Man summer is BUSY!!

Ok, so here's what's been going on...

We set up the pool!! As much as I moan about this camera of ours, I have to admit that I love the pictures it takes out doors! (This was just after we got fried on the 4th of July - we're all much better now, thanks!)



Joseph loves the water! Thankfully, I haven't burned him to a crisp yet!



We have a mama deer who brings twins to our yard several times a day. The are the cutest things we've ever seen. The practice running back and forth, and back and forth across our drain field/back yard!



We also had a picnic with our ladies from church. I thought I had a good picture of that to share, but looking at it now, I am laughing because I realized not one single person is looking at the camera. It was still a lot of fun!



I have been coveting this quilt that my mother made for YEARS! I fell in love with it the very first second she showed it to me - my PROBLEM was that I have a sister! Sadly, she wanted it too! Naturally, I'm the oldest and all should be mine - at least in my fairy tale world! I pestered my poor mother for a couple of years about giving me the quilt. She'd tell me I couldn't have it b/c Lindsay also wanted it. Then one evening mom called and said, "Guess what I'm doing." And just to razz her I said, "Making another flag quilt for Lindsay so I can have MINE?" and she said "Yes..." and I think called me a few choice words! :) :) It was worth it! I just love it and can't wait to hang it in my house!



Now, appreciate all of these photos - they took darn near an hour to upload! Yes, sadly, we're still on dial-up. Hopefully MONDAY (2 days) we'll be running via satellite...cross your fingers!

Happy 4th of July

We spent yesterday on the river (the Columbia). The kids were grossed out at the thought of swimming in the river with fish - the entire ride to the river they insisted that they were going to have nothing to do with swimming! After being there about 10 minutes, they all decided it wasn't so disgusting after all and had a great time...well, it was all great until we got home and realized we were all burned to crisps! Ugh! Today we're all walking with our shoulders hunched up and cringing every time someone walks by "just in case" they bump in to us! We're all sucking down Motrin and smearing on the Aloe, so we should be good to go by the weekend. Today is probably the best day to be miserable in the house though - it's supposed to get over 100 degrees...ugh! - Oh yeah...pictures of the river.....


(Joseph, Jared & Maddie were off doing something else during this picture. The cute little blodnie is my cousin Keli's daughter, Kennedy.)

When I was growing up - all those YEARS ago - my extended family used to always go to the river. It was great spending the day at the river with them again.


(Aunt Raye (hiding behind the umbrella), Cousin Keli - Little Sister Lindsay - Cousin Mardi Jayne (yes, Jayne = my Melanie Jayne) - Cousin Sarah.)

Grandma and Joseph opted to enjoy the river from the shade of the umbrella - today we're all wishin' we'd done the same!



POLLYWOGS! Yes, those are MY kids - grossed out at the thought of swimming with fish - now picking up pollywogs and putting them in the moat!



Getting ready to go tubing! Kera, Katie, Maddie & Mickie (with Adam in the back).


Jared probably swam 100 miles yesterday!



Dad and Jason took a little time to go over the basics for Jason to pass his scout swim test at camp the end of this month!



Last, but not least - here's Megan...the one who wasn't even going to bring her suit from home because she was just sure she wanted nothing to do with swimming in the putrescent river!

Good Friends!!

Wow! We've had a wonderful week of FRIENDS!

Today my dear, dear friends Kent and Nancy stopped by - I guess I can't really call it "stopping by" when someone has to drive a good hour to get here. I'll take what I can get though, call it whatever you want! I was so surprised to get an email from Kent last week that said, nonchalantly, "We'll try to stop by next weekend." (From Utah) WHAT! I was on a cloud! These are my "other parents" who aren't really old enough to be my parents, but took care of me when I was too stupid to realize that I really didn't know everything about being a grown-up. They had the cool house that we all loved hanging out at...the great food and wonderful children that we all loved like they were our own - card games, movies, and other traditions that we now do in MY family 15 years later! (Scones on Halloween and Taco Tuesday (or was it Wednesday), saying "Go Gary" when someone takes too long playing Phase 10...and no, none of us know who Gary is, or why we say that...we just do because, well, that's the tradition!) are a few favorites that come to mind! :) How lucky for me that their son moved just an hour or so from me and they decided to give him a visit! It was SO GOOD to sit and visit with them again - I wish we could have spent hours catching up! Guess I'll just have to keep my eyes open for a good chunk of retirement land for them to build on!!



