That's MY kid!

One thing Mat and I have always teased Caleb about is his looks.  In a GOOD way!  He's such a handsome little guy and we definitely give him a hard time about it.  Caleb is super smart and has AMAZING patience.  He loves to draw or fold paper or spend time (lots of time) on any one thing to perfect it.  He has an amazing talent at the piano and is by far the most kind hearted out of our bunch.  Caleb LOVES sports.  He loves being outside and being with his buddies.  He is however, going to be "vertically challenged".  So while basketball may be his favorite sport right now we've been helping him explore other avenues as well.  He currently plays on a competitive soccer team and IS a valuable player but admittedly he lacks the aggression that soccer usually requires.  He's VERY skilled with any sport he just seems a bit too polite sometimes. :)

 Well, we think he's found his sport.  He is playing his first year of "kid-pitch" baseball in the minor leagues.  Mat is his coach and jokingly said Caleb would be the starting pitcher if HE was the coach.  Well, Caleb's first game Mat knew I would be a bit late to so he put Caleb in as pitch the second inning.  It didn't go as well as we both hoped.  He was clearly nervous and wasn't pitching his best.  Mat took him an hour early to his second game and worked on pitching and batting a bit before the game started.  Caleb said he felt MUCH more comfortable about pitching that day.  It SHOWED!  He only was able to play one inning but  he struck THREE boys out and didn't want anyone!  Seriously, my mommy hear has wanted to jump out of my chest with pride since Friday!  I am SOOO proud that he got back on that mound!  He stuck to it and showed everyone that he came to play and even though he was the coaches son that he deserved to be on that mound! 

I swear I've NEVER seen a cuter pitcher in my life!  With his long curly hair hanging out the sides of his hat and his oh so serious face! He has been beaned twice up to bat and walked the other times so we haven't had a chance to watch his batting skills but we have no doubt that he will do well in the sport of baseball.  We truly aren't as competitive with baseball as many of the folks in Santa Clara are so truthfully we may just keep him in minors for two years but he has, and always will, continue to amaze me!

One BIG busy day!

Friday night we started with the preparations for a very busy Saturday.  Peyton helped Mat and I prepare everything we possibly could for Easton's baptism knowing that we would have no time on Saturday to prepare anything.  We stayed up pretty late and woke up at 6:00 am to begin our day.

 We started off with another race for the kids.  The boys didn't get their March race in so they had to run two this month.  Caleb placed third and took home his first real medal.

 Easton was only a few minutes behind Caleb but was pretty discouraged that he didn't place at all.  It was his FIRST 5k and he did really well.

 Bailey took her first, first place in her division and while she didn't have her best time ever, we were just happy she was willing to run an extra race.  I can never seem to get a picture of her running without her feet being in the air.  She's just too fast!

 After the race we went and watched Caleb's soccer game.  The sun started to peek through the clouds a bit and it while it was a VERY frustrating game (the referee was terrible) we did enjoy that we weren't sitting in the April snow as we were that morning.

 We rushed home after the game and bathed everyone for the baptism.  We made it right on time.

 We are so happy for Easton's decision to be baptized and can't believe we have THREE kids that have "taken the plunge".  It will be another 5 plus years before we have a baptism take place at the Holt house.

 Peyton was extremely tired and as we arrived at the stake center she had indeed given in and fell asleep.  No pic with all the kids. :(

 I am grateful that Easton could be baptized by his father and confirmed by him as well.

 It was such an exciting day!  Easton was baptized along with 3 other kids from our ward. One of which was his very best buddy in the whole ward.  Because there were so many from our ward they divided of the baptisms but Easton still got to be there for his friends.

I love my little guy!  With all of the challenges he presents with his strong personality I KNOW he is destined for great things!

"Tri" ing their best!

Mat and I have made the kids a deal.  If they run a race every month this year they will be handsomely rewarded by the end of the year.  The race this month was a triathlon.  It was the boys first and Bailey's second.  We decided to just have Mat compete on his own and the boys were competing in the kids divisions, so it was every Holt for themselves.

 Caleb had a soccer game before the races began by the time we got to the aquatic center Mat had started his run and Bailey was finishing up on her bike.  With a tri you never know how well they are doing because everyone starts at different times.  I did know that Bailey's time wouldn't be as good as it should because as she was finishing up her bike she yelled that she had a broken chain while riding.  Well, she didn't have a broken chain she had one come loose.  A policeman helped her put the chain back on and it slowed her by about a minute.  What we didn't know is that her lap counter also didn't stop her swimming in time and she swam and extra lap.  Between the two mishaps she was about three minutes off.  Three minutes which would have placed her in the top three overall for women!  She ran the third fastest in women and it was such a good race day for her.  She ended up taking second in her division.  Her run being the fastest in her division with her bike and swimming being behind the other girls about three minutes!

