Baseball Season

All three boys played baseball this year, which made for a busy baseball season.  Eli and Joshua, who started after Ethan, were so excited to start that they laid out their baseball clothes.  Joshua put his on hours before his first game.

Ethan mostly played in the outfield.  He was ready for the ball and could often be heard cheering on his teammates.

Here is Ethan up to bat.  He was one of the star hitters this year, hitting several "home runs," getting to home because of the other team's errors.

Ethan's team went to the state tournament.  They went to Pleasant Grove to play the first three games, two on Tuesday and one on Wednesday.  Both days were 100 degrees.  Because of the distance and the heat, it made for two long days, especially when they lost all three games.

Eli played coach pitch this year.

Eli running the bases.

Eli watching, ready to run.

Joshua played T-ball this year.  He enjoyed playing and wearing real baseball pants.

 He was on a team with many kids in the ward.  One of his teammates started out the season running around all the bases, past the other kids.  He would also do cartwheels while waiting to hit or run.  He was entertaining to watch.

Joshua was very focused and would run hard as soon as the ball was hit.

Cherilyn's Graduation 2014

Here is another senior picture that wasn't sent with announcements.  Cherilyn surprised herself by enjoying senior pictures.  She was pleased that many of them turned out beautifully.

 May 29, 2014 at the UVU Mckay Events Center, after 12 years of school, Cherillyn graduated!  Congratulations!

Her plan is to go to BYU in the fall.  She will live at Helaman Halls.  

The family.  Grandpa and Grandma B were there too.

Another lovely shot of all the family there.

Holli Ashcraft, Cherilyn and Brevin Roundy.  

(Two good friends who went early with Cherilyn and Allison and saved us all seats.)

Mom, Cherilyn and Dad.

Grandma B, Cherilyn and Grandpa B.

Joshua's Kindergarten Graduation 2014

Joshua had a great year in kindergarten.  He loved his teacher, Mrs. Love.  He is reading simple things and tries to keep up on his writing.  He is a math genius, following in the footsteps of his dad and older sister.   (As much of a genius as you can be for kindergarten, right.)

 Here he is at graduation with his diploma.

I will admit that having a "real" graduation the next week made kindergarten graduation seem a little silly to me.  He is still adorable and we enjoyed watching him sing his songs.

Dances

Allison's first date was Morp.  It's a casual girl's choice dance.  Cherilyn and two of their friends were part of the group.  They made T-shirts for each couple.

For part of the date they went to the park.  Cherilyn and Allison are sitting on the slides.

This is a fun picture of the back of the Morp shirts. They say High, Heels(Allison), Glass, Slipper, Flip, Flops(Cherilyn), Tennis, Shoes.

Allison's second date was Prom. Here's her group...

...and her.

Catching Up

 Joshua decorated a t-shirt with 100 things for the 100th day of school in February.

I took the boys to the pinewood derby car weigh-in.  Charles was on a business trip.  Charles had weighed them previously and they were nearly perfect.  Here are the pictures from that night.

 Ethan and his pinewood derby car.

 Eli and his car. 

We do not have pictures the night of the race but Eli came in 3rd and Ethan came close behind in 4th.
That night I was with Cherilyn and Allison at the stake Young Women Recognition Award banquet.  Unfortunately, I do not have pictures from that either.  Allison was recognized for receiving her medallion and her honor bee.  The honor bee is awarded to young women who complete their recognition award and then read the Book of Mormon again and do 40 hours of service.  Cherilyn was recognized for receiving her medallion.  She transcribed an interview of her great-grandpa, organized her room (a few times), memorized The Living Christ and The Family: A Proclamation to the World, sewed a quilt, planned and invited youth on walks before and after trek, planned a fashion show, and read the Book of Mormon for her projects.  It is not an easy thing and we are very proud of both girls for their accomplishment.

Erica's 14th Birthday

Erica turned 14 on Wednesday.  She got out of school and went to Wendy's for lunch.  After school I told her that we were going to see Frozen after dinner.  She was excited and enjoyed the movie.  She then opened presents and had Oreo Ice Cream Cake.  People in the office at school sang to her twice.  The young women and leaders sang to her and gave her cards and gifts.  She had a good birthday.

Erica's smile and laugh always light up the room.

Erica is doing great in school and likes junior high even though she thought she wouldn't.  She has been very responsible with her grades and homework.  Erica talks to her teachers whenever she has a question or problem, which is great.  She likes to hang out with her friends and watch Studio C whenever she gets the chance.

The day after her birthday Erica was slow getting ready for school.  When asked why she eventually responded "I thought since it was my birthday yesterday I could just stay home and have fun today."  It didn't work.

Christmas 2013

We had Grandma and Grandpa Elder over for Christmas Eve and Christmas day.

On Christmas Eve we did the traditional reading of scriptures and singing Christmas hymns and primary songs.  The kids all slept in the basement.  We set up the tent for them but it smelled bad so we took it down and they slept on the floor.

Here is the tree on Christmas Eve.

This is the only picture I took on Christmas.  Joshua was so excited about his Iron Man masks he was speechless.  When we opened apple juice from Grandma Eli did several fist pumps.  We enjoyed, as always, the kids opening gifts from each other.  Erica gave Joshua a hug after opening fuzzy socks from him.  We all got many nice things.  The girls tried on clothes and the boys played with toys after the gifts were all opened.  After lunch we rearranged the kitchen to fit in the new dishes Charles got.  It is nice to have matching dishes when we sit down to a meal.  We are still adjusting to the rearranged kitchen.  Each of us goes to the wrong cupboard or drawer occasionally.

During the break from school we went to a restaurant to eat, went bowling, played the new games we got and put together puzzles.  For New Year's Eve we invited Curtis and Marianne to play games and have snacks.  Cherilyn and Allison went to a dance for most of the evening.

For Thanksgiving this year we stayed home.  We enjoyed the time together.  On November 16th we went to my parents.  My mom and her sisters threw a 55th wedding anniversary party for my grandparents.  It was fun to get together with family for a short time.  Seeing my grandma literally bouncing up and down was priceless.