Manti Pageant 2011

So we went to the pageant again this year and this year both kids did great. Well except that part where we bought our son a camping bed and he refused to sleep in it. But no worries as long as daddy held him he was fine. Our daughter however fell asleep fairly quickly and slept in. We even had a hard core camping breakfast. You will just have to scroll through the pictures. You'll see how hard core we were.

A scene in the pageant where it talks about the pioneers experiences as they tried to find a place to establish Zion.

He fell asleep during the pageant. Did pretty good here and then woke up when we got back to camp.

She fell asleep but woke up while in the car. No worries though she fell asleep quickly once we got back and settled down.

Ya he woke up when I went to take a picture of them.

Yep my daughter asleep and my son not in his camping bed.

They even made a friend who came to say hi.

Hey don't judge the mosquitoes were eating us alive even with several bug repellents on. We decided to pack up, skip swimming and get breakfast inside somewhere.

Creative kids

My daughters interpretive drawing of Rapunzel. She even drew the whites in the eyes.

My son building a train out of chairs

Early Intervention

So my son is in Early Intervention to help me make sure that I am meeting his needs while I have been focused on my daughters speech. He barely qualified. He has blossomed so much in the last 6 months. He is more interactive and speaks a ton. Sometimes it is still hard to understand him but hey he is 2 and well within the normal range. One of the issues that he is working on is sensory. But they don't foresee him being in the program very long. He has come a long way and isn't quite so hyper-focused on things in his play that he actually lets us play with him now. He also will sing with the kids songs and a few songs from TV as well. I can't believe it the same little boy. I got him tested originally because I was afraid that I wasn't a very good judge of speech development because of my daughter. I thought she was fine and figured she would grow out of it. She might have but she has blossomed because I finally got the help I needed. I wanted to make sure my son got any help he might night rather than blowing it off until it was too late and started to influence problems with his development. According to their therapists neither one of them will need the next program or service offered because they have grown so much.

Below are pictures from an Early Intervention Picnic from back in June.

He saw a train that was going by right nest to the park.

Bubbles

They covered the tables with paper and let the kids draw pictures

Here is my son with one of his therapists. He loves this therapist.
Rolling and scooting down the hill

Fathers Day

Fathers Day was very nice and very relaxing. My wife was very crafty. She took a pot and decorated it with the kids hand prints along with a small tie that she made. She then filled it with my favorite candy (Reese's Peanut butter cups.) She also made one for my dad. She also made a Fathers Day card from a picture of our kids and she wrote a very sweet message on the back. Then for dinner we went over to my parents house. It was nice seeing my parents, brothers, sister in laws, and my Grandma and being able to visit. It was also nice to not have to do dishes after the meal. It was a very nice day and I am thankful that I can be a father. I am amazed by the overwhelming love that I have for my children. It is a love that is only possible to have for someone that you have been given the opportunity to love and care for. I am also amazed at the love they have for me and how they show it. It is always great to see them come rushing to the door with their arms open to give me a hug when I come home from work.

Fun Videos of the kids Playing

Truly these are more of the mommy/daddy variety of exciting.

Here is our son playing with his sippy friends, Buzz and Woody. Who needs dolls when you have sippy cups with such cool tops!


Here is our little girl singing one of her random made up songs.

Swim Lessons 2011

This is from the first two weeks of swim lessons this summer. I loved the teacher that worked with her here and the second two weeks. The last teacher she had swim lesson from I wasn't too impressed with. She loved being able to go to swim lessons and learn to be safe in the water. This was only the preschool levels so she didn't learn to swim yet. She was going to have lessons to start helping her learn to swim but she broke her arm and was in a cast so unfortunately she wasn't able to start that this year.



Three little monkey's dancing on the wall.....

So and so jumped in and splashed us all!


Soooo cold getting out of the water.

Doing better in her towel.

Real Soccer Game

My husband gets some free tickets every now and then to go to The Real Soccer Games. We usually invite a couple friends to go with us and find babysitters instead of taking the kids with us. But this time we decided it would be fun to try and take our kids with and have a fun family date. However I am not sure that we will do it again. Not because the kids were a problem. They were great in fact. It was a lot of fun to see them enjoy this experience with us. No it was because of fans. I have noticed occasional swearing and a few obscene gestures but it had been almost a year since the last time we went and I apparently forgot how bad it could get. To make matters worse there were a couple of young teenagers behind us that made it a goal to swear as many times as possible. I had to turn around and remind them that although it is possible that what they are saying might be true, it might be better to sound more educated and come up with more creative things than such obscene language. Although they didn't seem too happy about me calling them on their language luckily their mom didn't seem to bothered by me asking them to stop. But it was fine since they toned it WAY down which I appreciated. But even with them toning it down I was surprised by the cheers that I heard people cheering. I really don't remember cheers with swearing in them before so that was new and discouraging. When my daughter tried to cheer with them I had to quickly change words. So I am more than positive that professional sporting events are not at all a place for kids. We did have fun though and it will be their last for a while. Enjoy the pictures!

Before the game they have a lot of pregame things for kids and adults to enjoy. Totally might get the impression this could be a family event, right?



She didn't make it in the hole above but she did get a KFC bucket to wear as a hat for trying(Seen in the picture below).

Start of the game. How cute is the little mascot!



Feeding daddy some cotton candy.

She is just cute!

Loving the cotton candy!

See a picture with me. I was there. And my son not happy with not being allowed to go past mommy.

Trading hats. My daughter took daddy's hat and my son took her bucket.

Daddy with the bucket.

The drummers were sending off smoke signals.

And even Leo the Lion came and entertained right in front of us.