FORTS, DRAWINGS AND DANCING!

I can only imagine the fun to be had at the House of Steve when fall break starts next week.  Here's a little bit of fun over the last week......FORTS!  Kyler built a chair fort with Asher and tried to get the dogs to live in it with him.  They escaped in record time!  At least Ky enjoyed it.

The first SPIRIT WEEK of the 2013-2014 school year was last week.  Monday was Under the Sea day.  Colton wore his Pacific Rim fan art shirt with an orange and white fish necklace. (the fish was the same size as this blue and white fish.  I sewed it to a lanyard for Colton's necklace)  He told people that he had found Nemo.  Asher drew this on a white undershirt and I sewed the fish to it.  Clever boy!  Tuesday was Tacky Tourist Day - they wore very bright Hawaiian shirts.  Wednesday was Twin Day - Colton wore his suit and Asher wore a white shirt and tie.  When they arrived at school, someone asked if all the Mormons were trying to be missionaries for the day.  It wasn't planned, but almost all the Mormon boys had dressed in church clothes!  Awesome!!!  Thursday was Purple Day......for school spirit.  The homecoming soccer game was played that day. (more to come on that later)  Friday was pirate day - Asher had a hook hand and a bandana.  Colton took a different approach.  He printed out the FBI Anti-Piracy Warning seal and taped it to his shirt.  Since he received compliments on his shirt, he decided to enter the Pirate Costume Contest. 

He won 2nd place.

My boys love to draw during church....at least they're quiet.  Here's Asher's latest:

Great job, Ash!!!

And here's the boy irritating Roscoe!  Yep.....just a normal day at the House of Steve.

This same night, Colton decided to dance.  I put the camera in sports mode and snapped away.  Yes....he's a goof!  That's my baby.....who will graduate in 8 months.

 



Yep.....I'm proud!

(actually, I'm going to miss all the fun we have with Colton.  Especially when Colton and Asher have stayed up too late and put on shows for us.  In fact....I may or may not be crying right now.)

 

But not the dogs!

Sleep on while you can, little dogs!



Fall Break is coming!



ODDS & ENDS

I'm so excited, I think this might be the last "catch-up" post.  Here are some random photos from May.  Colton has been able to have a few manual labor jobs with his friend, TJ.  I love seeing my boy filthy from a hard day working outside!  So good for him!!!!

Kyler received a principal award in May.  We're so proud of him!  He's a great student (except for handwriting!!!!) and a great friend.

Way to go, Kyler!!!

Since it didn't work to take Asher out right after his 8th grade promotion, Tony and I took just him to lunch the following Saturday.  He chose his favorite, Olive Garden!  Of course, he and Colton have never forgiven Olive Garden for getting rid of their CHOCOLATE LASAGNA.  They're still mourning their loss. (in case you were wondering - this IS the best photo.....Asher!)

When Sonic made their shakes 1/2 price after 8pm....we had to take advantage.  One night, we came across this dog who was ordering a treat too.

Doesn't he look like the happiest dog?!?  And why wouldn't he be....his shake is on the way!

(Disclaimer: the dog photographed DID NOT actually place the order, nor did he partake of a 1/2 price shake.  No dogs were harmed during the posting of this blog.)

ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE

OK......this post was supposed to be about Colton getting glasses.  Since the photos I have of him with his glasses are in this photo shoot, we need to go with Zombie Apocalypse!  It all started with a front door that wouldn't even open anymore.  Tony picked up the needed new hardware, but I wouldn't let him put it on.  Our front door was 18 years old and needed to be refinished.  After six weeks of not being able to open the front door, Tony relented and started the process on our door.  He took the door off the hinges and boarded up the house.  This gave the boys the idea.....
ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE photo shoot!

 Ashman!

Knock, knock....who's there?!

Colton.....and his new glasses. 

 You can really see them here.

Kyler!

 Yep, this is just called Friday Night at the House of Steve!

Ky

 Brothers that fight zombies together....
Stay together!

 Zombie Attack Time

 Colton on his new glasses:
 "It was like watching our old TV,
now it's watching High-Def!"

LOVE THESE BOYS!!!!!

BLESSED

Last month we celebrated our 24th Anniversary.  My mom took the boys for the weekend so we could enjoy a very relaxing and quiet home.  We had a great time and even did a little shopping and eating out.  On Friday, we shopped at Trader Joe's.  We had a little bit of a wait in line before it was our turn to check out.  The lady said "Hello" to us and then said "I saw what you were doing?"  I was so confused.....what were we doing?!?  She said she saw us holding hands and she liked that.  I explained that we had only been married for 24 years, that's why we still hold hands. ;-)  After a minute, she said "Your church encourages you to marry young, right?"  My immediate response was - no.  As we left, I spent a lot of time pondering this. I thought of our society.  Go back, 60-70 years and you'll see a much different picture.  The family was central to much of society.   Families attended church regularly.  People came into adulthood with the desire to marry one day and start their own family.  Many of them did just that.  While Mormons married in their temple, others married in their church.  Over time, a portion of society changed how they felt about families, marriage and religion.  But we haven't.  We don't encourage people to get married young, we encourage them to get married.  Plain and simple.  "The family is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan." - The Family: A Proclamation to the World.

We teach our children that they are a child of God.  We teach of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  We teach of the importance of family.  We teach about the pre-existence.  We teach what this life is for.  We teach of where we're going.  We teach the Plan of Salvation.  We teach that families can be together forever.

