Milestones

Well I finally got a picture of Jeff for his blog debut. He ran the Nestle 5K with his sister and cousin for Art City Days. He felt really good and enjoyed himself. They were all a little disappointed when no one won a door prize, this race is well known for great prizes, but they had fun anyway. The second picture is from the Nestle website. They took picture at the raceand Jeff found this one on the site. They are famous. The last picture is of Alex on the fire truck. He fell asleep half way through the parade. I couldn't believe it, with all the noise that he fell asleep so easily. Well he had fun while it lasted.

We also have my brother Hein and his family visiting for a few days. It has been so fun having them. My kids love having instant playmates for the day. Well they have been playing some guitar hero and you wouldn't think that is a full contact sport but I guess I thought wrong. Zach recieved battle wounds when he got caught with the end of the guitar in his eye. Nice Shiner.

Today is also the babies first birthday. We had the party last night and had a blast. We had almost everyone from Jeff's family there, and then my brothers family. It was about 55 people. We had a BBQ and then cake and opened presents. It was tons of fun and we were so happy to have everyone come and be apart of their special day. Here are some special pictures of the day and a few videos. They loved the cake eating by the way.

The present opening was a clostrophobics nightmare. All the kids had to be a part of it which made it interesting. The babies weren't too interested until they got their gerber graduate snacks and the bouncy balls. They seemed to be the biggest hits. Thanks to everyone. It was a great night the babies loved it.

So many things to do, so little time to do them

We just finished up with Art City Days last week and oh what fun that was. We had a great week, full of excitement. We had the Fun-A-Rama for the older boys. At the park, they set up those blow up slides and mazes. They also had a magic show and a train ride. The big hit of the day was hair painting and tattoos. The kids had so much fun. Don't they look great in green.

Then later on in the week they had the firemans breakfast. Jake went to work with Dad and we were so proud. He got to write down how many breakfast orders there were and then give it to the cashier. He did a great job.

Jeff enjoyed cooking with his cousin Riley. They always have fun. Jeff is lookin good. Then we had the parade and we all got to load up on the top of the fire truck. Jeff couldn't come because he was finishing up with breakfast so Adrienne, Jeff's sister helped me with the kids so the babies could go. They all loved it. Alex even fell asleep half way through, sirens screaming and all. They loved waving and looking at everything. Half of the truck was full of my kids and the cousins. When you see the picture the whole side of the truck is family and there were even more in the front. We had a blast.

We were at the beginning of the parade so we made it back around to finish watching it. It was so much fun. The kids made it out with pockets full of candy and tons of flyers and coupons. Good boys. And now lastly, the babies first birthday is coming up and the local paper puts announcements in for you so I wanted you all to see the cute picture we took for the paper. It turned out really good. Also one other side note, we might have a future star in Ryan. He already plays the recorder and loves it. He always laughs at himself after he makes it play music. I will put a video on later.

T-ball and Sunday visit at Grandparents

We are loving the summer. We have gone to 7 peaks water park twice now and we are having a blast. The first time I took just the 2 older boys and they didn't require a whole lot of attention from me. Jake went with his cousin Addie and they went everywhere together checking in about every 10-15 minutes. Zach just played in the kids pool and it isn't very deep so I just kept my eye on him and he did great. So I figured I would try the next visit with the twins. Wow what an adventure. Actually it wasn't bad at all. I just felt like a pack mule. My huge stroller, cooler, towel bag, baby floaties for two, and 4 kids. I am sure people thought, This lady must be crazy!!!! The babies did good. They just sat in the water by me and played with little water toys. They didn't move too far away and the bigger boys really helped me out carrying everything. We really did have fun. Also it helps when you have friends there. They helped out to which made my life easier. I think I will take them again, just not everytime. Also like I said before Jake started T-ball and is doing great. He is learning more every game. Zach and I sit on the side and he asks tons of questions about what the boys are doing so I am sure he is learning all about the game too. Here are some pictures from his practice and first game.

Also another thing we do as a family is go to the grandparents every Sunday night for a visit and time for the kids to play with cousins. Last Sunday was a picture fest because Jeff's dad bought a new camera. It is nice and takes amazing pictures. There are some cute ones of the babies, Zach, and others. Enjoy, I did.

