Road Trip

Wow! WhattaTrip!

We left early Friday morning to spend the weekend in Boise at Brandon's brother's house. We drove home wishing the weekend had been longer - but we were guessing that Christopher and Mindy were glad to have everyone GONE! My uncle always says, "Family - it's fun to see 'em come, and better to see 'em go!"

Before we got to Boise though, we stopped at a rest stop and let everyone stretch a little...



...and it's a good thing we did because as soon as we got to the house, the kids were plugged in to the Wii - Jared was probably getting the most physical exercise he's had in months!! (He's up to bat in this picture - not sure why his leg is in the air...whose son would have THAT kind of a batting stance???)



We enjoyed a wonderful Lasagna dinner and then it was back to playing for the kids! It was fun to see them play together like it hadn't been more than a year since they'd actually SEEN each other!



After dinner, the boys went down into the field to play with the air-soft guns. They had a blast. Nobody shot an eye out. What more could we ask for?



The girls got together and played "make up" - Jordan sure has a lot of girlie toys...must be the only sister in a house full of stinky boys or something! :)



Saturday morning, the family met at the Boise Temple to be with Aunt Shannon and Uncle Vance while their family was sealed. This is the real reason we made the trip to Boise. We are so happy for this wonderful little family!



And for fun, we posed for a "whole-family-picture" - not sure why we keep trying to do this. I know the lady who had my camera was never able to get a shot of everyone looking the same direction, or even facing the same direction...maybe someone else's camera caught one???



Back to Christopher and Mindy's for a wonderful lunch - then pizza dinner - then Brian Regan dvd...ahhhhh, I don't know how it could have been any better!!

Everyone posed for good bye pictures Sunday morning -

The Boys:



The Girls:



The BBQ:



The Birds inside the BBQ:



Glad to see there's still a little Hillbilly in our City-Cousins!!

The Lilac Parade '08

It was a bust! Ok, not really - but I will admit, it wasn't the same going this year as it was going 16 years ago (which is the last time Brandon and I went!). Downtown Spokaloo is getting darn scary! My poor little country-bumpkin kids had quite the piercings/tattoos/colored hair/no hair/baggy pants/no pants awakening of their lives! I truly think just watching the park dwellers was more entertaining than the parade!

It was HOT (90 degrees) and everyone was tired. The boys had been camping - the girls had been at sleepovers. Our hometown band was very small and unimpressive. My alma-mater didn't even have a band in the parade at all this year! (I truly was disappointed!)

So looking back over the evening we really did get more entertainment from an evening of sitting together on the sidewalk downtown the we got from the parade!

Jason can sit in a camp chair for HOURS on end -



Maddie does NOT like to be secretly videoed (don't worry, Jacob wasn't harmed in the making of this film).



Jacob can open and close a Krispy Kreme box faster than the shutter speed of our camera.



Megan is the most efficient donut eater in our family.



Jared is freaky looking when he's upside down.



Malorie has a new trick that she can do on command and that makes us laugh every time!



Melanie can watch a park-dwelling-weirdo walk by without moving her head.



Joseph saves donuts on his shirt to eat later.



Meredi can sleep through ANYTHING!



Mom and dad actually look better blurry than not!



There you have it - the Lilac Parade in review. Glad we went this year so we now know never to bother with it again! :)

(I don't want to discredit the wonderful memories I have of the Lilac Parade as a kid though - good times, good friends! Too bad times are changing!)

Math is Cool - The Masters!

Saturday was Jacob's math tournament. Our little team didn't do as well against all of the top teams in the state - but Jacob did great in the individual competition.

Out of 64 competitors, Jacob scored 6th place over-all!

Here he is receiving his trophy. I went upstairs just now to get a close up of the trophy to share, and it looks like the turkey smuggled it off to school to show his buddies (good for him!). I'll have to add a close up when he gets home!

Good job, Jacob! We knew you'd do well!



