Happy Birthday James!!!

I know that it has been forever since I have posted anything.  Sorry about that.  My lovely computer has been on the fritz so I am talking nicely to it right now to see if it will make it through this:) If you really want to know I just had a conversation with my stove.  I am baking James' birthday cake, and for some reason everything in my house is breaking lately.  And I am trying to decide what kind of stove to buy gas or electric?  (What I am secretly hoping is that my kitchen will burn down and we can remodel so that we can plumb gas into our new kitchen and not have to do it twice.)  But today I will just talk nicely to both my stove and computer and actually my cell phone too.  Why does everything break at the same time?  Okay I am done complaining...

Today James is 10!!!  I don't know how I feel about that.  But here are some pictures of his party we had last Friday. He wanted to roast hot dogs and marshmallows in the back yard.  The weather turned out okay for us and we had a blast!!

 The birthday boy!

 He wanted a pinata that looked like a marshmallow.  So we made a smore. There was a lit of duck tape holding that thing together.  But a bunch of ten year old boys needed something tough.  It did take awhile for them to get through it though.

    

 And this was the dog pile for the candy:) Boys!!

 I think that according to that face it went okay.  Everyone went home stinky dirty and full of sugar!!

These two are inseparable and full of trouble! That's why we love them!

James wanted a new bike for his birthday he got one this morning just in time to ride to school.

Ten reasons why I love this kid...

1. James is easy going. He is always happy.

2. James cares about everyone.  At his party I watched him as he went around and made sure that everyone was having a good time.  

3. James is a good brother.  Not that he doesn't tease or get mad but he really cares and loves his brothers.

4.  James loves to help his dad.  And he is a good helper to.  He thinks like his dad, always trying to figure out how things work and why they do what they do.

5. He works hard.  

6. James likes to cook and he is good at it too.  He always asks "will you teach me how to make that so I can make it on my mission."

7. James likes art.  He draws awesome rock crawlers and he is always taking pictures.  He has a good eye for art.

8. James loves to read.  When we tell him to go to bed at night. He always complains. "Can I just read another page."

9. James is good at sports and he tries to play fair.  I really respect that.

10. James loves to be outside. He is always shooting hoops, riding his bike, riding his motorcycle, up a tree, or shooting his bb gun.  He loves to be outside and be busy.

Our motorcycle gang.

 The other day the boys set off on a ride. This is what it looked like in our driveway.  I grew up always wanting a motorcycle, but little did I know that instead of me driving one, I'd have a house (or a driveway) full of boys on them.  I have to admit that I love it.  But it does scare me to death.  We got a bigger bike this year (one for James) but I think that it is my size, not our 9 year old's:)  It has a clutch and he is learning how to ride it faster than I am.  I kill it a lot still.  He does really good.  We are excited now to go camping and try them out on the mountain.

I really just love those kids, sorry but Logan is included in that:)  It is toys that they play together.

James' Pinewood Derby!

James had his first pinewood derby race this weekend.  And I have to admit I was a little nervous.  The pinewood derby is such a big deal in the scouting experience but I don't like competitive stuff.  Especially when my children are involved.  But James was awesome.  He loves to design and create stuff.  He even left his car a little scuffed up because he thought it looked used.

 I couldn't have been prouder!!

 The competition!

 The line up!

 And their off!

 The anticipation!

 

The pit crew, and cheering section!  I have to admit it was a lot of fun.  That night Jesse and Jakob were planing the cars that they will build soon.  We are in it for life and I couldn't be more excited.

Water!!

Why do I always have to eat my words, or my thoughts?  While we were walking around I noticed a bunch of kids playing in the water.  It was warm, but not that warm.  And my first thought was "who would let their children do that?  It is cold!!"  You would think that I would learn because in a matter of minutes this is what happened.

And everyone went from warm and dry to wet and laughing.  I really needed to lighten up.  I guess that is why I have Logan who gets all of us laughing and having fun.

And who can honestly complain about that?

 Not Jesse!

 

Jake takes it a little at a time.

 James isn't afraid of getting wet.

 Running down the river bed.

It was a great time even though it was a little cold.  I'm glad that we played in the water.  Sometimes I really need to relax and enjoy the moments as they come.

Okay so today I am going to brag on my kids.  I just love them so much and I want to remember these days when we have those bad ones that they don't like me anymore.  (We already do have some.)  

Yesterday when Jesse came home from school he gave me a bracelet.  He gets to pick out prizes in his reading program that he is in, and that day he thought that I would like a bracelet.  I thought that it was really nice:)

This morning when we woke up I remembered that we were out of milk.  So I got the boys in their routine of getting dressed and making their beds and went to get milk.  Whenever I get milk in the mornings I always grab donuts too.  My mom used to do it for me to, and I loved it.  I even get the same kind.  Traditions.  So they knew that they were coming too.  Well when I got home they had made their beds and mine too:)  It was so nice of them to do. They are just great kids.

St. George Temple

 One of our stops was the St George Temple.  We went one night just as the sun was going down. 

I love the temple! 

Zion's National Park

 Last week we went through Zion's National Park on our way to St.George.  It was so beautiful.  So I took lots of pictures:) That's what I do.

 The boys loved the tunnel.

 We walked a lot that day.

 We also loved the waterfalls.  They were amazing. 

Well, everything there was.  It was a great day.