Soccer and Flag Football

Both boys got to play sports this fall and Wes could not have been any more excited about it! They both had practice on Tuesday nights so we had to divide and conquer which meant Thad only got to see one game because Wes had 30 minutes of practice followed by a 30 minute game. It is the perfect set up for three year olds, but kinda sad Thad couldn't come to more games because he was almost as excited for Wes as Wes was! The first thing he would ask when we saw each other was if Wes' team won and how many goals Wes scored. Cutest brothers.

Eve had to jump in on the action, too!

She sure is cute in the pictures, but was a total nut at the games. She wanted to be playing right on the field just be as far away from me as she possibly could. She is crazy, but I love her!

Go Team Rush!!

This is Mitchell and Wes-

I should have got a photo of them being buddies, but I didn't. :( If there were team captains, these two would have been it. They both have the same color of hair and were ALL OVER that soccer ball! Most of the team's scores came from them. Mitchell has clearly played before and Wes learned all of his tricks from him! They were the cutest!

We are cheap skates around here and don't pay for "professional" pictures, so these will have to do. What a fun season for our Wes!

I think he wore his medal anywhere he could for the next two weeks!

Mr. Thad had a blast learning more about the game of football. We tried out a different league (besides the YMCA), and it turned out really good. His coach was nice and he even goes to school with a couple of the boys on his team. He loved having weekly practices and games and although he wasn't the fastest, strongest, most agile player he learned so much and I think he's hooked! 

I didn't take my camera to many games because it was either scorching hot or too early, so luckily some other parents got some good photos of him.

It got really rainy at the end of the season and his last couple of games had to be rescheduled. The playoffs were supposed to happen the weekend Brian and Eve went to Utah, but the game got canceled right as we pulled up in the POURING rain because the field flooded. We were crossing our fingers that they would reschedule (after two rescheduled games already) for the next Saturday, but unfortunately it was rescheduled for Sunday. When I told Thad he wouldn't be able to play he cried a little, but took it like a tough guy. He understood why but knows how important the Sabbath day is and wanted to follow the commandments. He is such a good example to his younger siblings. Telling him he couldn't play was one of the hardest things I have had to do! Thoughts went through my head...well, it's just this once...no big deal....we can still go to church. As much as I wanted him to play, I pray that helping him make these decisions now will help him to make them on his own later. Our family has been blessed with unity, love and success because of our Sabbath day observance (not that we are perfect at it) and I hope to pass that on to each of our children.

BUT, his team won the super bowl for their division!

We waited all day to hear if they won both games and around 4pm we found out they did! He was so excited and his coach was so sweet to drop by our house with a couple of his teammates and give Thad his trophy. As you can see, Thad was over the moon about it!

What a fun season we had, how grateful I am for a boy that is amazing.

Brian and Eve Go To Utah

A couple of weeks ago Brian and Eve were the luckiest of ducks and got to head to Utah for a weekend of fun! Brian attended an accounting conference at BYU and UT paid for the flight, so Eve got to tag along for free. Some people are shocked when they hear he was willing to fly with her, but it didn't take one ounce of convincing, he was more than excited to travel with his little lady. I (and the boys) were extremely jealous that they got to go, especially with all the new babies, but we were also excited to have a few days that were not dictated by our favorite little girl and her naps and her bossy cry she has sometimes.

We all got up early on a Wednesday morning, made sure Thad was all ready to be dropped off at school after the airport run, and got those two cuties to the airport with plenty of time to get checked in and ready for their flight.

Look at that guy, not even a touch nervous!

He let her roam to get her wiggles out and she just checked things out like a boss. 

She was maybe ticked for a minute about being confined, but cheered right back up-

Dad's nerves are showing here a bit, but he's pumped that they got a whole row to themselves!

He surprised me with this awesome picture on their flight from Austin to Denver: 

What?! She fell asleep? 

This is honestly the last thing we thought she would do. 

I said a little prayer of gratitude in my heart because a sleeping baby on a flight is blessing! 

 Brian had to wake her up as they landed in Denver and managed her busy body on their short flight from Denver to Salt Lake like a super star. I love when babies are good for Dad because that means he is that much more willing to do it all again!

They started out their day at Grandma Teresa's just hanging out and hating Grandpa's boots, I guess-

But they ended their night at Avery's birthday celebration! 

