Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Seattle Labor Day Weekend 2015

We took our first trip with the kids to Seattle on Labor Day weekend.  On the way we hiked down Snoqualmie Falls.  The kids thought the waterfall was pretty dope!

 Max loved seeing all the trees that have fallen…and keep making a chop, chop, timber noise whenever we saw a new one!
 We took the kids to Pike's Market.  It was definitely an experience, the kids weren't too crazy about the smells, but the flowers were gorgeous! They did however love the ride on the ferris wheel.  It was pretty nice to be in an inclosed gondola with air conditioning and get to have a birds eye view of the Sound.

The main reason for our Seattle trip was to watch the Mariner's play.  The kids loved the game and the food…okay mostly the food, but the game was perfect for us.  We had seats on the first base line and even purchased some new Mariner's gear.  Life couldn't be better.



 Max nearly went into a popcorn coma.  He wouldn't share for the life of him.  Even though the Mariner's lost, the weather was perfect and the company even better!

Fast and Furious

Life is coming at us fast and furious right now.  We are so busy that sometimes I feel like I'm going to collapse under the pressure to get everything done, practices attended, and dinner on the table!  But at the same time, we are really enjoying this new phase of our life. So here's a sample of what we've been up to: 
 Sam is in the thick of football right now and began to feel a little overwhelmed at being the quarterback.  Say what you might about youth sports, but life lessons are learned out on those fields that will stick with them.  He came home one night from practice and told me that he didn't want to play quarterback anymore!  I was dumfounded…what kid wouldn't want to play quarterback?  You get to touch the ball literally every play.  So as I dug deeper - Sam started giving reasons why it was just too hard, and how he just didn't like it.  Long story short he was overwhelmed and had a difficult practice!  Shawn and I explained to Sam that he was part of a team.  He has signed up for the season and had been practicing for 5 weeks as quarterback.  The coach felt like that was the position that he was the best for, and could help the team out in….. so as tough as it might seem, we told him he needed to stick it out for the rest of the season.  If next year he doesn't want to play - fine; if next season he doesn't want to be quarterback again - great; but this year, this season that is where the coach wanted him and where his team needed him, so he would give it his all until the last game.  He was more than a little mad at us for this decision.  I know that he felt discouraged, but it is in the small moments that he creates a habit of pushing forward when life gets tough!  So he headed back onto the field the next day and told the coach he would play wherever he wanted him.  He's never complained since!  I am grateful for Sam, for his ability to be coachable, and his desire to execute directions exactly - and I hope he'll keep this lesson in his heart and mind for the rest of his life.
 *Max is such a player!  Bless his sweet heart.  Being home with just me isn't always very much fun, but he doesn't seem to mind.  Give him a train track, some cars, or any other toy and he is good to go for 30 minutes.  I love his sweet sassy personality and am glad to have him as my side kick for the next three years.

 Lyv started her first official dance class this past week and loved, loved, loved it!  I'm so excited for her - she's been waiting patiently for this day:)
 We cheered on our own West Valley Rams at the opening game.  I love high school football - football at its best!  The kids enjoyed the game, even though it was a little chilly.

Finally….the moment we've all be waiting for…..the big BYU win over Nebraska!  If you want to see a grown man turn into a complete psycho… throw a hail mary for the win! I don't know if I've ever seen Shawn this excited!  He was overwhelmed, as you can see:)

Jack's 7th Birthday

7 years ago we were blessed with the most precious sweet baby boy - and we were able to celebrate all weekend long Jack's 7th birthday.  Because his birthday usually falls on Labor Day weekend, we party like its 1999 on Jack's big day!  We started our celebration on Friday with THE CAKE - the Cavity Cake as we call it.  Jack searched high and low on Pinterest to find the perfect cake for this birthday - and bam: a candy covered chocolates frosted chocolate cake!  That couldn't fit Jack any better! We went to the West Valley Rams football game and then came home and sang to Jack; and dug in!


On Saturday we watched the BYU game!!  What an exciting game it was too.  Then we headed to Kids' Castle (an indoor play park) and followed that up with dinner at McDonalds!  What would that night be without a little more cake:)

On Sunday, Jack's actual birthday we started the day off with hot cinnamon rolls and then headed to church where Jack continued to be showered with well wishes and candy!  He got a humongous pixie stick, and couldn't have been more pleased.  We packed up and headed to Seattle Sunday night.  Then we hit up the Mariner's game on Monday!  What a perfect weekend celebration for Jack!

Jack got a few favorites this year:  Mouthwash & a 5 lb. bag of gummy bears!  He was so funny because those seem like ironic favorites but that just shows you the beautiful quirky personality that Jack has.  He told his grandma Julie that the gift he wanted from her would sound a little crazy…but Mouthwash was the must have of the year!  He also got money, roller blades (so he can improve upon his awesome blading skills), two lego sets, and two joke books.

I am so grateful everyday for this boy!  He brings our house so much laughter and joy, and equally frustration and anger.  He is independent and persistent to no end, but he is also so intelligent, loving, and funny!  So funny that I think how boring our house would be without him and it makes me sad.  This year he has been so brave - he has tried so many new things and conquered a lot of his fears from last year.  He rode in the ski boat, got up on the knee board, dove like an olympic champ, jumped off rocks on the river, and wrestled alligators! Ok….the last one isn't true, but he has made us so proud of his courage!  We love you Jack.