Halloween 2009

KC the Knight, Rachel and Megan the Fairy Princesses, and Ryan the Batman.

PAWS Awards!!!

The kids celebrate Rachel's Good Citizenship Award. Ryan got one from his teacher, too, and KC received one from the PE teacher. Who would have predicted that? Way to go kids!

Back to School

So, it's obviously been a while since an update. Happens to the best of us, I know. So, now that it's almost New Year's, you should know that Ryan started kindergarten. We're too close to the school for him to ride the bus, but the kindergarten bus driver goes right by our house on her route, so she offered to pick him up every day. There he is on day 1. Rachel started 4th grade and KC 2nd.

Aspen Grove Family Reunion!!!

We had so much fun at Aspen Grove. It's a beautiful place, and all 42 of Karen Davis's descendants were there. And there were sports tournaments! Utopia.

KC rocked the climbing wall.
Rachel and cousin Ben shot things. I hope they weren't aiming at those on the climbing wall.

KC panned for gold, and found quite a bit. Amazing!

Ryan being cool, showing off the dimple with cousins McKay and Dallin.

Fun Times at the Family Reunion

Oh, the cafeteria! So great to not have to worry about any kitchen chores for a week! Show up, eat, and, go play some more!! Meet cousin Jake in this picture.

The swinging couch was good for Rachel, Jax, Anna, and Megan
I had the unique opportunity of playing tennis against President Monson's grandson. He is ranked #4 in the state of UT, and would probably be #1 if he played as many tournaments as the other guys. We had a very good, hard-fought match, which he was forced to retire at 4-4 in the 3rd set. He got upset with himself, and his dad (the Prophet's son, Clark) told him he was done, and to go shake hands. Did I mention he was 12 years old? Anyway, this is me, sweaty and victorious.

KC enjoyed the face painting. His choice of design shows very good taste. Or have I cursed him to a life of despair?

Aspen Grove Adventures

KC enjoyed the pool with his orange goggles.

I like how Jax joined our family picture

2nd Annual Annual Tennis Trip

Again, I took a bunch of tennis players to Colorado Springs to play in a couple of tournaments and so I could spend a little time with my mom! Now that I'm coaching the boys team as well, this year's trip was much different. 5 boys and one girl. Taryn got the upstairs with Mom; the boys and me got the basement. This picture shows us with Brian, the famous tournament director from the Memorial Park tournament who broke up the "incident" last year when one of my girl's parents has to defend himself from an overzealous (some might say insane) parent of an opponent (my girl won). "Get Brian!" has been our team motto ever since.

We went to Garden of the Gods to hike around and pose on the day between the two tourneys.And, of course, the customary group picture before going home. At least, we thought we were going home. We went home after fixing a flat and had to default the last day of matches in Pueblo. That was a big disappointment, but nevertheless, a memory and a story to tell to future tennis generations.

And the last stop on the KC trip...

We stopped at Grandma Davis's house and went for the "Pride Rock" hike

And Ryan threatened anyone who dared to take his picture

The best father/son outing EVER

KC and I went to another game the next day (July 4th), and it was perfect. We had great seats at half price, it was a nice day, the Royals amazingly won, one of them (a Cuban who had just become an American citizen) hit a home run (how cool is that on the 4th? - They interviewed him on the loudspeaker at the end of the game, and he was so proud to be an American citizen - it was really cool) and the Mexicutioner came in at the end to close the game. The whole time KC was asking questions and we were just talking and having a fun, relaxing, yet exhilerating time. The scoreboard is currently the largest HD screen in the world, but that's only until the Dumb Dallas Cowboys finish their fancy new stadium.

Did I mention they actually won?!

KC got a cool new lunchbox with his kids meal, and the fountains are always a cool sight.

And now KC is a Royals' fan for life - a curse, some might say, but I've never seen him so happy :)

The Royals' Game!!

Everyone who knows me knows that I love the Kansas City Royals. Some have suggested that my son KC is named after the city of my favorite baseball team. True or not, we may never know, but we did manage to go to a game with all of the family, along with Mike and Jennifer and their girls. It was July 3rd, and the big fireworks show after the game was great. The very moment the show ended it began to rain. Luckily we were ready with our ponchos.

The highlight for Ryan was the dollar peanuts and the cotton candy (it was "buck night").

The Royals lost, of course, but it was still an experience we won't forget.

Continuing the Kansas City Vacation...

Megan and cousin Taryn are both very avid readers, and here they are, reading on the Gilberts' front porch.

And quite happy about it, clearly.

Deanna Rose Farmstead

Another fun place in Kansas City is the Rose Farmstead. Think of Moon Farm multiplied by 20. It's free to get in, and there are all kinds of cool things to do, including restored barns, teepees, schoolhouses, playgrounds, and of course, animals to look at, feed, and pet. There were also cute little flowers, like this one that resembles my youngest daughter.

And these ones look like my other kids...scary.
Rachel was able to carry this calf around. She wanted to keep it, but we didn't have room in the van.

KC and Ryan enjoyed their time there, and I really think they left as new people.

And Rachel caught a fish!! It was very happy to be set free, and it swam away fast.

Church History Day

This is at a little play area in the Independence, MO visitor's center. I love little Megan peeking through the window and KC being a hot chocolate-drinking pioneer. Ryan's mad because he wanted to be IN the house for the picture.

KC and Rachel are doing serious pioneer faces and Ryan is... well I'm not really sure, but it's funny
And this is at the Liberty Jail visitor's center where we were sitting in front of the jail scene, which pretty much can't be seen in the picture. Bummer. Both of these places were really cool to visit, and the kids even liked it! Good early testimony building experiences.

Kit Carson County Carousel

Our next stop was in Burlington, CO, at the 100 year old carousel with working organ and everything. I would recommend anyone driving I-70 to stop and check this out. All of the animals were handcrafted and there are cool paintings and lots of interesting details. I was sort of fascinated it by it, anyway...

Ryan liked it, too

Trip to Kansas City

First stop was the No Name rest stop outside of Glenwood Springs. Beautiful views and happy kids on the van.

...and enjoying the lunch Katie had packed for us.

Megan's Birthday (June 11th)

So, Megan turned three and Katie borrowed Dana Lee's crazy cupcakes idea and made a crazy multi-colored cake. It was delicious of course.

And the outside of the cake was equally festive for the "rainbow and polka-dot" themed party.

She invited three friends, and the table was set and ready. Ryan really wanted to be in the picture.
And this is our little clown. She is a major ham, actually. Gets it from her mother.

I love this picture. Captures her personality and her sweeteness.

Ryan playing T-ball

And here is the big batter, battin'

He enjoys his dugout time, as well.

Rachel (background) is proud to be the equipment manager.

The band-aid on his forehead is covering 5 stitches he got from messing around in the van. (Sorry, Dana Lee, no graphic pictures of the wound ;))