Monday

I have so much I want to post about, but the old adage "if a picture could paint a thousands words" is so true, and really sometimes my thousand words don't do the greatest job of painting an accurate picture...and I lose most of you after the first few sentences anyway... But here goes an abbreviated version. Today began a brand new swimming session, this time Zachary is in beginning diving (2nd time), Ry is in SeaSprites, and Andrew is in swim team still. But sitting pool side has gone from boring and uncomfortable to down right sweltering and 1 1/2 hours!!! I just keep reminding myself that when I was pregnant with Ry I would sit for 2 1/2 hours pool side waiting for the kids lessons to be over (thinking back it seems so much less horrible than it did at the time). You might ask, "why do you stay there? Are you insane?" Well, since little children can't be left unattended at the pool and 2 of the classes are only a 1/2 hour, coming and going at 15 minute intervals sounds absolutely gas guzzling and time consuming.

We're so excited for our parents to come for Zachary's baptism next week. I'm trying to get all the food prepared so their quick visits aren't consumed with food preparation like they often times are. Well, I better get Ry dressed...sometimes I wonder, where do all his clothes go? (no pictures)

Eli Can't Fly, Andrew Makes Us Laugh, Savanah Rocks at Waterpolo

Well, Eli sprained his ankle. 9 X-rays and 2 doctors later, it's conclusive he has a lot of soft tissue swelling, but no break! Yeah! He is stir crazy and actually after the doctor called last night with the final results we let him play water polo early this morning, treading water for 1/2 hour with only one foot isn't easy (chalk it up to physical therapy). Eli jumped from his loft (about 9' in the air) on Thursday and instead of landing squarely on the soft foam chair, his ankle rolled over onto the floor. OOOoops! I'm so grateful for great insurance! (Get Met it pays!)


Andrew is our resident comedian. Often times forgoing dinner to entertain us with a song and dance or in this instance a super funny change of character. The first sad face isn't too funny by itself, but his come back pose just cracked us up for hours last night!

Savanah scored the first points in the water polo match this morning again. O.K. She scored all the points for her team. It was more of a scrimmage this morning because the other team didn't have any players, but one of "their" four coaches hopped into the water to play goalie for Savanah's team.


We'll have our first teenager tomorrow...Summer Solstice...Father's Day, Sunday...Tomorrow is going to be AWESOME!!! But we may need you to wish us good luck for the next few years:)

My Birthday Boy...Zach...Bob!

Zach goes by Bob nowadays...I know, I never would have named him Bob. But I started getting the idea most everyone else did when for his first up to bat during baseball season his whole team started chanting, "Bob, Bob, Bob, Bob!". It by no means started there. I've been hearing about Zach-Bob for years now. But this year it just took over. I signed Nathaniel up for swimming, but Zach went in his place, so he was called Nathan for a few days, at which time I told the teacher we call him Zach, but by the end of the class...he was Bob again. He has a contagious happiness for life, always happy, always SO grateful for every little bit of everything, a moment of my time, a fresh made roll, everything. Zach requested pancakes for breakfast (I took pictures but they are the wacky ones...pink, stripey, you know the ones). I made the pancakes with fresh ground 9 grain mix, finely shredded zucchini (oil substitute), and agave nectar (sugar substitute). He LOVED them! Probably the next best thing to fresh red ants or grass hoppers. These photos are from this afternoon when we rode our bikes to a nearby playground to play together for Zach's birthday. When we got home he had to jump into the pool without even undressing because he was so hot! Zach is looking forward to being baptized on July 11th. I love Zach to pieces! Happy Birthday, Zach!Here are some pics of the others from today.

That Hurt Evil~ly!

It was so funny! We've been riding our bikes a lot lately (up to 20 miles a day). And Friday, I ended up needing to ride off a curb, with Andrew on the trail-a-bike behind me and as we hit the road he yells, "That hurt evilly." I'm not EXACTLY sure what it meant, but I think it hurt in a sensitive spot, but the way he phrased it was just really amusing to me! And maybe the heat was getting to me?!

I'm really missing my camera. A picture really does paint a thousand words!

Savanah and Eli had their first water polo match on Saturday. Savanah was the star of the show, with Eli coming in a close second. A parent on the team nicknamed Savanah Barracuda, and Eli Shark, because of their playing styles. Savanah scored 3 goals during the game and we were asked to have her sign up for club water polo. She's excited to pursue it further, but I'm not sure we have the means to do that for her right now. But we are excited for a fun season of Saturday games!

Tomorrow morning Ryon will start with Metlife. He's really excited to add property and casualty insurance to his portfolio of investments. I'm grateful he was hired during this recession doing what he likes to do. Thanks for all your prayers and help! I really appreciate the support and understand we've had from our families and friends!

It's Party Time!

Yesterday we threw two birthday parties. We celebrated Savanah's birthday from 9am-12pm and Zachary's from 1pm-3pm. It was a busy day for me! (Ryon sat for the 3rd CFA exam yesterday, 6 hours long, so he was gone all day...if he passed (we'll find out in October) then he'll be a Chartered Financial Analyst!) Savanah's party had an Amazing Race theme (The Amazing Party). The 11 girls raced around doing obstacle course events mingled with a treasure hunt, ending on a red rug where they were greeted and received their prizes. There was a lot of laughter and pretty smiling faces as the girls tried to do handstands, ride a tricycle, paddle across the pool, dive into the deep end to retrieve bags with rocks and clues in them (many of them just decoys), and burst balloons to get clues (again many decoys), and sand, jello, and cupcakes to find clues. One cell phone was ruined in the pool in the pursuit of the treasure (so sorry!)...but it was a lot of fun! And lots of food eaten!
My camera is doing it's digital crazy thing where the pictures are all messed up digitally (The one below is mildly crazy, some pictures just look pink and smeary). Sometimes if I hit it on the palm of my hand, then it works for a few pictures. It's really annoying to me when it doesn't work on really important days, who am I kidding, I use my camera every day, everyday is an important day. But these parties were really important to me...oh well. Here's a cake picture. The morning party girls were trying to figure out why there was an 8 on "Savanah's" cake...they even added up the number 8 candle plus the 8 candles and couldn't figure it out. Do you know why? (It was for Zach's party.) By the time Zach's party came around I had given up on my camera for the day. I hope it works on his actual birthday!

Zachary's party was sports themed. It started off with games in the irrigation water, lots of swimming in the pool, a football pinata, and cake and ice cream. The boys ran around so fast that when the party was over many thought it had been way too short, including Zachary!

Water Polo

This is Andrew's first year in swim team, Zach is in a stroke correction class, and Savanah and Eli are playing water polo this summer. They all love their classes. Savanah is the fastest at water polo free style in her class and all of the kids are quickly improving their skills. Today Nathaniel and Zachary are at Cub Scouts Day Camp, I'm sure they will have a lot of fun, the cub scout uniform for the day was swim trunks!