bear lake adventures

we have a great copy of ian's x-ray showing the penny (the thing by his neck is from his tie clip; we went after church)he swallowed saturday night at bear lake. the next morning he woke up and said his tummy hurt, then he told austin during breakfast that his tongue tasted like a penny. after some questioning we found out he had swallowed one during the night nearly choking on it. austin had heard choking but had thought it was just wesley (because of his allergies) after listening to make sure all the children were breathing okay. we called poison control to find out what we should do and they said we needed to get an x-ray to make sure it wasn't lodged in his esophagus. fortunately, the little clinic in bear lake had an x-ray machine and it came out clear as day that the penny was resting inside his stomache. now we have the fun of waiting for it to reappear or make another trip to the doctor. ian told us he'd never do it again, but after all the attention and laughs i'm not so sure he'll keep that promise.

we also had another surprise. lydia got her first tooth and rolled over for the first time.

bear lake

here's some pics of our good times at bear lake this year. it was a little colder this year than last, but that didn't stop all the fun. whenever we're with family it's wonderful and full of adventure.

mom's birthday

we tried to get a pic of my mom with all her grandchildren, including her newest granddaughter, noa. it is so hard to get all those wiggly bodies to not be so spontaneous.

brownies

i have discovered an amazing secret to getting all my children to sit quietly together without any fighting: BROWNIES! (fresh from the oven)

childhood joys

i love my yard and i just had to share. it is becoming such a joyful place for me and i hope it's becoming a magical and joyful place for my children to grow in as well.
these are some of the things i love most about my yard:

secret hiding places (this one is obviously not so secret but just as fun)

hills to roll down and chase each other on

a nice place to hang out

these others bring me joy because they are memories relived from my childhood. all the neighborhood children ended up hanging out in our cherry tree eating cherries and spitting the pits onto the ground. my mom hated to mow all the baby trees that we were helping to plant. at our american fork home (if i haven't mentioned it before that house was a dream come true for little ones and i have so many fond memories because of that magical house, maybe one day i'll be able to buy it for myself) the fence by the garage was covered in these smelly, delicious yellow roses. i loved to put them in my hair and pretend to be a fairy or a princess they made me feel beautiful because they smelled so good. the peonies remind me of my grandma, her driveway was lined in these beautifully, fabulous flowers. they embody all things frilly and girly for me. and i'm so excited this is the first year that my irises have bloomed and i LOVE irises and would fill my whole yard with them if i could.

chickens

austin put in a lot of work and cussing to make this chicken coop, it turned out so wonderful. he is so handy and so patient to put up with all of my crazy schemes.


we have had so much fun becoming poultry farmers. that's right we now have chickens. the children (mostly the boys) have been asking for a pet for months now. i guess a dog and a cat don't count. they had in mind a turtle, a mouse or a rabbit just to name a few of the suggestions. i hate the smell of rodents in the house, we had turtles and ended up killing one and finding a better home for the other, and a rabbit just doesn't sound like a great toddler pet. i've been wanting to get chickens for a long time and be able to get our own fresh eggs, but it just never became a priority. then i found out one of the families in our ward was moving and trying to sale their chickens. Aha! the perfect solution. The kids love their new pets and get to learn how to care for them and collect eggs. it's been great fun. so here are some pics of our new additions Titan (fiona's rooster), Clucky Kiki (Ian's hen) and Vacation (Wesley's hen). yes, they all chose their own pet's name (fiona got a little help).

this is fiona is her chicken dress, it's one of our favorites.

family pics and sand dunes

this past weekend i talked a friend into helping me get some family pics. i've had a spot picked out for almost a year and it finally came together for me. i got quite a few really good ones of the children as well. we had a lot of fun and are planning a return trip to the pic site to look for toads and bugs; fun! fun!





we also went to the sand dunes last saturday and had a great time with my side of the family. it's wesley's little slice of heaven because he can dig where ever he wants and no one (mostly mom) is telling him to stop or NOT THERE! Fiona and Ian had a great time playing in the sand as well. Fiona is still learning to share with her cousin Malachi (and Milo and brothers and almost everyone else for that matter) but she really enjoyed all the yummy treats that were brought. She is quite the candy fanatic if we aren't watchful. Ian and I tried to hunt for lizards but the little critters were faster than lightning after having warmed up all morning in the sun. Lydia loved it because she was almost constantly held by someone and that is truly her idea of a good time. Mick turned out to be an amazing bug finder as well. He found an antlion, a mole cricket and lots of grubs. I was so excited about the antlion, I've never seen one alive before. so we brought it home and i'm hoping to keep it alive long enough for it to pupate; wish me luck.

joy

these are the beautiful flowers that my boys gave me for mother's day. i am so happy being a mother and feel so LOVED!
I have been so blessed by the wonderful examples of motherhood and womanhood that my mom and mother-in-law are for me. I am excited for the day when my own daughters are able to experience this great joy of motherhood for themselves and i hope that i am a good example for them to look back on. as daughters of God we have such great potential and he has given us the choicest responsibilities. motherhood is joy.

vaulting

we enrolled ian in a vaulting class and he is loving it. he just started a few weeks ago, but has really caught on fast. i am so impressed with his upper body strength, he can pull himself up unassisted onto this towering horse. i couldn't do that. that boy's got muscles!!

hello tooth fairy

wesley has lost his first tooth!! i just can't believe he's getting old enough to lose teeth, sometimes it feels like just last year when he was getting them in. he was pretty excited about it, he tells everyone he pulled it out. we sprinkled the coins from the tooth fairy with 'fairy dust', but he was just excited about the money and that he gets to pay tithing now.