It's been TWO months!

For family and friends out there that actually pay attention to this blog, I apologize for the lapse. You'd think with four girls, I'd find more time to do this! So here is my best attempt at catching up:
June
Happy Birthday Janessa! We were on vacation in Utah for two weeks, but we celebrated at her favorite restaurant so she was happy! Yay! She's five!

We vacationed half of June. Our vacation started in Sedona...beautiful and comparable to Moab. We camped, and fished and of course roasted marshmallows!

Next it was off to some cousins in Utah where the girls tortured their 12 kittens and 6 cats and played outside all day long! The most exciting thing however, was Hannah learned how to ride a bike without training wheels! I think she was overdue because BJ held her up for one run and she was off just as if she'd been doing it all along.


Then it was off to SLC where I played with friends and saw my Grandma, Aunt, cute cousin, and sister-in-law and her adorable kids.




We headed back down to our cousins to end our trip with more camping. It rained almost the entire time, but we had a mean game of keep away in a meadow filled with cow pie mines, Settlers tournaments, naps, kids coloring, lots of delicious food, fireside marshmallow roasts, beautiful stars, plenty of mud for the ATV, and best of all, GREAT company! We love you Travis and Jen! Can we come crash the party again soon???


We headed back home, back to reality, but not for too long, because Nana and Papa came to visit! We took them to Sedona where we rode on a natural water slide; Addie loved it the most! Papa was her buffer...


And we swam and played. Papa helped Hannah take out her second tooth with the old floss and door trick. She got the floss on her tooth, but refused to let him slam the door. Not to worry, however, she decided she didn't want floss hanging from her mouth forever and she and BJ wiggled it out.



And this, well, how could I not put this on?


Coming soon....The month of July!

Just For Fun

Happy 7 months today, Brynlee!

Does anyone know how to slow time down? My kids are growing up so quickly all I can do is hang on, enjoy the ride, and try to savor it all as much as possible.




This is how Hannah did her homework one day last week. Apparently she was in too much of a hurry to get some paper out!

Had to get a photo of this Shirley Temple curl. Addie's hair is really beginning to curl like crazy and is so adorable!

Get the camera out for one, have to take pictures of them all! Especially Janessa! She's notorious for sticking her body into any part of the picture she can get into! A little diva!

Lions, Tigers and BOBCATS!

We back up to the desert and have really enjoyed watching all of the adorable wildlife...baby bunnies, mommy and daddy quail with their tiny babies trailing after them, and of course the doves and songbirds. We heard from our neighbors there are bobcats and mountain lions in the hills behind us, but they have been here 8 years and never seen any real close. So last week, the bobcat showed himself to our neighborhood and used our backyard (the girls saw him, I did not) as a way to the neighbor's roof. It was dusk and we couldn't see him all that well but admired our view of his sillohuette from afar. We figured we'd never see one again. A couple of days ago we were all inside reading with Hannah and I looked up and saw a BOBCAT looking in our big sliding glass door at us! He just stared at us! My stomach did a few flips and we all froze. I thought maybe he was looking for Brynlee. She loves to sit in front of that window and look at the birds and bunnies while she plays with her toys. What a great snack she would be for him! Ew! He sauntered over to our fence and jumped on it. We all scrambeld to find BJ and the camera. And this is what he got:

Tell me that doesn't give you a chill down your spine! BJ went out front with the video camera and tried to get some shots but luckily this bobcat still fears people and he ran off. They are amazing animals, but man am I glad we were INSIDE when we saw him!

BJ's Beauty Salon

BJ has been cutting his own hair for around 6 years now and has tried his hand at the girls' hair, an occurence I nixed because I would just have to go to a salon to get it straightened out anyway. Why not get it right the first time, right? When Hannah asked last week for the 15th time to get her hair cut short I said we'd go the next available Saturday. Don't ask why, but when BJ said he could do it, I let him at it. And dang it all if he didn't do a really good job too! Now I am eating crow and you all are my witnesses so be prepared to back me up! Here's the pictures:

Before


The first cut

After (Hannah LOVES her hair and that her Daddy cut it)

Back view just to prove it was really ok that BJ cut it!

There you have it. Thank you for helping me out!

We're Here!

So the reason I haven't posted anything since February is because we've been busy moving, but now that we're finally in Arizona, we have some fun things to share. It has been a time for starting fresh and we've enjoyed many "firsts". The night after we moved in Hannah lost her first tooth! It was so loose and I tried to pull it out, but she kept panicking so I told her to wiggle it around some more and as she did it popped right out! She has been waiting for this since Kindergarten when her friend lost her first tooth. So we had to get a picture and share with you all...she made me promise!

Another exciting "first" is that Brynlee started sitting up on her own. She also started sucking her finger, which is so adorable. None of her sisters did that...it is so endearing and she is SO happy! I'll go in her room and find her sucking that finger, staring at the ceiling, content as can be. She may wish she hadn't found her finger!

After the first few days of settling in to our new home, all of us were ready to get out into the warmth and sunshine that is Arizona and do some exploring. We found a family favorite, a dirt trail into the wild desert that we see from our backyard. We see lizards, coyotes and lots of cactus in many varieties. The desert is actually a very beautiful place and it blooms! Many of the cactus actually get flowers on them in the early spring. Who knew ( probably everyone, but it was new to us)!

The landscape on our new favorite hiking trail standing by some very tall, very old Saguaro cacti. It takes one year for them to grow one inch! The girls are fascinated with all of the types of cacti, although they are most in awe of the "jumping" cholla as we've heard them called. When touched their needles actually stick to your skin. OUCH! We've been talking to the kids about not touching the cactus becasue of their pokey needles and as we were driving, Addie saw a Saguaro up close and said, "Momma, you can't touch that. It has noodles on it. It will poke you." Now all the girls call the needles "Noodles"! We don't have a picture of it, but Janessa and I have started reading time every day, so she could be reading in 3-4 months on her own. She is so eager to learn and be able to read. She begs for the next lesson before we've even finished the one we're working on!

We stay busy, learn something new everyday, and look forward to many more adventures and "firsts" here.

Cousin Time

Shawn and Cami won a cruise through Shawn's work and I was lucky enough to be able to help them out for a couple days and watch their adorable kids, Annie, 3, and Ethan 15 months. It was quite the sight too! I had under my roof 6 kids all 6 years and under! It was only crazy at bath and bedtime. The rest of the time we had a blast. The girls would all run off and play in their imaginary wonderland and Ethan ("E") and I would talk trucks and balls and play hide and seek. I would highly recommend watching nieces and nephews to anyone. It gives you quite an insight into their unique and wonderful personalities and now when I see them, they don't run and hide!

"E" with his "ruck" and "Socca boll"

All the kids had to take turns holding Brynlee

Brynlee with Cousin Annie...what an adorable, sweet Miss Independece

What a face!

At four months, you'd think she'd be used to my goofy face by now! She's probably thinking, "Wow, I think I'd better smile so my weirdo mom will leave me alone!" In all seriousness, she does this face everytime she sees something interesting (aka weird/strange). She's so stinking cute! She must get it from BJ's side of the family! No offense, Nana and Papa!