JULY

Summer Semester is over!! Hooray! I'm done with my Anat/Physiology courses-double Hooray! I've got 3 weeks to live up this summer :) haha we've actually been having a good time. The 4th and 24th were a blast! (pun intended-tee hee) We just went to Cherry Hill yesterday, Lagoon a week or so ago, and have been playing with cousin Finny from Cali. The kids are off to Vernal tomorrow to stay with Grandma & Grandpa Bastian as well as seeing their dad a bit. I'm off to the Bear Lake area for Trek, I'm a really excited and glad that all the final school work and Trek prep is done. I guess it's one thing after another...as always. Hope your summer is full of fun!

MAY & JUNE

Well, as many of you know I have delved into the waters of education once again :) I am trying to get into the Radiology program at Weber State University and have been working on my pre-req's for the last little bit. I just finished Biomed 1110 which is an Anatomy/Physiology class which was pretty intense since it's a summer course (we did it in half the time). Well, apparently I'm a little more insane in the "membrane" because I'm starting the next level on Monday, which originally wasn't the plan, it will run another 6 weeks. It's the same frenzied pace, but I decided that it's worth working hard to get it out of the way. The Radiology program is pretty difficult to get into, which means I HAVE to get an "A" in these two classes to have a chance. So far-so good, with much help from family and some major prayers answered I was able to get it for this last block. Now, wish me luck on the next one! It should be good, I'll be totally done with both classes in the time it would have normally taken me to do one. I'll be done August 3rd! The I apply for Radiology in January. It's been a lot of fun to learn such fascinating stuff, and fun to meet some new friends.
Blakey turned 2 May 12th! He just had 2 little friends from nursery come over to eat cake with our family. His favorite gift was a bike/trike he affectionately calls " my motorcycle". The kids are having a fun summer, they've been playing in the backyard, riding their bikes :), and playing with friends now and then. We went up to Heber & rode on "Thomas the Train" on Memorial Day-the kids loved it!! We're looking forward to going to Lagoon & Cherry Hill sometime this summer, and of course the 4th and 24th of July are just weeks away. I'm going to be going on our ward Trek in August-I'm sooo excited about that!! Yet another event we're looking forward to is a bunch of family visiting in August. My brothers: Jared & Chris and their families are coming out-so that'll be awesome! We hope you are all doing well, and hope you're enjoying summer fun!

EASTER!

Happy Easter ya'll! Today has been a blast. The kids found their "baskets" (The bunny's plan is to give them a different container each year. Last year was a sand pail/bucket, this year a storage cube.) this morning (Sat). They had alot of fun gathering up the random eggs that were all over. Sierra has gotten so good at playing hide-n-seek, that the bunny really challenged her this year-but she found her basket and the kids had fun playing with their new water guns and bath towels. Looking forward to some summer fun with those spray guns :) Then we were off to a egg hunt up at the F.H. city building. It was kindof slim pickins (bigger turnout than expected) but they did do face painting, they have a cool swing, had the Fruit Heights city mascot buffalo on hand and Sierra's best friend was there, so what more could you want right? :) Then we headed out to the cousins place for some EXTREME easter fun. They always put on a great hunt-their theme? "THEY'RE ONLY YOUNG ONCE!" Still, the company was the highlight! I love to see the kids having a blast with their cousins! Hope you have a super Easter!

A FEBRUARY FULL OF FUN!

Well, it's time to update you on all the fun! We had a fun filled Valentines day, with a special "pink-heart-pancake breakfast", a party at Sierra's pre-school and delivering Valentines at dusk with Sierra. It was the first time we've done that and we had a blast commando-ing around the groundcover to make it a fun suprise for all of Sierra's primary mates and teachers. Then came my B-day on the 19th. The big 29! Holy Moley!! Everyone was so good to me and I had a great day. Sierra just had her 4th B-day yesterday on the 22nd. It was a fun-filled day! She got to go to pre-school in the AM. We did a special spotlight of all her favorite things and people, and had some cupcakes with her buddies. Then we got to go to Chuck-E-Cheese with her Dad, his mom-Grandma Nella, Aunt Shana, Aunt Mandi, and her 5 Cousins from West Jordan. Good times! Then some more partying when we got home with my sister Andrea and her kids. Again with the spoiling!! It was a special day!
Other than that, the job scene has changed...I am now watching my friend Virginia's 3 boys a couple days each week. She has a 6 year old, an almost 4 year old, and a 1 year old. It can be hectic at times, but for the most part is going really great! It's a good fit for now, and it's working out really well for both of us. Sierra really enjoys having a buddy to play with and they've enjoyed a couple of these nice warm spring-like days out riding scooters and "the Tractor". Another event is I was released from Nursery at the end of December, looking forward to kicking back and enjoying some sweet lessons in Relief Society only to be put in as an instructor! I thought i might perish at the thought, but it has gone really well so far. I teach once a month-the 3rd Sunday. Everyone has been great sports with my "less-than-polished" teaching style, I've just decided-that's me! I just have to do my best and give the rest up to the Lord.
Voila! Thanks for checking in for the updates. Hope you have the remainder of a great month of FEVRIER!

NOEL

Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday's to everyone! Here are the kids Christmas pictures. We hope you all have a super holiday and know that we love you!
Here are some pictures of Christmas Eve out at Grandma & Grandpa Bastians in Vernal, and Christmas Morning at Grandma & Grandpa Peay's. The kids scored big time :) They had a great time getting to see alot of family which they don't get to see very often. It was a very Merry Christmas!

NOVEMBER

Well, we're off into a new month now :) I'm going to be starting work for UPS on the 27th of November doing "Pre-loading". It's going to be a bit of a bear to get used to the hours (3:30am-8am) but once we get in a good routine, it'll be great! The kids are just plugging along. Sierra is really enjoying preschool on Tues and Thurs. They've been doing alot of painting this month-fun stuff! The other day she came home from pre-school and announced "I kept my hands to myself today" very proud of herself, that's great work :) She's full of cute little sayings and loves to help. She always wants to be in the action when you're making something, or cleaning up-she helped unload the dishwasher the other day, and it was so....helpful. She stacked all the similar dishes together etc... I'm excited about future opportunities of her being a helper :) Blake is expanding his vocab everyday, he repeats back almost everything you say. Some of his latest words are: "yeah" for yes, "hold" he has to hold everything himself-so independant, "salsa" he loves tomatos and all by-products, "color" he loves to doodle and draw, and oh how he loves to sing the ABC's. He just gets a huge grin on his face when you start singing it. We're enjoying the amazing fall colors! Hope you are too!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Hope you all had a spooktacular pumpkin day! Sierra was a Little Indian and Blake was a Pumpkin. They had tons of fun going Trick-or-Treating around the neighborhood. They had already aquired way too much candy from going to other little Halloween parties and from their teachers and friends, but just the experience alone of going around was lots of fun for them! It was actually their first time going Trick-or-Treating. In Washington, we didn't take them out in Gig Harbor because the streets were very wooded and poorly lit. So, this was lots of fun! We hope you had a great October, we're excited for the Holidays ahead!

SIERRA & HER BEST FRIEND SASHA AT TEMPLE SQUARE

KIDS LIVING UP THE LAST DAYS OF SUMMER

A NEW LEAF

Here's the place you'll find our story, pictures and updates. Hope you're in for the new adventure!