I never felt encouraged or pressured to marry young.  Trust me, I had no intention of getting married at 19, but I knew this is who I was to marry.  So, why did I marry so young?  I knew who I was and what this life was for.  I had a desire to one day be married in the temple and raise a family.  When Tony and I met, I knew this was the right person for me.  Even though I had planned on marrying 5-7 years in the future, I took a leap of faith.  It wouldn't be the last time I would choose the Lord's timing over my own.  It's wouldn't be the last time I would be blessed for that either.

SAYING GOODBYE

In August, Dad and Connie were going to BYU for training before hopping on a plane to China for 10 months.  Since it would be the last time we could see them until next June, we took the opportunity to visit!  We drove up on a Thursday and stayed with my cousin Andrew and his family again.  (this was our third visit since December!)  Friday we were able to finally see everyone for lunch at the kids favorite restaurant - Chuck A Rama.  After visiting, we went to the mall to spend more time with Grandma and Grandpa.  Grandpa spoiled the boys with a carousel ride. 

 Colton and the Horse

 Asher and the Rooster

 Kyler and the Dragon

 Kyler was spoiled and Grandpa kept paying for more carousel rides.  His first time in line, Kyler introduced the himself and his Grandpa to the lady running the ride.  He even told her that he was adopted. (it's not uncommon for this to be the first thing he tells people)  She told him that it was wonderful that he had a great family.  She even confided in him that she was adopted too.  After a fistbump, they were bonded friends.  She even treated him to a free ride.  He always chose the dragon and enjoyed riding and riding and riding!

Saturday is a special day.....especially when you attend a temple session with your family!  Dad and Connie and 4 of the 5 siblings with their spouses.  We attended a live session at the Salt Lake Temple.  Everyone loved the session and spending time with each other.  For dinner, we went to the boys (except for Kyler....thanks again, Michelle for babysitting him) new favorite restaurant, Tucano's.  SO GOOD!!!!!!  We made plans to attend Audra's church with her on Sunday.  Audra is Relief Society President in her ward and was teaching that week.  She gave a great lesson and I'm so glad I was there.  After church, we all met at Andrew and Michelle's for dinner.  (they had left for a little family vacation and we had the house to ourselves)  Again, lots of time to be together, talk and we even played a game.  So much fun....and so sad that our time was almost done.  We took some photos before saying our goodbyes.  It kills me that my boys are so grown up!

 This was Austin's second attempt to jump into Colton's arms.........and Colton's second drop!

 Austin showed him how it's done.

 I love this photo!

 Our Family

 Next time they see us, we'll have a high school graduate, a sophomore and a 5th grader.  We might even have a missionary by then.

  We love you and can't wait to hear all about your adventures in Nanjing!

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL 2013-2014

Remember when September meant back to school.....yeah, I don't either!  I know some places, like in Washington, don't start school until after Labor Day.  But they also have four seasons.....don't know much about that either!  July 22nd was our first day of school.  JULY. 22ND.  The first day is always a big one, but especially this year.  WE. HAVE. A. SENIOR.  Here's the run down of our morning.  Colton and Asher woke around 5am, got ready, and went to pack their lunches.  Problem:  apparently we threw out the old lunch boxes after last year and didn't remember to buy new ones!  We found one of Kyler's old ones (that we threw away the next day) and then went to search for a solution.  Kyler donated his lunch box to Asher and he chose to take a paper sack.  Colton rejected my Rachael Ray lunch box......because it was a women's lunchbox!  Finally, I grabbed a small camera case that holds a couple of my lenses and sent him on his way.  (A camera case is more masculine?!?  His friends loved his "unique" lunch box!)  He and Asher picked up a couple of friends and headed to 6:10am seminary class.  Tony said he would take Kyler to school and I left to head over to Colton and Asher's school early to help out.  I was hoping to see them arrive, but they are sneaky.  Asher passed by without me noticing.  (that can't be easy when you're 6'2")  Colton would have succeeded too, but all the seniors stayed at the front of the school to welcome all the students to a new school year.  Since there are only 20 seniors, they made themselves matching shirts!

 (SENIORS 2K14)

 He did NOT want me to take his photo, but he also knew I wouldn't take no for an answer.  Once school started I spent the day running around for new lunch boxes.  Since they pack their own everyday, I wanted to invest in a proper lunch set - one where the containers were actually meant to fit in the lunch bag.  This is what I found: Rubbermaid Lunch Blox. 

This lunchbox fits all the containers with room to spare.  That makes it easy to add an apple to the top.....or an extra treat!

 What shocks me is that I actually spent the money!  I do have to say, Walmart had a much better price for the sandwich kit, plus there were coupons that helped out with the kit and lunchbox.  Unfortunately, they don't sell the lunchbox...so back to Target to finish the shopping.  They also sell a salad kit, which I thought we wouldn't be needed with my boys.  Of course a few days into school, Colton's making lots of salads for lunch!  Maybe I'll invest in one for him, the salad container is twice the size of the sandwich container.  We're already in the 8th week of school and I have to admit, I'm glad I invested!  They work perfectly.  No more scrambling in the morning for the right size containers or ice packs.  HAPPY!

Mamita treated us to dinner for our first day of school.  The boys chose IHOP.  They said that for every adult meal, you could get a free kids meal. 

Adult Meal #1

 Adult Meal #2

 Adult Meal #3

 Adult Meal #4

 Adult Meal #5

Yep....Kyler planned on ordering 5 free meals!  Our waitress was kind and allowed him two free meals.  Silver Five and Grilled Cheese with fries....and he ate every bite!

The only back to school tradition we haven't done yet, the first day of school photos!  Since the boys leave so early, it just hasn't happened.  You would think that I could take one when they came home, but the boys are in soccer and get home around dinner time.  I haven't given up on it.  Maybe I could just wait until fall break!