Keen turns 3!

We celebrated Keen's birthday in stages this year.  We had a really busy week the week of his birthday but I wanted him to feel special for his big day.  So he woke up to cupcakes and presents on his birthday day.  He was so excited to be able to eat cupcakes for breakfast!

  A few presents from mom...

 He was so excited about this turtle jacket!  He loves TMNT and especially the orange one (Michelangelo.)

Rhen wrote this cute note for him too!

  A couple days later Grammie came by with her present for him and we had turtle cupcakes.

 And a turtle cake.

 Grammie always has awesome presents!

 Time to blow out the candles and eat the cake!

Wow! I can't believe Keen is 3!

Here are my favorite things about my 3 year old:

1) Keen is a huge kid.  He is just about as tall as Liev and I'm pretty sure he weighs more than him.  They wear the same size clothes and shoes.  Best of all, those 2 are the best pals!  They play together all day long and love to run, climb, jump, fight and cause trouble.  It's so fun to see their little friendship.  Keen is as solid as Liev is skinny.  Keen has thick curly hair and Liev's hair is stick straight.  Keen's hair is super blonde especially in the summer and Liev has pretty dark blonde hard.  But as opposite as they are, they sure love each other!

2) Keen is a very organized kid.  He likes things a certain way and has to do things the same way every time.  He loves to put things in small compartments and organize them.  When he plays outside in the dirt, he has certain cups that he fills up first, then dumps the dirt into different cups and so on.  If I ever try and drive a different way to wherever it is we are going, he always reminds me "that's not the right way."  He is a smart kid!  I love watching him play and think.

3) Keen will snuggle and cuddle with me whenever I ask.  He willingly gives me kisses and hugs.  I love that he is still young enough to love his mama!  He is a sweet boy and I don't want that to ever go away!

3 year old stats from Dr. Erickson:

Weight: 39.9 lbs - 97%

Height: 40.16 inches - 96%

We love you Mr. Keen!

Basketball Picture

My kids come with me on Monday and Friday mornings while I play basketball at the church.  We've been doing it for a few years now so they are all used to it.  Rhen drew this picture of me playing and she even made it so I was on the winning team!  So cute!

Liev's finger

Liev and Keen were playing downstairs and I heard Liev start crying and running up the stairs.  I could tell by his cry that it was a hurt cry and not a tattling cry.  When he got up here he said he had cut his finger on "the white thing."  Turns out they had been playing with a tape measure and he was holding on to it when Keen let his end got and it started to wind up.  Ewww.  It made me hurt to just hear about it.  I wasn't sure if it needed stitches or not so I just cleaned it and wrapped it up tight in a bandaid until it stopped bleeding.  It seemed like it would be ok so we left the band-aid on and left it at that.  Liev was really tough through it all and was happy that the band-aid made it feel "all better."

Facetime with Grammie and Papa Beutler

We have a weekly facetime call with Grammie and Papa on their mission.  This Sunday morning the kids all gathered on the chair to be able to see them.  Isn't this a funny picture of them all crammed together?  It has been so fun to hear all about the mission stories and hear their testimonies - such a great example to our kids.  We love you Grammie and Papa!

Stake Dance

Josh and I volunteered to be chaperones for the Stake Dance this weekend.  He challenged all his Teachers to be there and got a bunch of the young women to commit as well.  It turned out to be a great night and we had so much fun with these boys!  All of them together before the dance looking so handsome!

Sundance Summer Theatre

One of the rewards for reaching our goal at the office was a trip to the Sundance Summer Theatre with the employees and spouses.  And since I've been working this summer filling in for 2 different maternity leaves (Kilee and Kari) I got to be a part of it!  We had the BBQ dinner before and saw the Wizard of Oz.  It was a perfect night and the play was so fun!  They did a really great job with it!  It was such a fun thing to do together as an office and fun to have our husbands with us.  Thanks Dad and Dr. V!

Hives

Rease broke out in hives this week.  It was pretty crazy and came on all of a sudden.  She was so itchy and uncomfortable.  We took her to the instacare and the doctor said they don't really know what causes hives but that it would last 7-10 days.  Poor girl.  Lots of Benadryl and rest!

Week with Chad and Britt

Chad and Britt and their boys came for a week this year.  We are always so glad when they come and had such fun while they were here.  Here a some of the highlights of the week:

We rented canoes and canoed around Oquirrh Lake.  

 Had a birthday celebration to celebrate our July birthdays and especially Chad's while he was here.  No celebration is complete without a piñata!

They were here over the 24th of July so we had a firework show in our cul-de-sac.

 The adults went on the Sundance zipline tour.  So so fun and beautiful scenery!

 We rode trax down to Temple Square with the kids.  

We went to the temple to do baptisms and confirmations for some family names that Chad has been working on.  We were able to do the ordinances for Grandma Wisniewski and Great Grandma Romnek along with some others.  It was a really special day!

Of course we spent a couple days on the lake!

 And had family pictures taken while everyone was together.  They turned out so cute!

Grammie bought backpacks and filled them with treats for all the grandkids.  It was a big hit!

 We sure love spending time together and are so glad Chad and Britt came to stay for a while!  Such a fun week together!

Swimming Lessons

I had all 4 of the kids do swimming lessons this year.  Keen and Liev were able to be in a beginner class together since neither have had too much experience.  It was every day for 2 weeks and they were so excited to get to swim every day!

