He's FOUR!!

It's hard to believe that Braden is now the "big boy" at home, but it's true!  Now that Jake is in school, Bray is the oldest boy in the house and at the park.  He truly has a tender, sweet heart and is so good about looking out for Brook and Ethan and always trying to make things fair by sharing his toys.  Auntie Shannon took him out for a special birthday lunch and later told me that while they were munching their pizza, Braden observed that there was a man at the next table eating with a girl.  His comment to Shannon--"That man has two pieces of pieces and the girl only has one!  He should share."  Shannon explained that it's okay-- the man was probably hungrier.:)

Here's a few stats:

Favorite Color:  Blue, but orange is a close second

Favorite Food:  Pizza

Favorite Drink:  Milk

Favorite Place:  Grandma's house

Favorite Catch-phrase:  You're NOT the BOSS!  (It has been somewhat less with Jake in school--however, now Ethan is picking it up. Oi...)

Favorite Toy(s):  Helicopter, Bike (tricycle-- it is tragedy if we forget it when we go to the park!)

Favorite Superhero:  Spiderman

We had a fun Sunday dinner birthday at the MacKay's.  We love our sweet Bray-Bray!  I still do my best to nibble on those dimpled, fluffy little cheeks while they last (and while he'll let me!)

For his birthday, Auntie Shannon also took Bray our for lunch.  He was SOOO excited!  Here's an excerpt from her blog:

After playing at the children's museum, Bella and I took Braden to lunch for his 4th Birthday.  He was worried that I would forget out plans, so he reminded me and Lisa several times.  

 Showing me how old he is...

We had a great time at our little pizza place.  Braden wanted a cheese pizza with no spice-ies (I think that meant no pepperoni) and root-beer (but only up to the middle he said).  Braden seemed to be more concerned that there was a man with one leg there.  He asked me if he cut it off when he was in the mountains camping.  haha!

After pizza we got some dessert at McDonalds.  Braden couldn't decide between an oreo shake or a strawberry banana smoothie.  After 10 mins in the drive-thru with lots of people behind us he decided on the smoothie since it was healthier.  What a smartie!

Our First Primary Program!

So, last year we missed the primary program due to a cabin trip.  And before that, I remember being the chorister, but I don't remember much about Jacob's participation-- not sure if he was big enough yet??  In any case, I believe this Primary Program will always be a special memory for many reasons.

First off, it's the first time I've even been in a primary presidency, and actually been in charge of more than just the music.  It was a neat experience, putting things together and trying to follow the Spirit as we do so.  It was really special-- I love that the theme this year was "I am a Child of God"-- such a powerful message at any age.

The 23 kids in our tiny primary sang their little hearts out and I was so proud of Jakey and Bray for having their lines memorized.  Sid and Dawn came to see the kids too.:)  On the funny side. . .  you know how there's always one sweet little sunbeam in the Primary Program that provides the comic relief?  Wellllll. . .  this year it was Braden!

Braden did not want to stay in his chair-- he was somewhat insulted that he had to sit in a little folding chair instead of the fun floppy choir seats.  And, I think having mommy sitting so close was much too tempting for my little 4 year old.  He was right on the front row.  As the chorister stood the children for each song he would look around as if to say, "Is anyone going to stop me. . . ?"  Then, he would slip around her backside while the kids sang, and sit next to the bishop, or me, or some other adult who caught him on his way over.  After each song, he usually went back to his seat to get ready for his lines.  I can imagine it was pretty cute to see his little blonde head walking back and forth.  At one point he even said, "Boo!" into the microphone as he walked by.  Ohhh well!  He's my sweet mommy's buddy.  Just gotta laugh sometimes!

Beach Trip!

