Firebirds

Soccer season has started and Vance is on a new team this year.  We decided to move him up an age division to challenge him a little bit more.  He is now on the Firebirds and is absolutely loving it.  We are just at the beginning of the season but he has already made so much progress.  I am definitely glad we decided to move him up to this division.  He loves playing defender and is still learning how this team runs their offense.  Here's a few pictures I snapped at his first game -

His very first possession of the season he got the ball...

and booted it past the other team for a goal!!!

The best part is almost all of the Waldrons were there to watch him! 

We're excited for the rest of the season and I'm sure many more pictures will be coming soon!

Rappelling

Some of Chad's family was in town a few weekends ago so we had a fun family day.  We started out with a little rappelling out at Redrock.  Chad had to work so it was just me and the boys.

My boys just love the Waldrons so they were thrilled to spend a day with them. Does Vance look like a Waldron or what?!

It's hard to tell in these next few pictures but I'm going down on the right in the black and Zach is coming down with Vance on the left.  Vance was a little unsure at first but Zach made a few jokes and lightened the mood.  By the time they reached the bottom Vance was all smiles.

Yeah…that's me…jumping down the mountain…no biggie :)  hahaha

Zach and Vance finished with a bang as they landed on their backs!

Aunt Mariah helped watch Keller while we were coming down.  I was grateful for her set of helpful hands!

I'm not sure why this picture is rotated the wrong way but this is Brent and Zach coming down Aussie style (you walk face down the mountain).  This always makes me nervous!

After the adults had plenty of turns we headed over to the smaller cliff where the kids could rappel on their own.

Keller loves Aunt Janessa.  So do we :)

Grandpa helped get Vance all set up and reminded him how to do it.

Brent and Zach were there to make sure he did okay the first time down.

After that he was good to go.  So he rappelled...

and rappelled...

and rappelled!

By the end of the afternoon he looked like a pro! I took Keller up to take a turn with Uncle Brent.

I think this just might be my favorite picture of the day.  It's hard to tell but Keller is grinning from ear to ear!

Here's the cropped in version…dang he is one cute little boy!

Chad's dad is so great with the grandkids.  He never seems bothered by them and just likes to spend time with them.  My second favorite pictures of the day are these next two of Vance and Grandpa Rand.  You can really see how much fun they have together!

After we finished at Redrock we went to BassPro and let the kids shoot the guns and see the fish. 

All in all it was a great day full of family fun!

Tea Party

My mom has had many a tea parties in her day.  I used to LOVE getting out the tea party dishes.  She would help me make tiny little food and then we could get some juice or something.  Well her tea parties days aren't over just because she only has grandsons :)

I think that's the face of a boy who is thoroughly enjoying tea time!

My mom never seems to mind the inevitable mess of water from the boys pouring their own cups.  She doesn't mind the crumbs on the floor.  I have lots to learn from her still!

Thanks Mom for creating fun memories with my boys!

Small Things

Chad has been so super busy with work lately, but bless his heart he still finds time to do nice things for me.  He doesn't have time for anything big and elaborate but he still manages to fit in the small gestures he knows I appreciate.  

For example, we always have a pitcher of Crystal Light in the fridge.  Always. However, I pretty much never make it.  Chad for whatever reason has assumed that responsibility.  If we drink the last of it the empty pitcher stays in the fridge until Chad makes it again.  (I'm lazy…I know)  You'd think with his crazy schedule the pitcher would sit empty for awhile but every night when he gets home he checks the Crystal Light to see if we still have some for the next day.  I thought it was fitting to snap a picture of my full cup and send it to Chad with a simple "thanks."

I'm so grateful for a husband who is not only the hardest working man I know, but the best husband I could ever wish for.  I love you Chad!

Amazing Race

Vance's school put on a mother/son version of the Amazing Race.  I hired a babysitter and Vance and I made a date out of it.  Your were supposed to wear matching outfits we got decked out in our Rebel gear.  Then we went and grabbed some Taco Bell (his pick) for dinner.

 Here he is with his buddies before the race started.  I know it's a horrible picture but it's the best I could get.

 They gave you a map of the world and you went around the school and played different games.  For each game you got a stamp on your map.  Once you had 5 stamps you could go claim your prize.  It was pretty mellow but Vance had a blast and I enjoyed some one-on-one time with him. 

 One game was where they show you a bunch of objects and you write down as many as you can remember.  I took a picture of our papers because I thought it was so cute that Vance thought the goal was to write as many words as you could.  He wrote a few sentences about the car he saw.  Pretty impressive for only 15 seconds :)

 After the event was over we went over to his buddy's house and the boys played while the moms visited.  I'm so glad Vance has made a few good friends at school.