Playing catch up

As I have gotten photos off phones, I realize that there are some great pictures I have totally skipped and want to add to my blog.  I am trying to organize myself better and in the process have come across a post it note of two funny things Bradley said last year that I can't forget.
On November 17, 2011 we had this conversation while Bradley was eating pudding.
Bradley - Mom do you want some?
Mom - No thanks
Bradley - Your fasting, I mean your starving?
On December 15, 2011 Bradley said - "Mom, How do you get up to heaven- in a rocket ship or do you drive?"  Such pure innocence.  Love this age!

Feb. 17, 2012 -  Eating at Wendy's with the kids - never know what fun adventures I will have with 6 children.

Bradley, Tanner, Camille, Parker, Carter & Johnathan

 Tanner & Bradley on Feb. 24th - Tanner's Birthday - eating during lunch at Panda. 

Camille got her drivers permit on Feb. 23rd - she was so excited after taking the written test twice to pass.  She did not take Drivers Ed yet, so her first experience with driving was in a church parking lot with me in the passengers seat.  I think I about had a heart attack - not because she is a bad driver, but because I cannot handle stress like that- having no control isn't easy for me:)  She did pretty good for a first time.  After that I told Byron it was his turn next.  He had Camille sit downstairs on the couch and went through the process of driving by acting it out.  It was pretty hilarious and fun to watch, but Camille was not amused.  She wanted to be behind the wheel and couldn't see how simulating the driving experience could help.  He did end up taking her out another time in the truck and said she did pretty good.  Since then she has gotten driving down pretty good.  We are just waiting for her to finish her Drivers Ed online then she can take Drivers Training which will definitely help.  I will not take her on the freeway - too terrifying in my book:).  Such a fun milestone to cross, though.  She loves to drive when we run errands and is very cautious, which is good.  I am now waiting for her drivers license so she can help me run errands or carpool children and herself around.  I have so much more compassion on my parents for teaching me how to drive.  I especially remember learning stick and how the car died a few times or how it would jump forward right before it died - fun memories!

Sledding on March 2 - We always look forward to sledding during the winter.  We love Centennial Park and the fun hills there.

 Carter

 Bradley

 Parker

 Johnathan & Tanner

Kids having fun together.

Tanner got braces on March 5th.  He has a darn tooth that is coming in behind his other teeth, so the braces will make room for that tooth to come in the correct spot.  He was really excited to have them put on, but after a couple of days was ready for them to be off. 

3-10-12- How could I forget cute Bradley's birthday dinner with Byron & I.  He wanted to go to Wingers since he loves their wings.  I love going with children individually to restaurants and this year is where we get to do that.  He had so much food between Byron, his, and mine that he got full fast.  Then the dessert came out and he couldn't quit smiling.  This piece of ice-cream was seriously huge.  He ended up bringing some of it home to share with siblings.

March 25 - My over protectiveness wouldn't allow sweet Bradley to sleep outside in a tent when the brothers all did.  Instead we set up the smaller tent inside and Bradley slept there.  Poor kid - hopefully I can over come this soon because he sure hates not being able to be one of the big kids.

March 26 - Bradley & I had our night out going to Chuck E Cheese.  It was fun to see how fast he could go through the tokens:).  He especially loved doing the raceway game - I had to manage the pedals while he moved the steering wheel.

March 2012- Johnathan did a huge project in 6th grade on the Medieval times.  He had to get a certain amount of points by doing different projects.  He was great at doing most of the projects all by himself.  This particular activity involved making a castle.  He used marshmallows and frosting.  It turned out really cool.  He had way too much fun eating this when he was done.

March 29 - Carter's cool solar system that he made out of salt dough.

March 30 - Johnathan loves taking piano lessons and is really good at picking up on piano.  He had his first recital and did a really great job.  He played the Hedwig's Theme from Harry Potter.  This picture is definitely a candid shot of most of Laura Long's students.

Johnathan's favorite part!