Wednesday last week, our other dear friends dropped in (ha, I didn't learn...) I mean, they went out of their way to come visit us. It was a surprise visit - those are the best! The kids were so happy to see the kids again. We used to play with these kiddos several times a week before they had to move for their dad to finish his degree at BYU. He has one year down, and I think two to go - we're counting down, hoping they'll be back in the area soon! It was just great spending the day with these guys - felt like old times! Ahhhhh! (I swear this picture looks like I said, "Ok kids on the count of 3 everyone look the other direction!")



Thursday, we had a visit from Doug and Lauren and their cute kids! Look how they're growing...oh yeah, that's right, I was stupid and didn't get the camera out while they were here! We'll make them come back so we can get pictures of them too!!

It's been so nice seeing these "old friends" again - it's been a while since we've had a good visit with any of them...it's not as nice as having them next door, but our short visits were better than nothing! We'll take 'em and hope we get to visit again SOON! We sure love these guys!

Our Harry Potter Party (Part 1)

Friday night we had a Harry Potter 3 (POA) Party. We wanted to watch all 4 of them before the 5th movie comes out this month...so we'll watch 4 (GOF) next Friday. We had cousins and neighbor kids over - I think there were about 20 people here. We had an amazing table full of goodies, too!



Brandon set up the projector and we watched it on the wall. If you look down at the bottom of the picture, you can see Rachel on the sofa...gives you an idea of how we were set up (we also had it playing on the TV - which is why she's on the sofa facing the other direction).



And just for fun - here's Joseph and Eliza...aren't they cute!?

Family Resemblance

My mom sent me this picutre of my dad when he was a boy - I guess there's no denying that Joseph is ours.

Isn't this cool?

The other day, the kids and I were driving home and we saw the coolest clouds! I stopped in the middle of the road - don't forget, we live in the country now, so it's ok if we do stuff like that. It really is just a long, straight, safe, "Doll" of a road, so it was ok. (And sorry, all I had with me was my cell phone, and I zoomed, so they're tiny pictures.)

Surprise Visitors

We had some surprise visitors Sunday afternoon. Melanie was looking out the slider and saw a couple of deer helping themselves to our "lawn" (which is really just dirt with a few weeds). Malorie, Megan and Melanie stood and watched them for the longest time...something that never happened in town! We sure love it out here in the woods!

Father's Day Part 2

And while we're being grateful for GREAT DAD'S - we need to express how amazing our fathers are - "The Grandpa's".

I wonder sometimes, if saying "We miss him so much" as often as I do, makes it seem less sincere. I sure hope not, because we really do MISS HIM SO MUCH! There isn't a day that passes that Brandon's father, Barry, doesn't cross our minds. He is an amazing man - and I say "is" because even though he's not here, he still has such an impact in our daily lives...almost like he's still here (almost). He's a great man, who raised a great son - and we love him! Happy Father's Day Dad!




I don't think I know a man who is more quiet than my own daddy. He's never been the center of attention, he's never been one to jump into a conversation, he's always just been there, behind the scenes. As a parent myself now, I recognize his tendency to be a part of what's going on without really being a part of it - making sure that his family is ok, making sure they're happy, making sure they're enjoying themselves. It's only when one of us is in trouble that I've ever seen him step out of his comfort zone and turn in to a mother bear. I love having a dad who I know is always there for me and for my family, even if I can't see or hear him all the time. Happy Father's Day, Daddy!

Happy Father's Day 2007

How lucky are our children to have such a great father! And how lucky am I to a husband who is so amazing with our kiddo's. It's no wonder they adore him. It's no wonder I adore him. Yes, this is going to be another blog entry that Brandon will hate to read - guess he'll have to start submitting entries! We sure love you, dad!

A trip to grandma's June 16, 2007

The kids and I went to my parent's house today - it's the Pro-something-or-another Rodeo weekend, so we got to catch a parade while we were there! Nevermind the disgusting paint job (or lack thereof) behind us - We sat outside Goodwill...hopefully someone will donate some paint soon!




