Field Day

Cole, Jenna, & Noah

Pull Noah!


Cole on the water slide

Today was field day at school. They played lots of games outside: tug o'war, the limbo, football toss, and of course the favorite: the waterslide. Jenna came with me, she loves watching all the kids and she even took a turn on the slide with Cole. I love our school! It is so close and we have great teachers and a great new principal. Next year I am going to be the PTA Secretary which will be fun. I have already met so many new people at the couple of meetings I have attended this last month. All the kids love school and I hope that continues at least for a few years.

My Genius

Well not exactly, but close. Rylee received a Certificate of Outstanding Performance yesterday. She scored in the top 10 percent nationally on the Iowa Tests. It lists which areas she was in the top 10 % and she has every area of the tests listed on her certificate. She obviously takes after her mom. ;-)

THANKS!

I am glad the last few weeks are over. Don't get me wrong all the weddings and traveling were great! I am just tired and ready to relax a little. There are only 4 more days of school and then we get to start all the summer fun! That will be a whole new adventure! I am so grateful to Mike for staying home and taking care of things here so I could go to Dallas and NC. I am grateful to my parents for picking us up, taking us fun places, etc, etc,etc. Thanks for everything mom & dad! You are the best! I also am grateful for Mike's parents, especially his dad for taking care of my boys after school each day. My kids are so lucky to have grandparents so close who are an active part of their lives. I never had that growing up. My grandparents lived in CA and we always lived somewhere else. My parents are hoping to move back out west next year. I can't wait until they are closer so we can see them more often. I am so lucky to be blessed with a great family and in laws and extended family. I don't tell you all enough how much I appreciate all you do for me, Mike, and the kids. THANKS!!!!!

More Openhouse Pictures

Here are a few more pictures from the openhouse. I love this one of Jenna and my mom, Grandma Susie. I also included on of the bride(Karissa)and groom(Devin). Don't they look happy! And here is a picture of my dad and his sister, my Aunt Karen B., who we don't get to see very often. She is awesome! Her and my dad are so much fun, they are always joking and laughing and smiling when they are together.

The Openhouse

The openhouse for Devin & Karissa was at The Barn at Tanglewood Park ( a huge park with playground, swim pool, golf courses, horses, bmx track, etc). It was a great place and a fun openhouse. Jenna especially loved the chocolate fountains. She even tried to fill a whole cup full of the chocolate. I couldn't let her do that, but did let her finger paint with a little. She loved it! There was a live band that was really good. Here is a picture of my dad, Grandpa Gary, and Rylee enjoying the music.

North Carolina

Here are a few pictures of our fun in North Carolina. We were busy helping my mom get ready for Devin & Karissa's openhouse and lots of family was in town, but we did have some time to do a few fun things. My parents have a nice big yard and Rylee discovered this tree that was perfect for climbing. Jenna loved the birds and squirrels that would eat on the deck. I love this picture of her watching the squirrels so intently. She kept calling them "the big mouse". We saw some squirrels at the park too and she told my mom she had to buy one of those. One day we went to a really fun children's musem. The girls had a blast there. I think the picture of them on the alligator is great! At the museum they had a beanstalk (from Jack & the Beanstalk) that was 2 stories high to climb. The lady said parents could climb too because it could hold up to 1000 pounds per leaf. Well, I decided to join my girls and climb. Big mistake. Even though it could hold enough it wasn't quite big enough in a few spots. I had to turn and twist and crawl. I probably looked like an idiot. It was pretty funny once I made it up. It was a really fun museum and we pretty much had the whole place to ourselves.

Jenna's 3rd Birthday!

I can't believe my baby is 3! We (Jenna, Rylee, & I) left early Tuesday morning for North Carolina. Jenna was so excited to ride on the big airplane. She was such a good little traveler. We got to my parents late that night so we celebrated the next day. Here are a couple pictures of her helping my mom decorate her cake. I think she ate more frosting than what went on the cake. She is a chocoholic for sure. The other picture is of her in her new princess helmet riding her new princess scooter. Isn't she so cute? I am just hoping she is not a 3 year old monster like my others were. I never had a terrible 2 year old. They all seemed to hit it at 3. I am starting to see it a little in her, I guess I better hang on!

Devin and Karissa

Devin and Karissa with the Delozier siblings

The Dallas LDS Temple

Griffin "escorting" a bridesmaid (look at his arm)

Devin and Karissa in the Ewing Mansion

Devin and Karissa coming out of the temple

Here are a few pictures from my little brother Devin's wedding on Saturday. I was able to go to Dallas (thanks Mike) and be with my family for the big day. It was the first time we have all been together since Brandon passed away 7 months ago. It was nice to be together to celebrate and add a new member to the family. Karissa is a lot of fun and her family is so great. They got married in the Dallas Temple and had the reception at the Southfork Ranch. It is where they filmed the TV show Dallas. It was so much fun and we all had a good time. What a great weekend! Now we get to go the NC for the openhouse. Actually, Jenna, Rylee and myself are flying out in the morning to spend a few days with my family and attend the openhouse. It is also Jenna's 3rd birthday tomorrow. She is so excited to go on the big airplane. I will add mor pictures of the big day as well as the fun in NC.

Jenna-Babyface

Jenna had her first dance recital on Saturday. Unfortunately I had to miss it as I was in Dallas for my brother's wedding. I knew Mike would not be able to curl her hair and do her makeup. Luckily I have an awesome friend (Katie) whose daughter Savannah is in Jenna's dance class with her and she got her ready for Mike. Thanks Katie!!! She also took some pictures for me. Here is one of Jenna after Katie got her all ready. And one of her doing her "Babyface" Dance. Mike said she kept making glasses/binoculars with her hands to try and see him and the kids. Can you see which one she is. I was bummed I had to miss it but glad we have the technology to that I could still "see" how it went. Thanks again Katie.

