Lucas is 7 years old!!!

Lucas has been sooooo excited to turn 7. He has been counting the days for months. He wanted to be 7 years old so badly because he wants to be a grown up. Even though 7 still isn't a grown up, he is getting closer and closer every year and he knows it.

This year I gave him a choice, he could either have a big birthday present or a birthday party. He decided to choose a birthday party. So, we took him and 12 of his friends and his brothers to the Classic Fun Center.

The Classic Fun Center has Laser Tag, Bouncing activities, Skating, video games and a pirates play area. All the kids had a fun time. I think they were a little over stimulated because they couldn't play in one area for more than 5 minutes without running to another activity. It definitely kept me busy for 3 hours. I was so busy helping with the party that I didn't take a lot of pictures. So, here is the one picture that I have from the birthday party...


I was really surprised, out of all the activities at the center Lucas LOVED skating. He put some skates on and hardly took them off the whole time. He was pretty good. He had such a good time skating that on his actual birthday (which was only 2 days later) he wanted to go again. So we went to Classic Fun Center again to roller skate. The minute we entered the place, he put on the skates and didn't take them off until we left. He had a very good time.

For his birthday his friends, his family and his grandparents gave him some clothes, a swimming pool, a baseball game, rocket, a Jazz jersey, water toys, more toys and a yo-yo. Out of everything thing he received his favorite gift was a $3.00 yo-yo. Go figure!!

Anyways, Luke is growing up right before my eyes. He is a good boy who has so much potential. We love him very much and have been truly blessed to have him in our family. Happy Birthday Lucas! We love you soooo much!!


Luke receiving his swimming pool from Grandma.

Getting some new swimsuits.

Lucas being really excited about opening up presents.

Happy Birthday Lucas!

Dylan is finally playing Soccar!

Finally, Dylan is old enough to play some organized sports with the city of Syracuse. He has watched Luke play sports for a couple of years and always asked when he can play sports. I always told him that he will be able to play when he is 5 years old. After a long and grueling 2 years, he is finally old enough to play sports. The first sport he participated in was Soccer. He was so excited to go to his first practice. He counted down the days until his first practice.

The big day came and he was SOOO excited to go to Soccer practice. But, the minute we walked on to the soccer field, he started to get nervous and began crying. I couldn't believe it, Dylan was freaking out and saying he didn't want to play soccer and he wanted to go home.

Just a side note: Dylan has a really hard time with change and doing anything new. Even though logically he wants to do something, when he actually confronts the new situation, he emotionally can't handle it. It is very frustrating to me, because I am not like that. But, I don't let him back down and I help him to deal with the new situations.

After walking him over to his team and pushing him to play ball, he finally stopped crying and began to kick the ball. After 15 minutes, he was fine and was having a great time. After the initial freak out, Dylan has been in heaven playing soccer.

He did pretty well. He really does a good job at going after the ball and dribbling it down the field. The problem was he would get the ball all the way down the field and then he would stop right in front of the goalie. I think he thought the goalie was going to stop the ball, so he would stop it for them. But, I am happy to say that after 6 or so games, he overcame that and finally made his first goal. I was so proud of him and he was proud of himself.

I think he did a great job at soccer. I really think this will be a sport he will enjoy and be very good at in the future.

Here are some pictures of him playing at a game.

Here is Dylan with his Soccer coach.



Here is Dylan trying to run after the ball and the other team trying to hold him back.

Below is a small clip of Dylan playing soccer. He does a good job at hustling after the ball, he just has a hard time getting it all the way down the field and into the goal. But considering this is his first time playing, I think he is doing a phenomenal job.

Counting to 20!

I have been working with Mason on counting to 20 for a long time. Some days he is better than others. Here is the latest attempt of him trying to count to 20. I give him an "A" for effort.

Just a note: Sorry this is sideways, but it was how I filmed him and I can't seem to change it.

Viva Las Vegas!

I got a call from my parents a week ago, telling me that my dad had a 3 bedroom condo in Vegas which he reserved (not realizing it until a week ago) and wanted to know if we wanted to come down and stay in Vegas for a couple of days. He had a franchise show down there and would stay a couple of days and would love to see his grandchildren.

Obviously, getting out of Utah's spring weather would be a welcome change. Unfortunately, Jordan couldn't get off work so I decided to venture out and go by myself with the boys. So, we packed things up and headed down to Vegas. I was very nervous about the car ride because my boys aren't the best when it comes to doing road trips. So, I said a prayer, bought some new movies and hoped for the best. We got to Salt Lake when Dylan and Luke asked, "Are we there yet?" I had to explain AGAIN, that it would be a long, long, long ,long, long, long, long time before we got to Las Vegas. They were so excited to see Grandpa and go swimming that they asked multiple times if we were close to getting there, but besides this slight annoyance they were amazing. I couldn't believe it! Mason, just sat there with a bink in his mouth and his blanket and watched movies the whole time. It was so nice. I was shocked.

When we finally arrived in Vegas the first thing we did was go swimming. The boys were in heaven. Mason was a little scared, but by the 3rd day he was floating by himself and having a blast. The weather was nice and warm. The first day (Saturday) it was around 85 degrees and it got up to 95 by Tuesday. We went swimming everyday and had a good time in the water. I got a nice sunburn because I am so used to being in cold weather that my skin got nice and red. But, overall it was really nice to be in the sun.

We also went to Circus Circus and the kids played games and watched the circus acts. They were very excited because the first game they played they won a prize. That opened up Pandora's box. They couldn't get enough. We finally put a limit to how many games they could play before we left Circus Circus. Here are some pictures of their time at Circus Circus.

