Ladybug Launch

Yesterday was the annual ladybug launch here at the Daybreak gardens. Thousands of ladybugs are let go into the gardens to help eat the bad bugs. This was our first time doing it and boy was it fun. The boys were able to let the bugs crawl around and play with them as much as they wanted. We were one of the lucky ones that got our own container and in each container was at least 500 ladybugs. Of course we shared ours with other kids. I'm glad we live in a community that does all these fun family activities, we love it here! (Cameron did sneak a ladybug home with him too. They "lost" it in the yard last night.)

Oh and on a side note, they posted a picture of this on the Daybreak facebook page and guess who it was a picture of...our boys' container of ladybugs. Of course you can't see any faces but we can see Chris' arms, Colby's arm and Cameron's foot. Pretty cool, huh.

Wonder what Cameron's thinking here!

Colby's Guardian Angel

Last night on our way home Colby was inquiring about Memorial Day and what it meant. Chris explained to him that it was originally for us to honor fallen soldiers etc but that a lot of people now also honor anyone who has passed on by taking flowers to their grave. They then ended up in a deep conversation about death and my mom. Chris and I truly believe that he was with my mom before he was born. There have been things he has said and talked about that there is no way he would know if he hadn't been with her before. Well last night he also informed us of this little tidbit:

Grandma comes and visits me at night while I'm sleeping and when she's here she kisses me on the cheeks and that's how I get my freckles.

Chris and I teared up instantly! Thank God he has my mom as his guardian angel, I can't imagine a better guardian angel than her.

Kennecott Copper Mine

Last weekend my brother and his cute little family came to visit us. We did a lot of things around Salt Lake while they were here. They arrived late on Wednesday night and then Thursday since Chris had to work we headed to the Copper Mine, to pick up some groceries, and then took Brad to his first visit to Chic Fil A before heading back to the house to wait for Chris to get home from work. Here are some pictures of the Mine, I'd like to point out that it was FREEZING and WINDY there.





When Chris got home we had some dinner and headed to Costco and Sam's so Brad could find the perfect video camera. And then we went to Classic Skating so the boys could play dart tag. And when I say boys, I mean Chris and Brad too. Jen and I sat with Cameron and Braden at the jungle playground while the boys had their fun. I think Cameron was excited to have someone close to his age to play with since he's always the one too little to do things.

Up next, the zoo!

I Love These Boys!

May Fun

I've gotten a little behind in posting lately. It seems time keeps getting away from me so I thought I'd make one post about some fun things we've done so far this month.

One of my friends from Missouri travels with the Supercross and builds the tracks. For the last two years he's come to Salt Lake and got us tickets to the race. This is the second year we've taken Colby. This year it was extremely cold, rainy and even snowed some. We were hoping for better weather so we didn't bring the proper rain gear and got soaked. Chris and I were ready to go within an hour but Colby was a trooper and didn't say anything about being cold or wet until almost the end of the race. We were waiting for him to get cold and say he wanted to leave until then we were going to tough it out for him. Finally, when there were only two races left he couldn't take it any more and asked to leave. We promptly headed to the Trax train and by the time we got on the train my feet were so cold I couldn't feel them anymore. So I would have to say since Colby loved it so much we will be going every year.
On our way to the race via Trax.

At the end of April Colby started soccer and so far he's doing great! We took a half year off and so far it has worked out for the best. This summer he's going to try T-ball.


Last week Colby had to do a report on a farm animal and he chose the dairy cow. He had to recite three facts about the cow and also create a farm scene. Here is what he came up with, with some help from dad on building the barn. When he got home he was so excited because he was the only one in his class that got an "ooohhh".


Yesterday at Grandpa and Grandma's house the boys made good use of the hot tub by making it into a swimming pool. They had a great time! We are so excited for summer to get here so we can go swimming all the time.


This is only the beginning of our fun summer so stay tuned.

The Wait Is Over

We finally received that very important piece of mail regarding the Chinese Immersion Program:

we will have a Mandarin Chinese speaking child in our home shortly!

Colby is very excited about this awesome opportunity. I don't think he really knows what it entails but he has not once said he didn't want to do it, even when told he would have none of his friends in the class with him. We are very proud of him for wanting to pursue something like this. Now the guessing game has been taken out of wondering what track he will be on and what teacher he has, we now know all of that. He will be on C track (which I don't really like because he starts school for three weeks and then goes off track in August) and his English teacher will be Ms. Timothy. Also, he will have to attend a week long summer camp from July 12th-July 16th so he can get to know his fellow Chinese Immersion classmates and teachers before school starts as well as some learning and fun.

Since my last post we have learned a little more about the curriculum and I thought I'd share a little of the information with you.

The daily instruction will be done half in English half in Chinese. He will have two teachers, one for English and one for Chinese. Chinese instruction will occur in math, science and related arts content areas. In class, the Chinese teacher speaks only in Mandarin and communicates using a range of engaging strategies including pictures, songs, games, body language, expressions, pantomime, drama, etc. Children at this age are adept at picking up language in the meaningful contexts. After a brief period at the beginning of the year, students too will speak only in Mandarin during Chinese class.

Math in Chinese-90 minutes
Integrated curriculum in Chinese-45 minutes
Chinese Literacy-45 minutes
English Language Arts-135 minutes (reading, writing, spelling)
Integrated curriculum in English-45 minutes

So for the remainder of his elementary years this his how Colby will be taught. Next time you see him, wish him well and congratulate him on making such a great decision. I'm sure most kids would not want to participate in something like this knowing they will not be with their friends any longer. I can't wait to see Colby excel in this and to see him with all his new Chinese speaking friends.

The Sad Gas Station

Last night we passed a Maverick gas station and Cameron said,

"It's the sad gas station"

as opposed to Holiday Oil.

I don't think I've laughed that hard in a LONG time.

For those of you back home that are not familiar with Holiday Oil, their logo is a giant smiling clown face.