Random Photos from the Summer

I need some roasted green chile in the worst way, so I improvised.

Our kids like beans, a lot. They think it's fun to sort and clean them too.

What a great big sister. Sarah loves to read to her siblings.

David cut down this tree limb that was hanging over our front yard. It looked so much smaller when it was up high. I took this far away picture so you could an idea of the size of that thing.

This is the "before" picture of our blue bathroom and our next project. As of today, the old floor is out, the blue tub is gone, and the blue toilet just came out tonight. So far, we only have the new tub in, but flooring and a new toilet are coming this week (I hope).

Look closely. David is IN the exersaucer with Rachel.

One of the few times he slows down during the day - nap time.

Awwwww...

David and I went bowling with our good friends Martin and Carrie and had great double-date night.

David found this awesome jacket that someone had left at the bowling alley who-knows-how-long-ago. He called it lucky and wore it for a few sets. He actually got a strike this time. =)

Chillin.... we had the entire place to ourselves. No joke. Who knew that 6pm on a Friday night would be so quiet at the Orchard Lanes? I guess everyone comes later for the cosmic bowling (w/ black lights and disco balls).

First day of homeschool - at "recess" 

The next Gerber baby? =)

New tub, in process

What kid doesn't love painting?

Last Friday, this little guy wore the same pair of underwear all day long. So I took a picture and bragged about it to my mom. Then 5 minutes later he peed his pants. Oh well. (And, there's the finished tub in the background...we've only used it once because the floor is all ripped up and it's kinda dirty in that room).

Zoos, cousins and photo shoots, oh my! (Days 4-9)

On Tuesday we went to the zoo. (Kathryn was pouting a few feet away during this photo.) It was super hot outside and the zoo was overflowing with people. I couldn't believe how packed it was for a non-holiday, beginning of the week kind of day. The zoo also seemed rather small compared to Nashville...then I heard that Nashville is one of the largest zoos in the country and I realized I had been spoiled there.

From Tuesday until Friday, we stayed at Ashley's house. Her new baby Scarlett was such a doll. I was hoping she would still seem like a tiny newbown. She is around 7 weeks old here but you probably wouldn't guess it. Scarlett was a 9 pound newborn too (like Rachel) and she already seemed so "grown up". =)

Rachel loved her right away. She grabbed her hand and just kept looking at her and smiling, like she was greeting an old friend.

Joseph slept in Benjamin's room and they woke up early each morning to play together.

They both love reading.

My mom and I spent a lot of time shopping for coordinating outfits for our extended family photo shoot on Saturday. David was kind enough to watch most of the kids while we were out. I had my hair cut the night before the shoot--a risky move, I know--but I was happy with the way it turned out and I'm now the proud owner of bangs...again.

All the kids...these are just candids from my cell phone. We were just waiting for everyone else to get there.

More candids. Kathryn didn't hardly crack a smile the whole time. Davey would only sit in that red chair.

Sam was cracking jokes in Spanish, so only a few of us were in on them. Here's (almost) the whole crew getting all set up for the big group shot. Little Davey was being a stinker, not wanting to sit where the photographer put him.

In the end, the photos turned out pretty nice, considering we had 10 adults and 7 very young children.

Trip to Utah, Days 1-3

I realized that I had not updated our "weekly" blog for over two months. Here's what we've been up to...

We spent the better part of the 3rd week of June crossing things off our to-do list and packing for our trip to Utah. David spoke at the bi-stake youth conference Friday afternoon, then we loaded everyone up and drove away at 7pm.

Everyone was happy to be on the road. They had been looking forward to our trip to Utah for several months. We drove to McCall that night (about 3.5 hours from Lewiston), and stayed in a hotel. Joseph threw up his dinner and many road trip snacks about 10 minutes before we arrived at the hotel, at 10:30pm. 

Everyone settled down and went to sleep fairly quickly, except for Sarah. She was awake and bouncing around, literally, until 2am.

