California....again

We were home for 4 days and then we headed back to California again. This time it was for my mom's extended family reunion. The kids had fun and mom got tired. It was good to see cousins and catch up with them. All in all we had a good time but after an awful ride home we decided we are done traveling as a family for the rest of the year. Here a few cute pictures i got while we were there.

Parker loved sitting on this swing. It was the only thing that kept him contained for longer than 10 minutes.

Grandpa and Parker by the bonfire making smores. Could they look any different?

The kids with their great grandma Rosalie, but they know her as "White Hair Grandma". Nicholas made up that name for her when he was younger.

All 3 kids waiting to get out to go to the beach.

Our California trip

We are back from our vacation and we had so much fun. Yes it was crazy with 14 little kids and 16 adults. The kids had so much fun playing with thier cousins. I just wanted to say a big Thank you to Luke's parents for setting this up. We created some great memories that we will always have with us. I would have posted pictures sooner but i seriosuly had about 10 loads of sandy laundry to do. I'm not even joking. The kids had fun at Disneyland but we have learned that it's the happiest place on earth when you have a very active 1 yr old. So it looks like we will wait a couple years until we go again. The kids loved the beach. They couldn't get enough of it. Parker loved the sand. He would take handfuls of sand and put it in his mouth. He dropped an apple on the sand, picked it up and continued eating it while making yummy noises. He is still pooping it out. Great fun!! We are glad to be back in our own beds but the kids definitely miss their cousins.

Our 4th!

No i am not announcing a 4th child. Believe me if i was the title would read "holy crap!!" or "seriously?". I just wanted share pictures from our fun holiday weekend. My parents still live in the house i grew up in. Every 4th of July we had a huge neighborhood party with illegal fireworks. I remember always looking forward to it. Now i get to take my kids and it's so fun to see all my old friends and their kids.

I came out of the shower and found this. My children love to be naked. yes i know my chairs are filthy. I used to clean them about 5 times a day but then just gave up.

Nicholas didn't like the fireworks at all. Sammy and Parker loved them.

Of course i had to have them match

Trying to blow out the sparkler.

Brothers

One of our favorite summer activites is swimming at Grandma and Grandpas house. We love going there. The best thing about it is the kids fall asleep on the way home. I love when they fall asleep in the car because it means I don't have to fight them for naptime. When all 3 fall asleep it takes me about 5 mintues to get them all in bed. Of course by the end i am drenched in sweat. After I took Sammy i looked at both of the boys and realized they looked exactly alike. I had to grab my camera take a picture.

24 Hours.....

Of Pure Bliss!! Ever since our family became 5 i have needed a break, but things kept getting in the way. Money, no one to watch the kids, Tball, and many other things. So finally my Mom and Dad found a good time to take them away from us. They agreed to take them for 24 hours. Yes i know most of you have gone away for much longer than that but hey i have to take what i can get. Luke and i have never been away from the kids for more than 4 hours. He has gone out of town by himself and so have i, but we have never gone away together without kiddos. Since gas prices are crazy high we decided to just stay at our house and have fun. I dropped the kids off at my moms house at 5 Friday night and i told her we wouldn't be back the next day until 5. I was going to have my full 24 hours.

When we dropped them off i was so excited to have Luke all to myself. It was so nice to know that we didn't have to be back to pay a babysitter. We started off at Town Square. We ate at California Pizza Kitchen. It was so yummy, and then we walked around and shopped. Luke never buys himself anything so i let this be his shopping spree. He loved it! After a little shopping we stopped at Yogurt land(if you haven't been there you need to go). It is so good. Even Luke liked it, this is coming from a person who thinks Golden spoon taste like cardboard. After a long night of shopping and eating we decided to come home and watch a movie. When i walked in our house i saw rose pedals all over the floor and leading into our bedroom. I was so surprised. Luke isn't the most romantic guy so this really made my night.

We didn't wake up until 9. I don't even remember the last time i slept in that long. It's been at least 4 years. It was so nice to not have any kids jump in our bed at 6 in the morning. We got cleaned up and went to lunch, and then saw the movie Iron Man. It was an awesome movie. We loved it!! Probably one of the best movies we have seen this year. After that we did a little more shopping except this time it was for me. I got some last minute things for our beach trip coming up. Sadly after that it was time to pick the kids up. We were actually really excited to see them. I can't imagine leaving them for longer. I guess i need to take baby steps. I told my mom to get ready to watch them for our 10 year anniversary(they have 4 years to prepare for that).


These were the only 2 pictures we took. It was only the 2 of us the whole time so it was hard to take a bunch of pictures.

Well it's technically not her birthday yet but i have the time now to post this. I just wanted to wish Miss Emily Bradshaw(i had to say that for old times sake) a Happy 28th B-day. We have been friends since 3rd grade. We were fatties together and well now she is skinny and i am still fat :) Some of you might find it weird that i am making a post about her. I have to. We have known each other for 20 years. We know everything about each other. We have been through many many ups and downs. We even lost touch for a couple years but we picked right back up where we left. She is truly my best girl-friend. Here are just a few inside jokes that only a few of you will get:
-fighting over Tommy Barlow
-buying 20 different best friend necklaces
-always liking the same guy (except for Erik and Mike-Losers!)
-Us going to get our belly buttons pierced and me backing out after seeing you get it don-Sorry
-helping myself to your pantry and fridge
-grandma getting us Wendys every friday night-driving to 7-11 and stuffing our faces with nachos,hot fries, and candy(and we wondered why we were fat)
-me protecting you from Heather by chasing her with an iron
-you spending over and hour on your bangs
-Chris Echols & Brandon Leavitt
-your first kiss with Kirk Larkin
-my first kiss with David Bindrup
-modeling pictures(thanks to Amber)
-Sticky-"don't turn the fan on she might blow away!"
-BBH
- CPN
-Drives on the strip

Thanks for being a true friend. I am so glad we have stayed so close these past years. Thank you for having 3 kids before i even had my first. You helped me through the first time parenting problems.Here are a few pictures. I tried to find some of us when were in 3rd or 4th grade because let's be honest, those would have been the funniest thing ever. But i didn't have time to look through 5 different boxes.

This was taken in the summer between 8th and 9th grade. We went to Kmart. I remember being so excited about these pictures because we of course were wearing matching denim. Come on, we all know that was the "thing" back then.

GVHS '98

BBH's- minus Jenny

Happy Birthday Parker!

I can't believe my baby is 1. Parker has been such a fun addition to the family. He was the best surprise I have ever had. When Nicholas turned one I wasn't too sad because I was in such a hurry for him to get bigger and do new things. With Parker I am so so sad that he is growing up. I want him to be a baby for a little longer. I was always about 3 months pregnant when my older kids turned one so i knew i would have a new little baby coming soon. Yes everyone I have made it a year without getting pregnant. I have had so many people ask me if I am pregnant yet. No I am not and won't be for a while(great now i just jinxed myself).

Anyways I just wanted to tell my little cuddle bug that I love him so much! He was the best baby and most of the time is the beast toddler. Here are just some of the reasons why we love him:

1. He will cuddle with anyone. Even some of the Men in our ward love to hold him because he will cuddle with them
2. I love his blond hair, Fair skin, and Blue Eyes. I never thought i would have a baby that is a total opposite from me
3. I love the way he walks. You can't help but laugh when you see him walking towards you.
4. He is so good with his older siblings. He has been through some hard hits and falls because of them and he usually just gets right back up and starts talking.

I will post some pictures of his little party tonight. We love you Parker!!

30 min after he was born

6 months old

Getting into trouble

My one year old