Girls Night Out

With the boys gone to the fathers and sons camp out, the girls and I decided to have a little party!  We had such a fun time!  It made me realize how lucky I am to have two girls who will (hopefully) be my best buddies for the rest of our lives.  We started off the night with the choose-your-own toppings frozen yogurt bar.  My girls were in heaven!   

Mmmmmm....sour gummy worms and sprinkles on ice cream.

Then we went in search of a 'hidden' miniature golf course we had heard about.  It was tucked way back behind some buildings and looked pretty old.  When we went to pay, there was no one there.  You just slid your money in a slot and then picked up your own clubs and balls. We were the only ones there!  There was such a cool retro feeling. It looked as though nothing had changed in 50 years.  I fully expected a golfer dressed in Brady-bunch clothes from the 1960's to come and hang out with us.  This course was full of tricks and gimmicks, which my girls loved.  They just don't make courses like this anymore.  We had a blast and couldn't stop smiling!

Gracie and Sophie showing off their skills

Everything was homemade.   Here we are posing with the totem pole hole.

Last Days of School

May is always such a busy, crazy month for us, but it sure was filled with lots of fun end-of-the-school year activities.

There were performances...

Gracie's patriotic performance-she did awesome!

Sophie's Kindergarten Program....she sang her little heart out!  Here she is with Mrs. Kendrick.

This year, Gracie also tried out for the school talent show and made it!  She performed "Cruella D'Ville" on the piano and wowed us all!

She even wore her dalmatian earrings in honor of the song :)

Sophie and I (and all the Kindergarteners) also got to practice eating school lunch, too!

Sophie is SO excited to go to 1st grade and eat lunch at school.  I'm not so sure I'm very happy about all this growing up!

A delicious meal of corn dogs and tator tots.

And we can't forget about Ben and his beloved ABC school buddies!

We wrapped up the year with a month of field trips.  We went to the zoo, the park, rode the city bus, and even went to the fire station!  What a great time we had this year with his buddies!

ABC school boys at the zoo (Ben is on the left)

A New Look

 Our girls were super lucky to participate in the media fashion show for the unveiling of the new USU logo. They felt so special! Even though they didn't have any gear for Ben to wear, he still had a great time hanging out with all the athletes and feeling famous with his sisters.  Here's some photos from the big event:

Sophie's Rainbow Party

Happy 6th Birthday Sophie!

Happy 6^th Birthday Sophie!  I am pretty sure you are the cutest six year old ever!  You ooze sweetness and cuteness. You love hugs and snuggles…you have always been our snuggliest child.   

This year was a great and growing year for you!  You started kindergarten this year.   I was anxious to see how you would do in school, having Gracie already set such a high bar for our family.  But you impressed me all year!  You are SUCH an amazing reader and so smart!  You love writing notes and stories and pictures.  Dad and I find notes on our pillows all the time.  I love those sweet notes.

  Jake and I crack up all the time at things you say and notice.  The other day we had a little family testimony meeting for family home evening, and each child had a turn to bear sweet testimony.  After it was all over, we asked how you all felt and what you thought about it.  After much thought, you very matter-of-factly said “I think next time instead of saying A-men, I’m going to say Ah-men.”   

Sophie, you are turning out to be such a wonderuful, sweet girl.  We're so glad you're ours!   

This year you requested a RAINBOW party.  We had so much fun planning all things rainbow.  To top it all off, we got to celebrate with a whole bunch of family at Grandma and Grandpa Shaw's.

Rainbow Balloon Arch

Rainbow Jello

Rainbow Layer Cake. This was quite the project.  I actually had to make it TWICE because the first time all seven layers stuck to the pans.  But it was all worth it when I saw your face as we cut it open!

Sophie getting ready to blow our her candles.

Sophie personally made all these pots of gold at the end of the rainbow for all her guests.

And who can have a party without some sort of pin the (blank) on the (blank)....  

...like this one!

Cute little pots of gold.

We are so lucky to have such fun people to celebrate Sophie's birthday with her!

Wiggin' Out

Who is this weird guy and what have you done with our daddy?

This is how Jake drove up from work the other day.  We all raised a few eyebrows at the strange man walking to our door, then laughed hysterically when we saw who it really was.  Unknown to us, Jake had rented this costume from the university for a compliance video he was making and got permission to wear it home.  He would make a good Alex Trebeck, don't you think?

It provided us with hours of good clean fun at our house, too!

Outdoors and Indoors

Our winter continues on with some fun outdoor adventures such as...

Gracie learning to ski!

Her ski school teacher seemed a little old at first, but boy was he awesome!  He oozed coolness and was a pro at teaching beginners.  Gracie was lucky to have such a groovy instructor.  She learned so fast!