So our school decided to start a week later than usual which turned out great! We were able to go on an awesome Rowley Family vacation!! We decided to go to Lincoln City and found an amazing house for a great deal. It was only a couple of blocks away from the beach and despite sketchy forecasts, we ended up with perfect weather and had SO much fun! We went from Monday to Thursday. We drove in, unpacked and headed straight for the beach! The beach we went to was amazing - there was a small pool of knee-deep warmish freshwater on the beach perfect for the kiddos to play in and with most people in school, there wasn't a crowd at all! The wind was light and the sun nice and hot - perfect for kites, digging in the sand, playing in the water and boogie-boarding! It was SO awesome. Lincoln City also has a great Outlet Mall, so all of us ladies were able to spend few hours shopping like crazy! We found some great deals and had a great time. We also had fun at the house playing pool, playing games, watching movies, eating, and just relaxing.

Here come lots of pictures!

Jay helping Jett figure out the kite.

Didn't take long before he got the hang of it!

Jayson and Jett testing out the ocean.

I got to celebrate my birthday there! They got me a cake and everything. Happy 31 to me!

Felt sooo good to just relax.

Most of the clan.

Our sandy lady. She loved the sand and was so cute crawling around everywhere and playing!

This was Dallas most of the time - he loved laying on the warm sand and driving his trucks around!

One of the best parts about this beach - the kiddie pool! It was so perfect and the kids had a blast!

There was a lot of burying going on... ;)

One day we did family pictures. They turned out pretty good! Shane was our photographer.

Soccer Time!

 Tucker has started playing soccer! (We decided he can play this fall and then Jett wants to play baseball in the spring.) His little team is call Shockwave and they had their first Soccer game last Saturday and it was SO much fun! We had amazing weather and the soccer field was a pleasant walk a couple blocks away from home! So nice. Tucker has really enjoyed his soccer team - esp. playing with his best friend Jacob - and has really improved over the weeks. He's always asking if it's a soccer day or how long until a soccer day. He also likes to practice at home and does a great job! It's really fun to watch all these boys play - they did great at their game and won 8-2. We'll see how tomorrow's game goes!

The zoom on my camera is broken right now, so sorry for the small pictures. :\ Tucker is number 23 and did awesome!

That's Tucker kicking the ball! He even scored a goal!

The cheering section!

 

 

**Bonus Pictures**

 Dallas and I had some funny face fun...  ;)

Time for School!

So we've survived our first week of school! Yay!! Our awesome school, Pioneer Heritage Academy started this last Tuesday and I'm thinking it's going to be a great year! There are a lot of new families and teachers this year (Grandma gets to be Jett's history teacher!), and it's fun to see our cousin Brenna starting 1st grade there as well. Jett is a big 4th grader now and Tucker is in 2nd grade. Dallas and Charlotte get to spend a couple of hours with Aunt Clarissa and cousins while I teach the 4th grade math class and assist in the Senior math class! So far everything has been working out great, thankfully! We're still getting used to the early mornings and lots of homework. Piano lessons have started again as well, so there's lots of awesome piano practice going on. Tucker is in soccer this year (yeah!), and Jett gets to start scouts up again with Dad as his new den leader, and we are loving it all!!

Every Tuesday at PHA everyone wears nice clothes so "first day of school pictures" always get to be fancy!  ;)

4th grade and 2nd grade - SO excited!!

Happy Birthday Papa!!

Happy 61st Birthday Papa!!  

 We LoVe YoU!!

First Day of School

 Sue and I went on our first 450 mile road trip with Doug and Kay Kowallis up through Garden Valley, Lowman, Stanley and stayed the night at Smiley Creek Lodge just below Galena Summit.  What a great time!!  We continued the next day up and over Galena Summit down into Sun Valley and then on to Gooding and Hagerman.  We love two lane roads!!
We took a dip at a little known spring near Hagerman.  The water was crystal clear, cold, and spring fed by cascading waterfalls. And then we headed home via the freeway.  I wasn't real thrilled with riding the freeway but we sure made good time. 

 Doug and Kay are sweet friends we have known for over 35 years.  It's wonderful to renew old friendships and create new memories.  What a great time.  We played speed scrabble until the battery died on our light.

Yes...I'm a happy boy with my sweetheart at the top of the world on Galena Summit.

Happy Birthday Ashley!

Happy Birthday to my sister Ashely - she is beautiful, smart, adventurous...did I say beautiful already?  Hope you have a wonderful day!  Love you :)