just updating

I was really surprised when I saw the date on my last post.  then I thought "should I be surprised?"  so for those of you who have faithfully checked in on our little family I have some updates.

we finally got our family pictures done and we even used Fiona's idea (see previous post)
Halloween was fun and everyone was pleased with their costumes:

unicorn, viking, ladybug and Frankenstein's monster

red riding hood

and we've celebrated two birthdays:

Ian turned 7.  He had a really fun 'drive-in movie' party with his friends.  We borrowed a projector, popped popcorn, had licorice and soda and sat in our own little cardboard box cars.  Unfortunately, the day we planned for the family to come over and celebrated the flu hit and we had to have a quiet little celebration with cake and ice cream a few days later.

the next week was Lydia's 3rd birthday.  and I guess we are starting a new birthday tradition of being sick on your day.  She loved her cake and by the end of the evening she finally felt better to enjoy some of it, too.

In the midst of all these fun celebrations we also discovered that we are expecting our 5th children.  Yes, I'm pregnant!   woohoo!  we are very happy and the kids are excited they have even picked out names.  Ian and Austin are both voting for Dragonslayer, Fiona and Lydia want a sister so they can name her Fluttershy, and Wesley likes Angus (I think he had just watched a hamburger commercial).  It's been a rough couple of weeks.  I've had morning sickness for the first time, and I'm not sure how much of it was the baby and how much was the flu that camped out at our house for over a week.  I've also felt exhausted and very, very unambitious.  Naps have been a daily event.  It seems to be passing now and the last couple of days I've been catching up on Christmas projects instead of sleeping during quiet time.  We are still quite a ways away from finding out the gender and I'm not due until the beginning of summer, but we will be finding out this time and I will let you all know how it goes.  Just keep your fingers crossed that the rest of the family will agree to a more normal name, I'm just not too sold on Dragonslayer.

yeah, really!

surprised bean plants in the garden

the flowers were caught off guard as well.

yeah, it's really snowing!  I was supposed to be out picking the last of my beans this morning, but I think that will have to wait until it's above 38*.  At least now I can get my apples, they should be nice and sweet after this snowfall.

we're going to get our family picture taken in a couple of weeks.  This is fiona's idea for the picture.  Ian is holding her hand, she is holding Lydia's hand and Lydia is holding Wesley's hand.  I thought it was so sweet.  The brothers both said NO WAY! 

a lot to catch up on

this month consisted of:
labor day fun

the boys went with Austin for a four wheeler ride up to the tower, while me and the girls went to the onion days parade in payson

a preschool field trip to the spanish fork airport

a birthday party

a surprise visit from some old and dear friends

playing with cousins

lots of canning.  I've done pears, peaches, salsa and beans.  good stuff.

The middle of this month also brought the passing of my grandfather a month before his 93rd birthday.  his funeral was beautiful and full of great family memories as aunts, uncles, and cousins all gathered to celebrate his legacy and the way he touched our lives.

now that October is here the mountains have suddenly become adorned in red and yellow.  it really seems to have happened overnight.  one day it was just a few lone trees here and there, now they've all joined in the pageantry.  cold nights are wonderful and the kids are outside more than in. it's a beautiful time of year.

now we have general conference.  hope that you are taking time to enjoy it, too. 

goodbye summer

Fall is coming fast. The night and mornings are chilly, the boys are wearing a jacket to the bus stop now. It feels so wonderful, fall is definitely my favorite time of year. We are starting to look forward to Halloween already. The girls both have their costumes already. Mom found them at a yard sale and the girls are thrilled. Fiona is going to be a unicorn and Lydia will be a ladybug. The boys are still trying to decide what to be. Wesley has said Captain America or a vampire. Ian has too many ideas to list. This year I’m going to try to be little red riding hood. I think that would be really fun and easy to put together.


We are starting to settle into our routine and this past week wasn’t nearly as hectic as the one before.
Fiona has moved up to the older vaulting class now. Her coach said she was doing so well that she was ready to be with the older girls. She will be 5 in February and the girls in her new class are mostly 5 and 6 year olds, so she is the youngest. But she had a great time with them and made many new friends. She has a showcase (sort of like a recital) coming up in October and I’m so excited to see her perform.

Lydia was able to start kindermusic this past Wednesday. She loves it and she’s such a good little singer. She and Fiona sing all the time around the house, they take after their daddy. His family is always singing and whistling, I love it. Starting kindermusic has really made her feel better about her sister leaving for preschool, she really misses Fiona.

Friday Austin and I went to the Timpanogos Story Telling Festival. We only attended one of the events. It was so much fun. The story tellers are amazing, they are truly artists. Austin would like to one day participate; I think he would do an amazing job. Ian is really good at telling stories as well. They have school-based storytelling festivals across the state and it would be fun to have him compete in one when he gets a little older. Next year I think we’ll take the kids to the festival as well, we found out that they have a session specifically for little ones and they would really enjoy it.

Yesterday I went to Swiss Days with Mom, Katie and Cheide (my nephew). I look forward to going every year. They have so many booths, hundreds, filled with crafts, paintings, gifts, art, and clothing. I get so many great ideas. This year I took a paper and pen so I could write it all down. There are so many that I often forget them before we even get home. Now I just have to find time to get all my projects done. I’ve bought more yarn to make a beautiful cardigan that I bought the pattern for last year. So I know I won’t be getting bored for lack of things to do any time soon.

