Randomness we are good at

A bit of Random news and pictures...

Isaac got third place in 2nd grade in his Chess Club!

 He was pretty excited!

We finally decided to break our trip up and stopped in St. George overnight.  Our kids have never stayed in  a hotel and they thought it was pretty cool!  We weren't there very long but they still managed to go swimming a couple of times.  We also went over to the St. George temple.  We weren't planning on getting out of the car, but the kids insisted.  The visitor center was great and the so was the walk around the temple. 

 Daddy got pie on his birthday in Hooper before we left for the beach.  It may or may not have been his only birthday cake/candle:)

We try to take a picture with our kids on their birthdays...we missed it on Luke's so we took a late one:)

Oliver is a big fan of Grandpas and Giant cookies.

We went to the tulip festival with the kids.  Always a favorite of mine.  The boys had fun spotting birdhouses along the trail.

rolling down the hill is always fun for these kids

 This ended up being the best picture of all of them.  Huh.  Go figure...maybe all of the group pictures from here on out will be of their backs:)

Hands in face, and mouth, and not looking

 forced or no smiles

 eyes closed

Rubys smells the flowers all on her own...she only did it for a second--it was so cute, I was hoping to capture it in a picture but not the greatest one.

Jam session in the park

Kids climbing the Web

 Ruby was determined to get to the top!

Before we left we let the kids choose their favorite flower to get a picture with.  I decided to write a little bit about each child because I'm very behind in their journals.

Isaac

Intense and loudest child in the WORLD.  Handsome loving big brother.  Loves Chess and Dragaonvale and I don't understand either one.  Enjoys Soccer and basketball.  Loves to be tickled and hugged and kissed and cuddled.  Loves his friends.  Learning to be a good hard worker and getting better and better at not complaining!  He really is quite helpful these days!  Now I know why people have lots of kids--slave labor!:) hahaha!

Luke

Still our adorable odd ball.  Artistic and super smarty pants.  Loves animal fact books.  Loves numbers. And loves to write and illustrate his own stories.  Likes to make up games for everyone to play.  Still makes creations all day long=messiest child EVER! Manages to wear ALL his meals. Good little worker most of the time.  Loves to play with his brothers and sisters.  Can't wait until Isaac gets home each day.

Ruby

Shoe loving girl--changes her shoes all day long and even sleeps in them.  Loves her dolls and babies but really just wants a real one.  Mostly a good big sister and working on being a good little sister.  Smiles, and sings, and dances all day, but usually not for anyone but her family.  Just discovered Disney princesses and thinks they are the best!!  Loves to work outside with mom and dad in the yard.  Such a girl--has a certain way we need to brush, floss, and rinse her teach. There are also steps on how to put her to bed and she makes sure we do it the right way each night!

 Oliver

Loves water and popsicles.  Hasn't picked any of my flowers and loves to help me water them.  Newly discovered that he can pull down his pants in the back and give mom quite a stir!  He doesn't think it is funny, until I start chasing him to pull them back up--I'm just thankful he hasn't learned to pull down the front:)  Loves, LOVES, music and dancing.  And he will sit and let me read to him for hours.  Quite a little tease to Ruby--hoping it is just a phase.

 Messy baby!

and Handsome baby!!

Isaac is also into taking pictures these days.  He took quite a few of us this time--most of them we were in the process of getting into a sitting position and then standing up and grabbing the camera--but he did get this great one!  Can't believe we are old enough to have 4 critters of our own.  Can't stop now.  They are just too cute and most of the time, fun to be around.

As we were leaving we found a princess...Ruby was mesmerized and would NOT leave.

I still have so many beach pics...I am trying to catch up before all of the end of the year festivities.