Día de los Reyes Magos

The 3 Kings come for Christmas to our house.

Sweetheart served an LDS mission in Spain, and I served in Panamá.

Part of the countries' traditions are the 3 Reyes Magos (the 3 Wise Men.)

We decided that the 3 Kings would come to our home instead of Santa.

For the first time we celebrated on Three Kings' Day.

On January 6 is the Day of Epiphany.

The 3 Kings came to bring gifts to the Christ Child 

after Mary and Joseph left the stable.

In Mexico and Spain, children put out their shoes the night before 

in hopes that the 3 Kings will come.  

The 3 Kings showed up and brought small treats to the children in the house.

Hurricane was very eager to wake up in the morning to see if the Kings had come.

In preparation, the boys wrote a note and prepared treats 

for the Kings and their animals.

The left note reads:

Thank you Three Kings.

There is cake and choclate milk in the frige.

Have some Joe-Joe's

and the water for your camels.

The right note reads:

1. Travel

2. Open door

3. Fill shoes

4. Repeat

5. Eat

6. Go

I are grateful for the example of the 3 Kings.

In my belief, they studied, pondered, and knew that a Savior would be born. 

They took action to follow the impressions they had to go on a journey to find him.

To travel as they did, they had money, intelligence, and most likely influence.

They didn't turn away when they saw where Jesus was living and gave freely of their gifts.

 

The Kings' example shows me their willingness 

to put their talents, things, and time to bless the Christ Child regardless of the sacrifice.

I can follow their example and use my talents, things, and time to do the same.

New Year's Bowling

We bowled as is our New Year's Day tradition.

They boys remembered and reminded us  that we needed to go.

Biggest accomplishment is that EVERYONE got a STRIKE!

The other event highlights were that there was no crying, vomiting, or pooping.

Another amazing part is that we've recorded our tradition for the 7 previous years!

 Bowling 2015  

Bowling 2014

Bowling 2013 

Bowling 2012 

Bowling 2011

Bowling 2010 

Bowling 2009

Happy New Year!

We spent the evening with friends until a New York Midnight

and returned home for our own party.

 The boys were given 3 sparklers.

The first one was to think of something sad or disappointing for 2015.

As they waved their sticks around, they shouted to the wind.

The second sparkler was for a triumph for the year.

What they mentioned were current happiness.

They lived in the immediate moment.

Lastly we asked them to think of things they hoped for 2016.

They said sweet things like accomplish a goal they have together

and to have our family matched through adoption.

We are looking forward to 2016 with all of its hoped for blessings!

Polar Express Candy Train

Scarity in graham cracker decorating isn't on Hurricane's radar.

His philosophy is the more the better.

 

He thought he was going to get to eat this train.

But with having other children's hands in the same candy and expired candy, 

I decided the possible belly ache wasn't worth it.

He was sure proud of his design.

Pie Party

 We prepared for the Pie Party this last week.

On Friday, Hurricane said he didn't feel very well. I thought he wanted to stay home and help make pies. He went to school and after school we took him temperature - 101.6. He went to bed and wasn't allowed out or around any of us. His fever broke the morning of the Pie Party and hasn't returned. He reported that he only ate 4 pieces of pie and loved running around the backyard with friends.

Hurricane enjoyed being at the Pie Party and "set up" the table and pies at 10 am. When told he couldn't bring the pies out until 4:45, he asked how many hours until the event. We worked on telling time. He didn't report on how many pies he ate but made sure he had the first piece of Grasshopper Pie.

Previous to the Pie Party we made a list of pies we would make. The goal was to make 12 pies. Normally I make 36 pies. I made 15 different kinds of pie. We had 6 whole pies for left overs which Lance shared with people today after church.

On Veterans Day, I asked for the youth to come and help me clean our house and yard. Eight youth came and cleaned the inside and the outside of our home which took a huge burden off me to have a clean space ready for Saturday.

My college roommate traveled from Phoenix to come to the Pie Party. She has usually lived in Japan, Washington State, or Oklahoma. We are so thankful for all the people who came and shared their yummy food and friendship.

Treasure Hunt

Aunt Katie said she would buy the boys one of these sippy cups if we found them on our way. We found them on our last day. In every gas station we stopped the boys would go and look to see if these bottles were there. In New Mexico, they finally found them. They were so excited! Aunt Katie wasn't with us, but the souvenir was bought.

Movie Night

Our last day in Kansas City, we went to preschool, packed, did laundry, played outside, went to Costco and loaded up, and ate ice cream from the bucket. We were going to go to bed early. We ended up watching movies, eating more ice cream, and the girls painted their nails.

We had such an awesome time!

First Lost Tooth

This boy has been my baby for a long time.

When your baby teeth start to fall out, you aren't a baby anymore.

He is hopeful that a baby will come to our family and is constant in his desire.

Yesterday he announced that he had a loose tooth.

He had the goal to lose the tooth at school.

The teacher gives out a treasure box to keep your tooth safe.

He really wanted one of the boxes.

But near the end of the day, the tooth hadn't come out.

With some help (a.k.a. I pushed it), his tooth came out, and he got his box.

He was thrilled. 

