Just Call Me Dorothy!!!

For those of you who do not know my mother, let me tell you a bit about her! Growing up, one of her best attributes (that I took for granted) was the fact that the house was always clean. Now, I don't mean just clean, but you could basically white glove it at any moment. Never did a dish sit unwashed, or clothes go without being folded, and never did the floor go without being vacuumed daily, or the kitchen floor washed! I don't think in all my years growing up that I ever crunched across the kitchen floor. When my dad came home from work and walked into the house, I swear she would sweep the floor after him, and it was always funny cause she would basically sweep us out the door if we were leaving on a vacation!...All of this as she worked full time, taught early morning seminary or was Relief Society President, and managed to cook dinners and attend all of our kids events!...Yes, amazing.

My Clean "Dorothy Johnson" Kitchen!!!!

Now, moving into a nice clean house to begin with has been a wonderful experience......It has taken 35 years, but I realized yesterday that my mother's influence has finally paid off!...On Friday, as the kids were eating breakfast, I was cleaning up after them right away. Their bowls were immediately washed and put into the dishwasher, the table was wiped down, the floor swept under them, and then after vacuuming the house, I swept Ethan and Gavin out the door to school! I went to mop the kitchen floor, which I can proudly say was done twice the day before. I rung out the towel (another Dorothy thing, as she never used a mop, but always a wet towel to clean the floor)...that I realized.....and had to laugh out loud as I said,..."Oh My Goodness...I have turned into Dorothy Johnson!".....I immediately called Steve to tell him how funny I thought it was, and his reply,..."Thank Goodness!"...Yes, it has only taken 35 years!

Now, is it exhausting...yes, but it sure is wonderful and makes me happy to have a very clean home. And I love when Steve comes home and dinner is on the table ready for him. I take great pride in this new house!

PineWood Derby 2010

The PineWood Derby was a big success. I was so proud of the scouts! They all participated in a couple of skits for the families to enjoy. The one about the invisible bench was my favorite.
Waiting for the cars to come down the track.

Ethan loved his car this year. Last year his car was not fast at all and he didn't win any of the races. This year, Steve put a lot of time into the car and even called Grandpa Smith for advice. He was up late shaping wheels and polishing nails, and I am not even sure what else he did to the car, but it worked. Ethan had the fastest car this year. It was great to see the big smile of pride on his face.

Easter 2010

We went up to Pappa and Nema's (Wyatt's new word for Grandma) house for our Easter celebration. Since we don't have a television, we wanted to catch some of conference, which didn't happen since Wy started to act like a Wild Guy. But, it was fun to have an Easter Egg Hunt up there. Ethan and Gavin still enjoy looking for eggs.
We had to hold them back for a bit though so that the younger kids could get some.

Could Wyatt look any more like Steve????

I think Averi ended up eating most of everyone's candy from their eggs!

Grandma had to help her reach a couple of the eggs.

Wyatt thought they were balls to throw!

Such a nice day for the family!

Reagen's New Bikini

I had to get Reagen a new bikini for summer. She can only get away with it when the fat rolls are still cute! All ready for the beach!

Our New Home

So excited to be able to move into this home. It is much larger and suits our family's needs more. It is going to be cleaned (windows washed, carpets shampooed, etc) on Monday, and then we will start moving all our stuff. I wanted to take some pictures of it empty...

The front of the house.....

living Room and front door...
more living room....

and even more pictures of the living room....can you tell how much I love it. It is so bright and I love the high ceilings and plant shelves! Can't wait to decorate them.....

The master bathroom. It has carpet in it, and Steve is going to tile the floor.....

This will be Ethan's room. He is so excited to have his own bedroom.....

This is the den that is connected to the kitchen.....and the slider to the backyard...

This is where I found Wyatt....surprise!....

This is the kitchen looking in from the den....

The second bathroom. We eventually want to tile this floor too....

This is Averi's room. We are going to stick Wy in there with her for awhile, so the boys can have their own bedrooms right now......I loved the mirrored closet doors. Perfect for a girl.

This will be Gavin's room. Of course we are going to paint the walls so they aren't pink! Gavin's window faces the fence, and he wants me to plant something colorful and beautiful outside his window. I am thinking bougenvilla!

The backyard.....

The side yard. I am going to grow a garden over in the dirt area by the fence....

The previous owners left this swing set, which is fun for the kids.....

There is also a built-in BBQ in the backyard, so we are looking forward to lots of yummy food this summer. Sooooo excited to move!

Ethan's Basketball Season

Ethan played basketball for the YMCA this year. He had an amazing coach and it really made a huge difference. Practices were fun and the games were always successful. The coach taught the kids a lot about the sport, and he was so positive. Ethan really listened to him and learned a great amount about zone defense and shooting this year.

Luckily Steve's schedule let him come to every game but one. He was always in control of Wild Guy, and the game that he wasn't there...well, this is how he acted!

Some pictures of Ethan in action....
He really improved on his ball handling and passing this year. He even scored three baskets. That was a very exciting time for the family. I love watching him succeed and the smile on his face....

After the season, the team had a party at Rusty's Pizza. Our whole family went and got to play video games and see Ethan get his award.

The whole team praying together for the last time. I always appreciated how the coach started and ended the games and practices with a prayer. It made for great morale among the tam members.

Ethan's coach had really good things to say about him. After Ethan scored a point, he ran down the court and told his coach how much fun basketball was. He coach replied to him that that is what it is all about!

Ethan with the other team members.

Happy about his medal.

Gavin just wanted to play games the whole time.

Cutest baby in the world.

And Daddy's Little Girl.....(imagine that!)

Looking forward to next year. I want to request the same coach for Ethan.

Vietnam Memorial

At Stramler Park, there was a replica of the Vietnam Memorial. It wasn't full size, but it was such a nice tribute. Since I have seen the actual wall in Washington, and Ethan is obsessed with war and history, we took the opportunity to take the kids to see it Wy didn't quite understand the whole thing and had more fun just running around.

One of the displays there to view

They had over two hundred flag all around. The kids enjoyed counting them.

Love this picture!

And this one too. (it is fun plying with my camera)

Kids enjoying the scenery.....not sure they totally understood the significance of the wall, but it was a great experience for them.

The Wall.

Now Ethan wants to take a trip to Washington D.C. to see the real thing. I told him to petition Pappa and Grandma with that one!