Our new Cubs

We now have two new cub scouts in the family. Now that Julien is 8 years old, he is able to enter the cub scout program at church. He has been waiting eagerly for that day. For the past 6 months, he and Logan were coming to my Webelos den meetings, and pack meetings. They thought it was so fun, and they too desperately wanted to join with their own age group.

Julien is a Wolf. He loves to go to all of the cub meetings. Thanks to Grandma (Jon's mom), Julien has his very own cub scout shirt.


Logan too wanted to join. Unfortunately the church doesn't start scouting until the age of 8. But after going to the scouting store, I found a tiger cub scouting book, for boys 7 or first grade age. And since Logan is in first grade, I decided to do the tiger scout program with him. He loves it. I even found him a tiger cub scout shirt that cost 1 dollar. HA! Amazing Right!

Jon, Julien, and Logan often get together on Sunday afternoon to work on some of their badges. It is fun to watch them.

Back to School!

Summer has come and gone so fast this year, faster than I can ever remember. And once again, it is time for school to start, along with our hectic lives. Julien is entering the 3rd grade, and he is so excited. His new teacher Mrs. Hoover seems very kind and sweet. We are excited for him too and hope he has a good year, full of learning and growing happily.

Logan posing with his 1st day of 1st grade outfit full of stains from breakfast. Don't you love that! He too is excited about 1st grade, he has two teachers this year, Mrs. McKinney, and Mrs. Torres. They seem very fun, and nice also. We also wish him to have a great year.

Funny story:
So Logan and I went to his SEP conference where his teachers explained to me how their class is run and what to expect. They also tested Logan to see where he stood academically at the beginning of the year. The test took about 30 minutes, and the last test question was to make a sentence with words the teacher would tell him.
"Logan, the first word is jump," Mrs. McKinney says. Logan responds, "Rabits jump." "OK great" Mrs. McKinney says, "second word is cat." "Cats bite," Logan answers. Mrs. McKinney finally asks Logan "do you think you could make your sentences a little longer?" "OK" he says. She reads him a couple of other words, he makes his sentences longer, and more thought of. When she arrives to the final word, ever. Logan, the smarty pants that he is says "Boy, this is really taking FOREVER!" We all looked at each other and had a pretty good laugh. It was very cute.

Thiefaine enters the MTC

Well it is official, T is a missionary. He left today for the MTC. We are so proud of him, and very excited to hear all about his daily routine, along with stories, and feelings and impressions on being a missionary. We already miss him and can't wait for his return.

We are a Karate Family!

This summer Logan, Jon, and I joined Julien in taking karate lessons at Bobby Lawrence Karate. After one long year of watching his brother kick and punch, and practicing on the side line, Logan finally got to start karate. He was so excited. Jon followed suit, he said he always wanted to learn some kind of martial arts. Jon is actually pretty good. He is very powerful in his kicks and he is very flexible. A month or two later I decided to join to garanty a 2 dates a week with my hubby.

Logan: Shadow Fox Ninja
for his swiftness in action

Julien: Bear Claw Ninja
for his power and accuracy

Jon: Chuck Norris
because, well... isn't it obvious!

Maeva: As fluid as the stream Ninja
because she is so graceful it looks like dancing
(Hum I wonder why)

Raph is now a missionary

Raphael entered the MTC today. It was bitter sweet to drop him off, say our goodbyes, watch him as he walked away from us into the MTC. It will be a long 2 years for us eventhough we know it is important for him to go. We are all so proud of him. And are eager to get the first letter or email from him.

Julien got baptized!

It is crazy how fast time fly's by. It seems like yesterday, Julien was just a little baby that I would rock back and forth, and back and forth, on the lazy boys to put him to sleep. And now look at how big and bright he has gotten. We are so happy to have him be a part of our family. His baptism turned out so nice. It was a rather small ceremony with just a few friends, and family members, but the spirit through out the meeting was so strong.

Below are a few shots we took before and after the baptism.

