Blessings and lost teeth

Another fun week has gone by. July 3 the kids and I went for a picnic up the canyon with a friend/Brian's cousin. It was a lot of fun. Her husband was off work so he was there too and took the kids climbing and into a cave. He has a bunch of head lights (don't now the technical name). He set them to flash and hid them in the cave. The kids then had to find them. They loved it. Brian had the day off too, but he went horseback riding with his grandpa and brother instead. We had a great 4th of July. We bought Macy a new bigger bike and I did some swimsuit shopping (this has been an experience that I won't ever have time to write about but if I talk to you I am sure you will hear about it). The bike thing was almost a fiasco because Kelsey was sad because she didn't get to buy anything so we were going to get her a pack of gum. Then Macy was upset and wanted to trade in her bike for a pack of gum. Monday I put Macy's bike together and put the training wheels back on the old one for Kelsey. I now have two bike riding fools and Kelsey never seemed to enjoy it before. We bought helmets from a local law firm that sells them for a discount and they are very good about wearing them.

Back to the fourth. We came home and had a BBQ with the neighbors and lite off our own fireworks. The idea was so we wouldn't out too late because the next day was another big event. We still didn't come in until late.

On Sunday we blessed Braden. Some family members had been giving us a hard time because we hadn't blessed Braden so we finally got around to it. In my church babies and young children are given a blessing through the priesthood. In this blessing the child is given the name that will be on church records. On the way to the church Macy says "finally Braden is going to have a number".

It was beautiful weather and we had a dinner afterwards on Carol and Alan's back patio. I finally had enough people over to justify getting Costco's chocolate layer cake. That made my day.

Here he is hanging out with his cousin Makalah.

Here he is with his grandparents.

Here is four generations.

And here he is being loved by his great-grandmas.

Another big event happened on Sunday morning. Macy lost her first tooth. I was getting ready for church and she came to me and said her tooth came out. It was loose and so I thought Brian pulled it our for her. I was wrong. She did it all by herself and there were no tears. Of course it had to be her idea. I am sure that if we had tried to coax her into pulling it she would never have done it. The tooth fairy came that night and left her a dollar.

This past week we went swimming at my grandma's pool. Macy is still a fish and had a great time with Grandma Bonnie. I think we will be out there a whole lot more.

Oh, What Do You Do in the Summertime...

Do you ride in a boat

or happily ride in a tube

and try to splash poppy?

Is that what you do? So do we!

Oh, what do you do in the summertime, when all the world is green?

Do you swim in a pool
or don a new hat for swimmers and BBQ revelers?

Is that what you do? No I take a nap.

The weather has finally turned so we have been to the lake twice. We also went swimming at my uncle's community pool followed by a BBQ at his house for my dad's cousins and aunt who came into town from NY. We have been to several BBQs this summer and I don't think they are over (I hope not). Aren't BBQs synonymous with summer.

photo udate

(April) Kelsey loves swimming and wearing her swimsuits. This night she put her swimsuit over her clothes and on backwards. I think she looks like she is wearing a wrestling outfit.
(May) Here was my waitress on the last day of pre-school

(May) The last time in our pool. Kelsey looks thrilled, but I know she had a great time that day.

(May, about a 6 weeks old) Even Braden was able to get out and enjoy the pool. He loved to come sit outside in the bouncer in the shade. We would swim and he would fall asleep. In fact this was the only way to get his afternoon nap some days. He didn't get in a lot of swimming, but we made sure he stuck in his feet a few times. Macy had to be in every picture.

This was the goody bag my sweet friends packed for our move. A group of us went to Barro's pizza one last time to say goodbye and this is what they surprised me with. It was filled with all sorts of fun treats for the drive. I love you women and I can't thank you all enough.

(May) Here is a picture of the big guy. He was being tortured/played with by his sisters.

(May) Macy sure loves her brother. I had to snap this picture because they were wearing twinner PJs.

This was Brian and my trip to Zions. We had a great time and did some fun hikes. Of course we were rained on the morning we went to the park. We were rained on again during our last hike of the day. We came back to our hotel drenched and had to sit in the hot tub after dinner to finally warm up. Rain seems to be the theme for us this past month. It threatened to rain the day we moved and it has been raining ever since. Did we move to Seattle?

Coming into focus

I still don't have internet to my home computer, so there won't be any pictures. (I don't like to take the time to find generic pictures to post.)

Life is slowly (very slowly) coming into focus.

