First Day of the 2013-2014 School Year

For fourth grade Erick continued at Fay Galloway. He was supposed to have his 3rd grade teacher Mrs. Bashor again, she was going to move up with her whole class but retired at the last minute. So they hired Ms. Validivia. She was new to teaching and Fay Galloway so they had a rough year, but at least he had a lot of friends and his cousin Cole in his class. That helped a lot!!!

Rachel started 6th grade at Mannion Middle School and loved all the differences Middle School brought... changing classes, her own locker, fun teachers that love their job, and just feeling older:) This school year we carpooled with the Stearmans, and she started the first day of school with her friend Tori.

Summer 2013

We love summer around here because Rachel, Erick, and mom have 3 months together to have fun!!! Bounce U with the Stearmans and friends from the ward was one of our first adventures!

We had some visitors once over the summer, Brian's brother Brandon, his wife Cara, and their cute little guy Jacob. They came down for a job possibility and the kids just love having little ones around!

We spent the fourth of July holiday in St. George with our darling cousins and the rest of the Eves clan. We went swimming, had a BBQ, did sparklers and watched a display by Ryan and his assistant Erick. I love the red, white, and blue spirit!!!

Another fun adventure was to the newly built Kids Discovery Museum. The kids especially enjoyed the art stations, water world, and Erick liked the Lego station. We went with our friends the Moyes.

Being that the Eves clan enjoys sports of all kinds we took a trip to Angels Stadium for a fun game and beach trip! Although I didn't get any pictures of the beach the kids all tried body surfing which was a bit disastrous because of all the rocks!

After California we headed to Alpine, Utah for a Haynes reunion hosted by Brian's cousin Tiffany Frazier and her family. They had a meet and great kickball and cookies event at a park Friday, then we all went to their house Saturday. The rented a rock climbing wall and a couple of water bounce houses. The kids had a great time and weather was beautiful!!!

In preparing to return to school Rachel and I took a trip to the salon to get her haircut and thinned out, LOOK AT ALL THAT HAIR!!!

We ended the summer with attending a concert performed by Rachel and some other girls in our ward that took voice lessons from a professional singer in our ward Sonna Robison. (She even has a music video she performed while living in New Zealand.) I was really proud of Rachel for really going out of her comfort zone and singing a solo from The Princess and the Frog called "ALmost There." What a summer!!!

End of the School Year Awards

In third grade Erick recieved the "Principal's Award" from his teacher, Mrs. Bashor. The teachers write a very nice letter to the recipients and the Principal reads it to everyone at the awards assembly. In the letter she mentions that Erick is an independent spirit, cheerful, willing to help others, and has an enthusiasm for learning. All very nice compliments, we were so thankful that Rachel and Erick got to have her. She created a lot of special experiences for them including a Valentines lunch where the boys learned how to be gentlemen and everyone learned about manners and they got to drink sparkling cider and make toasts. They also had an ice cream party where they earned toppings by memorizing their multiplication facts.

In fifth grade Rachel was awarded the "Citizenship Award" from her teacher, Mrs. Lake. Rachel had a lot of responbilities her teacher trusted her with and always had great behavior!! At the end of the awards ceremony all the fifth graders sang a song to their parents, hearing it made me realize how mature Rachel is getting and that she was on her way to MIDDLE SCHOOL!!!

Summer Fun

We finally got a chance to check out the new "Kids Discovery Museum" next to the Smith Center. It was levels of fun and activities!

Another fun thing we did this summer was go to California to go to the beach, ate and Knotts Berry Farm Restaurant for some finger lickin chicken, attended an Angels game at Angels Stadium with the whole Eves family, and went to the beach where many attempted to boogie board/body surf but few were successful!

Towards the end of the summer Brian's cousins hosted a Haynes family reunion in Alpine, Utah. The kids (and adults;) had a great time on rock climbing wall, swimming, and playing in the bounce houses. The food and company were great! We had a lot of fun wearing costumes and mustaches for the photo booth. Brian's looks so natural, he didn't want to take it off!

Rachel really showed a lot of courage this summer before starting middle school. She likes to sing and we have a professional singer in our ward who was offering group singing lessons so a bunch of girls from our ward did a concert for all the families, and they each had to perform a SOLO!! Rachel chose "Almost There" from Princess and the Frog. She did great, but was really nervous, as I am sure we all would be! Here is a picture with her singing coach, Sonna Robison.

Rachel and Erick spent a lot of time with friends at the local pools. At our last pool trip of the summer, I snapped a few shots of them going off the high dive!

End of the Year Piano Recital

This one long post will be about a lot of the fun things we did this summer. The kids had a piano recital (not so fun for them, but we love watching them play and build confidence as they work hard to memorize songs and complete goals!)

Fourth of July 2013

This year we spent our fourth in St.George with most of the Eves side of the family. We did all the traditional things: swimming, BBQ, lit fireworks, and watched the big show at the Sun Bowl from the hill.

Summer Basketball

This summer Erick played in a basketball league and was lucky enough to get on the same team with 2 of his cousins!

Erick, Kyle, and Cole were making up plays for them to run together, they played hard and really enjoyed a chance to play together. It was fun to have so much family supporting each other at the games!