Jaron's Spelling Bee

Jaron was nominated once again this year by his teacher to participate in the school spelling bee. Even though he has been out of school for about three weeks, he still wanted to participate. Yesterday was the big day. He studied a little bit, but we have been playing a lot since school got out so he didn't do as much studying as he probably should have.

He didn't quite make it to the end, but he did an awesome job! He missed the words "odor and ointment", pretty good seeing how other kids were getting words like "dog". He felt really bad that he missed them so I had to remind him that winning isn't always important and that just because he didn't get a trophy doesn't mean that he's not smart. He did so awesome this year in school and all of his spelling tests were words from the sixth grade list and he got 100% on every single one of them. He just gets nervous sometimes in front of a crowd. He seemed to be fine after that and decided he was happy about just being in the spelling bee. Good job Jaron! We are very proud of you for making it as far as you did.

Jantzen's New Baby?

I think Jantzen is really excited to have a new baby in the house. Every time I am rubbing my stomach or even just have my hand on it he will come up to me and ask if I want to feel "his" baby kick. It's the cutest thing because he sticks out his stomach to make it look big like mine.

The other day while I was folding laundry he came in and said, "look at my new baby, she is in her car seat"...that's right, Spider man is now a girl that rides in a cheese head car seat, pretty clever I think. I tried telling him that Spider man is a boy, but it's best not to argue with him, you won't ever change his mind, so I commented on how cute his baby was. I think Jantzen decided Spider man was a girl because he has a sister on the way...too cute!


Here is a picture of Jantzen with "his" baby. He's so gentle with him and talks to him just like you would to a real baby. I think he's going to be a good big brother. I know both him and Jaron are very excited to meet Jaedyn.

Pioneer Day Celebration

Every year our stake has a big celebration for Pioneer Day. No other stake in Las Vegas does anything so I'm glad we live in this one. I always loved going to the parade and carnival in Bountiful when we lived in Utah and I thought when we moved here that we wouldn't get the same kind of celebration.

Friday night we went to the BBQ dinner and the kids got to play games and run around. Saturday was the fun day. We went to the carnival at the stake park. The first thing the boys wanted to do was go on the rock climbing wall and the blow up slide. Jaron loved it and did good, but I didn't think Jantzen would be able to climb up because you had to hold on to a rope and then slide down...it was pretty high up there. I was wrong, he went up and was really good at it. He hardly used the rope and climbed up pretty fast. Out of all the things to do, that was his most favorite. After that they tried the slide, but didn't get a real chance at it. When it was Jaron's turn to go down the slide started to deflate because the pump had ran out of gas. I thought at first that Jaron had done something to ruin it...thank goodness he didn't. The boys had to wait to get another turn later.




They then went to the boxing ring with the big boxing gloves. Jaron went against Kennedy and Jantzen went against Tate. Jaron did good at first, but got worn out quickley. He was being too nice to Kennedy...I think he was a little afraid to hit her because she's a girl. Poor kid ended up with a bloody nose, but he had fun. Jantzen on the other hand was working Tate pretty good until he kept loosing his gloves. They were really big for him to hold. I think he really liked this game too. He loves to pretend fight.



It was hot and humid so we decided to take the boys to the water slides to let them cool off. We forgot to bring their swimsuits so they just played in their shorts. I stood at the end of the slides because kids were splashing when they came down and would get me wet...it felt really good! I wish they would have water games for the adults. Their shorts were soaking wet when they were done, but they had a good time and I don't think it phased them one bit.





After they were done playing in the water we got something to eat. Dinner consisted of tacos and navajo fry bread for Josh, nachos and navajo fry bread for me, nachos for Jaron, and french fries and navajo fry bread for Jantzen. Jaron was the only one who wouldn't have any fry bread...he's totally missing out! The boys enjoyed snow cones, which most of Jantzen's juice ended up on his shirt because he would try to eat the ice in the middle and dump everything on himself, it was kind of funny!


After we ate the boys went back to do the rock wall climb, blow up slide, and the bounce house until it was time for fireworks to start. They did get to enjoy some ice cream sandwiches and some playing around with their cousins before the fireworks began. They loved the fireworks, as usual. Some of them were really loud so Jantzen covered his ears for most of it.



When the fireworks were over and we started to clean and pack up I couldn't find Jantzen, but then I did. He had gone over to the stroller that was folded up on the ground and was laying in it. I think he was trying to play hide-n-seek. All the kids thought he was funny, maybe that's why he did it...to get a laugh out of everyone.


We had a really fun time this year, despite me being big and uncomfortable. It's nice to be able to do things like this together as a family and we can't wait until next year to take Jaedyn with us.

Pool Fun With Cousins

A couple weeks ago the boys had some of their cousins from Utah in town for a visit. It's always fun for them when they come because they don't get to see them very often. Jantzen always looks forward to Addy coming because she's his favorite and vice versa. They always play non-stop together and when Jantzen disappears for a minute Addy always comes up to me and asks where he is.

We all went over to Nena's house to swim and it was crazy with all the kids there. After the big kids were done swimming all that was left in the pool was Jaron, Jantzen, and Addy. Addy was squirting the boys with a noodle gun, it was so cute. After a little while Jantzen decided to start throwing rocks in the pool. He thought he was so hilarious, but he got in trouble. I told him if he threw one more rock in that he would have to get out and not swim anymore. Guess what...he did it!! The little stinker! I made him get out of the pool and he wasn't happy about that at all. I do have to say though that his expression in the picture before he got in trouble was just so funny. He was having so much fun.






