Surprise!

One week in October I was having a hard time. I was just depressed and tired of doing mommy things every day. I knew my whole family was getting together that weekend in Idaho to celebrate Tyler's birthday, my dad's birthday and Eric was bringing home a girl. Blake's parents were also there that week. Wednesday night I talked to my brothers and both of then tried to convince me to drive 14 hours to Idaho for the weekend. I thought they were crazy. I was so sad that night and cried myself to sleep. The next morning I woke up at 6:45 and decided maybe I should go back for the weekend. I decided if I could get all packed before my visiting teachers came at 10:00am, I would go. I had everything but snacks ready by 9:45, and was just waiting on Blake's ok for me to go. He called at 10:30 and said I was crazy, but he was ok with it if I wanted to. So he came home to say bye to us and we were on the road by 1.

I drove until about 11:00pm that night to Rawlins, WY. The kids got up at 5:45am(6:45 our time). We showered, ate and were on the road by 8:00am. No one in my family knew I was coming! I called Tyler(my brother) because I knew he was taking the shuttle to Idaho that day and thought if he just rode to Ogden I could go that way and just pick him up there, but I still wanted it to be a surprise. He couldn't get to Ogden until later, so that didn't work out, so I just went straight up to Idaho. We stopped in Pocatello first to visit Kaydi and Garrett. Then drove to Idaho Falls and spent some time at Grandma Great's with Grandma and Grandpa Jones(Blake's parents). Then we went to my parent's house. My mom's reaction was great! She had absolutely no idea. Then when Remi went downstairs I could hear Cindy screaming then she ran up and gave us all big hugs! We got to surprise Tyler too. Then we went to Cindy's volleyball games that night. It was so fun to see her play varsity volleyball. She has come a long ways since I first started playing with her when she was like 6. She is awesome. After the game I went to Kristi's house(it was like 10). She was shocked to see me in her entryway. I think her and her husband both thought the other one knew I was coming.

Kristi told me Friday morning they were going to be making Plum freezer Jam. I had called Julie a couple weeks before to get a recipe and she said they were getting ready to can peaches if I wanted to come. I told her I would be right over. So Friday morning I called her "to get a recipe" and she said they were getting ready to make jam. I told her she needed to give me warning on these things so I could come. Then I walked into her house like 10 minutes later. Her reaction was the best. She screamed and screamed, it was loud! We had fun making jam together. She even kept me being there a secret from Eric. So I got to surprise him that night at Kristi's house when him and Joanna got there.

Friday afternoon we met up with Blake's mom and our nephews at Ethel Boys to play on the playground. The kids were having so much fun together. Then Remi fell and got hurt. Usually she doesn't stay hurt for long if there is something fun to do, but she said she was ready to go. So we went to Kristi's house to get ready for dinner and Eric to come. She babied her arm a little that night and just seemed really tired. We had a fun night doing a piano recital for all the kids who are taking lessons, and some who just wanted to play for fun. Then Cindy played for us, then Joanna. She was very talented. She played the piano and sang. The kids were even amazed by her. Especially Alissa. She has always loved singing and when Joanna was singing Alissa just stood next to her and stared. It was so cute. That night Remi woke up a couple times saying her arm hurt.

Saturday morning we went to see Katelyn play in a soccer game and Remi went home with them. I asked Julie to keep an eye on her and see if she still babied her arm. That afternoon when I got there she was still being really careful so I took her in after dinner and they said she had a broken wrist and put a splint on it:( Poor girl. When we got back to Kristi's house that night Blake's parents came by to say bye to us and they brought Remi a "nurse" hat(a witch hat) and some medicine(skittles). Her splint was purple and she was very proud of it. I don't think it hurt her after that, she was just proud of her splint. Sunday we went to church and ate at my parents then left on our long trip home. We stayed the night in Rawlins again then got home Monday around 6pm. It was a crazy trip, but really fun! The kids were surprisingly amazing in the car. They even memorized the 2nd article of faith so they could get their favorite blue and red slushies!

The one thing I forgot this trip was my camera! So all I have is my memories, no pictures.

Broden is 4!

 Dinosaur cake and cupcakes with "rocks"(candy rocks) and "dinosaur eggs" Malted milk balls. They were actually scared to eat the "rocks".

Broden wanted a dinosaur birthday party this year and he wanted it to be all boys! This would be our first friend only birthday party. We have always just had family parties. So we invited some boys from church and a boy whose dad Blake works with. Broden informed me that I could come because I had a baby boy in my tummy:)

First they each got to color and put dinosaur stickers on their treat bag. Then they each had a dinosaur at their place at the table and they had to go find the matching one in the living room. Then we played pin the horn on the dinosaur. I used window markers to draw a dinosaur on our window and they tried to tape the horn in the right spot while blindfolded. It was so funny. They had absolutely no idea which way to go after we spun them around. It was so funny to watch. Then they opened presents and had cake and ice cream. It was a crazy hour and a half with 8 boys, but Broden loved it!

