Trip to Texas

 In May, Cooper had his last concert of the year.  He really enjoyed participating in choir and loved his teachers.  They did a great job on their performances and Cooper was able to show off his talents in singing.  The week before school ended, we pulled the kids out and headed to Texas on a 24 hours drive.  Jacqui helped me drive and the kids all did a great job in the car.  Just after we crossed over the Texas border, we sat on the freeway for 8 hours.  There had been an accident that had blocked the road, so we let the kids out to run around on the Interstate. We made some trucker friends. It was early morning around 4, so it was pretty cold and the kids slept for a few hours before waking up to face hours and hours of sitting on the road.

 We did so many activities while we were in Texas for those 5 weeks.  We were still in a transition phase because we didn't have a home yet, so we decided to stay for quite a while and it was so much fun to bond with our siblings and cousins and Grandma and Grandpa.

 We had a little incident one day while we were up at the University.  We decided to go up there on an unusually cool summer day to walk around campus and see the new stadium.  We had been throwing the football and talking and visiting when all of a sudden Parker looked up at Shayne and just smiled.  At that moment, Shayne realized that Perri was asleep in the car when he unloaded the other kids.  He instantly took off running as fast as he could and he found Perri still sleeping in the back.  What a tender mercy from our Lord to have an unseasonably cool day in May!

 We went to a Children's Museum while we were down staying with Sean and Kellye in Spring.  There were many activities for the kids and they had a great time playing in the sand, pretending to shop, and also driving cars.

 Steph and Paul stayed at the Marriott next to Mom's house and so one evening we all went over to the pool to eat dinner and enjoy the water. It is always a treat for me to watch my kids interact and create friendships with their cousins that they don't get to see very often.

 We went to Sea World in San Antonio and it was so hot. The kids had fun, but us adults were not quite sure what we thought about it.  We were sweating our guts out and there was no relief.  The kids liked watching the dolphins and whales and we even watched a show with some seals. There were some rides that the kids enjoyed and also the cold ice cream kept us going!

 WE also visited the Alamo while we were in San Antonio.  Bryce and Cooper went in and looked around at all the old artifacts.  Afterwards, we walked down along the RiverWalk and ate lunch at a yummy Mexican restaurant. It was definitely warm, but we seemed to survive!

Adventures in May

We enjoyed going to down to the River Walk in Riverdale. We could either walk or ride our bikes along the trails.  The trail ran next to the river, so the boys loved throwing rocks in it.  Its kind of a quaint little trail next to a busy city, but you would never know because its so quiet and peaceful.

Steph and Paul keep their pool heated in the Spring, so we spent some days over in their pool.  The boys have become excellent swimmers and they love spending time in the water.  Its always fun to swim in a heated pool when its still cool temperatures outside.

We took a trip to the Willow Park zoo with Clayton's kindergarten class.  Parker loved looking at all the animals.  She especially liked this little duck that would hang out by the fence.

We took a ride on a razor in the later Spring time.  It was cold but Parker just hung out in her carseat and enjoyed the ride.

Sad to leave Roy

 Bryce started his job working for Casper's Ice Cream on March 1st, so he has been living up there during the week and coming home on the weekends. We wanted Cooper to stay in school at Freedom Elementary so we have decided to sell our home this month.  We actually closed on our house on April 24th and moved in with Jacqui for 5 weeks.  They were nice enough to accommodate our dog and kids while we were in this transition phase of our lives.  We sold our house for $221, 000.  We were able to make enough to pay for our land in Smithfield.

Easter 2015

This year we celebrated Easter at Paul and Steph's house.  I can't really remember why, but it looks like we hid all the kids Easter baskets in their backyard.

Randomness 2015

In early April, Cooper had his last choir concert under Mr. and Mrs. Claycomb.  I always love hearing him sing and it has been something that he has enjoyed.  He has great teachers and its been fun to attend his concerts and to see the hard work they have put in during their practices.

Don't know what I would do without these amazing boys of mine.  They are completely different from each other, but I love them equally.  They show their love for us differently but we wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.  Cooper verbally tells us he loves us and gives lots of hugs.  He is verbally appreciate of most things and aware of kind things done on his behalf.  Clayton doesn't verbalize it much, but he misses me when I'm gone and he wants me to tuck him in every night and lay with him for a few minutes.

In April, we received a late snow storm, so the boys went out and built a snowman in our front yard.  It didn't last very long, but they still had a good time playing  and creating together.

Clayton has two really good friends in the neighborhood. One is Gracie and the other is Zane.  He spent most of the hours in the day playing with these two friends.  They jumped on the tramp, hid from each other, painted their faces and dressed up like super heroes, rode bikes, played soccer and collected bugs.

Bryce and I purchased a piece of land in Smithfield the end of March.  We will be starting to build our new home as soon as possible.  Last October, Bryce was offered a job to work for Casper's Ice Cream as a Red Button Manager.  It was a great offer and the job will be less stressful and less hours. It is definitely a bitter sweet move for us.  WE have loved the friends that we have made in Roy over the past 8 years and we will miss them dearly, but we feel like this is what we are supposed to do.

Our lot is .41 arcres and this is right after they excavated and dug our hole for our foundation.

Parker is 18 months and she is so much fun.  She loves to smile and dance and she is so happy.  She is a people person and she loves to entertain others.  She loves ice cream and family and friends.  Her hair is finally starting to grow a little bit. For the longest time, many people thought she was a little boy (partly because of her name), but now she has her ears pierced and she is getting some hair.  Her hair is beautiful and has a strawberry blond color to it.

While staying with Bryce's parents in Smithfield, I was lucky enough to have Susan Price come visit me.  We caught up on 18 years in just a few hours.  Susan was a childhood friend of mine.  She was in my ward at church for a short time.  Susan and I played basketball together for many years in high school.  I also spent many days at her house because her Mom was my seminary teacher.  This was one of the highlights of my year! It was so nice to be able to see her and to meet 2 of her girls.

Cooper's 10th Birthday

 For Cooper's 10th birthday, we took some of his friends to swim at the Rush in Syracuse.  It's an indoor pool that has 4 slides and a small lazy river. The kids had a great time getting exercising in the pool and playing tag in the lazy river.  Some of his friends that came were Jordan and Ty Clark, Jaxson and Reese Gabrish, and Ryland Stanger. Afterwards, we had pizza, cake and ice cream.  Happy Birthday to an amazing boy that I love with all my heart.  He sure does fill our home with peace and love.

Visit from Sean and Kellye

 Sean and Kellye came to see us for a week.  The kids had a great time playing together.  We ended up in Park City where we spent the weekend in a hotel over there.  We went on a gondola ride up the mountain and they enjoyed seeing the snow fall.  We also went bowling one evening and everyone had a great time.