It's a.......

GIRL! Thanks to a very kind doctor who was willing to go back and check after the ultrasound tech finished, we found out today that we're having another girl! Everyone is very excited, but also that everything looks good and healthy. We should have known, so far our boys let us know right when they look and the girls are staying shy. Typical....

Things that make Kayden (& the rest of us) smile...

Sometimes I feel like I am always telling my kids (especially this one) "No" throughout the day, so sometimes it's nice to actually say yes. I feel like I have to pick my battles throughout the day for both my sanity and my kids'. So, when Kayden asked if he could get in the bathtub with his pajamas already on tonight, I decided that was something to say yes to! I don't think any of my other kids have ever asked to do this, and honestly I was impressed that Kayden even asked first! Crazy child....

And a closer shot of Kayden's cute smile! He's learned to wink and if you look at those pearly whites, you'll notice one isn't so pearly anymore! (Front and Center) One of the consequences of this summer's playing hard. He bonked it on something and now it's dead! At least it's not a permanent one, right? Again, not something I've had happen to Ryman or Brylie, but then again are we really all that surprised with Kayden?

And yes, the chocolate ice cream on his face, makes us all smile!

OH! And also, all the comments on our new little one definitely made me smile! Thanks!

Lots of Changes....

Just an update on all the things changing and going on around here....

Not long ago we were enjoying this:

And this:

And this:

But now Kirk and Michael are off enjoying new experiences in warm weather, while the kids are back in school and we are learning to enjoy a little of this:

And eventually, a little one of these:

Found out yesterday that a year of patience does have its rewards! So far, so good. Due in April! In case you can't tell, this is a picture of his/her back side. Head, ears, shoulders, and back. We are out of the danger zone for another miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy and feeling very excited!

Birthday Bandits Strike Again.....

I love my friends! As tradition goes, we get together and decorate the house of whoevers birthday it is the night before. I kept getting told that things were changing this year, and that they were going to do something different. Dean and I had plans of sabotage if they mentioned anything to him about decorating the house, but no one said a word (smart on their part). So just as we were getting ready to go to bed that night, Dean opened the front door and said, I wonder what they're going to do if they're not decorating the house.... and there they were! They ran away and Dean got excited! He was kicking himself for not being better prepared, so the next 1/2 hour or so consisted of them trying to sneak back and Dean banging on windows they were next to, chasing them through the back yard and making strange noises, turning off lights..... I'm sure they had had enough of him by the time he finished. I think he enjoyed them coming as much as I did! We were just getting ready to sneak out the back and put honey on their car door handles when they started to leave. We'll be better prepared next time.... Here are a few shots of the damage!

Leaving their mark....

Alayna had invited me to lunch for the day, and planning on my indecisiveness and letting her choose, she took me to Carino's and said we were with the group of 20! Surprise! I was not expecting that one! Thanks you guys! I'd rather not be a source of attention, but you guys are the greatest! Thanks for a great day!

A Bitter Sweet Tribute....

My sister just posted this on her blog... Good & Bad times with that old car!

Goodbye Safari
Back in 1990, when my mom was pregnant with the twins, my parents purchased a GMC Safari Van, which I have personally hated my whole life. It was passed onto me and my sister when we were in high school and we were both unlucky enough to have to drive it to college as well. All the kids in my family at some point had drive it and be absolutely humiliated. I will admit, there were a FEW times driving a van did come in handy, we could load all of our friends in it and what not. My dad has never gotten rid of it, it has just sat around.....until now. My little brother Kirk, being the funny boy that he is, wrote an obituary for our not-so-beloved car:

The time has come to say goodbye to our dear friend, GMC Safari.On August 24,2009 our beloved Safari will join friends and family
in the Cash for Clunkers Program.
Safari is survived by her cousins;
Chevy Astro and Ford Club Wagon.
She was preceded in death by her dear friend,
Geo Prism.
The family will not recieve friends and family at the viewing because nobody cares.
So please send all condolences via mail, money accepted, to the Ghana and Virginia Mission fund.

*The Geo Prism was another one of our cars we were given to drive. I would pick it over the van any day!

Hooray for no surgery!!!

Wow! Did we just get some great news today! We headed to Primary Children's Hospital today for an appointment for Kayden and that mysterious hydrocele that appeared on Mother's day. After months and months of waiting to find out if he had to have surgery or not, we found out today that he won't have to have surgery for now at least! The doctor told us it was a great time to come in for a hydrocele because they had just finished a 4 year study on them and that most of them go away on their own within a year and don't cause much harm (just extra padding for bicycle riding, in the dr.'s words... ) Boy am I relieved! We'll just keep our fingers crossed that it disappears. Thanks for all the phone calls!

Summer Days.....

Wow! Is July really gone and August almost over? Time is flying by this summer. I've been a slacker on the blog posts mostly for two reasons: Lots of playing & a computer that is begging to be let go (lets see if we make it through this post!). Here are a few random photos of the last month and a half. Of course, you never get pictures of the really fun stuff because you are having too much fun, right?!

I had to take some pictures of our flower beds and garden. Dean designed our entire yard when we moved here, and it has turned out so nice! My camera really doesn't do it justice.

This is the front yard....

And part of the backyard....

One of the things we have been busy with, picking, freezing, and canning!

We've also had a few visits from long lost friends. The Greenwoods and the Gaileys. Oh how we miss them. I didn't get any pictures of the Gaileys, but here are a few from our old neighbors. Not a week goes by that we don't talk about how much we miss them...

