Robert & Molly's Wedding!

I'm pleased to announce that my brother Robert just got married last Friday to his sweetheart, Molly Clemens, & they couldn't be happier!

They got married in the Draper Temple, which was beautiful!  But being way up there on the mountain & at the mouth of a canyon, it made for a windy & chilly morning posing for pictures afterward at the temple!

After the Temple Ceremony, we had a little time to kill before the yummy dutch oven dinner at my Parent's church, all cooked up by the Denny's in our ward.  It was delicious!

After the yummy luncheon & hearing all the fun stories & comments about memories people had about Robert & Molly growing up, we headed over to one of Molly's neighbor's houses for a beautiful Reception that night.  They had a river in the back of the yard which made it beautiful, but also made me a little nervous with all the kids around...

My sister Emily made all the girl's matching dresses, which were amazingly beautiful!  I'm glad that ONE of us has the talent to do something like that!  So it was fun getting the girls all together in their matching dresses... :)

I was a little nervous about being pregnant for Robert's Wedding & finding just the right outfit to wear so that I didn't just look FAT, but also looked CUTE.  After weeks of trying to find Emily & I the same shirt to wear, we finally realized that we'd better just find our OWN thing, since our body types are so obviously different right now!  And after how hard it was to even FIND a shirt in that particular color of blue, I think we both did a pretty good job!

Skyler was sure excited to help out in decorating Robert & Molly's car before they left!  And ALL the kids enjoyed sampling the endless amount of treats left out all night at the Reception... They served "Rainbows" (an ice-cream/ slushy combo) & TONS of different kinds of cookies.  I'm pretty sure that my kids tried almost them ALL!  But it kept them happy for rest of the long day ahead of them!

 So congratulations again Robert & Molly for a beautiful day!  I can tell that you already have a great love between you & I'm happy that you finally were able to find each other & unite forever & ever!  Here's to a wonderful future for you both!!!

Swimming at Azra's

We started off one of our fun summer days this week by going over to our Turkish friend's house & going swimming in their little kiddy-pool.

What started out as innocent water fun, soon turned MESSY as the kids realized how fun it was to get wet in the swimming pool, then go into the sand-box & rub SAND all over them, then go back into the swimming pool to wash it all off!  That water was SO gross looking by the end, but the kids sure had a fun time!  It's one of those moments that you wonder how kids can come UP with such crazy ideas, and then you just have to sit back & watch them & laugh as you realize how much FUN they have at times like these... Crazy kids!  I'm just glad I had a camera to capture the excitement of it all!  :)

It's a BOY!!!

Well, we just went to our 16 week appointment today & luckily were able to find out that, "IT'S A BOY!!!" Skyler's REALLY been hoping for a brother (even though they'll be 6 years apart) & we all couldn't be any happier! Too bad my kids all like to be born in the opposite season though of the one their same gender who came before them... It makes things a little trickier clothes-wise, but we're certainly excited for him anyway! I can't wait to snuggle with our precious little boy this up-coming Thanksgiving (which still seems SO far away)!

Skyler's Final Week of Kindergarten

I can't believe that Skyler has now completed a WHOLE year of school!  And I've felt really blessed, because Skyler has LOVED it!  He loves his teacher & he loves learning.  It's always so sad to me when I hear about other kids in the neighborhood whose kids HATE school, even from day 1 of Kindergarten.  Skyler's teacher has been AWESOME for his particular shy personality though... She learned early on that PRAISE does wonders for him!  If she praises him for behaving well or doing something well, he'll try EXTRA hard next time to impress her with the same excellence in behavior.  Apparently he also has become a little bit of tattle-tell, I think to get that SAME attention from the teacher, so we've been working on that.  But all-in-all, I've been SO impressed with the progress he's made over the last few months!  He is coming along SO well with reading (although we've still got a long ways to go!) & really loves MATH.  So thank-you Mrs. Rea, for helping to make Skyler's first year of school such a success!

The last week of school, his class went on their one & only Field Trip for the year, and I was lucky enough to be able to go along & chaperone.  They just went to a local park that had lots of ducks & running space, but Skyler could hardly contain his excitement about being able to ride on a BUS for the first time & being able to eat SNACKS there with his class!  Oh, the joys in the eyes of a kid!  At first I was surprised that they only had me in charge of watching Skyler & one other kid on the Field Trip, but I soon learned WHY... The other kid was ALL over the place & was quite a handful!  I can hardly imagine how I would have kept track of a big group of kids like him!  All-in-all, it was an exciting day for Skyler, so I was glad to have been able to be a part of that excitement!

Near the end of his final week, his teacher had a small little ceremony where she presented each student with a "Graduation Certificate".  The kids LOVED each being individually recognized & us parents loved being able to be proud of their great kids.  What a blessing it is to have a son who I only ever hear GOOD reports from his teacher at school... You are such a joy to have in our family Skyler!

Bailey's 2nd Birthday!

