We were lucky enough to have a friend teaching swim lessons from her home, and the kids loved Allie. The first day they didn't want to leave. The class size was perfect to give them the personal attention they needed. They have all improved leaps and bounds from last year, and have gained so much confidence in the water. We are lucky to have access to a pool here at our condo complex so they can practice their new skills. Here she is doing the back stroke.
Josh was the oldest in the class, and so naturally was a little more advanced than Jack and Paige. He was able to practice his free style, and get started on his back stroke. They also practiced jumping in from the side of the pool, touching the bottom, and grabbing onto the wall. He's such a little fish.
Josh is practicing diving from the side of the pool.
(Please ignore Jack. He doesn't actually hate swimming. I think he just got a kick out of being on video.)
Jackie did really well, also. I was just happy to see him putting his face in the water at first. That's something he wouldn't do last year. Granted, he did have a scare last summer...poor traumatized kid. I loved how Allie called their arms diggers, and their legs kickers, so they could really get an idea for what they should be doing. Jack was so proud of himself. He still tells me that he was swimming by himself, and Allie didn't even have to help!!
I think his favorite part of the lesson was at the end when they got to 'dive' for toys...there were sharks!!
At first they were hesitant to get sprayed by the freezing water, but eventually they succumbed to the heat, and got wet.
They loved it! 
Her brothers have managed to aid her in extracting her top front teeth while playing. Good thing too, because I don't think I can convince Jarod to help in that department again after trying to get this one out, and loose teeth give me the heebie jeebies. 
They had a great time, and stayed until the end to watch the fireworks. Carly was in heaven, having her daddy all to herself. 
At first, Josh was a little timid riding without training wheels. By the end of the day, he was a pro.
Daddy took Carly's training wheels off, also. She took to it like a fish in water. We were so proud of them. They didn't want to stop practicing their knew skill. 
Thanks for a great day Grandma Tess and Papa Steve!!
Josh has a real love of dinosaurs. He knows many of their names, and whether they are carnivores or herbivores. He loves non-fiction books about dinosaurs, and so when I started planning a birthday party for him, I knew it needed to be all about dinosaurs. We spent a couple weeks planning, preparing, and anticipating our Dinosaur party.
I thought the dinosaur feet turned out really cute, and even though they didn't last past the party, it was totally worth the effort. 
For our second game, we had blown up balloons with dinosaur figures inside them. We tied the 'dinosaur eggs' to the kids' legs, and they were supposed to pop the others' balloons. Unfortunately, the game went a lot faster than planned, because the balloons kept popping on the grass. Some of the kids were pretty upset when they had their balloons popped, as well. 
I made chocolate cupcakes with frosting I dyed orange, per Josh's request. He loves chocolate, and his favorite color is orange. On top of the frosting, I dyed coconut to look like grass, and placed a dinosaur figure on top. 
The St. George Temple
