All 3 little musicians earned points over the past 3 weeks in order to earn these bionicles from Abba. Those are proud and happy smiles! Thanks Abba!

From the time they were very young, Liza has had the boys mesmerized by her magical powers. Tonight she made one of their toys disappear and then magically brought it back!

The boys were playing with their new bionicles before bed tonight when I approached them and said, "have the bionicles brushed their teeth? They need to know that at our house we brush our teeth before bed."
Jonah replied, "Well at their house, raw jaw has bloody teeth."

Jonah and Uncle Duane

We spent a few hours at Grammy's house tonight with the fam and of course, with Sparky and Flannery!

A mini-concert by twin mini-pianists on Judy's baby grand! They were so eager to show Grammy their new talents!

Liza almost measures up to cousin Dezy!

Kev overheard Jonah asking Christian tonight, "How much do you love me?" Christian replied, "Hat. Hat. Hat" which must have been the right answer because it seemed to suffice for Jonah! Both twins have been asking Christian to rate his love for them on scales of different types all evening. Christian's answers have usually been more quantifiable like "a jillion bagillion zazillion papillion infinity and beyond." It's been very sweet.
After tucking them all in tonight, I went back down to check on them a few minutes later to find this scene in full swing! They actually did fall asleep all together (they called it their "sleepover").

The huge beetle the boys found in our garage tonight....Dane set him free in the back yard and was so excited watching the little guy crawl into a bunch of flowers saying, "It's his nest! He has found his nest!" I'm just glad no one smashed him; the gut factor would have been off the charts in nastiness.

Papa and Abba took Liza and Elsie on a SLC overnighter at the downtown Marriott last night! They went toy shopping, rode trax, ate at Zupas, watched movies and had breakfast at Village Inn; phew! Liza had a great time; thanks Mom and Dad :)

These two loVE each other and it's so fun to see their faces so close; they are so similar to each other!

...while Liza was in the water!

The boys played racquetball...

Jonah is the closest boy on the front row; Dane is one behind and one to the right of Jones. Our little kindergartners are growing up :(

I've been trying to get a pic of liza at school, but she sits all the way up in the front row so it's been kind of tricky...she is doing well as a 5th grader (rulers of our elementary school)!

Christian has just learned to put his whole face under the water and hold his breath!

Ahoy, Jones!

Swimmer Liza! Go Liza Go!

Kindergartners!

Cousins came to play! Christian is especially attached to Jessa and Elsie these days. They love playing house and pets.

Liza had so much fun helping Jones get ready for his first day of Kindergarten this morning! Poor Dane was too sick to go today, so he will have his own first day to be excited about soon. Liza woke Jonah up, got him all dressed in his uniform, helped pack his backpack, eat breakfast,.... She even walked him into his classroom all the way to his desk and got him situated before going to her own classroom! This will be a fun year for our three oldest to get to be in school together!

Ready to go!!! First day of school ever!!!

Jonah's first few moments as a school-child!! He did great today and seemed to really enjoy himself!

Dane helped spray paint his bike black this morning. The light blue he chose last year doesn't agree with him anymore (too "girly")! Hopefully a few coats of manly black will solve this one.

Christian always responds to my frequent invitations to help in the kitchen. Today we made peanut butter bars; he was quite the chef.

....and played racquetball!

While Liza swam, the boys and I rock climbed....

Liza and Kaili at their first swim team practice! They swam 30 laps, learned ready position, kicking off the wall, hand positions.... and turbo-ed through it all! Fish!

Tonight, Christian made a playdough pet turtle and brought him down to his bed to snuggle. In a moment of quiet he said to me, "My pet has a name but it is a bad word." I said "oh, really? Well, what is it?" He looked all around the room to be sure no one was listening, rested his chin in his hand, looked up at my eyes and whispered, "Freak."

Cousins :)

Jonah, Dane, and Justice wrestling at Abbas

When Jonahs foot got stung by a bee tonight at Abbas, he hardly made a peep...in fact, he said so little, I didn't beleive he had actually been stung! He just laid on the grass, held his foot and said, "Oh, ya, now I remember what it feels like to get stung by a bee...." It wasn't until I saw the inflammation, redness and the bite site that I realized he was serious; this is one tough kid!

Grandkids at the pirate ship

With some help from Liza, Christian went to his first birthday party today at Carter Kringlen's house! Highlights were a piñata, swings, bouncy house and pizza.

Liza and I worked a ton on rearranging and decorating her room today; it is feeling much more personal and cozy. She kept thanking me over and over.... apparently absence made her heart grow fonder...(I was long overdue on this project)!

They're really getting it!

Twinnie Soccer!

We got to go to Elsie's 5th Birthday party at Build A Bear today; needless to say each of our kids is snuggling with a new soft fuzzy bear tonight; we had a great time!

Tramp Bouncing

The kids have become soccer junkies this summer; we all had a great time playing together tonight under this beautiful sunset.

Yes, this is REAL!

Liza: Christian, how much do you like Jonah?
Christian: Infinity and beyond

Christian often ends his sentences with questions these days, the way the British do....only instead of asking "can't they?" or "doesn't it?" he tacks ,"can they?" or "does it?". Today he asked one of his all time ultimate best questions when he said, "Mom, Jesus can get out of a black hole, can He?".

Another hilarious moment with him today was when he asked me if ghosts can be ripped.....He followed up with, "They made out of sheets, are they?!"

I thought this was so hilarious of Christian sneaking up to Jonah's testing room and clandestinely peeking in.

Dane and Jones got to hang out in their kindergarten room with their teacher, Mrs. Huber, today, who was testing them for their reading and math levels. They like her alot, and she is very impressed with them scholastically, so it should be a great year!

This photo was taken right after Liza set Jonah down from the biggest bear hug I have ever seen her give. She has waited a loooooong time to have siblings at school with her, and even though the boys were just there for testing today (kindergarten officially starts Monday), Liza's warm welcome let them know they'd be looked out for for the whole year!

Dane and Liza on the playground together! They were so happy to see each other!