Today in church they had a lesson on faith and charity. I’ve been thinking a lot about being a mother. I want the best for these children and I have so much to learn. But the lessons helped me realize that I can lead with patience and kindness. I don’t have to let them run all over me and I don’t have to be brutal in disciplining. There is a fine balance with love and example. I’ve been trying hard to not raise my voice and make sure that what I say is encouraging and kind even if I have to correct them. It is hard some days. And I hate hearing those mean things that I have said carelessly to them coming out of their sweet mouths as they repeat them to their brothers or sisters. That’s a slap to wake me up for sure. And I know I haven’t ever said anything horrible, but I could definitely do a lot better. I just always pray they know how much I love them.

hello! it's been a full, whirlwind couple of weeks

 this post is a little scrambled but I'm very short on time.  I tried to pack in the last 2 weeks in very few words and a lot of pictures.  I'm still running like crazy, probably until the end of next week.  but we are having a great time

the week before school started we packed in as much fun as we could

wednesday we went to the zoo

friday austin & I went to the demolition derby

2 cars rolled, it was AWESOME!

monday we went for a hike

and found a great place to play in the river

it had wonderful mud to squish

tuesday was pool day

thursday we did park hopping and caught 2 water snakes.  with snakes in my hand it made it hard to get any pics, but the kids were very impressed.

friday we had a back to school party at the ranch, so much fun and sun

last night we went to the ranch again to celebrate austin's 35th birthday!  I got him a zombie cake.  I got it from SIMPLY JUICY (I couldn't find their facebook page, I'll try to set up a link later) here in salem and they did an fabulous job.  the chainsaw is made of rice krispies and the cake was chocolate with a chocolate mousse layer, very very yummy.

this is 32 years of being buddies, and they never run out of things to talk about.

the boys started school this past Monday, just me and the girls all day.  it's fun, but we miss the boys, too.

this is how we found wes sleeping the night before the first day of school.  I think he was pretty excited.

this is how wes eats a pear, that skinny little thing on the top is where he's eaten all the way to the core, ALL THE WAY!

today fiona started preschool.  she has a 'my little pony' backpack that she is very fond of.  she had a great time, especially because her cousin milo is in her class and he always makes her laugh.

Salem Days "caught it!"

We just finished a weeklong celebration of Salem Days, the theme this year is "Spirit of Salem, catch it". It’s a great way to end the summer and we have so much fun every year.


Tuesday: Austin and I played on a team in the kickball tournament. Amberlee, Alli and Trevor were all on the team as well.  We had a lot of fun, the competition was fierce. We were playing until 9pm. Our team lost all 4 of our games, but it was good fun.

Wednesday: Lydia was in the baby contest for the last time. She did great and she was so excited to wear the outfit she had picked out. She was very personable, telling the judges her name, age, favorite colors and even that Fiona was her best friend. That night we went to the movie in the park. They had soda, popcorn and glow sticks all for free and the kids had such a good time.

Friday: I decorated the kids’ bikes with balloons and streamers and they rode them in the children’s parade. It was the first time for Fiona and Lydia to ride their bikes, they’ve always rode in the wagon before. They both did great and kept up with their brothers well. After the parade we found out that Lydia hadn’t won the baby contest, but her picture sure was darling. I don’t know how those judges didn’t see it.

Saturday: We went to the big parade in the morning with 4 plastic sacks and came home with bags loaded with candy. We saw a tractor with 3 dogs riding on it, lots of horses and Lydia saw the ‘grumpy’ fireman. She was so excited to shake his hand as he walked by. waving to the Mayor (aka Grandpa)
In the evening we went to the pageant and watched local talent perform.  A boy from our ward did a Hawaiin fire dance that was awesome.  And they had a fabulous rockabilly band, Kenzie James and the Knockouts. After the show we watched the fireworks over the pond. It’s so beautiful how the water reflects the colors; I think they are my favorite fireworks every year.



on a side note:
Lydia is progressing in potty training finally. We figured out how to motivate her, and it was quite by accident. I’ve tried everything. We had a sticker chart, candy (even chocolate), toys, and the promise of a party with cake as incentive. But one day while she was crying as I was sitting her on the potty I started singing the ‘itsy, bitsy spider’. She stopped to listen and started to pee. Then she smiled at me and laughing said, “I just peed on the spider!” Now when she has to use the potty she runs to pee on the ‘bipsy, yipsy spider’. Austin & I laugh about it every time.  She gets quite a kick out of it now, too.  Austin tells her not to pee on his spider friend and she's proud to tell him that he died again. We may have her potty trained by next week, I’m so excited.

well, hello again!

what a summer so far.  and in a few short weeks we have school starting, wow!

fiona was in the fiesta days parade and loved it. she is amazing. she is so timid and insecure at times, but when she is on that horse or even the barrel there is no fear. the confidence and joy just radiate from her. she was smiling and waving to the crowds as she performed on the barrel. it just amazes me.


here she is on the trailer with her legs dangling over the edge, in the pink

I also had the insane idea of taking the kids on a hike to the Y.  I haven't hiked it since college and I had forgotten how very steep it is.  We heard a lot of complaints, we left late in the day, and it was very humid.  Only my stubbornness kept me pushing them all to the goal.  I'm just so grateful that my sweet companion is so patient with me and my crazy ideas.  And now the kids are excited to tell all their friends that they've touched the Y.  What an accomplishment.  I was really proud of them all.

here we are by the Y, the white behind us

looking at Provo spread below us.  the white in the very top is actually the lake.  my camera was on a weird setting and I didn't realize it until we had already gotten home.

we hope to have many more adventures before the 22nd.