January

A lot happened in January. I guess one of the biggest things, though are that John went to Ireland for visit his Mom. Yes, He went without us. He's been begging me to let him take a trip on his own to see his mom for months now, and after we saw her in October, I broke down and let him go. This is him and his Mom and Sister. He was so excited, and had a great time while he was there. The funny part was that he kept telling us that he wished we were there with him. I guess next time we'll just have to go all together! I don't want to miss out on another trip to Ireland!

While he was gone, I decided to paint the boys' bedroom. I though it would be a great surprise for him when he got home, and that he would be happy to have one big project crossed off the list. It was a lot of work, but I was excited to be surprising John. there was only one day that I really thought "What the heck have I gotten myself into". I think it turned out great! I'm just going to have John make a couple of Road signs for the walls.
At the end of January, we took the Kids swimming. This pool is so much fun with all the fountains and slides and such. We've been there before, but I always forget to bring my camera. Here are some of the cut pictures. I also found this picture of Devin at Christmas on my Sister-in-law's blog. It is hilarious! Thanks Callie for sharing. (as if you had a choice) ;)

Devin's Birthday

My little Devin just turned 4 on Monday!!!! I can't believe he's 4 already! We just had a quiet family party this year. We went to Chuckie Cheese's and had a fun time as a family. I baked him this awesome spider man cake and we brought it with us. Chocolate, of course, cause it's Devin's favorite. Devin got a spider man web blaster/water gun, play dough, and a few other fun things. And he got to go to swimming lessons on his birthday too. what more could a kid want. Happy Birthday to my big boy Devin.

I think John's just as excited for the web blaster as Devin is.

My little Monkeys.

I got adventurous and made the kids new pjs this summer. I think they turned out pretty good. I just hope Devin's don't shrink too much! He's growing like a weed.

We're done with swimming lessons for the summer. Both Erin and Devin went off the diving board. The first thing that Devin said when he went off (it was his first time ever) was " I want to do that again!" Erin wanted to go off the High dive, but I guess that will be something to look forward to in her next swimming lessons.

Yard completed

Our yard was completely finished about the second week of June. I love having a place where my kids can go out and play. They love it too. The other day, Devin was saying his prayers and he thanked Heavenly Father for our new fence and our new yard "cause its so esciting". It was so sweet and great to know that he appreciates it. Since we had a nice new yard, I wanted something out there for the kids to play on. And because work's been so hectic for John lately, I knew I'd be waiting for a while. I decided to start to put it together myself. Well, I did it little by little in the garage, when I had time and then John helped me carry it out back. I am so proud of myself! The kids were pretty impressed too. One of the neighbor girls came over when I was working on it and said, "I didn't know moms did work with tools." Well, the kids love the swings, and it was worth every sore muscle.

My parents stayed with us for a couple of nights while Erin was off track this month, and they decided to take us to the Living Planet Aquarium. (This picture is of my favorite, Turtles.)

Well, I have never seen Colin more excited! He loved the fish! And he loved walking from tank to tank like a big boy. If I'd known he'd love it so much I would have taken him sooner! (This picture's blurry, cause I had it on the wrong mode, and he kept moving so fast back and forth to see the fish.)

Busy, Busy, Busy

Well, they're all but done with the yard. The grass was laid on Friday May 22nd, and the sprinkler timers finished the next day. Doesn't it look refreshing! On Memorial Day we had our first out door BBQ! (without walking on the grass) We never wanted to be out back before because of the weeds, but now it's beautiful!

Then just last Friday they did half of the cement. The other half should be done tomorrow. After that, all they have to do is put the fence panels on! We're doing the rest of the planting ourselves. It's so exciting to have a livable yard!

Friday night, there was a carnival at Erin's school. We had dinner, played games, and had fun. Erin got her hair sprayed blue, and a dolphin painted on her face.
The kids loved playing on the playground. Especially Colin, who has discovered that he doesn't really need us, and so he thinks it's funny when he runs away.

John gave his best at the Strong Man's Hammer and even made the bell ring! He was feeling pretty proud of himself until he found out it was set up for kids. ;)

Saturday morning I cut the boys' hair, and then took them both to Devin's Soccer game. While we were gone, John took Erin down to see some horses. He has a friend with a horse and she let Erin take a horse out. First she Brushed the horse down and put on her saddle. Then Erin got to ride her around a few times.

Erin was in Horse Heaven! She loves Horses! After her ride, she brushed down the horse again and got to feed her a treat. She ate the whole carrot right out of Erin's hand! What an exciting day for Erin!
Well, Since my Yard was all ready for a Garden, John built me some boxes. He filled them with soil Saturday morning and then Saturday evening after all our activities, I planted the garden (with a little help).
Devin filled up my watering can for me and dug some holes, and Colin had a full body experience. He immersed himself completely. We all had a great time, and I'm just excited that it's finally planted!