I got to join her the second half of the day.  Oh how I love to ski and, even better, how I love to see my daughter ski.  It is weird to watch your kids do the same things you used to do.....it makes you feel old. But we had a great time together!

 

We also enjoyed a little sledding... (our family snow sport of choice for now)

In the ready position!

Shark-boy Ben

Cuddly Bear Sophie

Speedster Gracie

My two boys

Preparing for the 'all-girl' run

And as if that wasn't enough fun in the snow, we built a snowman with all of Ben's buddies, including cousin Henry who came for a visit!

(L to R: Ben, Kian, Luke, Henry, and Jack)

Here up north, we also spend a lot of time indoors in the winter.  But the creative juices are flowing at the Garlock house...

We love food and spend a lot of time in this position....kids on the counter 'helping' mom.  Here we are trying out a new granola recipe.

We saw this fun pretzel recipe in the "Friend" magazine and had to try it out for Family Home Evening.  The kids loved it!

And I just had to add this photo because this is where we find Sophie nearly everyday lately...our little 'art-teest' creating up a storm!

And as the weather warmed up, we headed back outside because soccer season returned! This year Jake was the new coach of the "Hurricanes"! (fitting for where we live)

Because he has some connections, he had some of the Aggie soccer team come to a practice and share their skills with the girls.  (Gracie is holding the checkered ball and Sophie is in the green as the "team manager"...a job she takes very seriously)

Gracie is loves playing goalie, so she got a one-on-one lesson from the Aggie goalie.  Here she is learning how to drop kick.

Go girls!

Ben's 3rd Birthday!

Look who's 3!

When we woke Ben up (which is rare...he never sleeps in!) to tell him it’s his birthday, he breathed in really deep and exclaimed “I’M THREE NOW!?! I NOT TWO ANYMORE!?!”-as if life was totally great now.  We joked that two must have been hard for him.  

 Ben, you are any mother’s dream child.  You have such a unique and special little personality.  I love how you just know exactly how you want things done.  You are a chief (that's code for the boss/sometimes bossy).  Your little buddies are very important to you and play with you often. 

You have a very sweet side too.

You feel the spirit even at such a young age.  The other night I told you the story of Ammon and the king's sheep for the first time, and you asked me to tell it three times in a row.  When I was finished, you exclaimed “I’m going to be a missionary, too!”   I can’t wait for the day that you get to serve a faithful mission for the Lord.  You’ll be wonderful, I know it!

Ben, I couldn’t be happier to be your mom.  We get to spend some alone time together now that Gracie and Sophie are in school, and I love every minute of it.  You bring such life and joy to all of us.  

  We love our Ben!

Ben and his new basketball hoop.  He loves basketball like his daddy.

Ben has a new fascination...cars.  Finally something besides balls! This was his race car birthday cake that was actually pretty easy to make.

Grandpa and Grandma Shaw came up to celebrate Ben's birthday, too.  Here's grandpa introducing Ben to the wonderful world of tools. So many new boy toys to explore!  We're used to dolls and princesses around here.

Happy Birthday Ben! We love you!

Christmas 2011

The Christmas Season started off great!  Our family was asked to sing a Russian Christmas carol at our ward Christmas party.  After practicing for a few weeks, we were all ably to sing a little Russian...even Ben!  We sang "Far Far Away on Judea's Plains".  I loved that our family got to work hard together for something special.

We also had the annual work Christmas party at the local family fun center.  Our kids LOVE this!

We discovered a new favorite family activity...lazer tag!

Of course, Ben spent the evening here using up all his tokens (as well as mom and dad's).

Gracie and Sophie were the only brave ones to sit on Santa's Lap.  FYI: Gracie wants some legos and Sophie wants an art kit.

Then FINALLY it was Christmas Eve!  We had a wonderful Christmas at home for the 4th year in a row!  As always, Grandma Mary came to celebrate with us.  We feel so spoiled to have her each year! As a bonus, we had our dear friends and neighbors, The Knights, over for our traditional celebrations.  It was marvelous!

The festivities started with our traditional Christmas Eve movie, courtesy of Jake's projector and lap top.  It's a good way to pass the time on a day that seems extra long for our little ones.

Here's our Christmas Eve Candlelight feast.  Food, if you haven't guessed yet, is always a big part of our traditions, especially Christmas. 

 Then it was time for our Nativity.

Angel Sophie

Sweet Gracie as Mary

Shepherd Ben

All the actors

After the Knights went home for the night, we opened up our 2 traditional gifts: the Jammies and the Family Game.  This year's game was Kerplunk.  It was a hit!

All ready for Santa to come!

Here's the aftermath:

Ben loved his race cars!

Santa surprised Sophie with a "fur real" dog that really moves. 

Gracie got her legos....

and a microscope!  She is such a little science lover.  Grandpa Shaw is so thrilled that she loves science!

 Merry Christmas!