4th of July

I love the 4th of July. Patriotism, fireworks, and good food...what's not to love?
This year we had a bbq at our house and then went to the park to watch some fireworks. Dave smoked some brisket in our smoker and it was fabulous. He woke up at 5 am to start smoking it, and it was well worth his sacrifice (easy for me to say...I was sound asleep!). He smoked about 10 pounds and the 8 adults ate all but about 5 bites of it (the kids had hot dogs). It was a fun night!

My 4th of July kids.  I laid out a blue shirt for Joshua to wear, but he has a mind of his own when it comes to his fashion, and he wanted to wear this shirt that day.

Flashback:
Here is Joshua wearing the same outfit when he was 4 months old.
7.4.2008. Dave was in Tonga for 10 days doing dental work.

Fireworks

Julia, Leah, Audrey, Claire, Zeb and Hallie

Jon, Ian, Shaunna & Liddia

Brian, Ali and the twin train (Brody and Mason, maybe not in that order)

Seeing the first fireworks

Soooo excited! 

Austin started out sleeping...

but woke up to enjoy the show. He just laid there and watched.

Happy 4th!

Five Months

I love this age. It's my favorite. Although this little mister went through a few weeks of not sleeping well, and waking up about 10 times a night (just for his binki). Glad that's over so we can get back to really enjoying this age. I love how his little personality is shining through, his big smiles and laughs, and what a happy baby he is. I really appreciate now what a good boy he is, because he sure was naughty for about two weeks and I wanted to pull my hair out.

It's amazing how much happier everyone is when they get some sleep (including mom!)

Doing the arch the back thing

He looooves to eat.  Even his hands.

I love when they start grabbing their toesies.

At five months, Austie Boy:
*weights 19.1 (Audrey and Joshua have terrible allergies so I took them into the Dr and they weighed Austin for me)
*is sleeping about 10 hours at night
*drools
*grabs his toes, which I LOVE
*coos, laughs and smiles
*is starting to grab for things
We love this sweet boy

Last School Break

Dave had his last week off of school the last week of June. While I will miss his week break in the summer and two week break at Christmas, I am sooooooo ready for him to be done with school and for him to be able to make his own schedule and be home at a reasonable time at night.
We had a little "staycation" for his break. We stayed home and just, as cheesy as this sounds, reconnected. I remembered why I love him so much, and the kids loved having their dad around all day. We swam, we got ice cream, we ate out every day (my kind of vacation-no cooking!), we took naps, we went shopping, went to the temple, and we had a little campout (in our family room). We washed our hands in our sink after we had smores, watched a movie, read books with a flashlight, and slept very nicely in our warm beds (the kids slept in the tent). Hooray for almost being done with school!

Happy Pioneer Day

Oh, memories. Addi and I took these pictures four years ago on Pioneer Day. It's crazy how much has changed since then.
Happy Pioneer Day. Our attempt of making a pioneer wagon in Addi's "backyard".
7.24.2007

Texas Party

Some of our friends were moving away from Texas so we went to a Texas themed goodbye party for them. I love these little fake Texan kids.

 

 

Joshua's cowboy hat somehow become more of a  bucket hat.

 

Trying to get Joshua to hold still for a picture was almost impossible.

 

School Pictures

Kindergarten picture. I forgot it was picture day the first time they had it...let's just say I was grateful for retake day.
March 9, 2011 (Joshua's birthday)

It's My Party

Happy Birthday to me! The big 3-1. I love my birthday. On Sunday night we had our friends over and had my favorite treats (jello cakes, rice krispy treats, peanut butter bars-thank you Megan!-limeade, ice cream and mochi balls).
I love Austin's face in this picture.

I love mochi balls (Japanese rice cakes.  They sell them at frozen yogurt places to put on your yogurt, and have since started selling the packages...I am probably their most loyal customer). Some of my friends don't like them (weirdos) and they dared me to eat a huge mouthful.  And I am not one to turn down a dare, especially when I love the food.

They started talking about some sort of disgusting story, and I almost lost it.

But I did it.  And I would do it again!

Dave has one week off of school in the summer and was able to take the week of my birthday off.  So we celebrated all week long! On my actual birthday we went to the gym, went and got ice cream, went swimming, naps, and then dinner at Texas Roadhouse.  That night Dave and I watched Ashley on The Bachelorette and I ate another entire package of mochi balls (thanks Mandy).  It was a great birthday!

Father's Day 2011

I feel so blessed that my little ones have such a great Dad.
Monte Cristo's for dinner, Dave's favorite.

Audrey's paper from church. She did it all by herself. I love everything about it.

It's Getting Hot In Here

It is hot. We have had 22 consecutive days of 100 degree weather. If we make it to 25 consecutive days of 100 degree heat (which is a good bet) we will tie the third longest stretch on record in 1952. Joshua kept getting into his winter clothes and coming out in outfits like this:

We finally just had to pack up all his winter clothes.  I love his little white thighs.

Little Helpers

Austin's first bottle of formula. He loved it. Downed it. Look at this boy, is that surprising? He ate 8 oz, right after I finished nursing him. Audrey and Joshua loved helping, and I love them for being such good helpers.
6.26.11

Whenever Joshua asks to hold Austin, I say, "Get your hands ready". I love how he puts his little hands like this.

Sweet brothers

SCUBA Diving 2015, 2018, 2021

One Sunday morning while getting ready for church, Dave started talking to the kids about sharks. Dave told the kids that one time him and I went on a shark dive and saw sharks while SCUBA diving. All we heard for the rest of the day was questions about SCUBA diving...how does it work? How old do you have to be? Can we do it? After some research, we found out 10 is the age requirement. Audrey was so excited to plan our SCUBA trips, for when she turned 10, Joshua turned 10, and Austin turned 10. Apparently we are going to Mexico when each of our kids turns 10 to take them diving. Dave and I are both certified so that sounds great to me! Audrey was so excited planning our trips. We will go with Memor, Fafa, D and Grande and the younger boys will stay with their grandparents at the hotel while Dave and I take Audrey diving, and then just Austin when Joshua gets old enough. Once all our kids are all enough we will go on a SCUBA trip, one of those boat trips where you just dive all day and then stay on the boat (and someone cooks for you). That was my idea. Ha! Can't wait for the summers of 2015, 2018, and 2021!

Planning the trip. 6.26.11

"Me go stupa dwiving too!"