Ridiculous!

It is just RIDICULOUS how behind I am on my blog.  This summer has been just. plain. CrAzY!  I guess for journaling (is that even a word) sake, I will try and rewind back to the early part of the summer.

The end of June--my mom, brothers and sisters, and all the grand kids went to Downata Hotsprings to camp and swim for a couple of days. The pool was so nice and warm, and we spent A LOT of time swimming and riding the water slides. All of my siblings and most of their spouses were able to go. It was a lot of fun to just hang out with everybody. This was the first summer family reunion that we were missing my dad. It felt very different not having him there.

Of course I took my camera, but only took it out about 1 time.  We were too busy swimming!  I took a couple pictures of the adults, but because we were camping and swimming I will not post those on here.  (You're welcome.)  I am however posting some pictures of some of the kids.  I should have organized everyone together for one group shot.  Maybe next time.

I wanted to chew on those cheeks!

"Emily's spa"

I could seriously eat all the babies that were there with us!  They are all just so beautiful!  I could just take them all home with me.



I simply could not resist!  That is a cute little bum!



Haley was so good at this!

Schools Out

Today is day three of school out for summer break.  It has started off as a very cold summer break.  It's a bit frustrating because the kids just seem to hang out in the house and bug each other. 

My oldest is kind of the "noise police chief" in our house.  She doesn't appreciate humming, singing, whistling, tapping, loud chewing, loud breathing, a lot of talking, etc, etc, etc.  It is kind of hysterical.  If I had a crystal ball and could see into the future, I would probably see her as a mom with a bunch of loud children.  It might actually put a little smile on my face to visit her house (when she is a mom) and see her try and referee the children that are annoyed with each other.  Luckily for her, she will probably master the skill of the "tune out".  I think only a parent truly knows how to turn out all noises around them.  She has definitely NOT learned this art yet. 

There are times when I think this is going to be a long couple of months.  I'm sure I will feel different when it starts to warm up and I can send their little tooshies outside.

I think my blogging posts will be few and far between this summer, but I would like to at least try and stay caught up. 

Brynn graduated from 6th grade this year and is SO VERY excited to go to Junior High.  I will have 2 kids in the Junior High and 2 kids in the grade school. 

Memorial Weekend

Memorial Day was sure different this year.  Last year we went and visited several different graves with my dad, and this year we were visiting his grave.  It still just doesn't seem real!  There are so many times that I am visiting my mom and just expect my dad to come walking through the door.  So often I will see someone that looks like my dad, and I will do a double take.  I always feel like dad is always "peeking in" on us, maybe that is why I still feel like he is around.

I took this picture the day they placed the headstone.  (Good thing they finally got it in the RIGHT spot).  It was taken before they placed the beautiful vases on the sides.  To read more about this post click here.

We went to several different cemeteries on Sunday, so that we could enjoy some family time on Monday.  As usual, it was a chilly visit to the cemetery.  We are most definitely still dealing with cold spring weather, sure doesn't feel very "spring like".  The good thing is we knew it was going to be cold, so we dressed appropriately....winter coats, hats, etc.

Monday we went to my mom's house for a pot luck.  We ate and played the game "Say Anything".  We had a blast playing that game and were laughing hysterically at times.  The grand kids played hard both inside and outside.  A few pictures from the day.........

Monday was also John and I's anniversary.  We have been married for 19 years.  He has had to put up with this opinionated, ornery old woman for that long!  He deserves a medal!  We celebrated our anniversary on Saturday night by going out to dinner.  We knew that it would be a busy Monday, so we took advantage of our Saturday night.  I must say that I am very lucky to be married to such a great guy.  I feel very blessed!

Now that is one PUFFED sleeve!

Busy day...

On Wednesday, Brynn participated in the 6th grade track meet.  Her school competed against several other schools in the area.  The events she took part in were softball throw and the shot put. She cut her toe a couple of days ago and it is still healing, so she didn't do any of the running events. It was fun to go watch her and it was such. a. nice. day! We don't get many days like that in the Spring. I could have sat out in the sun all day...just felt so good!



Brynn and her best friend Whitney

 

After the track meet I went to take treats to Jace's class for his birthday.  He was excited to see me come.  I think he enjoyed being the "star of the show".  It was cute to see how embarrassed he was when they sang to him.  Look at that red face below!

