Dolphin Fun Run and Carnival

We signed Palmer, Hunter and Josh (Lincoln assured me multiple times that he didn't want to do it...until the night of the run. Darn it I should have seen that coming and signed him up anyway) up for the Dolphin Fun run that our school PTA was hosting. Sad to say, the night of the fun run was rained out (can you believe all of the rain Utah has had?! More than I remember in my whole life time!). It was rescheduled for the next week on the same night as the PTA carnival. I was a little worried that it would be WAY to much going on at the same time, but it ended up being perfect. The boys would run in their races, and then go and play on the bounce houses.We love that the PTA does this fun carnival.  We had to go this year as we loved last year's carnival. 
Palmer sure has made some good friends at this school. We are sure going to miss them all (Maddy's hair is all crazy because it was spirit week. I miss out on this crazy hair day...actually I missed out on most of spirit week. Oh well, next year right? Last year was so fun!)
The three fun run participants with their new shirts on.
They were first led in some stretches. Hunter was so hilarious as he stretched. That kid is so CUTE!
The first run was a 1K for the 3rd grade and under kids.
Palmer took 6th place in that race.
Lincoln had a blast playing on the toys with his buddy Cody while the race was going on. He is going to miss that Cody, they are two peas in a pod. They always have so much fun playing together.

McKay was so afraid of the huge gorilla bounce house. Josh was trying to get him to get over his fears :) I don't think it worked...
McKay sure loves his Daddy.
McKay was actually pretty miserable. It was a little cold and he was up way past his bedtime. I ended up taking him home to feed him and warm him up a little, but it wasn't as fun for him or me as it was for everyone else...
Hunter found all sorts of friend this night. He just went off on his own and made friends with whomever he was standing in line with. This is the cutest girl from Palmer's class.
This was quite the slide. I think Palmer was trying to work up the courage to take the plunge.
I have gotten some funny faces from Palmer as he has gone down these bounce houses. Example here.
It was finally time to start the 5K. I was a little worried about Palmer running this as he had already run a 1K. But he was fine (I know he wouldn't have told me that he wasn't :) This was his 3rd 5K. His first one was here and the second one here.
Palmer ended up taking 1st place in kids and 3rd place overall. He ran the whole way, which Josh was very proud of. It was fun for them to get to do it together. He ran the race in 30:19. It is about a 10 minutes mile. I hate to say that it is faster than I did my last 5K in. He is pretty driven. Josh ended up taking 3rd place in the mens category.
Palmer was supposed to be in a 50 yard dash, but was still running the 5K, so Lincoln got to take his spot much to his delight. He did really well and took 6th place.
Hunter was by far the youngest kid in the 50 yard dash and was way shorter than everyone as well. He was such a trooper though and ran his little heart out.
When Palmer finished with his 5K, he immediately went to find out what race he could run next and ended up running in the "big kid" 50 yard dash. I was ready to drop just watching him.
We had hot dogs, free cotton candy (free is always a plus) and soda for dinner and Hunter was wearing it all on some part of him or other :)
They had an awards ceremony after the races were over and Palmer was thrilled to have won a bag full of goodies!
The boys have talked about this fun night non-stop. It was a great adventure.

Watch Dog Dad

At our wonderful school (have I mentioned how sad I am to leave our elementary school. We have had the best experience there) they have a program called "Watch Dogs" It is when dads of students get to be at the school for the day and help out with things. Josh got to do it last week and he loved being with the kids.
Palmer's class got to go on a field trip to a park to eat lunch and play kick ball (Palmer's favorite) and Josh got to tag along. Then he went and spent some time in Lincoln's classroom. What a rare experience to have your dad at school with you.
Have I mentioned how much our boys adore Josh? I am sure I have a few hundred times. I love the look on Lincoln's face in this picture. That is exactly what he thinks of his daddy. Josh will go with them in our "wilderness" and explore and teach and love and encourage. I love how patient his is with them. How he listens to them and their thoughts about life.
I love how our boys know that they are his number 1 priority. A lot of times Josh is absolutely swamped at work and will bring home a million and one things that he needs to do. He never does them until they go to bed. A lot of nights I will find him laying down with the boys in their bed talking to them about life.
I thank Heavenly Father EVERY DAY for this amazing man and his fathering/husbanding skills.

Hunter Graduates from Preschool

Hunter graduated from Jacque's preschool a week ago. It was such a good night for us. I always love this program. It is so good and I sit on the verge of tears through the whole thing. I loved Lincoln's last year and Palmer's the year before that as well.
The decorations are so amazing and I just sit and feel like I am kid graduation heaven.

Miss Jacque is the queen of organization and order. I LOVE this about her and her preschool. We had to request our tickets WAY in advance and then we got a couple of "ticket confirmations". The kids had a rehearsal for their program and that night we received a diagram of the stage with a mark indicating where Hunter was sitting so we could sit in a good place to see him and get pictures. The night of the graduation we got those CUTE tickets above. The whole thing is A.MA.ZING.
They call each of the kids' names as they go under the "Inching our Way to College" arch. My camera was on a weird setting that I wasn't aware of and the pictures are blurry. Lame.  Just picture his cute little face on that blurry body :)  My white balance was also way off.  oh well.

He sat smiling at Josh and me. I love the most how these kids feel like a million dollars. My little sister Michelle just graduated from USU and my brother David graduated from Westminster with his MBA last night (so cool right? I am so proud of him). Any time Hunter hears about someone graduating he whispers to me "I graduated too". I love it.
They began the program with the Pledge of Allegiance. I love that Hunter knows that. He worked hard to pass it off.

Hunter got to hold up the November sign. They go through each month of the year with a poem and song to go with it.


"T" is my new favorite letter :)

He sang every song with such passion with his brow furrowed. I love my little boy.



The patriotic songs are my favorite. They also sing the song that was the theme for the 2002 Olympics. I always get chills when they sing it. Hunter looked me in the eyes through the whole song. I LOVED that moment. I will never forget it.
At the end of the program they each get their diploma, the memory book they have worked on all year and they are asked what they want to be when they grow up. Hunter had told us he was going to say he wanted to be a "ninja". I was totally looking forward to that. He changed his mind at the last moment however and said he wanted to be a police officer. That is three for three of our kids that have said they wanted to be that when they grow up. I actually think they all still want to be police officers.
The proud graduate.
His very proud family :)

Lunch with Hunter

I always love a chance to get each of my boys to myself and it is an even better treat to have Josh along. Hunter's preschool program was last Saturday and as we did with Lincoln last year, and Palmer the year before that, we took him out to lunch at Marie Calendars. It is in the same parking lot as our preschool and we smell their good lunch on all of our preschool days, so it is a fun treat to get to go there.
Hunter was so excited about his Preschool Graduation. He kept asking me "how many sleeps" until the big day. I love how he talks. Hunter always goes a little nuts when we pull out the camera :)
He is such a fun and SILLY kid.

Hunter was so fun on this little date. He told us all of his favorite things about school and friends.
He also made us laugh quite a bit :)
He was so cute. He kept going between sitting by me and sitting by Josh. He wanted us to both get equal love I guess.
We got some pie at the end of the night and Hunter LOVES to stick whipped cream on his face, so Dad helped him out with this. Hunter thought it was pretty great.