Jantzen's First Cavity...

Late one Sunday night in May, Jantzen started crying that his tooth felt like it was going to EXPLODE!  I took a look and sure enough he had quite the cavity in one of his teeth.  Luckily the next morning we got in to the Dentist.  Jantzen was having a great time in the chair being silly -

Find Your HAPPY place...

 FOUND IT!!

When I said to him that he sure was acting a lot better than he had been acting the night before when he was screaming and crying his answer was, "Three reasons for that Mom; our prayer, the blessing, and Tylenol."  And you know it was probably just that simple!
He had to have his mouth numbed twice because the first time wasn't enough, he had this funny little smile until dinner that night -

 "Mom, I really can't feel it!"

Homemade with Love, by Braxton...

First of all, I have such a hard time looking at this smart, handsome, good young man and understanding that this is my baby boy!  Braxton has grown up it seems like at the speed of light and has turned right before our eyes into such a responsible, independent young man.
He asked me one night if I could teach him how to make dinner, he wanted to make Hot Dogs for him and his brother so we, or should I say he, got to work.

Bon Appetite!

Jantzen was happy to taste test Braxton's first Culinary effort!

I am certainly one LUCKY Mommy to call these two my sons!!

Funny Little Jantzen...

On a daily basis Jantzen says so many funny things, he cracks me up all day long.  He has a great sense of humor even at 6, this is such a great example of his cute personality.  We went to the store with Kristi and Jenna, and he thought this was a perfect opportunity for some pictures...

He truly has a love affair with BACON, it is his favorite food!!

Jantzen and Jenna on their M&M dates.

He is trying so hard to not laugh!!  I love him, he keeps everyday fun and full of laughter at our house.

Ahhhh! Spring - time for a Break...

 Spring Break this year was a full one, and it was great!  Clark unfortunately had to be in Georgia that week for meetings, but me and the boys focused and filled almost every minute.  The weather this year has been less than ideal, but the good days we spent outside and the not so good days we stayed in and watched movies and played.

Braxton worked on some Lego projects -- he loves to design new ways to make Lego sculptures.  He can be downstairs in his "Lego Office" for hours working on his latest idea.  This is one of the Masterpieces that came out of a really rainy day.  If he can't play some kind of sport...that is where we can find him.

We also spent one day with Grandma Mercer.  She is such a neat lady and I love her so much!  We ate lunch, went shopping and then came back to her house and hung out for a while.  I am so lucky to have my Grandma, she has always been such a fixture in my life.  We have such good conversations; everything from the latest season of Dancing with the Stars to how we feel about our purpose here on Earth.  I love her so much and respect the woman she is.  The boys and her also have a cute relationship, it really takes some coaxing to get them to want to leave to go home - especially Jantzen.  He would move in I think if we let him.  We all count ourselves very blessed to have her in our lives.

Clark was able to make it home on Thursday that week so that made it extra fun!  One of his greatest friends was in town for an educators conference and we were able to spend Friday with him.  Joey Goodman (or Dr. Mr. Goodman - depending on what he wants you to call him) is such a special part of Clark's life, and the rest of our family as well.
They were able to meet while Clark was serving his mission in Mississippi.  Joey was a stubborn one, but after time and lots of prayers he came into the waters of Baptism, and Clark was able to be the one to do that.  They have kept in close touch for all these years.  He and his sweet wife Tresa came to our wedding, and have come out to visit a time or two through the years.  They are such wonderful people, they have 2 beautiful teenage children, Elizabeth and Ryan, who inherited their parents strong faith and killer sense of humor.  We just love anytime we get to spend with them, and hope that soon we will be able to travel back to Illinois where they live now and see all the Church history sites that surround them.

 Joey is such a crack up!  The boys just love to be with him, I don't think they stopped talking to him the whole time he was here.

These two are just big kids - I was just waiting for one or both of them to fall off and hurt themselves!  How do you explain that at a doctors office..."Well, Doctor, I was playing on this Rock Wall - yes, I know I am in my 30's"

Talk about ending Spring Break with a BANG!  We got to have our sweet cousins sleep over for the weekend!!  Check out those smiles, I think they say it all...

We went one of the days to Trafalga and the bumper boats were definitely the big highlight.

BEFORE...

DURING...

AFTER...

They got completely soaked and had a blast doing it.  Braxton and Cooper got cornered by a boat of girls (they probably thought they were cute!) and Jantzen and Colby had their own boats and tried to get each other as drenched as possible.  A couple times Jantzen even turned his squirt gun on the line of people waiting for the attraction - way to attack the unarmed buddy!  Good thing the sun decided to pop out for a minute so they didn't freeze.

Addy was a good sport to cheer them on from the sidelines, another few inches and then look out boys!

The last night we had a fire and roasted S'mores and Starbursts, then it was 5 showers and off to bed.  These 2 are so cute together, they were excited that THEY looked like twins this night!

Conference Breakfast...

Twice a year when General Conference rolls around, the "Flygare" side gets together at someone's home for a breakfast during the Sunday Morning session.  It is always so much fun, and to be able to hear the words of the Prophets while surrounded by people you love is just wonderful.