 Mat had caught my cold and didn't realize how bad it was until he started the tri.  He was frustrated with his time knowing he can do better but still ended up taking third in his division.  He was one minute away from taking first overall.

 Easton struggled with swimming and wanted to give up after the first length.  That's when Mat and I walked away and he no longer had anyone to complain to.  He rocked the biking and swimming and ended up sixth in his division!

 Caleb was slower in swimming as well but his bike and run were pretty good.  He was the fastest kid in his division on the run and the third fastest for that race.  He ended up fourth in his division.

 Bailey joined Caleb for his run but backed out at the end while he kicked it into gear and sprinted to the finish.

 It was such a fun day and Mat and I were so proud of how well each kid did.  They are amazing!

 By noon, Peyton was tired of being outside and badly needed a nap!

Oh this time of year!

 Springtime is upon us!  Caleb and Easton are both well into their spring soccer seasons, baseball is starting next week, along with all of the year end recitals and programs, tryouts, etc.  Easton was the first to start of the spring programs along with the second graders at Arrowhead.  Why is it that every time I go and take pics of my kids at these things I always manage to capture some sweet looks from the surrounding kids?  Easton did a great air guitar for his part and of course he was so excited to show off all of their songs they learned all year.  We loved it.

 Caleb's school did their track meet a little different this year.  They only allowed the kids that qualified during P.E. for the finals to attend the track meet.  We took Caleb out the night before and apparently ran him a bit too hard.  He was visibly tired as he ran.  We were still thrilled he was in the top eight for both of his races and was able to run them.  He took 4th in the 200 meter and 6 in the 400 meter.

 As part of Bailey's 3rd semester grade she had to enter the science fair.  After weeks of asking her to start it we indeed ended up doing it the night before.  She did a great job!  She didn't win but her project looked so nice and we were proud of all of the work she did end up putting into it.

 We attended Bailey's cheer team review last night.  She's had such an amazing year.  It is sad to know that the team is no longer.  There were about ten girls that left to tryout for high school cheer and after tryouts next week who knows what next year will bring. We love watching how easy she makes it all look.  We love her and all of the kids!



An actual "break" for spring.

 We signed Mat and Bailey up a week before the Spectrum 10K and we were pretty excited.  After Bailey's "stomach aches" for the 9K she has just run/walked in the freezing cold, the weather looked great and Bailey's weekly runs went well.  After the first mile (in 7:15) she told Mat that she quit and wasn't running anymore.  They argued and fought.  An old lady passed and said "C'mon, you're NOT going to let an old lady pass you are you?" Well, they did. As I waited at the finish line I became more and more frustrated as the minutes went on.  SLOW people were crossing and still no Mat and Bailey.  When they finally did cross the finish line they looked so strong!  Apparently once Bailey decided she would run she did. She has amazing abilities and I know that sometimes I need to remember how little she really is.  It was frustrating however.  The mental aspect won this time. Ugh!

 After the race was over, Mat and I left the kids and went to buy some spring flowers to plant in the yard.  Mat forgot a coupon while we were at the nursery so he ran home to get it while I chose the flowers.  When he came back he said little Peyton was asleep.  I chuckled knowing how early she had been up for the race and knew she was tired.  Mat said she had hurt herself on the trampoline and cried then fell asleep.  My heart felt bad that I wasn't there to console her but I was relieved to know she was getting a nap. Well, she napped, and napped, and when she finally woke up I tried to get her to go to the bathroom.  She said no.  She just wanted to lay in bed.  I figured she must not be feeling well.  She mentioned her leg hurt and I kissed it better and went out to plant.  After a while I wasn't feeling all too hot so I went to lay down by her.  Bailey and I were both cuddling with the little sweetheart when Mat came in to check on us.  He expressed concern that Peyton was still laying in bed and thought we ought to get her owie checked out.  I thought he was being silly and I didn't want to pay unnecessary medical bills so I asked him to call our neighbor to have her looked at.  He wasn't home so Mat convinced me to take her to have her leg looked at.  Yep, Mat was right. (This time.) Peyton had broken her leg.  She WAS in pain and once she got a soft cast on her leg she was so much happier.  Our neighbor came by the following day and said he would put a hard cast on her and that we could expect it to be on for 6-8 weeks!  My heart ached for my baby girl.  The one who LOVES dancing and would have to be taken out her class.  The one who LOVES pretending she's a cheerleader and playing with friends.  After checking the x-rays a few days later we were told she would be out for 4-6 weeks which was better but still disheartening.  She quickly became adjusted to the cast and is hobbling around, going up and down stairs, and doing things much more independently which is fabulous! She loves all of the attention she gets from everyone and thinks every day is her birthday with people bringing gifts constantly.  My poor little princess. :(

Spring break???

