First karate competition

 We spent last weekend in Ogden, for Luke and Dewey's very first Karate Competition. The picture above sums up Luke's attitude. He wasn't worried, nervous, nothing. He just walked out there all intense and ready. I burst into tears watching him. I was so emotional thinking about this amazing boy who has accomplished so much. (tears were a pattern for me)

 This was his weapons routine. He was amazing!!

Out of the four finalist he took second!!!

 Next came sparring, he started with "first timers".

 He did great went point for point.

 But in the end lost by 2 points. Then it was on to his actual division sparring. Much more intense, again he got right in there but almost immediately took a kick to the ribs. Instantly I started sobbing, I knew he was fine but it didn't help. His Sensei came over to me and told me to knock it off and not to let Luke see me. (rightly so)  Luke got right back in there and finished the fight and never said one word about being sore. So he is warrior, I am a WIMP.

 Dewey started Karate a little over a month ago and has been hooked ever since. His sparring didn't go as planned, we thought it would be in the afternoon, but they called him up as Luke was doing sparring in another ring at 10am. So Dewey had to run over and suit up without stretching or preparing.

 Even so I think he did great!!!! Not great pictures since I was running back and forth. But I'm so proud of him for getting in there and giving it his all.

 Luke also performed a Korean traditional routine.

 He did fantastic but didn't place in his division.

 Happy boys showing off their competitor wrist bands.

 Auntie Liz and Uncle Gary drove up on Saturday to support the family.

 It really was a great weekend. We got to spend time getting to the know the competition team better. Wonderful kids and family members. We all went to eat Saturday afternoon and had a blast.

 Kolby was so supportive. He also takes karate and loves it. But so far has said he has no interest in competing. So he stuck with me as we went from ring to ring cheering everyone on.

Luke ending up with three gold trophies and the orange ribbon he is wearing is his second place. He is 100% hooked, since we have been home all he talks about is the next competition. And we found out yesterday he is ready to test for his orange belt. One happy happy boy.

Kolbys Birthday

Kolby turned 7 in February. That's right my baby..... is 7. If you know him you know he is the happiest smiliest kid ever.When we asked him what he wanted to do for his party he said he wanted a minion party at our house and to invite his entire class. Well why not, being a Pinterest addict I knew there were tons of ideas for just such a party. And as it turned out there was a much smaller turn out then we planned on so the seven kids that were there made it just right.

We started by making minion beaded bracelets or necklaces, they got to choose yellow or purple minions.

Then it was time to make robot cookies, cookies, candy and icing not hard to imagine that going over well.

Remember the carnival scene in the first Despicable me? Thanks to some art work by Dewey some yellow cups and Nerf guns we did a pretty good job of recreating it.

Kids, Nerf guns, shooting at something also a big hit.

I love love that all the kids help sing and then blow the candles out.

We happened to run across a minion pinata that we couldn't pass up. Kids blind folded with a big stick INSIDE the house.... always a good idea.
In the end Kolby had a really good time. I'm not sure we will do another birthday party at the house. But it never hurts to try something once. 

Karate

 Karate....what can I say it has pretty much taken over our lives. About 6 months ago we signed up the boys for karate. My theory when it comes to sports is "try everything and see what sticks". We have tried wrestling and soccer. Both were fun but no real excitement, I thought that's what this new adventure would be.  Wrong!! From the first class both Luke and Kolby LOVE LOVE it.

 We started two days a week. Every class Kolby would smile and have fun. Luke took to it with an intensity we had not seen before. They both earned stripes and it didnt take Luke long to earn his yellow belt.

 Kolby was not far behind him.

 Before we started my sum total knowledge of karate was having watched the "Karate Kid" (wax on wax off) and I had heard of Bruce Lee. I would like to say I'm an expert now but that's far from the truth. I am learning more and more every day though. We were incredibly lucky to find an amazing Dojo and Sensei. The Dojo has a competition team that Luke tried out for and made. This means he has class 5 days a week. Even with that many hours in he still comes home to continue practicing.

 So our former playroom now looks like this.

 His first competition is in a few weeks. He is beyond excited. I don't know quite what to expect having never seen one. I'm hoping for the best, and trying not to be an overprotective mom by saying things like "wait is my baby going to get hit". I know with Luke's size the confidence he gets from this is immeasurable. And as long as he has the passion for it he seems to I'll support him all the way.

So far Kolby says he is not interested in competing and is happy with his two day a week classes. If both boys are happy I'm happy.

Disneyworld vacation

 So I hope you don't mind but I'm going to jump around a little getting caught up on posts. And no better place to start then our FABULOUS vacation in January. We flew to Florida and met Nana, Grandpa Dave, Uncle Patrick, Uncle Jordan and Aunt Shay (my family) It started with receiving Disney new wrist bands in the mail. These little bands handled everything, park passes, express pass, hotel room key, charge it...yep, everything. So so easy, no need to carry a wallet or anything else.