Progress!!!!

Yesterday it was 1 week since they started our yard and what a marvelous transformation! It 's not done, but it's getting pretty close! We have fence posts, weeds gone, sprinklers, a drive way dug out, and they finished the curbing just before I took these pictures.

All that's left is the fence panels, concrete in the side drive, the framing for my garden boxes, and grass! It's so exciting! The kids can't wait too. That big area in the back that's curbed off is for our swing set and a shiny new trampoline! Won't that be nice to send the kids out back to play!

I guess I should tell you what we've been doing since they are doing all the work. We had a very busy weekend last weekend. On Friday, John and I went to an Elders quorum party at the park. We had dinner, and played Horse shoes. We lost on the first round, but it was fun! My neighbor, who didn't really want to play won our game and then she and her husband won the next round too because she got a double ringer! Talk about a fluke! They had some awesome luck in that game!

Saturday morning was again another soccer game, and this time Devin did much better. He's enjoying it a lot more now, and played almost the whole game with only 1 or 2 short breaks! I am so proud of him. John took him last week, and I guess he had a really good pep talk with him. When they came home, John said Devin loved the game and even scored a goal!!!! It's amazing how a change in attitude can change the whole game!

Saturday Afternoon, we all went to a little friend's Birthday party, and then we all went to see a real Soccer game in a stadium! It was the REAL Salt Lake team vs. the Kansas City Wizards. It was really fun! All of the kids loved it including the big kids! (us) Salt Lake lost, but we had fun.

On Sunday, we went up to my Sister Mindy's house to see her new baby, Zack. He is a cute baby, and so far, much easier than her other babies have been. My kids love playing with their cousins too.

All in all it was a very fun eventful weekend. I think that this Memorial weekend, we're going to hang out at home and have some Family time.

What's up with the Doyles lately?

Well, It's been a while since I've blogged. I've been really busy, and you'll see why.

Devin's started Soccer. He has a love hate relationship with it. He loves Soccer, but he hates it when no one kicks the ball to him. If any one's ever watched preschoolers play soccer before, you know that that never happens. It's a free-for-all, every-man-for-himself kind of game where the ball gets kicked in the general direction of the goal by everyone on your team, (and sometimes the other team too) with hopes that it will go in. Devin just wants someone to pass him the ball once in a while! What makes it worse is when the weather's bad. then he just wants to go home. Never the less, he insisted that I sign him up again. We'll see how it goes this season.

I have been tirelessly getting Quotes for our Yard. I got at least 3 different quotes for the sprinklers and grass, 2 for a concrete RV parking place, and 4 or 5 for Fencing. We've finally settled on a landscaper who gave us a great deal, and is going to match the best price I got on the fencing. It really pays to shop around! Right now our yard is dull and blah, and full of dirt and weeds. In 3 weeks it will be private, green, and beautiful! Why, might you ask, do we not do our own sprinklers and grass, and put up our fence by ourselves? Well, I've come to the realization that John's time and sanity is worth more to us than it would cost to have someone else do the yard. We are going to do a lot of it ourselves, though, like fixing up the waterfall, and pond in the front. We'll be doing all the tree and shrub planting as the budget permits, and we're going to put down gravel and wood chips in certain areas. I bet you can't tell I'm excited. It will be nice to let the kids go out to play without worrying that they'll go in the road, or get dirt or mud all over themselves. And If we did it all ourselves, it would take all summer and then some! This way we can enjoy the yard this year. These are before pictures obviously. After photos coming in a few weeks!
Another project we've been working on: We've been getting quotes on water softeners. We had people come from all types of companies, and we finally settled on going down to Lowes. We bought the water softener and filtration system there, and then we had them install it (just yesterday)!!!!!!!!! It was less expensive that way. I can not tell you how awful our water has been. It's so bad, that if you run the dishwasher with clear glasses in it, they come out cloudy white like frosted glass. Just washing your hands is a chore, cause if you leave any water on the counter it will cause a white cloud. And our beautiful brown tiled shower has gone gray with all the hard water build up. I love our new water system.

John has finished our Cold Storage room. He's been working on it here and there off and on for a little while, but one week when I took off

to my Mom and Dad's for a few nights, He finished the shelves. The kids helped him paint them and then we stocked them with what we had. We have plenty of room for whatever we might need and then some, plus we worked in room for a few large water barrels. John's so proud of it, and he should be! He wired the lights, sheet rocked the ceiling, painted the ceiling and the concrete, and then built the shelves all by him self. It's awesome!

Devin loves to paint. Erin helped too, but I wasn't there for that.

Two cute helpers!

These pictures are of my cutie Colin. I just couldn't resist putting them on the blog!