Let the Good Times Roll!

Carson went on a Fathers' and Sons' Camp out with Chad this month. Here he is on their "secret" hike. They had a terrific time, and enjoyed the marshmallow shooters and friendship of the other men and boys.
June was Kate's Birthday! Here she is blowing out her 2nd Birthday candles on her Dora cake. She LOVES Dora right now, so, this was very exciting for her. She also got a "bike". It is a big wheel style bike with a handle that parents can push until she learns how to pedal. She loves it and especially loves being able to steer all for herself. It is very funny to push her and see where she will drive us.


June is also the King Family Reunion. My brother Andrew and his wife Katie flew in from Texas for the Reunion in Idaho. It was awesome to spend time with them for a few days and have them spend the night here on Monday. At the reunion, we saw lots of aunts, uncles and cousins. It was fun to get to know my cousins kids. Here are some of the kids playing around at the reunion.


Chad's Family had a Family Camp out in June as well. We spent a day at Mona Lake and stayed at Payson Lakes for two nights. Here are Audrey with cousin Breanne and Carson hiking up to the Grotto. We had a great trip.

Carson is orchestrating the waterfall here. What a fun summer we are having.

May - Endings and Beginnings

This last month has been wonderful. Spring has finally come and we are outside more and more. But as the school year wraps up, so does soccer, dance and preschool. What a fun month for mom and dad, to see all the things the kids are up to!

Early in May our family took a Saturday hike up Bell's Canyon (near Little Cottonwood Canyon) and Chad helped the kids fish for the first time. This was adorable. They got their fishing poles for an Easter present, and they have loved casting with a simple weight on it. We finally put on hooks and let them go. No fish were caught, but they still had a blast.

Here we are at the Rocky Mouth Waterfall in Sandy, UT. This short hike was an easy win for the kids. How fun to live near great outdoor activities. We are all excited for summer.

May was also the month of Mother's Day, and I had some pretty great surprises! Audrey planned a scavenger hunt which led me to the kitchen, where she was busy making me breakfast (cheerios!). Then of course, cute handmade presents. Finally, they each held "mom and me" parties. With each child, I played and had fun doing what they wanted to play with me. Very fun, and very cute ideas.

May was the end of pre-school for Carson. Here he is with his teacher on the day of the preschool program. He got these glasses, and LOVES wearing them. He chose not to sing during the program, but as the last song ended (If you're happy and you know it) - he jumped up and shouted HURRAY very loudly and then fell over. We all got a good laugh.

Is it time to say good-bye? Audrey had her last soccer game and received her trophy from her coach. She got a goal in her last game. It was a fun season. She will have to change coaches next fall, because she will play 1st/2nd grade soccer and the coaches daughter stays in pres/K league.

Audrey had her dance recital in May. She is in a pre-ballet/creative class. She danced so beautifully. She practiced at home and was very confident as she danced on the big stage. Grandma and Grandpa Iverson came to watch, and afterwards we all went to dinner. It was a fun night for all of us. (She is the girl on the far right).

We made it up to the Ogden's Treehouse Children's Museum in mid-May, during Kindergarten testing week. We had such a great time exploring their new facility. Here is Kate helping us put on a puppet show. Audrey's favorite things were the doll display, and the fairy tale areas. Carson loved the treehouse/slide and animal dress-ups. They were very high energy the entire time we were there. We stayed about 2 1/2 hours with me finally dragging them out.

We got to attend a kindergarten program in May for Audrey's class. It was so fun to watch Audrey participate. Her huge smile was infectious. She loves to perform for her parents. Here she is with her kindergarten teacher. She has sure grown up this last year. She is going to miss kindergarten, but she will be great in 1st grade.

Finally, we had a great get-away camping trip to Zion National Park for Memorial Day Weekend. What a fun weekend. We hiked daily, we also did s'mores, campfires, and exploring around the campsite. We also saw a movie and visited Dinosaur Tracks at Johnson Farm. It was a great weekend. The kids all loved sleeping in the tent in their "rooms" and they loved using their imagination on the hill above our tent. They each had their own "balcony"- a huge rock to climb on, and there was a palace and kingdom.

We're off having fun in April

We had a great April. It was still cool and soccer games and practices have been a test of endurance. The picture at the right is Audrey's soccer team during a blistery April practice. Obviously they are still having fun. Audrey is the black hooded girl in the back right. They are holding the goal down so it won't blow away!!

April is when BYU football holds its annual spring scrimmage and we really enjoyed watching it. Audrey was pretty disappointed when she realized that BYU was playing BYU (offense vs defense). She loves to cheer BYU on. Carson has decided, however, that he only likes "pre-school sports", a class he took this last winter. Since BYU is NOT pre-school sports, he doesn't like BYU. The shirt he chose for the game was funny to us parents. He is obviously undecided on the Red/Blue team decision. After the game, we enjoyed playing around on the field. This was a beautiful Saturday, we all got tons of sun.

Carson's birthday was in April, he is now 4 years old. Here he is with all of his friends getting ready to blow out the candles on his dinosaur birthday cake. He requested a dinosaur themed party with a Carnatorus on his cake and dinosaur games. He was so excited to have his first friend birthday party. The parents of one friend commented that giving invitations a week before the party was TOO early. The boys were all very anxious for the day the party would arrive.

We enjoyed the tulip festival at Thanksgiving Point. Here is Kate discovering some tulips. It has been so cold here, the tulip festival was really a daffodil festival. These were some of the only tulips we really saw. The children's gardens were awesome, though, and it was great to get the kids running around and having fun.