 The pictures are also not in a timeline order, we got to take many boat rides (which I LOVED) and most of them looked like this.

 Luke was always up for taking a picture with the characters.

 Its harder then it looks to take a picture with your phone while your riding a ride, but you can still see a few family members on Dumbo.

 We did a lot of exploring, I loved the boardwalk, water and coffee all my favorite things.

 Rock n' Roller coaster, you betcha. Luke and Kolby really wanted to ride it but once their hoods were off they were not quite tall enough.

For the first couple days we were there the Christmas decorations were still up. Its hard to tell but the castle was literally dripping in lights. 

 The boys ADORE their uncles, they were in heaven spending a week solid with them at the happiest place on earth.

 The boys lost their minds over hats, Uncle Patrick bought them these with their names on them.

 It was a little weird for Dewey and I. On the second day we noticed we were holding hands and walking just the two of us, The boys happily walking with an uncle.

 Are you noticing some pictures we are wearing shorts, some we are bundled up in coats? Yep it was that kind of weather, luckily we packed for it.

 Epcot family photo

 Mickey and Minnie photo op

 This picture of Kolby and Patrick cracks me up every time I look at it. They are wearing the Bugs Life 3D glasses.

 I thought this part of Animal Kingdom was beautiful. The Everest ride is in the background. We rode it many many times, to say Luke and Kolby are roller coaster fans is a huge understatement.

 We loved Epcot and all the countries. One night The "Littles" stayed with Nana and Grandpa so the bigger kids could go exploring. We spent the night at EPCOT and had a blast. We laughed and "sampled" each country. Tons of fun :)

 Luke turned 9 while on vacation. He got a button to wear so that everyone we ran into wished him a Happy Birthday. For him this was only natural :) Nana and Grandpa Dave bought him a cake, because you can't miss out on making a wish. He got to go birthday shopping at the LEGO store, a happier kid you have never seen. He declared it the best birthday ever.

 Of course we needed a photo with Kolbys favorite "Cars".

 Remember the hats thing, Grandpa Dave bought Kolby this one and Luke Mickey Wizard hat he is wearing in some of the pictures. Lost their minds over hats.

 More then a few nights were spent like this. They were such little troopers since we pretty much ran all day every day.

 One night was spent enjoying the Christmas street, music and "snow", magical.

 And all to soon the vacation was over, and we were boarding a plane to go home.

This was a vacation of a lifetime. Before having kids I had a image in my head of how I would like things to be. This was it, the boys spending time with family on a wonderful vacation. We will be forever thankful to Nana and Grandpa Dave for everything they did to make it happen.

Quick post to say WE ARE BACK!!!

I know its been 9 months since I last posted. And I'm just going to be honest here, I would look at the blog it would make me sad and I would close it. We went through a LOT of very hard changes with family last year. In simple terms it was devastating. But as I have mentioned several times over the years I am ever the optimistic. I believe things happen for a reason and try to look on the bright side.

Dewey, me and the boys are blessed with health and happiness. We enjoy a wonderful life full of adventure. And I am going to get back into the habit of posting about it.

So stay tuned for more posts and pictures.

Oh and we got a wonderful new blog makeover by Nikki at Blogs for a cause. To start us off with a fresh new look.

3rd installment

A little funny that it took me three posts to actually get to the Grand Canyon pictures. But it was just that good of a vacation.

So Sunday morning we woke up early to go to the Wild West Show the train company put on. Since we have been home I can't even count how many times the boys have replayed the shoot outs. And how many times I have heard "No I get to be the sheriff".

Then it was time to board the train. Luckily for us our wonderful neighbors who had already taken the train gave us a book all about the ride before we left home. So we had all kinds information that we would not have known without the book.

Riding a train might just be my new favorite way to travel. Its nice and slow with comfy seats. Big windows for me to look out. This particular train had musicians come through to entertain us.

And of course I took pics along the way, Cute grandma and grandpa. I have to say a very good way to reach the Grand Canyon.

Of course I have heard about how magnificent the Grand Canyon is. It did not disappoint. It really is so big its hard to comprehend it, a little overwhelming.

So happy that our Grand Canyon first time was with shared with family.

There is a walk way that I have no idea how far it goes. We walked along for about a mile looking at the views. There was tons of educational stops along the way that was right up my nerd alley. The boys thought the rocks and how old each one was was pretty cool.

Love these two!

This might be one of my new favorite pictures of all time.

You really could stay for days just looking at everything. For us it was a few hours. We had a wonderful lunch at a hotel with windows overlooking the Grand Canyon, a little surreal.

All to soon it was time to leave so back on the train for us. I think the highlight of the boys trip was the train "robbery" that happened on the way back. The "robbers" (who we found out were retired and off duty police officers) rode along side the train. At just that moment the train ran into trouble and had to stop. The "robbers" came through each car. Can you just imagine the boys faces as this happened? Then the sheriff came though and we all cheered for him to catch the "robbers". So fun!

Oh you might think we are done... but no. There will be one last post, just that good people :)