February is Full of Fun

Here is what we have been doing in February.  The kids and I (plus a friend) all went to the Provo City Center Temple Open house our first Friday in February. It was a day off from school, and the perfect day to go see the temple.  The kids are so sweet and good. I gave them all the option if they wanted to go or not, and they all wanted to come. Even Audrey, who was going with her Young Women group the next week. It was beautiful and peaceful.  I have made it a goal of mine to make time to go to the temple with my little kids. This is my only way to spend time with them there until they are older.  Audrey, Chad and I also spent the following Friday doing baptisms in the St. George temple.  What cherished opportunities I have had this February.

I was in charge of Graham's kindergarten Valentines' Party, and I LOVED it. I think I am hooked. Until now, I have helped in the classes of my kids, but stayed away from planning the parties. I don't know why . . . it was tremendous fun! And, of course, Graham loved it as well. Anyway, I think I am hooked, and I will sign up again next year (I didn't actually sign up this year, the mom that did needed me to take over, and what a good thing).

The kids were glad to attend a Valentine's party, their first in several years. We are usually in St. George already, and this year they did the parties on Thursday before the long President's Day weekend.

And then there was soccer.  President's Day always brings tons of that. This year we had both Audrey and Kate in the same tournament in St. George over President's Day weekend. They played tough, but it resulted in a ton of ties, and frustration that they didn't play for the championships. It was good bonding time with their team at team parties and hanging out in between games. Our family did the usual Dixie Rock visit, and the weather was amazing. It was a welcome break from the thick inversion here in the Salt Lake Valley. We all loved the trip.

With the early finish to the tournament, there was time to do a family hike on Monday. We chose to do Water Canyon near the southern border of Zions. It was a beautiful canyon, and a good hike. Audrey was pretty tired, after playing her heart out in the soccer games. Then we drove the long way home.


Graham's birthday was in February. He partied with 11 of his best friends. It was a Ninja party. He had a ton of fun, and they were all pretty excited to hit punch balloons, swing inflatable swords, and sneak through a laser maze. The ninja pinata was a hit, and craziness was a ton of fun. The only sad part is that he is so old now - I can't believe he is 6 years old!!! We need time to freeze for a bit until I can catch up.





And finally, we had one of the most magical days of skiing at Solitude. It was a beautiful day, I loved skiing with these kiddos. The older three took me on some adventures that I never thought I would do (beyond the expert only boundary . . . .) Anyway, we all survived and it was very fun. We are going again this next week, and I am looking forward to it more than usual.

January Cruise to Paradise!

January started out with ski days and snow, but we had a wonderful vacation away from the crazy Utah snow.

We went on a cruise to the Western Caribbean! We took the whole family, and it was a grand adventure! Here we are relaxing on board.

Here are the girls at the ancient Mayan city of Tulum, near Playa Del Carmen while our ship docked at Cozumel. It was pretty amazing to see the ancient buildings and here about these advanced people.

 In Belize, Graham and I did a trip to swim with sharks and eels together.  It was really fun to have an adventure with him! The water was so shallow, we could both touch as we explored around a reef.  In this picture, we are sitting on a swinging bench eating lunch in a small island city by our snorkeling spot.

 Chad and the older three kids went on a Cave tubing tour and a zip line adventure together. It looks like a ton of fun!

We also snorkeled around the island of Roatan. It was so much fun swim in clear waters and experience a whole new part of this world.










Even on sea days we found fun things to do.  Here is our origami artist discovering the art of towel folding.  He LOVED learning the new folds.


Now we are back to snow and regular soccer life.  What a fun diversion, it makes me smile to remember what fun we had.

Christmas and traditions

   This Christmas has been really fun. I felt like there was plenty of time and it was a joy to make and buy Christmas gifts. I don't know if I have ever felt that much peace. I think having all four kids in school for part of the day really helped.
  One of my favorite parts this year has been seeing how loving and kind the kids have been with each other. They all made thoughtful gifts for each other. Audrey and Kate did a daily gift exchange. And the gifts they all four purchased for each other were some of the biggest hits. Their kind, sweet, giving spirit made it a special time.
   Following EVERY Christmas tradition is another important aspect of our Christmas. Over the years, we have accumulated quite a few, especially on Christmas Eve. Almost our whole day is planned out :). It makes it tons of fun to remember past years, and it involves the kids all making sure we don't forget anything!
   Christmas Day was an amazing freshly snowed white Christmas. There were quite a few fun surprises, and lots of sweet moments. Later, grandma and grandpa stopped by, and we shared dinner with them. Later, we played new toys together.
We have enjoyed some time with the whole Iverson clan the last couple of days. Hanging out, breakfast, basketball, soccer, date night and sledding. It has been wonderful to be together.
  Looking forward to a wonderful new year! 2016 will bring some wonderful new opportunities.

Warm and Cozy Thanksgiving

 It was a beautiful Thanksgiving day!  Thanks so much to Julie and Jen's families for joining us!  I had a ton of fun with you guys, the food was amazing, and I have good memories.  Thanks so much!

Audrey and I teamed up in November to redecorate her room.  It has been a long time coming, because we realized how many things were going to have to be changed.  I needed a little more energy.  All of Audrey's furniture and accents were black, and she wanted to change to white.  Painting the walls grey was pretty straight forward, it was how to convert all the black to grey that had me worried.  A little elbow grease and creativity, we got the job done.  I think she really enjoys it!

