Birthday Fun Part 2

Happy birthday part 2 with daddy's phone pics this round

These pics are when we were able to celebrate with our grandmas, grandpas and cousins.

Jon and Erin got the boys footballs and they loved them.  I love Austin's "Go Utes" sign. 

 Thanks Gilbert family!

 Love this happy boy so much.  I can't imagine what he thinks when it's their birthday...it's got to be so confusing why 3 kids get gifts and he doesn't.

 Opening up Anderson grandparents gifts together.  Little Mirror images :)

 Love these peeps!

*Halle, Papa Dougie, Grandma Marsha and Luke, Papa Ranger and Cole and Jon wrestling with Logan*

 And...Marc, Sky, Anna, Ethan, Ella and Matt*

 Uncle Matt giving Rio some good hugs :)  He's so sweet to her.

 Jax with his Darth Vader cake.

 Rio with Hello Kitty.

 And Austin with Mario and Luigi.

I absolutely love how they never want the same cake!

 Papa Dougie and Blake - he just loves his grandkids.

 Yummy cakes!

 Testing out the new Wii - I knew Luke would love it!

 Oh my little Miss, just love this Rio of ours.  Cannot believe they are six!!!

 Love this group of people.

*Sky, my mom, Jon, Erin, Kari, Kisty and Andrew*

 *Me, Sky, my mom, Erin, Kari, Kisty and Bonnie*

 Love my parents and my sister.  They are great people and fun to be around.  I'm so grateful for their love and support.

Couple takes since Logan wasn't looking and then Spence was talking :)

Haha...one day, one day we might get a good pic of all of us.

I love you 3 amazing kids so much!

My little note to each of you and I'm writing as if I would have written this in December of 2015.

Jaxon, you finished up this last year with Miss Melissa at Kinderprep Academy and you did awesome!  All the teachers there told me how smart you are and how well you already are reading and understanding words.  You played soccer again and love it!  You are such a speedy runner and are getting better and better each game.  Rio even played with you boys this season...that's a different story.  But, you impressed me so much with her encouraging her every game to run faster and try hard.  You even held her hand sometimes to help her onto the field - such a sweet brother to her Jaxie.  You played your first year of baseball this summer as well and let's just say, it is not your favorite sport so far...you rarely liked going but still went without too much complaint with Austin.
In May, your uncle Marc got married to Kari who you absolutely adore!  She almost blush when she's around and I love it!  You are so cute with her and were so excited they got married but did not like it when they kissed.  Haha!
 It has been so fun to watch you this year so far in kindergarten.  You have loved going to school and love learning although you often say otherwise :)
Your teacher Mrs. Cherry often tells me what a great helper you are because you like to keep rules and that helps her a lot!  You are such an independent boy and I am really impressed with your ability to want to do things on your own and go to friends on your own (although Austin often begrudgingly goes with you).  Jax, you are such a kind, loving boy.  Often when I am not feeling well or when someone else isn't well, you are the first to ask if I need help or if you can do something for me.  You ask if I'm okay a hundred times.
Jaxon, you are a very loud, energetic little boy with a lot going on in your amazingly smart brain.  I can see the wheels spinning when you talk sometimes and you get very frustrated when we don't understand or you don't feel heard.  In fact, I think this last year, the thing you said most to me was probably, "I love you" or "You're not listening."  It really breaks my heart to see you get so frustrated with things but I know you will always figure things out.  You are definitely one to "let things go" and "forgive and forget."  You love to be happy and love to have fun.
You are making great friends this year and love playing with Case and Hayden.  They are your best friends besides Austin and Rio.  You love playing with friends and ask almost every day if you can play.  Some of your other friends this year so far have been Max, Gage, Jackson Mendenhall and Riley Johnson.  You have just started playing video games this year and you love them!  I think you have found something that is the same speed as your brain :) Hopefully, we won't play too much though now that you got one for your birthday.  Haha.
I love you Jaxon.  You are a joy to be around when you are happy.  You are optimistic and hopeful when you choose.  You and I had a conversation this year about your daddy and that if you try really hard you can be like him; smart like him, a hard worker like him and successful at anything like him. You can get easily discouraged and very sassy and mouthy with us when you disagree with something or find that things aren't fair but I hope that you will see the amazing traits you have and use them for good and bettering yourself and others around you sweetie.  You can be the best leader!  People will follow you for good so keep it up!

