Sparklers

Lucky for me, Morgan requested one of Glenn's specialties for lunch after First Communion.  After a yummy lunch with family, he opened a few gifts and it was time for cake!

Ellea and I found sparklers in the party section of our tiny little drug store in Cottonwood and decided to go for it.  So festive!

Morgan was a little wary of them, but he enjoyed it - from a distance.

1st Communion

 Morgan had a big day yesterday.  It was his First Communion!

He was all smiles!

Until he actually received Communion, and then he looked rather terrified!  I think he was a little nervous being up in front of everyone!

But he was thrilled to have so many people there to support him.  His Godparents...

His grandma....

And of course his darling sisters!

Bikes and 'Blades

On a warm day during spring break, we broke out the bikes and roller blades for some fun exercise in Lewiston.

Morgan can ride his bike for the most part, as long as he doesn't over think it.  He just needs a little more confidence and he'll be gone.

Who knew we'd see wildlife it Lewiston!  These funny little guys were not shy at all.  I had no idea what they were.  Glenn called them a Marmot, and a quick Google search would seem to confirm that.

Kinda cute in a rodent-like way. I know it's hard to think of rodents as cute, but look at that little face...

The girls were unfazed by having to climb a hill in rollerblades.

But going downhill was much easier with a daddy for brakes!

Warm Toast

I was only willing to take our camper to Lewiston because it has a heater.  In case I haven't mentioned it, I don't like can't stand being cold.  So, I was a tad bit annoyed that the heater wasn't working Sunday morning.  Turns out we were out of propane.

While I was making toast for the fam, I was enjoying the warmth coming from the toaster.  So even after I was done making toast, I kept the toaster going.  Nicole even joined me.  It was delightful!  When you're a cold California girl, you're not above warming yourself with kitchen appliances!

Lewiston Campfire

The best part about hauling our camper to Lewiston for the volleyball tournament was the opportunity to invite a bunch of Glenn's family to come enjoy the campfire with us.  It was a fun time of roasting hot dogs, making s'mores, and bouncing a cranky baby!

And no campfire is complete without a little book reading.  This little guy doesn't usually sit with his Uncle Glenn much.  Because there was a book involved, he didn't mind.

But it didn't last very long!

This little guy loves "his Ellea," so book reading was a good thing.  I'm told he continues to talk about the campfire daily, almost two weeks later!

And Morgan always loves an excuse to hang out with his favorite cousin, Phil!
 

It was a fun evening.  I little chilly, but not bad.  As usual, I was the biggest wimp in the group...I'm the one on the right bundled up from head to toe!

Learning to Walk

 More pictures in the park with some of our favorite little cousins....

Smurf Turf

Edit:  I must tell you that after reading this post, Ellea was particularly annoyed with me for taking a picture with the BSU Bronco!!  I pointed out that I was choking and  kicking him, but that hardly appeased her.  "Why are you smiling?" she said accusingly!  That girl is a BSU Nazi!!!!

Sorry for the lack of posts late last week.  I was traveling for work, so blogging didn't happen.  I got to go to Sun Valley, Idaho for the very first time for meetings and a conference.  Didn't see any celebrities, but had fun with a few other ladies from Idaho who do the same job as me.  We only see each other a couple times a year, but we have a good time together.

I took a picture of one of my colleagues with the Boise State mascot for her school blog, but I figured the only way I could take a picture with the BSU bronco was if I was strangling him!  (BSU is a bad word in our household.... It's Vandals all the way!)  Of course, it looks more like I'm massaging his gums, than strangling him.......

So I tried kicking him!  Should've aimed my foot a little higher, though!

Playground at Sunset

Ellea talked us into taking our camper to Lewiston for last weekend's volleyball tournament.  We stayed in beautiful Hell's Gate campground.  I talked Glenn into having a campfire Saturday night, and the Kaufman clan is always up for a party, so some of them came over for a hot dog roast!

We took the Kaufman young ones to the nearby playground for a few minutes of fun before the sun went down.

My young one's not too old for playgrounds, just yet, thank goodness!

Heck, Christina's not too old for playgrounds!

Poor little Will has a thing about swings, but there were no toddler swings.  Swinging with mommy was not an acceptable substitute.  Maybe that was why he was in a cranky mood later around the fire!

Ellea loved getting to hang out with her cousins again.

Ben loved getting to hang out with Morgan and Ellea.  They're called "my Morgan," and "my Ellea."  Nicole was thinking he was calling her Mycole instead of Nicole, but it's "my Nicole!"  

Volleyball Fun

This girl sure enjoys volleyball!

The team will oftentimes do a cheer after they make a point.  That's what there doing here!

She used to struggle with having enough power and control in her serves.  Not anymore.  She served the last 6 points to win their final match in the championship game last weekend.

I love when I can manage to catch an action shot.  Its not easy.  I delete a lot of photos.

She didn't used to be able to jump very high.  She's doing pretty good in that department now!

Medals All Around

This is what I do a lot of at all these sporting events....  Sit in the bleachers.  Nicole came and watched the tail end of Ellea's final game after her games were over.  It was a long day, but the girls did great.

Glenn gave Ellea his medal and told her she was his champion.  He's such a nice guy!

Morgan wanted to be in the pictures, too.  He deserves a medal for being so patient about going to his sisters' sporting events!

Volleyball (again!)

Another all-day volleyball tournament this weekend.  This time, both girls played. We had a similar tournament the day before Easter, and we're gluttons for punishment  passionate about volleyball, so we came back for more!

Last time, they played very well.  This time they played even better!

Nicole's 8th grade team missed the title of 1st place by one game at the last tournament, so they were thrilled to beat the previous 1st grade team and walk away with medals!  Glenn even was one of the coaches for this tournament!  That guy will coach anything!  (Nicole's in the front on the right.)

Ellea's 6th grade team had only had 4 practices before the last tournament and 5 more practice before this tournament.  They improved a ton and are ready to play well for 7th grade volleyball next spring!

So, we're done with volleyball.  For a couple months, anyway.  As a freshman next year, Nicole will play volleyball in the fall, so the break won't be too long!  Go Pirates!!

Eating her Words

Nicole had her very first track meet yesterday.  It was a beautiful (mostly) sunny afternoon.  She came home all smiles and said she loved it and was ready to go run some more.  Funny that the girl said she "hated running" not so long ago!

She did great in all the races, but my favorite was the 4x400.  A four-girl relay where they each run one lap around the track.  They did so good, and they almost beat the record for this particular track meet that was set 7 years ago.  They missed the record by about three-quarters of a second!  Needless to say, they came in first for that event and walked away with gold medals!

Waiting for the go..... (they use a starting gun and everything!)

And they're off!

She did so well and seemed to love every bit of it.  I had to rub it in just a little when she got home how well she did at the 4x400 and how much she enjoyed it, because just a few days before the meet, she was arguing with her dad/coach that she couldn't run a 400.  (Nothing I hate more from my kids than I can't  do it.)  Thankfully she came to terms with giving it a try, and found out she CAN!!  Told her last night she was going to have to eat her words, and she laughed and said they tasted good!

Bubbles

The Easter bunny brought little Will bubbles.

Hmm.  Bubbles....

Oh, what's this in my hand?

A lid!  Did you see this lid?!  Who cares about bubbles?  I have a lid!!