On Saturday we drove the remaining 9 hours to Utah Valley, in time to hang out with cousins at the Rookstool's house.

On Sunday, Josh gave his farewell talk at church. He entered the MTC a few days later and is going to South Korea.

Here are all the girl cousins playing dolls together. I loved how the older girls were so sweet and played with my younger ones.

We got to see most of David's family that weekend, including his parents. We enjoyed staying at his sister's house. The kids loved playing with their older cousins and jumping on the trampoline. In fact, this week someone asked Sarah what she did on her trip to Utah -- she didn't mention the zoo or aquarium or farm or dinosaur museum or the bounce castle. Nope, the first thing she said was "I got to jump on the trampoline at my cousin's house!"

Rachel was a little sick and rather grumpy for the first several days of the trip. One night she woke up every 30-60 minutes all night long. But otherwise, she was still a sweetheart. Here she is discovering her toes (age 4 months). The white afghan was knit by my grandma LouAnn just for her.

Christmas 2011

Yes, I know it's June and all, but I realized that I never shared any pictures from our Christmas - probably because I was 9 months pregnant. So, better late than never.

Aprons and small rolling pins.

This was his first Lego set and he loves it! (Me, not so much--there are too many itty bitty pieces).

This is her big, life-size baby doll. She specifically requested a "boy baby". Grandma had to buy this doll some new clothes from the newborn section in order to comply with Kathryn's wishes. He is named "baby Joseph" and is still quite loved. I always have to do a double take when I see the doll lying face down, half-way off the couch. His outfit is exactly like one that Davey used to wear, and it just looks a little too real.

Joseph's bigger bike - dinosaur style. No one makes a dinosaur bike though, so we bought one in the color he wanted and got some special dino stickers / decals to put on it.

The doll house

Davey's very own vacuum (I only had video, so just click to watch it -- only 1 second, and you'll see a clip of him.) He loves to vacuum and always wants to help me, so now he gets his own.

Making orange rolls with the new rolling pins.

"Vroom!" (Monster truck style).

Merry Christmas! =)

May Happenings

Here's a little update from the month, I have more pictures on my camera, but don't want to download them right now (so you may never see them).

I spent my birthday* money on a window. Yes, it's totally worth it. Our laundry area was super dark, so I hired a window guy to come cut a hole in the wall and install a window. All the extra natural light is so awesome! (Thank you to my mom, mother-in-law, and Aunt Carroll for funding this project). But, as you can see, Plan A didn't work out (due to some electrical cords in the wall), so we centered the window, instead of putting it over the washer or dryer and having a larger space for a cabinet. The window looks great, but we still need to tape, texture, and paint the new drywall that we installed to cover up Plan A. When it's done, you'll get a picture.

David's parents came to visit last week. They were here a few days and we spent all day just enjoying having Grandpa, Grandma, and Aunt Laura with us. It was like Christmas for the kids. Rachel and I got sick and spent a lot of time sleeping, so I was grateful to have the extra help.

This was their first time meeting Rachel. We saw them 6 months ago before Thanksgiving and baby David was really shy around them the whole time. This time, he was much more outgoing and loved spending time with his "Papa" especially. 

This is a dress we got at a yard sale for Kathryn. She wants to wear a dress almost every day right now.

Rachel is 4 months old! She is very active now trying to roll over and reaching for toys. She's not content to sit and play in her swing anymore...though she does occasionally nap there still.

                                     

Her face lights up with a huge smile whenever she sees a familiar face (or anyone who gives her a big smile a little attention). She gets really excited whenever Mom comes around. She likes to coo and babble and "tell stories".

This weekend David starting working on our deck. It's rotted and decayed very badly in most areas. A while ago David actually fell through one of the boards. Today he and a friend ripped the whole thing out. We're only going to rebuild part of it, the section around the right side of the house where the door is. I'll keep you updated on that.

*I celebrated my 30th birthday this month, but let's not talk about that.