Happy Birthday Kristi!

Today is my sister's Kristi's 23rd birthday. She was the only Dixie baby in our family, born the year that we lived in St. George. Because of that there was always a desire for her to go back and when she finally did move there she immediately found her future husband Chuck. She has recently started a new photography business and does a great job if anyone is interested. Check out her site (and my kids pics!!). Kristi and Chuck love to come and visit and take my kids for me just to give me a break (and give Chuck an excuse to go play at Chuck-E-Cheese). Thanks for all of the help with the babysitting. We love you Kristi!

Camping...a few weeks ago.

I have failed my girls! We finally went on our first official camping trip, and Kylie is 6 years old! I loved camping as a kid and can't believe it took us this long to go. It took them a little while to warm up to the idea of getting really dirty, but once they did, there was no stopping them...especially Sadie. We went up Butterfield Canyon, which is right by our house. It was only a 20 mile drive from our house to the campsite.

Brynlie hung out in the van while we set up camp...

Once we let her out to play, she immediately had an accident. The poor thing was not off to a good start for the night. She got over this little spill real quick though and was off on more adventures.

Sitting around the campfire.


All four of the kids had a rough time once it got dark. They were all VERY afraid of the dark and the animals in the dark. It took a little bit of convincing them that camping was fun. Luckily, they all fell asleep really fast that night. Unluckily, Brynlie did not. She is teething, and can I give you all a piece of advice. DO NOT take a teething baby camping. It was awful. She is so good to sleep through the night, but that night she would not. I finally ended up spending the longest night of my life on the van floor so that the rest of the family could get some sleep. She didn't really sleep all night and by 6:30 in the morning she was ready to be up for the morning. Along with the crying came poopy diapers...7 before noon to be exact. One was bad enough that we had to burn the clothes she was wearing. Teething has been especially hard on Brynlie.

Next time I will bring a playpen...Brynlie is far too active to stay on a blanket.
The kids had so much fun playing with each other and getting into mischief. They all wanted to stay longer but we had a warm social Saturday night that we had to get back for.

Throwing dirt on herself...
Did I mention that they got dirty?

Uncle Jason, offering to give them baths.

On our way home we took a slight detour and headed up to the top overlooking the copper pit.

No shower, no make-up, greasy hair...



We had to much fun!!! We can't wait until next time.

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today my Dad turns 29. I know that some of you thought that he was a few years older than this, but when I called him tonight he assured me that he was turning 29.

I am so appreciative of all of the love and support that he provides to me and my family. He has always let me know that no matter how much I screw up he is still there for me and loves me unconditionally. I am so lucky to have such a great dad that has always tried so hard to put provide a great life for all of his family. He has had a very stressful, busy summer and yet still takes the time to be there for his family when we need him. Thanks Dad for all you do. We love you!

Memory Lane

Here are the directions:
1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you.
It's actually pretty cool (and funny) to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

Pictures

My sister Kristi has started her own photograpy business and while we were all in Vernal over the 4th she took some pictures of the girls. Click here to check a few of them out. She did a great job, even if her subjects were less than cooperative!

Kylie's birthday party!

Last year when I sent out invites for Kylie's birthday party almost everyone was out of town. I expected that it would be the same case this time so I didn't worry too much about how many I was sending out. If you count the three babies that joined us there were 17 kids that showed up! Most of them were kids in the ward and they are a great group of kids. We had so much fun. Jamey and Tawnie both brought over their swimming pools and we had a sprinkler running under the trampoline and this kept the kids entertained most of the time. In fact, I was a little hesitant to ruin their fun by making them play some games.




The first game that we played a where I gave each of them an ice cube with a balloon in the middle. I had each of them rub the ice cube to melt it and then they opened the balloon that had a paper on it. Each paper had number on one side and a word or two on the other. We read them in order (some were a little soggy so I had to just tell them what they said) so that they could find the "treasure". The papers together said "Roses are Red, Violets are Blue, If You Want a Treat, Look Under a Shoe." I had a cooler sitting out of the porch and put a shoe on top of it. It took the kids a while to figure out that that was the shoe (a few even picked it up and looked under it, but not in the cooler) but finally Rhon said to look in the cooler. They all got to pick a Popsicle (or three by the time the afternoon was over) and then went to the trampoline to eat.

The other game that we then played (thanks Lauri for the idea!!) was really cute. I gave each kid a bowl with a piece of bubble gum in it. Then we filled them with whipped cream and had them stick their faces in to find the gum, without using their hands. Then they had to race and see who could find the gum, chew it, and either blow a bubble or at least stick their tongue out in an attempt if they didn't know how to blow a bubble.

Afterwards we opened presents out on the trampoline...
and then ate Kylie's cake. Aren't I such a great cake decorator?!! :) I really had planned on making cupcakes myself, but thought I'd take a quick look at what the bakery had and this just seemed so much easier (not to mention prettier!).

Brynlie before the cake and Popsicles...
During...

And after!

Thank you to both Jamey and Tawnie for helping take pictures!!! And to Brad for coming over earlier in the day and mowing the lawn and killing LOTS of wasps and hives! It is so nice to have such great neighbors that are there to help, especially with Jared working out of town as much as he does.