Live Dinos!

Gavin had the opportunity to participate in a Knowledge Sharing fair which was essentially a Science fair without everything being related to science.  He teamed up with a good friend of his, Felix, and they decided to learn about geckos.  They titled their presentation Live Dinos to catch people's eyes as they walked by.  I have to say I was a bit nervous how this would all come together and if it these two would have the responsibility to put it all together, but they came through in a major way and it was awesome!  Gavin drew the central picture of a gecko, and that turned out amazing.  They also found really good pictures and typed up all of their own captions and put it all together on the poster.  The last piece was that Felix really wanted to bring his own truly live gecko, but the school decided that wouldn't be a good idea.  Plan B turned out to be Felix 3D printing a gecko out of plastic and Gavin hand painting it.  Once placed within the habitat area, it was hard to tell if the gecko was real or not!  Well done, Boys (and moms)!

Gage and Gavin Soccer Weekend

Gavin is continuing to learn how to move around on a bigger field with seven on seven.  He typically plays either outside back or outside midfielder.  Above is some fierce defensive work by Gavin.

After halftime, he is ready to kickoff and compete again.

Here is Gage still playing four on four.  We are quite ready for next fall's season because this field seems too tiny for him.  At least the weather this spring has been very nice and enjoyable for a change.  I remember last year had a bunch of snow storms, and sometimes the kids were playing in snow suits.

With the age changes, Gage is definitely at the top end of the age curve.  As you can see, he continues to be almost a head taller than most of the kids he plays with and against!  Yep, he's ours: Gage the Giant. 

Hiking Gregory Canyon - Part 2 of 2

These were actually taken on the way down and were a bit more scenic in nature; I love this rock formation near the bottom of the trail.  It has a surprising amount of greens and reds with all the moss growing on the rocks.

This tree seemed like something out of Dr. Seuss.  Perhaps it's the last trufulla tree!

This view never really gets old.  It was a beautiful day and, as we mention often, the kids always love to be outdoors rather than inside.  We got back to the car and ate a picnic lunch there and headed home for some well earned rest and relaxation.

Hiking Gregory Canyon - Part 1 of 2

 

Occasionally, I (Brent) like to get away with the little men and find new trails to hike.  I figure the rockier the better for these guys, though that just makes them want to go off-trail and scale all the rocks all the more.  They have never been on this Gregory Canyon trail that I remember running several times with an old friend, Chris Langer, back in our younger years.

Of course, there were some immediate detours up the first big rock they could find.  Gavin usually instigates the spontaneous rock ascents with Gage following right behind.

Gage decided to take a rest, about half-way up.  The trail gets pretty steep and there isn't actually that much shade, but it is quite a fun trail.  My favorite part is about half-way up where you have to almost scramble up this short section that traverses an especially rocky section.

We did find some good wildlife this time, as this small herd of five to six deer were feasting on some grass next to the trail.  We sat and watched them for a while and then decided to continue on toward the top.

Baptism Weekend at Flatiron's Church

For the past few years, our kids (especially Gage) have been curious about baptism and what it means and how it happens.  They get reminded of this because our church does such a big celebration baptism event about once a quarter.  Multiple hot tubs are lined up along the front of the church and music is played, and it's always a really special time.  This March, both our kids decided that they would like to get baptized, and we were obviously very proud and supportive of them.  Here is the picture of them getting into the tub together.

Gavin was so very protective of Gage throughout the whole event.  He wanted to make sure Gage heard exactly what to say and was being very safe.  They asked them if they believed that Jesus was their savior and lives inside of them.

And then they were dunked!  Gage seems to be a bit more surprised by the dunking than Gavin, as you can tell from the recovery picture above.

Here is the picture afterwards.  They were very excited, as were we, that they could take part in this and make the outward profession of their faith.  We were glad that our parents could be there to celebrate this event in their lives, as well.  We pray that God would continue to grow our boys' faith and hope in Him, and we trust that what God has begun in them He will continue forever.