D's Birthday

I have been compiling these photos all week, because birthdays when you are a kid are not for the day, they last all week!!  We began Wednesday, his birthday with Breakfast in bed and going to lunch at Bella's.  He wanted a Pogo stick so that is what Shane and I gave him. 

Next he was on to his friend party.  A late night with night games that got rained out, but we still had a great time on a treasure hunt with 10 fun, happy little boys.  We ate pizza, cupcakes, and watched a movie.  Great fun!  Gavin Hill, Tyler Keyes, Dakota, Braxton, Denim, Forest and Anderson McConkie, Gunnar, Cameron and Simon Peterson across the front. (below)

 And we finished out the birthday week having Grandparents over for peach cobbler and ice cream.  He got a BBgun, new snorkeling equipment for the pool and a 10 game set.  He was a happy boy.  Grandparents are the best.

Happy #9

My handsome #2 son turned nine years old today.  I checked him out of school for our Bella's Lunch.  We had a blast.  He loved the funny questions I asked him like "who is the hottest girl in your class?"  He did say he would never tell.  He is so fun and full of energy.  I love you Dakota J.  You make Mom and Dad so proud!

Nine things I love about Dakota:

#1 That handsome smile!  It lights up the room.
#2 His kind, kind heart.
#3 He has a silly little giggle that is contagious to whoever is around.
#4 He loves to be good.  I can see it in his face all the time.  It brings him joy as well as his family.
#5 He is good at math.  He figures things out in his head that most have to use a paper for.
#6 I get multiple compliments from teachers, neighbors, friends, and grandparents on what a helper he is.  He sees a need and does it, what a great quality.
#7 Dakota is a quiet observer.  He may not say much, but he is always watching and learning.
#8 He. Tries. So. hard.  He really struggles in reading, but he always gives it his all and has improved sooooo much this year.
#9 He always tells the truth and works hard.  Two of the best qualities in a man according to me, something to be proud of for sure.

Easter 2014

We had a fun, event filled Easter once again.  Marley, James and Carrera came over and died eggs on Friday.  Marley had a really cool idea to tydye them with Shaving Cream and food coloring.  Braxton of course put it all the way up his arms when we were done.
We had an egg hunt at Brent's on Saturday, and a hunt at Grandma and Grandpa Facer's on Sunday and went over to Becky's for Easter baskets Sunday night.  We wrapped string around balloons then glued it and popped the balloon and made a basket out of it.  It was cool.

Our ward had a pinewood derby on Saturday night and with it being so close to Easter we did a themed car and put an egg representing each member of our family.  We were not the fastest, but I thought it was pretty creative.

The boys handsome new church shirts my mom got them for Easter Sunday.

Annual Facer Family Photo on Mom and Dad's front porch.  We fill it up more and more every year.

Aquarium Spring Break

For spring break my mom took all of us to the new aquarium in Draper.  It was a really neat place.  Shane even took of 1/2 day and came with us.  We went with all of our cousins and Tara and Kiley and Mom. We had a lot of fun.

There is a really neat suspension bridge they all got to walk across.  It was very crowded that day because it just opened, so they had to wait about 10 minutes to cross it, but they all thought it was pretty cool.  They also had tunnels the kids climbed through. Cameron and Carrera and below Braxton and James.

Everyday things...

Cameron was eating these Lucky Charms the other day right after he got better from his sickness and I couldn't help but remember about when I was a kid and my neighbor, Vicky McFarland, whom I love dearly, used to feed these to me for breakfast and she would pick out the marshmallows for me because I only liked the other ones. I am so thankful for people in my life like her and hope my children always are surrounded by people who love them as much as I do if I am not there.

Denim and his diorama on Toco Toucan

Dakota and his diorama on Ocelot (a bit like a jaguar)

Showing off their first published books they made in 3rd grade.  Dakotas is full of poetry and Denims has passages about his family.  The book are a priceless gift.  These two are so blessed to have each other and spend countless hours together every week.