Aliya's First Laugh....

So this year has been hard, and great and long!!! I have been a major slacker when it comes to this blog and so here I am trying to start again....I thought maybe I would just start with this very cute and wonderful clip of our newest edition to the family. She laughed for the first time today and those are the moments that just keep you livin'!

P.S. You will have to mute the music player at the bottom of this page so you can hear her cute little giggles!!!

T-ball and Machine Pitch!

Gage and Isaac are actively loving their baseball experience this year!!! They both have great coaches (which makes all the difference!) and have learned and progressed so much this year. This is Gage's first year in t-ball and he doesn't even use the t! He has hit it every time that his coach pitches it to him:) Isaac is in his first season of machine pitch and is loving it. He does really well and it quite pleased with his own progress this year. Grandma Whitesides has been very active and supportive this year in taking the boys to their games and practices:) Bless her for all that she is doing to help us out and Grandpa too for that fact....The boys get so excited when it is her turn to take them to their games. The one who gets to go with her usually gives the other one a smirk and then off they go! I think Grandma has really enjoyed the time with the boys as well:) Gage is in the first two pictures...He is playing for the Yankees this year and Isaac is in the second two pictures and he is playing for the Indians this year. Both boys got the number 2 on their jerseys and they thought it was pretty cool they got the same number but for different teams:)

Isaac's Car Day!

So, in conclusion of Isaac's first grade year, the first graders have been having many fun adventures for the last month. They attended the Hamblin Farm where they learned about all kinds of farm animals and tasted fresh cow's milk!!! (Isaac came home with is first bad sunburn of the year but other than that he loved it.) They went to the Hogle Zoo where they saw the new "Madagascar Exhibit" and rode the train of course....and lastly, in their adventures they held the "Annual Car Day" at school. Isaac worked really hard with Dad in constructing his very own car out of a cardboard box! He even helped do the cutting and painting of all the necessary items. He of course wanted his car to be purple ( his favorite color). He is so proud of that card board car that he made with his Dad:) He took it to school and had a blast! They wore their cars and visited different stations where they played games, earned treats and learned about car safety. After a very hot day out in the sun, the Fire Department came with their water truck and the kids took off their cars and went out into the field to be rained upon, and cooled off of course, by the Firemen:) This I think was his favorite part of the day. Isaac came home beaming and showed us an award he won! He won the award for best workmanship on his car. He is so proud and excited. Tomorrow they will have their field day in which he is very excited about as well...and then, Friday, he will have his last day of first grade! I can't believe that our first ever first grade year is at its close. Bittersweet I would say! I sure enjoyed being so much a part of this year with him as i spent many hours in the classroom with him and his schoolmates. His teacher has been the best thing ever and I am so grateful to her and her wonderful teaching abilities. Isaac sure has grown a lot this year and teachers are such an important part of that:) SO here is to Isaac and his first grade year:) 

This is how Bridger watches TV!

So we were all at home on Monday, just enjoying time together and the boys were watching a show. Bridger had been playing with toys and as usual, was all over the house. It was pretty quiet after awhile and we look over and there is Bridger, with his feet through the rails, completely entranced in the show his brothers were watching. He could have sat on the couch, or even on the same level of the house that the show was being played...but nope! Bridger likes to do things his way! He is so darn cute and we just love having him around.....

Aren't boys sweet? Especially to their mothers....

So I was just sitting here, trying to take it easy, and the boys ran in from riding their bikes with these beautiful pear tree blossoms!!! One of those small moments that makes you so happy to be a mother to such awesome children...so our world is going to change in the fall ( or late summer) with the addition of another tiny sweet spirit to our home. It is going to be a new experience for us, as it has always been with the addition of a child. This time around however, we will get to enjoy pink and baby dolls and things that are just foreign to our home. That's right, today(with a 90%) we learned that the baby inside my tummy is going to be a little girl!!!  It is very exciting and a bit overwhelming....Isaac has been praying for three years straight, not missing one night, for a baby sister. The witness of his faith was given today, and will be when she is born , to this sweet little boy with so much faith! Charles  now realizes that he has much to worry about and look forward to. I am just still in shock and the boys of course are thrilled! Bridger screamed"yeah!!!", Gage asked " but when is she going to come out?" and Isaac smiled with tears in his eyes and asked "really? they really saw girl parts? " and then the exhilaration followed... I am so grateful for all of my blessings and pray that the Lord will be with us as we invite this precious spirit into our home. And on a side note: I know that I have one niece in particular who is going to be ecstatic about it all! That's right Nya....you finally get a girl cousin:)

Happy Birthday Gage!

Today we went to Chuck 'e' Cheese's with Gage to celebrate his 5th birthday! He kept asking to go there and Mom and Dad finally agreed and it was a blast. I love that the kids had a great time and I had hardly any work to do!!! Gage, with the help of Grandpa, Grandma and his parents, earned a total of 500 tickets...he was thrilled and I think that the adults had a little fun as well trying our hands at the ol' games. I can't believe that we have been so blessed to  have Gage in our lives for 5 whole years now. I was going through pictures of him (in the last 5 yrs) and remembered all of the good times that we have shared. He has always had such a sweet and loving spirit. He has always been mom's boy from the very beginning, and he will still tell you that to this day. When he was tiny he was just a "gerber baby"! Big round cheeks, a sparkle in his eyes and a huge smile to melt your heart. He can still melt your heart today with his big hugs, great smile and compliments that he dishes out to me on a daily basis. He loves life, star wars, his brothers and family!!! He is such a great little guy and I can't thank my Heavenly Father enough for the gift of his life and that we can share in it....Happy Birthday Gage! We love you.

Easter....

Easter was great! The boys thoroughly enjoyed hunting the eggs the bunny had left behind and eating all that candy until they were sick. Easter dinner was great with the family(Mills side) and all thanks to Ann and her willingness to have everyone at her house for the meal!!! I know i wasn't up for it so many thanks to her. Most of the family had left when the boys discovered the beauty of a hot tub....the new one that sits in Ann's backyard. After cute little pouty faces and big eyes, they were allowed a trial in the tub!!! They loved every minute and we had to pull Bridger out kicking and screaming when it was time to go....Gage for that matter as well. Bridger found a new best friend in his cousin McKenna!!! He just absolutely adores her and she seemed to have a lot of fun with him as well. Happy Easter to all!