A quick update!

Grant and Kyrie always have so much fun together and they were both super excited to start the summer off with a sleepover!

At the pool, having fun!

The next day we got up and went to watch Kyrie's soccer game. Grayson wasnt too into the game but he was having fun outside playing!

(SPIRIT FINGERS!!)

On Memorial Day we went to visit Cory. Grayson was named after Cory and I love this picture of him with the pretty flowers and the mountains in the background. I wish my boys could have known Cory the way they know Ian and Micah. I know how important Ian, Cory, and Mich are to Jared.

Jared has a hard time going to Cory's grave site, he still misses him immensely. He talks about him all the time and I love to hear the stories of when they were younger!

He didnt want his picture taken, but I couldnt pass this up and I am glad I captured this! 

After visiting Cory we went on a family adventure up Big Cottonwood Canyon.

How cute are these boys? I am one very lucky wife and Mama Bear!

These two have the most amazing love and bond between them!

There was still snow on the ground, but it was nice and warm and beautiful. We had a lot of fun together!

We have been spending sooo much time at the ball park. It has been so much fun! Jared is an amazing coach and I have realized this season how great he really is and how much he cares. He has a great love of the game and he also forms a bond with each one of the boys on his team. He is not only a coach to them, but a mentor and a friend! They really look up to him and I am very proud of him!

Grayson also loves spending time at the ball park. He is so funny! He loves to cheer for the boys and especially Grant. He will yell out all kinds of things throughout the game! Some of the things he will yell:

Come on everybody!

Hit it!

GO! GO! GO!

Run!

You're out!

Go boys!

He is such a good little cheerleader!

Grant is really loving baseball this season! I am so proud of him. He has really improved through the season and he has made a lot of great friends!

We went to the Herriman rodeo and it was a lot of fun! Grayson really loved it!

I took the boys right down by the gate and they thought that was really neat. Especially Gray, he kept waving and saying "Hi horsey" it was really cute!

We had Ian, Monica, and Micah over for the Bradley/Pacquiao fight. We ordered pizza and had a lot of fun!

Jared and I on our way to the Nickelback concert!

Jared, Tyson, and I at the concert! It was a great concert!

My little stud at the pool!

Grayson has been taking swim lessons! He is doing pretty well and gets better every time we go!

Grant really wanted to have a lemonade stand and we didn't have anything to do it with, so we went to the thrift store and bought this little TV stand thingy. Then we went to Hobby Lobby and Grant picked out the colors he wanted it to be. Then we went to the dollar store and got everything else we would need. (cups, lemonade, candy, etc..)

 After a lot of sanding, priming, taping, and painting this is what we made together! Grant is very proud of it and the fact that he helped!

These are only a few of the fun things we have done so far this summer!

Grant is 8.. HOLY COW!!

The morning of Grant's birthday we surprised him with a bike, which he was definitely not expecting. And I was surprised that he was so excited about it!!

We took him to lunch at Training Table, then he had a baseball game that he pitched in. Then he got to have a sleepover at Maama and Papa's house. That is exactly what he wanted to do on his birthday and he loved it!

Saturday we had his friend party and we rented a bounce house and just had everyone over to our place! Much easier than going somewhere to do the party! It was so nice!

Jared and I even got in for some fun!

This year I wanted to keep it small so Grant only invited a couple friends and his favorite cousins, Talon and Kyrie!

He chose a camo theme this year!

I cant believe he is 8!

We told Grant he could only have one party this year, either friends or family. Of course he chose friends, like any other kid would. But we did a SURPRISE family party for him on Sunday. He was definitely surprised! It was fun!

I love this sweet boy so much!!

The awesome UTES batting helmet from Maama and Papa!!

An Ipod from uncle Cody and Meaghan!! He wanted one so bad!

And a crazy cool journal from Aunt Cassie and Jared!

I love this picture!

Grant had a great birthday and has been listening to his Ipod and "ruining" his journal all day! LOL

Thank you so much to every one who made his birthday super special this year!!