The highlights were giving Avery Shopkins and meeting baby Jayci.

How cute is my baby meeting her baby cousin?? I'm so jealous of my Eve and Brian for meeting her when she's itty bitty, but I'm so glad they got to see her! She is perfection.

(Riley being a baby hog as usual...haha!)

I'm so glad Brian and Eve were able to celebrate our most favorite nine-year old! She is a gem and it was just the perfect way for my family to see my people. Happy birthday, Avery girl!

The next day was spent meeting ANOTHER baby, baby Wells!

 E and W got to hang out like bestie cousins and Brian got to hang with Kelli. 

The jealousy was off the charts!

Aren't they cute matching in their chambray?!

 

Eve spent the rest of the afternoon with Grandma Cindy and Aunt Brigitte while Brian attended the first night of the conference. This is one lucky girl!

Friday was spent with Grandma Teresa being at her beck and call!

I, of course, had to check in with my Evie girl occasionally but she didn't seem to care too much. But you know what? I'm way ok with that! I didn't mind too much that she was gone either, but only because I knew she was in the BEST hands.

This girl really seemed to have a thing for bouncers while she was there...haha! 

If only she was that little again.

Saturday was a fun day waiting for the Utes game to start and being watched with the Monsen/Whitehouse crew!

 Cousins are seriously the best and it is so much fun to see the Monsen side growing! It feels like its been a lot of years with our kids making up the majority, but that is slowly changing and it is so exciting! We love cousins!

Brian was able to go to church on Sunday and pack up and head home that evening after a fun-filled family weekend! He got lucky on his flight home and United put him on the direct flight from SLC to Austin with Delta...what?! Lady Luck was definitely on his side and he got home a few hours early and I didn't even have to disturb the boys' sleep to go get him. I am just so happy this trip went so smoothly. As a mom, your kids and their well being and behavior are constantly on your mind and because everything went so smoothly I was able to thoroughly enjoy my time with her gone. 

I cleaned, blogged, binged watched Suits, didn't cook, slept in, exercised late, ran errands in the middle of the day and after school! Eve makes every single one of those things hard and it was awesome to just do what I wanted when I wanted to. The boys asked about her a lot, but did enjoy me being relaxed and just hanging out.

I took Wes and Evan to lunch at Thad's school one day...Just because I could!

 I also took these two cuties to change the oil in the van. Two three year olds is way easier than a 3 and 1 year old!

And this guy pulled his front tooth out on the way home from church that Sunday... he was so proud of himself!

So nothing crazy exciting happened down in Texas while our two favorites were away, but not having an extra baby girl around here made life pretty simple...not happier, but simpler. 

Family is everything and this weekend was a wonderful family weekend for all! We can't wait to be in our favorite state in five four short weeks...Yay for Utah!

October's Over

October is over. What? How did that happen? The holidays are right around the corner!

In my mind October is Fall. In Texas, it is not.

We were still red-faced, tank topped and short shorted!

October was a hot one, but we managed!

Brian did get to experience a little bit of Fall when he went to Rochester for another conference-

 

At least one of us got to see those yellows, oranges and reds!

We did start our month out with one of the best weekends of the year: General Conference-

 We tried this new jar system where they boys get one of these treats if they heard the word and it was awesome for one whole session! That's actually a pretty big deal. They listened to the whole two hours on Sunday morning. Parent win.

These babies kept us all going, too!
This general conference was pretty darn amazing. I wanted to soak up and internalize every. single. word. The world is becoming a crazy place and I'm so grateful for the clarity the prophet, apostles and church leaders bring.

October was a good month for books at our house, or at least capturing them on camera!

It makes my heart happy to see my babies turning page after page in book after book!

Thad had a fun project at school and made an arcade game out of cardboard-

He named it "Touchdown"

It was kind of a mix between basketball and football. 

He was pretty proud of this creation and loved being apart of the first grade cardboard arcade. 

Our Eve FINALLY started walking this month! I have no pictures of her doing this because she is not cooperative when the camera comes out, but our 13 month old is a walker!!

The Saturday that the Doyle girls flew in the kids and I headed to Austin to meet up with Diane, Katie and Janee, all girls that I went to high school with, and were in the area. We enjoyed a wonderful lunch date at the park and then headed straight to the airport.

We will definitely be going back to this park!

And here are some random, fun moments between it all-