I love Jace's expression!  Can you say excited?  I also have to mention that
he has the BEST teacher this year!  We LOVE her!

Later in the evening we went to Riley's choir concert. It was the last concert of the year and they sounded great.

Our friend Caleb played for a girl to sing.  He was amazing!

Riley's cousin Parker was also in the concert

Cute Riley and her cute friend Terrica

After the concert we zipped home to continue on with the birthday celebration.  Needless to say, we all got to bed pretty late that night.  Busy, but fun day!

10 years old

How can it be that this kid turns 10 years old today?

10 years ago today I was sitting at my friend Emily's house celebrating her birthday with her.  John, Riley, and Brynn were with me, and we were having a barbecue with Emily and all of her family.  It was Memorial weekend and my parents and some of my siblings were heading off to go camping.  They had invited us to come along, but since I was big, fat, pregnant, and having sporadic contractions---I decided that we would pass.

We hadn't been at Emily's house for very long when the contractions started to become more frequent and more painful.  I didn't want to be "side show Bob" at Emily's party--having everyone timing the contractions with me, so I decided to say nothing about it.  The only person privy to that information was John.  We sat and ate (I had a great big juicy hamburger and lots of other foods).  It soon came to the point that I had to walk around to see if I could "walk off" the contractions.

I went into the other room and was in so much pain that I couldn't move to go find John.  Riley and Brynn came and found me and told me it was time to sing Happy Birthday to Emily.  I told them to hurry and go get dad.  I knew that we needed to leave before Emily was delivering MY baby on HER birthday.  Now THAT would be a party to remember!  I'm sure that wouldn't be awkward at all for all the other guests at the party.  I realized that we needed to get out of there fast.  We had just enough time to drop Riley and Brynn off at my sisters (about 2 blocks away).  After basically tossing them out of the car, we headed straight for the hospital.  We knew that we did not have time to go home and get my "pre-packed bag".

On the way to the hospital, the contractions just came to a screeching halt.  I was starting to second guess myself....that is until I had a WHOPPER of a contraction as we pulled into the hospital parking lot.  I was gripping the door handle so tight, I could have probably removed the door from off the car.

Still, I was confused...was I truly in full blown labor?  We walked into labor and deliver and I told them that I thought that I was in labor.  They asked me if it was my first baby, because I sounded so unsure.  They then sent me to "gown up" for the big event, and they would come and check to see if I was dilated.  Sure enough, I was at an 8! 

From that point on it was CRAZY in the room.  I certainly didn't give them much time to prepare.  Very shortly after that, Jace entered our lives.  What a great kid and what a blessing!!  Every nurse that took care of me in the hospital would come in the room and always say, "So you're the lady that almost had her baby in the car."  Yes, I would dare say that it was a close call.

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Jace is TRULY...

• So KIND and THOUGHTFUL
• Happy....ALL the time
• Full of energy
• So cute
• Obedient...he just wants to make his mom and dad happy
• Easy going - especially since he has to put up with 3 sisters that want to boss him around all the time.

We COULD NOT ask for a better kid!  Love you Jacey Boy!

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Windin' Down

Another school year is winding down.  How in the world can that be?  I swear that we just started about 3 months ago!  To be right honest, I'm not quite ready for my kids to be out of school.  I guess I'm not ready for the lazy kids and dirty house more then anything.  I DO like having my kids at home, just not "plugged in" to the electronics (T.V., computer, Wii, Nintendo, etc).  So, I guess I better get off my soap box and just get the darn thing figured out.

A couple of days ago, Brynn had her end of year Orchestra program. I'm a little frustrated that Brynn will not be taking the violin next year. She has been dying to take a sewing and cooking class and will be doing those things next year for her Junior High electives. She has such a LOVE for cooking, sewing, and making things. She is not just taking those classes to "mess around". She really does want to learn and become better at both of them. I hope we will be happy with that decision.

To me, it seems that Brynn has some natural ability with the violin. I need to get my violin in good working order and keep her playing on it!

Hopefully this is not all we will see of Brynn playing the violin.

Today, Haley had her end of year class music program.  I kept asking her to move over to the side so I could get a good picture of her without any kids blocking the shot.  She was funny and didn't want to move because she thought she might get into trouble.  The program was short and sweet. 

Haley and her best friend.

Love this little miss!

Haley and her Grandma A.