Balch Family Blog

I love the summer season, even though in the Phoenix area that means it will be HOT. For us, and many people it is a season of change. You change the routine from getting up and getting ready for school, to sleeping in and staying up late for the lazy days of summer. Working in the school district has both benefits and hindrances. While my paycheck might be small, I get to spend my summer and 4 weeks of school breaks with my children, and that I love!

We have been extremely busy the last few weeks and it will be nice to slow down a bit. At the end of April Mark participated in the Warrior Dash. It was a 3.4 mile run with crazy obstacles, including jumping over fire and swimming through a mud pit, throughout. He did great and finished just under 45 minutes.

Camden had his last Wolf Den meeting for Cub Scouts on my birthday. We celebrated with a pizza party, craft, play at the park, and ended the night with yummy root beer floats!

We also put our little pool up this year. We did not have a chance to put it up last year. The boys have been in a couple of times. We are having a few issues with the pump leaking, but other than that it seems great.

Carsten had his Awana Cubbies End of the Year Program. I was his teacher this year. We had a lot of fun learning bible verses and learning about Jesus through songs and games.

My guys also found time to hang around and be guys!

Carsten received Dr. Alva’s All Star Award for Character.

My baby graduates preschool today and he will be a Kindergartener. My big boy has just 2 short days left in second grade and then he will be in third grade. I don’t know where time has gone.

Enjoy your summer!

Since I was able to get some nice pictures of Carsten, I wanted to update my pictures of Camden as well. Here are a few of my favorites:

Here is one of the boys and a family picture too!

So here are a few pictures I took last Friday!

Carsten got to celebrate his birthday several times this year. He had his first birthday dinner with Gramma Tucson and Papa Ken before they went on their cruise. The first was with a party in his preschool class. He insisted that he was not 5 until his class sang to him. That was a lot of fun, and easy! He decided his birthday dinner was going to be Red Lobster, he had the crab legs!

His next celebration was at Chuck E. Cheese with Gran and Granpa. That is were he put together a puzzle that told him and Camden that we were going to California (Legoland and the beach) for his birthday.

We had so much fun in California! I love sitting and playing and reading, and relaxing at the beach. That is my happy place! Legoland was fun too. Every evening we spent in the hot tub at the hotel. It was such a great time!

On a side note, Mark and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary while we were there.

I noticed it has been a while since I have blogged. I don’t feel like much has been going on other than sickness. At the end of January, Carsten started the sickies off right with strep throat and pink eye, followed by the flu the next week. I got the flu next followed by Mark then Camden. Both boys then got ear infections and Mark got strep throat. I seem to still have a small cold. In between all of the sickies we managed to do a few fun things.

Camden had his Pinewood Derby with Cub Scouts. He did not win a trophy but he did have a great time! His car is black with the Lego guy in it. (Cousin Nathan’s car is the green one next to Camden’s.)

Carsten made it to 3 out of the 6 flag football games. He learned that he prefers to be on defense vs. offense. Here are a couple shots from his last game.

We welcome 2011 with the hopes that this year is filled with lots of family adventures! Our goal is to spend quality time together.

Christmas Eve in their PJs

Dave, Doreen, Wanda, Ken, Mark, Heather, Camden and Carsten

Heather and Mom

I hope December has started off well for everyone. We have been having so much fun! We had family visit from England, went to Zoo Lights, and played a lot in the mild winter weather. We have made gingerbread houses and decked the halls in anticipation for the wonderful celebration of our Savior’s birth!

Remember that Jesus is the Reason for the Season!

We have many things to be thankful for this time of year! My job and Mark’s job are both steady and we are not wondering where our next meal will come from. Our boys are clothed, fed, and involved in a variety of extra curricular activities. We have a dog, that is slowly turning a corner and becoming slightly more tolerable. We are looking forward to a visit with family from England later this week.

On October 30th our family participated in the Undy 5000 walk to support finding a cure for colorectal cancer. Here is a picture of our team:

As we honored the survivors of the disease, I am so incredibly thankful that my mom could stand and be recognized for her fight to win. I am so blessed to be hers!

We also celebrated Mark’s birthday this week. He is such a great man, husband and father! I am very thankful that God has blessed us as a couple.

The boys have had a lot of fun playing with friends! We celebrated Lauren’s 10th birthday yesterday. I am so thankful that God has given her to our family. We are better because of her. Happy Birthday Lauren!

Just for good measure, here are a couple pictures of my sweet little boys!

We took the boys to Mother Nature’s Farm today. It was a lot of fun. The boys really enjoyed the hay maze and feeding the goats. Here are a few pictures from the day!