Dear Jaron

Dear Jaron -  Here you are already 4!  I love watching the little boy you are becoming. You've had such a fun year full of lots of firsts.  Here's a few highlights from the last year.



You started pre-school and although you were so excited after the first day you decided you didn't want to go any longer because you just missed mom so much.  After 3 or 4 times of dropping you off in tears you decided you did like Preschool and had a great year with your friends (even when you got sent to Miss Tammy's time out chair) and had a little crush on your friend Charlotte.  And now you're getting ready to start Pre-k and you won't let us call it preschool any longer, it's Pre-K!

You had your first season of soccer and were so excited when you got a medal at the end of the season.  You even slept with it that night.  And now you just started fall season and I can already tell you've improved a lot since last season.  You love to go to our basement and kick or throw the ball with anyone willing to come play.  You've also started gymnastics and are really good at cartwheels and headstands.  The teacher is already wanting to move you up to the next level.

You talk non-stop.  You always have something to say or a question to ask.  In primary you sit on the front row and I'm pretty sure you think the teacher is talking only to you since you answer all the questions out loud every time.  Your teachers love you and think you are the cutest!  You have a hard time pronouncing some letters and we recently made an appt. to have your speech evaluated. Although I'm pretty good at interpreting, people have a hard time understanding you and you even get pretty frustrated when Mom doesn't understand what you're trying to say.

You learned to ride a 2 wheeler this spring, although the first time you were riding circles by yourself in the driveway you kept saying/half crying 'I think I'm going to fall.'  You've done great and several times you and I have gone on a bike ride down to school or across our neighborhood.  We moved this year and you've had so much fun riding scooters and bikes in our neighborhood.  You are dying to make some friends and although there are no boys your age on our street, you've been playing a little with Bentley who is 3 and lives 2 doors down.  We know you'll make more friends when pre-school starts.

You want to be a drummer when you grow up and then you say after you are a drummer then you'll be a soccer player.

You do have a tendency to be a little mischievous.  When we told you not to touch the newly poured cement we found some dusty footprints and a few rocks thrown onto the new patio.  When asked if you did it you ran upstairs and sat in your room before we even had a chance to tell you anything. You felt really bad and sad that you had disobeyed but it was a good chance to talk about why we feel bad and how to say sorry so we can be happy again. Luckily the cement was mostly dry and there was little damage to it.



At the doctor last week you are 40 inches and 36lbs.  You were cracking Danielle the nurse up when she was giving you your eye test.  When she pointed to a flag was you called it a 4th of July flag and a hand was a glove. The way you shouted each one out was pretty funny but your eye sight is great. You got your kindergarten shots and tensed your leg so much you limped all that day and then the entire next day.  Walking through parking lots was painfully slow those 2 days but since then you've been fine.  I don't think you thought it would hurt that much and were acting very brave....but you cried when you got them and had to be carried out with your little sad face on.  We're happy they're over with.



You still love to snuggle with me and I hope you never grow out of that.  You have a tender heart and almost always are willing to help me or your family out.  You still want to do everything your sisters do so I guess it's good you are going to Pre-K at the elementary school at the same time as your sisters.  I'll look forward to the one day of the week you don't go and I get you all to myself.

We love that you are all boy, even when you want your toenails painted pink with your sisters.  We can't wait to see what this year will bring you.  I love you so much it makes my heart hurt.  You will always be my little baby boy even when you argue that point with me.

Love,
Mom

Jaron turns 4!

My cute little buddy is 4.  He's been so excited for his birthday.  We had a great time celebrating the entire weekend.  The day before his birthday my mom came and took him to Build a Bear which he was asking about all year since his sisters went for their birthday last year.  He picked out Chase from Paw Patrol and actually has been playing with him and sleeping with him a lot.  Some mornings he comes down the stairs and before I see him I hear him push his little sound in Chase to announce that Jaron is awake!




He was also so excited to have his first friends birthday party.  With us moving, he hasn't made a lot of friends yet.  So we decided to invite his sisters, cousins Landon and Owen and then his Sunbeam class.  It ended up being a lot of fun even though most the kids in his class couldn't come.  He wanted a Mario party.  So we played pin the star on Mario, hot potato which was a huge hit, and then played musical chairs, freeze dance and had pizza, cupcakes and presents.




The morning of his actual birthday we woke up and gave him his presents first thing.  He got a drum set, fidget spinner, ant farm (it's been too hot for the ants to be mailed yet!) and some clothes, (Mario PJs and a BYU shirt).  He keeps saying he wants to be a drummer when he grows up so we got him a small drum set and he has loved it.  He's so funny about it and keeps wanting people to come over and watch him play the drums.  haha.





