BUSY!

My life seems very busy to me. I think about updating this blog often, but I have just been trying hard to be vigilant in other areas. Here is my attempt to catch up. Just some of my favorite pictures since July. We've had three birthdays. Janie turned 4 in July, Joseph turned 8 in August and Jessie turned 6 in October. I guess I'd better get started.
We had Janie's b-day party at the park and it was a PERFECT day!! Such easy clean up too!
Don't be fooled by Janie in this picture. These are the cupcakes Joseph requested for his birthday. Janie was just modeling because the birthday boy was at school!
For Jessie's birthday she asked if she could have caramel popcorn instead of cupcakes at school. She decided that cupcakes were too messy. Her teacher was grateful too:) Jessie was so excited to have Janie and Jace there to celebrate!
We had a swimming party for Jessie on her b-day and then her friends came over after for cake and presents. These are her closest friends here. She LOVES to spend time with them!!
This was taken one Sunday before church. I thought my boys looked so handsome. I love Jace and all of his girly sippy cups.

We spent as much time as possible outside over the summer. Here we are doing our weekly marshmallow roast. I look at this picture and can't believe how blessed I am to have such a sweet family.

Next to come will be our Halloween post! Stay Tuned....

A Little More Summer

We had 28 tons of rock delivered to our driveway and spent MANY hours spreading it. The kids were lucky enough to be invited to the neighbors for a few hours which made our work a bit faster. Jace stayed with us and helped every minute. He threw rocks, fell in rocks, and ate rocks!! He loved everything about it. Definitely a boy!!!The only picture from swimming lessons that really turned out was this one. This little guy really is a trooper. He sat in that stroller for two hours every day for two weeks straight. We HAD to find things that would entertain him!The kids have also enjoyed jumping on the trampoline with the sprinkler underneath for a quick cool down. We haven't really had that many HOT days, but yesterday was beautiful so we turned the water on and let them play.Jace didn't love it as much as we though he would.What he does love though is his little slide. He would play on that for hours and hours and have the time of his life. What a sweet little man.
After the trampoline I tried to see if Jace would like just the sprinkler, but he really didn't even want anything to do with it. Janie had a blast and didn't care how cold the water was at all!It has been a fun summer. The kids participated in a reading program and just got their free books yesterday. We woke up this morning to a big moose trying to eat our radishes out of our garden. No picture though because Jeremy chased him away. SAVE THE RADISHES!!!! Too bad I didn't get a picture of him chasing the moose away. It was a pretty funny:) He came home just in time. I haven't had one moose in the garden the whole time he has been gone and now just hours after being home one shows up. Welcome home hon!

July 4th!!!!!

Today is my FAVORITE holiday!!! The kids and I have been trying to do some fun things to celebrate Independence Day here in North Pole where the sun never goes down and we won't get to see fireworks. We have been hearing fireworks today which has been fun, but for some reason it just isn't the same for a family who is used to having a HUGE celebration with a massive firework show over the lake at the cabin each year.We went to a little parade they had in town with a bunch of friends from the ward. The kids got lots of candy and enjoyed waving their flags around.

We made some "Fourth of July Guys." My mom and sister came up with this little crafty fellow and so we decided to follow suit and join in on the fun. Joseph and Jessie LOVED making them. Joseph actually made his and Janie's while she napped. They turned out cute and the kids enjoyed waking up to them this morning.Oh how I just want to kiss those sweet faces!!!! I love, love, love how Janie's fingers are touching Jace's arm and how his chubby little hand is resting on her lap. It just makes my heart melt!We didn't do Easter outfits this year so we did patriotic instead! Wow! All four kids smiling and looking the same direction at the same time. What a wonderful day!! We came home from church and drank sprite with red ice stars (out of crystal goblets too:)!

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!

Summer Time!!

For Father's Day we decided to make a special meal for Jeremy. He had been fishing the week prior so I baked up some Halibut for him. I told him that I was showing how much I really loved him because not only did I cook fish IN my house, but I also ate it and didn't fix anything else. Well, the kids and I decided that we'd also grill for him, but this time we thought it would be fun to grill dessert. It turned out quite tasty too!

This is actually an idea I got from the Family Fun magazine and I thought it looked like such a great idea. It was easy and the kids got to do most of it! We love our dad and our grandpas too!!


We've had a bunch of fun this summer. We've had some swimming lessons, Tae Kwon Do camp, and 3 day trip to Valdez where we went on a glacier cruise. We were able to see some breath taking sights and amazing wild life. Those of you who know our family well know that I sometimes bring my camera along but even when I have it, I don't take pictures because Jeremy takes enough for all of us. I'll try and get some of his shots from the cruise and post them soon.

We look forward to more swimming lessons, sports camp, and some camping before school starts again in August.

Our Little Lion

I brought out a couple of costumes that I bought for Joseph when he was little. It was way too hot in Florida and Okinawa for them so they've never been used. Jace has taken a liking to the Lion costume. It is so funny to watch him with the hat, he has me put it on him, takes it off, and then asks me to put it on again. He did this over and over for about 30 minutes the other day. Anyway, I was able to get one shot of him before he pulled the hat off and it turned out kind of cute, minus the runny nose :)A couple of other fun shots from recent days or semi recent days are as follows: On Easter Sunday we were watching conference and this was the last 5 minutes of the morning session.
How many people can you get around one little tiny screen to watch a You Tube video????Swimming lessons and soccer season are coming up so we'll have some more shots soon.

Catching Up!

I wonder how many blog posts I have labeled "Catching Up" or something like that. It seems that when I go through my pics there are always a few sporadic shots that I'd like to put on the blog, but don't really go with any specific event or theme. Here are a few of those:So, Jessie has a stuffed dog names Shasta. It is the ONLY stuffed animal she owns that isn't named Chance. She had a best friend in Oklahoma named Chance and she names everything after him still. This is a translation of what she wrote above. "Shasta the law dog has a job in a house baby, because I own her." My favorite part is "I own her." That is exactly how we slur all of our words together and it definitely should be spelled I ONR don't you think?This was on St. Patrick's Day. The Leprechauns brought the kids some little treats and left them in their shoes. Anyway, they left their footprints all over the floor and they turned the milk green. Joseph thought it was awesome to have "Leprechaun milk" and Jessie wouldn't eat her cereal with it, not even one bite!!The kids were on a bowling league during the winter and they had their awards ceremony a couple of weeks ago. Here they are with their trophies and happy faces. How about Janie's trophy? She wants to be in every picture so she grabbed the closest thing to function as her trophy:)

Jace was playing with Jessie's tutu the other day and I think it entertained him for about 15 or 20 minutes. I guess it was the new texture along with the silly thing getting caught under his feet every time he tried to walk. It was so funny watching him play and giggle.

That ought to be enough random shots for now. More to come!!!

The Little Man Turns 1!!

Jace turned one a couple of weeks ago. I have mixed feelings about him being all grown up. He is so much fun, but I can't believe how time has flown this last year. We kept things real low key, just had a couple of friends over for cupcakes and social time. Jace wanted NOTHING to do with his cake which is kind of crazy and very unlike him. He just wanted to get down and play with his toys.That little dab of chocolate on his mouth was all he ate and it didn't even really make it in his mouth.

Happy First Birthday Little Man!!!