We all look forward to General Conference twice a year.  We try as much as possible to watch all the sessions on Saturday and Sunday.  I love how my children have started taking notes or will get excited to do the packets I print out for them.  Camille has taken a huge liking to this time of year and will be one of my best at just sitting there and listening to every talk.  It started out with amazing seminary teachers that required them to take notes during conference and pretty much created a love from that.  We usually watch the sessions on Saturday at home then go up to Grandpa & Grandma Beck's house on Sunday after the first session. 

Parker in blue and Carter in brown taking notes or doing their conference packets.  Bradley has really taken to his packet this year and loves doing it.

Johnathan, Tanner, Bradley & I during Conference.

Sunday enjoying some Grandpa, Grandma, Aunt & Uncle time.  Bop it is one of the kids favorite games to play - especially the pass and play part where they do it then hurry up and pass it to the person next to them.

 Eric, Bradley, Melissa & Parker

Conference time with Grandpa half asleep:).  So fun to watch Sharon and others throw small things at John to see if he will wake up - good times!

 Melissa & Carter

 Poor Eric with two kids pretty much on his lap, but I am pretty sure he loves it.

 We had our annual Easter Egg hunt while we were up there.  Sharon always does such a great job. 

 Bradley, Parker, Johnathan & Carter with their loot.

Melissa just purchased a home and we had fun going over and seeing it.  What a nice backyard that all of the kids couldn't get enough of.  The play set was an instant hit.

I always love the feeling after getting a haircut.  Bradley & I had fun walking to the park.  The weather was getting warmer which allowed more outside time - yeah!

Rest of May 2012

Bradley Preschool graduation- Bradley's preschool has finally come to a close.  He was so excited to be able to attend Ms. Denise & Ms. Heather's school.  They were fabulous teachers and Bradley looked forward to going every day.  He learned so much during this year preparing him for the fun jump into kindergarten.  They had a fun graduation.  Bradley came home with a lot of fun treats.  From a sheet titled, "My Favorite Things About Preschool,"  Bradley answered the following questions:

My favorite preschool song is Willaby Wallaby Woo.  My favorite center is blocks.  Some of my new friends are Kennaddie, Sarah, Jaynee, Eli, Luke and Karsyn.  My favorite things to do at preschool is write in journals.  My favorite field trip was the fire station. 

On an End of Year Progress Report - He recognizes and knows all the upper and lower case letters.  He recognizes numbers up to 20.  He can count to 100.  He can count by 10's.  He recognizes all of the shapes.  The following comment was added from his sweet teachers, "We are so happy Bradley was in our class this year!  He is too cute for words!  He is more than ready for kindergarten.  We are so proud of all his progress this year and will miss him next year!" 

Scott Brown, Avery, Luke Lavery, Bradley & Eli Wilcox

 Ms. Denise & Ms. Heather with Bradley

Sego Lily Dance Festival - Carter, Parker & Johnathan participated in the dance festival.  They had been practicing for a long time their songs.  Some high school students came over and taught each grade a different song.  The dances were very well choreographed and so fun to watch. 

Carter with Parker right behind him - I was in a bad spot to get a good view of them both.  They performed from Tarzan, "Trashin the Camp." 

Johnathan after his song from Grease, "We Go Together."  He had quite the dance moves with the cool sunglasses.

Candy Cannon - Kathy Urry put together a fun end of year candy cannon for the neighborhood.  It was fun to go - the kids got way more candy than they definitely needed to eat. 

 Tanner in orange, Parker in turqoise, Carter in orange

Bradley finding as much as he can grab with all of the older kids around - Johnathan in middle with blue shirt.

Scouts - Johnathan received his first class with his 11 year old scout leaders - Brother Paystrup, Brother Lemon & Brother Jensen.  He has amazing leaders and loves scouting.

Last day of school breakfast - Since the last day of school ends around 9:45 a.m., I told the kids I would take them out to Dennys after school.  It was fun to finally be done and being able to celebrate another year.  Bradley, Johnathan, Tanner, Camille, Parker & Carter

Bradley is sporting a really cute smile lately :)  Not sure why but pretty funny.  Love this boy!

May 2012

Bradley Preschool Thanksgiving Point Farm Country - Bradley went on a field trip with preschool to farm country and had such a fun time.  We don't have a pass their anymore, so we hadn't been in such a long time.  Bradley was loving his horse ride, along with enjoying the time with his friends.  He wanted to make sure he wore his boots for this fun occasion. 