Jantzen was very mad that I made him get out so he decided to throw a tantrum. Jaron, being the loving big brother, went to cuddle with Jantzen and make him feel better. It usually always works, and it did again in this case.

After Jantzen was happy I got a cute picture of some of the kids together. The rest were off playing somewhere so all I got was Janzten, Jaron, Addy, and Tate. Aren't they so adorable?



Overall I think they had a good time and they look forward to the next time they all get to hang out together. I'm glad it was a fun day for them.

Jaedyn's Baby Shower

Last Saturday my friends Amy and Nena threw a baby shower for me and Jaedyn. I was late because we slept in and I wasn't keeping track of time, but I wasn't that late. It was a lot of fun. There was good food and good friends. We all socialized and ate and had a good time. Nena and Laura waited on me so I got to be lazy...it was kind of nice. I don't get that at home very much.



I got lots of fun stuff from my friends. I'm so excited to finally have a girl, don't get me wrong, I love my boys. It will just be nice to have a change, plus all the hair bows and frilly clothes are really cute. The boys won't let me dress them up like that (but I'm okay with that).



Melanie made this yummy cake. It was a strawberry/chocolate swirl cake. My boys have been enjoying all the leftovers.


Thank you to all my friends that made this a fun day and for all the wonderful gifts I got. It will make starting out with a girl easier, at least in the dress up department. Thanks again girls...you're the best!

Happy Birthday Jantzen!

We celebrated Jantzen's 4th birthday on Wednesday. He was so happy that he was getting another party, although this one was a lot smaller. It was just our family and grandpa Goddard. We asked him where he wanted to go for dinner and at first he just wanted to eat at home, but then changed his mind and wanted to go to Red Robin. At Red Robin Jantzen told the waitress that it was his birthday so they sang to him and then he got an ice cream sundae. He ate some of it and let Josh have the rest.

We came home and decided that we were going to do cake first because we knew if we did presents first that he wouldn't want to do cake. He still got a Wonder Pets cake, but on a much smaller scale this time. Where there wasn't many of us, and we've had way too much cake in the last two weeks, we kept it small so we wouldn't have any leftovers. Jantzen had a little bit of trouble blowing out the candles on his cake, but eventually got it.






After we sang "Happy Birthday" to Jantzen and enjoyed our cake we opened presents. He got lots of new cars, some more Star Wars action figures and the much anticipated Nintendo DS. He has been wanting one for so long and has been bugging Jaron to play his for the last several months...needless to say, Jaron was very excited that Jantzen now has his own. All night long Jantzen and Jaron played their DS's. Now we don't have to listen to them fight in the car because they both want to play Jaron's. It's also going to be nice to have something he really wants to take away when he's not being good, hehe!



I think Jantzen had a great birthday this year. I'm glad we could make it so special and fun for him. HAPPY BIRTHDAY JANTZEN!! We all love you!

It's Party Time!

Last Saturday Jantzen celebrated his birthday with his friends. He chose to have a Wonder Pets theme and was really excited for his party. His friends that were there were...Jaron, Kennedy, Sadie, Tate, McClayn, Bailey, Emma Lynn, and John. I printed out some Wonder Pet coloring pages and bought crayons for the kids to color when they first got there. After doing that for a little bit we decided to start playing the games that Jantzen picked out.



The first game that they played was "pin the tail on the donkey". Jantzen was supposed to go first, but he started being a stinker and didn't want to do it so we let Jaron go first. After Josh talked to Jantzen a little he decided to give it a try. The kids all got two turns and did a pretty good job, although I think some of them cheated. After that they played a "cake ring toss" game. This one was a little hard for most of them. Only a few got the rings on the candles, but they all seemed to enjoy it anyway.



Then they played bowling. Jantzen was so excited for this one. He did pretty good, but it was Jaron that really got in to it. Emma Lynn threw the ball so hard that it missed the pins and hit Kennedy in the stomach...it got her pretty good. All the kids laughed, even Kennedy.



After all the kids had a turn at bowling it was time to break open the pinata. It was too hot to do it outside so we hung it from the stairs. Luckily it was a pull string pinata so I didn't have to worry about the kids swinging a stick in the house and breaking a window or hitting a wall. Jantzen went first...nothing happened. After all the kids had a turn it still wasn't open. There were two strings left so we let Jantzen pull them both. Finally the candy came out. I'm kind of glad that it was Jantzen that got to pull the magic string. I made sure to have extra candy so everyone would get some. I ended up sending the kids home with a ziplock bag full of candy.




Next it was time to open presents. Jantzen was so excited for this, what kid wouldn't be. I first got a picture of him with all his friends before he could open presents. Everytime he would open a present and see what it was he would say, "HOLY COW!" It was the cutest thing ever! He was so happy with every thing he got.



The cutest though was when he opened Jaron's presents. He had been wanting to open his the whole time, but we made him wait until the end. After he opened them he was sooo happy, he jumped up and gave Jaron a huge hug and told him thank you. It was so precious. I love the way these two boys love each other.



Finally, it was time for cake. We ended up getting a cupcake cake for him this year. I think it turned out really cute! We all sang "Happy Birthday" to him and then chowed down. All the kids had two cupcakes each. I wish they would have eaten more because there was still left overs for us...not what we need.






The party turned out pretty fun for all the kids and it wasn't too stressful for me, which was a good thing. Jantzen gor a lot of new Star Wars toys...he was so happy! I know he had a good time and after everyone left all he did was play with his new toys all night.