Nate

We love Nate. He is such a great kid. He is so fun to be around and it is like having a piece of Gary here when he is around. He is great with the kids and they love to play with him. He has had some challenges in his life that most of us have not had to face but he is handling them with courage and setting a great example for his sisters.

Kids

We went to Sam's club and the kids ended up pulling out the socks and putting them on their face! They are so silly and make us laugh. I think I am way over the embarassment factor as a parent and I just think everything my kids do is hilarious...at least that is what I tell myself when they do things that are not so funny. I always tell Jerry it's laugh or cry and most of the time I try and choose laugh. Grandma and Grandpa have been really good sports and have helped so much with the kids. We are busily preparing for the family reunion this weekend. It should be fun.

Weekend

We have had quite the crazy time with five kids under 4 at Grandma's. Church was a circus today! All we could do was laugh because we sat in the back and the kids were out of control. Grandpa actually had to go home and get his books so he took Lauren for a while but it was still crazy! Britton is so active and such a cute boy. He is busy like Lauren was and has tons of energy. Brooklyn is a sweetheart and her and Lauren and best friends. Landon gets left out a bit and there was some drama when he was told he was not Brooklyn's friend anymore. He said, "Brooklyn, you better say I am your friend or I will cry!" I think when Britton gets older they will have a great time as a foursome. We are all just trying to get rest and Lindsay and I are staying up late trying to plan a suprise open house for my parents. Life is busy and crazy!

Max and Ozzy

We have been reunited with Max and Ozzy and everyone is very happy about the union. We went to their house earlier in the week. Nat and I had fun catching up and Landon loves Max's video games. Lauren, Landon and Max are all really close in age so they did have some power struggles but Avery loved Ozzy's bed. We met at the splash park and we did get to ride the carousel. Lauren affectionately calls it the "carous-wheel." We also met Camille and her cute little girl so it was fun to connect with her again. There were tons of people at the splash park but the kids got to ride the carousel and eat cotton candy. What more can you ask for! Kevin and Lindsay got here last night and we are excited to spend time with them.

Progress

Here is picture of Avery sitting up! She is so grown up now. Kenzi worked with her and finally got her to sit up on her own. She is doing so well with eating solids. Everyone loves to see her smile and wants to hold her constantly. She is having fun at Grandma and Grandpa's. Tonight we went to Blackfoot and met Mike, Karen and Paetan to watch a skeleton game of Brenn's. He is such an athlete. It was fun to watch him. He got in a car wreck on Sunday and is very lucky to be alive. He was driving home from work and lost control of his car on a curve on the Twin Falls exit. He ping ponged off the guard rails and ended up totaling his car. We are so grateful he is alive and well. We went to his game and then went to Rupp's for dinner with Mike and Karen.

Porter Park

Yesterday we went to the Porter Park spray park while Grandpa went golfing. I thought it was perfectly reasonable to be dropped off at 9:30am not realizing it didn't open until 10am. I also did not realize that the reason we were the only ones there was because of how cold it was. Lauren and Landon were good sports though and played really hard for about 45 minutes before we went in the bathroom and used the hand heaters to get warm. Kenzi came with us and was a good sport. Sadie and Ellie came and met us as well. The sad part of the day came when the carousel just did not open when it was supposed to. Many tears were shed.

Uncle Dave's

We had a great time going to Uncle Dave's for Sunday dinner to celebrate Ryan's birthday. Some of the highlights were Landon's trip to the chicken coop to gather eggs, Lauren's new found love for her cousin Abby. She said, "Abby, I am not going to be mean to you anymore!" We are all so happy about this relationship. Abby even made her a book with a bedtime story about the time Abby ran into a barbed wire fence with her face. She was so sweet to do this for Lauren. We also enjoyed watching Ryan eat an entire pie plate full of asphalt pie. He is the birthday boy so he can do whatever he wants! When we were loading up the car Landon told Lauren, "Sissy, we just went to a real, live FARM!" Dave had a new litter of dogs and kittens and also has sheep, pigs and I think a llama. They were both so happy. Lauren had a stomach ache in the car which ended with her throwing up everywhere. Grandpa tried to pull over but it didn't work too well. We stopped at Rod's to clean up and the first thing she asked for when she got inside was something to eat. It is amazing how fast kids recover. Mike was there working for Rod so it was nice to visit with him. He has been building a hot tub room for Rod. Thanks for the hose and cleaning supplies to make the rest of our ride home bearable.

Idaho

We have had a really fun week at Grandma and Grandpa's. The kids love having so much space to run and play. We have had Gary's older three kids here as well because their Mom is out of town. We have thrown lots of parties and attended some as well. We had Shelby stay with us and she and Kenzi watched the kids while we went and shopped for the week. Matt, Katherine and Jennifer came out for FHE but we forgot to have a lesson! We had a good dinner though and enjoyed each other's company. The kids and I went to Rod's one day and they played in his yard and we had hot dogs for lunch. He has a beautiful yard. Nate brought a Monarch butterfly in the house one night and you can see the kids were a little scared. My parents have some horses in their pasture and the kids have loved feeding them carrots and watering them each day. They love to work outside with their grandparents spreading sand, watering flowers, weeding and helping with everything they are doing. A big highlight of the week was that I found my baby book which my Mom thought I had lost when I moved from California. I also found boxes with dolls of mine my Mom had saved and I can now have my girls play with them. It has been so much fun. We had a girls night where we did face masques and pedicures. Lauren sure had fun when she found Grandma's lipstick in the drawer. Lauren and Landon also had a water party on the trampoline and with the sprinklers. My Mom and I went shopping to get food for Kenzi's party, Jessie's party and a party at Rod's. These all took place on Friday and it was fun. Dave's family came to Rod's because he flooded his yard and we all ate, watched a movie and spent time together. Grandpa stayed home to supervise Jessie's party. I think it was a successful day. Karen and Paetan came to visit on Saturday. We had a good time with them. Matt, Katherine and Marianne came for dinner which was fun. Katherine and I looked for baby stuff online for most of the night. It is so fun to spend time with family. We are really missing Jerry and wish he was here.