So proud!!

We LOVE having a pool only a one minute walk from our house!!

Jared and I were counting down the days until the pool opened. We were so excited to take the kids. Grant on the other hand was not so excited. When it finally opened we all went together and Grant was less than thrilled. The next day I took Grayson while Grant was in school. Over the weekend Kyrie slept over and again we went to the pool. Kyrie is a little fish, jumping, diving, going under the water. Grant stayed close to my side and didn't have much fun.

Sunday afternoon it was really hot and we wanted to go swimming again. Again Grant did not want to go. We told him he could just stay home alone (which I don't really actually allow him to do. We were just threatening) and at the last minute, as we were walking out the door he decided he would come.

When we got there a couple of his friends from school were there and he was really excited, until he realized they were also like little fish. One of them had a life jacket on, but they were playing in the (ever-feared) deep end, swimming, dunking each other, jumping in from the side. I think he was pretty embarrassed that he was afraid to go in the deep end with them. So I told him to go get a life jacket on and he could jump in to me and I would catch him. He was appalled that I would even suggest such a thing.

After a little (well a lot) of coaxing, he finally agreed to try it. So I caught him a few times and then I told him to try it without me catching him. To my surprise, he agreed to. Before I knew it he was jumping in and goofing around with his friends like he had no issues with the water at all! I was so stinking proud of him. And he is so funny, he asked me to take pictures so that we could show maama and papa that he could jump in all by himself!! This is a huge step for Grant and I could not be more proud of him!!!

Grant has been struggling with a few anxieties for awhile now. Jared and I finally decided that we thought it would be best to talk to a doctor about these things. I might go into more detail later, but my super awesome pediatrician said something to me that really hit me hard. He said "You need to get over it and accept him the way he is" Those were his exact words and that really opened my eyes. I love Grant beyond measure and completely! Including all his anxieties and fears!

Way to go Bubba!!!

Grant and Grayson are such polar opposites! This little boy has no fear!

Well after cutting holes in Grayson's binkis last week, I finally decided to just get rid of them. We waited until Grant turned two, but at 21 months Grayson just doesnt really need them any more. When he turned a year old he was only allowed to have a binki in bed or in the car. We got to the point where he would ask for it as soon as we got in the car and if for some reason it was not in his car seat he would freak out. I didnt like that he was so attached to it in the car, so a couple months ago I just "accidentally lost" it. He didnt have a problem with that. So we were down to a binki ONLY at nap time and bed time. Well Jared is quite the sucker, so it seemed like every week Gray had another binki in his bed. I think at one point he had 3 binkis in bed with him. My goodness, that is ridiculous. So I put my foot down again (I am such a mean mom) We were back down to one. So last week I cut holes in them, in an attempt to ween him from them. He HATED it so bad. I would tell him at bed time "sorry, it's broken" He would get mad and cry. Daddy would go in and "save" him/try to console him several times before he just wore himself out. A couple nights ago I told Jared he was just making it worse going in there every 5 minutes, so he decided instead of keep going in there he would just go in there and sleep on the floor next to his crib. (GRRRR..) So I got mad and decided we were done playing this darn binki game. Today was the day!  

Here he is putting them all in a bag!

We found 9 in all, in his crib, behind his crib, in his sock drawer, in my sock drawer, in the diaper bag, in the junk drawer in the kitchen... They were everywhere!

He wanted to be the one to throw them away, but I dont know that he really understood exactly what he was doing.

Grant and I made a big deal about it and clapped and cheered.

We were very proud of him...

which made him happy and proud too!

Such a big boy!!!!

Tonight at bed time we did hugs and kisses and "I love yous" and as I put him in bed he asked "bibi?" I reminded him he had thrown them away and he whined a little bit, but he laid down and put his arms around his Penny dog. I left the room and fully expected him to start freaking out and cry all night long. But he didnt, he went to sleep. I am so stinking proud of my little man!! He truly is an amazing little guy!!