This year we had the breakfast at Courtney & Matt's House which means the food was AWESOME.  Other than being one of the greatest people I have EVER known, my sister not only holds me together more times than I care to admit, but also is one of the BEST cooks I know.  She had quite the spread as you can see, and it was yummy!!

The boys took turns beating up on Jordie, as he teased them like only an Uncle can!

They boys played cards...I think it was Old Maid - ironic 4 boys are playing!

 These are the two artists of the family!

Grandpa and I have had a rivalry between us over our favorite schools since I can remember, so I had to take a picture of the two of us supporting our respective favorites!

Koa Hui...

I was able to join Clark in a work luncheon that honored some of the top performers of the year in 2010.  It was really fun, his company has a lot of Polynesian influences because of the founders ties to New Zealand and that was the atmosphere of the luncheon.  There were some amazing dancers and yummy food, and it was really nice to get to meet a lot of the people that Clark works with.

I so enjoy seeing Clark love what he does and have already so many great colleagues.  We are truly blessed to have this in our lives. 
A gentleman by the name of Les Moore (I know, irony!) gave a talk of sorts and talked about working in an environment that is not an "I win, you lose" or an "I lose, you lose" situation.  It got me thinking a lot about being a Mom, and how I need to foster a better tone of "I win, You win".  I get so overwhelmed with trying so hard to make sure my kids are doing what they need to do to learn, sometimes I think I take away their joy of discovery.  I am going to try harder to "just let things be" and relax more - especially with my family.  This is truly where I find the most joy and I need to magnify that whenever possible.

Jantzen's Awesome "Geode"...

At Kindergarten Jantzen got a Geode and was very excited to get it home and crack it open.  He told me there was either silver or gold in it.

Jantzen wrapped it in a sock and grabbed the hammer and, because luckily it was a warm/dry day we went outside. After a couple good whacks at the sock...

The BIG reveal...

No Gold or Silver - but VERY sparkly!

Unfortunately the sock did not fair very well...

But Jantzen was happy with it anyway.  He couldn't wait to show his Dad and Brother when they got home.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder...

In 2011 we have been blessed to have Clark find a career that he really loves.  It is such a good fit, he really enjoys his colleagues, and loves the ownership/management that he works for.  The one draw back is that he has to travel to Georgia quite a bit.  Since he is starting to build relationships with the folks in Georgia and due to timing with School District budget meetings, he has been going there a lot.  It is nice to be able to video chat with him, and hear about Georgia but we sure do miss him when he is gone.
The first trip he went on we made a paper chain for Jantzen as he was the one taking it the hardest.  When Daddy came home the boys had made him a "Welcome Home" banner and put it on the garage.  There was balloons in the garage and we even bought his favorite treats for that night.

I don't think we could manage to love Clark anymore than we already do, but it is very sweet to see just how happy it makes all of us to get him back home again!!

Jimmered...

In the Beal Home, there is a division - 3 BYU fans and 1 Utah Ute.  Even though I will always fancy the U of U more than "The School Down South" I want to support my boys LOVE for the Cougars.
Clark got tickets for the boys, my Dad and him to go to one of the last BYU basketball games of the season.  With all the national attention on our own little local sports hero, it is fun to see them get a little respect.  The boys are equally in love with both Jimmer and Jackson Emery.  Braxton went to a Basketball camp two summer's ago and Jackson was his coach so he is very loyal to him.  They call him "Braxton Emery" at school.
I went and got the boys ALL geeked out in their BYU gear and I have to boast I think I went the extra mile for sure!  Blue & White hair, BYU T-shirts, Basketball Tattoo's on their cheeks.  They surprised Clark when he got home, they came out of my room and said, "OK Dad, ready for the game!"

Bowling with Cousins...

For a Family Home Evening in February we went with my sister Courtney, my bro in law Matt, and their 3 little darlings to do a tour of old Lehi.

Not really, I wish I could say we planned it that well and it was that thought out.  Honestly, we just wanted to have a fun night with the itty-bitties (not so itty anymore) and decided to go grab pizza and go bowling.  We went to the "Old but New Again" Purple Pig Pizza and then Jack and Jill's for bowling.  It was so fun - the cousins really do just love being together, and we are so lucky to live so close to them.

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The place was pretty busy but it was fun & had loud, great music playing.  The kids seemed to have a good time...

Addy getting a STRIKE

I am not a good bowler!  This is something that I know about myself, I had several gutter balls and after about the 3rd one, Colby said, "Aunt Cole, maybe next time you should have bumpers too!" Ahh, kids and their honesty.  Even though I lost by A LOT, I still managed a smile!

Addison, actually beat ALL the kids with a whopping score of 87!  She beat me too, I think I barely broke 50.  She had a strike and a few spares, but the highlight of the night for her was her bowling shoes!  She went up to several strangers to show them her shoes.  Her head cocked to one side, one eye a little squinty and a smirk on her face, she would point to her shoes and while nodding say, "Mine, Mine, otay, Mine"  I love that at 2 years old she knows how important shoes are -- wise beyond her years!