Thanksgiving Point

Today I got to go oon a field trip with the boys to Thanksgiving Point. Because they are in separate classes I have to divide my time the best I can. In the fall I went on a field trip with Cole's class so this time it was Noah's turn. That is Noah petting/feeding the baby horse. The other picture is Noah and Cole waiting to start the tour of the farm. We went on a tractor ride, fed animals, and made seed necklaces. It was hot but still fun. I am glad I am able to volunteer and spend time with the kids and their classes.

Our Garden

My Gardners, working hard!

Noah

Jenna

Cole

We, I should say Mike and the boys, planted our garden today. We had an ok garden last year but we are hoping this year will be a lot better. We planted more of everything and are trying some new things as well. I am really hoping my herbs grow. The boys were so excited to help and now they can't wait until stuff starts growing. It will be fun watching them watch the changes in our garden throughout the summer. Hopefully they have more of a green thumb than I do. And hopefully they will actually eat the stuff that grows in our garden.

Jenna, The Gymnast (she thinks)

Here is Jenna at Rylee's gymnastic show jumping off one mat to another. She wants to do everything Rylee does. Poor Rylee puts up with a lot. She is a great big sister.

Rylee, The Gymnast

TA_DA!

Her "Vault"

Oh, No!

On the balance beam.

Tuesday evening Rylee had her gymanstics show. They perform 1 routine in each of 5 areas (bars, balance beam, the floor, trampoline, and vault). She did really good except trying to dismount from the beam. She was trying a round off and is not sure what happened. I was just glad she didn't get hurt (I think her ego was a little bruised though). Her favorite is the bars and I videod her on that, but I have to figure out how to put it on the blog. Anyway, she loves gymnastics and is doing really good. She started at level A. They moved her to level B after 1 month and now 2 months later she is advancing again to level C. She is definitley built for it, I only wish I would have put her in sooner.

Jacque's Wedding

Rylee with her Aunt Cheryl (mike's sister from CA)

Jacque and Mike (her Mike) VanOrman

My Mike and his little princess, Jenna

3 of my monsters: Noah, Jenna, Cole

Friday was Mike's neice Jacque's wedding. It was a nice day and a fun filled few days with lots of family in town that we don't see often enough. It was actually the first time Mike's whole family (parents, siblings, spouses, and kids) were all together in like 7 years. Now we have another Mike in the family. My husband Mike's sister Wendy is married to a Mike. Jacque is their daughter and married a Mike. All a little confusing. Anyway, we all like the new Mike. He is a great guy and him and Jacque seem exstatic.

Our Wild Pets

This is a picture of the bird bath and bird feeder in our front yard. ( do you see the little bird on the ground?) I couldn't get a good picture of birds actually in the bath even though they use it quite a bit. We have a number of different kinds of birds that come and use it. (Mom you would love it! I don't think we have as many birds as you do though) I have to keep refilling the bird seed every couple of days. We love watching them out our front windows. Jenna especially gets so excited when she sees a bird out there. I will try to get a better picture, it just seems like everytime I grab the camera and get out there they fly off. This has been a really nice spring and we have had a lot of visitors and we really enjoy it.

Poor Truman

Here is Jenna trying to comfort our dog Truman. He was attacked on Saturday by a neighbors dog. His back left leg is were he was injured. He has been favoring it since then and that day he didn't move much at all. Luckily the kids who were right there were not attacked as well. They were pretty scared though.

Jenna's Little Accidents

Can you see the bump at the back of her head?

Another picture of the bump, sorry it's hard to see in a picture.

So a week ago Jenna was playing with her "boyfriend" Cooper or Coop as she calls him. (she use to call him Poocer) I heard a huge crash and then 2 screaming kids. I had to find the key to my bedroom since they had locked themselves in and then found them in my bathroom still screaming. Jenna likes to hang on the towel bar in there and it was lying on the floor. This time she decided to hang on it with Cooper. They weigh about 60 pounds between them and it must have been too much for the bar. Jenna hit her head on the tile floor and had a golfball size bump on the back of her little head. I called the Dr and they said if she didn't lose conciousness and wasn't throwing up and acting strange to just ice it, give her motrin and watch her. If anything changed they said go immediatley to the emergency room. Luckily within 15 minutes she was running around, playing like normal. She still has a little bump, but seems fine. The story gets even better. Yesterday I had Cooper and his sister Savannah here and Cooper hit Jenna in the nose with a toy and she had a major bloody nose. It wash gushing and I started getting scared when I couldn't get it to stop. It did stop and as usual she was fine and playing again within minutes. She and Cooper are both crazy, fun little monsters. I love them both, but I don't know if they should play together anytime soon for Jenna's sake. (Just kidding Katie!)

Slacker!

Sorry, I have been such a slacker on updating our blog. What can I say...?
Things around here have been busy as usual but are going to be even crazier the next few weeks. This Friday our neice Jacque is getting married here in Bountiful which is very exciting. Lots of Mike's family will be coming into town including his sisters, Cheryl and Shellie. We are looking forward to seeing everyone and catching up a little. Next week Rylee has her gymnastic recital, the boys have a field trip and I get to go too. Jenna has her first dance recital on the 20th wich I will miss because I will be in Dallas for my little brother Devin's wedding. I am going to head there for a couple days by myself and then a day after I return the girls (Ry & Jenna) and I are heading to NC for the openhouse and some time with my parents and more family. After we get back there will only be one more week of school and then summer and the fun starts! We got season passes again to Cherry Hill (local waterpark) and have a playgroup once a week where we go somewhere fun around the valley. I will for sure be putting lots of pictures of all this fun and craziness on the blog so watch for it. I will try not to slack to much. Enjoy!!!!