Before, circa January 2012

After - November 2015 - all art work are originals by Audrey!

Grey walls, Navy Blue with a touch of accent Coral

Cozy and nice for a 14 year old girl growing up quickly!

Halloween has invaded!!

Here are some funny sights to be seen around the Iverson's house.  Parties, Parties Parties!  And so much fun.  Here are the kids at Grandmas pumpkin party, a huge hit with the younger set!

Below are the creatures we saw leaving for school Friday, October 30th.  Who are they and where did they put our children????  What a fun season!

A little September magic

 This month has been a blast.  With school back in session, routines are returning, and every one is adjusting well.  Graham had a playgroup at his house with all of his neighborhood friends.  There are 8 boys, so I will only need to host one week every other month. But the catch is that it is a LOT of boys when it is your turn!  We did a little crafting for our turn.  It kept them busier than I thought it would.  They are all good boys.

September is Audrey's birthday. She celebrated with a chocolate cheesecake with her family, and a night of bubble balls with her friends.  It was a lot of fun to celebrate with her.  She is 14, and a very smart young lady.  We are blessed to have her.
  
 Kate's competition soccer team started in the highest division this year.  Since they were a new team, that meant being demolished in their first games, and it has been hard to see them be outplayed in every way.  Her coach has been great, giving them achievable goals, and we have seen the team growing and learning every game.  As a confidence booster, they did a tournament over Labor day weekend, playing lower division teams.  And, they came through well, getting their first wins and going on to win the tournament!  They tied the 2nd place team in regular tournament play and in the championship, beat the same team by about 4 - 0.  They did so well.  We are so proud of them.

Audrey and Kate, Chad and I all went to a BYU soccer game with Audrey's soccer team.  Then following that, we went to the BYU Football game versus Boise State.  What a fun night!  Here is Audrey's team down by the field at the soccer game.

We have watched and cheered hard for three kids at their own soccer games, and we have cheered for Carson at his cross country meets this September.  What a fun month.  We are in the groove and loving school and fall sports.

August Play and Anticipation

We started August off with the craziest schedule!  The first week of August, there were lots of camps to deliver all the kids to! Audrey left first to go to Trek.  She left early in the morning on Wednesday - and had an amazing experience!  No pics, though!

Wednesday, the rest of us went to the Discovery Gateway for some fun.  Carson brought a friend with him.  It was a great day for all.

Thursday, boy scout camp began.  Carson played and learned all day Thursday, and on Friday he spent the night into Saturday.

Friday, Kate went on a soccer retreat with her brand new competition soccer team.  Here she is loading up on the bus.  That left only Graham and I.  (Chad joined Carson at camp after work on Friday).  Graham and I went to a restaurant for dinner and then spent the night in Fruit Heights.

Saturday, let the fun continue.  Chad and I ran the Bair Gutsman, Graham went with grandma and grandpa to McKell's baptism, and later, several of us went to Taylor's baptism.  Then we slowly collected kids returning from their outings.  What a fun day and week.

The next Saturday, I did a Triathlon, the girls both had soccer scrimmages, and then we partied all day at Lagoon. We had fun with Graham suddenly being tall enough to do most of the rides with us!  Here we are all on the spider together.  We also rode the cannibal twice.  What a fun day, but we are amusement park-ed out.  Good thing for a break.

Kate had her comp soccer debut this month.  Both girls played in the Adidas cup.  They played hard and it was fun to watch all 7 games in 4 days.  Audrey's team rallied from a first day loss to come in first place in their division heading into the semifinals.  They lost that game, and that was really sad, they were winning 1-0 at half.  Kate's team is brand new, and they lost all three.  However, the girls learned so much in the few games.  We felt like they will continue to grow this year.  Kate was smiling after the games.

Finally - the biggest changes of all.  School started!  Audrey is a big 8th Grader, Carson started middle school as a 6th grader, and that included an early morning math class for him!  He is doing fine, despite his parents worried for him.  Kate, she is in 4th grade, and loves her new teacher!  We love Mrs. Stockman, and feel very grateful that she loves our sweet girl back.  And then there is Graham.  His first day of Kindergarten.  He was SOOOO nervous for school.  Last week helped.  He met the teacher and principal at the back to school night, and at his kindergarten orientation.  We talked about how she is so nice and will just be another grandma for him.  He was quite calm the first day of school.  He got a little nervous when he saw the red carpet and teachers high 5 -ing, but I told him to be strong, and he was, the strongest high 5's ever!  He is happy and smiling after school, and things are going very smooth.  I wasn't too sad.  It was pretty cool to see him growing up.  But for some reason yesterday, his third day of school, I started crying after I dropped him off and realized I was all alone and without my little buddy in the car.  I guess we are/were both nervous.

Well, carpools seem to be my game now.  I have 4 carpools for school - kindergarten, elementary, the early middle school carpool for the gifted Carson, and the regular middle school carpool.  Yes, I did choose this, I keep reminding myself.

Then there are the soccer carpools, and they are complicated also.  I feel like small things overwhelm me right now.  I am sure that it will get better!

I am grateful our kids love school and seem to learn easily.  Their enthusiasm means it will be a great year of school!  Everything will work out. . .