Croatia!

Robert's Mom was able to take a trip to Croatia last summer and visit the places where her ancestors immigrated from. On her way home, she stopped by to visit us. She had souvenirs for the kids and shared some of her adventures with us. It was interesting to learn about a place we didn't know very much about. The girls tried on this traditional hat and they looked pretty cute. 

First Day of School 2015

The first day back to school is always so exciting. Nate started 1st grade, Carter in 6th and Gabby in 4th! It's their last year at the same school. Grandma got to come visit for the first day too!

Carter and Karen

Gabs and the 4th grade girls

Nate heading into class with his awesome teacher

Voice Recital

Gabby did a fun Summer Voice program with the fabulous Tara Cluff. She took lessons all summer, then had a recital at the end. She performed Inside Out and Everything Has Changed (One was Dad's choice of song and the other was hers). She did great and loved hanging out with all the girls while they practiced. Way to go Gabby!

T-ball 2015

A few pictures from opening day

9 years for Gabby Mae

Today is Gabby's birthday! She turns 9 years old and is such a sweetheart. She is a friend to all and especially loves her grandparents and cousins. Gabby is a sensitive soul and can read emotions from people well. She wants everyone to be happy! She loves to sing and tumble and dance. She likes school and is really good at math and spelling. She has a bit of a sweet tooth and may turn into a gobstopper someday. We love our Gabby girl and are grateful she came to our family. Happy birthday Gabs!

Here are some of her favorites:

Color: Teal

Book: Anne of Green Gables

Song: Can't Blame a Girl for Trying

Food: Roast beef dinner (Roast, mashed potatoes and gravy, carrots)

Subject in school: Math

Place to visit: Eagar and UT

TV Show: Bunk'D

Dessert: Crepes with Nutella

Animal: Beagles

Movie: High School Musical (1, 2 and 3)

When I grow up I want to be: First Lady (The boy she has a crush on wants to be president, Robert's going to roll his eyes when he sees this one)

Ice Skating

The last semester of the school year was so busy, my pictures are all out of order! These pictures were from Spring Break when we took the kids ice skating in Phoenix. It was a blast and everyone improved so much from start to finish.

Spelling Bee

Carter made it into the school spelling bee in 5th grade by winning her class spelling bee. She did really well and got 4th place! All the participants received a ribbon and a bee-shaped pin.

You could barely see her over the podium :) but she was calm and thoughtful before each answer. Good job Carter!

♥♥♥

Fathers and Sons Campout 2015

I always know how much fun they had by the amount of dirt on Nate's face.

Kindergarten Zoo Trip

Nate got to go on a fun field trip to the zoo with the kindergarten classes. They had a 2 hour bus trip to Tucson and we had enough chaperons to break up into little groups of 4 kids. We had all boys in our group and I think they just wanted to run through the entire zoo :) They loved it though! We had a picnic lunch and then the 2 hour ride back home. It was a long day for those kindergartners and many of them took naps on the ride home. Nate didn't fall asleep but sang along with songs on the ipod and played i-spy with friends instead. Good day!

Aww, Baby Elephants!

Mother's Day 2015

Love my kiddos!

Orchestra Concert

Just a picture of Carter before her Orchestra concert. She did so well during her first year and is very attentive in taking good care of her instrument. Well done Carter!

Alice in Wonderland

The children's theater put on Alice in Wonderland last Spring. Nate was an unbirthday party guest, Gabby was a playing card, and Carter was Tweedle-Dum. They had such a great time being part of this production. As always, it's amazing they can put a play together so quickly and look so polished with kids! We are blessed to have this opportunity in our community.

Grandma was able to come see the performance too!

2nd Annual-ish Sparks Family Olympics

This years olympic competition was a face off between the Baby Attack Wolves (Mom & Nate) and the Baby Javelina Monsters (Dad & Gabby), with Carter, of course, as judge. Events included races, charades, soccer, tag and the participant favorite, no-travel football. In the end, The Baby Javelina Monsters pulled off the victory!

Kindergarten Performance

The end-of-the-year Kindergarten performance is always so adorable and this was our last one! Nate had a solo part and made sure to sing it for our family a lot to practice. I think all of us can still sing the Sunday verse of  "Weekly Walk". All that practice paid off and he did great!

 

Cutest squinty-eyed, toothless Kindergartner ever

At your service

Nate woke up before anyone else and decided to make breakfast. He was so excited for us to eat our yogurt and breakfast biscuits, that he had gotten all ready by himself, that I had to snap a picture. It was too cute!

Nate's Hero

Nate drew a picture for his Daddy. Of note, are the muscles, bald head and eyelashes on Robert.

Egg hunting with cousins at HP

Sophie getting the hang of egg hunting

Adelaide already knew there was candy inside. She took out the good stuff and left the eggs, ha ha!

Carter found a golden egg

Then we got to go home to Grammy's and dye the real thing. Can I just say how nice it was that they were old enough to dye them all on their own without any major disasters?

Spring Break

While we were in Mesa for Spring Break, we went to Riverview park. This park is awesome, although it is crowded no matter what time of year or day you go! The kids started off at the splash pad and then had a blast climbing all over and playing on the playground.

Six years old

This handsome guy celebrated his 6th birthday back in February. He is a good mix of sweet and energetic :) He likes sports, playing with friends, swimming, singing, reading, video games, playing the piano, being in the plays and making people laugh. He really thinks its funny to wait outside the bathroom door and scare you to death when you come out. Gotta love our Nate the Great!

Here are some of his favorites:

Food; Pizza

Color: Green

Song: I Am Glad for Many Things

TV Show: Paw Patrol

Dessert: Cupcakes

Place to Visit: Zoo

Thing about School: Lunch and Recess

Animal: Penguin

Toy: Penguino (his stuffed penguin)

What I want to be when I grow up: A Spy

Shirt? Pants? Both!

Nate thought he was so funny to come out wearing his shirt as pants. 

Carter's 11!

Carter turned 11 in January (yup, still catching up!). She is a talented, creative, fun, smart, and loving girl and we are lucky she's part of our family. She likes to dance, draw, sing, act, and play with friends. She plays the piano and violin. Here are some of her favorites:

Food:Chicken Italiano

Book: Ever After High

Color: Bubble Gum Pink

Place to visit: California

TV Show: Liv and Maddie

Dessert: Ice Cream Cake

Subject in School: Spelling and Art

Animal: Pigs, Manatees, Ducks, Otters and Skunks

Song: Froyo Yolo

When I grow up I want to be: A Chef

Here she is opening and riding her new spark scooter. It is harder to get a picture of the sparks than you would think, but trust us, they are pretty cool!