August

August has been sort of nice to just be home and hang out. Here's what we've been up to...

The boys love swimming, but due to the fact that EVERY TIME we swim Jake goes to the bathroom in his swim diaper at least 3 times, I've decided to be done with swimming for the Summer. There's only so much kicking and screaming while trying to change him and everyone staring at us that I can take! So I blew up their little pool in the backyard and created our own waterslides. We had to return our big waterslide thing from last year since when we pulled it out this summer their were big tears in it- bummer.

1,2,3, Go! Too bad they're both landing in the same spot!

We were bored one afternoon so I set up a little treasure hunt for the boys and buried the 'treasure' in the sandbox outside. I think we did it at least 10 times!

Carli had her Senior pictures scheduled, but then my mom had to go to Arizona to help Becky. So Christy and I got her all ready to go and she looked so pretty! The actual pictures turned out really well.

I looked around my house one day after my sister's 6 kids and mine had been playing and I just had to take a picture to capture just how messy my house can get. At least they all had fun!

Fire fighters to the rescue! I've been doing a little scrapbooking camp with some of my nieces and my other niece, Hadley has been helping watch Jake and Nate. She is so good with them and they love all of the attention!

The boys spend a lot of time playing in the backyard. I looked out there one day to find them giving each other piggy back rides!

Jon was so excited to take the boys to an Angel's game. We put on their Angel's shirts and hats and were on our way. Everything was going well until we went to sit down in our seats. As soon as Jake saw the huge crowds and heard the loud noises he was done. He freaked out and started running back down the ramp and out of the stadium! We took turns sitting out with him for about an hour before we decided to just call it quits and go home. I think we can now confirm that Jake doesn't like big crowds or loud noises! Definitely an Autistic tendency, but the doctors still don't think he has Autism. We may never figure this kid out.

Nathan stayed in his seat, but was pretty bored after a few minutes. He pretty much just colored on Jon's i-phone the whole time. Maybe in a few years the boys will have more fun at the ball games with dad!

Last Saturday night my best friend from high school, Heather, and her husband, Brian, were in town so we got a babysitter for Jake and Nate and went out to dinner with them. It was really fun to just sit and talk and eat good food. They are in the process of adopting a baby from Ethiopia and we can't wait until it works out and they get a baby. They will be awesome parents!

I've already discussed my issues with matching the boys, but you may not realize that I also like to have us all coordinate on Sundays! We went with the orange theme last week and I thought the boys looked so handsome in their new vests! Jon's a good sport to always go along with it!

We may never get a perfect picture of the 3 boys together, but ones like these are priceless!

Hard to tell who has the biggest head!

Nevermind that I have to make 16 scrapbooks for our ward's mini youth conference this Saturday or make 10 family home evening packets by next week, reading this book was definitely a priority this last week! I finally finished it last night and I felt that parts of it dragged on a little too long, but overall I really liked it. Kind of sad that the saga is over.

And that's what's been going on here this month. School starts in 2 weeks from today and I am excited, nervous and sad all at the same time. I need to do some school shopping and get Jake ready for Kindergarten and Nathan ready for preschool! Hard to believe my kids are that old!

4 Months Old

It's hard to believe that Max is already 4 months old. I took him to his check-up last week and he weighed in at a hearty 20 lbs.! That's my boy!!! Max is such a good baby. He falls asleep on his own by sucking his thumb and he sleeps through the night. Jake and Nate are pretty rough with him and he hardly ever cries. He smiles at anyone who looks at him and is overall just a happy kid. I really can't remember life without him!

Grandpa John

My Grandpa John passed away last Thursday at the age of 77 after battling Leukemia (CLL) for 12 years. After hearing many times that the doctors thought the end was near, he somehow always seemed to pull through. It's really weird that he is actually gone, but I'm so happy that he is in a better place and is free from all of his pain and suffering.

My grandpa lived up the street from me for most of my growing up years. He was there for every one of my sporting events including the basketball game where I broke the school scoring record. He was the only one there and I remember how proud he was of me. He taught me many things including how to waterski, what to do when I get a side cramp while running, and most importantly how to be strong, hard-working and service oriented. He was such a great man and will be missed. I love you, Grandpa John!

My grandma's whole life was serving my grandpa. She is such an amazing example to all of us of selfless service. Whenever anyone dies I think the hardest part is thinking of the ones they left behind. I hope that my grandma knows that we all love her and that she's welcome down here in California anytime!

My mom, my Aunt Debbi and my dad all spoke at the funeral and did a great job paying tribute to my grandpa. After the funeral the Relief Society provided a luncheon and then we went up to Salt Lake for the burial. My Uncle Brad dedicated the grave and did a great job as well.

My dad, mom and grandma at the cemetery.

All of the grandkids that were there (and a couple great-grandkids!)

Right after this picture was taken Justin leaned down, kissed the casket and said "Goodbye Grandpa John." It was really sweet.

