Gymnastics & Jenna

You all know Rylee loves gymnastics! Well, I decided to put Jenna in a class as well. Today was her first real day and she loves it. Here she is on the bar and jumping over the "moon". They have a different theme each week and this week it is pajama week so they wore their pj's and all their little activities were about nursery rhymes and they even had a bedtime story at the end of class. So cute!

Jenna & Babies

Most of you know how much Jenna loves her dolls, well she loves real babies just as much. Today we were at my friend's brother's who has a 4 month old baby boy and a 2 week old baby boy (both adopted, a long, crazy story) and she loved holding them and then we went to visit our good friends, the Johnsons (Curtis, Kristin, & Cooper) and their new baby girl, Sydney. The picture is of Jenna holding her, which she could not get enough of. (Aren't they both so sweet?!?!) A week or so ago Jenna saw a baby and said "Mom isn't he sooooo cute! We need to get one of those." I just looked at her and then she said, "I have money!" I am not sure why she thought you could buy a baby, but she is ready to go buy herself one.

Jenna's Fun-filled Day!

Today was a very fun and busy day for Jenna and I. First, it's Wednesday and Jenna has her little playgroup in the morning. Then we along with the others in the playgroup and other friends went to see the Elephant Parade. The Circus is in town and they always have a little parade to get everyone excited. They had a marching band, clowns, zebras, prancing horses, Hercules, and of course the elephants! After we all enjoyed the parade and sun (we are having beautiful weather right now), we went to lunch at Carl's Jr and the kids enjoyed playing some more. It was a real fun day and Jenna was definitely tired tonight.

Rylee, The Daredevil

A lot of you know that Rylee's favorite thing to do at recess and any time we are at a playground, is the bars (not monkey bars, but the tricky bars). She was attempting a trick on the bar last year when she broke her wrist. Anyway, she does this new trick called "The Daredevil," which is sort of a flip on off the bar with no hands; whatever it is it scares me everytime I see her do it. Well, today I was at the school volunteering when one of the secretaries, who is also in our ward, was telling me a story. Yesterday when she was doing ground duty they had a sub ground duty there as well. The sub called her over and said, "You have to see this!" Well, what she was so amazed with was Rylee doing "the daredevil" on the high bar. Krista, the secretary from our ward, has seen Ry do it a hundred times and was not surprised. I told her that Ry had come home yesterday with broken glasses (unfixably broken) from doing "the daredevil". Her glasses fell off as she was flipipng and then she landed on them and heard them snap. Luckily she has a second pair. Anyway, I told Krista that I hate watching Ry do the bars and that I am just waiting for the day the school calls to tell me she has broken a bone. We laughed, at least we all know where Rylee gets it from (definitley her mom, haha!). I will try to get a picture of her doing "the daredevil" soon.

My Mom

It has been 11 months since my brother, Brandon, died of cancer. Two years since they first found something on his liver. Last Wednesday my dad called to tell us that my mom had 2 tumors on her liver. What a shock! It was too soon, too close to home after Brandon. They took some blood to determine exactly what kind of cancer or where it started, etc. This last week has been a long one, full of prayers, family, pondering, stressing, worry, love, and many other amazing emotions and experiences. The results from those tests came back today. My mom DOES NOT have cancer. It is blood vessels growing on her liver that will not affect her one way or the other. Prayers are definitley answered! I can't tell you how happy I am and how quickly I thanked my Father in Heaven for this wonderful news. I love you mom and dad! See you in October!

Jenna, the Youngest

I am learning why the youngest child in a family is "spoiled". Jenna is the only one at home with me all day and goes pretty much wherever I go. When you only have 1 child with you and they want something you (or I should say I) think it's only one so it's not too bad and she gets it. Or maybe it's because the others have worn me down. Whatever it is I have been buying her so many little things lately. Most of it is "Dora" stuff, which is her new favorite. Last week it was a Dora "packpack", today it was a Dora book and Dora slippers (which are too big but she "had" to have them and they were only $3). She is so much fun, but a little extra whiny lately. I have to keep reminding myself she is 3 and all my other kids were "terrible" 3 year olds, not terrible 2's. And she does make me smile or laugh more than she frustrates me. Thanks Jenna, I do enjoy our time together, just the 2 of us.

