More Awards

Ashton received a very distinguished award.  Every year, each teacher picks a boy and a girl from their class to receive the Citizenship award and they are awarded a trophy at the end of the year.  Ashton was chosen from his class.  He is such a good boy and very polite.

He also received a trophy for top grades!  Such a smart boy!

Calvin also received a trophy for top grades!  I'm so proud of these boys!  They worked really hard.

More Scouting...

Ashton received his Wolf award in scouting.  He did it 6 months early.  He worked really hard to get the award.  For those of you who don't know, scouts receive one of these awards every year as they progress through cub scouts.

Calvin was also awarded many arrow points.  Scouts receive an arrow point for every additional 10 goals they complete after they receive their badge.  Calvin now has 10 arrow points just for his Bear!  That is huge!  He worked really hard as well and now is ready for Webelos!

Little Photo Shoot

During the month of May, we took a lot of pictures.  So bear with me.

I snapped this photo one Sunday evening of Lacey.  Carli cut her hair to a cute a-line bob and it looked adorable!

I made a Baptism book for Ashton and it needed a picture of him and me, so Caleb took this picture of the two of us.  (The book turned out great as well!)

I wanted to do a little photo shoot of the girls while the boys were in school.  Lacey was very cooperative.  Daisy was a different story.  She did not want anything to do with getting her pictures taken.  Hopefully that will change in the near future.

So there you go.  Lacey is growing up and I'm trying to get all caught up with my photos and blogging.  At least I made it to the month of May...  :)

Day Trip to Vinton, NM

Living in El Paso puts us right on the border of Texas and New Mexico and Juarez, Mexico.

We have had a lot of fun driving around and seeing new places.  Towards the end of February, we drove to Vinton, New Mexico (which isn't very far at all) and enjoyed driving around the town.  

Daisy jumping to Dad

There are so many old buildings and such character in that town.  We stopped and played in an old park.  It was kind of run down, but the kids loved it.  And right across the street was the cemetery, so we just had to walk around the cemetery.   

We also stopped at a family owned Nursery and bought a few plants.  We had such an enjoyable time, especially since Ben was able to spend the day with us, and that doesn't happen very often.  Being an OB/GYN resident really takes up time.  :)  

Devin

Lacey

Ashton

Cub Scout Cake Contest

This past February, Calvin and Ashton participated in the Cub Scout Cake Decorating Contest.  It was suppose to be a Father and Son contest, but with Ben working all the time, it was my turn to help out.

The theme was Native Americans.  Calvin and Ashton came up with the design and did it themselves.  I just supervised the baking and frosting making.  You can't go wrong with chocolate!  

They actually won an award!  They were pretty proud Scouts!

A Day at the Park

Right now I am playing catch up. So this is a post about a day that we spent in the park back in February.  We walked to the park near our house and had a picnic and played.

Daisy enjoying the ride, while Lacey sleeps

Calvin and Ashton

Caleb

Carson

Daisy

Caleb and Lacey

Carson

Caleb

Carson

Devin and Lacey

My Two Cub Scouts

I have 2 boys in Cub Scouts once again! Since Ashton has turned 8 years old, he is now officially in Cub Scouts.   

In December, he received his Bobcat badge.  I love it when boys join Cub Scouts because they are always so excited and enthusiastic about everything.  Ashton is no different!  I could not sew that badge on fast enough!

That same month, in December, Calvin earned his Bear badge.  So that month, I was pinned twice!  I was one happy momma!  How many Scouts get their badges from Santa?  :)

I will have to say one thing about the Cub Scout program here.  It is incredible!  I have never seen anything like it before.  The leaders are so organized and go all out!  It has been such a great experience just to watch.  The whole pack, or unit, just received a special badge for being so outstanding!  Amazing!

Ashton's Baptism

This past November, Ashton turned eight years old! We were in Arizona for the Thanksgiving holiday, so we decided to have his baptism then.

So the day after Thanksgiving, we went to a Stake Center in Gilbert and Ben baptized Ashton.

It was a special baptism and there were lots and lots of family there.  We filled up the whole Relief Society Room!  

After the Baptism, we all went to Grandma and Grandpa Reed's house for dinner.  It was a whole lot of fun and really tasty!

We are so proud of Ashton and his decision to get baptized.  He is such a good boy and always makes it a point to read his scriptures every night and say his prayers!

Ashton's 8th Birthday

 In November, Ashton turned 8 years old!  He is such a nice boy!  We love him and are so glad that he is a part of our family!

He got a treasure box, scriptures, candy, Scout stuff and a hat.  

Ashton is such a good boy.  He is always trying to be good.  He worries about his grades and homework all the time.  I always have to tell him not to worry.  He has all A's.  He is loving Scouts!  He is also really becoming quite a good pianist!  You should hear him play!

Ashton getting ready to open presents with Lacey wanting to help.

Happy Birthday Ashton!

For his birthday, Ashton didn't want a birthday cake.  He wanted Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats!  He has good taste!  Anything with chocolate and peanut butter has to taste good!

School... Again?

Here are my younger boys getting ready to head off for school.  

Calvin is a 4th grader this year and is such a good student.  He already received his first progress report and he had mostly 100%'s.  I think his lowest grade was a 98%.  His teacher called and said that he finishes his work twice as fast as the other kids and then helps her tutor the kids who are struggling.  She wants him to get tested into the GT Program (gifted and talented).  He is nervous.  

Ashton is a 2nd grader and is very kind to everyone.  His teacher has told me over and over again about how respectful and polite he is.  I think that his favorite part of school is walking to and from school with his brothers and cousins: Chase and Colton.  Ashton and Chase love to make up little songs and dances.  They are hilarious to watch!

Devin started Kindergarten this year.  He is in full day (that's all they have here) and he was way beyond ready!  He has a great teacher and loves to show me his sticker for the day.  He is in the same class as his cousin Colton.  He gets his homework for the week done in about 5 minutes!  He's a quick learner and has started piano lessons.  He is following in all of his older brother's footsteps.

 The first week of school, I would get up Lacey and tell her it is time to take the boys to school and she would just reply, "Again?"  We have all adjusted to having school and scouts and everything else.  We are all super busy!

Having fun in El Paso with some cute kids!

El Paso has been good to us so far.  We are loving it!  You should see all the looks we get when we take all the kids places.  And some of the comments are classic!  One person just stood in awe and quietly said, "I've never seen anyone with 7 kids before!"  We have never received so much attention before! 

The weather is cooler than the Phoenix area by a little bit and cools down at night.  We've enjoyed the monsoons every night and the thunder storms are beautiful!  We miss our family and friends, but we will be visiting soon!  Watch out!

We (meaning Caleb, Carson and myself) snapped a few pictures of Lacey playing in our backyard and some of the kids at the park.

Lacey has so much fun dressing up and loves to have her fingernails painted by some of her favorite people.  You know who you are!

She would sniff the flowers and then wipe her nose as fast as she should.  Funny girl!

Daisy is growing up so fast.  All the boys are so helpful with her, I don't know what I'm going to do when they all start school!

Here we have Ashton, Carson and Caleb.  They love having a good time!

Now look at that smile!  So precious!  How can you not smile back!  

You know you are...