Macy is adjusting really well. In fact she is with friends from sun up to sun down. The circle we live in boasts 22 kids. We make 24 plus a baby. I think they go from house to house snacking and eating. I see her with so many treats throughout the day. Saturday for lunch we fed 2 extra girls. I don't mind because I am sure someone has fed Macy on some other day. This is a big change from where we lived. We had great neighbors but there were no kids. On Saturday Macy learned to ride her bike without training wheels. She picked it up in 5 minutes. Brian felt like we needed to do this as quickly as possible because all the kids her age kept telling her that her bike had to be Kelsey's because it had training wheels. We didn't know kids her age rode without training wheels because we didn't have kids around us to know. Now we know and will not let this mistake happen again. If she isn't with friends, then she is on her bike even in the rain. Her attitude and tantrums have grown a little because she never wants to do what we ask if she is doing either of these activities.

Kelsey is having a harder time. Kelsey is acting really shy. She goes out sometimes and will play occasionally, but she comes back home a lot. She spends a lot of time playing by herself because her best friend, Macy, is gone all day. It makes me sad to see this. Macy doesn't intentionally leave her out (at least I don't think so), but she also doesn't invite her along much. This is really sad because they have played with each other their whole lives and were such good friends. It kind of breaks my heart to see this separation, but I felt like it might end up this way at some point. Kelsey does love hanging out with her grandparents. For the first couple of nights she would make her way up to Grandma Carol's bed in the middle of the night. All weekend long she has been begging to go over to Grandma Wendy's (that is where we are today).

Braden is just as content as ever. In fact he cries very little. His hemanganoma is very prominent and everyone asks how he got his goose egg. He has started to smile and loves to talk and smile. He his still working on getting sounds out and sometimes it requires his whole body to shape his lips and sometimes the sound still doesn't come out. Last week he found his hands and sucks on them like candy. He still gets up once a night (anywhere between 3 am and 5 am). He doesn't like the dark so at night he falls asleep with his door open and the hall light on. He doesn't cuddle much and prefers to fall asleep on the ground or in his bed during the day. It is very difficult to get him to fall asleep in my arms. He is also not a binky man. He will suck on it if he is hungry, but shot puts it after awhile and if the bottle is coming. Other than that he hates to have it stuck in his mouth.

Brian is getting used to the job. As with anything new it has taken him a little time to get adjusted and is starting to get into the groove. His commute is definitely better and that is nice.

My only complaint is that I am still in long pants. I thought that we picked the best time to move, but this year it has been raining every day for the past 2 weeks. My parents haven't even summerized the boat because it hasn't been warm enough to go to the lake. Soon school will start and I will wonder what happened to the summer.

Bare with Me

It has been a crazy time and I am still getting settled. I am working on internet and other things so hopefully one day soon life will be back to normal. So sorry if I have not responded to facebook or email. That will come too. Here is a quick run down.

We moved.
Brian and I took a mini vacation to Zions National Park.
I am still not completely unpacked.
Laundry is never ending and slows down the settling part.

No Kissing

Today out in the pool Brian gave me a kiss in front of the girls. Nothing big and slobbery. Of course we got the "ewww". Then Macy said "No kissing or you'll have another baby".

Now we know how our kids came to be. Good thing it doesn't work every time.

Catch up

There are so many things that I want to post about, but have run out of time. I wonder why. Here is a run down:

1. Braden had a clogged tear duct when he was born and one morning he woke up and it was magically gone. He is growing so fast. I had to take him to the doctors today and with clothes on he weighed 11 lbs 4 oz. I am going to have to pull out the next size clothes soon. He has been dropped one other time. No the bump on his forehead is not from a fall. Today it was confirmed that it is a hemanganoma (spelling?). Macy had one on her head but it looked different. It is rarely genetic. We might just be rare. We are probably going to have to get it checked out, but there are no major concerns at this time so we can wait until we are settled in Utah. He has a heart murmur just like his sisters that will have to be watched. Macy and Kelsey's are from completely different causes. We will have to see what his brings.
2. Macy celebrated her birthday last month (I will have to do an entry later).
3. We hit triple digits 2 weeks ago, I think. Let's just say it is hot, so we are trying to use the pool before we go. The girls have really been doing some swimming. They have been to 3 different friends to play in their pools. Today mom had to have some pool time. Braden even stuck his legs in up to his bum. I will really miss the pool, but not the work.
4. We listed our house not this last Monday but the Monday before. I was working tirelessly to keep it clean and show ready. Well it paid off because a week later it was under contract. Now my house is a disaster as I pack things up.
5. Macy's last day of pre-school was today. The kids did a restaurant for the parents. The kids were the waiters. Then they sang some songs. It was really cute.
6. On Mother's Day Brian took care of all the meals and clean up.

That is about all I can think of at this time.