Our spring break started a bit early.  We took Bailey out of school on Friday for her last two classes and headed up north to SLC with our two girls.  Caleb and Easton stayed behind for Caleb's soccer game and fun with their grandparents.  Bailey's cheer team was competing in their nationals competition and we needed to get there early the night before for a team dinner.  We originally planned on watching all of Raglan's team perform on Saturday but learned Bailey wouldn't be competing until late in the afternoon and we thought it was best that she wasn't hanging out there ALL day.  It turns out we were super glad we didn't have her there any earlier than we did.  Her team didn't compete until 5:00pm and mad it to the match play round which meant they would go head to head with another team at 8:00pm.  Our nerves were all over the place and we couldn't eat or relax.  Once we knew her team was going to the match play round we knew they would take 1st or 2nd...We also knew that her team had blown the competition away in the first round and basically had 1st place wrapped up.  After the two teams had performed they waited to hear the results.  The judges took EXTREMELY long to decided (as they weren't scoring the 2nd round) and I watched as they argued back and forth.  Finally I saw some basically throw their hands in the air and then the announcer said they had a winner.  It wasn't Raglan. :( Raglan had dropped one stunt in the match play round where the other team didn't.  Now typically the dropped stunt wouldn't have mattered because Raglan scored MUCH higher than their opponents in the first round and a dropped stunt is only a point deduction.  I think they basically decided that since the other team didn't drop the stunt in the 2nd round (they did in the first) they were the winners.  It was frustrating and disheartening to try to cheer out little girl up but we had to accept the fact and be super happy that they took SECOND!

 Early Sunday morning we packed up our things and headed back to St. George.  We picked up the boys, repacked and turned right back around and headed up to Brianhead. The kids took the snowboarding school on Monday and rocked it!  Seriously, Mat and I were so impressed with how easily they picked up the sport.  We originally had plans to snow tube on Tuesday but they had so much fun snowboarding they wanted to try out the larger lifts instead.  We were able to stay in a condo for free which was great!  We had the Christensens and the Edwards with us and all of our kids had a blast hanging out, making bracelets, and shooting dart guns.

Our kids can't wait to go again and want to know when they can hang out with their new friends again as well.  They've already put snowboards on their Christmas lists for next year.  It was such a packed weekend but we had a blast.  We are so grateful our kids (and us) get to have such amazing experiences!

Oh that kid!

When we set out to have kids I figured we would have a litter full of freckly, short, hyperactive runts.  Well, we only got one really freckly kid.  I think with each freckle it must be an added bit of personality.  A kid who LOVES ALL animals!  So much that all he ever wants for Christmas, birthdays, any occasion is some sort of live creature.  A kid who hands-down can dirty a shirt like no other and wears through his clothes almost faster than I can shop online for them. :) Mat every now and then receives texts from friends wondering if he has any "Easton stories" for them.  We came home on Saturday to find that he had convinced his grandma that we cook eggs in the microwave to hard boil them.  Apparently he was rather convincing and since grandma I'm sure had never tried it on her own figured it must be okay.  Too bad they didn't have time to clean it up as I was the lucky winner of cleaning the microwave with the remnants of the exploded egg all over.  When the egg exploded it blew the door to the microwave open and tripped the breaker.  Still, Easton claims it would be fine to try it again that he really does do it all the time.  You can give this kid a roll of masking tape and he will have a fort, ball built, and probably have himself wrapped up in it in minutes. Easton has twitches.  We've mostly gotten rid of the snorting, and the squinting while sticking your tongue out, and are currently working on him to stop over biting his lower lip so the poor lip can heal.  Bailey and I were laughing at his stance the other day.  He stands with both feet pointed outward.  Seriously I LOVE him and all of his quirks.  The best was later that night when I looked down at my own stance and yep...he gets it from me!  He also gets the twitches, the easily frustrated personality, and so much more from ME!!! I love him.  Every bit of challenge that comes with him.  Every laugh he provides warms my heart.  We are so BLESSED to have him in our family!