We Love the Loos

Our amazing friends, Brandt and Rena headed back to a life in Hawaii after 7 great years of hanging with us in Utah. We were so sad to see them go, and we spent the last two weeks before their move having some great fun.

Back when Gavin was our only child we would convince Brandt to play with him and our boys have been holding Brandt prisoner ever since. They love wrestling and playing legos, or Wii, or anything they can think of with Brandt. We did get them all to pose for an all boy photo the morning before they left town. Wyatt isn't showing his love in the photo, but he is one of the biggest fans of Brandt and Rena.

We also had a little goodbye party at the Willardsen's house. It was great to spend time and reminisce with all of our old pals that still reside in Utah... even though now there is one less.

Rena and I have worked together for over 5 years. Our original working crew has moved on, but some great girls have joined the team and we have always loved sharing our experiences with Anne. We had a great lunch to send her back to paradise, and there were a few tears shed after our great pose in this picture.

I have loved every minute of getting to spend time with this little guy who blessed Rena to become the amazing and beautiful Mom that she is. Missing those chubby cheeks already, and already looking for an excuse to head to Hawaii to see them.

Gavin also got to fulfill his childhood dream of having a lemonade stand, in conjunction with the Loo's yard sale at our house. It was short lived, but a great time, and Brandt was their most thirsty and generous customer.

We don't need too many physical things to help keep our memories alive, but there is one thing that the boys are obsessed with that Brandt left behind... The big comfy recliner. You can almost always find at least one boy in my house sitting in this things and loving it. 

Aunt Bridgett at the Zoo

We had a great 10 day visit from Aunt Bridgett. We tried to keep her busy and I think we succeeded. 

During her visit we took a fun trip to the zoo after school one day. It was a perfect day and the zoo was almost empty. We thoroughly enjoyed it, and we had a few good laughs posing with all of the zoo props.

It is possible that someone did something kind of gross right before this picture was taken and you can tell from Bridgett's face who it was.

Just the Little Brothers at Home

With the older boys gone all day, I get a lot more time to spend with my two little sillies. They keep things exciting for sure. The trouble these two can cause is pretty impressive, most of the time they have a lot of fun together. Just a few shots of some of their crazy antics lately.

Finn eating goldfish crackers with a fork.

I love when they sit and chat with each other, even though it is usually Wyatt trying to talk Finn into something.

Enjoying a nice day in the backyard.

Wyatt is definetely in a costume phase. Nothing like a batman sighting at the park.

Found some of his Dad's tools and was playing very quietly alone with them, until he was discovered.

Finn has also discovered how to open the front door and has been discovered in the act of escaping several times. He is always so proud of himself.

Wyatt is also learning to dress himself... and undress. This has resulted in several random moments of him without a shirt... like at Gavin's soccer game when it was only 70 degrees, but he said he was just too hot and sweaty. He was still wearing his jogging pants though.

Just a cute dressed up little man.

And these two can often be found just like these, being hauled around in the stroller. They do a good job of keeping each other company.

School starts again

I can hardly believe the way that our summer flew by and we were back to school in a frenzy. It is both a happy and sad time for me. I am lucky enough to have kids that really enjoy school and have loved their time there, but getting back into a busy morning schedule and the nagging of the homework routine is always a bit sad. 

Gavin was glad to hop back into his Chinese Immersion and return to seeing some of his good friends every day.

Henry was so excited to start First Grade because he would finally get to fulfill his dream of having lunch and school and staying for the full day, just like Gavin. He has loved Chinese and dived in without any issues, and he also has held up very well to the full day. Just like he always said he would.

This was the second day of school for Gavin, since First Grade started a day late, but they were excited to wear their new shirts from Grandma. Had to have a picture together.

Wyatt started Preschool this year. His biggest motivation for being potty trained was that he could finally go to school just like his "boys". He always just wants to be big and do exactly what they are doing. He is only in school about 4 hours a week, but he really loves it, and loves getting his back pack on and heading off to learn. He keeps saying that he is also learning Chinese at preschool, but he isn't really. The school he attends does have a French Immersion program, but they aren't incorporating that into the preschool curriculum so far. We haven't bother to tell him that, maybe it is all Chinese to him anyway.

Cute brothers

I love these moments before church when everyone is cleaned up and looking handsome. If we aren't running late, I always try for the adventure of getting them all to pose for a group photo. I always end up with a few gems and some hilarious faces.

The Larsons come to Utah

After the fun Marshall Reunion we had a great visit with Heidi and her kids at our house. It was the week of Pioneer Day, which always provides lots of hot Utah fun. We heard about a great float preview event for the Days of '47 Parade in Salt Lake, so we went out to look at the float in the air conditioned convention center. We had the great surprise of balloon animal making clowns and some talent face painters. The kids loved it.

Wyatt was very scared, but also very determined to get his face painted and he was very glad that he braved it. He was such a cute little bear.

Gavin got someone to make him a dragon and was so proud of it.

This also made him decide to have a dragon painted on his far. Pretty cool.

Henry and Wyatt went for the sword ballon. Quick and easy, they must have been a favorite of the clowns. It never takes two tries to make a sword.

Rachel showing off her butterfly which also ended up being an inspiration for her face paint.

All of our painted up kids. Pretty impressive.

We had planned an outing for almost every day of their visit, so we also spent an evening at the zoo. It never disappoints, and since the zoo was open late, it wasn't too hot.

We finished off the last day of their visit with a trip to the Discovery Museum. I take my boys there so often that sometimes it takes fresh faces to get us excited about it again. The kids all loved passing part of a hot summer day there building and having fun.