Our first dinner guest in the new house...

Leslie was the first person to come over for dinner! She works with Matt and recently had knee surgery, so we had her over for dinner on Sunday. She was very good to ignore the boxes and crap we have sitting around still and we enjoyed hanging out with her for a few hours. The boys were particularly excited because she is the owner of a Nintendo DS, so she brought it over and they played Mario Kart in wireless mode so they could race each other. Thanks for coming, Leslie! We had a great time! Good luck on your recovery...

Here's Matt and Leslie...Matt was sure to make her stick her knee up so we could see the bandage in the picture!

Summer Swimming

This summer, the boys are taking swim lessons with one of the young men at our church. We call him Mowgli because the first time we met him he climbed trees in our backyard like Mowgli in the Jungle Book. Anyway, he's great and the kids love him! So, here are a couple pictures of their lastest swimmming lessons...I didn't get a good video because I was always videoing the wrong kid!

Brett following directions...see? I knew he could!

Jace was really ticked when the life guards took a break and they let Brett stay in the pool with Matt because Matt is his dad but they wouldn't let Jace stay in with Mowgli...so they practiced arm and leg movements for breast stroke on the side of the pool. Let's just say Jace wasn't into it!


I promise to get better pictures next week when Mowgli gets back from EFY and we resume lessons! Maybe I'll get lucky and get a video...

Bye, Parkwood Young Women

Last weekend marked the end of my service as Laurel Advisor in our ward. I was in that position since we moved into my parents' house, and I love my girls! I'm going to miss them so much! Unexpectedly, the young women president was also released at the same time. 4 of our 6 girls graduated and before we were released we planned a Laurel Graduation and one last temple trip. So Friday night, we went to the temple and Saturday morning we had our graduation, which was really more like a New Beginnings for Relief Society for all you mormons (when you turn 18 and graduate from HS, you aren't a youth any more at our church...you go into a new class with all the other women 18 to ?). Anyway, we had the RS presidency and the girls new visiting teachers come to breakfast and do a little orientation for them. Unfortunately, only one of our graduates was able to come, and it was too bad because the short program was great and breakfast was awesome! Here are pictures of the 2 events...

At the temple Friday night...

Laurel Graduation...Jean Boothe is the Relief Society Pres

Three of my girls, Allison, Danielle and Katie

Wrecking the Honda 06-24-2009

Wednesday afternoon last week the boys and I were in a wreck. The boys were with me but we are all fine. The car is smashed up, though. Luckily, it was not my fault. The guy was coming across 4 lanes of traffic to get to my lane (the far left lane) and didn't see me. I saw him start to move forward too late to do anything to prevent it. If he had hit us a second or 2 after he did, it would have hit directly on Brett, but as it was, it hit just in front of him. It scared us all, shattering the front passenger window. I was not going very fast...probably about 35 mph and he had just started out. His big ole truck hardly had a dent. He does have insurance.

On Friday night, while were at the temple, we finally got approval from his insurance company for a rental car. Ours is now at the body shop waiting for his insurance adjuster to visit it there and then get repaired. We think we will have the rental for about a month.

And of course...pictures...

My smashed up car

The beautiful, sexy rental I had for about 4 hours Saturday morning since the Impala I was suppsed to rent smelled like smoke...fun while it lasted!

And finally, the Saturn I ended up with and will be driving for the next 3-4 weeks...

Visit to Midland/Odessa for Father's Day

Father's Day weekend we decided to take a trip to Odessa to see Grammy and Pop and also Heather and Phil and family. We needed to get away from the mess of 2 houses for a few days! We had a great time and while we were there, we found new cameras for me and Kat at Sam's! These pics are with the new cam...



Jace, Brett and Kade after sacrament meeting on Sunday


Brett was mesmorized by Carter...

Heather and Kade

Jen and Phil (and Carter)

Heather and Jen (and Carter)

Matt and Carter

Pop

Grammy and Jen

Pop playing with my new camera (this is him physically zooming into to Grammy's face...no, not with the 10x optical zoom the camera has, but like physically putting the camera in her face)

Pop cooking us dinner on Father's Day...yeah, this is backwards...we should totally be cooking for him!

