Knotts

We went to Knott's Berry Farm as a family for Memorial Day.  It was nice to have an extra day to relax and connect as a family.

 Lydia and Dad checked out the new River Rapids ride.

The rest of us checked out town hall in ghost town and got seats for the stunt show.

Afterwards, Robbie chose to go to Olive Garden for his birthday dinner.

Robbie's Birthday

Robbie turned 12 years old on Sunday!  We are so proud of the young man he is becoming.

He is responsible, a leader, and a helper.

He has grown so much this year!  Last year he had just passed me up height-wise.  This year he towers over me!

He requested a chocolate cake with chocolate oreo buttercream frosting....good choice.

Robbie has recently started skateboarding.  So for his birthday he got a hat, shirts, shoes, and skate trainers.

He also got to help Brian build a skate ramp which is loved by everyone.

 

The skate trainers you can put on the wheels to help you learn how to ollie.  Here's his progress.

 

Robbie is a wonderful and essential part of our family! We love you!

Moments

We've had some great moments this week that I wanted to record.

Robbie had a friend get baptized on Saturday.  Robbie spoke at his baptism.  His little sister who is Lydia's age also got baptized but I didn't get a picture of them together.  They are a great addition to our ward family.  

Lydia continues to get better at skating.  Each week she progresses.

I caught Thomas and Cat cuddling on the couch the other day.

Tom: Cat, isn't this so warm? Do you want to do this with me everyday?

Catherine continues to put on other peoples clothes.  She commandeered Robbie's hoodie.  

Nature

We found a duck pond to visit right by Tom's swim lessons.  It's hard to see, but there were lots of geese and ducks.

Our favorite to see was this mother duck and her 6 baby ducklings.

At home one day the kids found this monarch butterfly in our backyard.  They rushed in to tell me and I hoped I could get a picture before it flew away.  We realized as I got closer that the butterfly was dead.  It was really beautiful to see and observe it up close.

Farm Animals

The Activity Day girls went to a farm this past week.  There was a new baby horse they wanted to see, and they wanted to help out a little.

There were about 10 chickens.

 horses

 

baby LeRoy- 3 weeks old

 

Grooming

Cleaning up the stalls and yards

 washing the water buckets

 

taking fresh hay to the horses

 I took Lydia and Thomas with me.  They weren't so sure about the animals at first.  They did warm up a bit after a while.  They loved the work though.

Father/Sons Camp Out

The boys love Father and Sons Camp Out every year.

They ate at Arby's before heading to the campsite.

played football

roasted marshmellows

relaxed

The girls had a fun movie night with friends.  We watched the Nutcracker and the 4 Realms.  The next morning we went for pancakes at McDonalds.

We also cleaned the church building

And went to Build-a-Bear to spend some birthday money.

It was a fun weekend!

Fun Fridays

Robbie's sixth grade classes has been having special Fun Fridays for the past few months.  Kids can earn field trips or fun activities every Friday until the end of the year.  Here are some pictures from the ones they have had so far.

They attended the Boys and Girls club.

Went to the Discovery Cube

Had a park day.  We got to join him for this trip.

We even spotted a gopher in the park.