Basketball

The girls played on a little basketball team this year.  It was so fun to watch them play.  Paige was on a 3rd/4th grade team.  Her games were jungle ball on a small court.  She had a great time and improved throughout the season.  At the end she finally found her rhythm and became a leading scorer.  Hayley was on a 5th/6th grade team.  Hayley played full court with all rules enforced.  It was exciting and nervous making watching her play.  She did great and was a fabulous defender.  Her coach would often have her, by herself, put on some full court pressure.  I am also ashamed to say that I got a little too involved in her games.  My heart started pumping and my palms got sweaty as I watched her games.  It just brought back all the competitiveness I felt when I used to play.  Her games were very tough and all seemed to be pretty close.  Most teams full court pressed the entire game (I hated that - the girls are just learning how to dribble, they should be allowed to get it past half court).  Hayley's team did great and only lost two games.

Both girls loved basketball.  They both want to play again.  I worried that they said they liked it because I love it, but they assured me that they really did like playing :)

Saying Goodbye

Paige has had this blanket since she was born.  It was a gift from my sister and Paige Loooooooved it!  It had been time to get rid of it for several years now and I was finally able to get her to do it.  I said "Paige, you are nine, it's time to say goodbye".  She wasn't very happy about it but I convinced her it was the right thing to do since she was growing up.

Halloween

Ok, I'm waaaaay behind.  Here is a glimpse at our Halloween this year.  I only had two trick-or-treaters.  I went out with them and the boys passed out candy.

Paige decided to be a ghostie this year

Hayley's an Hawaiian chica

The cousins!

Nine

I am always amazed by how fast my children are growing up.  Paige, my baby, is now nine years old.  Paige is a fun loving girl who makes friends easily.  She is always bringing home phone numbers of friends from school.  She is a good student and a great reader.  

Paige and Jeff at her birthday lunch!

Here are some of her favorites:

Favorite color?
---- Purple
Favorite food?
---- Costa Vida salad (a girl after my own heart)
Something you don't like?
---- the boys teasing me
Favorite thing to do?
---- play with friends and Hayley
Favorite song?
---- All I Want is Everything by Victoria Justice
Favorite show/movie?
---- Shake it Up
Who do you like to hang out with?
---- Hayley
What do you want to do when you grow up?

 ---- A teacher

It is fun to see Paige grow up but it is hard too.  I'm thankful she's my girl and in our family.  Our Paigie-poo!

Driven

My sweet Hayley.....

Teenager!

Brock is now a teenager, hitting the big 1 3.  I guess I shouldn't be amazed that he is that old but I still can't believe it.  Brock has always seemed like a younger brother, but I'm now seeing Brock as a big brother.  He is growing stronger and taller each day.  I'm taller by only about an inch or so.  Brock is a good kid and I'm excited to see him find himself and what he is good at.  He will be trying lacrosse this year and will be playing with some friends and I think we are both looking forward to it.

Favorite color?
---- Blue
Favorite food?
---- Lasagna
Something you don't like?
---- Reading (I think we need to change this way of thinking!)
Favorite thing to do?
---- Sports
Favorite song?
---- Wild Ones by Flo Rider
Favorite show/movie?
---- Avengers and The Amazing Spiderman
Who do you like to hang out with?
---- Targhee and Dallin
What do you want to do when you grow up?

---- A professional lacrosse player or a cop

Brock and Jeff holding the world on our lunch date for Brock's birthday.

Brock sitting on the new shelves he helped Jeff build in the garage.


Brock is a joy to have in our family.  He's always willing to help and fun to have around!!  My big boy!!

Oh boy, what have we been up to?

Life has been different.  Change has happened, and I feel like we are still adjusting.  I'm hoping to find a new normal when the kids go back to school.  We are now in our new home.  We have been here for nearly 3 months.  We love it, but there is a lot of work to do and it feels like a lot going on.

Jeff did his, now yearly, Salem Tri.

The kids love going and cheering Jeff on.

Jeff's favorite leg - the bike

Ethan joined the West Lake High School marching band.  So far he has had plenty of practices, parades and fun.  He is totally enjoying it and has made lots of friends.

Here is Ethan performing with his band in our little Saratoga Springs parade.  Ethan is at the end.  He was told not to look or wave at anyone during the parade.  He said he couldn't hear our cheers.

We were also able to go to Harmon's annual Lagoon day party.  We love this, it's great fun!

The girls love getting their faces painted.

The boys and I are ready to ride The Bat!

Jeff is always Paige's preferred riding partner - Mom screams too much.

Shortly after we moved in, our little city, went up in flames.  Here is the view out my bedroom window.  We were fortunate and the fire wasn't too close to us.  The firefighters set up camp at the fun park in our neighborhood.  I should have taken pictures of that.  They were sleeping and living there until the fire was out.  It was quite the sight to see them return from the mountain with blackened faces from the smoke and dirt.

Most recently we have been busy putting our yard in.  Lots of raking, shoveling and sweat.  Each morning I woke up singing "everyday I'm shovelin"  Corny, I know, but really I thought that every day.   Sprinklers are finally in and we just need to rake and level so we can get curbing and then sod.  

Here are the girls helping their dad.  

It has been a busy summer and doesn't seem to be slowing down.  We'll get to our normal soon, and I know I will miss my crew when they go back to school.

