Flag Football

Brad running his route

Kyle playing lineman

Fixing the flag

Kyle playing offense



Kyle on offense again

Brad and Kyle are playing flag football for the first time this fall and their first games were yesterday. It was fun watching both of them out there. Brad was a little tentative at first as the kids ran by, but then he was more aggressive as the game went on. It was fun watching Kyle and his team. No matter what if they were on offense or defense they were going after the flags. Even it meant going after their own teams once in a while.

1st Day of School

Kyle walking into the school

Bradley started 2nd grade today and Kyle started Kindergarten. We have to boys in school. It was another hard year to say goodbye to 2 boys now! They were so excited. Brad is in a class with two boys from church so he already knows a couple boys. Kyle has one little girl in his class from church and a boy that he played with while Bradley played baseball. Kyle is a little nervous

Camping Trip 2009

Brad and Kyle went fishing with Dad. Hmm, good thing they didn't bring their new shoes!

Campsite

Matt waiting for his dinner in his swim diaper.

Kyle got a baby fish with his bare hands

William ready to go fishing with Dad

Kyle caught a frog on our hike

Bradley taking his turn

William after swimming

Brad eating a S'more

William roasting marshmallows. He didn't want to get to close to the fire.

Kyle not so happy about his marshmallows.

Trying to roast marshmallows

With baseball, every weekend was taken up with games until August. Luckily for us we were still able to squeeze in a camping trip before school started, unfortunately it also happened to be the hottest days of the summer so far. We headed north to Willow Creek and pitched our tent. Then we headed over to the lake and swam in the lake for a while, which really cooled us off. We walked back to our campground and made a fire and cooked our tinfoil dinners in the fire. S'mores galore followed. The boys loved mainly just roasting the marshmallows, it took them a few tries to figure out you don't put it in the fire you put them above the fire. William came to me and asked if I would drive him around so he could go to sleep about 7 o'clock, so I did. Matt and he fell asleep within minutes and back to the tent they went. Joe went fishing, and Brad and Kyle road their scooters for a while. Unfortunately the people next to us got really loud about 8:30 and woke Matt up. So he joined us for ghost stories with the two older boys. William woke up when Brad and Kyle went to bed, and so we drove around until 11:30 until they fell back asleep. This camping trip was like most for the amount of sleep I get. I ended up sleeping next to Kyle who smacked me across the face numerous times with his arms as he slept, hopefully he will out grow this before he gets married. At 4;30 I finally took William, who had woken up, to the van and we slept in the van until 6. So do the math, yup that is an hour and a half of sleep. At 6 I got William breakfast and about 6:30 the rest of the crew woke up, they ate breakfast and we headed off for a little hike and some fishing. Afterwards we roasted hotdogs for lunch, and I took the boys to the park while Joe packed up the van. It was a fun little trip, and we will most likely check out Willow Creek again.

Summer Days Count Down to School

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With nine days and counting until the first day of school. Here is what we did today. I can't believe first of all that all the summer stuff is on clearance, lucky us. It didn't take William long to figure out what to do, actually it took him no time at all he was the first one down. Brad and Kyle of course showed him a few different tricks like going on your knees and rolling. They had a lot of fun! Can't wait for tomorrow.

Bradley Playing Baseball

YMCA Cubs

Sammy with Bradley

Bradley ready to bat

Big Swing

Bradley playing first base

Joe coached Bradley's baseball team this year. It was fun watching the team improve each week. Joe owes Bradley a steak dinner. One of Joe's baseball coaches told them that when they played their coach would buy them a steak dinner if they knocked the pitcher out of the game. Bradley hit this line drive up the middle and hit the kid right in the mouth. Joe, being competitive yelled "run", while everyone else was checking to see if the kid was alright. Thankfully, the kid was alright. Just a little shaken up, so he went and sat on the bench. The improvement of the team was amazing. Brad can really hit the ball. Joe gave the kids all a trophy at the end of the season. It was fun to see their expressions. One of the little boys was polishing it with his shirt. We are looking forward to next season.

Camp Pokamoke

Bradley as a window viper

Bradley and the window vipers

Kyle and William at the top of the hill

Last week Bradley went to a Paleontology Camp through the YMCA. He had a lot of fun and was really worn out and dirty each night he came home. At the camp Bradley dug for dinosaur bones, went swimming, hiking, did an obstacle course, archery, and other fun things. Thursday night we were able to go up to his camp to have dinner with him and then he and his group put a skit on for us. He played a window viper.

Bill and Family Come to Town

Bradley, Sammy, & Kyle feeding ducks

Ben, Lisa, & William feeding duck

The kids swimming in the pool

The kids playing on the spider web

Kyle in the Hippo

Bradley on the Hippo

Bill and his family came out to Omaha during his summer break. We had a fun time visiting and playing with them. We went to the Children's Museum, the Zoo, Coco Key Water Resort, feed ducks, and hanging out.

William or Will

Today when I picked up this little guy from nursery, his teacher told me that they asked him if he wanted to be called William or Will. She said he very promptly and directly said Will. I asked him later then same question and he said Will. So through out the day I have been saying Will and he answers. I didn't know that he had such an opinion on what he wanted to be called. He has a month before he turns 3 but he knows what he wants.

Look Who's 1

Our fire cracker baby turned one yesterday. I can't believe that the year has passed already. Matt seems in my mind should still be a little baby, but the reality is that he is one, still a baby but no longer a cuddly baby. He climbs and crawls his way up and down you when you hold him.

Matt was not at all hesitant to get into his birthday cake. He enjoyed every second of it. He dug right into his cake, enjoying the sweet goodness of the frosting. Afterwords he was washed in the kitchen sink with a little liquid dawn soap, and then again with baby wash.

Matt at 1

Favorite Food:
The boy will eat anything you put in front of him, or that he can find on the floor, which is why we moved the dog food to an enclosed area. He really loves hot dogs, watermelon, milk, noodles, peas, blueberries, and he makes his Dad proud with his love for ice cream.

Words:
Although many don't understand what he says, we know he is saying a few words and understand them. Mama, Dada, Duck, uh-oh, woof woof, Matt, hi, bye, hi dad, Bradley, and Kyle.

Favorite Object
Blanket, pacifier, bottle,

Things he can do:
Crawl, go up and down stairs, stand (if he doesn't realize he is doing it), throw things, giggle really hard at anything, smile,

Number of Teeth
2

Our favorite things about Matt his first year:
Joe: Loves getting out of Elder's Quorum (you know you've used the excuse before too.); He can just light up a room with his smile, watching him grow and learn new things.

Janette: Matt has always been a very happy baby. He loves being around his brothers and Mom and Dad. The way he starts to mimic William's screaming when he is throwing a tantrum, it makes the situation a little lighter. Watching him figure out how things work, new words, or how to do something new has always been fun to watch.