Mom and Joseph with the firetrucks at the start of the parade!




Jared and Jacob more interested in Pokemon than the parade (as soon as they realized that there was flying candy, they put the cards away).




Running for candy.



Uncle Dick campaigning for Mayor - I guess he's running uncontested this term...so apparently it was an excuse to walk through the parade throwing Air-Heads to the kids! Which was fine with us!!



Uncle Mike walking with the "pioneers".

Wahoo - we're back!

Since Saturday I haven't been able to log in to blogspot! So now we have some catching up to do - it still takes me forever to upload pictures, so the updates may be spread out over the next couple of days!

Eeeek! What have I done?

I've been dreading this day for weeks now! Brandon mentioned that Joseph's hair was getting "girly" - long and curly...and honestly, he did look a LOT like Malorie at that age! LOL But I couldn't bring myself to cut it! Once you cut it, there's no going back. It's all over. He's a big kid and the baby soft curls NEVER come back! For the past couple of weeks I've listened to Brandon say things like "Come here Joseph, how's my little girl doing?" So today I did it - it was painful and nausiating, but I did it! I knew it had to be done - I just hated doing it.

The first thing out of Malorie's mouth was, "Hey, he's Jared." I had to admit, he looks EXACTLY like Jared did at that age...

The kids came home from school and Maddie did that laughing, almost crying, surprised voice thing - "Oh my goodness, you look just like Jared." It really is freaky!

My kids are cookie cuttered...there's no doubt about it!

Jason Age 1:


Jacob Age 2:


Jared Age 2:


Joseph Age 1:



If I could FIND pictures of Jacob and Jared at Age 1 I'd share them. I'll keep looking, but don't hold your breath. Jason and Joseph are the obvious "twins" to me - but if I could find pictures of the other two at the same age, I think I'd have "quads" on my hands!

(Amy, YES, I'm having flashbacks to when you cut Spencer's hair!!!)

End of the school year things...

Today, the little girls, Joseph and I went to the Elementary school to the Field Day picnic. It was fun having lunch with Jared and Megan. Malorie loved seeng the school that she will get to go to a year from this fall.

Jared and Melanie enjoyed the ice cream dessert





Megan obviously enjoyed it also





Malorie practicing getting her own school lunch



The slide seemed like a lot more fun before they got to the top of the ladder



Joseph was tuckered out by all of the excitement...with a hammer in each hand





Jacob and Maddie had an award assembly at their school.

Maddie received a Perfect Attendance award (I think mom should have gotten one also!)



Jacob received his Math Team pin.



It's hard to believe the school year is over...it's been a LONG year - but at the same time, it seems to have flown by!

Happy Birthday Jacob...May 28th!

Ok, I've been informed by my children that Jacob got shafted in the family blog! Apparently an afterthought catch-up mention of his birthday isn't going to cut it. I have to admit, it really didn't cut it. Sadly, however, back in '97 I wasn't quite the shutterbug that I am now - AND - what few newborn pictures I have of my older kids are all taped up in boxes...soooooo - here's what I was able to come up with for Jacob's tribute!

Jacob '97 - Taken in the hospital before we came home. Jacob was our first of four c-sections. What a wild ride that was! He was our "upside down and backward" baby and he has yet to live that down.




Jacob '07 - 10 whole years later



Jacob's Birthday



Can you EVEN believe I uploaded a video!! Ok, so it took the better part of an hour, lol - but here's Jacob's birthday at the family breakfast!

Happy Birthday Dear Jaynie, Happy Birthday to YOU!

Our little Princess Melanie turned three yesterday! It's so hard to believe that she's been a part of our family for three whole years...and at the same time hard to believe that she's ONLY been a part of this family for three years. We sure do love and enjoy this little girl!

Welcome Melanie - 2004! Our second go at a 33wk preemie!




Melanie 2007




Birthday Breakfast




Birthday Dinner at Granny's Buffet



Birthday Cake and Presents at home w/ Uncle Carson, Aunt Kandi & Madison



Daddy and Uncle Carson playing with Jaynie's present