Cole's Hernia

When playing first base at his baseball game, Cole stretched out to catch a ball while keeping his foot on the base and the runner ran right through him. He went to school the next day and kept complaining that his "boys" hurt so Damon checked and they were swollen. We took him to the doctor where he had an ultrasound and found out that he had a hernia with hydrosel. We scheduled the surgery and he ended up taking 2 weeks off from baseball. He was so nervous for his surgery but they do such a great job at Primary Children's. It is so nice that the Riverton Hospital is now another Primary Children's surgical center. He was able to play video games, blow bubbles, color a surgery buddy and read books all in the time he was waiting for surgery. He was so goofy when he woke up from surgery. He loved having everyone waiting on him...he milked it for all it was worth, asking for slushies, cookies, etc. It was cute. He was ready to start playing hard the day after surgery so we had to be very inventive to come up with different ways to keep him occupied.

Baseball Season

Baseball was awesome this year! Luke played for Herriman baseball like Cole this year. He was on the Mudcats team. He loved his uniform and thought it was so much fun. He couldn't wait for his games and practice. He liked throwing the grass around as much as playing ball, but at least he had fun and got better each game. He was so excited every time we left for practice and games. He also wants to wear his Mudcats hat and uniform all the time.
Cole had to tryout this year. He was put on the Oakland A's team and he thought that was pretty cool. Since he is now seven he got to start learning all the rules of baseball instead of just the tee ball rules. He picked it up quickly and had an awesome season...with one little break in the middle when he had to have surgery. He took two weeks off to recover and then was back at it. He loves playing first base and did a really good job there. He also only struck out 5 times all season. He had a few doubles and lots of singles. We were a little surprised when he was picked to be on the all star team after missing two weeks of the season.
It was great for him to be on the all star team. He got to practice for 2 weeks after season ended and then played in a tournament where his team took 2nd place. It was really frustrating for him because his all star coach didn't know what positions the kids normally played so he just played them all over. Other than Cole not playing tons on first base he had a blast. Way to go, Cole!

Make Over

Ellee is obsessed with combing my hair. She comes into my room with 20 bows, her brush, headbands, bobby pins. Whatever she thinks will be pretty in my hair. She then spends 30 minutes making my hair beautiful and then trying to make hers look the same. This is one of my favorite looks she's given me.

Fun at the zoo

We decided to buy a zoo pass this year. It's been nice to have. We've been to the zoo 4 times this year and the kids absolutely love it. I keep thinking they'll get bored with it but they always find something new. Cole's favorite thing at the zoo is the bird show. He wants to run over to watch it every time he hears it start. Ellee loves the baby elephant and the peacocks walking around. Luke loves the gorillas and rhinos.Ashlyn and Alyssa stayed with us while Teresa and Chase were in Italy for their 10 year anniversary. We decided to meet up with Sarah and go to the zoo. It was crazy! It was cute watching them find their buddy and stick together. I was asked 2 different times if all those kids were mine :)

Easter

Okay...catch up time. Easter was great. I had a hard time deciding between different Easter outfits, so decided to get them each a couple :)

The kids loved coloring eggs this year. They had fun trying to color designs all over the eggs...and we only broke 4 eggs by dropping them (at least they were hard boiled).

The Easter egg hunt at the Bell's was lots of fun. The kids loved it. The weather was not great so we had the egg hunt inside. Needless to say we had to be pretty creative with our hiding spots...and ended up just throwing some out in the middle of the floor because there weren't enough good spots to hide the eggs but the kids didn't mind. It was pure chaos.
Our Easter morning was good. It was conference Sunday so we were able to sleep in and spend the morning going through the Easter baskets and looking for the eggs. We also got to watch conference in our living room in our PJ's...I could handle having church at home every week.

4 years old!!!

Wow...what a slacker I've been. I can't believe I haven't updated anything in 3 months. So, now I am just going to post the main events. Ellee and Luke are now four years old. I can't believe how fast the time has gone. It's crazy! Ellee was completely set on having a Little Mermaid birthday cake. She's obsessed with that movie and loves Ariel. Luke couldn't decide between a shark cake and a Ben 10 cake. He finally decided that he needed a Ben 10 cake. Jaimie saved the day once again and made both cakes for us. They were awesome! They turned out exactly like the twins wanted.This year we had a big family party instead of a friend party. It was lots of fun. They absolutely love being the center of attention. All Luke wanted for his birthday was little Ben 10 action figures. He got a whole bunch and a new Ben 10 omnitrix (he calls it a watch). Ellee couldn't make up her mind. She wanted barbie stuff and dress ups and anything girlie. She ended up getting a doll house. She also picked out all the colors she wanted us to paint it. It is bright yellow with different colors in each room. I can't believe they are already 4 years old!!!

Lego Fun

Ok-I know, I'm horrible. I haven't blogged in months and now I get to play the catch up game. Fun, fun, fun! Cole is now 7 years old. How that happened I'll never know. This past year has been fun watching how he's changed. He has now informed me that he is old enough to: make his own breakfast, comb his own hair-which he now wants shaggy (we're ok with that for now, might not be when he gets to be a teenager), pick out his own clothes (my favorite is when he goes Napolean Dynamite and wears his winter boots with sweat pants and no snow in sight), play outside with his friends and mom not following him everywhere, work all the electronic stuff in our house without needing any help, walk down to get the mail by himself :) , read his books silently, take showers instead of baths, etc. The list goes on and on----where did my little boy go?
Cole's birthday was on a Wednesday this year so we celebrated as a family on his birthday. He got to choose what he wanted to eat for his birthday and he chose to eat at Wingers. We opened his presents and just spent time as a family.

He decided that he wanted a Lego Party for his birthday. We had a blast. He invited 11 other boys to his party and they all had a blast. Cole, Luke and Ellee built different Lego creations for the decorations. We had tower building contests, played "Guess what I built", ate pizza-cake and ice cream, played "Pin the Dot on the Lego Block" and just ran around having fun. It was 2 1/2 hours of pure chaos and tons of fun. My really good friend, Jaimie, offered to make the cake for Cole's party. I was thrilled to have her make it. She is amazing. She made two cakes to look like Lego blocks and it was absolutely delicious!!! Plus it was the hit of the party! Thanks Jaimie!
It was cute watching how happy he was the whole time. Opening presents was great...he didn't hold anything back and got so excited! I am so glad Cole wanted to have a Lego party. We had a great time and he will definitely remember this party.