He's the kiddo in green...which I'm sure you knew already! ;)

Mother's Day

Yes, I know I missed Mother's Day here on the blog! Here's why. I was hoping to get a great picture of myself (Mother) and the kids - it hasn't happened yet. Sunday is really the only day that we are all dressed up in our "Sunday Go To Church" clothes - and if we don't take the picture before we leave, it's a cinch we'll look way to frazzled and mussed to take the picture after. We blew it on Mother's Day - and since today is Monday, and I don't have a picture of us from yesterday...we obviously blew it again!

The day was wonderful though - Brandon and the kids made Strawberry Shortcakes for breakfast - then Maui Steaks (I know that those of you who know what those are are drooling right now) for lunch...oh and corn on the cob - YUM! We ended the evening with a big old, huge Rice Crispy treat! Oh, and I was given a beautiful hanging basket of flowers for outside. It's currently sitting on our porch b/c we have guys here siding the house and there won't be any place to install a hanger for a while.

So there you have it - I don't have a Mother's Day picture of myself with my kids, nor do I have one of myself with my mother...I might have one of Brandon with his mom - I tried to get one when she returned home from her mission. Maybe I should just surrender this year and start working on photos to share for next year. Maybe if I start now we might get a good one - oh who am I kidding?

2 Months...already!

Holy Smokes! Meredi is going to be 2 months old tomorrow! It's hard to believe that it's been 2 whole months, and at the same time, when I think back over everything that was crammed into the last 2 months, it's hard to believe it hasn't been 2 years!!

She's such a little love! In her opinion, she simply can not be held and cuddled enough. She knows the difference between up and down - pick her UP and she's happy, put her down...well, I'm sure you've figured this part out! We sure do love her - she's just a wonderful wonderful addition to our family!



How can I end without sharing the pictures I found on the camera? It seems the kids took the camera outside for some photography experimenting.

Our hummingbirds are back!! I'm so happy and will admit that I've gone a little overboard with feeders this year!



And the KITTENS! There are four of them - they are five weeks old and if anyone wants one (or all of them...with or without the mom) just say the word. I'd even be happy to box 'em up and ship them if needs be! I'll admit they are adorable kittens. All kittens are cute - and then they become cats. My dad had a saying about cats...well, I won't share it, but I wholeheartedly agree with him!!

Outdoor cats - good mousers - they are either all boys or all girls...I'm no Dr. Doolittle, all I can tell is they're all the same, whatever they are! Don't let this opportunity to snatch up some good barn cats pass you by! Free to a good home!!

The Lee's in Review...

Meredi -she's doing great! She's flirting with 10 pounds and as cute as a button. Everything about her is wonderful!





Joseph - always safe to assume he's a card! We sometimes call him Joe-Joe Potato...so we've enjoyed the fact that he has a new found love for Mr. Potato Head's glasses. He puts them on and LEAVES them on - not just for a picture, but he walks around the house with them on.



Melanie - is as cute as ever. She has started to memorize nursery rhymes with a newly found passion. She especially enjoys informing us about the "old man who would not say his prayers, so she took him by the left leg and THREW HIM DOWN THE STAIRS"! Last night for family night she got to choose the song - she always chooses "Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam" - always! The kids like to squat down and jump up every time they say "beam" and she loves that. She got a little flustered last night and told us we'd be singing "Jesus Wants Me For A Stinkbug". Jason, Jacob and dad could hardly breathe they were laughing so hard.



Malorie -is very anxious for school to start (you know, after it ENDS first). She has had her check up and immunizations (and if you weren't around to listen to me complain about the whole Chicken Pox vaccine, consider yourself lucky).



Jared -somehow this little guy managed to dodge the camera for the last couple of weeks. I seriously have no shots of him since his birthday. Rest assured, he's doing well - anxious for summer and the thought of spending every day with his best friend, Wade.

