Catching Up!

Just when you think your life can’t get any busier, it does. Somehow you manage to get everything done that needs to get done…everything that is, except blogging. We are a little behind and I don’t see it getting better anytime soon. I have started this post several times and keep changing it because I get interrupted and then life changes and hence the post needs to change. I am determined to get it posted CORRECTLY, today! Get ready for picture overload!



Scout Expo
A couple of weeks ago we attended the Scout Expo with Austin. It was a lot of fun for the kids.

Austin got a bulls eye on the knife throw.

I was mesmerized by this eagle. It has been a long time since I saw one up close and she was simply majestic.

While the kids and I were going around to all the activities, Chris stood in line for the zip line for 1 HOUR and 45 MIN.! We must really love our kids! They really wanted to go on it so we made it happen. SPOILED, I tell ya!

Allison was so brave, I thought she would get up there and start crying but she loved it. Now, if we could get her to ride a two-wheeler...

Austin loved it too!

We also stood in line for 45 minutes for face/arm painting. Allison got a guitar on one arm and a butterfly on the other.

Abigail was so shy that she just got a heart.

Austin sawed some wood and then got a bear claw print branded into it.

Preschool Graduation

We loved, loved, loved Allie's preschool this year. We had a preschool co-op with four other people. The kids loved going and I really enjoyed teaching once a week. The kids really are the best of friends. Their preschool graduation was so cute. They performed a couple of songs and did a graduation cheer. I still can't believe she starts Kindergarten in a few months!

In-Tune

Some of Chris's cousins started a performing group/show choir in Cedar City. It is supposed to be from ages 5 and up but Abigail knew all the songs and dance steps so they let her do it too. They performed at the Cedar City Business Expo a 50's themed program. They did so good and were soooo cute! And of course, my kids were the best! :) Stay-tuned for more pics of their summer play.

Field Day and The Last Day of School

Allison and Abigail got to help the girls in Austin's class during the tug-o-war. The girls lost but only because there is about 5 more boys than girls in his class.

I had never seen Austin hoola-hoop before this day. He actually did really well but didn't place.

Austin got 3rd in the sac race.

We loved Mrs. Greenfield. She was especially nice to Allison and Abigail and would always let them play with things in her room and give them treats. She always included them in class activities and asked about them. We will miss her.

Keith's Graduation

When Chris and I got married, Chris' brother, Keith, was only 6 years old. Now he is graduating and preparing for a mission. Keith has accomplished so much in these last few years and we are so proud of him. Here are just a few of his accomplishments...

• 1st place in Bridge competition at the State Science Olympiad
• 1st place in Bridge competition at SUU Engineering Fair
• School Sterling Scholar in Trade and Technology
• Regional Sterling Scholar in Trade and Technology
• 1st place in State in Discus
• Lettered in Football
• He received over $100,000 in Scholarship offers

I love this picture of the three youngest of Chris's brothers and sisters. It truly represents their personalities!

My sister-in-law and I made this cake for Keith. I hate store bought cakes so this is our attempt at one that looks like one but tastes way better! One out of two aint bad...

Asher falling asleep

This is a video I found of Asher that I never posted but is pretty cute.

Asher - 10 months!

Our little monster is now 10 months old and driving me crazy. I can't leave him alone for one second and he is into something. Asher learned how to get through two childproof locks on the TV before we figured out how to finally keep him out. He still loves bathrooms and toilet paper (at least it has been clean toilet paper). We no longer have a need for sweeping or mopping our floor because he eats everything off of it and then drools enough on it that we just have to wipe that up and...wa-la, it's been spit-shined! :) I have had to move everything in the office off the first two feet of shelving - books, paper, magazines, etc., and in from the desk and table about a foot because he loves to reach up and gab everything off them. Let's just say he definitely keeps me on my toes. He is actually quite fun. He is very happy and determined. When we try to re-direct him, by moving him, not just out of the area but out of the room, he just looks up at you and smiles and crawls right back to where he was and what he was doing. :) I guess, those are both great qualities to have, right? I think my favorite thing he does right now is when he wakes up from a nap. He starts banging on the wall for us to come get him. He is so smart and thinks he is so funny, he actually laughs at himself especially when he knows he is being sneaky.

This is him getting caught in the pantry. Look at that face, he thinks he is so funny.

Allison thought it would be funny to put Asher in his toy box and push him around the house. He didn't seem to mind.

Going Green!

It's funny how a little green in the front of your house can make a huge difference. For starters, it feels like we live in a house now instead of a construction zone. Hopefully, we will have less dust, although, I doubt it since we are still surrounded by about 3 acres of dust. Next year we can actually build a snowman in the front yard. Chris wouldn't let the kids build one this year because he said we would just end up getting too muddy. :( Next I can start working on my flowers and bushes. So many choices!

Definitely the longest part of the whole process was putting in the sprinkler system.

Chris showing the kids how the sprinklers work...they actually seemed interested (for a minute, at least).

We have amazing family that always come to help. Here they are laying the sod. Between the three men and a little help from me and my sister-in-law we laid the whole front yard in an hour and a half! :)

I don't have pictures of Chris grading and compacting the yard but we seriously had the flattest yard around. We had several people ask how we did it....take my advice AND DON"T ASK! :)

BEAUTIFUL!!

Ballet class

Allison took her first ballet class. She took it through the rec center so there wasn't a long commitment, only a 6 week class. She can barely touch her toes but she still loves it. :) It looks like she takes after her daddy. Her teacher was perfect for her because she was really "cheesey" and animated and goofy, just like my Allie.

On the last day of class, the instructor told us it was "little sister day" because there were quite a few girls with little sisters that were always there watching. So, Abigail got to join in on the fun. Both the girls loved dancing together.

