Biking it and Liking it!

I remember learning how to ride my bike when i was 5 years old. (There was no such thing as training wheels when i was a kid.) If you wanted to learn how to ride a bike there were only so many options. That generally meant you had to ride a bike slightly bigger than you since it was your older siblings bike. And at my house that was a green bike with a big yellow banana seat(no kidding--the banana seat was yellow). And you had to wait till dad was home, or had time to run back and forth, up and down the street. But once you had the feel for it you got to go out all the time and ride to your hearts content. No helmets either (since that was not "invented" yet, like all safety things of our day). The streets were filled with kids on their bikes and really just a few cars.
Fast forward to today. Sam just learned how to ride his bike this last week. Yes he is 7. But in his defense we only have had bikes for just over a year and a half. And the one bike we did have when we lived up in Lindon was parked safely in the garage since the hills and driveway and street were very, very, very, steep. Sam's been riding his bike with training wheels for the last year plus. And he has asked a few times if he could have them taken off. So last tuesday when blake was working on a teaching session here at home in the office i thought i'd take the boys outside to wear them out for the night. They started in the back yard just riding their scooters around on the back patio. After thinking about it for a second i thought "oh i might as well let him at least try riding his bike with out the training wheels." Fully thinking that he would be ok, but that he would need more than one lesson to pick it up. WRONG!!! We went to the front yard, got the wheels off and headed to the street (helmet too). I got him up to the side of the curb and told him he needed to just start going and i would guide him along and keep a hold till he was ready to have me let go. And like all good parents do, i was totally lying and was going to let go to show him he could do it. We headed down the street and i suddenly realized he didn't even need me to hold on then. i was just really keeping him in the right direction and then i let go. Held my hands up over my head and said good job Sam, to which he turned his head slightly and saw that i let go. He did like what every kid does and threw his legs out to the sides and started to panic. So we stopped turned around to go the other direction, and i reminded him that he knew how to use the breaks to which sam said "oh yeah, i do." Then we were off and again i think i only took 5 steps with him holding on and he had it. He went down the street and used his breaks to stop and shouted "whoo hooo!" He did it!!!! So for the next hour or so the boys all rode their bikes back and forth. So when dad finished his call, he came out to see that Sam was set riding his bike. What a good day! As we were getting ready to be done for the day, Ryan turned to me and asked if he could have his training wheels off like Sammy. We'll save that for another day. (A special thanks to Ethan for taking the pictures and being a good camera man).

OH Brother!

Mom will be sooo proud! I think i have some pretty neat brothers. Over the years we've had our disagreements and even knock down drag out fights. But we have also had some really great times and have some fabulous memories. I consider my self pretty luck in the end that i have some awesome brothers. This last weekend, well sunday, my brother was ordaining his oldest to be a teacher. So naturally being the supportive group that we are, my other brother, Darin (and his wife Kali and baby Kylie) and I drove down to St. George to be there for the event. While we were there we were able to chat about some of the memories we have of growing up. Some of the fights, the snoring, the teasing, etc. In the end as i came home i was able to think back and really appreciate each of my brothers for the unique traits they each have. I don't know how often we get to take time to say it but I really do love my brothers, and i'm greatful for each of them. These are the best pictures i could find of them-hehe. Which by themselves is funny, but i was noticing that each pitcure the boys have their facial hair that my mom just loves. (with the exception of mike with his wig. I'll have to find some better pictures sometime to post later, but just thought it was funny to see these pics. Thanks Mike, Nath, Dar. You guys are great!

Baby Moses...er Jake....Jakemo...Moe

Hailey looks like a baby herself. She was a very cute pregnant lady, but even cuter mom!!!

Hailey, Blake's little sister FINALLY had her baby on July 11. Jaimi said thank heaven for 7-11. I think that is very fitting. Ethan and Sam have asked regularly "Has Hailey had her baby yet?" And for the weeks leading up to the actual day they'd hear me on the phone from time to time and come up to me with hope in their eyes "IS that Hailey? Does she have her baby?" So one night we were sitting at dinner talking about that it was coming up. We asked the boys what would they name the baby. Sam has been set on Moses, and thought that would be a great name for this baby. So Jake might have a few nicknames from our boys. Moses, little moe, jake-mo. Sorry Hailey! In our unbiased opinion, we think he's pretty cute. The boys can't wait for him to get a little bigger so that they can have a little more fun with him. Welcome to the family Jake!

