One year down....

Colby is officially done with his first year of school! I feel like we should have a ceremony or something. We have been in celebration mode for the last couple of days; we went out to dinner, had a BBQ, rented a movie from the library and slept in until 8 am this morning!


Colby and the boys picking out a movie at the library. Aren't they handsome?


Colby pushing Ammon, Cannon and some random kid on the tire swing at the BBQ.


Carter is all geared up for summer!


Colby showing off the BBQ apron he got for his birthday.

Although we didn't have a ceremony, I have prepared a short speech to thank everyone who has helped get us through this first year.... (I've always wanted to give a speech at a ceremony!)

I'd like to thank my Mom for sending cards and packages for every major or minor holiday (she even sent me a Mother's day card!), I'd like to thank Kami for calling me every week and keeping me up to date on the "Utah gossip," I'd like to thank Susan for being my personal recipe consultant, Celeste for being a great running partner and motivating me to go running even when it is 5:30 am and/or raining, Ammon and Carter for going everywhere with me and being my constant companions, I'd like to thank Colby because he's the world's best husband (and really he's the reason why we are here!), I'd like to thank Karin, Emily, Ann,Elizabeth and all of you other faithful bloggers for keeping me entertained with your blogs when I was husbandless, Tonya for trading babysitting with me and giving Colby and I much needed date nights and last but not least, the Macaroni Grill for providing me with employment and discounted food. Here's to three more great years!

Happy Birthday Colby!

Today Colby is turning 28! He can no longer tease me about being an "old woman" because we are now the same age again. Unfortunately, Colby is going to spend the day studying for his last test (it's tomorrow AM), but after that we are going to celebrate for two months!
Colby is hands down the world's best husband and best daddy. Here are all the things we love about him:

-I love that he works at the school (from Ammon)
-when I grow up I'm going to be a foot doctor and a daddy and a garbage truck driver and go to the same school as daddy. (from Ammon)
- he reads me stories (from Cart)

-Whenever I come home from work, the house is clean and the kids are in bed. It is so nice not to have to worry about what I will find when I come home.
- I can cook anything and Colby will eat it. Most of the time, he even says it's good.
-he helps with the dishes.
-he makes me laugh.
-I don't want daddy to go to school today (from Carter)
-he makes me breakfast in bed and gives me back rubs when I have had a really long day.
-he gets really excited when I make food that he likes.
-he is very kind to others
-he doesn't like contention or confrontation so he's a great peacemaker.
-he helps get the kids ready for church.
-he gets really excited when Carter wakes up dry and gives him fives when he goes potty.

This is what Colby has looked like for the last 10 months.


-Dad plays with us all the time and he teases us (from Ammon)
-he gets really mad when he looses his x-box soccer games and he yells at the TV.
-he is very unselfish and always thinks of me and the kids first.
-he gives great hugs.
-he works very hard in school and studies very diligently, even when I try to talk him out of it.
-he plays soccer with me (from Carter).

We hope Colby has a great birthday! We love you daddy!

Mother's day

Mother's day this year was great! Colby made me breakfast before I had to go to work (okay, the work part wasn't that great). When I got home, the boys gave me gifts. I got some new running clothes and the official Mother's day present from preschool (Ammon's little handprints with a cute poem). When I opened Ammon's present, I actually cried. It just made me feel like a real Mom. After we ate our free to go from Macaroni Grill (long story, but my boss bought our dinner), we decided to go on a bike ride. We rode up the Neil Smith trail to Saylorville Lake and it was beautiful! It was such a nice day. Isn't Iowa beautiful? Kind of makes you want to visit, ehh?

The bike ride ended up being longer than we anticipated (when all was said and done we had gone 12 miles), so when we got to the river we got the boys out of the trailer. They had fun throwing rocks in the water and running around on the grass.


Throwing anything they can get their hands on into the water.


I love this picture, it looks like it could go on a postcard or something.


The spillway was very full, and pretty intimidating to watch. The water would splash clear up to the fence. It made me nervous just standing above it.

Our new additions

Apparently, Ammon has been feeling like our family is incomplete. Originally, he requested a baby sister named Karlee (due to the fact that his best friend has a baby sister named Karlee). Then, after they had a lesson on pets at preschool, he asked for a dog. Neither of the above seemed like good options, so Colby and I suggested a fish. That seemed to satisfy him. We now have 4 little new additions to our family. Ammon named his fish Flash and Carter named his Picasso (I would like to tell you that he is an artistic genius, but he got it from Toy Story). We also have Danio and Sylvester Girl. The boys are so excited to have pets. They help feed them and they talk to them. Ammon has said more than once, "Flash is so happy in his new home."


Colby getting the tank ready.


Little fish are really hard to take pictures of, this is the best I could do.


The boys watching their fish eat breakfast.


Carter said, "I love my Picasso fish, he's so cute!"

Soccer, bike rides, mini-golf and other death defying feats

Soccer
It is finally nice weather in Iowa, and we are enjoying it to it's fullest. Ammon just finished a soccer clinic at the YMCA. He did great! Carter wanted go out and play with the other kids and occasionally, if we didn't think he would get run over, we would let him.


Stretching out before the clinic. Notice Carter is out there with his own little ball.


Ammon waiting in line to shoot a goal.

Bike Rides
We have lots of trails around us that are great for biking, running and walking. Ammon loves to go out and ride bikes with his friends.


Cannon and Ammon smile for the camera.


Mini-golf
On Monday, we went mini-golfing for Family Home Evening. The boys had a blast! Carter would hit the ball once, then go pick it up and put it about 2 inches away from the hole. No matter how many times Colby tried to show them how to hold the club, they couldn't quite remember!




Other Death Defying Feats
We have decided that Carter is a four year old trapped in a two year old body. He frequently does things that amaze (and scare me). This is his latest trick and no matter how many times he does it, I still get scared every time.