After we did that we packed up and took all the kids to Lagoon for the first time.  I wasn't sure how it would go but we absolutely loved it.  The kids had so much fun and we were exhausted when we left. They have a ton of kid rides.  Aria is just tall enough for a few older rides and did her first legit roller coaster called Wicked.  She was so excited and as we got part way through she leaned over and said 'Mom this is kind of scary' but she liked it and I might have been more scared for her than she was since I squeezed her hand so hard the entire ride.  I rode the new ride Cannibal by myself which was super fun.  The day was really fun and we did a ton of rides.  We took our own lunch and had a spot in the shade which was nice to take small breaks. I was surprised how much shade Lagoon really has. Made it nice on such a hot day.





Sunday we celebrated his birthday with Lilly and my mom.



So Jaron had a great 4th birthday weekend and it's weird to think we really don't have any babies in our family any longer.  It's been fun to get out and do more as the kids get a bit older.

July 2017

July was a super busy month so prepare yourself for this post, we had a lot going on!!

4th of July was spent at our neighborhood parade and breakfast.  It was different not being in our old neighborhood but the kids had fun cuz at this parade kids threw candy to all those who were watching (which was no one since we all walked to the end where breakfast was being served.) So they got a lot of candy since they were towards the end and kept stopping to pick all the candy up.

That afternoon we headed over to my parents for a BBQ where the kids were excited to make a smore dessert and then of course we had our annual night at the Sandy parade and fireworks.

When we were getting decorations for their bikes, Jaron insisted on this hat.  He literally wore it all day long.  It was so cute and funny.  Every time he would take it off his hair was dripping wet from wearing it but he didn't care, he loved his hat.




I enrolled the girls in a 2 day Pony Camp.  They were so excited!  They had such a fun time.  They got to groom the horses, walk them and of course take rides on them.  They were so excited that they got to paint a real horse shoe and put a picture of them in it.




Meanwhile Jaron wasn't old enough to go and was a little put out.  So I got to take him on a date that night to get a sugar cookie.  He was even a gentlemen and insisted on opening my car door for me. At the end I told him the best way to end a hot date is with a hug and a kiss and that's what I got.  I hope he doesn't go on any other hot dates with anyone else for a very long time!



We bought a pass to American Fork canyon and have enjoyed a few trips up there.  This day we took our fishing gear and did a little fishing at Tibble Fork Reservoir. It's beautiful up there but was super crowded.  We didn't catch any fish but came really close to catching some butterflies which there were literally hundreds of them flying all over the place.  It was kind of crazy.




I will not lie, this summer has had a lot of down time.  I've worked more this summer then I have in the 4 years since I quit full time work.  So my kids have had tablet and TV time more than I care for. And sometimes we didn't have time to go anywhere so it was a game of Sorry in between some work meetings.




Draper Days never disappoints.  Even though we are sadly no longer Draper citizens, we still had to attend Draper Days. We did rides and fun on Friday night, the parade Saturday morning and then Fireworks Saturday night.  I still love Draper and especially Draper Days.




Here's a cute little story from Draper Days that I want to remember.  Shane went and got the kids all a balloon.  Jaron sat there playing with his balloon for quite a while.  Well suddenly it came untied and flew into the air. Of course tears came as I comforted him and tried to help him feel better.  Well unknowingly, one of my sister's friends was sitting near us and when she saw what happened she got up and went and got him another balloon.  When she handed it to me she said 'all my kids are teenagers and now they all want money, a car, clothes, etc. and I wish I could go back in time when all they wanted was a balloon, so here's another balloon for your little boy.'  It just really reminded me to cherish these times cuz I know they will grow up so fast and then I'll be that mom that wished I could give my boy a balloon and make everything all better.



We took a hike up to Scout falls in American Fork Canyon.  It was a longer hike than we had anticipated but the kids did great and we were rewarded with a beautiful waterfall that we got to walk behind at the end.




I signed all 3 kids up for Gymnastics.  They've been begging me all summer and I finally did it.  The girls didn't want to do dance anymore but they're excited about gymnastics and love it already.



The Pace's moved to Eagle Idaho.  Ugh...we are so sad.  I think they will really like it up there but we are sad to have them so far away.  We had a swim party before they left and then went over and said good-bye for one last group hug when they were packing up.  We hope to go visit them soon and hope they come visit often.



Here's the post I posted on Instagram about how I feel about Brigitte moving...
We were roommates for over 8 years and survived singlehood together. We both found someone to marry and survived being newlyweds together. We had kids around the same time and survived being sleep deprived together. We've loved being moms to our crazy kids together. We do everything together so when I moved earlier this year I wasn't surprised when she told me they were moving as well. The only problem is she's moving 5 hours away!!! I'm totally jealous of Idaho right now. Idaho is so lucky to be getting you. Miss you already.