Dayton's Celtic Festival!

Last night for "Date Night" Moniquie & I went with our friends (Paul & Kirsten Allen & Paul's Sister Tommie) to the Celtic Festival in downtown Dayton. It was the first time we had been to the city of Dayton since we have moved here. The Festival was located at the Five River Metro Park. We were able to watch three groups perform. The first & third groups were irish bands that played music while the second group was a local Irish Dancing school that performed traditional dancing numbers. The atmosphere was great and it brought back a lot of memories from our time in Ireland. The food was also surprising good as well. Here are a few of the pictures we took.

Paul, Tommie, Kirsten, and Monique eating Dinner on the Grass.



Dayton near the Five Rivers Metro Park

24th of July Celebration in Ohio

Yes! We did celebrate the 24th of July in Ohio! The Stake put on a great event at a local park. We arrived early because our Ward's scouts were asked to do the flag ceremony. They had food, games, and great people show up. They were planning on having around 200 people show up for the event but over 375+ showed up. The Stake leaders had to make an emergency run to the store for more meat. The kids loved the event and eat a lot of great food. We played football (catch), tug-a-war, and tag on the jungle gym. They even had a hand cart and let the children do a pioneer walk around the park (while singing).

The kids near the Pioneer Hand Cart!

The Stake Picnic!

1 Year Anniversary

Just a short note to state that today is our 1 year mark in Ohio. We arrived last year on the 26th of July in Dayton just in time to sign our documents for our old home in Utah and our new home in Springboro. The year has gone by fast and we have enjoyed it a lot. We could not have asked for a better experience over the first year. The city, neighborhood, ward, and friends our great. If we had family here, we would have everything we need. Lets hope the next few years are just as good as this past one.

Here is a picture of Ireland I just had to post. She was waiting for Church to start and just sat down in the computer room to watch me prepare my lesson.

New Family Picture

Here are two family picture collages from our Trip to Utah.

Harrison's School Program

Harrison is some character. Harrison is getting ready for Kindergarten next month and can't wait for school to start so he can ride the bus to school. I really hope his teacher has a sense of humor or it is going to be a long year for all of us. I already know he is going to be the class clown. Let's just hope he knows when to behave and when to have fun. I found this clip of his Preschool program this past May and thought everyone might get a laugh out of it. I don't think I have to point out which one is Harrison!!!

Downtown Salt Lake City

One of the first things my family did when we got to Utah was to go downtown with my sister, Yolanda and her family, my brother Pieter and his family, and Oma (my mom). We love to ride the lightrail system into town (the trax) and then walk around the Gateway. We stopped in at the Clark Planetarium and saw a lot of neat things there. Then we were off to the fountains in the middle of the Gateway Plaza. They even had some music playing that the kids really grooved to while they were cooling off in the almost 100 degree weather!

Summer Olympics!

All summer Oma has been planning the cousin summer olympics, and when the time came she was ready! She had several different events from dropping pennies into jars to water balloon volleyball, the straw javelin throw, discus throw (with paper plates), hula hoop roll relay and more! The kids had a blast! We did let them have a rest to have otterpops. At the end Oma gave ribbons and awards to each of the teams! Very fun Mom! That is a must do again next time we are together!

They Finally Did it!

Well after several attempts at riding their bikes, Harrison and Aedan now can officially ride a two wheeler. And they feel like such big boys! It was so fun to finally see them take off on their own! A mother's pride in her children and their accomplishments. They didn't have too many skinned knees either. The two boys motivated each other. We first bribed them with a new game to play. That got them outside. Harrison picked it up pretty quick. He's a daring kid, and he's been riding his scooter, so he had the balance a little sooner. Aedan saw Harrison go, and well, Aedan couldn't have his little brother ride before him, so he was very quick to pick it up soon after! In the end they were both cheering each other on at the end of the sidewalk! Even Keean got on his tricycle and he finally learned to peddle! While I was watching the boys, (Harrison in particular) I started thinking....now why did we just teach them to ride their bikes? Harrison is always running off somewhere quick and I just gave him a faster way of escaping. Oh well :)

Monqiue's family Reunion

I have yet to get pictures for my family's portion of the trip. Unfortunately just before we went on vacation, our camera broke. Jamie can't just "go get another one". He had to look and look and look and read reviews and look some more. In fact while we were on vacation we often went to Best Buy, Circuit City etc. to see if they had a camera he liked. We came home and ended up buying the same one we had just broken :) But....we have one now so as soon as I get some pictures I'll post them!

Arriving in Utah

Jamie's mom picked us up from the airport on the 26th of June. We were spending our first week in Utah with my family, so we wanted a quick chance to say hi to some of Jamie's family without waiting a whole other week. The kids were so excited to see Grandma Floto, and Ireland held her hands right out to her. She recognized her from all the video conferencing we do! It wasn't long before the kids started asking when they were going to see Gavin, Jarron, and Brielle. We decided to all hook up for lunch with Jenny and her kids since my family had just left to go swimming. It was the cutest thing to see them all talking to each other and catching up on the year that they have been apart. I can still see their smiles and the twinkles in their eyes when they saw each other. I love that they can still be close even though we are so far away.

Swimming!

Tradition for Jamie's family is to go camping every year to Coalville, close to Park City. The kids all love going camping -in the trailer - hiking to the infamous water tower, roasting that perfect marshmallow, and best of all, swimming in the - no, not a lake, but the nice heated pool! Jamie's grandma has a trailer that she brings up and the kids love to play in it, but when it comes time for sleeping, all the boys wanted to sleep in the tent. The kids slept great, it's the adults that were missing their Serta mattress. At the swimming pool they also have fountains that spray water up. This picture is of Aedan, Harrison, their cousins Gavin and Jarron trying to cover up all the fountains.

Utah Vacation - Parade

We recently returned from a great trip to Utah visiting friends and family. We stayed very busy with all kinds of activities for the kids. On the 4th of July we went with Jamie’s family to the Kaysville parade. Everyone was ready with their paper bags to catch all the candy that gets thrown to the crowd. After the parade it is tradition in Kaysville to have a town water fight along the parade route. The fire trucks came through and sprayed the crowd, but the crowd came prepared with their own water ammo from squirt guns to buckets to wading pools! The kids (and adults) thought this was great fun!

Our First Blog Experience

Well this is my first blog. I wanted a way to be able to keep in contact with friends and family since we have moved. I do love to talk on the phone with everyone, but this will be updated a little more than I might call :)