Throwback Thursday

Preparing to slide down the stairs!

Fort-Tastic!!!

Snug as 3 bugs in a rug:

Jessica found a cozy place to read:

A long drive home from the basketball game:

This sequence of pictures of Lexi pushing Sophi on the swing was just too precious to pass up:

Growing Up

There are so many and varied emotions as you watch your kids grow up.  It is an amazing thing to see them become more and more mature, making weighty decisions, thinking about and planning for life as an adult, growing into big, strong bodies.  It is humbling and exciting and scary to watch them grow.  It's also painfully, tragically sad to look back at the pictures of them when they were so little.  When you (as parents) were their whole world.  One of the things that can vividly bring to remembrance the days when they were small is looking at things they used to wear.  Going through a box of 3-year-old clothing can really tug at the heart strings.

One particularly meaningful item of clothing in our family is a pair of flip-flops we bought for Taylor when he was two or three.  When we bought them, they had little palm trees on them, now long since worn away.  These flip flops went through Taylor, Parker, Jessica and Sophi.  Amazingly, they are still wearable and still here.  Hard to believe we never lost one of them.

Last year Christi was going through some old things and getting rid of stuff we didn't need any longer.  She called me down to look at some of the clothes for one last walk down memory lane before we discarded them.  Little striped shirts and jeans and jammies were hard to say good bye to.  But we both had the most difficult time with this pair of flip flops.  I decided to surprise Christi by framing them:).  Hard to believe these once belonged to our 6'4" basketball star!

Lookin' Good!

Christi and I were talking in the office on Sunday.  Suddenly Parker strutted by looking like this:

No wonder the girls can't resist him:)

-Dad

Ride'em Cowboy!

Every June, Herriman hosts a  PRCA rodeo.  As part of the festivities, they hold a "special needs rodeo" in the afternoon.  Local police and firefighters help the special needs children enjoy horseback riding, a mild mechanical bull, petting various farm animals and enjoying the outdoors.  It has become a tradition of ours to participate.  Here are some pictures and video from last year:)

-Jer

Cutest Cousins!

I can't remember if we've already posted this video of Sophi and her cousin, Emery.  Either way, it's sure to put a smile on your face:)

Jer

Ultimate Competitor

The world at large is seriously missing out by our lack of a family reality show.  Sophi alone could easily supply enough must-see-TV moments to fill a weekly program.  She is absolutely hilarious, often meaning to be and often not.  Since you don't have the benefit of watching Soph on a TLC show next week, I'll attempt to share one of her moments from last night.  It loses something in the telling, but such is life...

Most of our family members were playing games at the kitchen table.  Sophi scooted her way up to Christi, Taylor, Parker and me.  We were playing a word game that was a bit over Sophi's head.  As we finished up, Sophi asked, "Do you want to play Spot It?"  Spot It Junior is a great game that allows younger kids to be competitive with adults.  We played a few rounds and Sophi did very well.  Suddenly, caught up in the excitement of playing - and competing in - a fast-paced game, she switched gears.  She challenged me:  "Do you want to play Rock, Paper, Scissors?"  "Sure," I said.

So we began a game.  She chanted, "rock, paper scissors, ROCK!", pounding her little foot on the table with each word and ending with her 'fist' shaped like a rock.  I had chosen scissors, so she smashed my two fingers.  Again, "rock, paper, scissors, ROCK!" Again her little foot fist was a rock, but I had chosen rock this time as well--a draw.  Again she chanted with gusto, "rock, paper, scissors, ROCK!"  Again with the rock.  I had chosen paper and covered up her little fist with my open hand.  A fourth round, "rock, paper, scissors, ROCK!"  Sensing what she might choose, I went back to scissors and her little face lit up as she smashed my fingers.