More pictures

Gotten behind again

Once again I have gotten behind on posting. I will try not to jam pack too much into this but so much has been going on (hence the reason for being bad on posting). I will start with Jake's kindergarten graduation. It was so cute. He did a great job and everyone came to watch. He found out he has Mrs. Beesley next year for 1st grade. We hear she is great. He will be starting fresh because there are none of his friends from his old class in this new class. We are excited for him to meet new kids and do something different. Here are a few clips of his wonderful program.

we are so proud of him. He did great in Kindergarten. We can't wait to see what next year brings. Then shortly before school was out we had our annual trip to the cabin for Memorial Day. We go every year to do work to get the cabin ready for the summer. We went on Friday night before Memorial Day. The kids were so excited, they love it up there. The cabin is at Strawberry on the Soldier creek side. Well Saturday was the work day and we spent about 10 hours gathering, cutting and burning branches of about 50 trees that had been cut down the fall before. Wow what a job that turned into. It wasn't the most fun day of my life but it needed to be done and we were glad to help out. Then Sunday more of the family came up and we had a fun day together but by Sunday night we had entered hell. Just about everyone got sick. We are not sure what happened but all the kids and most of the adults had it coming from both ends to put it politely. It was miserable. Most of the night was spent cleaning up and keeping things as under control as possible. We are talking about 25 people all sick at the same time in very tight quarters. What a way to end the weekend. We ended up leaving early on Monday with plastic bags in each of the kids hands in case in came up on the way home. One kid used it on the way home. Before everyone got sick we did have a great time. Here is a video of Ryan playing on his cousin Brynlee's car.
Then shortly after that trip we had an exciting thing happen at our house. Jake was breaking off a loose string from his shirt with his teeth and he lost his first tooth. He just about died. He couldn't believe it. We didn't even know it was loose but it just popped right out. Zach didn't want to sleep in the same room with Jake that night because he was a little nervous the tooth fairy was coming. We convinced him she was tiny and nothing to worry about. Jake loved getting his reward in the morning. He is ready for the next one to fall out. And now summer has begun. We got a slip and slide for the boys and we tried it out the other day. The water was freezing so Jake was really the only one that loved it. Zach is a little more sensitive and as you can see in the following videos he had a harder time enjoying it. Also, a little disclosure, the film is PG because the boys were so anxious and mom was too lazy to go get their swimsuits that they just did it in their underwear so be prepared.
T-ball for Jake also just started and his first game was last Tuesday. Bobb got some good pictures of his so as soon as I get him to send them to me, I will post those. Love you all and hope all is well.

Oh the places you'll go

We had Zach's preschool graduation last night and he did such a great job. We are sad to see the Preschool teacher decide it was her last year. Jake had her for 2 years in preschool and Zach has been in her class for 1 year. She is great and we will miss her. She always does a great job. For their program they sang some songs and each kid had a small part to recite. Zach worked on his and had his memorized. He said "we learned about the days of the week and the alphabet." He ususally is pretty shy, as you can see he ate his shirt most of the time, but we were glad to see him having fun. We were so proud. Here are some clips of the big show. There were some other cute kids in Zach's class as you can see. It was a cute show. We hope he has as much fun next year at the new preschool as he did this year.

I also wanted to post a few more pictures from my sisters wedding reception. These are pictures I took with my phone. My cute grandpa and grandma are so adorable so I really wanted them to have a moment to shine. They are great and we are so happy they were able to come. We love them. This is also a picture of the fun we had decorating Alida's car. We used Oreo cookies and it was a blast. It took them until the next morning to find a place to wash it all off. Too bad it rained all night and made absolute mush all over the place. Good on the windshield wipers.

Time just rushes by!

I can hardly believe it has been over a month since my last post. Is is laziness, forgetfulness, or just plan busyness? I don't know if busyness is the correct spelling but who really cares right? I did have a request from my cute cousin Jo to get posting so I am listening to her advice, and getting a new post done. A lot has happened since my last post so I hope I don't make things too jumbled or boring and long. My husband has also been hasseling my to get this done so hopefully I will make him pround. Maybe he will let me spend a bit more of that wonderful stimulus tax rebate money we just got, ain't life grand. I never thought kids would pay off but I guess in the long run $300 dollars a kid really doesn't go too far. But who is really in it for the money? My kids are definitely worth a million times that to me. Well lets start with my wonderful little sister who got married on April 18th. Thanks Katelynn for sharing your birthday. My sister Alida has waited for the best and next to Jeff, and a few other great guys I know, Aaron is right up there. I am so happy for her. She had her wedding over my spring break so I could be there and I wouldn't have missed it for the world. I just wish my cute family could have been there with me.