  Scott Brown and Bradley while on the wagon ride.

Mother's Day -  What an absolutely blessed and lucky mom I am to have 6 beautiful children.  I always wanted to have a large family, but never imagined it to be made up of mostly boys.  The Junior Primary had their primary program and cute Bradley was in it.  He is in Lee and Jenny Adamson's primary class - he has the best teachers.  Bradley's part for the program was "I love my grandpa because he doesn't be mean to us- he is so nice."  Can you tell that he wrote his own part:).  He did a fabulous job.  I got a new bike which I have absolutely LOVED!  Back about 7 years ago I bought Byron & I bikes, but they weren't very nice.  I have really wanted a new one even more since Bradley can now ride without training wheels.  Parker, Johnathan, Carter, Tricia, Bradley, Tanner & Camille

Camille Encore - Camille tried out for Encore and made it.  She was initiated in by getting a paper during one of her classes at school along with a candy bar.  The sign says "Guess who made Encore??  Camille Beck - Can you hear her now?"  She is so excited to be in this choir.  Ms. Nudd encouraged her to be in it even though Camille couldn't see a way to fit it into her schedule.  After looking at different options, we made it work and Camille was so excited. 

Tanner Band Concert - Tanner loves playing the trumpet and has progressed very fast.  His teacher, Mr. Swiderski, is such an awesome teacher.  He is such a great teacher and really connects with the students.  Byron & I missed his first concert in December while on a trip so it was so fun to finally see him perform.  They played quite a few numbers and didn't even sound like a beginning band. 

Scouts - Preparing for a back packing trip with scouts takes a lot of thought and money.  Byron spent many hours researching for the lightest items.  We also had fun taste testing some of the mountain house meals as a family for them to decide which meals to take.  The boys had fun setting up some different tents that we bought.

Parker, Carter, Johnathan, Tanner & Bradley watching Byron cook food outside on this little stove.

Tanner & Johnathan setting up a tent and below Carter, Parker & Bradley setting up our 4 man tent.

Roasting Hot dogs - We can't get enough of our fire pit, especially when it includes hot dogs and marshmallows. 

 Bradley waiting so patiently for his hot dog to cool.

 Byron, Johnathan & Tanner

Parker enjoying his yummy food.

Johnathan - He was so excited to watch the Solar Eclipse and even had special glasses so we could see the eclipse.  I will have to say that it was pretty amazing to watch the moon go completely in front of the sun.  We had fun driving to different areas to see different views of it.  The glasses saved us.  So glad that teachers are able to get kids excited about these cool things in nature so we could all experience it as a family.  Below is also a cool rocket Johnathan made and drew like a crayon while at school.

Tanner - In his FACS class at school he was able to make an apron.  It is cool when boys have to take these classes and learn how to do the basics with a sewing machine.  I think it turned out awesome!

Trampoline - We moved the trampoline onto the cement pad under our basketball hoop so we had more room on our grass for soccer fun.  Now the trampoline can be used to play basketball on along with other fun things.  The kids, especially Bradley, loves jumping and shooting at the same time since he can get pretty close to the hoop.  Parker is also amazing at doing flips - he has this perfect form and can do them both front and backwards.

 Parker (blue), Carter (red)

Camille Drama Banquet - Camille had a banquet at UVU for her Musical Theater Class.  It was a semi-formal event that she was very excited to attend.  While at this banquet, the next years plays were announced - My Favorite Year and P.O.W.(Prisoner of War), one written by Max Durrant and Alec about Ms. Nelson's grandpa.  Camille has had such a great year and made some awesome friends while in this class.  She loves all 3 of her teachers - Ms. Nelson, Ms. Nudd and Mrs. Allgaier.  Camille got the "Smiley Face" award that night.  Camille sat at a table with Emily Brandt, Hannah Dustin, Taylor Summerville, & Sarah Lectenburg.  Not shown in picture is Bryson Stewart, Kyson Taylor, Jamie Corbett and Matt Brower.