At this point, Christi, Taylor, Parker and I were all desperately fighting the urge to devolve into fits of laughter.  Sophi's intensity combined with her fierce commitment to ROCK! was utterly hilarious.  I am guessing that her propensity for this choice is at least partly due to the difficulty of making scissors or paper with her foot.  We continued to play a few more rounds.  She continued to choose rock and I continued to choose scissors.  She continued to smash my fingers with gusto each time!  She then shared this with us:  "I play this with my friend at school and I ALWAYS win!"  Again the other four of us were left trying to avoid belly laughs at the thought of the rather poor strategy demonstrated by this friend of hers.

It was such a cute moment I had to take a picture:

Sophi looked at the image and exclaimed, "What?!?  That doesn't look like a rock!!!"

Love that girl:)

-Jeremy

Random PIcs

Taylor came home from church and was so exhausted he crashed on the couch.  Lacking a pair of earplugs, he dove under the cushion.  He is legitimately asleep here:)

I would love to know what dastardly plan Graci is concocting at this moment!

Xander seems to be her evil henchman...

My three bedraggled helpers as we shopped in the rain from some flowers to plant in our yard for Mother's Day 2015:

 Inseparable sisters!

Snug as a bug in a rug!

Cutie Cali:

 Basement flooding is a real bummer!

 Sophi selfie:

Fun conversations...

I drove Conner, Lexi and Sophi home from the basketball game last night.  In those 6-7 minutes Conner's cuteness made me smile over and over.

Sophi:  Mom, why can Conner have another piece of pizza when we get home and I have to go to bed?

Me:  Because Conner is older and doesn't need as much sleep as you do.

Conner:  Sophi!  You don't want to eat right before bed because you are a girl and you will get fat!  Me, I want to get fat.  It is my wish.

Me:  Your wish is to get fat?

Conner:  (very sincerely) Yes!  To get fat and get a girlfriend!

Later...

Conner:  I very like Skylee.  She is so cute.  I very want to have a daughter like her.  I want lots of daughters because girls are very good.

Sophi:  I want sons and daughters.

Lexi:  Me too.

Sophi:  I want 18 kids.

Conner:  18!!!!!  That is too many!!   That is too hard to take care of.  You should have maybe 10 or less.  I want to have maybe four.

Lexi:  I want 8 kids!

Me:  I want 10 kids!  Wait, I have 10 kids!!  I got my wish!!!  (lots of giggles) But did you know that when Dad and I were dating, I didn't want 10 kids?  He wanted 8 and I said maybe that was too many.  

So we kind of fought about it.  (Backpedaling...) Well, not really fought about it.  Just argued about it.  (Backpedaling again) I mean talked about it.  It wasn't a fight.

Conner:  Yes, Sophi, like when someone thinks one thing is right and another person thinks they are right and you just talk about it.

Me:  Yes, Dad and I don't fight.  We disagree sometimes.  But we don't yell at each other.

Conner:  (in earnest admiration) Yes!  You are right.  I never hear you fight.  Dad is a very good man.  Crazy, but very good.

Ha!  I love those cute kids of mine....

So Cute!

We are so grateful for the many fantastic programs available to visually impaired kids (and adults)!  These programs involve overnight programs, opportunities to meet well-known people who are blind, athletic activities, exposure to the arts, outdoor experiences and other activities which help our kids become more well rounded.  A big thanks to the many people who put these programs together and make them such wonderful experiences.  Earlier this month, Lexi and Conner attended a Project Strive activity.  They started out at Cracker Barrel for a great breakfast.  (If you've never been to Cracker Barrel, you're missing out.  Any of our friends from Tennessee can't understand that concept. Cracker Barrel is more ubiquitous than McDonalds in the south.  But if you live out west, find one and give it a try:)  After the meal, they went to the Hale Center Theater and saw the play "Beau Jest." They had a really fun day.  Every Cracker Barrel restaurant has rocking chairs on a covered porch.  Here are Lex and Conner resting up:

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Christi and I came home from a date the other night and found several of the kids watching a movie.  It warmed our hearts to see Sophi cuddled up to her big brother.  They are both so lucky to have each other!

Christmas in Argentina!

Sophi had to do a school report on Christmas in Argentina.  Here it is:  (guess which parent helped her.  Hint: she's really cute!)



-Jeremy