Christy, Holly Rob and I (and the babies) all flew up together on Monday night and then back on Tuesday night after the funeral. It was pretty funny thinking what people must have thought seeing Rob with a pregnant woman and two women with babies! Hopefully we don't look too much like polygamists!!!

Four of the sisters- Becky is still sick and coudn't make it (we missed you) and I'm not sure where Carli was!

Rob was such a great help to us the whole time. He carried all of our bags through the airport and he helped me lug Max's carseat all around since it is so heavy!

It's good to be back home. I'm hoping not to make another trip back to Utah for a long time!

New Camera

We are looking into buying a new camera and we're trying to do a little research to find the perfect camera for us. So...I'd love to know what kind of camera you have and what you like/dislike about it. Any insight you can give us will be greatly appreciated!

The Greatest Show on Earth!

Last Saturday we went with some of our good friends to the Circus at the Honda Center. We met at our house in the morning and had breakfast and then all headed up to the show. Jake was so excited all morning, but as soon as we walked in and the lights went down he totally freaked out and just wanted to leave. So being the good dad that he is, Jon took him outside and let him walk around and see all of the animals in their cages. He loved this and it was much less overwhelming for him. After intermission Jon brought him back in and I stood by the stairwell with him the rest of the time. He slowly made his way closer and closer until he could see the show. He really liked watching the tigers and the elephants. Nathan did well for most of it, but got pretty restless towards the end so we ended up leaving a little early. Overall, it was a fun time, but I think we'll wait until they are a little older until we take them back to the Circus!

Nathan and Trent eating popcorn.

Look at all of those toys! Too bad we aren't nice enough to buy them anything- I just can't stand buying something that I know I can get for a third the price at the actual store!

Jake left a happy boy!

Family Vacation...take five

Saturday morning was the family reunion breakfast and activities. They had a bunch of games set up for the kids while the adults had a family meeting and auction. Jake and Nathan thought the games were fun, but enjoyed just running around even more!

My dad bought this ridiculous moose head at the auction for $60! He hung it up in the cabin and realized that this might have been a big mistake- it's so huge!

A close-up of Bob and George(what the moose is affectionately known as)!

After the reunion we began our trek home. We stopped in Kaysville to visit Jon's Grandpa Ernie. It was fun to see him and to get to sit and talk for a little bit. He was so nice to have food for lunch and popsicles that the kids were pretty excited about. We got to hear some war stories about when he fought in WWII and also stories about how he met and fell in love with Jon's grandma. He is a great man and we can't wait to visit him again!

We then drove to Delta where we spent the night. Jon's mom gave Jake some fun birthday gifts all of which included animals and/or ABCs- his two favorite things!

All week the flu spread throughout almost everyone at the cabin, but somehow our family escaped it. Sunday morning I woke up and realized that maybe we weren't as lucky as we thought. I was feeling pretty nauseous and Jon wasn't feeling too great either. We had to get home so we decided to just get in the car and go. It turned into a nightmare trip. I was pretty much hunched over and throwing up while trying to keep the kids happy the whole time. We ran into a lot of traffic and then just outside of Barstow they shut the entire I-15 down due to a major accident. So we sat there in the 110 degree heat for an hour and a half while they sent in 3 life flight helicopters. It was so miserable, but eventually we made it home and Jon and I were feeling a lot better by the next morning. Our kids never got sick- we think it's because of all of the dirt they intake- it's building up their immune system!

We're not sure why Nathan put the letter 'N' on his head- I think he was pretty bored!

Everyone on the freeway was out of their cars and hanging out- not my idea of a good time.

Alright- I think that's it! It's been hard to get back to normal, but I think we are about there. Until our next vacation...

Family Vacation...take four

Thursday was spent just hanging around the cabin and 4-wheeling. One of our second cousins is a photographer so later that day we had family pictures taken. I haven't seen the ones she took yet, but my dad snapped this one with my camera and I think it turned out pretty well.

Christy cut Jon, Jake and Nate's hair earlier that day so they would look good for the pictures! It was nice of her to do it even while on vacation.

Friday morning Christy and I went golfing with my dad. I actually started out playing pretty well and then it all went downhill from there. Oh well, I don't play enough to care about how bad I am! After golf we floated down a different part of the river this time. It was fun, but there were a lot of shallow parts so Jon had to keep getting out of the raft and push us off of the sand bars.

The boys kept throwing their goldfish crackers into the lake and then would wait for a bird to scoop down and eat it. This kept them entertained for quite a while!

Forgetting to put sunscreen on + wearing big sunglasses = a beautiful set of raccoon eyes!

Friday night we barbecued so Jon and Nathan grilled up some delicious hamburgers and hotdogs.

All of the cousins played really well together all week. Nathan's quite the lady's man with the girl cousins!

Friday was also Carli and Cortney's birthdays. Anyone that knows Carli knows how much she LOVES her birthday! All she wanted to do was play tennis and have a karaoke dance party. We did both and I think she had a great day!

For anyone that is actually reading these posts, I promise there will only be one more! Stay tuned...