Harley Ride

Greg is moving back to Salt Lake City and we are so excited!  He's been in Logan taking care of his parents' house while they were on a mission.  Well, now they're home and he is headed back our way.  He brought his Harley down one weekend with a friend and brought an extra one for Josh.  The three of them went on a half day ride up Butterfield Canyon and out near the Copper Mine.  Josh said they had a blast and it looked like a perfect day for a ride.  Doesn't Josh look handsome all dressed up in his riding gear?

 When they got back the kids were dying for a ride too.  So Uncle Greg took them each for a ride around the neighborhood.  We're so excited to have him back!  We missed having him around!

Boating

We LOVE the boat.  We look forward to the summer all year long mostly because we love being on the boat.  Our kids have learned to love it too and they have all had a great year learning new things.  It is such a fun family thing and we love spending time together!  Here are some of the highlights of the summer!

Josh and I made a point to get all the kids on the water somehow this summer.  We figured out that kneeboarding is a great learning tool.  So we got Liev and Keen out there and onto the kneeboard with me hanging off the back while the boat pulls us slowly.  They were both a little nervous but as the summer has gone on, they both love it now.  It is a great way for them to learn to be away from the boat but still feel close enough to the water that it's not scary.  So fun for them!

 In July we had a family week on the lake.  Josh took off 3 days of work and we stayed at the cabin and boated for five days straight.  It was a blast!  We had a ton of fun with the kids and they all got lots of time on the water.  Rease has gotten really good at her double skis and can get up on her own.  And Rhen decided this year that she wants to kneeboard by herself.  They both did awesome!  We are going to continue this tradition of a week on the lake every year!  

 Liev named himself the rope boy and loves to pull the rope in when someone is done.

I'm not even sure what to say about this picture.  Rhen thinks she can pee off the side of the boat like the boys.

Kneeboard wars have become a favorite of everyone and we got a new tube this year that the kids love!

And a day on the lake is only complete with a burger and shake from In-N-Out.  It's our thing and the kids don't let us go home before we've stopped.  We have had such a fun time this year on the boat!

Liev's first day of preschool

Oh this boy has been so excited to start school!  For months he's been asking me when he gets to go to school like the girls.  Well, the day finally arrived!  He is going to Kinder Cottage with Miss Melanie.  She runs a great preschool and I'm excited for him to be able to go.  What a handsome boy starting preschool!

Selfies with Dad

Love these cute moments caught on camera.

2nd Annual Scones and Pickleball

We had our 2nd annual scone day and pickleball tournament on Labor Day.  It is such a fun day for our neighborhood to gather together!  This year Josh decided we needed uniforms so we were the Turtle Power family.

 We had a great turnout and Josh, Jared and Mike were the cooks and made delicious scones!

 We had everyone submit their team name for us to put into the brackets for the tournament.  We had SO MANY teams!  We had bought a second pickeball net and I'm glad that we did!  We were able to have 2 courts playing at a time and it went pretty quick.  Everyone had fun though and that's the whole point!  

 Mike and Stephanie - Team Totally Sconed - were the big winners of the tournament!  Congrats!

Such a fun day to get together and have fun with the many people we love in this neighborhood!

When your phone gets stolen...

This must happen with everyone.  You leave the kids in the car for one minute and come back to find 300 new pictures on your phone.  I thought you'd like to see what the kids were doing in the car all alone... Having fun and watching Lion King!

Costco Lunch

We met Josh at Costco for lunch one day and you can't beat hot dogs and drinks for $1.50!  Plus the boys love them.  So we made a date out of it!

Boating with the young men

Josh and Jared Brown took the young men up to the lake for one last boating trip of the year.  They had a great day on the lake and the boys had some great tubing wars! 

Lost a tooth!

Rhen lost her front tooth just a few days after school started.  She is so diligent on wiggling her teeth as soon as they get loose.  She couldn't wait to show her friends at school.

Then literally a couple days later, she wiggled out the other one!  This one had a full on root left on it.  She is crazy!  Love this toothless grin!  It might be a while before the new ones grow in so this will be our Rhen for a while.

First day of school - Rhen

Rhen is in 1st grade this year and is so excited to be going to school all day long!  She can't wait to eat lunch with all the kids.  She has Mrs. Wooley for a teacher.

 She came home with these cute 1st day of school projects.  So excited for her!

First day of school - Rease

We are super excited this year that our school has switched to a traditional schedule!  We got to start school after a long fun summer and the girls were so excited to be back and see their friends!  Rease is in 3rd grade and has Miss Buker for a teacher.

She got this in the mail before school started and Miss Buker welcomed her to her class!

Good luck in 3rd grade Rease!

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!