Updated Photos of the Kids

Halloween

He looks just like Woody in this picture. I love it!

To infinity and beyond!

Saying "Yee-haw!"

Ben wasn't super happy that we were making him dress up and go to the ward party. He had been napping.

Ken and Barbie. A little cheesy, but we had fun.

These are pictures from our ward Trunk-or-Treat on Sat.

Home of the Eagles

Luke was lucky enough last week to have his name pulled in the lottery drawing for an excellent Charter School near us. It is called Oquirrh Mountain Charter School. We have had great experiences and teachers at Antelope Elementary and it was hard to say goodbye. But we felt strongly that Heavenly Father was leading us in this direction for Luke. Luke is a child who is extremely bright. This charter school offers more individually based curriculum to continue to challenge him. OMCS also focuses with larger intensity on math, science and history.

Luke seems to be adjusting well and the transition was not as difficult as we anticipated. Way to go Luke! We are so proud of you!


First Day at the New School. (Notice Luke still has his splint for a few more days and Ty can hardly open his eye....ugh).
So handsome in his school uniform.

Tooth Fairy Here We Come!

Luke lost his very first tooth on Saturday. He was so excited.

Can't believe how big he is getting!

Ty's Nose

Last week we followed up with an Ear, Nose and Throat doctor at Primary Children's Medical Center regarding Ty's nose. I almost didn't go. He never complained about his nose, the swelling was almost gone etc. The night before his appointment I was looking at his nose and noticed a hard bump on one side. So to be cautious we decided to take him in. Sure enough he needed to be seen. The actual bone in his nose had been fractured (broken) and was starting to set off to the side. Crazy!! How does that not hurt??? How can he have never complained about that??
Apparently when Luke "broke" his nose when he was little he just separated the cartilage from the bone or something like that. But not Ty, he really broke his nose!!
Then it was time for me to get over some shocks....1. It was truly broken and required fixing 2. Fixing meant general anesthesia and an O.R. visit at Primary Children's Medical Center 3. Needed to be TODAY! ASAP!

We quickly made arrangements for Lily and Luke and Jake rushed home to head back with us to the hospital. The procedure was quick and Ty was such a trooper. He came out of the anesthesia great. Nothing slows him down.

We had our 1 week post-op check yesterday. Looks like it was a success and he is healing nicely. Now that it is fixed I realize what his "real" nose looks like and what I thought was just swelling, was a totally messed up nose. My poor guy.

Cross your fingers...no more broken bones for us....I hope.

The picture above is two weeks post original break. The bruising has been quite impressive.

Mary Poppins

We went to Mary Poppins last week. It was fabulous! We loved it. The dancing was fantastic and it had the most elaborate sets I have ever seen. Take your breath away. Stunning, entertaining, awesome!

Broken What???

Ty broke his nose this week. This is a picture on Day 2. Some of you may remember that when Luke was two he did the same thing. How does this happen to two of my kids...? I wouldn't think it is that common of an injury to children.
Anyway, Wednesday afternoon we were at the park playing with friends. The boys were "podracing". Not exactly sure what that entails. They were around a corner and kinda out of sight. Then I heard Ty screaming and the other kids were coming to get me. Ugh. What a horrible feeling.
Ty is such a tough kid. Hasn't complained at all. He looked in the mirror and exclaimed, "Mom, look at my face!" But thats it. What a trooper. It has to kill.

Day 1


...and here is Luke with his broken arm. Yup thats right. In the last month they have both broken something. He did this on August 27th. Again, we were at the park...(starting to think its bad luck there) and Luke was trying to do the monkey bars. He slipped and fell and tried to catch himself. He broke his humerous (the big bone in the top of the arm) through is growth plate and broke the tip of the ulna (little bone in the bottom part of the arm). He got his hard cast off this week and is now in a soft cast. For now we will just have to watch him and make sure there are no complications from the top brake. Keep your fingers crossed.