And... my sister moved to Twin Falls! This is a picture of my nephew. He was cold, so Brylie got one of her coats for him and he was nice enough to put it on! Fun to have cousins nearby!

We took a week long vacation too! First, we were off to Lagoon for all kinds of fun. We wore out way before the kids did! Then we headed to Park City with my parents for days of swimming, school shopping, and riding more rides. Dean even got/made me do the zip line this year. I thought I was going to die!!! Then, back to Sugar City for my ten year reunion (I'll have to steal some pictures off of friends blogs for that one), and Island park for some boating and time with friends and family.

When we finally got home, we decided it was time for the kids to have a pet or three. So, off to the neighbors to pick out some bunnies. (Unfortunately, this is Kayden's second bunny in one week....) They named them Butterball, Sweet Sweet Petunia, and Licorice (the first one was Mud Bud). It was so cute watching them pick them out and decide on names for them. They love having bunnies!!! (Hopefully Licorice won't be loved too much....)

So, there is our summer so far in a nutshell with lots of other things inbetween! Hope you are all enjoying your summers as much as we are!

4th of July Weekend

What a busy but great weekend we had! We headed home on Friday to see lots of family. My Aunt Joy & Uncle Mike came with their family, lots of fun to see cousins and catch up! We stayed up way too late that night and then decided to get up at 5 the next morning to go see the hot air balloons in Driggs with Dean's family. Very early, but very worth it! The kids loved seeing the balloons and I didn't realize how close we would be to them...

I didn't count how many there were, but they were everywhere! Then we drove to Island Park to play on the lake with my family. Lots of water, boating, and for me a major sunburn and sore muscles. We had a lot of fun!

Ryman and Kayden hanging out on the tube. The rest of the kids would carefully sit down on the tube, Kayden would jump onto it... no fear of water!

Here I am getting ready to waterski for the first time in over 10 years!!! Just like riding a bike, you never forget how... I'm pretty much amazing at it (anyone who was there and feels the need to leave a comment that I'm not all that amazing, I reserve the right to delete your comment! :))

Ryman had been asking all day if he could kneeboard, but we figured after seeing everyone else fall into freezing cold water, he would lose his interest. Not so much! He did it twice and I only caught the second one on camera. He went a lot further the first time! We were so proud of him!

From Island Park we headed back to Dean's parents' house for a great BBQ, then off to Idaho Falls for their amazing fireworks. We each had a hotel room this time and got to sit in the parking lot and watch the fireworks with an awesome view! And then go straight to bed without having to wait in traffic which was totally worth it after a long day of playing! It was such a good day with lots of family!!

Sunday was also a great day spent with lots of food and family. We stopped by my parent's house on the way out for one last go-cart ride and a little baseball!

Not sure if he was ready to swing at the ball or me!

He would have taken a ride on top if we would have let him, and when it wasn't his turn....

Happy 4th of July!!

Finishing Up Some Summer Activities...

We just finished coach pitch for Ryman and swimming lessons for both Ryman and Brylie. They were fun while they lasted, but also nice to be done with. They both did great! Here are a few highlights....

Ryman's team for coach pitch. He did so good this year! Out of all the pictures though, this one is the best. His team picture that the whole team got to take home! I showed it to Ryman, he looked at it for a second, and then got a look of horror on his face and said, "Sorry Mom!" (He's on the bottom right) It actually shows a lot of his personality though. He had a lot of fun !

Here is Ryman doing the back float. He passed his class, so he is on to bigger and better! Brylie told Dean that his teacher had really dark skin, but she doesn't speak spanish! She had a dang nice tan!

Brylie also did really good and passed her class as well. The hardest part was jumping off the diving board which she did every time even though she was scared to death! We were really proud of her!
And what did Kayden do to occupy himself during all their activities? Oh, the usual stuff that Kayden does to entertain himself....

Climb up whatever he could find! Seriously, he had to touch the barb wire himself to believe me that it was sharp. I wouldn't have been all that surprised if he would have just braved it and gone over the top anyway. Honestly child!!!

Our Trek Experience

Well, we survived our pioneer trek and I just have to tell you that despite the rain and cold - it was an amazing experience that I will treasure always! We had the most wonderful "family". We had twelve kids from our stake, most of whom we had never met before. They were awesome!! Here are a few photos....

This is our family before we headed out, all clean and pretty...

These next few pictures are of some of the activities we did during the week...

Dean and I racing to see who could milk the cow the fastest.

Getting one of our meals ready. Seriously, these kids were amazing, they all just pitched in when something needed to be done, if we mentioned needing help with something, we usually had to pick someone out from the volounteers.

A monumental moment, I haven't let Dean touch the dishes since our first month of marriage!

We had some mighty strong boys in our family!

These three were our main shelter builders each night. We never got wet, while were were sleeping that is....

An activity in the rain. As much rain as we got, it never really stopped us from doing anything.

The scenery was beautiful the entire time!

And our family on the last day. Not nearly as clean or pretty, but I think our smiles are bigger!

Really, truly, this was an amazing experience for me. It gave me a whole new understanding for our pioneer ancestors and what they went through to be able to have the Gospel in their lives. I could talk about it for hours, but my testimony was strenghthened and I will never forget any of my "kids" from the trek. If you ever have an opportunity to do something like this, don't pass it up! We are supposed to be able to download some pictures that a photographer who came along took, when I get those, I'll share some more and talk about some more of the experiences we had. Right now, dinner is ready....