Broden is still our sweet, laid back little boy. As long as you don't make him mad. He is very easygoing and loves to spend time with his family. His latest favorite thing to say to me is you're the best mom ever. Or to Blake, you're the best dad ever. It is so cute. He still has a hard time saying some words. Usually it is if the word has 2 consonants at the beginning. Like truck, tree, drink, train, trip, brush, words like that. He was so excited to have a baby brother and to share a room with him. When we came home from the hospital he wanted to show him their room and wondered why he didn't get to sleep in there with him. So when Blake's mom left I did start putting Parker in there, more for Broden's sake and it has worked out fine. Actually I like it better because I can't hear Parker's every move and I sleep so much better. Broden is such a good big brother to both Parker and Alissa and him and Remi continue to be best buds here at home.

Kansas City

 Children's play area at the independence visitor center.

 Outside Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead.

 This restaurant was so much fun. You sit in your booth and pick up the phone and order your food. Then  train that goes around the top of the restaurant carries your food to you and drops it onto a tray that then lowers down to your table with your food on it. The kids thought it was great, so did me and Blake.(unfortunately Broden slept through most of it.)

 Broden and Blake at the game! We went to watch Billy Butler. He played for the minor league team in Idaho the first summer we were married. He ended up marrying a girl from Blake's home ward in Idaho, so we like to pretend we "know" him:) It was fun going to see him play in the major leagues.

 The fountain was died green for the Irish Festival they were having this weekend.

 All of us at the game.

 At the Independence visitor center.

 In front of Liberty Jail.

 

Alissa with her new friend!

Over Labor Day weekend we took a trip to Kansas City to see some sights and visit some of our friends who moved there from Cleveland. It was a fun packed few days. We went to a farm place that had so much to do. It had a petting zoo, places to feed goats and other animals, a cow milking demo, horses, cows, fish feeding, a few playgrounds, a place to "pan for gold" and lots of educational stuff. We also went to a baseball game, ate a really fun restaurant, and went to see some church sites.

One thing I didn't take pictures of, that I wish I had was our hotel. We stayed with our friends the first night and wanted to stay in a hotel the second night so the kids could swim. We get cheap hotels through Blake's brother and have had really good luck with that. We looked online and picked a hotel that looked really nice. It was next to a lake with a walking path, had and indoor/outdoor pool, continental breakfast, and looked really nice in the pictures. When we pulled up it was SO rundown. It was dark so we couldn't see much, but the parking lot was almost empty, and there weren't any lights outside. I thought maybe it was better inside. Blake went inside to check in, making sure I locked the doors when he got out. He came out and said it wasn't much better inside. So we went up to our room and everyone got their swimming suits on. We headed down to the pool and it was so run down. The ceiling and "garage door" that was over the pool separating it from outside was all rusty. The pool was FREEZING. We didn't even get in because it was so cold. So we headed back to our room. In the morning we went down to the breakfast. It was in a huge room that used to be a really nice restaurant, but now they just use it for the breakfast. I couldn't believe how run down everything was. When we looked out our hotel room window we overlooked a courtyard and there was a watermelon someone had thrown from someplace up high, because it was everywhere. From the edge of the pool all the way across the grass to the sidewalks. We could also see the lake and could almost see the sidewalk through all the grass that was covering it. Needless to say we didn't stay another night. We opted to stay with our friends.

Saturday and Sunday we went to Liberty Jail and Independence. We love going to the church history sites and our kids are almost old enough to listen (Remi and Broden at least). Then before leaving we had some yummy Cafe' Rio burritos at our friends' cousins' house:) It was delicious and a great way to end a fun weekend! Thanks Jana and Avery.

Vala's

 I think we played in this corn for almost an hour. The kids thought it was fun to fill my hood with corn, then put it on my head.

At the beginning of October we went to a fun place called Vala's Pumpkin Patch. It was so much more than that! They had acres and acres of pumpkins, you could ride a hay ride out to pick your own pumpkin. They also had a petting zoo, haunted houses, food, train ride, pumpkin launcher, tractor trike rides, the blow up pillow things you jump on, a huge sand box with corn instead, entertainment and so much more. It was a blast.

We didn't get pictures of it, but on the pedal tractors you could have 2 adults in the back then 2 kids on the front and race around a track, kind of like bumper cars. We did this a couple times with the family we went with. It was a blast and a good work out too. Especially being 8 months pregnant and trying to pedal a huge tricycle.

Garage Sale

This table has a story!

