June

In June we were busy with Soccer! (It started in May) Devin loves to play Soccer! And this year John surprised us all by volunteering to be his coach! I think they both really enjoyed it! At least it made us be on time to every game!

John ran his half marathon in June too. His goal was to run it in less than 2 hours. and he did just that! he ran it in 1 hour 50 minutes! Way to go John!

At 6 months old (in June), Sean is getting big. he sits up really well and is a fun little boy!

He's even starting to grab onto the swing! It's time to pack away all the little baby toys!

We also took the kids swimming at a new pool in our area. It was Sean's first time, and he loved it. There was no water shyness at all!

At the end of the month, Erin got her red belt 2nd degree, and John got his Brown belts. I think we're well protected at our house!

June accomplishments

Not much interesting happened in May. At least I don't have any pictures to show for it. But June made up for it. Devin finished up Soccer. He had a great season. In the past, he's been tired of running and not so sure he wanted to continue soccer. After taking a season off, he has loved soccer this season! He's so much better and that helps. He loves his games, and John loves it too. It's been fun for them to practice together. Erin had her dance recital to finish off the year. I was so excited when she showed some interest in dance this year. It brought back so many memories from when I was a child. The only problem was that she had to choose between Karate and Dance. Now that dance is over, I think she'll go back to Karate again. It was great to see her up on stage. She didn't smile during this performance at the park, but she did for the full on recital. My pictures didn't work very well for that though.

It was really funny that when she tried the costume on she said, "It's not very modest, Mom." I've raised her well, but it was had to explain why I allowed this immodesty while she was dancing, but not in normal life. I was proud of her though, and I'll be watching that more carefully in the future.

Devin's had some more fun stuff happening. He had a big preschool Graduation! It was so cute to see him up on the stage singing his heart out. At his Christmas program he sang the first couple of songs and then lost interest. At this one he sang so hard! He did all the actions and paid full attention the whole time! I am so proud of him! Here he is with his teacher Miss Gaylene.

He's also learning how to ride without training wheels. I am so excited for this, cause the boys his age near us all ride and he's just followed along in his car or his Hot Wheels. Once he really learns, he'll be able to keep up with them much better.

As for Colin, I haven't blogged about him is some time, so I thought I'd talk about him a little here. He is so fun!!!! He's getting to be a big boy! He talks, and talks, and talks. Sometimes he drives me crazy with the talk, but it's usually very true and insightful stuff. He's always trying to be one of the big kids. He's a teaser too. Here he's untied John's shoes, and it trying to tie them together. he's always full of hugs, cuddles, and giggles. What a fun kid.

Las Vegas

I tend to go a while between posts. I've got a bit of catching up to do, so here it is.

The first week of June, we took a road trip to Las Vegas. My brother Ryan blessed his baby, so we wanted to be there. On our long drive, we were trying to keep the kids as entertained as possible. This was a little bit of the fun that we had. . .

This is the first video I've ever uploaded to the Internet, so I hope it works.

Here are some pictures of my cute little new nephew, Brad.

Ryan and Jocelyn moved into their new house the very day we got there, so we were able to help them move in. It was great to be able to help them even though we live so far away!

While we were there, we look the kids swimming. It was a really fun YMCA pool with slides and diving boards and stuff. The only problem was that you can't go on them unless you pass a swimming test. You have to swim all the way across the pool. Now Erin has been swimming for a while. She's a very good swimmer too, but I've never seen her swim more than 15-20 feet! I didn't think she could pass the swim test, and I told her so. Well, she said "I can at least try!", and she did. I was very worried, but she did it!!!!!!! She swam all the way across that pool all by herself! She struggled at the very end, but finished it nevertheless. I tell you I've never been so proud of her in my whole life! She did it even though her own mother told her she couldn't! What a bad mother I am. And what a great example Erin was to me. you never know until you try. She earned a green wrist band and the rights to go on the big slides.

We've finished another season of Soccer. Devin loved Soccer this season. He even made a Goal! His team pictures didn't work out though, and we missed the retakes, so we took these cute pictures to make up for them.

More updates to come.

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!

We're still here!

OK, so it's been a while. A lot has happened in our house and it's time to get everybody up to date. John lost his job. Yes, it's true. Apparently they brought in a new upper management boss, and he was penny pinching. He didn't like what John was being paid, so he got the ax. He's been out of work for 3 weeks now. So what's he doing with his time?: He's been looking for a new job like crazy. He finally cleaned out the garage from the move. And he's finishing our cold storage room with sheetrock, paint, and shelves. He's been really busy, and I think that keeping himself busy has kept his sanity.


He looks busy doesn't he.

Well, John got himself a job already! He's going to be working for GMAC as their finance manager. (It's GM's bank that they use for financing cars etc.) He starts on Monday the 10th. We are very excited and relieved that he got a job, and we're feeling blessed that he got a job so quickly! He's a little anxious about starting a new job, and about being gone all day. I think he was starting to get used to being home and getting all his projects done.

So, What else has the Doyle family been up to lately. A lot. Devin finished up playing soccer. His team was so cute to watch, cause they just run around and chase the ball. Devin would get so frustrated if he couldn't kick the ball. But one time he got the ball and took it all the way down the field. After that, he never complained about going to soccer again. He loved it!


He was so excited!

My youngest Brother, Richard, got married about a week ago. I hosted a bridal shower for his Bride, Callie, early in October. We had a lot of fun. Callie had to answer questions about Richard. If she didn't know the answer, she had to eat a piece of gum. She got a lot of answers right, but she had a huge wad of gum in her mouth when she was done.

The next weekend, we went up to Wolf creek with my family to a one of my parents' condos. We spent a long weekend up there, because John didn't have any work to go back to. We really enjoyed the time off together. We went to a dinosaur museum, but I forgot my camera, so I still need to get the pictures from my Mom. We also went to Huntsville, and a beach at the reservoir there It was a beautiful day! We had a picnic and played in the sand! What a beautiful day for October! Outside in t-shirts!


The week after that was Richard and Callie's wedding. They had it a beautiful reception center in Lehi. It was a nice ceremony and a great day. Callie and her family did such a great job decorating everything. It was truely gorgeous. My sister Monica drove all the way from Iowa for the wedding and it was great to see her and her kids. Our kids had a great time playing with their cousins. We are all really happy for both Richard and Callie and wish them the best of Happiness.

Last week, we had Monica over to our house for dinner. It is so fun to see her and her kids. I wish they lived closer so that we could have them over more often. Erin and Savannah have become really good friends. When they moved away about 3 years ago, Erin was 2 and Savannah about 4 or 5. That is a big difference. but now, they almost seem to be closer in age.

They sure had a great time together.

This last weekend we spent home. Halloween was fun! We went out trick-or treating for over 2 hours. That was not the plan, but that's how it happened. Because we were out for so long, not only did our kids get lots of candy, but we also didn't give out all the candy we had at our house, so we have candy coming out our ears! I love Halloween!

Saturday we went up to my sister Mindy's for Jana's baptism. We're so proud of Jana. We had a great day there. After the baptism, we went back to their house for lunch and stayed for quite a while. It's nice to be able to do all these family things now that we're back in Utah.

Well, That was a lot. I think I'm going to try to blog more often, so that I don't have blogs go so long.