Bumps and Bruises

I am falling behind on blogging but here are some fun pics to hold you over...Austin and Allison both recently got some nice bumps and bruises. Austin rammed a big metal Tonka dump truck into Allison and gave her a beautiful black eye. Austin was goofing around and fell and hit the corner of the wall and got a nice size goose egg on the side of his head. Luckily, no permanent damage was done. :)


This might sound strange but when I was little, I always wanted a black eye...

This picture of Austin's head was actually after the swelling had gone down a little.

The Most Disgusting thing ever...

The following stories are not for the faint of heart...

First, to make a long story short...when we were living in Logan, and Chris was still in school and Austin was about three he picked up a random coke bottle and drank the contents. He proceeded gagging and throwing up. When I looked to see what he actually drank it was someones left-over chew spit! No, I am not joking, that is really what it was.

Has your stomach stopped turning?

Well, up until now, I thought there was possibly nothing more disgusting than that. Even what I am about to tell you only comes close to topping it.

My sweet little Asher loves to get into everything right now. And I mean everything! My other sweet little child, Abigail, who is still trying to learn the "ins and outs" of potty-training, forgot to flush the toilet after going poo. Well, you can see where this is going. We found Asher with his hands in the potty and toilet paper in his mouth! No, I am not exaggerating. I only wish I was. How do you clean poo out of a baby's mouth?

Both stories completely disgusting but in completely different ways!

Did I mention that Asher means "happy." I have resorted to calling him my "happy" monster. Because every time he is getting into something he looks at me and giggles. Yes, my 8 month old giggles at me.

Sorry folks, no pictures with this one! :)

Asher - 8 months!

Once again a month has passed in the blink of an eye! Asher is now 8 months old. He is crawling ALL OVER THE PLACE! He gets into EVERYTHING! Believe it or not, I have not had childproof locks on any cupboards, drawers, doors, etc. since, well, Austin! Boys! He also pulls himself up to a standing position all the time too. I keep sitting him back down! He is TOO LITTLE to start walking yet! Austin walked at nine months, but I was a first-time mom and didn't know any better then. He also has two teeth.

For some reason, we often find him in the stools. I am not sure what he finds facinating about them but something sure attracts him.

He is so proud of himself.

He also loves the water! He is already trying to swim. :)

You win some, You lose some!

We will start out with the losing side of things. This was Austin's first year in the Cub Scout Pinewood Derby. We were actually naive enough to think that the kids actually built their own cars so Austin did a lot of his own work...although it is really hard to cut it out without the help of an older person. He designed, sanded, spray-painted, and painted the car mostly by himself. He learned a lot and we are very proud of him. BUT when we got to the pinewood derby, we knew his car was not going to fair well against all the "dads" cars. They literally were sitting around talking about what they did to "their" cars. It was kind of funny. But we just had a FHE lesson on having good sportsmanship and so we felt like this was going to be a great night to put it into practice. He placed 14th out of 15. Yikes! He actually handled it very well.

Now for the winning end of things! Austin did the science fair again this year. He did it when he was in Kindergarten as well. In Kindergarten he placed 2nd at the school and 1st at Regionals. This year he placed 1st at the school and 2nd at Regionals. I am so proud of him because he did all (well, most of) the work himself. He had to keep a daily log. He took the pictures, learned how to use Microsoft Word and transfer and resize pictures. He even learned how to use a cricket to cut letters. He was very happy, especially because he won $10 for winning regionals.

Zion Camping

I have to admit, before I had kids, camping was the last thing that I wanted to do. I don't like to get dirty! I REALLY DETEST bugs! I like sleeping in my own bed! I like having running water! Really, the list could go on. But the last few years, I have really come to appreciate what camping has to offer. No hotel room can offer the sights, sounds and smells that being in the great outdoors can. You can't dutch-oven in a hotel room. And have you ever had microwaved smores - I have, and they are disgusting. Plus, my kids love being able to run outside, get dirty, go exploring, hiking, fishing, etc., and that alone is worth it.

We went camping at Zion's National Park this weekend. Our family had so much fun. It was beautiful even though the trees haven't bloomed yet. We went on two hikes, ate yummy food and held an Easter Egg hunt for the kiddos.

Cascading Falls was a new hike that we found online. It isn't a marked hike, so that was a little scary especially when we were taking 11 kids under the age of 10 on it. But it turned out to be a great hike, especially because no one else was on it. There was a tunnel, amazing rocks to climb and pools of water to play in.

That night, we came back to camp and ate awesome dutch oven food. Dutch oven cooking is probably my favorite food. I look forward to summer just so we can use our dutch ovens more. Mmmm-mmm!

On Saturday morning, we hid some Easter eggs for the kids to find.

After the Easter egg hunt, we took the kids on our annual Emerald Pools hike. We hike this every year because it is easy enough for the kids but challenging enough that the adults don't get bored. Plus it is beautiful. I was so proud of Abigail because she hiked it mostly by herself. She had some help from Mom and Aunt Anne but she really did well.

After we got back from camping, we went to Newcastle to spend Easter with my family. The kids enjoyed their THIRD Easter egg hunt! Spoiled brats! J/K :)

Keith, You are Awesome!

Keith has been working hard for the last four years and it is finally paying off. He was awarded Sterling Scholar in Trade and Technology for Cedar High School AND this weekend, spur of the moment, we also went up to Ogden to watch him compete at the Science Olympiad. He won gold in the Elevated Bridge competition and Fourth in the Mousetrap Vehicle. You rock Keith!

Can you believe this teeny little bridge held more than 30 lbs! It weighed barely 20 g!