Monday, April 21st was the 112th running of the Boston Marathon, and I was able to run in it! Chad and I flew out to Boston and spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday experiencing the area. We met up with former Draper, UT friends (Wade and Nancy Powell) and had a great time exploring together. I love history and I was also reading the John Adams biography. It was so awesome to see the sights and know the stories. Incredible. Here I am in front of the Old State House.

One of our favorite things in Boston was the duck tours. The drivers are part comedian and part tour guide. After a journey along the roads of downtown Boston, the duck boak took a plunge into the Charles River and we had a leisurely boat ride. This was a great way to get a flavor of Boston, and also get a few laughs along the way.

Finally, Monday was the Marathon. I ran my heart out, completed the whole thing (though it was incredibly hard), and finished in 3:43:13, 10,157 place of 21,963 finishers. Here I am at mile 10, Natick, where Chad watched and then joined me for about 1/2 mile. I am the one in pink. It was cool to have run the same race as so many world class athletes, and to be joined by so many great citizen runners. Boston was full of runners and their families all weekend. It was fun to be part of a great network of runners converging on one great town.

Spring Is Coming!!!

Well, March hasn't been very warm, but we have seen a glimmer of spring. March, however was the month of Easter and Spring Break, so we did a little pretending. Here are the kids with their Easter clothes on (I made the girls' dresses!).

And, of course, The Easter Bunny!

We had a great spring break doing several events, but the favorite was probably lunch with daddy at Sugarhouse Park, across from his office building.

Carson and Audrey both went skiing in March. It was Carson's first time. He just turned and skiied down the hill until he crashed. He had NO FEAR. Audrey is very good at the "pizza" and can turn and control her speed very well. It was a very fun day for all of us. It was Audrey's second time and my third time, so Chad was surrounded by amateurs.

Is Winter Over Yet?

This has certainly been a long winter, but we have had a lot of fun anyway. This winter, I went skiing for the second time EVER in my life, and really enjoyed it! Soon after, Chad took Audrey for her first skiing, along with brother Brett and cousin Breanne. Both girls LOVED it, and Audrey talks about it all the time. We also had fun sledding a few times. We learned that powder is not little kid's favorite sledding conditions. Now, however, the snow is melting and we all have spring fever.

Here is what we have been up to besides the snow. We took a trip to BYU to go bowling. We had a blast with the bumpers on and a ramp for the kids to use. Of course, the adults got the benefit of the bumpers, also! It is amazing that I could still have so many 0's in the frames by just plain missing the pins.

The kids all went camping in our front room and loved it! Here is Kate peeking out of our tent. These kids are ready for our Memorial Day camping trip to Zions. We are going to have a great time.

Here is our first bike ride of the year on February 23rd. We rode on the bike trail down by the Jordan River. Along this stretch there are a couple ponds stocked with trout and a play park. The kids had fun biking, playing and watching water fowl.

We also did the February Wild Wednesday at Hogle Zoo. It was very crowded because the day was beautiful and sunny. We went with cousins Caleb and Taylor and Aunt Julie. Kate loved the penguins, and was yelling "Quack, Quack, Quack" at them.

Carson has been in "preschool sports", and right now it is basketball. He is learning to love playing ball. It is so cute to watch the kids playing. It is only for 3 - 4 yr olds, so they are all just beginning. After Carson's first basketball day I told him "Carson, you are really good at basketball". He told me "Mom, you said the words I was going to say!"

Christmas is Fun!

What a fun season it is. Our football highlights of the season are:
BYU beats Utah November 24th and then a victory at the Las Vegas Bowl on December 22. Chad and I were at the Utah game, and cheering madly with the crowd. Of course, we rushed the field as they actually pulled out the victory after what seemed like a sure defeat. Chad also went to Vegas with a few friends for the Vegas Bowl. The rest of us cheered from home! Once again, a close victory found Chad on the field celebrating after the game.


We enjoyed the first big snow fall by making a snow man. Here the kids are hugging their new friend. We have received several snow falls, and the temperatures have just plummeted. But there seems to be magic in the air, because it even snowed on Christmas Eve. Santa sure has come through for us here in Utah.




Here is Audrey during an in-class Christmas recital for parents. She loves ballet and her teacher not only teaches ballet basics, but also lets them imagine they are fairies, butterflies and princesses as they dance around. Audrey has told us that she wants to be in a real ballet someday.






On Christmas Eve, we acted out the Nativity with our kids. They were very cute, of course! Here on the left are Joseph, Mary, and Jesus.

What about Kate? Don't forget the Angels that sang to the shepherds.



Opening presents was a blast. Kate screamed with delight at every present. She definitely stole the show. Audrey and Carson were very excited to play with their toys as well. We had a great time!





Today is Chad and I's 8th anniversary! We celebrated yesterday with a couple get-away. Part of our get away included a trip to the Salomon Center in Ogden, UT. Here is Chad body boarding at Flowrider. This was so fun. Two thumbs up for best get away in 17 degree weather.

Halloween Is Fun!!

It was very exciting this year waiting for Halloween. We made a paper chain to count the days to Halloween, in September!!! Audrey and Carson were Dragons and witches. They enjoyed the Halloween parties at their schools this year.

Kate was a beautiful princess. Princess for Halloween. She likes to get dressed up and looking pretty.

Carson and Audrey loved the spooky decorations on the houses around us. Here they are trick-or treating an especially spooky one. We had a terrific Halloween with the kids. Of course, as soon as trick-or-treating is over, we hear, I can't wait until next Halloween!

Audrey is losing teeth like crazy. Here she is sporting 4 teeth out at the same time!

Fall is going well. With the beautiful weather, we have enjoyed a lot of park time and outside time. Now, however, the kids can't wait until Christmas. Here come the winter holidays!