Meet the newest basketball star...Gavin!

I don't know if I have mentioned in past posts how much Gavin has been dying to play organized sports. He wanted to play Fall soccer, but by the time I got my act together and called, I was not only late but they were competely filled up :( It was killing me because EVERY night in his prayers he would tell Heavenly Father how excited he was for soccer. I finally broke it to him that we couldn't get him in and I told him I would be the FIRST in line for Spring soccer. Well then I found out about Winter basketball! Last night was Gavin's first practice and it was awesome! Gavin was so excited and took it very seriously. He was very attentive when his coach was talking and he is catching on to dribbling and shooting very well. We went and splurged and bought him some basketball shoes. I didn't feel a bit bad about it because the kid never gets new anything...everything is hand-me-downs! He felt like a super star in his new shoes :) It's going to be a fun season! I'm sure there will be many more posts and pictures

This is when Gavin had to stand and introduce himself to his team

Big girl in her big bed (well kind of big)

Eva has been sleeping through the night pretty much since her second week of life! So it was time for her to move into Emma's room with her in her crib. I have to admit it was HARD for me to let her go. It's just fun to be sleeping, wake up and glance over at her bassinet and admire her when ever I wanted to :) Emma was sooooooo excited! She did great! Here she is her first time in her "big" bed!

I love her face in this one....it's like she's saying "WHAT is going on???"

Steelers fans? Who us?

Go Steelers! I hope they make it to the Super Bowl!

Orlando Art Museum field trip

There aren't very many opportunities to be with Luke at school now that he is a big independant 3rd grader, so I was excited to go on this field trip with him. He even sat with me on the way to the Art Museum! How lucky am I??? :) Not on the way home because his little "friend" Sydnee took priority.

It was a very fun and hands on field trip. We had a picnic lunch then went in where they got to not only see displays and artifacts, but they got to do a little dig for some. What a fun day :)

Graduation!

Gavin is so excited to be in Primary with Luke and Emma now, but it stinks because Emma just moved up into Sr. Primary with Luke and so Gavin still isn't "with" them but he is still excited to be a big boy. And he has the cutest teacher - Marissa Johansen (Luke is friends with her son Grant). What a big day...

Do you need a good party planner?

Emma got all excited about Gavin's little birthday party and organized all the activities...as you can see she had designated places for pizza, Rock Band, presents, and a dance party :) I love when she gets into her projects :)

Happy Happy Birthday Gavin Dear! 1-1-11

It's so crazy that my little boy is 4!!!! It is so fun having his birthday on New Year's Day because everyone is around and in the party mood :)

When I was younger my Grandpa Searle would always make all kinds of crazy pancakes...colorful ones, one is the shape of Mickey Mouse ears, he would do our initials, etc. I always got a kick out of it. I have tried to do it occasionally for kids birthdays. So for Gavin's birthday I made blue pancakes and wrote his name. Yes they do not look appetizing but it sure is fun :)

The later in the afternoon his friends came over and we had a party. I asked him what he wanted to do for his party and he wanted his friends to come play our new Lego Rockband game. Talk about a cute picture with Gavin's little band. ha ha ha. It was cracking me up. Then the rest of the day was football games :) Hopefully Gavin grows up to like sports because if not he is going to be awfully bitter on the day of his birthday.

His giant cookie ice cream cake!

Cooper and Gavin

Zachary, Gavin and Peter

Gavin's girlfriend Suzy

Thanks Grandma & Grandpa Rose for the awesome remote control car! And Grandma & Grandpa Gillespie gave him the coolest building set. What a great birthday.

Gavin is such a joy! When Gavin laughs it makes you laugh because it is so darn cute. He really loves life and always laughing and having fun. The other thing I love about Gavin is that he is such a loving child. He constantly is telling me that he loves me. In each and every prayer he says he says how grateful he is for his family. Also he and Emma play together so much and he tells her that she is his best friend. True they do fight a lot too, but he is so loving. On the flip side he is so tough! All the kids Luke and Emma's age love to play with Gavin and he can hold his own. He can tackle, and fight with the best of them. When the older kids come to play it seems that it always turns out that Gavin is the villan and when I look out back all the older kids are running from Gavin. He is also very athletic. He runs fast, can catch a ball well, hit a ball, and throw far. He is hard working. When he starts something he stays with it until it is done. AND he doesn't want help with it. He is constantly switching out the laundry from the washer to the dryer, and sorting the clothes after we take them out of the dryer. He even puts all of his away. Gavin also loves to learn and is teachable. The other day after he said the prayer at dinner Matt pulled him aside and told him that when we pray we say thee, thine and thou instead of you, your, etc. I hear him correcting himself all the time and I know he is trying to do what his dad taught him! What a joy that little boy is! Happy Birthday Gavin!