New experiences to remember

So, when you turn a decade old, as Peter just did, you want to do something fun and exciting.  Something to remember. We thought of different ideas and I think we came up with a great weekend we will all remember.  First off, on Friday Peter had an incredibly hard game of soccer to play.  It was such a close came and they won, 8-7! Whew!  Then on Saturday, after another tough game for Caleb we headed up to Midway, Utah to go see the Ice Castles.  It was totally fun!  Along the way we actually saw 3 moose on the hillside and arrived in time to see the castles in the daylight and then when the lights turned on.

 The boys found the exploring right up their alley.

 Peter enjoyed this birthday experience.  Until his feet got really cold and he was just done.  Fortunately that did not happen till right before we left.

 There were cool tunnels to crawl through.  A maze to explore in.  And, lots and lots of people.

 But surprisingly enough, Peter did fine with the crowds and I only lost Haley once.

 Once the darkness hit and they turned on the castle lights in the ice, it was really cool.  The lights would change through the whole rainbow and each picture or feature of the castle was different.  This is taken in the dome, and it was awesome!

 Same dome feature, different lights.

 Peter, being true to his crazy self, love that boy! And Caleb is always sweet with Haley.

 Look at those ice cycles.  So cool!

 Being that the next day would be Valentine's Day, they carved a heart that night.

 Those two silhouettes are Peter and Haley and I love how the lights of the castle look behind them.

 There was even a flame thrower guy, wowing the people there.

 And princesses, Haley's night was complete when she had this photo taken. It was certainly something we all enjoyed together.

 When Peter was 3 he received 10 boxes of Honey Nut Cheerios from Pa.  This year we all gave him  Goldfish crackers, he lives off of those.

 And since Monday was a holiday, we went swimming for one last birthday celebration for Peter.  It was great!  We went to the pool by where Peter plays indoor soccer, a new place for all of us.  It was free, because of some expo they were having that day, but not crowded: a double win!  Not to mention the water toys were super fun, the water was a great temperature, they had a slide for Haley to have fun on and they boys loved it!

 Love it when plans go according to schedule.

This boy Peter.  He is awesome!  Funny to be around, unless he is grumpy.  Smart and really good at just doing his school work, no struggles there.  He loves to read and loves to play.  We are so glad he is a part of us!

Moving onto 10

While Caleb was at choir practice today the rest of us (minus Rob) went up the Park City canyon to find some fun and adventure, one last play before Peter says goodbye to 9. 

 We came upon a frozen lake and decided that was a good place to get out and explore.  As we walked William wanted to sled penguin style, but found that it was too slow.  Then the boys saw that other people had been writing messages in the snow on the lake.  Peter and William decided to do the same.  Peter wrote a 10.

Showing off his excitement at his birthday being tomorrow.

And showing off his goof-ball side.  He likes to pull these silly and funny faces whenever he can.

Not to leave out these cool companions on our adventure.  William was gung-ho to keep going.

Haley was cold, muddy and hungry.  She was ready to go pick up Caleb.

So Peter, looking back on 9. When I asked him to remember something from the last year, this is what he wrote, "soccer/being with family/eating/playing/being happy."  He has definitely been involved with soccer and improved tremendously.  Being with family, although we still sometimes get on his nerves, he does have fun with us. Eating, he is probably remembering all those boxes and boxes and boxes of Goldfish crackers he consumes and the string cheese he gobbles up.  And playing and being happy, he is right about that. He can come up with the most imaginative and creative stories and games.  And this past year he has become pretty goofy in his pictures.  He is great about making crazy sounds at really random times of the day.  Takes you by surprise quite a lot. I think the majority of photos of him, he is pulling a face. Crazy kid.
But what else do I remember about him from this last year.  He has become a crazy reader.  He can be found reading a book for hours at a time and he loves it!  He told me this summer that playing with mud makes him happy.  He won for his reflections contest story that he wrote and illustrated himself. He is a great student and very easy going on getting his homework done.  Such a blessing. He has become more tolerant of going to church, more patient with people who bug him and tries his best to feel the spirit.  We'll keep him around for as long as we can, he keeps life interesting around here, and we love him for it.

Hitting a dull point in life

For the sake of keeping a record of our life I am posting this.  Who knows if I will ever have enough ink or paper to print this out for a journal.  But it is written, NOTHING is going on in life.  Well, nothing new or exciting.  The same remains.  Soccer, school, choir, laundry, legos, church, nagging and encouraging.  See, I do not even have any good photos to show for the last few weeks!  Augh!  But what to remember.  Rob is busy with work.  Caleb has been having some rough games of soccer. He still likes soccer, but walks away from each game frustrated at not having performed better.  I do not even want to recount the last game, it was heart-wrenching.  But I have tried to point out that all he can do it try his best and learn from what he is experiencing.  Peter has been doing well with soccer, but it helps that his team is really good.  William has been a sweetheart the last week and been getting up for school and getting ready on time, without complaint and constant urging from us.  That is a definite win for him.  Haley, nothing new for that girl.  Play, sleep, read, play and go wherever we drag her. She has a pretty easy life right now.  That is life in a nutshell.  But it will be fun again soon. Peter's birthday, Valentine's day...... there are some plans in the works.