Hey now, you're a Rock Star! (uncle Zach)

Blake's younger brother Zach was in "Star of the West". It's a competition like American Idol (sort of) where 20 musicians performed for judges that narrowed it down from an original 300 (i think). So for the 20 that made it to this level they had a star of the west night to narrow it down to 10. They had little tid bits on all of the performers. Most of them had been performing for years some with more experience than others, but Zach was the only one that didn't have a background in it at all. He's been doing it for his own enjoyment for a while but i don't think he's ever been up on a stage for a crowd. Good thing his "Young" genes are good for things like that. Not all but most Young's are just fine getting up in front of a crowd. Dad was in a band in his younger years and played for dances and such. Nate (Blake's older brother) was a comedian that performed for an audience. And then their is Blake who speaks and teaches for crowds regularly that range in size from 10-500. I am not one of those people and I was anxious for Zach, but he got up there and did great. He was comfortable and care free. Most of the people that performed came out and said "how yall doing tonight?" or "put your hands together" that got old kinda fast. Thank goodness Zach got up there and didn't say either one. The boys thought the night was great and really had fun dancing around. They also thought it was amazing that their very own uncle Zach was a rock star. Good job Zach, you did awesome!

4th of July--sort of

Ryan and Summer (he wasn't sure he liked the hugs just then)

So i didn't really get too many pictures of the actual 4th of July. But while family was here over that week we were able to have a trip up the canyon to my sis-in-law's family cabin. (they are so nice to let us go up from time to time.) While we were there we of course enjoyed the company and time together. The boys absolutely love having their cousins around to play with. Emma and Brittan live here in the area and Summer was up from Arizona. Emma and Ethan are the same age and were off hiking around the cabin looking for bugs and other wild life. Sam joined them a little later when the came back to the cabin to play inside. Ryan is about a year and a half older than Summer (they're pretty close to the same size though) and they had a blast playing with the toys and their "big girl cousin" Britt. Not that Britt is a big girl per say, that's just what the boys call her when they can't remember her name cause she's taller and older than them. Anyway, Britt and Emma headed down the canyon early the next morning since they had piano lessons and such so we didn't even get pictures of them, but here are a few of the others.

FLYIN' RYAN!

A couple weeks ago I was out working in the yard while Ryan was jumping on the trampoline. Blake happened to come home and see Ryan jumpin on the trampoline. It was pretty funny. Every kid wants to fly and some try various ways to do it. I think ryan's way was a good start. As i was getting this video ready to download sam came in and watched the video and said, "what's ryan doing?" i said "he's trying to fly." sam said "too bad he doesn't know about gravity."

Ethan's Birthday

June 7th is Ethan's birthday, and this year he turned 10!!!! (i still am processing that almost a month later). On ethan's actual birthday he got to do some of his favorite things. Saturday chores. Just kidding. He had a baseball game on the afternoon of his birthday. The team even sang happy birthday to him. We gave him a pocket knife (for scouts and camping). He was soo excited about it too.
For Ethan's birthday he had asked for Sub Zero, a place in North Orem, to come to his school for his class. Sub Zero does ice cream by using liquid nitrogen to freeze milk and the flavors and mixins you wish. It really is cool and they go to the schools to do demos for a fee. We had gone to SubZero after one of ethan's games and he saw a poster advertising that. Ethan started asking us and Blake said yes, before we really talked about it. It didn't take much to convince me, either way. So on one of the last few days of school (about 10 days before his birthday) sub zero came and did a demo for all the 4th graders and sam's 1st grade class. It cost some money, but we told ethan that if we did it that was all he was going to get, no party or other gifts and he said that was ok. That is what he wanted. It was fun to watch the demo and then of course to have the ice cream after.

We had family dinner with the Young family side the sunday after his birthday. Grandma had made a beautiful ice cream cake a few weeks earlier that was very yummy. On one of the layers she had forgotten to take out the wax paper so when ethan asked if grandma would make the ice cream cake with the paper we all kind of laughed. Grandma took it one step further and made it with out the paper and made a version of the cake just for ethan. Thanks grandma!

Happy Birthday bud! We love you!