Add more borax mixture until it all coagulates.


Then play! You can stretch it.


Write on it with markers.


Cut it with scissors.




Squeeze it.


You can even blow it up like a balloon and pop it. It isn't messy and doesn't stick to things. The stuff is awesome. When you are done store in a ziplock bag and it keeps for a few weeks.

The Backyard

My man did it. He didn't know how or where to start but he figured it out. From installing the sprinklers to mixing in topsoil and finally laying down the sod, now we have a backyard!!!






It was a mess of weeds, rocks and hard dirt when we moved in. I've said it a million times since I married the man, he can fix anything!!! (And he always looks good while doing it :)







We had lots of help from awesome friends. Thanks so much!!

Mickey Ears

The girls recently reached an important rite of passage. They received their Mickey Ears! This was marked by a pronouncement upon their heads that they will forever be entranced by the magical world of Disney. Breckyn chose silver and glittery, Kyra chose pink and princessy.






Here you can see Breckyn wearing my Mickey Ears from my childhood days. I still feel all magical and fluttery inside when I see my ears and my name stitched in gold thread on the back.