So I had been wanting to do a garage sale for a long time. We just had lots of stuff accumulating that was worth something, but we didn't need. So our neighborhood was having a neighborhood garage sale and I decided 2 days before that I would do it. So I spent 2 full days getting things ready, clothes, random decorations, microwave and other random odds and ends. Garage sale day came and it was FREEZING cold. I had to get out all my kids new winter clothes so they could be outside with me. Well we only sold a few thing and made $40. But I had listed some things on craig's list. This table was one of the things I had listed. We bought this table when we first got married. It was old brown with the gold brass things on the legs and had 4 padded chairs with wheels on them. The table had water damage and was a little scratched. After making a couple moves with us it was scratched all over and had more water damage and we no longer had the chairs. So I thought I would try sanding it and painting it black. So I sanded, painted and then sanded the edges. Then I did a finish over all of it. This is the after picture! What we bought for $20 6 years ago I sold on Craigs list for $70. I was so excited. I had fun doing it too! We also sold all of our other garage sale items and made $300. It was much more worthwile to do craigs list than a garage sale.

Alissa turned 2!

We celebrated Alissa's birthday on September 15th. Her age is finally catching up with her actions. She has been acting "2" since May. Her first love in life is CANDY! Hence the cake. It has skittles around the edges and star burst rolled out and cut into letter. Anyone who has been around her very much knows she loves candy. She will get it at the store, dig through people's purses and bags for it and scour every inch of our house until she finds it! When I was shopping for a few things for Broden's birthday party I had Broden and Alissa in the party store and when I was checking out Alissa was standing over by one of the stands with her back to me. I thought she was looking at something, so I left her. She was standing still! After I checked out I walked over to her and realized she was hiding the peanut m&m's  she was eating. The little stinker! At our house she will take the kitchen stools all over the house and climb onto dressers to get the candy on the shelf in the closet. We now have all the candy behind a child locked door in the laundry room. She also thinks if she gets candy for everyone we are less likely to say no. She when she finds candy she immediately get a handful and starts saying, Broden, Remi, Daddy. Then she takes some to everyone in the house. She is right, I melt a little when she is so willing to share.

We love our little girl. She has the cutest personality! For her birthday she got this little purse and she carries it everywhere. She puts everything in it. The other day she cleaned out my purse and put everything into her purse. I opened her purse and she had replaced her phone with my phone and had 3 lip glosses and a chapstick in there. She is starting to talk so much. She loves to say I love you. She can say Grandpa, which means, Grandpa and Grandma. When we were in Idaho for Christmas it was so funny. My brother walked into the house and she yelled GRANDPA!!! and ran over and gave him a big hug. She continues to call him Grandpa. She calls her friend Caden, her cousin Kyler and her uncles Tyler all Kylee. Don't know where that came from, but it is pretty cute. Alissa has always stayed up later than Remi and Broden. It used to be because she took late naps and just wasn't tired yet, but now it is because her and Remi share a room and if they go to bed at the same time they just play. So Remi goes to bed first and Alissa spends time with mom and dad which she loves. She is so cute for this hour every night. I'll have to post a video sometime. She gives hugs and talks to us. She makes the cutest faces and tilts her head while she is talking. So fun. We love our little girl so much!

summer nights

 There is an island in the middle of this lake that has a bridge out to it. I love going fishing here with the kids. Benches, grass, caterpillars, and anything you could need for an evening fishing trip.

 Same island. Passing the time while dad keeps fishing.

 Remi caught a fish.

 Broden caught a fish!

 Alissa enjoys moving her chair, sitting in it, then moving it again and sitting in it, over and over again.

Blake caught one! I don't know what it is, maybe large mouth bass?

 Remi learned to put her own worm on the line. This is nice for dad, he can fish instead of getting all their lines ready all the time, and nice for me, I don't have to do it either.

Alissa likes "trying" to catch fish too. I think she maybe did reel one in. It didn't hold her interest for as long as her chair though.

We have enjoyed going fishing at a couple of the lakes near our house and had so much fun. The kids love catching fish and exploring new places! On time when we went there were caterpillars EVERYWHERE. You would look at the grass and it looked like it was moving. The kids thought it was awesome. They probably caught 20 caterpillars and kept them in the worm container. When we got home we convinced them to build a house for the caterpillars outside. So they let them go out there and we had caterpillars everywhere for a while. On our screen door, the side of the house, the windows, the porch, our trees, our shed, all over the place. The kids thought it was great and I loved that they were entertained by them for hours. I don't know if it had anything to do with the same caterpillars, but we had one bush in our back yard that gets so many butterflies on it. We counted 18 on there one day. There are tons of butterflies here. I made the kids bug nets and they caught lots of butterflies in them. Now they try to catch all the squirrels in our back yard. They certainly love animals, especially catching them.