12!

Logan had a really great birthday but the pictures are lacking.  He turned 12?!!!

Breakfast in bed- donuts was the request.

PRESENTS!  His favorite part...

I bought him two pairs of cool shoes so that he could pick one... well he wanted both and I told him he could keep both if he skipped a birthday party (we were going to invite some friends to Qzar).  Surprisingly... but not that surprisingly he chose the shoes over a party.  He does love shoes...

He wanted a slice of cheesecake factory cheesecake for his dessert and that's what he got.  He had to share a few bites though since I was cheap and didn't buy any for the rest of us!

Sunday night we had cake and ice cream at grandma and grandpas with the cousins... I don't have a picture of anyone but I do have a pic of his fun cake- he loves the Lego Movie.

Right before his birthday he and Dave performed together in his piano recital.  They played, "Here Comes the Sun" and did a great job!

Right after his birthday he received the priesthood at church.  He gets to join the young men's program and pass the sacrament.  A bunch of his uncles and Grandpa were there to stand in the circle as Dave ordained him- he has some good examples to look up.  I'm proud of him and the great kid he's turning out to be.  He's smart and fun and kind and talented and good.  I love you Logan!

MY BOYS

The men in my life.... 

Mack is going through a boy phase.  He loves his big brother and follows him around doing what he does.  He loves fight Logan with Mashoonga's and wrestle him and play legos with him.

  He loves his daddy too and has already figured out that Dave's the funny one.  This morning Mack was crying because I took the ipad away (my shower babysitter).  He was crying and crying and finally came up to me and said, "I want daddy."  He's never really asked for Dave before and it was super sweet.  So we face-timed Dave, and Mack laughed at everything Dave did and was cheered up.  I'm glad he had such a good daddy to turn to when life gets hard.

SOCCER!

Another year of soccer. I love it for the exercise, the 2 times a week playdate with friends not at my house, and the experience of being on a team.  I don't love the Saturday games.  Ok, I love watching the Saturday games, but I don't love the time it takes away from our Saturday. I don't know how long we'll keep doing soccer.  Both Mace and Logan love it but they also love other sports and can't do everything so we will see.  We have the most ideal soccer situation possible though.  My kids have the same coach- a wonderful dad whose kids are on both my kids teams. Plus he played soccer in Italy so they all listen to him.  Plus he is super nice and doesn't care about winning but having fun and learning the game. Totally my kindof coach.  Also, their practices are at the middle school down the street so almost no driving has to be involved AND their practices overlap a bit.  It really is so perfect and I love it.

Macey has played goalie a few times this year.  She's on the fence about it.  It's a lot of pressure but fun too.

Logan's games are getting intense.  I like to watch them but I get super nervous too.  The other day Logan was slide tackled by some gigantic kid.  To say I was angry is an understatement. I can't help it but when my kid is hurt I just get super mad.  Plus he was literally about to score when the kid slidetackled him.  I guess slidetackling is allowed if they hit the ball, but this kid hit Logan's ankle and seeing him crawling on the grass trying to get up made me sick.  Luckily he was ok.  And the team got a free kick and scored so that was cool.  He did have a sore neck and some bruises for a few days.

Poor Mack is dragged from field to field.  I think he likes it though- most of our fields have playgrounds too!  YAY!

The season is not quite over.  It seems to be longer every year.  A few more weeks to go!

Lately...

Logan is running Cross Country this year and loooooves it.  And I actually do too.  The practices are in the hills by our house so Dave has been going almost every time and running with the team- it is fun for them to run together. The meets are surprisingly fun too!  They're always at a pretty park in the evening and since they're on Fridays and the girls don't have stuff going on we all go together and it's been a fun family activity... with my kids getting bigger and busier I feel like we don't get as much full family time so I love it when we do!

Logan is a good runner and fun to watch.  My feelings get overly intense whenever I watch my kids do any sports but I love seeing how proud they are when they do well, or how they stay positive even if they don't do their best.  I love seeing them push themselves too and just TRY.  It really is great.

The first meet was in the Oakland hills so we stopped at the temple afterward and walked around.  It was a gorgeous night- clear, but with cool clouds.  I love the view of Oakland and SF in the background.

Love this view of my kiddos too.

Last week Logan wasn't feeling that great so he stayed home from school.  By 10am he was better but of course didn't want to go to school so he came to story time at the library with me and Mack and then the boys had a picnic in the backyard.  Mack looooved having his big brother home for the day!

The moon was so pretty one night so I rode my bike up the street to get some photos.

Photos never do it justice but I keep trying.

Since my brother Landon has been away at school he calls me periodically to chat.  Well, when my kids find out it's uncle Landon on the phone they follow me around until they can get a turn to talk to him.  It was cracking me up the other night because they're so happy to talk to him and tell him what's going on with them but normally they don't like to talk on the phone at all!  Apparently Uncle Landon is still a celebrity to them.  I literally was hiding in my bed last time he called so just I could talk to him alone without being interrupted!

For those of you who have bigger kids or are still getting used to "tweens," do you ever feel totally outnumbered and surrounded by humans?  I can't hide from them anywhere!  If you hide from a toddler you definitely have at least 10 minutes till they find you.  With tweens I can't even get 10 seconds before they find me! Whether it's the bathroom, the pantry, the garage... they have some sort of sensor or something.  

Also, wasn't general conference soooo good this weekend?  It always goes by really fast but it was super great and I can't wait to re-listen and read the talks again.

Have a great week!

Logan Singing Jolly Holiday

Here's a little clip of Logan singing "Jolly Holiday."  It starts around 45 seconds I think.  Enjoy!

Summer Magic

That is the name of the summer play Logan was in.  It was a mashup of Beauty and the Beast, Mary Poppins and High School Musical.  A lot of Logan's 5th grade buddies signed up to do the camp and they had a great time together.  They were the oldest so they got most of the main parts.  It was a 3 week camp.  The met for about 3 hours a day and by the end of the three weeks they had a show put together- it was good ! Logan was Bert in Mary Poppins and I loved watching him of course.  He had a little accent and the cutest little outfit on.  I know he would not appreciate me saying he was so cute but he was.  His whole part was adorable in my opinion.  I will post a video of his solo if I can get Dave to upload it for me.  In the meantime here are photos!!

Logan and his buddies- don't they look great with makeup?? 

Bert:

Adorable.  I die.

He also got to be a basketball guy in HSM with his friends- they had fun.

Family that came to watch: