Last Day of Kindergarten

On the last day of Kindergarten, Ammon was awarded with the "Computer Whiz" award from his class.  He was also thrilled to have earned the Soaring Eagle award, which was a year-long project with a list of several required items he had to pass off as well as needing to choose three out of five optional projects.  I can't believe he has finished Kindergarten!

After school we went to get pizza and took it to the West Jordan City park.  I can't remember the last time we went there.  In honor of Ammon being so grown up, I gave him the cash and pulled up to the curb, allowing him to run in to Little Ceasar's and buy the pizza himself!  I never would have wanted to do that when I was his age - I was so shy.  I love how bold and daring he is.  It doesn't even phase him and he feels so accomplished and responsible.  I am so impressed with my amazing Kindergarten graduate!

Field Trip

Ammon was excited about his field trip - it involved his first time riding in a school bus!  I went with him and we rode to the aquarium.  We had been there recently, but they have an awesome program for school groups.  While the teachers organized the tallying up and payment of entry, the workers sang songs and entertained the kids.  Then we were led in to a room that looked like a sunken ship where they had a "ship captain" explain that he had been a researcher who had sunk his ship at sea and even though he got out just fine, he lost all of his research.  The children were given a paper with questions and "research" that they had to answer as they went through the exhibits.  Ammon was very excited about finding all the answers and making sure that he did everything in order.  It was a fun time.  While we were there, Peter was having his own great time visiting Aunt Jen and his cousins - he loves it over there!

Memorial Day

We spent Memorial Day with Andy's family having a backyard BBQ at his parents house.  We were glad to have everyone there despite some family members who had been sick earlier in the weekend.  Andy grilled his delicious orange chicken, and everyone brought yummy side dishes.  It was fun to have all the cousins get the chance to run around and play together.

Summertime Joy

Pictures taken May 29, 2010

Peter is an outside boy.

He loves hunting for ants.

He loves jumping on the trampoline
and playing soccer.

He loves blowing bubbles
and writing with sidewalk chalk.

And today, Daddy taught him a new passion: tennis.

(Or as Peter names it - "the green ball game".)

And with all of the love and passion this little boy has,

I hope Peter always remembers that he is the love and passion of his daddy.

(And of his mommy; both of our boys are.)

Get-a-Way

The boys stayed at home to party it up with all four of their grandparents, and we headed South to St. George/Zion National Park.  We were gone away from our children for three days and two nights, which we have never done before.  In fact, this is the first time since our honeymoon that we went on a trip with just the two of us and completely on our own time table.  It was heavenly!

As we drove, I read the Hunger Games aloud to Andy.  I had read it before and wanted Andy to get a chance to experience it.  The story was a perfect way to pass the drive time.  We stopped for gas and ended up eating at a gas station Teriyaki Sticks.  Apparently we are simple people, easy to please, because by this point of our trip, we were just ecstatic with the joy of hanging out as a couple again.  I caught myself delighting in the sheer thrill of couple-dom when I thought, "This would be super fun to have the boys here with us too."  But I quickly determined that, although I would love vacation time as a family, this time as a couple was LONG overdue.

We arrived at our destination in the afternoon and spent the rest of the day wandering around St. George just going from store to store.  We discovered Del Sol, which was really fun, and Andy drooled his way through the VanHeusen outlet.  (I had to laugh at that because we have one 20 minutes from us and it isn't like he ever goes up here...)

On Saturday we woke up and headed in to Zion National Park.  Andy had never been.  My parents took me often as a child, but it's probably been a good 20 years since the last time I was there.  We had an awesome time hiking and walking and laughing.  We took our book up to the top of the Emerald Pools, found a secluded area and read a chapter before heading back down.  We ate a pleasant lunch at the lodge.  We hiked the steep (but short) climb up to Weeping Rock and then we meandered along Pa'Ran trail which was pleasantly void of other people.  The weather was absolutely perfect!

We wore ourselves out sooner than expected and got back to the hotel in St. George in time for Andy to take a nap before going to see Brian Regan at the Tuachan theatre.  This was actually the original purpose of our trip.  We saw him in Salt Lake this past February and impulsively bought tickets when we heard he was going to be in St George.  We expected it to be the same act, and were pleasantly surprised by all new jokes.  There were only one or two that we had heard before.

On Sunday we headed home through Zion.  We stopped at the museum and then took the scenic route home merging on to 1-15 just South of Fillmore.  Andy was fascinated by the beauty of Southern Utah and we are eager to return - next time as a family.

International Fair

Ammon's afternoon school group had an "International Fair" fundraiser.  Each child had a station where they made a poster stating three facts about a country.  They could also sell items and donate the proceeds to the school (hence the fundraising part).  Ammon's topic was African Animals.  Each student also had a "passport" with a paper for each station.  They were given a stamp or sticker for each location they visited.  Ammon used a great Elephant stamp that my sister had on hand.  It was perfect since one of his facts was about Elephants.  We did not take near the time I had wanted in making his poster.  In fact, it ended up being a piece of poster board with three simple facts taped on straight out of the printer.  I typed the facts as he told me:

1.

2.

3.

It was a great gathering.  The weather has been pretty cool and rainy lately, but today was beatiful!  Although Ammon doesn't attend have class with all of his cousins, many of his cousins are students in the school and were there.  We even saw cousins of our cousins and of course, lots of friends.

Graduation Day

About a year ago I decided that I wanted to go back to school.

I had actually been working on that goal for a while.

And I was finally going to make it happen.

But, Andy beat me to the punch.

He had tuition reimbursement from work

which meant he could start a semester sooner than me.

And he was a much  further along in the process

which means he graduated a lot sooner than me.

12 months later, here he is.

Finishing up his BS degree in Economics.

When people ask what he wants to do with this degree.

His answer is: get an MBA.

I'm hoping he'll take a little break before going full bore into that next step.
Between him working 40 hour weeks
and taking 9 credit hours of classes at a time,
his family is ready to see him at home!

We'll see what happens.

In the mean time, we were happy to celebrate this big step!

It was a crazy busy day with tons of stuff going on, but I am glad he walked for graduation!

Congratulations Andy!

Testimony of the Book of Mormon

I believe the Book of Mormon

is the word of God

I know that He loves me and knows me.

In companionship with the Bible,
the Book of Mormon helps me
to know Him.

This truly is
Another Testament of Jesus Christ.

I hope you enjoy the video.

A Family Day

Pictures taken April 25, 2010

The weather was so beautiful after church that I decided to take my family to the mountains.

I didn't take into account the difference in climate.

Silver Lake was under several feet of snow.

Oh well, it was a nice drive.

We came home and built a fire in the backyard instead.

Hot dogs for lunch.

S'mores for dessert.

Turns out we didn't need the mountains to have a great time.

Later that night Andy made some brownies.

Peter and Daddy were side by side,

licking the batter.

It really was a beautiful day!

Soccer

Pictures taken April 24, 2010

I don't know anything about soccer.

Despite my ignorance to the sport, we enrolled Ammon in a league.

I LOVE being a soccer mom.

We just had Ammon's first game this week.

It was fun to watch him run around the field, kicking after that ball.

He scored two goals in the first half.

When he was younger, we had a hard time every figuring out whether he was right handed or left.

He seems to be ambidextrous.

I think that holds true to his feet as well.

He was able to steal the ball back for his team with a lot of left footed kicks.

They seemed natural to him.

More than anything, he seemed to have fun.

And that makes me happy.

Riverton 2K Cookie Chase

Pictures taken April 24, 2010

Ammon's very first race was an idea from Gramma Peggy

She signed him up for a 2K and he ran it with her and cousin Michael.

Gramma picked Ammon up at 7:15 AM.

Mommy and Peter arrived just before the race started at 8:00

Daddy couldn't be there because he was participating in a triathlon at the same time.

Ammon does not love running.

But he was willing to give it a go, and finished the race 3rd for his age group.

I understand it took some coaxing to keep him going.

But I'm proud of him for finishing, and glad for his Gramma to give him this chance.

A Cousins Outing

Pictures taken April 23, 2010

My mother-in-law was told she could receive extra credit in a class for visiting the aquarium.

That gave her a perfect excuse to take her eight oldest grandchildren on a fun field trip.

We went to Wendy's for lunch, had a blast at the aquarium, and finished off with icecream at Cold Stone.

I had a wonderful day counting heads and taking pictures.

The boys had fun playing with cousins and exploring all the different types of fish etc.

Thanks Gramma Peggy!

