Aaron Learns to Ride!

Our family has started bike riding together in the last several weeks.  Aaron, who rides in a trailer when we're riding as a family, told us that he wanted to try riding his own bike without training wheels.  We thought we'd humor the idea and that he'd then request we put them back on.  He has totally suprised us by just taking off and doing so well!  The first few tries he tried to steer by leaning instead of using his handle bars...and that made us all a little nervous.  But he's really figuring it out.  You can tell by his smile he's a pretty proud boy!

Monkey See...Monkey Do...

Aaron is so about following the example of others it's breathtaking!  He's started brushing his teeth in the morning after breakfast because "he wants to be like Josh".  He's spent his own money to get a tiny notebook so he can have a "bird notebook" like Daddy to record all the birds he sees in.  He sits with us for scriptures and carefully marks his pages (often with the book upside down) through the whole thing.

Every Sunday afternoon Greg and I "calendar" for the week.  We both pull out our phones and binders and talk through next week...and month(s) to make sure we're on the same page.  Sunday morning we found Aaron in his room working on his "calendar".  He had stickers for Christmas on one page, little notes of things that needed to be done, and a few newly created holiday or two.  He let us know that he'd like to be invited to our meeting.  And you can see him in the picture above, fully participating.  

What a smartie!  Keeps us all on our toes and our best behavior (we can hope)!

Piano Recital

Nathan and Joshua had their end of year piano recital this week.  They both did such a great job!  Joshua played "The Night Horseman" (on he'd heard Nathan play a few years ago and loved) and we played a duet from "Lord of the Rings" together.  Nathan played three movements of a Sonatina by Faber.  (Which he also played this week at the 6th Grade talent show.)  Fun to watch their talents grow.

Janae Rosado (in our ward) is their piano teacher.  She did two recitals, so this is half of her students. 

Elizabeth

Nathan's 6th Grade Graduation

Hard to believe we're moving from being a family fully in the "elementary school" stage of life to having a boy in middle school! So proud of Nathan for all he's accomplished and what a truly good person he is!!

Aaron's Preschool Graduation

I hope to get some other pictures to add from another mom.  But want to hold a place with this one and remember Aaron's preschool graduation from the mom-taught preschool we've done this year together.

Joshua's 4th Grade Program

The 4th Grade did a program about the state of Utah including singing, dancing, and speaking parts!  Joshua had a speaking part and was also a dancer in the square dancing song.

Can you just tell he's charming!  He's got such a fun sparkle about him at times like this!

You can see there were Native Americans, Mountain Men, Pioneers, etc. It's another time when I feel like we're pretty lucky to be in a place that still does things like this.  Josh is still singing these songs around the house.  I think it's a great way to learn and remember.

Nathan's 6th Grade Spring Fling

A tradition at our elementary school is that each year the 6th Grade has a "Spring Fling".  The teachers spend several weeks teaching the kids how to do several line dances and basic partner dances.  And, just some moves for "free-style" dancing.  Nathan's teacher is the coach for the high school drill team, so I think it's great because she can totally get away with this and the kids just think it's cool.  I think it's great preparation for middle school and high school, and it's been a fun way for Nathan to get to feel like an "expert" by already knowing several of the dances through ballroom.

Partner dancing with a cute, smart girl named Beth that has been a good friend this year.

I thought they did a fun job on decorations and wanted to remember them.  Each 6th grader got to make their own Hollywood Star in advance and they were hung around the parking lot.

Helpers in the Garden

This year we got some things into our garden on the early end and have already enjoyed a harvest of spinach and now currently lettuce.  You can see behind the boys we've got peas coming in and behind that our berry bushes are taking off!  This is Aaron and his cute friend, Noah.

Sunday Pirates

Some Sundays can feel long...especially hours when Greg is gone. Tonight he's helping with a fireside in SLC and we've got time to fill. There are times I feel guilty that not all our Sabbath Day hours are filled with my "ideal" Sunday activities. But, sometimes you've just got to be backyard pirates! :) 

I hope that Heavenly Father can tell...even in the imperfect efforts...that I'm doing my best to serve Him on ‪#‎HisDay‬ by helping my children know we can find "delight" in the Sabbath even when we send our dad to serve.

A Family that Bikes Together...

I give Greg total credit for our family's current favorite hobby!  He does so much bike fixing I can't believe he's still willing to do it!  But, we sure love it!  Every one of us!  Some nights we'll bike over to the church parking lot and play "Cops and Robbers".  There's a dirt loop near our home that we all love to cruise around on.  And, there is a nice paved trail down to our closest grocery store.  So a few times we've all biked down for a treat.

A couple weeks ago we all biked that far, and then Greg and Nathan biked on to Station Park in Farmington.  The trail goes that far and beyond.  They did a total of about 14 miles.  I'm so grateful for a happy way to get out that "speaks Nathan's language" especially.

Family Home Evening -- Swedish Fish Style

I've been thinking about how I think we are pretty good at teaching about standards and commandments and obedience.  But, how I want us to be better and teaching about Jesus.  I want our children to know who He is better.  To know His stories...and in those ways better understand the "why" of the other things we try to do.

We decided to try focusing on a story each Family Home Evening.  Nathan came up with this idea.  We read the story of Jesus and the apostles and casting out their nets...and talked about how the apostles' examples can apply to our lives.  We can be willing to "leave our nets and follow Him".  And, how Jesus will bring us success when we become "fishers" for him.  Then we made "boats" out of aluminum foil and saw how many fish we could fill the boats with before they sank.  We ate a lot of soggy fish...and had a great time!

A Day in the Life...

One of my favorite parts of motherhood is when we get a whole crew of boys over in the backyard after school to play football.  Something about it feels more like the life I've dreamed of having than almost anything!  When I saw this bike lineup in our garage I thought it was the perfect glimpse of what I love about our boys and this neighborhood and this season of life. 

Soccer Boys

Greg coached Joshua's team this year.  It was a great mix of school friends and some new faces.  Claudio Arancibia (also pictured) helped Greg both with some practices and being another "voice" on the sidelines at the games.

This is Nathan's second year with his coach Trevar Dar...who has been really wonderful for him.  It's a 5th/6th Grade team.  So, Nathan really enjoyed feeling like the "veteran" that the team really counted on.