Well, she's finally done it!  Our little Bailey just turned 2!  And what a fun age this has been for her!  Some of the things that I love the best about her at this age are her big toothy grin, how she always has such a good attitude about things, even though she still has food sensitivities/ diarrhea issues.  I love how she pats me on the back when I pick her up from her crib after a nap, how she LOVES to eat, her little voice when she says things like, "Thanks Dad-dy!" & how she goes running & gives the kids a big hug when they wake up in the morning.  What a sweetheart she is!

We started off the morning with our traditional pancakes & candles... Always fun to blow out candles TWICE in one day!  Then we took a quick little trip to the "Hill Air Force Museum" nearby, because Bailey has been FASCINATED with airplanes lately!  After a quick picnic lunch outside, we were off to take Skyler to his Afternoon Kindergarten class & then home for a nap.

That night we invited family over to watch Bailey open presents & to have some cake & ice-cream.  She LOVED being the center of attention & playing with her cousins, grandparents & uncles!

This year my sister Emily volunteered to make Bailey's birthday cake & IT WAS AMAZING!  Probably by far, the best birthday cake any of my kids have ever had!  It was a "Tinkerbell" cake (which Bailey LOVES right now!), complete with a waterfall, grass, rocks, flowers & Tinkerbell toys on the top.  Not only was it SUPER cute, but it was SUCH a relief for me not to have to worry about making a cake at the last-minute!  The other kids are now putting in their requests for what they want for their birthday cakes... :)

And then we were onto EATING the cake & ice-cream... Gratefully we've recently discovered "Lactose-Free Ice-Cream" (only in Breyer's brand), so even Bailey could eat some ice-cream!  Always a necessity for the big Birthday Girl!!!

It was fun to watch Bailey open up her presents this year, because she would rip off one tiny little piece of wrapping paper, then hand it off to Laron to throw away for her... She didn't want to clutter up the floor with her garbage apparently, which is pretty impressive for a little 2-year-old!  What a cutie!

The day AFTER her Birthday, we ended up going to a Carnival at my cousin Deena's work, which we kind-of counted as our fun family-outing for Bailey's Birthday too... It was pretty crowded, but the kids had fun in the bounce house, playing little carnival games & eating yummy food.  So thanks Bailey for being in our family & bringing a smile to all of our faces EVERY day!  Our family wouldn't be complete without you!  :)

Laron's Work Party at "LAGOON"

So Laron's Work Party this year was at LAGOON again... The kids have been counting down to it for WEEKS!  It's a good thing for FREE experiences like this to go to Lagoon, or else I don't think we'd probably ever GO (especially at our kid's ages!).  But the kids had a blast, as always, & I loved that his work even provides a lunch of hamburgers & hot dogs during the day, which makes it easier to make it an all-day family event!

 The only bad part was that his work didn't give us a ticket for Bailey, since she is under 2, which we hadn't realized also meant that SHE couldn't ride any of the rides.  And BOY did she notice that her big brother & sister were having all the fun without her!  It made me so sad for her & definitely put a damper on our fun for the day, so finally Laron just went & bought her some tickets so she could ride a few of the kiddy-rides, which kind-of annoyed me even more that now we had to PAY for her to ride rides that should have been FREE to us.  Whatever!  And then, after ALL that hassle, Bailey was too scared to ride much anyway, so THAT part of our day was slightly annoying to me.

And then it seems like EVERY time his work has a Work Party at Lagoon, I'm always pregnant, which means that I also can't ride hardly anything.  I was able at least to go on the Train ride around to see the animals with all the kids, so that was nice at least!

And then like usual, Kimberly was our little dare-devil out of everyone, who wasn't scared to try ANYTHING!  She even wanted to try out the "Swings" & LOVED flying around up in the air, while Skyler & Laron just groaned while watching her that that would have made them SICK!  At least we've got ONE brave soul in the lot of us!  She was ALL SMILES as the swings swung her around & around, higher & higher!

At the very end of the night, we quickly made it over to "Lagoon-A-Beach" to try & go swimming for a little while.  What we hadn't realized was that it was only going to be open for about 45 minutes longer at that point, so we quickly changed everyone into swimming suits, tried to get used to the cold water & then the kids spent almost the whole rest of the time going down a little water slide into the water below!  Our swimming experience was pretty short-and-sweet, but it was fun to play in the water for a little while at least...  So a big thanks to Laron's work, for having great work parties & for helping us make fun family memories with our beautiful children that seem to LOVE doing stuff like this!

Tim home from his Mission to Chile!

 Well, my little brother Tim (I'll always think of him as Timmy though!), just came home from his mission to Conception, Chile!  I was a little worried about what my kids would think about him (because they were pretty scared of my brother Robert when he came home & still spoke with an accent because of his mission), but they have warmed up to him surprisingly well after not seeing him for 2 years!  And actually, our little Bailey was born only 3 days before Tim left for his mission, so it's especially crazy to see how big a little kid can grow in 2 years!

The Sunday after Tim got home, I was asked to accompany on the piano while Tim, my Mom & my Dad sang, "I Often Go Walking" in Spanish.  They did really well & Tim did a great job at speaking.  Glad to have you home Tim!