Sunday Walk

Pictures taken April 18, 2010

Just an ordinary Sunday walk.

Time out of our week.

A day of rest spent with each other.

Happy Family memories.

I love it.

Birthday Party

Pictures taken April 18, 2010

The weekend of his birthday, Peter got sick.

But,a week later, we had tons of family come help him celebrate another year.

This party was much anticipated.

For weeks Peter wouldn't stop talking about having a party

with all, "my kids".

Indeed, every cousin on both sides were there - 14 kids in all.

He ditched the second half of his party to go play with all of his new gifts.

I guess that means they were a hit.

Big thanks to everyone who came and blessed Peter with such a wonderful celebration!

Peter Jo-phes

My baby recently turned three.

Usually, when we hit the half way mark to a birthday, I start to assume the upcoming age.

But this year, with Peter, I drug it out.

He was my precious 2 year old until the very last moment.

And suddenly, he is older.

He has become quite the chatter box.

He is quite adament about his idenity and I love the way he mis-pronounces his middle name.

He is stubborn, and sweet, and smart, and silly.

Not always at the same time.

How I love my Peter Joseph - the blessings of motherhood are great!

Easter Weekend

I look at all of these pictures, and I can't believe we fit all of this in on General Conference Weekend.  Last year Easter collided with Peter's Birthday.  This year, with General Conference.  I am looking forward to next year having Easter all by itself.  But despite the business of the weekend, it was a good one!  Before the first session of conference, we headed over to the city park for a candy hunt.  It is always fast, but fun.  My sister and her family came as well, and once it was over, we headed over to their house to see the new little chicks the Easter Bunny had brought them!

Between sessions of conference, we dyed our Easter Eggs.  It was a good, fun, family time.

After the second session of conference, I headed out shopping with Andy's mom.  He went to the Priesthood session with his dad and brother, and then we met up, like we always do, for dinner afterwards.  It's a fun tradition that I look forward to every six months!

We got home late, and realized that the Easter Bunny still had some shopping to do, so we headed out for that.  We were finally resting our head to our pillows around 1:00 in the morning when I casually mentioned that I was feeling paranoid about carbon monoxide poisoning.  We have been meaning to get an alarm for a while since we have two furances, both of which are about 20 years old.  Anyway, I apparently spooked Andy a bit with my comments, because next thing I knew, he was headed out to the store.  He came home and then we had the alarm going off at 2:00 in the morning while we tried to get it set up.  Wow.  Tired, loud mess in the middle of the night.

Sunday morning started all too early.  Ammon was eager to see what had happened during the night in terms of a visit from the Easter Bunny so we went in and woke Peter up.  Poor guy was sleeping on his feet.  He perked up when he saw the light saber in his "basket", but even then it took him a while to wake up completely.  He spent the morning chomping down chocolate and other candy, though, so he got his sugar buzz and was good to go eventually.

We had a yummy breakfast ready to eat just in time to sit down for the first Sunday session of conference.  We had our kids watch that one, so it was pretty torturous for us all.  We survived the two hours and started cooking for our family dinner.  The second session of conference was much more enjoyable for me and we had guests arriving shortly after.  At dinner I noted that Nunes people married smart - all of our spouses are great cooks.  My sister and her husband brought deviled eggs and a ham that far surpasses Honey Baked.  My brothers wife brought an amazing Apple/Pear salad and some divine mint brownies.  Andy and I made the Lion House Baked Beans, Lion House Potato Casserole and homemade breadsticks.  I love family and good food.  It's the best combination ever!

After dinner, my mom did her annual easter egg hunt with the grandkids.  Each child had their own color egg to hunt down in the back yard.  It is SOOO fun!

This weekend was packed full and completely exhausting, but what a great time!

Ammon's New Bed

Picture taken March 07, 2010

Andy's sister recently discovered an awesome website where there are tons of directions on making furniture - much of which is knock offs of Pottery Barn stuff. This is Andy's first project. It was quite the learning experience, but came out wonderfully for all the mistakes that were made. The stain job is terrible and incomplete because Ammon was devestated to see his new bed "the color of decay". We think we have compromised on keeping this one with this stain (which needs to be really touched up and finished) and doing the next project (bunk beds) red.

Fun fact:  Not only did Andy make this bed, but several years ago, he also made the quilt!

Beautiful Day

Today we had the best weather of the year.

