Bateman family visit June 2011

It's hard to believe this was the third summer that Karen and the kids (minus Taylor) have come to visit us. We always have such a great time and it's always good to catch up for an entire week. The kids fight like cats and dogs sometimes, but they always love to be around each other and are always sad to have to say goodbye! We spent a lot of time at the pool since they are not used to the intense heat. :)

My sweet handsome Landon!!

Cute little Bridger pushing his car around!

Emilee drawing me a picture for my birthday! She was so sweet and drew chalk pictures all over the driveway for me! Sweet girl!

My oh my, he is adorable! Trying on Aliya's wig!! haha...

Aliya and Sage doing what they do best, being goofy!

Sweet Gabe!

Planking Landon!

Planking Grant!

Planking Aliya!

Sage was being a difficult subject for my picture taking madness!! At least I got her pretty smile!

The cute boys!!

Grant, where did you go??

Love this photo of Landon!!

Em!

Sunbathing girl!!

He is such a cutie pie and keeps Karen on her toes!

The girls wanted to have a lemonade stand! They even made their own freshly squeezed lemonade! It was yummy also!

Painting!!!

Neal was teaching him to play on the Ipad! We start them early in our house!!

To this day, Karen and I still have not had a picture taken together (besides when we were 14 and believe me that wasn't pretty :)). One day!! I always really enjoy when Karen comes to visit. We text throughout the year, but I love the week they come to visit so we can really talk and we always end up having a great time!! She is a great friend and I am so thankful we were able to reconnect and that I have the opportunity to know her family!!

Summer fun in the sun 2011

We had a relaxing summer hanging by the pool most every day. There was a lot of stressful things going on and so it was nice just to sit in the sun and let the kids wear themselves out swimming. Oh and we got to see Jason, Katie and the kids a lot also. That was a big plus!

Trey being super cute as usual.

If Neal is in the pool there are kids hanging on him. It's just something that is a certainty.

For most of the summer the pool was super cold. Even tho it was over 100 degrees outside, the water was freezing. So lying on the scolding cement actually felt pretty good.

Kate and Jas catching some rays!!

So fun to have daddy swimming with us every so often throughout the summer!

Pretty sweet dive babe!

We also had some water balloon fights. Not as often as the kids would of liked, but that's only cause it takes me FOREVER to fill them up and I usually end up more wet just filling them up than the kids do throwing them at each other.

Sweet smile!!

Ummm... You better run Landon!

He is a baseball player Grant! You may not want to be that close. :)

Wait till he is armed Landon. Don't throw them at a man who is down!

Handsome boy!

That smile brightens my day!!

Aunt Angie gave Landon a summer haircut! Thanks again Ang!

Oh boy. It was something that's for sure! I am pretty sure I was judged very harshly by a few witnesses to this awesome do. haha... Oh well. He loved it!

Pretty sure Grant broke his nose! It is the first, but I am positive it won't be the last time this nose is broken!

I have a few more posts to do of our summer adventures. It was the craziest summer yet, but all in all I think it ended up just perfect!!

Grants kindergarten graduation! May 2011

My sweet baby boy Grant made it through Kindergarten. Grant is definitely one unique kid and I was very thankful to Grant's teacher and all her hard work. My camera battery died so I only had my phone camera so I apologize for the quality of the photos. It has been a hard start to this school year for myself and for Grant. Letting him go to school all day is very difficult for me, but he is really enjoying first grade. Love this little boy with all his quirks and unique way of doing just about everything.

White Sox baseball May 2011

This was Landons first year playing machine pitch baseball. He had such a great time and did really well. He had a few really great coaches and they really helped the kids to become better players. Landon asks every day when baseball starts again. It's going to be a long winter for him.... :)

Magic Tree House Project!! May 2011

At the end of the school year, Landon got to do a book report for class. They each made a poster for the Magic tree house book they chose. Landon painted all the trees and chose all the pictures to print out and cut out to decorate his poster. It turned out great. Such a fun project!

Grant trying to be like his big brother!!

Landon telling his teacher all about his book! :)

Landons end of 1st grade program, May 2011

Landon had his end of first grade program and it was so cute. Landon is just too cool for school and he was just too funny during the performance. He was all business, making sure he had each prop in the right place and also that he was in the right place. I am just so proud of how far Landon has come with school. He is so smart. He has an awesome memory, which helps out so much with school. History and Math were his favorite subjects. About three months into school his math teacher had him on a 2nd grade math level. So proud of that boy. Landon is also so incredibly nice and helpful to his teacher and his classmates. He is going to kill me later on in his life for posting the videos below, but they are too cute not to post.

Rattaballet April 2011

Aliya was in the ballet departments production of Rattaballet. It was so fun to watch and so neat to see how far all the kids had come throughout the year. Here are a few photos and a video of one of the dances she did. She is towards the back and center. I was in a bad spot for filming, but you get the idea! She was cute and had so much fun!

This little boy was so attached to Aliya throughout the school year. She was so sweet to him.

Brooklynn and Aliya!!

Aliya and Jessica!

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Easter 2011

Look at me, I am almost caught up. Yay!

My beautiful children! I love this picture!

My boys trying out their gift from the Easter Bunny and looking sharp in their suits!

Pretty, pretty girl!

We had Jas, Kate and the kids come over for the Easter egg hunt. I couldn't get a photo of Grant, he was busy!

My sweet Landon!

The gang enjoying their candy!

Trey with all his eggs! The kids kept putting eggs in his basket cause they were afraid he wasn't getting enough!

We had such a great Easter. Full of family and fun! So nice to go to church and have the kids learn about the resurrection and be reminded of the sacrifice our Savior made for us and how blessed we are.