Afternoon with the Elkins

While we were in Utah, we were able to spend an afternoon at a fun little splash park with our good friends, the Elkins. They just happened to be passing through Utah on their way to their new home in Idaho. We met the Elkins soon after we moved to Virginia Beach and they quickly became our family away from home. We were so sad to see them go last winter, but we're excited for all the adventures that lie ahead for their sweet family. It was a fun afternoon visiting with Beth and watching the kids play together, just like old times.

Tyler's tooth...

Tyler lost his first tooth today! His initial reaction was pretty funny, he was so scared at the sight of all the blood and started crying immediately. The fear soon turned to excitement when he realized that the Tooth Fairy would be visiting him tonight! I love all these fun little milestones!

Family Fun in Utah

We recently had an amazing week in Utah with the whole Rockwood family. Jeffrey's parents, sister, and three brother's were all there. Tyler, Ethan and Luke had such a good time getting to know their ten Rockwood cousins. Some of them had never even met, but they were instant buddies by the end of the week. Jeffrey's sister Jennifer was so sweet to let us stay at her house in Springville for the week. Here are a few of the adventures that we had....

Jeffrey's parents planned a big "birthday party" for all the kids complete with presents, cake and ice cream.

Jeffrey's sister is the BYU women's soccer coach, so all the older kids got to spend four days at soccer camp with their Aunt Jen. This was Tyler's first time playing soccer... he had a great time and learned so much. It was great watching him play each day and seeing Jen in action.





Fun with cousins....

Just about every night was a big slumber party!

A fun little hike

When I was a student at BYU I ran up to the "Y" on the mountain on several occasions. I remembered it being a fun little run with gorgeous scenery and thought that Tyler and Ethan would have fun hiking up the mountain, too. Well, it wasn't exactly the "little" hike that I remembered and it was SO hot! Poor little Ethan only lasted a few minutes and then insisted on being carried by Jeffrey the rest of the time. Tyler was a little trooper and made it the entire way (he did get a little scared on the way down, however, and kept saying that he wished we were in Virginia where there were only hills and not mountains!...it was pretty steep!) When we got to the top the boys were so excited to sit on the Y and loved the spectacular views of the valley. Ethan was pretty excited to tell everyone that he had hiked to the big "X" on the mountain!

Happy 4th (just a little late)!!!

We had a great 4th in Utah and started our day by waking up early to go to the Provo parade, which was so much fun. Jennifer and her friend had come the day before and blocked off a nice big spot for the family right at the beginning of the parade route, so we had first class seating! I couldn't believe the amount of people who camped out along the parade route all night long so they could have good seats. It was definitley very different than the small town parade in Marshfield, Missouri that I'm used to (I know that Jeffrey missed all the tractors and horses that are in the gool ol' Marshfield parade)! After the parade we had a big barbecue at Jennifer's house and then spent the day relaxing while the kids all played. In the evening we lit off fireworks. Ethan and his cousin Gabe were both TERRIFIED and ended up sitting in the car almost the entire time. Ethan is such a tough boy and is scared of very few things, so I felt pretty bad for the little guy. Luke on the other hand was in awe the entire time!










Stop the fireworks Daddy!

Wow, they're so pretty!

Bubbles

What is it about bubbles that kids love? I just got this fun little bubble blower and it kept all three boys entertained for close to an hour!

Night Out

This was taken at a much needed Girls' Night Out a few weeks ago. I always look forward to these nights, especially since I spend my days in a house full of boys! I honestly don't know how I would have made it through this past year without good friends. You girls really are the greatest, thanks for a fun night! We miss you Tori and Emily!!!!

Goodbye Again

Jeffrey is gone again for two weeks, luckily this will be the last time for at least six months! Hooray!! The Truman is scheduled to go into the yards the first week of August. It will be so nice to have Jeffrey home all the time. With Jeffrey gone I've got some free time in the evenings now, so some new posts will be coming soon!

A Happy Reunion

Last month we had a little reunion at the zoo with Luke's NICU buddy, Tyler. The boys both arrived at the NICU within an hour of each other and had the exact same problems. They were put on Nitric Oxide the same day so the nurses all called them the "Nitric Twins". They even have matching scars and the same middle name! It was so fun to see this sweet little family again and watch our healthy little boys play together.