Rylee's New Do!

Rylee got her first perm today. So here are the before and after. She has wanted to get some pink streaks for awhile so she got 3 pink extensionsin as well. I think it looks really good and Ry likes it too.

Riding Bikes

So the boys are 7 and have had their bikes for over 2 years. They finally learned to ride without training wheels a few weeks ago. Today they were "practicing" and Rylee made them a little jump in the field next door.


Cole on the jump!

Noah "making a skid" for me!

Ry on the jump, doing a wheelie!

School Carnival

Lastnight was our school's annual Fall Family Festival and it was a lot of fun! The kids rode ponies, rode on a little train, jumped on the bouncy toys, played games, ate pizza and snow cones, etc.


Cole, Jenna, & Noah with their crazy hair!

The kids on the little train.

Rylee having a pony ride!

Jenna's New Playgroup

Last school year some of my friends and I with kids all the same age had a little playgroup. We each took a Wed. and had all the kids at our house and then had the other weeks to run errands or whatever by ourselves. We are doing it again this year with a couple different kids. This week was at our house and we played games, played Play-Doh, had snacks, and watched part of a movie. They are a cute little group, I am excited for Jenna to play with them each week.

Krista's Birthday!

Yesterday was Labor Day as well as my little sister, Krista's, 26th birthday. We all went over to her new place lastnight for cake and ice cream. Her friend, Kimberly, "made up" all the girls and let them dress up with some of her clothes, jewelry, and shoes. As usual Rylee and Eliza put on a "show" with some help from Jenna and Sophie. (Sophie is the daughter of Lane & Devra, friends of my brother Brandon) The boys just hung out with Uncle Griffin and tried to beat him up. Thanks Krista for letting us celebrate with you. We love you!!!

Family BBQ

Yesterday we went to a BBQ that some of my cousins were having at Taylorsville Park. The food was great, thanks Pearl! And it's always fun to see my cousins since it doesn't seem to happen often enough with the busy lives we all lead.
My cousin Adam and his wife Katie were there and I haven't seen both of them for a long time, they live in Virginia. Adam leaves on Sept.11 for Irag. I am so grateful to him ( and the thousands of other soldiers like him) for serving our country and defending my and my family's freedom. They (and their families)sacrifice so much for each of us. THANKS ADAM!
My Great, Great Aunt Mary was there as well. I haven't seen her for years, which she kept reminding me of. I use to stop by and visit with her at least a coule times a year and it has been years. I promised her I would come see her soon. We were sitting there talking and I realized that she is my kids great, great, great aunt, wow!



Here is my Great, Great Aunt Mary and my cousin Adam

Here is Jenna and my cousins daughter, Manaye. They had so much fun playing together. They are only a month apart.

More Race Track Pictures

Here are some more pictures of our trip to the race track. Here is one of Jenna on the shuttle as we went around the track. The other 2 are of the boys, Noah & Cole, sitting in a Porsche race car. They thought they were so cool!

Mike's 35th Bday!

Yesterday was Mike's Birthday! Instead of buying him the Mustang he wants we went to see some race at the new Miller MotorSports Park out in Tooele. They had a free event where you could come and watch the end of the race and then go on the track to see the cars and meet the drivers. The boys were even more excited than Mike, but we all had a good time. I was excited because I was hoping to meet Patrick Dempsey (aka Dr. McDreamy on Grey's Anatomy). He is a race car driver as well and was there. I got to see his car but he was nowhere to be found. The kids got to sit in one of the race cars, a Porsche, and they thought that was awesome! They also took us on a shuttle ride around the 4.1 mile track. It was an open shuttle and we were going about 30 mph and I was thinking how fun and scary it would be to be in a race car going 200 plus on the track. Wow!