Jace and Lindsey's dog, Presliegh (Grammy and Pop were dog sitting which was just fine with Jace...he played with Presleigh all weekend)

Brett playing Ms. Pacman with Dad

Look what a good picture my new camera takes! 17 miles from Kerrville...about and hour and a half from home...

Matt driving home on Father's Day...yup...I should have driven and let him have a nap...oh well...

Building Putting Greens 06-13-2009

We took the boys to Lowe's to build putting greens the weekend before Father's Day weekend...they always have fun building the things, but what the heck do you do with it after the building is over?

To Grandpa, From Brett 06-08-2009

One day, we were playing out front at Grandpa's (if we're outside, it's Grandpa's...if we're inside, it's Grandma's), and Brett decided to "decorate" Grandpa's bushes for him. The crepe myrtles had blooomed at started dropping their flowers which he collected and put them on the bushes...

Summer Reading 06-06-2009

The week school let out, we went straight to the library to get going on summer reading. The boys signed up for the library reading program and are also participating in several others. We have fun putting books on hold and looking for movies when we go! Here they are making their summer selections...

Smores at the New House 05-30-2009

Ah! We finally spent the night at our new place. We promised the boys we would roast marshmellows, so we lit the fireplace and made smores. The kids were in heaven...

Fun on Memoral Day 05-26-2009

Oops! I forgot to post this one before Jace's Unbirthday post! We had a fun day on Memorial Day. We had our traditional flag ceremony where Brett led us in the pledge and song (America the Beautiful) and then we got to go swimming...here are the boys being excited...
OK...so Brett doesn't look excited...but only because I made him pose for this picture after the actual flag ceremony was over...

Here's the excitement...


Brett hearts his brother...Jace, on the other hand, looks like he's sitting on the potty...

In the pool...their favorite!

Jace's Unbirthday and Science Presentation 05-29-2009

In Jace's class, his teacher celebrates the summer birthdays at the end of the school year. They get to have birthday lunch bunch where they eat lunch in their classroom with the teacher and they get to play games and hang out with her. This year, Jace really wanted to take cupcakes to his class like some of the kids do on their birthdays, so he and I made cupcakes (and we had to put something on top...so he chose umbrellas).

Also that day, his teacher invited him to present his science fair project about the water cycle, so she asked if I could come up after lunch to help with his presentation. He had a great time presenting it to his class and explaining how it works. He said he was less nervous with me standing beside him, which always makes a mom feel important! We had fun working on those projects together!

Brett's End of the Year Picnic 05-21-2009

Brett also had his end of the year picnic the morning after graduation. The kids always have so much fun at this activity. Check out the pictures... Brett playing with bubbles It's rare that I get a smile without begging Climbing a tree This year, the moms that were in charge decided to include a hike at the end of the picnic. Here we are at the beginning... After the hike, the kids were hot and tired. They had a water gun fight to cool off. Here is Brett waiting for the enemy... There is always some form of entertainment at the picnic...some years it's a clown, last year a children's musician came, and this year a karate instructor came. The kids loved learning a little karate and he was really good with them. Brett was chosen to "break the block" at the end of the karate lesson. Here is a video of him "hitting" it...listen to the kids chanting at the beginning, "Brett! Brett!" He loved the attention, as always...

Brett's Preschool Graduation 05-20-2009

Brett had his preschool graduation this week which marked the end of school for him. Next year he will be in Kindergarten at the same school with our favorite teacher, Mrs. Elliott. I'm so glad we get one more year there! He had a lot of fun putting on his program for all the parents and getting his diploma. Here are some pictures of the evening:
Brett and his teacher, Mrs. Elliott: Mrs. Elliott looking at the scrapbook I made for her with help gathering pictures and funding by the other moms: Cornerstone Learning Center Class of 2009 (Preschool and Kindergarten) The first song the kids did was one where they put a bean bag on various body parts and then they would walk around with it balanced on there. Brett always went the opposite direction of the other kids while have a blast keeping that bean bag balanced (on his head in this picture): Here's Brett on the stage: Here he is say his part loud and proud in the microphone. He did a great job! Saying the pledge: Receiving his diploma: Why diplomas are a bad idea: Jace even got to be a part of Brett's program. He and fellow preschool alumnus, Reagan, got to be greeters and hand out programs. And last but not least, a little video of Brett's favorite part of the program, the Mexican Hat Dance: