Guitar Hero Pros!!

One of the kids most favorite things to do is play Guitar Hero with daddy. It is so cute to watch because they all get into it so much. Even Cole Bear has to wear one of the guitars and totally thinks he is playing along. Kaya and Tanner usually just help Dave. One of them will push the buttons while the other one does the Wammy thingy.

Neighborhood Bike Parade

On July 11th our neighborhood and ward put together a children's bike parade and breakfast. The kids had so much fun decorating their bike and scooter. Daddy was a great help. Here they are all lined up waiting for the parade to start.

They rode all the way around the big park!!

Grandpa and Grandma Newman came to watch the kids. Grandpa had fun entertaining little Cole on the swings while kids were riding around.

Then once the parade was over we ate some yummy food. It's great to have such a fun neighborhood with good friends.

4th of July 2009

The 4th of July this year was a busy but fun day for us. We started out the morning by heading up to Donut Falls for a great kid friendly hike. We went with our great neighbors the Curtis'. The kids had a great time and did so awesome. We found these little backpacks that they could wear with their own water and treats and then they had little leashes on them for little Cole especially so he couldn't run off. Even he did awesome and wanted to walk by himself most of the time.
After the hike we went over to Dave's dads house for a BBQ. The kids had a great time playing with their cousins Ethan and Eli. Grandpa Newman did a great job hosting a BBQ since Grandma was gone to Kentucky at the time.

Then that evening we went up to my parents house to do fireworks and see my side of the family. Here Kaya is with two of her cousins Maddie and Audrey. They loved being able to pick out their fireworks and then help their dads light them and run away. Then we were able to watch Layton and Kaysville fireworks from their house. I can't believe how good the Layton ones were. They lasted like a half hour nonstop with multiples at a time. They were awesome. We were definitely all tired by the end of the day but had a great 4th.

Kaya Lost her 1st Tooth

Just yesterday Kaya was at her friend's house eating an apple when she realized she had a loose tooth. Today it just got more loose every minute. She played with it all morning with her tongue. We went for a little walk/bike ride and when we got home it basically just fell out of her mouth. She is so excited and has wanted this day to come for a long time. She is especially excited for tonight to see what the Tooth Fairy brings.

You just have to love those toothless grins.

Kaya's Dance Recital

Kaya had her last dance recital. Well at least for a little while. She loves to dance but she loves gymnastics even more. So for that reason we have decided to give ourselves a little break for the next year. She was excited for her recital but mostly because she was going to do a cartwheel in her performance. She did such good job. She is a great little performer with such a big smile. Great job Kaya!! You really are a great little dancer. We are so proud of all you were able to learn throughout the year.

She is the one in the middle in the splits.
Her and her cute friend Carlie.

Tanner on his bike

Okay so I swore I would not let him do this already but how do you not let them when they can. Tanner totally learned how to ride his bike without training wheels already. Dave just ran with him like one time and he took off. His little legs can still barely reach the ground but he does so great. He hasn't quite mastered how to stop without totally tipping over but I think that is because his legs don't quite reach the ground. Way to go Tanner!!! You are getting so grown up.

All done with Kindergarten!

I can't believe it! Kaya is all done with Kindergarten and off to 1st grade. She had a good year and was able to be in the same class with her friends. They did such a cute little program for the end of year where they had a fashion show and each of the kids were recognized. Then they sang all the songs they had learned. She has grown up so much this year. She is way excited for 1st grade to start though so she can eat lunch at school.

Tanner's Preschool Program

Tanner finished up his first year of preschool and loved every minute of it. They did such a cute little program where they were able to sing the songs they had learned. They are so fun to watch when they are this little. The poor little girl with her fingers in her mouth stayed like that the whole program. Too funny. Tanner was so serious though and sang the songs so great. He told me after that he couldn't look at us because he had to keep his eyes on Miss Heidi the whole time so he didn't mess up on the songs. He is such a funny boy. I just can't believe how fast they are growing up.
Here is his cute teacher Miss Heidi. Tanner loved her as his teacher. She was so great with the kids.

Gymnastics Recital

Kaya had her gymnastics recital today. She did so great. We are so proud of her. She was able to start doing her roundoff backhandsprings again about a couple of weeks before and so she was able to do them at the performance. She loves gymnastics and is always doing flips around the house. She is so talented.

Crazy busy Month of May

So the month of May was a busy one and so I didn't get any posting done so I thought I would just do a quick recap of the month's events.

First of all I had an awesome Mother's Day. My kids and Dave were so cute that morning when they came in bringing me breakfast in bed with a choice of just about everything. It was great and so fun to see how excited the kids were about it being Mother's Day. They truly made me feel special and truly lucky to be their mom. The day before we went as a family and did the Race for the Cure in support of my wonderful mom. It is always so much fun and heartwarming at the same time to see all of those people that have been affected by the horrible disease. I look up to my mom and what a strong woman she has been with all she has been through. Thanks mom for being such a great inspiration.

Then on May 16th we had a very busy day for Kaya. It started off with her 2nd piano recital where she played Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. She had yet another awesome performance without any mistakes. I am so proud at how well she does. Here is a picture of all the cute kids who performed that day. Her Grandma Newman and Aunt Beth are awesome teachers.

Look at her great piano playing posture.


Right after her recital she had a mini gymnastics competion. So we raced over to her studio where she competed against 9 other girls doing connected cartwheels. roundoffs, front & back walkovers, and one handed cartwheels. She ended up taking 3rd place in her group. Way to go Kaya we are so proud of you!!!

