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.

Camille Pippin play - April 23-27

We got back from Orlando just in time for Camille's MDT play - Pippin.  She missed two days of practices while gone so was glad to be back for the rest of the week's dress rehearsals.  Camille was cast as Bertha's granddaughter and a featured vocalist.  The play, Pippin, is a little hard to understand with all of the weird twists.  It was a really fun play to watch, though.  The music is fun and the actors/actresses were amazing.  They really did a great job and it was fun to watch Camille on stage.

  The set looked amazing with all of the cool paintings on the wall. 

Cadan (Pippin), Camille (Bertha's grand daughter), Mrs. Reynolds (Bertha), and Hannah Dustin (Bertha's grand daughter)

 

 Camille with Hannah after the performance.

Parker, Carter, Johnathan & Camille - We all went 2 times to see Camille perform and loved it each time.

Cute Miss Nudd - she is such a great teacher.  Camille loves being in her class.

Disney World - Day 8

April 17, 2012 - Tuesday - It felt great to be able to sleep in after a very busy and full week. After living somewhere for a week, it takes quite a bit to clean the areas. Luckily it is pretty much just putting it all into suitcases. The condo we stayed out was so nice and was the perfect place for us all to stay for such a fun week. We had run out of most of our breakfast items that we had purchased at the beginning of the week, so we headed to McDonald's for breakfast.

We wanted to do some shopping before heading home so looked around for a fun place that might have some Disney memorabilia. We found a store that was huge that had a lot of different vendors inside like a flea market. We enjoyed about 2 hours just walking around finding some good finds. The kids loved seeing what they could get with the last bit of money they had left.

We found an all you can eat pizza place and had fun eating lunch there. It wasn’t the best food, but the kids had fun getting all they could eat, drink and eating the yummy dessert. We enjoyed going to a few more shopping areas as we were looking for some more shirts and other merchandise to take home with us.

We went back to the rental car place and returned our vehicles. They took us to the airport. Our flight didn’t leave until 6:09 p.m. and luckily it was a straight through flight. Dealing with no layovers was so nice. We arrived back in Utah at 9 p.m. The hardest part was dealing with Bradley falling asleep about 10 minutes before we landed, carrying all of our luggage and then all fitting on a shuttle to head over to our van in the parking lot. We all shoved onto a bus but barely made it with our 10 plus pieces of luggage. It was very crazy and probably would have made for a fun picture. We arrived home late and the kids had school to get up for the next day.

What an amazing trip to be able to have!!! Without Byron’s frequent flier miles it definitely would not have been possible. We had such an amazing time and loved being able to spend it with Dad, Mom & Melissa.

I found this adorable picture that Byron took the previous day at the park.  Such a cute cowboy!

These are some pictures I took the last day after cleaning up of our condo.  It was very spacious and so nice.  There were 3 bedrooms upstairs and 1 downstairs.  Plus a lot of living area including a garage gameroom and backyard pool area. 

This picture doesn't do this closet justice - it is MASSIVE!  Their are 4 sides where clothes can be hung - my dream closet!

Disney World - Day 7

April 16, 2012 – Monday - Byron’s Birthday!!!!! He opened his presents from his parents and Melissa. I will be giving him his present after we get home. It was hard to know what to do as it is kind of hard to bring the gifts along especially since we have so much luggage as it is. We had fun singing Happy Birthday to his during breakfast. We left to head to Hollywood Studios at 8:00 a.m. arriving around 8:25 a.m. Before going through the gates, we saw Minnie Mouse and Daisy Duck. We waited in line for about 10 minutes so we could get a picture with them. They are so cute – every time we see characters, there is always such a huge line and we usually don’t want to take the time to spend in those lines. So it was nice to see a short line, for a change, and really get a picture with them.

Byron ran to get FASTPASSES for Toy Story Mania as Mom Beck, Melissa, and the 5 oldest kids all went to ride “Rock n Roller Coaster.” It was pretty similar to California Screamer, but was mostly in the dark. The first part takes off really fast and does a couple of full circles and a corkscrew. It was quite exhilarating and fun! I don’t think Melissa and Mom thought it was very fun as the take off part threw them for a loop. Then Melissa and the 5 oldest kids went on Tower of Terror. I vowed after riding this ride last time we were at California Adventure I would never go on it again. It has too much drops for my liking.

