Arrow of Light

Jonah and Mason received their Arrow of Light in June. (Our Troop does the ceremony every 4-6 months to group some of the boys together) They had completed all the requirements before their 11th birthday in April. They went above and beyond (mostly because their mom was pushing them) and received all 20 achievements for their Webelos advancement.

Mason receiving his award.

Jonah receiving his award. He wasn't overly thrilled when the presenter wouldn't proceed with the ceremony until each boy had given their mother a hug and a kiss. Jonah was okay with the hug, the ceremony was stalled for a bit until Jonah complied with a quick kiss on the cheek.

Mason checking out his arrow.

Jonah looking at his arrow.

About a year prior, on our way to Tucson, AZ, we stopped by a little stand to get some Indian Fry bread. The Native Americans who owned the stand where selling some hand made items. They boys saw these arrows and immediately wanted them. I didn't have cash at the time for the arrows so I didn't purchase them. Mason kept asking about when we could get these arrows from this little stand outside of Flagstaff, AZ. I didn't know when we would be going that way again, but on a trip that my parents took to visit my sister, they so kindly stopped by the stand and purchased the arrows for me. The boys had no idea until the arrows were presented to them at this ceremony. It was a great surprise.

We are very proud of the boys for working so hard to earn this award.

Nikki's Wedding

Jeff's baby sister was married this summer in July. It was such a fun time and my kids loved seeing their Aunt Nikki get married to such a wonderful man.

While we were in the Manti Temple for the sealing the kids decorated the newlyweds car. Uncle Brad supervised the decorating.

I purchased the Swedish Fish for the kids to snack on while they were waiting but the fish ended up as decor on the car. (Glad I didn't have to clean it up)

There is always so much "free" time while the bride and groom are off having pictures taken.

Jessica passing the time.

Mason and Jonah relaxing in the shade. It was HOT that day, about 100 degrees.

Ellie playing with cousin Mariah

The wedding lunch was at a reception center by a pasture, Ellie, Jessica and Mariah were making friends with the neighboring horses.

The kids table at the luncheon. Wouldn't it be great to sit at the kids table again?

Pictures took a loooong time. Jonah decided the best way to pass the time while waiting to eat was sleeping.

Nikki and Loren coming out of the temple as husband and wife. What a cute couple!!

The reception the night before was fabulous and the marriage was beautiful.  We had a lot of fun working together as family setting things up and decorating.  We are glad it turned out so wonderful and so glad we aren't doing it again soon.  I think I'm going to encourage my kids to elope ;)

Braces

Ellie started a new chapter in her life. In June exactly one week after school was out Ellie got braces. Boy this sure is different than when I was a kid. I remember doing my head gear for a long time prior to braces. Now they can start braces earlier than they used to, referred to as "guided growing". Ellie will have her braces for approximately one year, creating space and straightening the teeth as her other baby teeth fall out. Then she will have retainers for a couple of years then one more set of braces to put the final touches on everything once all of her permanent teeth are in.

We are going to FELLER ORTHODONTICS in Salt Lake, (Canyon Rim/Millcreek area). What a great experience we have had. The staff is great!! I think Ellie is enjoying braces more than she should :)

Before

After

She was sore for the first three days.  Smoothies were the main food, but now she is back to eating most of what she wants, minus: corn on the cob, taffy, ice, gum, caramel, hard candies, etc. etc.

Stay tuned in  a few years you can see the final result.

First time wakeboarding

The boys went boating with their scout group. They were able to wake board for their first time. They loved it.

Mason

Jonah

Blogging and exercise are they the same??

I don't anyone to think I don't keep up on my blog.  Ha ha!!  I pull it up everyday to see if there are any new posts on others blogs to read.  Thank goodness my sister, Lara, posts almost every day. ( I am still waiting to see what hair color she chose though.)

I started blogging because it is such a great way for distant family to keep involved with our lives and I'm not great at writing in my journal every night so why not blog.  On a side note,  my hubby was a great journal keeper has like four full journals from his mission and many from before and after, then we get married and what happens???  He stops.  I must be a bad influence on him.  Or maybe.....I've made all of his dreams come true so  his life is complete and he has nothing else to write about.