Our cute little family: Jon, Logan, Julien, and I

Jon and Julien

The 2 brothers, Logan and Julien

All of us with my family with Joey, Audrey's boyfriend

My parents and Julien

The cutest aunts ever: Audrey and Kim

The most handsome uncles: T, Raph, and Alex

My aunt and uncle, Marie-Lise and Paul

Julien with his best friend RJ

Jon and I got Julien his very own set of scriptures with a carrying case, along with his first journal and a poster of the Army of Helaman to emphasize the desire to look up to rightoeus and noble heros from the scriptures. Julien has been reading his scriptures almost every night since his baptism, and sometimes he even does not want me to turn off the light for bed (I'm not sure whether he really wants to keep reading or because he just does not want to go to bed?!? Either way, I like it!)

Here is a picture of the postcard invitations I made for Julien's baptism.

Jon's getting older... HAppY 28 BaBe!

Today Jon turned 28. WOW, we are getting older aren't we? It was a special day for Jon because he was able to baptize Julien on his birthday. After the baptism we went back home for pizza and cake. I made Jon his favorite cake ever, my grandfather's cake, a very rich and moist chocolate cake. He did not get to open up too many gifts from me today because he had fun opening them up the week before...a 52" TV (which Jon's dad got us for a outrageously cheap price), a PS 3, and 10th row tickets to go see Def Leppard, Poison, and Cheap Trick (which we will see at the end of the month.)

Below is a picture of Jon, happy as can be with a popcorn popper his parents got him for his special day.

"We are a happy family!"

This week we were the whole family was reunited. Audrey and Kim, along with Joey (Audrey's boyfriend) came down for the week end for Thiefaine, and Raphael's missionary farewell. So we had time to hang out and have fun as a family. On Friday everning, we went up Provo Canyon and roasted hot dogs, smores, banana boats, and ate popcorn that Jon cooked up for us on the camp fire.


During dinner, it started to rain a little; and we each found a unique way to shelter ourselves from the rain...

Audrey and Joey - a chair

My dad and I- a trash bag of course

Raph- a blanket

By the way, is that picture not hilarious, I love it!

The boys played football, and took the tackling a little too seriously.

Poor Raph, you can't even see him under there.

Cuddling

Sister Sister
It was so great to see Audrey and Kim, and spend time with them.
I love them so so much.

I Now Have an 8 Year Old!

Julien turned 8 today. I still can't believe how fast children grow. Julien is a very sweet and kind boy. He loves to make other people happy. Julien has a big, gentle heart. We are so proud of him, and love him very very much.

For his 8th birthday, I wanted to do something special. With the help of Jon and my friend Danica, we made and decorated 3 delicious ice cream cakes super hero style. The cakes were a moist turtle brownie base with a choice of cookie dough, sunday caramel swirl, or chocolate cherry ice cream. It was so good.

After singing, and eating cake we went outside to open gifts, and finish the party with a water fight.





Julien was spoiled with gifts. But his favorite gift by far was his Transformer's skateboard. He carries it everywhere. He has actually gotten pretty good in such a short amount of time.

Happy 13th Birthday Alex!

Today was Alex's big 13th Birthday. Alex got his very first ipod; He was so excited. He saved up quite a bit to chip into the cost. He also got his very own cooking utensils, pans, and apron. He is a pretty good cook, always baking cakes, or fixing up pancakes or crepes for breakfast.

Happy Birthday Alex!
love,
Maeva

7 Peaks

On Saturday morning, I woke up earlier than most Saturdays, and checked the weather forecast. It turned out to be quite a hot day, so we decided that it would be fun to go to 7 Peaks and enjoy the day cool and refreshed.
It was so much fun! The kids loved going down slides, jumping off the rope swing, crossing the water on lily pads floaters, and much much more.





Julien even went on a huge half pipe slide with Raph. I tell you what that kid is afraid of nothing when it comes to slides and roller coasters.


Most of all, the best part of the day was simply to relax by the pool, float down the lazy river, and watch the kids have fun.