Steed Visit June 2016

The Steed family (Matt's sister Steph and crew) came to visit so we could take them to the Flight of the Conchords concert. It was amazing, and the ice cream was delicious.

We celebrated Josh's 8th birthday with them here.

If we do cakes for all the birthdays and all the parties in our family, we end up with too much cake in one week. So Josh chose a tower of cookies for this celebration.

I love how excited he gets about presents. A few things he opened: a Nerf gun with extra bullets, Invention kit and Magic Show kit from Grandma Cheri, soccer ball, a green frisbee from Jude, and green Gatorade.

It was too hard not to take pictures of Baby Jack half the time. 

The frisbee flew over the fence right away, but fortunately Teague was there to lift Jude over to get it.

Do you like the pretty back of our house? I'm not sure it will ever get done. There's too much work to do inside first.

Can't get enough of these cousins and their cuteness.

There was lots of nail painting during the visit, per usual.

Grandma always shows the boys new cool games on her phone when she comes.

We took our little Steph siblings and their husbands to sushi, and we took the Steeds to see Pike Place.

It's hard to say goodbye when you know you won't get to wake up to this every morning. 

Jude's Preschool Graduation 2016

Jude and his friends didn't get a preschool graduation ceremony with their teachers, so some friends organized a graduation party at the church gym. They made cupcakes, caps, and brought pizza and activities. Mormon moms know how to throw a kid party.

Liz directed everyone in Simon Says, and Brittney made certificates to give them when they walked across the stage.

These are some of our favorite friends, Liam, Alex, and Sloan.

Jude's actual preschool had an end-of-year party at the park. His teachers Katy and Sunita were wonderful. 

Jude is so excited to go to kindergarten and ride the bus with Josh!

Josh Turns 8

Oh Joshy, here I am 9 months after your 8th birthday wishing I had written you a little letter so you knew exactly what your eight-year-old self was like. I'm going to try to comment on these pictures so you have an idea. You have grown SO MUCH since then.

You had school on your birthday, and your teacher decided to have one big ice cream party to celebrate all the summer birthdays. Since you were afraid of throwing up (milk allergy), I brought you your own special chocolate sprinkled doughnut for the party. Everyone was jealous.

At 8 years old, you love counting your money and saving it up for awesome things, like a PS4.

You are also starting to be really brave and try new foods. This is the time you discovered that you like dumplings at Din Tai Fung.

Sometimes you help me cook, especially when it's something you love, like chicken pot pie. You've also learned how to make eggs and toast for yourself.

You usually sleep on the top bunk, where you keep dozens of books and blankets. You like to stay up really late reading all the Harry Potter books over and over, so we have to persuade you to try new books. Sometimes Grandpa Murray sends you his favorite books and offers you money to finish them, like Johnny Tremaine. You like pretty much every book you read.

You like to practice typing on the laptop  and texting on my phone.

You are a really good friend to Jude, and you help him learn new games all the time.

You started Cub Scouts a little early because I'm your den leader. You actually like it a lot more than this picture shows.

One requirement from your Bobcat was that you think of five adults you trust and can go to for help. You chose Mom, Dad, teacher (Mr. Thomas), baseball coaches (Matt and John), and Uncle Steven. I love it when you get along with grown-ups.

This is from a day we took a family nature walk by the lake. See how your little brother and sister follow you around? They do everything you do. 

This is your super nice teacher, Mr. Thomas, and your 2nd grade class.

You wrote a note welcoming the incoming second graders, and gave really good advice.

Eight-year-old Josh is a great helper, loves to learn new things (especially board games), and gives amazing hugs. You come upstairs every night about an hour after bedtime to give Dad your flashlight so you won't be tempted to keep reading and stay up all night. This is a few minutes each night that we get with just Josh, to talk in the quiet and get extra snuggles. Don't ever stop being our buddy!