Anyway,  I really want to have a great blog/journal and I really want to exercise to be more fit.  But I can seem to find other things to be distracted by before I actually start blogging or exercising.  Kind of like I'm avoiding it. 

When I have been training for some of the relays and runs I have done, I hit 5 miles and I'm bored out of my mind even if I'm running great.  My hubby says I haven't hit my "ZEN" yet.  Apparently when you are in your zen, running is therapeutic, relaxing etc.  The same goes for blogging, sometimes I enjoy writing but when my finger nails are too long and keep catching the keys or I continually have to backspace for grammar/punctuation corrections or when the computer is being difficult I'm not in my zen.  I'd rather sit and read everyone else's blogs before updating mine. 

So yes, I am a procrastinator.  What else is new.  However, I do want better journaling of our family and I do want to be more active and so with that I will  try harder.  So stay tuned you may see more updates from me:)

What's up this summer.

I have so many pictures and activities to post about and not a lot of time, or focus, to get them posted.
I have already had an eventful summer, I don't know that my kids feel the same way (see Ellie's post).  Since school ended we went to St. George for a few days for a Hays family reunion, (my side of the family).  Lots of fun family time with cousins on the lake, at the pool, in the lava tubes, playing games enjoying good food and each others talents.  We had great time.
The following weekend I ran the Ragnar relay with a team from our ward ( a couple not from the ward).  Jeff was going to run until he injured his leg a couple of weeks before the relay.  Luckily we had him as a volunteer for the relay.  It was a beautiful run with great weather and great company.  I am glad it is over :)

This week is moving week.  We have been working on moving for the last three years and now we finally are doing it.  We are moving to a house in Sandy and are very excited for the change.  We are excited for a larger home with more storage space, a garage and a neighborhood with sidewalks.  Now if I can just get through all of the packing and unpacking.  Such a good excuse to declutter isn't it?

Next week we have a Belcher family reunion, (my mom's side) while celebrating the 4th of July.  I have a cousin who said the title of her next book would be "Family Reunions: Heaven or Hell?"  I'll let you know at the end of the summer after all of our reunions which it is.

Jessica has been doing a summer reading program at school.  It is Mon-Thurs from 8-10 for five weeks.  It gets us up and going in the morning and I have to remember homework each night but we are hoping it will be with it. She is a trooper it's a lot of work for her but she sticks with it; as long as I keep offering good incentives:) 

Stay tuned, I will try and get pics posted soon.  Until then we will keep playing hard this summer!!!

April Birthdays

Sunday, April 3rd we had our big birthday celebration. Mason and Jonah turned 11 years old and Jessica, 7 years. Since it was conference Sunday we were able to have a casual morning. Jessica's wish was to have breakfast in bed. So everyone was served breakfast in bed, even Ellie. It hardly seems fair that she would be the only one not being served breakfast in bed. (The boys chose to eat theirs on the couch).

The boys love to watch the show "Cake Boss".  They wanted their cakes to be decorated with fondant.  I was not quite up to trying something brand new on multiple cakes for a large group. So we agreed the boys could make their own fondant decorations.  I used a marshmallow fondant recipe and the kids had fun making the decor.  Jonah decorated his cake in a baseball theme and Mason's was in a basketball theme.  I chose Jessica's cake, it seemed easy at the time.........  Enough said.

Jessica's cupcakes were made in a "tye dye" style with the cake sporting the colors of green, orange and pink.

Per Mason's request, our good friend Dan, made Mason's cake.  A yummy, lemony cake. 

Getting ready to blow out the candles.  Many cousins and friends were with us.

We surprised the kids with a pony for their party.  The pony's name was Mika.  Note the picture below with Ellie and Jeff.  It was a wonderful snowy April afternoon :}.  The kids just bundled up and enjoyed the pony.

I love my kids birthdays.  Probably too much.  (It seems all I do is spend time in the kitchen.)  Hoping for a little sunshine next year.