Cooks and camp

We finally got our Kiss the Cooks pictures hung up and had to post this so Bern and Taylor could see how it turned out since they helped us put it together while they were here.

Cade learning to sew this summer.

The first week of summer always means twilight camp. This was Cade's last year to go. Next year it will be just Davis Eaton and I.
Cade, Sean, Davis

Report Cards and Comments

I know all parents are proud of their children and I may seem to brag on mine a bit too much, but I just can't help it. Report card day is always full of excitement at our house but nothing beats the end of year report cards. We usually do something to celebrate whether it is a dinner, movie night with toms of candy, or like this year a 15 boys campout in the backyard. I figure the boys earn it and deserve some reward for the outstanding job they do each year. One of the fun parts about their report cards is getting to read the comments the teachers write about the boys each time. I always love to hear the teachers perspective on my child. This year I have to say I was most proud of the comments on Cade's report card than his actual grades. (Of course he had a perfect report card with grades though!). His teacher wrote this about him:


"Cade is a one of a kind person! To say he is just gifted academically would be an incorrect assessment. Without a doubt, he is brilliant academically but what impresses me so much is his ability to make friends and nurture friendships. Everyone loves Cade and that definitely includes his teachers! Cade is special!"


For those of you who know Cade, you understand how shy he is and he is never one to draw attention to himself. I was terrified when he started school because he was so shy and I worried he would not make many friends. Boy was I wrong! Cade amazes us all the time. He truly is special!

Right behind him is Davis. I never had the same concerns about Davis because he is always been so sweet and outgoing and knew he would have no problem making friends and fitting in. Davis always excels in school and his teachers love him and rave about his behavior and achievements. Davis likes to challenge himself and his teacher commented how great he is at math and science. I fear we have another engineer in the making!

Easton had me worried but like everything else in his life, he does things on his time table. Last year although he could read, he did not like it. This year he decided he likes it and jumped 6 grade levels in his reading. In his spare time he reads the Harry Potter books and his goal for the summer is to pass his brothers reading levels.

And the Oscar Goes To....

On Monday May 16th, Cade's Alpha program had a special awards night for the kids. In the program each student was put in a group and the group had to write a screenplay and then make and edit the movie. On awards night "Oscars" were given out for Best Acting, Best Cinematography, Best Screenplay, Most Creative Film, and a few other categories I can't remember right now. Families were told to dress up as this was the kids "Red Carpet Night." All the kids were very excited for this evening and I have to say as a parent I was excited but a little nervous. No one was told before the ceremony if they were even nominated. Cade who was just coming off of his Sat. math victory won "Best Screenplay" to bring home his first Oscar. We were so proud of him. What a week that boys has had! Jeremy, Foster, Cade, Davis, and Easton walking the red carpet
Our family inside the event.

Cade sitting with his group waiting to hear the nominees

Cade and James on stage receiving their award

Nana and Papa came to support Cade like they always do. We are so grateful for them in our lives and the support they give our children. It is so nice for our boys to have support for events like this. I told Cade they must really love him to come and sit through a 2 hour event for him!

Cade and James showing off their statues

Davis and Cade leaving the event.

Cade was so excited at the end of the evening. Cade who usually doesn't show much emotion was all smiles on the way home. We are so proud of our little Oscar winning boy.

Elder Oaks visits McKnney

A few weeks ago we were privileged to have Elder Dallin H. Oaks come and visit our area and have a special Stake Conference. We were not in the same building as they had to broadcast the meeting to all the church buildings so everyone could meet at the same time. We were surprised that at the end of the Conference we were told all that wanted to meet Elder Oaks could stay after and shake his hand. We were excited for this opportunity and waited in line after the meeting to shake his hand. (He had driven over from the other building with our Stake President after the meeting to meet the people at our building). We had about a half an hour wait (which we did not think was so bad) and Easton was NOT happy. He was upset because last summer when we were in Utah we ran into Elder Oaks at This is the Place and meet him and even had our picture taken with him. We told our boys at the time that that was such a special experience and not many people get to meet an Apostle of the Lord. At that time he was excited to meet Elder Oaks, but when we told him we were standing in line at Church to meet him AGAIN, well he just kept saying that he had already met him and just wanted to go home. Then he wanted to know why we said it was such a unique experience to meet an Apostle because here was the same one less than a year later. To him it was becoming routine!! We finally calmed him down and were able to once again shake Elder Oaks' hand and talk to him briefly. Our Stake President was also up in the front shaking hands with everyone and Easton actually was more excited about shaking hands with he Stake President because he had never done that before. I LOVE how little kids minds work.

Here is the paper on which Easton took his notes for Stake Conference. I told him to write down important things. First he wrote sing sing sing because they were singing a song and he didn't know the name of the song. The second line about the baby was funny. The Stake President was telling people that they had the other rooms set up with TVs that would be broadcasting the Conference if they wanted to take their small children there or if they had crying babies!! I wrote the highest priority part because I didn't have any paper with me and I was also trying to show Easton how to take notes. The last sentence is what he wrote down as the most important thing that was said and as always, I think he got it right. He (Jesus) is the only way to find joy. It is nice to know that my kids do really listen and at times even understand!

Neighborhood Easter Event

Our new neighborhood has a big Easter Egg Hunt and party every year and our boys really enjoyed it. It was such a fun day. Each age group had an egg hunt and there were lots of games, a petting zoo, and even an appearance by the Easter Bunny himself. We could not be happier with the new neighborhood! The boys before the fun started


Easton loves to have his picture taken lately

Foster waving to the Easter Bunny from afar during his egg hunt

Foster liked to pick up an egg and put it in his basket but after each one he thought he was done.

He did not want to sit with the Bunny

You can see he is trying to pull away

Easton getting ready for his hunt. His age group had the most kids.

All lined up and ready to go

This was Cade and Davis' group. They made it harder for the 9-12 group by hiding the eggs in the woods.

Off they go

Cade and Davis walking Foster over to the see the Easter Bunny after the egg hunts.

They even had a live band at the party.

Cade had a hard time trying to hold on to Foster

The boys had fun doing the cake walk and several other booth games at the party

Foster didn't know what to think of the petting zoo at first

Cade trying to help Foster. I love the way the older boys look out for their baby brother. We went home that evening all tired out but had so much fun. Cade even won an Easter Basket from one of the booths. The boys are excited for next year and we look forward to seeing what they do for the Fall Carnival. Maybe next year Foster won' mind the Easter Bunny so much.

Foster and the Bluebonnets

So we are a little behind on the blogging, but the end of the school year is the busies time of year for us. This is one of my favorite oictures of Foster that Jeremy took one day while Cade was at soccer practice. The fields get covered in these flowers and we couldn't resist. We couldn't ge one of Foster looking at the camera because whenever he looks at the camera, he tried to grab it. Spring in Texas is just beautiful!

Front Yard Fun

Easton on the pogo stick Foster running away from Jeremy

Cade riding Foster's bike

Foster loves the retaining wall

The boys are loving our new front yard. It is nice to not worry about the cars like we did in our old house. It is especially nice since Foster loves to run up and down the sidewalk. We are really enjoying the weather and being able to be outside. This is one of the best times to be in Texas.