It's all about....Kyle!

A couple of weeks ago, Kyle competed in a state geography bee. Rob and I took him to Boise for the competition. It was so much fun to spend time one-on-one with him. We just don't get the opportunity often enough to have that quality time with each of our kids so this was a trip all about Kyle. He finished in the top 30 for the competition. Most of the competitors were middle school aged kids. We are so excited and proud of him! He is such a great kid!!

Kyle got to pick the activities for the trip. Of course, first and foremost, he had to take a walk on the smurf turf. He even caught a pass. This had to have been the highlight of the trip. I am pretty sure that he is going to be convincing Rob that they need to go see a Boise State football game next fall.

Outside of the stadium.

This is the certificate that he was presented with after finishing the geography bee. He was pretty excited about it!

Some of the highlights for the trip include: dinner at Johnny Carino's with turtle cheesecake of course, geography bee, smurf turf, lunch at PF Chang's, 4 new shirts including a BSU (bright orange - what is it with this family and orange), 2 new hats (BSU and Seahawks), Cabela's, and a stop off at the Malad Gorge. We had a great weekend! Kyle is such a good kid! We love you, Kyle! Thanks for the awesome weekend!

If you notice, the sun was shining in all of the pictures. That was the last time we saw the sunshine!

Ahhh sunshine...and softball!

This past weekend we took a quick trip to Mesquite for a softball tournament. We were fortunate enough to leave two of the kids with Rob's brother in Utah so that we only had two kids traveling with us. (Thanks Brian and Tiff!)

Kali played on the 18U team for the Diamond Queens! She did an amazing job! She threw a perfect game - no hits, no walks, no one even got on base. We were pretty proud of our little Idaho freshman throwing against some of those California and Vegas girls. Her team hasn't even practiced outside yet this year. They took 3rd place in the tournament and had a great time.

The best part about it was that we got to see the sunshine! It was 63 degrees but it felt like summer. This morning we had two hour late start because we got nearly 6 inches of snow! I am wishing that we could go back to the sunshine next weekend.

Kali has two more basketball games left in her season before we get into softball full time! She is counting down the hours of practice time! Crazy kid just can't get enough softball!

Great job Kali!

Where in the world....?

Are you smarter than a 6th grader?

Do you know what two states border the Wabash River? What country celebrates the holiday called Tet? What is the highest peak in Africa? Because Kyle knows these things and many more crazy facts. That is why he won the school geography bee. He studied really hard by watching the Planet Earth DVDs (thanks to Grandma and Grandpa McMinn) and National Geographic online. We are so proud of him!

When the questions were being read, Rob and I would just look at each other not knowing what the answers were going to be and Kyle would answer with confidence. Taryn was also watching the competition and the smile on her face was priceless as her brother kept answering the questions correctly. She was so proud of him!

Way to go, Kyle! We love you!

Brooke - It's Great to be Eight!

Brooke had a very special weekend! She turned 8 last month and was baptized last week. We were so blessed to have lots of family share the day with us even though the weather was not very good! We know there were families who wanted to come but could not make it! We appreciate all of your love and support! It is so sad to think that our baby is reaching some key milestones! We are so proud of the choices that she is making!

Brooke is such a sweet girl! She has a heart bigger than anyone I know. If you know Brooke, she is your friend. Her personality is larger than life!

Brooke has been talking about her special day for a long time!

Taryn can't miss an opportunity to get in a picture! She was proud of Brooke too! Taryn played her first violin musical number. She played "I Am a Child of God" and it was beautiful! I think that she has a natural talent!

Brooke loves to sing, dance, play the piano, read, go to school, and play with friends. She is excited to start softball this spring and follow in her big sister's foot steps.

Dancing is one of Brooke's favorite things to do! It drives her brother and sisters crazy but it keeps her busy! We love those happy feet!

We love you, Brooke!

We are so proud of the choices you are making and the beautiful girl that you are becoming!

Merry Christmas to you all!

Pick and Six

Kyle LOVES football. He is a linebacker. I know he is not the biggest linebacker but he loves to tackle, sack, and intercept. He is the only one in our house that is wishing he could gain some weight. In his first game, he intercepted a pass and ran it back for a touch down. (His sisters were the biggest cheerleaders ever - I have never seen them so excited for him. It was pretty cool!) He was so excited! He is the captain of the defensive team and really knows what he is doing out on the field!

Check him out! (#3)
Trying to block a pass!

Our star football player!

Back to School and Labor Day

The kids went back to school just before Labor Day. Fortunately, we are still only in two schools but unfortunately, one of those schools is high school. Crazy to think that Kali is old enough to be a freshman this year. (And she loves it!) About a week before school started, I asked her if she was excited to start seminary. She looked at me and said, "Mom, I don't even know what that is. I am only taking it because you signed me up." Oops - I forgot to tell her about great it is! Now it is her favorite class. Kyle is in 6th grade which is still at the grade school. Taryn is in 5th and Brooke is in 2nd. You would think that I would have free time with all of my kids gone but I don't.

We spent Labor Day at the cabin in Island Park. I can't believe that there is already snow on those mountains. It was melted before we left but is got pretty cold while we were there.

Rob's dad and brother let us borrow their four wheeler, so we took the kids on a 2 hour ride up the divide road. It started to get pretty chilly by the time we were done but we had a great time!

It was a quick weekend but it was nice to get away and relax for a few day anyway! Just gotta love this little family of mine!

Summer Fun

So my pictures got a little out of order and it is taking too long to fix. We had a family reunion for the McMinns. We kind of threw together a crazy weekend to get the family together. We took a 100 foot long slip and slide to a park here in town and the kids loved it! We also had a campfire with s'mores and played mafia, the boys went golfing, had a barbecue and took the kids miniature golfing. We had a great weekend.
A little bit of the action!

Summer came and went way too fast this year! Most of our weekends were spent at the ball field. It is a good thing that Kali loves the sport or I might go crazy. Let's just sum it up with two teams, (Flash and Diamond Queens) twelve tournaments, and only two free weekends between the end of April and August. I worry about burn out but she can't wait until the next practice or game. She has already started fall ball. I wish that I had some stats for her but that is Rob's job. She really is doing a great job!

I don't know how she does it!

Just so you know, the coach only kissed her! :)

Rob loves coaching but it will be nice when she plays high school ball for him to actually just sit down and enjoy the game!

With a face like that, I am sure that she struck the batter out! Now that is determination.

We did have one weekend to sneak a trip to Washington in. The kids had so much fun playing with cousins, swimming, riding grandpa's four wheelers, picking watermelon, and just hanging out with grandpa and grandma.

Kyle went to scout camp and earned 6 merit badges and finished another up when he got home. I am so glad that he has great leaders to help him get the job done. He was pretty excited because Rob got to go with him. He also went on an overnight hike that he said was "really hard!" We are so proud of his hard work and achievements in scouts.

Taryn and Brooke finished up another year of clogging. Still loving every minute of it but Taryn has given up her tap shoes for violin strings this year. She is really excited about this new adventure!