He never complained about his cast at all. He didn't love getting it off however. But he is starting to be willing to excercise his arm when we take the soft cast off for baths. He is supposed to have to off more and more over the next three weeks and do exercises all along the way. Man. What a month!

First Days of School

Luke's first day of school was July 27th. Here he is sitting in his first real desk. Sporting his new "nerd shirt" as he calls it. He wanted to get a new shirt for school, but it he said it had to something cool like a nerd shirt. This means Star Wars, Mario, Harry Potter, Superheros etc. He got a Star Wars one--go figure :).

I love this boy!! It is totally weird to have him gone all day and yet totally normal. Thats the weirdest part about it. I hate that there are now parts to his day and life that I am no longer a part of or even understand. He is really growing into his own person with an identity outside of our little family unit. It is wondeful to see the boy he is growing up to be. But I have a hard time letting go of my baby.

Ben started his Junior year at Clearfield High School. He wouldn't let me take his picture! :)

He really seems to be settling in, making friends and starting to make Clearfield his home. We love having him here with us!

This is Ty's preschool class. Ty's first Day of School was today Sept. 6th.

His first backpack. Lego Ninjago.

What a handsome boy! So excited to be big like his brother and go to school. I am excited too! But as I pulled away I started to cry. I didn't think it would be hard at all so it totally took me by suprise. I can't believe how big my kids are getting!

Angry Ty!

Happy Birthday to you! Ty loves to play games on Jake's phone. So we thought this was a fitting party theme. It was a ton of fun to get ready for and the kids all had a great time. Clean up was easy, not a lot of prep. Turned out perfectly. Thanks Sarah for helping me keep the chaos managed :).

The Games:

Target practice with real eggs. Hit the King Pig and get 50 points!!

Ty goes first.

Knock down the pigs!

Each kid got to take our angry bird plushes (thanks to his aunts and Grandma Ball who bought them for him for his birthday. It made party planning so much easier,) and throw them at the blocks of wood. Then all all got a turn setting it up for the next person. I was suprised how well this worked. I was worried the wood wouldn't fall just from the kids throwing a stuffed animal at it. But it worked like a charm. So awesome! Plus we then had a purpose for some of our scraps from finishing the basement this summer :)

My super talented friend made this shirt for Ty. Thanks Britt!

Coloring Angry Birds pictures.

Goodie bags. I thought they turned out so cute!

The cake!! Love the way it turned out. I wasn't sure if I would be able to pull it off. It is the most elaborate cake I have made yet (just from the standpoint of all the fondant creations.) He loved it and the kids loved each getting to eat one bird or pig.

*The white bird and the pigs turned out the best I think.

Birthday Times Two

Another successful year of the double birthday's. Ty turned 4 and Lily 2. They are such a joy in our life and we are so grateful for them. We had a really fun day. You know how sometimes you have one of those days, peaceful, happy, everything goes great. That was their birthday this year. One of my favorites days with them yet.
Princess shoes!! She loves them.

Thundercats, HO!

Captain America!

Going to Chuck-e-Cheese

In the morning I took Ty and Lily to Krispy Kreme for doughnuts. Ty is so my kid and doughnuts are his favorite treat. Lily just likes to eat :)!

Watching them make the doughnuts. They loved this. They spent at least 35 minutes watching the doughnuts. What a hit! Mom was looking pretty awesome for this fun outing. What's even better...Krispy Kreme gives kids a free doughnut and drink for their birthday. How awesome?!

I never realized how much they look alike until I saw these pictures. You can totally tell they are brother and sister. Its funny, the older Lily gets the more they look really close in age. She is catching up to him in height too...

Buddies :)

Lily always says, "Its so yummy!" when she is eating. I love it!

Lily's Tangled Birthday cake. Super easy and she loved it!

Ty loves Ninja Turtles so I made these cupcakes for him. He thought they were pretty cool. He mostly was looking forward to his angry birds party the next day.