Memorial weekend was also full of fun for the kids. We were able to go up to Heber and take the kids to ride Thomas the Train. They loved it. Here they had their picture taken with Sir Topham Hat. Cole wasn't so sure of this giant headed man. But he did okay.

Here the kids are with one of the conductors on the train. They were all so super friendly. Again Cole is trying to figure out why he keeps having to get his picture taken with these strange men.

And of course you have to get the picture in front of Thomas. It was a fun day.

And last but not least I had to throw in this cute picture of my messy eater Cole Bear. He has grown up so much this month that it is almost making me sad because I am seeing all of his babyness fade. He has decided that he can really talk this month and has become my little mockingbird. He will repeat just about anything now. It's always so crazy to me when my babys start really talking and speaking in little sentences. It is so cute though and so much fun to see how fast they learn.

It has been a good month.

Kaya's 1st Piano Recital!!

Kaya had her very 1st piano recital. She started taking piano lessons from her Grandma Newman in the fall and finally felt comfortable enough to play in the recital. It was a "Blessed" recital which she holds in the church and all the kids play or sing church songs. It was so fun to watch Kaya. She has learned so much so fast. She played "I am a Child of God" without any mistakes. We are so proud of her. She is getting so grown up I can't believe it.

Way to go Jazz!

Last night we were able to take our kids to the Jazz game with us. They always love going to the games and are always sad when we go without them. So we always try to take them to at least one game a year. So of course it was only fitting that we take them to the very last home game of the season. Everyone thought they had given up but I told them that with us going they were for sure going to win. I was right.

The kids love watching the bear but still get a little nervous if he starts coming out into the crowd near us. Luckily for them he didn't really come by us this night.
Tanner loved eating his cotton candy and Kaya her churro. Gotta love a blue sticky face!!!

What a cute family!!

Of course we stayed until the bitter end of the game as you can tell by the looks of my kids they were lucky to still be standing.

Thanks to my mom and dad for watching Cole so we could actually enjoy the game. Love you guys!!
The good ole Jazz won the game 106 - 85. Now off to the playoffs.

It's been a fun season - they have been great dates for me and Dave through the winter and a fun family outing last night. I'm sad to see it end.

Easter Fun!!!

We had another fun and eventful Easter! We started the activities on Saturday when we went up to my parents to have a picnic and egg hunt for the kids. The weather was pretty crappy but it doesn't phase the kids one bit. They had a great time with the egg hunt.

There is always a golden egg which is filled with all sorts of dollar bills and a silver egg which is filled with all sorts of coins. This year Tanner was the lucky finder of the silver egg. He was so excited. Then my mom always puts a note in some of the eggs that say prize and they get to redeem it for a prize. She always does so much but the kids love it. My dad made his famous dutchoven chicken and can I say delicious!!!

Easter morning ready to go to church. My cute kids in their little Easter outfits. Cole didn't want anything to do with getting his picture taken for some reason so this was the best pic I could get with all three of them together. They had a great time earlier finding their Easter baskets and seeing what the Easter bunny had left them. They were too fast for me though and I didn't have the camera ready to get some good pictures of them by the baskets.

After church it was on to the Newman side of the family for a yummy Easter dinner and another Egg Hunt. The kids never get sick of hunting eggs. In fact after the real hunt they emptied all their eggs out and went and hid them again to keep finding over and over again for about another hour.

Here's cute Tanner filling up his basket.
Adorable Cole on his very first time hunting eggs. He picked it up way fast.



And of course our beautiful Kaya filling up 2 baskets. So much fun!!

After all of the egg hunting the kids of course get more Easter treats from Grandma and Grandpa Newman and also from Aunti M and Unc. Kaya received 2 jumping ropes which she wasn't disappointed at all since lately that is one of her most favorite things to do. Here she is showing us her great skills at it.

What a great holiday season!! I love this time of year and of course it is always important to remember the real reason why we celebrate Easter. It has been a great time now as the kids get a little bit older to teach them about our Savior and His sacrifice for us.

A weekend away.............

This last conference weekend we were able to get away on a much needed vacation down to St. George. We went with my brother and his family and the kids just had so much fun. My parents have a condo down there which makes it so nice to have a home to stay in and the kids were able to just go crazy. They spent so much of their time just out front riding their scooters and looking for pecans. But we were able to get in a few other fun things while we were there when the weather was nice.

Here the kids are riding the kid go-carts at the Family Fun Center. They had a blast driving their own cars and then we took them on the bigger ones after.
Out in front of the condo there is a big tree that all the kids wanted to get up onto so we had to snap some pictures. Here is Tanner and his cousin Hannah.

Also they have those big ditches that always have water running down them. The kids got such a kick at putting in a toy boat and catching it down on the other end. They could have played for hours doing this.

There is a pretty new lake called Sand Hollow and it is so fun to take the kids there. There is nobody ever there and they have the red sandy beaches. The kids loved being able to get their feet wet and dig in the sand. It wasn't quite warm enough this day to get into the water, but they still had a great time. It's just so beautiful there.

Our last day there we found this splash park that is at the city center. It was so nice this day and so we spent more time here before we left to make the drive home so they could play in the water. They loved it.


Overall it was a great trip and I can't wait until we can get away again. It was especially nice to get away from the snow. Dave was sick most of the trip and was such a good sport about still doing things. Thanks babe for taking off time to take us on this little getaway. Love ya!

I love that we live in a place that it's not that far to get away to a vacation spot.