Austin, 
You are still such a hard worker Austin.  You put 100% into just about everything you do!  I love that you want to try new things and are always willing to do a new sport or new hike or new school program - just about anything!  We can always count on you to help us in the yard with things or help dad with any project he has.  Except...this year, you've been a little more hesitant to be "willing" and a little more "testy" with your attitude.  I am sure that it is the age and place in life and you figuring things out and what you can and can't get away with :)  We are hoping that this is a phase and not permanent because we sure love our helpful and willing Austin.
You absolutely love playing sports!  You love soccer and are becoming more and more focused and better and better as you play.  You loved playing baseball this year and really, really tried to understand the game.  You did not have a great or consistent coach until the end of the season but even then, you worked really hard and made some new friends in the process.
When Marc and Kari got married in May, you were so excited for them and absolutely love your new aunt and you continue to adore Marc and the rest of the our family.  You love Sundays because we usually see family and you really like when we are all together.  You love your grandmas and grandpas too and spending time with them although you do not like kisses from them still.
Kindergarten has been really great for you.  You take really good care of Rio and Jax and are continually giving me the full report of what they do.  You often act as the "oldest" child and take on a lot of responsibility partly because of who you are and partly because we ask a lot of you.  You are often the person I ask to help with Logan or Blake or go get something for me.  With that, you have become a little anxious this year; worrying where we are and often ask, "mom, where are you?" even though I'm in the same room or just in the next room over.  It makes me very sad that you feel insecure sometimes and I pray for you every day that you will gain confidence to be okay on your own and feel at peace being alone...it must be a triplet thing :)
You were the first to lose a tooth and as of December 2015, you have lost 5!  5 teeth!  That is crazy but man, did the kids love it because then they each got a candy too.  You and Jax even lost a tooth on the same day once.  So cool!
You are a sweet boy Austin and are trying to maintain that every day.  You become irritated with yourself although you would never admit that and we know you are very aware of others emotions.  You often listen to daddy and I and hear everything we say; you are interested in adult language and curious about things that most kids would just brush off!  I love your mind and heart Austin!

Rio,
Oh sweet girl!  You have really impressed me this year with your independence!  You go to dance all by yourself and walk in without any issue.  You absolutely loved Miss Melissa's preschool and at first would not sit by anyone but your brothers and I was really worried about you being okay on your own ever!  However, you made a great friend named Kate and she was the exact opposite of you - she's loud, busy and very outgoing but she loves you and you loved her.  I'm so grateful for that friendship with her, it really helped you realize you could play at someones house without the boys which has been more consistently new this year and each of you has had to get used to that.
You played soccer for the first time with your brothers and some neighbors and well, let's just say, it didn't go really well.  You would cry every, single game and then when you would go onto the field, you would shuffle your little feet out there and barely walk around the field.  It was actually kind of sad to watch you dislike it.  What we had to realize as well was that you do not like direct attention; at least so far.
On the flip side, you have sung again in sacrament a few times with Jax and Austin and just sing your little heart out!  Man, you love singing and know every, single song you learn and we often hear you singing before you fall asleep and in the morning before everyone else is awake.  We love it!
You love our family being together and love going places like Bear Lake and St. George together.  You cry every time we leave a vacation because you love the trip but you also love us all together.
You are a very sweet sister Rio.  You are kind and patient with Logan and the sweetest helper with little Blake.  We are grateful for your help always and your love for your brothers.  You love when they let you hug them and kiss them too!  Only a few of them allow that :)
You were adorable at your preschool program!  You all played the violin so well!  You sang and sang and I got one of the best complements I've gotten so far as a mom.  Your music teacher came to me and said, "I had no idea these 3 were triplets and I adored each one of them; they were honestly my favorite kids this year.  I just had to come meet their mom."  I was so proud of you all that you were individual, unique and good kids to your teachers.
You have loved Kindergarten!  You adore your teacher and she loves you too.  You cried the first day of school and I cried with you but we said a prayer together and you were okay and walked in with Austin's arm around you.  Since that day, you have loved going and have made a great little friend named Drew.  We love her and you two have so much fun together.  She is even in our ward now since our ward split in October.
You lost your first tooth this December!  You were so brave and so excited. You went to a summer camp all by yourself this summer and had so much fun.  Each Wednesday, you would go to school, come home and we'd take you right to dance and then you were there until 445!  Such a long day for such a little girl but you handled it so well.  Your Papa Dougie would take you and cousin Halle for an hour on Wednesdays and go get a treat while you waited for your next class to start.  He did that for you two for an entire 9 months!  You still enjoy dance but have began to love tumbling a lot more.  We'll have to keep that in mind in the coming months.  You work really hard at things you want to do and never give up!

Jax, Austin and Rio, your dad and I love you all so much.  We are so lucky to have you in our family and we would not be the same without each of you.  You are great siblings to one another and are learning to look out for one another and to be supportive and excited when you each succeed.
You all did amazing in swimming lessons this summer and are already reading so well.  You all learned to ride your bikes within about 3 days!  You have also done a great job at making new friends and love playing and being creative.   We can't wait to see what more experiences brings to each of you.  Love you kids so much!
Happy 6th Birthday!