Drama Club

Hurricane signed up for Drama Club. 

Underfoot was invited to be a mentor.

I'm helping as a parent volunteer.

 

One of the activities we did was a bad family photo. 

You know the one where no one is doing 

what they should be doing and everything is going crazy!

Underfoot is a zombie Dad. Hurricane is a baby falling to the floor. 

The 2 girls on the outside are acting embarassed by the Dad.

The girl on the floor is a crazy dog.

They then were to make a machine.

Can you guess what it is?

Monster Triathlon

The boys completed their 3rd triathlon.

They were excited to participate again.

This is the first year that 

Hurricane and Underfoot competed in the same category.

Hurricane was excited to race against his brother.

Underfoot was excited before his race started.

He made a lot of faces.

He swam quickly.

He and his brother collided in the pool.

He was cautious on his bike.

He didn't want to go too quickly.

By the time he did the run, he was tired.

He crossed the finish line and was happy.

Hurricane was calm before the race.

He was tired because we got up so early.

He swam the 50 meters with no problem.

He did the swim in 2:09 minutes.

Hurricane was to stay with Underfoot for the ride.

He came in riding about 1 1/2 minutes before his brother.

He ran the most of the way.

He was so happy that he beat his brother.

*****

Boys' Triathlon 2014

Boys' Triathlon 2013

Freezer Surprise

Hurricane likes to freeze all kinds of things.

We've found some odds and ends
like smoothies, rocks, wash clothes, wet clothes, and toys
among other sundry items. 

We found Mr. Bear there.

He was cooling his tootsies.

Side Car Bicycle

He rode his new bicycle to school yesterday.

The side car made a big difference

to carry the backpack and 2 dozen eggs.

He drove REALLY slow as to not break the eggs.

After school, the strap on his backpack got caught in the chain.

He was very calm and did his best to solve it.

We are thankful that a kind soul helped us pull it out.

He just had more strength than this Mama.

I Want To Ride My Bicycle

Superman called Hurricane.

He asked questions about how much Hurricane liked riding a bike.

Superman then sent a song from Queen about riding a bicycle.

Uncle T-Bone and Auntie M gave Hurricane

a bicycle that T-Bone built for his own children.

His children have grown too large for the bicycle.

They gave it to Hurricane for his birthday.

Uncles are amazing!

We are so blessed to have these good men in our lives!

Hurricane is blessed to have them!

Sparklers

The 4th of July is complete with sparklers.

Jilli loves sparklers. She keeps them on hand for lots of things - any celebration!

We bought some to share with the family.

The boys loves to write their names, pretend to have swords, 

and starting the sparklers themselves.

Underfoot posed for many shots. 

This one is his Obi Wan Kenobi.

This one is his dance move.

He doesn't know about Saturday Night Fever yet.

He looks pretty awesome!

Hurricane has proven how he likes to light sparklers.

He was the first one in line.

Happy 4th of July!!!

4th of July Swim

For the 4th of July, we stayed at Auntie M and Uncle T-Bone's house.

They recently put in a pool.

 

The boys started to swim around 9 am and finished around 9 pm.

They took breaks to eat, watch a movie, and stay out of the heat of the sun.

Part of the pool is a rope swing.

The swing had no retrieval process. 

Sweetheart rigged a retrieval system.

It made such a huge difference.

Hurricane mastered the rope swing.

He loved to swing over and over and over and over.

What a great addition.

Salt River

We spent the 4th of July in Gilbert 

with Auntie M, T-Bone, and their family.

Sweetheart's parents joined the family from California.  

Thrilled with the invitation to go,

we floated the Salt River with T-Bone's family.

We usually float the Portneuf River on 4th of July.

 

He was excited to go and be in the water.

He kept trying to find a buddy.

His Mom has implemented the mandatory buddy system

to give him a little independence.

He wasn't thrilled to be awake so early.

The night before we had swam in a swim meet.

Auntie M is wearing her "adventure" hat.

This hat has gone to South America 

and is hoping to take it on many other adventures.

This little one wanted to be independent.

Hurricane pushed them off to continue float down the river.

The combined age of them is less than 10.

He learned how to skip rocks,

jumped off cliffs, and ate the energy balls that we made.

Space Wars

We surprised the boys

by taking them to Space Wars. 

Underfoot considers himself a Star Wars afficiando.

When we came for Hurricane's birthday, 

he saw the advertisement and thought it would be fun to see. 

Unknown to him, we had purchased tickets already.

When we arrived they were both thrilled.

The milkshake helped as well.

The show was fun and lighthearted.

Our boys pick up lyrics easily and have started to sing the songs.

Not-So-Junior Ranger

He was invited to go graduate Junior Ranger camp.

He participated the past 2 years.

This was his 3rd year.

Last year he had the same Ranger as his instructor.

She enjoyed being his instructor again this year.

She is going to recommend him for Junior Cactus Rangers.

His group created a park. 

The park included wookies, ewoks, and other Star Wars areas.

They were all included in the same park.

They were super happy.

He made a friend that he talked about the whole time.

He asked if Gus could come over and play.

We learned that Gus was swimming too on a opposing team.

Here is the song they sang for their presentation.