My sister will kill me for posting the picture on the bench but I would have to say it is one of my favorites. It sure does look like Aaron is in pain but I promise he just doesn't do well without his sunglasses. Don't they look so happy. We actually woke up the morning of the wedding to an earthquake. What a way to start a new life together. You could take it as a sign, but good thing the happy couple isn't superstitious at all. Now I know I spelled that word wrong. The reception was a blast. I really wish my family could have been there with me. That is the only way it could have been better. Attached is a video of the craziness and some pictures of our fun night. I did have a ton of fun videos I took on my phone to send to Jeff but I haven't figured out how to send them to my email yet. If I ever figure it out I will put them on. Logan, you better hope I never figure it out. People will see the real crazy Logan and all the dancing you did.

I really think everyone had an absolute blast. I was so happy to be there and share in her wonderful day. We will be going back out to Indiana over the fourth of July so it will be good to see everyone again. My kids are anxious to see "THE COUSINS".

Now on to my wonderful family. I am still trying to get Jeff to show off his new body, but it hasn't worked yet. I think I am just going to have to sneek up on him. I will keep you posted on the progress. We had the boys birthdays back in March. I can't remember if I talked about those yet or not in another post. Jake had his party at Jumpin Jacks. It was his first friend party. We had so much fun. He has decided there will be no cheerleading this year. It is kind of sad for me because I know he loves that stuff but he is trying so hard to be all boy now. Oh well, I guess it is a good thing. We are going to the Zoo with his kindergarten class next week and he can't wait. I will post pictures of the experience next week. Or whenever I get the next chance.

On to Zach. We had Zach's party at home. Not old enough for the friend party yet. We had the family and I think it was just as good. Definitely cheaper. Zach is looking forward to his preschool graduation in a couple of weeks. Wow he is getting so big. He loves to play with his little brothers. And sleep. I realized after I attached the picture, I forgot to rotate the picture before putting it on. I hope none of you get a sore neck from looking at the sideways picture.

Now on to the "BROTHERS" as Jeff calls them. Alex has 4 teeth. And they are as cute as ever. He still laughs all the time and is really trying to get his big body to crawl correctly. I don't think his little arms can support him, but he is trying. Ryan is starting to crawl correctly and even pull himself up next to the couch. However no teeth yet. Each baby has his own achievements. All of which we are proud of. They are everywhere now and so we keep most doors shut and gates up. They are still adorable and getting bigger and stronger every day.

Nothing Profound

I wish I had something profound to write like my friend Mr. Laurel Christensen (she will understand the Mr. part). She always writes the most interesting and amazing things. But I am really just not too profound of a person. My life is pretty simple and I hate to admit it but so are most of my thoughts. So because my life is my children then I will write yet another update on my wonderful boys. I will start with Jeff. I wish I had a great picture to post of him but he will not allow it. He has been in a biggest loser contest and it ends this Friday. He has done very well and we are hoping he wins the title on the individual competition. He is at about 55 lbs of weight lose and still doing amazing. Eventually I am sure he will allow me to do a big reveal but just not yet. I am so proud of him. Jake and Zach are still crazy. Here are a couple of pictures of them waiting to ride the Trax Train in Salt Lake, after the last gymnastics meet. They had a blast with Aunt Age. They continue to get cuter every day and coming up with the craziest things to do and say. They are both looking forward to summer and seeing cousins in Indiana. Here is a great video of Zach doing his "thang". Both boys are such entertainers.

Alex and Ryan are still growing and trying to keep healthy. Alex has been sick the last few days and has just been miserable. We are hoping he gets over it quickly and that also Ryan keeps from getting it. Ryan is starting to get up on his hands and knees. He really wants to crawl but just hasn't gotten it figured out yet. Alex can commando crawl like no other. He has a few more pounds to move around but doing good with it. Here are a few current pictures of them.