They have an American Idol show that you can actually try out for. Camille ended up trying out and I was able to go in with her. We went into a small room with one man at a desk. He had Camille sing anything she wanted. After that he asked her if she could sing anything in the list they had provided. She ended up singing Reflections. I think if she would have thought about it more, she could have come up with a better song for her voice. The man was very nice, but said that she went flat a few times. Camille has such an amazing alto voice that I guess the other song was a little high (especially when she probably started on a higher note than she should have). She was bummed, but I thought it was great she at least tried out. She has so much confidence – it amazes me!!!

We enjoyed going on Star Tours next – It has been redone since I have ridden it last and boy has the improvements been awesome. It is in 3-D. Camille was picked to be the Rebel Spy on board and her picture showed up at one part on the screen. It was really fun to have her picked. During the day we ended up riding this ride about 5 times and each ride was totally different.

Some of our favorite rides were Toy Story Mania, Backlot Tour (like the tram ride at Universal Studios), the Lights Motor Action show, Muppet Vision 3D, Indiana Jones Stunt show, Star Tours, Beauty and the Beast show, Rock n Roller Coaster and the Great Movie Ride. The shows were top notch and so much fun to see. The Lights Motor Action show was a very high action car chase. It was amazing!!! We all were so glad we were able to see it.

We didn’t end up watching Fantasmic in the evening as the kids were anxious to continue riding some of their favorite rides again. Dad & Mom Beck along with Melissa ended up going to the show, though and said it was amazing.

Carter, Johnathan, Parker & Bradley on the tram ride in the parking lot.  Four very excited boys!

 Whose children are these anyways? 

 Waiting for Star Tours to start.

 Toy Story Mania - love, love, love this ride!

 

 Instead of standing in the ridiculous lines, we chose to take the picture from a distance. 

 Waiting outside of Rock N Roller Coaster for the older kids and Byron to come out. 

Disney World - Day 6

April 15, 2012 – Sunday - We slept in until 8:30 and boy did it feel good after having to wake up by an alarm for the past 5 days. We went to the local LDS Ward for Sacrament Meeting. I guess about 50% of the people in the congregation are visitors – so the Bishop told us that if the person next to us isn’t saying “hi” to us, they are probably a visitor so say hi to them. I couldn’t even imagine living in a ward that is visited that much. There were a lot of people there. All 3 talks had to do with talks from the last General Conference. I realized I really need to read them again – they are all amazing talks.

We headed back to our condo, ate lunch (sandwiches) and got ready to head to Cocoa Beach. We originally had plans to go to Siesta Beach which is on the Gulf Coast (2 hours away), but changed our mind to go to the Pacific Ocean instead since it was closer. We didn’t want to be driving for 4 hours and wanted to be home for dinner. So we ended up going to the closest beach. We had about 4 toll roads along the way – about $.75 each. It was crazy having to exit every time we came upon them and then get back on the freeway. On the way back Byron totally didn’t see one of the tolls and just stayed on the freeway. There was no way to turn around and go back – hopefully we don’t get a ticket for that one. I am so glad we don’t have to deal with those in Utah.

Cocoa Beach wasn’t the nicest beach, but had pretty warm water and a fun pier to look out on. We started out by finding a spot next to the pier to put our stuff and the kids quickly grabbed bags to collect shells or go into the water. They were having such a fun time going out to about their waist and letting the current pull them in. This was the warmest water they have ever been in at the ocean. We also enjoyed walking along the sand while the youngest collected seashells. Byron had fun going in with the kids and ended up going all the way under. After about 2 ½ hours, we went up on the pier and went out a little ways until it cost to go out any more. It was so beautiful. Even though it was pretty windy, it was still warm and the water felt great.

We drove back and enjoyed eating lasagna and salad together. The food was delicious. We had ice-cream cones – thanks to Grandma – for dessert. We enjoyed sitting around enjoying each other’s company laughing about different things that have happened since we have been here. Parker does the best impressions of situations and had us all laughing.

Dad & Mom Beck have been doing the 7 days of presents leading up to Byron’s birthday – the first one being the night we got here. Bradley makes sure Grandma doesn’t forget each night to give Byron his gifts. They are all small gifts with a cool saying that goes with them. They are so thoughtful to think of him.

Well – off to bed. It has been a full day and a full day ahead of us as we head to our last amusement park.

 

 Parker, Tanner & Carter playing in the ocean.

 Johnathan

 Byron & Carter looking for seashells.

 Silly Johnathan

 Carter all sandy after rolling around in the sand with a wet body.

 Tanner, Johnathan, Carter, Parker, Bradley, Camille, Tricia & Byron

Bradley with Mickey Mouse and Tigger that he just purchased.