These are toys they won playing games at "Circus Circus"

This is the gang watching the circus acts at "Circus Circus"

The only thing Mason got to do at Circus Circus. He had a good time on the merry- go-round.

We also went to a Gregory Popovich Pet Comedy variety show. They kids loved it. It is a show where a guy has trained house pets to do certain tricks. Mason sat in my lap for about 45 minutes without moving (that has NEVER happened ever!) and the other two boys had a great time. They also did some other tricks and skits. It was a good time and I am glad we went.

Overall, we had a wonderful time hanging out with Grandpa and enjoying Las Vegas "G" rated style. The kids had a great time and want to go back again.

The boys having a good time in Vegas!!

We were going to eat at the Harley Davidson restaurant but unfortunately, it was booked out for a private party. But, we got a couple of good pictures on some motorcycles.

Here is a video of the boys playing a game at Circus Circus.

Happy Easter!!!

Its that wonderful time of year again! I love spring and I really enjoy Easter. It is a great time to enjoy the beautiful flowers and weather and to reflect on the amazing gift of our Savior Jesus Christ. This year Easter was very enjoyable for me because I was able to spend the day with my family which included Jordan and the boys plus Tyler, Lindsay and Pat. It was good to have them with us because they are all moving away and won't be able to come and visit us anymore. Plus, all 3 of my boys were able to participate in the Easter activities and it was really fun to watch.

We started off with the Easter festivities by coloring eggs. I knew this would be a little difficult with Mason but I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best. It went pretty well. It got a little messy and their were some tears from Mason because he wasn't able to do everything by himself, but I think they had a good time coloring eggs.

Here are some pictures:

Easter Sunday arrived and I got the boys matching church outfits. I really love doing that and I always think they look adorable dressed in the same outfit. I took some pictures of the boys. Here they are:

We all went to church and reminded ourselves about the true meaning of Easter. That afternoon we came home and had a wonderful dinner prepared by Jordan. After dinner, we had an Easter Egg hunt. The boys were in heaven. Not only did they get to find eggs they got to eat the candy that was in the eggs. Plus, two of the eggs had $1.00 bill in them.

We had about 100 eggs and the boys found every single one of them.

Here they are finding the eggs.

Mason having a blast finding eggs.

Luke being a good big brother and sharing some of the eggs he found with Mason.

He got one!!

Dylan finding eggs and being very happy about that.

After the eggs were found, then the feast of candy began. They had gummy worms, Rolos and Reases Pieces in the eggs. Of course mom bought candy that she would enjoy as well.

Luke counting and eating eggs from his Easter basket.

Dylan looking for the dollar bill in his eggs. Fortunately, he found the dollar and Luke found the other one. Both of them were happy.

Mason stuffing his face with candy.

Luke really happy about the candy and cash in his eggs.

Uncle Pat joining in the festivities.

Uncle Tyler relaxing while the boys find eggs.

Jordan and Dylan looking cute as ever.

After the Easter egg hunt, the Easter bunny had one more gift for them to find. He hid their new basketball hoop in the back of daddy's car. Plus he got them new football jerseys. The Easter Bunny spoils the Rowell boys. The boys were really excited and had a wonderful Easter day.

Mason turned 2!!!

I can't believe it has been 2 years since I had Mason. It really does seem like yesterday that I brought him home from the hospital. He has truly enhanced each of our lives and I can't imagine life without him. He is quite a character and has a fun personality. Although, he has shown us that he is entering the terrible twos. He does have a very independent and strong willed personality which he has been sharing it with us on a daily basis.

On his birthday, we did a couple of fun things. We went for a bike ride which he absolutely loves. He is never more content than when he is riding on the back of Jordan's back. He sits back and let's the wind blow through his hair. He smiles and enjoys himself thoroughly. Then we came back from the ride and had cake and opened presents. Unfortunately, my camera wasn't working when he opened presents, but I did get some cute shots of him eating cake. He was VERY happy to eat white cake and chocolate frosting. He does have a sugar tooth.

He loved the presents we gave him and had a fun time ripping the wrapping paper open to find his prize. He got a car, legos, a bubble machine, a leapfrog refrigerator magnet and a grouch t-shirt. He had a great day.

Happy Birthday Mason! I do want Mason to know that we love him with all our hearts and wish him a wonderful year full of happiness and fond memories.

A Bath Gone Bad...

On Sunday nights I am by myself at home with the boys because Jordan is working at Wee Care. So, I try to do some fun things with them while he is gone. Tonight, we played some games and then I told them they could take a bath in my bath. This is a real treat for my boys because I don't let them take a bath in there very often because they ALWAYS make a mess. But, I thought I would be nice and let them take a bath. I got the bath ready (a normal bath with no bubbles) and then left the bathroom. When I came back about 5-7 minutes later, this is what I found..

They had filled the water to the rim of the bathtub and dumped a ton of bubbles in the bath. Thank goodness I came in when I did or the entire bathroom would have been filled with water and bubbles. AAAHHHHH!!!

Well, it took about 30 minutes to clean up. The boys helped clean up some of the mess but I sent them to their room to get ready for bed. When I came to get them out of their bedroom, I ask Dylan to get his clothes out of the bathroom. He follows me and yells back at Luke "Mom is not mad!"

I said, "Yes, I am"

Dylan responds, "You don't have a mad face. When you are mad, you have a mad face"

Well, even though I didn't have a mad face, I wasn't pleased. But, I am sure this won't be the last mess I will catch my boys making.

Boys will be boys, especially my boys.