Then the snow came

And chased it away.

How rude!

Is the Storm Taking Over or is the Sun Breaking Through?

I can't decide.

Vacation Day

We are used to running a hard schedule.

The times in our marriage that there hasn't been multiple jobs or school on top of full-time work have been rare.

I think we're pretty good at taking it all in stride and making it work.

But lately I've been struggling.

I've been overwhelmed not only with what we are doing now,

But also with looking forward to what is coming in the next few weeks and months.

My summer recently began to look quite bleak.

And that is only if everything we are hoping for works out.

It's hard when what you are working for, praying for, hoping for

Actually means that life gets to be harder.

I've been here before.

Too many times.

Add all this to sheer exhaustion, more house showings, and midterms

And you can probably understand why it was so brilliant of Andy

to take the day off from work.

Boy did we need it!

We spent the morning preparing the house.

Then we went to Ammon's school and checked him out.

Family breakfast at Village Inn.

I felt like I was on vacation - this is about as much of a vacation as I ever get.

We enjoyed a lovely morning together and I feel like I can breathe again.

The afternoon was back to business as usual.

Homework.

Dinner.

Andy at school until after bedtime.

But at least we got to breathe.

Andy feels good about his test.

And I'm getting ready for mine.

Now it's time for bed (as soon as an assignment gets turned in)

And we're back to the crazy tomorrow!

But today, for a few short hours -

we relaxed.

We spent time with each other.

And it felt good.

Cute Cousins

Picture taken March 2, 2010

Ammon has been blessed to have lots of really great cousins who are also his friends.

Kylie is probably the one he has spent the most time with, though.

They were born just six months apart and even attend school together.

There is just something about seeing the two of them with each other that makes me happy.

Biker Boy

Pictures taken March 2, 2010

Geared up and ready to ride!

Helmet - check.

Glasses - check.

Awesome grin - check.

The only thing missing is the sunshine.

But that didn't stop Peter from having a fun time riding his bike this afternoon!

Dreaming of Summer

Pictures taken March 1, 2010

The day is just warm enough

to pretend like it is comfortable to play outside.

I'll take it!

Nothing better than watching these two guys

running off their energy!

It's a great day to be a mom!

Happy Aunt

Picture taken Febrary 27, 2010

My little brother decided to spoil me

By giving me another niece.

I keep hearing all this stuff about how wonderful it is to be a Grandparent

But I think this Aunt stuff is pretty great too!

Maeli Rose Nunes was born February 27 at 2:07 in the afternoon.
She weighed 7 lbs 15 oz and was 19 inches long.

Welcome to the family, Maeli!
I can hardly wait to watch you grow!

Goodbye, Green Car.

Picture taken February 24, 2010

A couple of weeks ago, we aquired a new vehicle.

It was desperately needed.

To replace the dying "green car".

Today the car is going away.

Donated to the Kidney Foundation.

Andy was a little sad to realize that the car may be gone before he gets home.

I teased him and asked if he wanted a picture.

He laughed and said no.

Then he came back.

And said yes.

This is the car we drove on our first date.

Every morning he would pick me up for school. 

He would rev the engine in front of my house to try to make it warm up faster for me.

He exploded a milk jug in the back seat and had to tear out the carpet.

(The milk was there because he had ran to get groceries for our lunch date.)

It got locked behind the temple gates the day we were married and he had to break into the temple parking lot to get his ID for our honeymoon.

We drove it on our first road trip together - the trip when I fainted and took over a year to return to full health.

This car carried our first baby home from the hospital.

It moved with us countless times, including to AZ and back.

Someone backed into it, denting the hood.

We said don't worry, this car is going to die any day.

That was a good five years ago.

We used to hope it would die, wanting to replace it.

Then we prayed for it's survival, knowing we depended on it.

Last winter we received miraculous goodness at the hands of our Bishop and friends

Who took countless hours to keep it running just a little bit longer.

Andy recently got sick.

The doctor said that it was the inversion.

A few days later Andy realized,

"Well, maybe it is the antifreeze I breath driving to work everyday."

This car lived a long life, but it was ready to die.

(And trying to take Andy with it, apparently.)

I am glad Andy wanted to get a picture this morning.

This car was sometimes hated by us.

But mostly it was loved.

Goodbye, Green Car.

Thanks for the memories.