Fifteen

15, Ethan is 15.  I feel too young to have a child that old but alas it is true.  14 was kind of a tough year for Ethan.  We moved and he struggled to find friends and figure himself out.  Just before we moved again he started hanging out with some kids that he liked (mostly girls, I'm not sure how I feel about that). Now that we are in our own home I think he is beginning to come into his own.  He is going to take part in the marching band and with that automatically has a circle of friends to be a part of.  I feel like 15 will be a good year for both of us.


Favorite color?
---- He says he doesn't have one and I didn't push because I don't have one either.
Favorite food?
---- Oven Pancakes
Something you don't like?
---- Chores
Favorite thing to do?
---- Listen to Music 
Favorite song?
---- Such Great Heights by The Postal Service
Favorite show/movie?
---- Inception
Who do you like to hang out with?
---- Jordan (a friend of his since the 3rd grade)
What do you want to do when you grow up?

---- Be a Software Designer

I signed all the kids up for the birthday deal at Tucanos.  Jeff had to work so Ethan and I went, just the two of us.  Ethan enjoyed the all you can eat meat.  Afterwards we went to this fun toy store in the shopping center.  Even though Ethan is too old for "toys", he had fun checking them out.

I am thankful to have Ethan in our family.  He is smart, TALL, and has a great sense of humor.  15!!!!

OUCH!!!

Jeff has been sporting quite the shiner lately. 

Here he is right after it happened.  He got a cut above his eye and has lots of swelling all around it.  He had a hard time seeing for a day or so afterward.  I was worried about his commute but he made it ok.

Here he is a few days later.  It was really getting black.

This is just over a week later.  He doesn't look so sad now.  How did he get this you may wonder?  Well, If you ask him he may say, cage fighting or that he talked back to his wife, but the real reason is basketball - good ol church ball.

Broken

Broke just below his shoulder

A week and a half ago we drove out to Saratoga Springs, where we are building a house, to look at the model home for colors.  There is a new fun park there, so while Jeff and I were looking and thinking, the kids ran over to the park to play.  They were having a great time playing and even took some shaky video of the fun they were having.  Here are a few pictures of the park I took a couple weeks earlier.

Hard to see everything in this pictue, the people in the jungle gym are adults still putting it together.  The culprit was a teeter-totter swing thing to the left of the bench.  It is hard to see.

A little while later we got a call that Brock was hurt.  I guess Brock was on one side of the swing thing and Ethan was pulling on the other side, sending Brock up high.  Brock couldn't hold on because it was cold and he flew off landing on his arm.  We weren't sure how hurt he was until we got home.  He couldn't move his arm and was in quite a bit of pain.  We thought he may have dislocated it.  I took him to Instacare and after an exam and x-ray we saw that it was indeed broken.  It broke too high so they could not cast it.  Instead he gets to wear this fun contraption for a month or so.

Brock has been great through this whole thing.  He has been brave and tough and has survived on ibuprofen only.  He is starting to get bored and frustrated that he can't run around and play like usual.  He was excited to start basketball season with the young men but now he will have to wait to play.  I'm thankful for his sweet spirit and his non-complaining attitude.  We are still looking forward to having this fun new park to play at by our house and now we will have an interesting story to tell the neighbors  when we move in :0)

Hayley's Ten!!

In my last post I mentioned how Hayley is growing up and she really is.  She is now 10 years old, only two more years and she will be in Young Womens.  This year I had Hayley answer a few questions about herself.

Favorite color?
---- Orange and Pink
Favorite food?
---- Tri tip
Something you don't like?
---- Strawberrys
Favorite thing to do?
---- Draw and Janasticks (gymnastics, I thought the spelling was cute)
Favorite song?
---- Party in the USA
Favorite show/movie?
---- Tangled and Puss and Boots
Who do you like to hang out with?
---- My family (Ahhhh)
What do you want to do when you grow up?
---- I want to be a teacher

 Some friends at Hayley's party.

Hayley is kind, loving, beautiful and so much fun.  She is truly a very special girl.  Happy 10th Hayley!!

Curlinger

The girls wanted to try having curly hair.  I tried to curl it with my straightener but I just couldn't do it.  I know you can curl with a straightener but it was taking me too long to try to figure it out (I even tried watching you-tube videos).  So, I decided to buy a little curling iron.  Hayley calls it a curlinger, which would make sense to her since all she has even known is my straightener.  When you want to straighten, you use a straightener and when you want to curl, you would use a curlinger -- right?  I think it's cute.  Hayley has really enjoyed it.  She even likes to curl her hair herself, which is a blessing to me because I don't always have time to curl it like she wants.  Oh, my little girl is growing up.

Christmas Wrap-up!

We had a wonderful Christmas with lots of stockings on the mantle.

The girls loved helping Grandma decorate the tree.

The girls got to sit on Santa's lap at the Ward Christmas Breakfast (I think we may be winding down on  the whole kids sit on Santa's lap thing)

Hayley and Paige both had Christmas performances at school.  They did a wonderful job and were fun to watch.

We went and saw the lights at Temple Square.  It is a tradition that I enjoy but Jeff hates the crowds.  I'm glad we went this year.  We got to go into the Tabernacle and hear some of this years Christmas concert.  

Kristy's girls came over and we made gingerbread houses.  The boys were reluctant to make them but once they saw all the candy they happily joined in.

 We had our traditional nativity reenactment.  The kids also performed a couple musical numbers.

 Here are all the girls in their Christmas jammies.

 We had a wonderful Christmas and we hoped that you all did too.  We are thankful for the Christmas season to help us remember our Savior and the sacrifice he made for for us.

Merry Christmas from the Paynes!!