Ryan's Birthday

Our newest six year old!  Ryan had a great day.  He took one of his favorite treats, Tootsie Rolls, to school to share with the class.  And of course all day he was excited for the main event - presents!  First we had his birthday dinner of pancakes and eggs - his favorite.

On to the presents! Ryan LOVES I Spy things, so we thought the Wii game would be fun.

New Star Wars jammies!

Awhile ago Ryan had been begging for Lego Power Miners set, but they weren't around in the stores anymore.  I found one for pretty cheap on Amazon and thought it would be the best surprise ever.

 When he opened it he wasn't too sure because he had been expecting something from the Star Wars collection.

But then of course the building began and all sorts of fun started to happen.

The birthday boy builder and the finished product

Time for cake and ice cream!  Ryan requested Plo Koon's Starfighter from the Clone Wars.

Ready to blow out the candles!  Of course he chose the piece in the center with the R2 unit.

Daddy decided to show off what he would look like with a mustache.  The kids thought it was hilarious!

Some fun things about Ryan:

He has a great sense of humor.  Unfortunately this usually ends up focusing on something related to potty words, but it gets a giggle out of his brothers so of course he thinks it's worth it.

He loves anything Star Wars and has a very active imagination when it comes to recreating battle scenes.

He is a great builder.  He loves to create new ships that are equipped with many blasters and guns to fend off those pesky members of the Dark Side.

Ryan loves to read.  He is getting better every day and gets excited when he knows a new word.

He is a little tentative when it comes to trying new things, but once he is finally convinced he usually has a good time.

He is very particular about certain things, one of them being the organization of his bed before he goes to sleep.  His pillow and stuffed animals have to be in the right spot.

Ryan is kind and thoughtful and watches out for his little brothers, especially Andrew.

We love Ryan and we are so happy to have him in our family.  Happy Birthday to our six year old!

Finding the Perfect Pumpkin

For Family Home Evening we went for our annual trip to the Big Red Barn. The kids look forward to this activity every year because they get to go for a ride, find the "perfect" pumpkin, and hang out with cousins. 

Waiting for the tractor...so cute!

Andrew was so excited to run through the pumpkin field.  He couldn't decide which one he wanted and would pick up one only to put it down to reach for another.  It was so funny to watch.

Matthew decided to go for a big one this time.  Our rule is they can only pick one they can carry themselves and Matthew worked really hard to keep his.  I was impressed that he carried it most of the way.

Ryan and Zachary with their pumpkins.

This year they had a huge slide for the kids to go down, which of course they LOVED.  

Andrew is my little dare devil and practically went down headfirst if I hadn't caught him in time.  He was not happy to have to wait for one of the parents to go down with him, but he always came down with a smile on his face.  And of course he immediately ran back to go down again.

Ma and Pa Tams

The boys couldn't get enough of this tractor while waiting for the hay ride to take us back to the barn.  It was a great day and got us excited for Halloween!

Soccer!

The final soccer game of the fall season was upon us and it was a great day to finish things off.  Ryan had decided at the beginning of the season that he wanted to score three goals each game and he was surprisingly on target most of the time.  After his three-goal quota was met his job was to help with assists for the other players on his team.  It's fun to watch how focused he gets and how hard he plays.

Ryan is a pretty good dribbler and his short legs give him a little bit of an advantage.  

 

Ryan had a lot of fun and was sad it was over, especially the treats at the end of the game!

Matthew really enjoyed playing on his soccer team this year.  He was on an all boy team and they had referees that kept score.  He worked hard to improve some of his skills and Kevin says Matthew is a good midfielder because he has a very good sense of where the ball always is and where it should go.  He has become better at making passes and assists and seems to understand the role of the team more.

