First Day of 2nd Grade

Dominique started school on August 5th. My little girl is in 2nd grade! I can't believe it! She was very excited to go, and so far she really likes her teacher and class. It was a hard day for Cooper, though. I took him to a park that morning, and when it was time to go I told him we were going home for lunch, and he said, "But we have to go get Nikki!". And I told him that Nikki has lunch at school now, and he said "But I love Nikki!". Talk about a heart breaker! He has been pretty bored without her, but in just a couple of weeks he will be having a preschool playgroup twice a week, and I really think that will help. He would like it if is little brother could play with him, but so far he just isn't too much fun. At back to school night Dominique's teacher let us know that she thinks Dominique is bright, and doing really well in reading, and with her best friend back in her class, I think that this will be a great school year!

Camping at Willow Flats

Mark and I took our family camping overnight in Preston, ID at Willow Flats. It was SO much fun. The kids really enjoyed being outside and loved that our campsite was right by the Cub River. We roasted hot dogs and ate S'mores. It was alot of fun sleeping in our new tent. Even DiMaggio slept well. After breakfast the next morning we took the hike that leads to the spring that starts the river. It was wonderful, and the kids had a great time. Here are a few pictures from that fun mini vacation.

Hiking up the trail.

Hiking back down with Dad.

Sitting at the top of the spring.

Letting the kids see how cold the water is when it comes out of the mountain. Dominique couldn't believe it. We let her taste our bottled water, and then (after alot of convincing that it was okay to drink) from the spring, and asked her which was better, and she liked it straight from the mountain!

Cooper took more convincing though...

We loved hiking up to the spring!

Blessing DiMaggio

On Sunday, July 5th we blessed DiMaggio. It was a wonderful weekend, as my mom and all of my brothers came into town to share our wonderful day. It meant a lot to me to see my husband and 3 brothers walk to the front of the church, knowing that they are all worthy priesthood holders, and bless my new son. It has been 6 years since my dad died, but his legacy was so wonderfully felt by every one in the room. He raised my brothers to love the church and have strong testimonies, and he loved Mark, and knew he was a great man. It is sad to think of all of the things my dad has missed, but I really feel that he was there with us that day. Mark gave DiMaggio a wonderful blessing, blessing him with a hunger for knowledge, a love of life, to be honorable, and many other wonderful things. It was a really great day! Thanks to all of my family for making the trip!

Dominique's dance recital

On June 6th Dominique had her first dance recital. She has been taking tap lessons for the entire school year, and did a great job at her recital. She loved being up on stage and is already planning her next chance to preform in front of an audience.

DiMaggio Striker Garr

Our baby was born!

On Thursday, May 28th, 2009 at 11:19 am DiMaggio Striker Garr was born. It was after only 5 hours of labor, and he has been easy ever since. He was 7 lbs 15 oz and 20 inches long. He has red hair, not a common trait in our family, but he is super cute with it. We chose the name DiMaggio Striker, because we wanted to use a baseball name (to represent Kara's family) and a soccer name (to represent Mark's family). Joe DiMaggio was a great baseball player for the New York Yankees in the 1930's. The name Striker is actually a position in soccer. It is another name for forward, and after going over too many impossible to say Brazilian soccer player's names, Kara finally agreed to Striker. He is a wonderful little man, and has done nothing but bring joy into our family. Cooper is proving to be a great big brother, and Dominique has really loved having a baby in the house again. Life for our family couldn't be better.

Happy Easter!

We had a lovely Easter this past weekend. We had to get up early because church is at 9:00 but it was worth it to watch our kids look for their baskets and eggs. What a fun morning. Mom even got up early enough to make Cinnamon rolls (from a can!). Then we got dressed in our Easter best and went off to church. It was a day full of wonderful meetings, and we were able to talk to our kids on the way home about what Easter really means, and the amazing blessing our Savior gave us when he was resurrected, our Eternal Family! We are really blessed to know that, and we are grateful for His sacrifice for us.

Spring Break in Utah

Our family made the trip to Utah for Dominique's spring break. It was no sunny day at the beach, but four days snowed in at a cabin in Park City! Mark's family had a family reunion there, and it was great to see everyone for the first time in over a year. Both Aunt Cherie and Mark took the kids out to play in the snow, and had a really good time. But it SNOWED! We took our van up in the mountains, and if we had to leave any earlier than we did we would have been stuck. Luckily the snow stopped on Saturday night and we were able to go home on Sunday. Before we went to the cabin we stopped in Bear Lake to see my Grandma, who celebrated her 86th birthday that week. We then had lunch in Logan with my brother Kellen, and then we spent the rest of the day at my older brother TJ's house visiting with him and his family. It was a great trip, and we are really glad we went.

Dominique's Class Play

Dominique had her school play this past week. They did a musical version of "The Very Hungry Caterpillar". Dominique played the part of the Cocoon. She knew all of the songs perfectly, and her play was so cute! She really loves music, and is considered advanced in that class. Here are just a few pictures from that night.

Cooper's Party

Cooper celebrated his 3rd birthday this weekend with a small party with his pals. His birthday is really on Monday 3/9, but we had his party on Saturday. He had Tonka Trucks for his decorations, invitations, and party hats, but he wanted Spiderman cups and plates, and a Kung Fu Panda cake. It was a lot of fun for everyone there. As each of his guests left I told him to tell them "Thanks for coming", but he said "Bye, Happy Birthday!" to everyone instead. He really liked all of his gifts, after he opened each one he would say "I love (fill in what he opened)". So "I love monster trucks." or " I love Spiderman." or I love firetrucks." He was greatful for each gift he got. He is a sweet little boy, and we love him so much.

Our new van!

After years of mocking those who drive "minivans" Mark and I found ourselves in a bit of a predicament. We are having another baby this summer, and did not have room to put him in our Toyota Camry. So being snobs, we went shopping for an SUV with 3rd row seating, but discovered that the "seating" was only big enough for our daughter, and nearly impossible to access without A LOT of hassle. So the salesman suggested we try a van. We did. We drove a Toyota Sienna, and it was nice, but we still needed to try something else. Then we visited Honda. They were having a very big special on their 2008 models that did not sell in 2008. So we test drove a 2008 Honda Odyssey. It was SO COOL! It drove so nice, and the interior was so roomy, it made us feel kinda bad for mocking van drivers. After some negotiating (they really needed to sell it, and we did not need to buy it) we found ourselves happy driving home in a 2008 Odyssey with 6 miles on it! We have never bought a "new" car, (another thing we have mocked others for...shame on us!) and it was a lot funner and scarier than I thought it be. We really love it, and our kids could not be more excited. We are looking forward to our next road trip (at the end of March we are driving to Utah) to really enjoy the comforts of our new van.