Happy Birthday Ian

Well... My sweet Ian turned 4!!!

 We started the day off by opening ONE present!! =) 

 This is his AWESOME Transformers pinata!!  We bought it about four months ago because he saw it at Wal-mart and just had to have it!  It has been tempting him in my closet all this time!

He was so excited about his pinata that we did that very first after our friends arrived!!  Everyone took a good few swings.  We even let Truman (the biggest and oldest) wack it as hard as he could five or six times, but it still didn't crack.

 Then we let each of the kids pull one of the strings on the back (the way it is supposed to be opened) and it still didn't break open so Nik had to just tear it open and dump the candy and prizes out!!

These are our friends!!

 Next we did a little art project.  We painted watercolor pictures with q-tips!  The kids seemed to like this part!

 Next was presents!  He got spoiled that's for sure!

THE CAKE

 This cake:  It was going to be awesome!!  Ian and I made 3 cakes... all different colors.  One green, one blue, and one orange.  We stacked them and stacked them, sticking them together with frosting and raspberry filling.   Nik made a marshmallow fondant and we covered our awesome cake tower.  AND THEN... it started melting because it is so stinking hot here in Arizona!  I put it in the fridge as soon as I could, but it was too late.  So I let Ian put the figurines wherever he wanted them and we decided it was the planet that "Zurg" lives on and Buzz and Woody were saving the day! =)

It still tasted GREAT!!

 Blowing out the candle!!  Ian had a little help! =)

 After our friends left we ate lunch and had a little "family party" where Ian got to open the presents from us and his Grandparents.

 He got a new pair of shoes and when he opened them he said "Yes, I've been wantin these for ever!!!"  I was glad.  I don't know if you remember, but last year his birthday was not so exciting for him.  He had opened all of his fun presents while we were visiting family in Utah and then the presents he had from us were mostly clothes and things he needed.  After opening them he said "those weren't good presents."  I was bound and determined to make this a better birthday for him!!  So as you can imagine I was pretty happy when he got so excited about his new shoes!!

Covering his eyes while we bring his big present in!

 A BIKE!!!!!!!

 The first thing he said when he opened his eyes and saw his bike was "It doesn't have training wheels."  And it didn't.  We decided to get him the bigger size and just buy the training wheels separate so that he would last longer on it!  He opened his training wheels next and then we were set!

 Awesome new helmet from Grandma... it came with a cool bell that we put on his bike too!

 And of course he had to go for a bike ride even though it was SO HOT (like 108 hot) and he loved every minute of it!  Miranda was also excited for Ian to get his new bike because now she gets to ride his little tricycle!!  She also loves riding in the carriage!!

 And we finished the day off by watching Aladdin and making popcorn!  He had a great birthday and I was so relieved!!  Thanks to both sets of Grandparents for helping make it a very special day!!  All of the pictures where he is smiling were for you... I'd say "Ok, this one is for Grandma so smile", and he would!!  He is not big on getting his picture taken lately!

We love this little guy so much!!  He is such a smart, talented, funny kid!!  He makes friends wherever he goes and is always asking questions!  He loves to do projects and can always make Kamryn laugh!  He loves to play transformers with Nik... they are always flying around the house getting bad guys (or being bad guys!!).  He is doing so well in preschool and loves going!  He cries every week because he doesn't want to go to primary, but then every week when we pick him up tells us how much fun he had!  The other day Miranda had done something to him and then apologized and he said "It's ok, I forgive you."  I can't wait to see what he learns and does in this next year.  We love you Ian!!!!!!!!  Happy 4th Birthday!

Starting Preschool

Back to School Night

Ian could hardly contain his excitement to go to his "Back to School Night" at Miss Ronda's!

I loved seeing him so excited about something! 

When we got there he got his picture taken, traced his hand and wrote his name on it all by himself... we were both so proud!!

His classroom

His class played a "getting to know you" game and then we had cookies and milk! 

His first homework assignment!  He wanted to do it as soon as we got home!!  Hopefully that is the homework trend for the rest of his life!! =)

 

FIRST DAY

Starting on Sunday he started telling us he didn't want to go to preschool because I couldn't stay there with him and that worried him.  We reassured him that he was going to LOVE preschool, but he was still worried!

Monday morning was a mix of excitement and worry.  He kept going back and forth on whether or not he wanted to go!  He decided that he would go, but he was a little sad that Nik couldn't take him or see him go to his first day.  I told him if we took lots of pictures then dad could look at them when he got home!