Matthew's last game was awesome, but I am sad to say that both the camera and the camcorder ran out of batteries for the best parts!  Matthew's team was behind by three and at one point he was running down the field with the ball when a player from the other team came to steal it.  Matthew tried to run around the player but ended up colliding hard with the boy.  Matthew got knocked flat on the ground and just laid there for awhile.  I could tell he was trying hard not to cry.  He sat up and looked at me with tears in his eyes, then stood up and brushed them away.  The coach wanted to take him out, but Matthew waved him off and said he wanted to stay in the game.  Next play of the game?  Matthew scores.  The other team gets the ball, Matthew steals and scores.  A few minutes later Matthew got a hat-trick!  He literally tied the game in a matter of five minutes.  Another player on his team scored the final goal for the win.  It was a great comeback for them. While I was happy for Matthew and his achievement I was more proud of his courage and hard work.

Matthew's Birthday

This handsome boy turned 8 this week.  I have to admit that I had mixed emotions on his birthday.  I was so excited for the new adventures he will have, especially the baptism we are planning in the middle of all the birthday celebrations.  He is super excited to start cub scouts and all the things he will learn there.  I also had a few moments of nostalgic tears to see my first little boy all grown up.  Can it really have been eight years since his birth?  He amazes me every day with the things that he knows and the opinions he is starting to form.

He had a fun day on his birthday.  For one thing, he didn't have to go to school because we were still out on Fall Break.  He was pretty excited about having his birthday "off."  He stayed in his pajamas all morning and played legos with the brothers.  We headed to the store to pick up a few things for his birthday dinner, then spent the rest of the day making his cake, putting up birthday decorations, and just playing.  Of course the real fun started when daddy got home and we could finally open presents!

There was a lego involved (of course), some really fun books and a game, all of which were guessed by Ryan beforehand based on the size of the box.  Apparently we give the same kind of presents every year.  :)  But the big surprise came when dad brought out....

the new bike.  Total shock!  It was fun to see him so surprised.  He got on his shoes and took a few turns around the street.

After our bike riding adventures we came back inside for cake and ice cream.  Matthew decided he only wanted a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.  Easy enough!

It was a fun day for all of us.

Some things about Matthew right now:

-He still lives and breathes soccer.  He can't wait for his next practice and/or game and is very aware of when Real Salt Lake has a game to watch on TV.

-He loves to read.  The kid can plow through books quickly, although he doesn't pay much attention to anything else while he's doing it.  Must have learned that from someone....

-He is a great helper and teacher.  He is usually pretty attentive to the needs of his brothers and helps them before I need to ask.  He likes to teach the boys the things he learns in school, although they don't always understand.

-I admire his strong testimony and his knowledge of the gospel.

-He likes to play games - Monopoly, Ticket to Ride, and Life being his favorites right now.

-Although he doesn't admit it, he secretly likes to be kissed.  I know he does.  :)

The Beach!

When we have gone to Disneyland before, we usually made it a quick trip to and from with little time in between.  This time we made sure to plan an extra day to spend doing whatever we wanted, and the boys requested that we go to the beach so they could see the ocean.  So Kevin went to the nearby dollar store to buy some buckets and shovels and we were on our way to Newport Beach.

The boys were ecstatic to see the ocean and to play in the sand.  They are boys, right?  So what could be better than all access to water, sand, and digging?  Absolutely nothing!

Kevin and the boys tried to make a sandcastle with a mote they filled in with water.  Andrew liked the ocean, but after he got knocked over a few times by the tide he preferred the smaller version.

 We basically had the beach all to ourselves awhile and it was heaven.  It was so relaxing to watch and listen to the waves and see the pure joy in my kids faces every time they found a seashell or "treasure".  Kevin decided he would like to have a house by the ocean someday.

After a couple of hours we were able to meet up with our friends the Weiss family who were in California at the same time.  We bumped into them at Disneyland and decided to go to the beach the same day.  The kids had a lot of fun playing together.  They stood in the water, ran away from the tide, and dug a lot.  It was a great way to round out the trip.

Here's one of our favorite pictures.  Such cute boys!  Then it was back to the hotel to have a quick rest before we went out to dinner and packed up for the trip in the morning.  Kevin made it home in record time.  It was great to get away, but it was also nice to be home again!