Keen did pretty great for being just almost 3 years old.  Their teacher did a good job teaching them how to float on their backs and not be scared.  Keen loved being in the water and blowing bubbles and loved that his cousin Canyon was in their class too.

Liev is a little fish.  He's making up for lost time since he couldn't swim the first few years of his life with his tubes in.  He LOVED going under the water and showing me how far he could go.  And jumping off the diving board was the highlight of each day.

 Rhen also loves the water and has gotten to be a good little swimmer.  It's nice having them do lessons each summer and see that they are actually learning and progressing.  She was in class with JT Hammer and they always have a fun time together.  Rhen's claim to fame is that she can do a flip off the diving board.  Brave little soul!

 Rease has really gotten to be a good swimmer and is so confident in what she is learning.  She loved learning the backstroke this year and also diving off the side of the pool.  Her and Izzy Hammer with in a class together and these 4 older kids love being together!

Riding with Dad

The kids love riding with Dad in his car.  He lets them keep the windows open and get all windy inside!  Plus he always races and tries to beat mom and they think that is the best!

Muscle Man

Keen snagged my running headphones and showed off his muscles while he was at it.  This little Keen melts my heart!  Such a fun, wild, crazy, sweet boy!

Rhen year end report card

Rhen has loved kindergarten this year and is a great student!  She can't wait for 1st grade!

Rhen's Kindergarten class.

Rease year end report card

Rease is a great student and has a fun fun year in 2nd grade!

Rease's 2nd grade class.

Becker

Baby Beck no more. This one is growing up before our eyes and is such a fun, cute part of our family.  He is feeling the woes of being left behind by the other kids since he can't keep up with them.  He sits longingly from his stroller many times while his brothers and sisters run around like crazy apes.  One day buddy you'll join them and then it will be really wild!  For now we are happy to have this little one still somewhat small and cute!

Scout trip to Bloomington Lake

Josh is the 1st counselor in the Young Men's presidency so he works with the Teachers.  For their scout camp this year Josh got special permission to take them to Idaho to Bloomington Lake.  He said they had a great time and the boys loved it.  His advisor Dane Jackson kept a journal of their camp trip and I wanted to include that - it has all the details of their fun trip!

Brilliant Bobcat Award

Rease and Rhen both earned their Brilliant Bobcat awards this year at school.  They worked hard all year long and finished up just before school ended.  They work on so many different things throughout the year including picking up trash around the school, learning multiplication, learning how to tie their shoes, presenting a Great Brain report to the class, and many more things.  They had fun though and I am so proud of them for getting this award!

Stairs

Oh I can't believe we're here already.  It seems like he shouldn't be able to climb the stairs yet right?  I couldn't figure out where he went until I started calling for him and heard a noise at the top of the stairs.  Oh sweet boy!  You're too big!

Surprise Attack

This may look like a sweet, innocent little boy but little do you know what surprise is hiding underneath.

Yah.  Not so cute and innocent anymore.  Smelly and messy is more like it.

Beck's 1st Birthday

Happy Birthday to our Baby Beck!  We had a small get together with cake and ice cream and a carnival theme.  It was pretty simple and fun!  Beck was the man of the hour!

 Cake time.  I wondered how Beck would react to all the attention and his own cake.  As you can see by the pictures, he wasn't too thrilled at first.  After he got a hug from mommy he calmed down and got to work on the cake...slowly.  Like one finger at a time.  It honestly took about 20 minutes for him to finally get into his cake.  But he finally did and got good a messy!  What a funny, sensitive boy he is!  And as always, it ends with a bath in the sink!

 A few little presents for Beck including this darling superhero cape made by Aunt Hayley.  He is the hero of the day that's for sure!  We love him so much!

 Let me tell you a little bit about my Beck at this age:

1) Beck is and has always been a sensitive baby.  He gets his feelings hurt if you get after him.  He doesn't like to be around a lot of commotion or craziness (like our  house is most of the time.)  He does this thing where he passes out if he cries really hard.  It really scared me the first few times it happened, but now it's just the way he is and I have learned how to be calm about it.  The doc says it's something he'll grow out of.  But along with being sensitive, he is super sweet, smiley, and happy.  I can handle a little sensitivity around our house once in a while!

2) Beck has not started walking yet and really doesn't seem to care to learn either.  His siblings, especially his sisters, love to carry him around or get him whatever he needs.  He probably thinks he doesn't need to walk when everyone takes care of all his needs!  Someday buddy!  We're not in a hurry either!

3) As our 3rd boy Beck may seem like he falls in the shadow of his two older brothers.  And I admit they do take a lot of my attention lots of the time (because they're wild!!!) but I also love my time playing and snuggling with my baby.  He is super chill and doesn't make a lot of fuss about much of anything.  So when I need to just sit and relax, Beck is my guy.  He loves to sit on my lap and play with my phone if I ever let him hold it.  He has learned that when he pushes hard on the home button on my phone, Siri will talk to him.  He thinks it's hilarious.  Mostly Beck is such a great addition to our little family.  He is a calming force when we need it most!

1 year old stats from Dr. Erickson:

Weight: 22.71 lbs - 40%

Height: 31.3 inches - 83%

This is our family at this stage.  Happy Birthday Baby Beck!  We sure love you!