Megan - Like Jared, she's anxious for summer. She's enjoying the end of the year activities at school though. They still have four weeks left, but from the kids' updates, it sounds like some of the teachers are a little excited about winding up the year! I'm all for it! I can't wait to have them at home with me!



Jacob - is keeping busy! He just had his band concert this week. And this Saturday is another Math competition. I know I'm more nervous about it than he is - which is good.


(Jacob is the sax between the two flutes.)


Madilyn - sure is keeping busy. She marched in the Jr. Lilac parade this past weekend. This Saturday she has a quilting overnighter thing w/ our friend Marilyn. The following weekend she has a campout with the school. She keeps our family calendar colorful!



Jason - is just a punk! He's busy with scouts - camping this weekend and gearing up for the big week long summer camp in July...which isn't that far away!



Parents - we're doing great. Brandon is busy with work and teaching institute and odds and ends here around the house...and somehow still finds time to rough and tumble with the kids. Shiela stays busy with...well, all those little faces up there. Dentist appts, doctor appts, concerts, activities, etc - it's great and we love every minute of it!

Jared's Baptism

Sunday was a special day in our family - Jared had turned 8 and was baptized. We had a large family lunch at our home, which was wonderful. Then we all drove over to the church for the baptism. It was so great to be surrounded by family. Jared's day was very special and we're grateful to everyone who was a part of it.

Jared and his dad -






For fun, here's a picture I found of Brandon's baptism day with his dad.

Happy Birthday Brandon!

Today nobody has to suffer through an emotional mom's recollection of labor and delivery! (You have until the 28th before that happens again!)

Today is Brandon's 38th birthday!

Party!

Jared had two friends over after school on Friday for pizza and a party.



We obviously don't do much decorating with balloons around here - everyone was fanning the balloons with their plates while they waited for the pizza...at least they weren't doing it with pizza on their plates!!



The "plan" for the cake was for each kiddo to get to decorate their own cupcake. We had sprinkles and frostings and gels all ready to go...



When it actually came time for the cake, mom realized two things...
1. The frosting had dried enough that sprinks weren't going to stick to them
2. After 4 hours of yelling, running, screaming boys - the last thing we needed was to set them loose with frosting and sprinkles....
Mom opted to secretly decorate the cupcakes while the boys played on the trampoline - and none of them seemed disappointed in the least when it came time to eat the cupcakes!

Happy 8th Birthday Jared...

I've realized that all of my "pre-preemie" deliveries were pretty uneventful! But that's a good thing. Jared came in the early morning. Brandon and I went to the hospital in the early evening and I was dilated, but not enough...I could walk the halls of the hospital or go home and come back later. We opted to walk for a while and see if that did any good - it did a little, but still not enough. Finally our doctor did us a "favor" and ordered a scalp monitor for Jared - which broke my water - which meant we'd stay until he was born. It was only a few hours later when we got to meet Jared for the first time.

I don't have (or can't find) hospital pictures. I know we have some because we had borrowed my parent's digital camera (Jared was our first digital baby). I'll add them if I find them - for now I have these...

Hmmm, seems like we just shared a picture like this...I guess when you have birthday's in almost every month of the year - odds are you'll have just as many pictures of your doctor with your newborn!



10 Days Old -



What a little man - where did my "baby" go?



Now we venture in to new things - Cub Scouts and Legos being the 2 newest things that he's excited about. Of course he still loves his GameBoy and his GameCube. He's our Gamer, that's for sure!

We love you, Jared - thank you for 8 years of love and laughter and happiness! We're looking forward to many, many more!

"How's your baby?"

Meredith is doing just great! She's 7wks old on Sunday and is doing everything a "normal baby" would be doing. She sleeps well, she's a good little eater, she's very content...she's wonderful! We figured her weight to be near 9 pounds. She won't have an official ped appointment for another couple of weeks.

These aren't great pictures of her - for some reason I'm doing a very poor job of taking pictures around here lately. Hopefully, for now they'll do though.