Modeling his Buzz Lightyear backpack.

Trying really hard to smile his biggest!

The girls were so excited for Ian to start preschool!  They were very loving and supportive!

Giving hugs before we left!

In front of his preschool!

=)  She had to get out of the car to see that he made it to preschool!

This is his "I'm really nervous, but I'm going to smile so nobody knows" smile!

Sitting at his chair, but watching me very closely so I don't leave!

Tracing his name!  I was excited and happy when I saw these pages his teacher made for each of the kids.  It is a laminated piece of paper with their names written boldly on the first line, dotted on the second line and left blank on the third line so that they can practice writing their names!  Ian is going to thive going to this preschool!

After lots of kisses and hugs and me watching him write his name he finally let me leave!  I was so excited that he stayed without crying!  I thought I would be a little bit sad that my baby was starting preschool, but I wasn't... it was just pure happiness and excitement!

And this is his "I had a lot of fun, but I'm going to pretend I didn't" smile after we picked him up!! =)

Let's just say he is excited to go back on Wednesday!

And... Nik will be home at noon on Wednesday so Ian is excited that they are

going to ride their bikes over!

Love it!

We went CAMPING!

Last weekend we decided to get out of the heat for the weekend!  We went CAMPING!!  Now, we are not usually campers, but we were going with some friends so we thought we could rough it for one night!!

We ended up LOVING every minute of it!  We have decided, however, that before we go again we need to get something soft to sleep on... a sleeping bag and blanket is just not soft enough to get a good night's sleep!

Making smores!!  The kids loved roasting their hotdogs and marshmallows on the fire!

Miranda was so excited to sleep in the tent!  She was so tired that she asked if she could go to bed, but once we got in the tent she got all hyper and giggly!  It was pretty cute... and we were CAMPING so we went and sat by the fire some more instead of going to bed just yet!

After they were all sleeping soundly Nik and I sat around the fire with some good friends and we ended up staying up till about 1:00am!!  Then we squished into our tent and tried to get some sleep.  I'm not sure if I actually ever did fall asleep... I was holding Kamryn in my arms and had Miranda right next to her.  Nik snuggled with Ian.  Miranda kept uncovering herself, but it was freezing so I had to make sure she stayed covered!  There were coyotes howling all night and they sounded REALLY CLOSE.  Nik and I had to pee in the middle of the night. =)  It was pretty fun!

When Ian woke up he was SO EXCITED he could hardly stand it!  He wanted to go out of the tent and explore!  I loved letting him and Miranda explore the mountainside for hours!!!!!  They really got to be kids!  It was a little scary for me to not be able see them every second, but we had a good system in place... When I whistle really loud (and I can whistle REALLY loud) then they would come back!!  They were with some other (little bit older) kids too!  They really just had a blast!  They were also so dirty!!!!!!!!!!

Just chillin by the fire bright and early in the morning waiting for breakfast!

Kamryn was a trooper!  She slept great, loved being outside, had fun watching the kids and liked looking at the fire!  She is so easy to please!

Despite Miranda's face in this picture we all really had a good time!

That's more like it!!  Permanent smiles from both of them!

After packing up camp and before heading home we headed over to the really small town by the campsite!  When we drove in there was a sign that read "Population 50-5,000".  They had a free little petting zoo and a little playground that we played on for at least an hour!!

We then found a good spot to make our lunch, eat, do a little shooting, and play with friends one last time before we headed home!

The kids slept the WHOLE way home (and so did I!)  What a fun little family vacation!  Thanks to those we went with... we had so much fun!

Kamryn

We started Kamryn on solids!!!  She seems to like them but her tongue doesn't always cooperate!  Out of the few fruits and veggies she has had she does the best with green beans!

She is usually a pretty happy girl!  It doesn't take much to get a smile out of her!  She laughs the hardest for Ian and Kamryn when they are being silly and snuggles the most with me!  She has crazy hair, but I love it!

Cool tricks Kamryn!

First ponytail at 4 1/2 months!  The top is really long and the sides and back are pretty short!  It was a pretty cute ponytail!

Kamryn brings peace to our home and to me... she warms my soul and makes me smile every day!  I also thank my Heavenly Father and her for being such a good baby day after day!  We all love her so much!!