Fun Summer 2018

Summer break started out with crazy chore charts and trips to the park.  We were also able to go to the splash park a couple of times in Reno.

The babies were blessed at the beginning of July and we were able to have a fun time with family that weekend.  This included a trip to Tahoe as a family.

Since Josh's job allows some flexibility in where he works over the summer and since he had a research contract through the University of Utah, we decided to spend about a month playing in Idaho and Utah this Summer.  Our trip started with a fun Lewis family reunion at the Alpine retreat.  It was fun to see everyone and let the cousins all play together.  Matthias and Lizzy had a great time being the oldest cousins and being followed or chased by different cousins.

We then traveled up to Burley, Idaho to spend time with Garn family.  The kids and I also had fun playing the various board games (that Grandma Garn has kept for her grandkids) and Josh and the kids enjoyed wresting with Grandpa.  Our time in Burley also included a fun time at Harris Pond for the Keith Garn family reunion.  It was fun to spend time with our kids and with extended family.

After a fun week in Burley, we headed back to Utah and dropped Josh off at the Salt Lake Airport.  He took a work trip (with the University of Utah) to Pakistan.  The kids and I had fun chilling at Grandma Lewis' house.  We took a couple of trips down to Provo to visit with friends and a couple of trips to hang out with Aunt Rachel and her kids.

It was also during this time that Ian and Evan seemed to start to notice each other.  Such funny babies.

I'm a twin?

While Josh was still away we took a day trip up to Cokeville for the July 24th celebration.  Matthias and Lizzy loved the parade and all of the activities of the day.

We spent another week split between the Garns and the Lewises and then spent our last week of vacation down in Moab for the Val Garn family reunion.  We had the best time with all of the cousins and aunts and uncles.  We did a bunch of different activities, swam in the pool a bunch, and ate a lot of good food together.

We drove back on Aug 5--the day before school started.

Four months old

 Ian is a smiley 4 month old and has started laughing a little bit. He likes to observe the world and seems to really think about things. He's a really calm kid and will just continue to look around when his brother is screaming next to him. He will roll over at least once every other day. Some days he's on a roll (pun intended) and will roll over several times from front to back. If we help him balance he can support his own weight for a while when standing.

Ian received a name and blessing on July 1. Josh gave the blessing and Val Garn, Jared Garn, and Bishop Peterson were in the circle. In his blessing he was told that he will develop a personal relationship with his Savior. He was also told that he was blessed to come to a loving family who waited a long time for him to join us. His blessing also noted his kind and loving personality.

Evan is also a smiley 4 month old and has started laughing occasionally too. He is also pretty chill unless he needs something. Then the screaming goes from 0-60 in less than a minute. He's rolled over several times, but still seems very surprised by it. He startles fairly easily, but will smile quickly afterwards. He wants to sit up and is often doing crunches to improve his abs. He also cannot stop moving--arms, legs, and now head are constantly in motion.

Evan received a name and a blessing immediately after Ian on July 1. Josh gave the blessing and Val Garn, Jared Garn, and Bishop Peterson were in the circle. In his blessing he was told that he was blessed to come to a loving family and that he and Ian will be good friends. He was blessed to be an example for good and to understand the connections between spiritual and temporal knowledge. Finally, he was blessed to receive all of the sacred ordinances in the temple.

I sure love these little boys.

Three months old

And I've finished the fourth trimester.  We are definitely sleeping better.  Both boys are consistently sleeping 7-8 hours a night (well, at least for the last week), which has made my life better.  We're working on figuring out the rest of the schedule now that they are sleeping better.  They still both take a really good afternoon nap.

Ian has the cutest social smile.  He is generally a happy kid and really likes to try to have conversations with people.  He's holding his head up higher and higher during tummy time. He's still on oxygen, but we're hoping to test again soon and get him off of that.  At his last visit (to the pulmonologist) he was 23.25 inches and 10lbs 15oz (getting close to doubling his birth weight).

Evan also has the cutest social smile.  He was happier at the time of pictures, so his smile was more easily captured.  He really likes people paying attention to him and wiggles like crazy whenever he's awake and watching someone.  He only likes being in the swing when we're watching Doctor Who as a family.  He hasn't had another recent appointment, so we're not sure his weight and height, but he's definitely continuing to grow.

Rollan Melton Elementary School

School started for Matthias and Lizzy the day after we moved to Reno, Aug 6.  I can't believe how early school starts here.  The kids mentioned that they missed Wasatch, but they also seemed really excited to go back to school and make new friends. Over the summer Lizzy had mentioned that she was nervous about whether or not she would be able to make new friends, which is funny because she is such a friendly girl. 

We were happy to see each kids' classroom and hear that they had great teachers.  This made them a little more excited.

The kids took school pictures in the Fall.  We remembered which day was picture day this year and so they were dressed well and looked great.

Lizzy had a great first grade year.  She has become such a wonderful reader and enjoys math.  She has also enjoyed some of the different science experiments that they did in glass.  She also told me that Ms. Feller is one of her role models.

First day of school picture!

Watching the Solar Eclipse

Christmas PJ party

Presenting work for classmate critique

Dress up like your favorite book character

Crazy hair day!

Writing samples from the first and last days of school

Matthias also had a great 3rd grade year.  He's gotten really good at multiplications and has a brain for figuring out math.  His reading has also improved and he's started reading the Harry Potter series on his own.  Everyday he would tell us that his favorite thing about school was recess.

Field trip!

Science experiments

Working in groups. 

Ready for the end of year dance performance.

End of year Lemonade Stand to raise money for Buddy Benches. Tanner (one of his best friends) is in orange

At the end of the school year the students put on a multicultural dance.  The dances are very simple, but the kids have fun performing.  Lizzy's class did a Mexican based dance and Matthias' class did a dutch based dance.

The school also had a field day with some small events. 

Girls beat the boys in this relay race

Girls enjoying popsicles on field day

Matthias enjoying field day events

Lizzy's class also put on a poetry cafe, at which they performed different poems.  Lizzy performed as a villager in the 'Boy who cried Wolf' poem.  Ms. Feller also showed an end of year video.