AUGUST

Grandma came and to welcome her in with a bang, the girls did her hair. Let's just say Grandma is a pillar of patience and good humor!


As a surprise to me, BJ took me took Lake Havasu for our 9th anniversary. Apparently he had been scheming with his mom for weeks. It was so nice just to be us for a couple days (thanks Grandma). We had fun drenching each other with jet skis and other water craft trickery, eating late, and sleeping in. It was WONDERFUL!

"Wax on, wax off!"


Was on...now off! BJ got thrown after trying to stand on his jet ski while moving. I was laughing so hard I almost fell off my ski! But the best part was that I throttled him with a large wave of water after he reached his ski and knocked him off again! I know, I totally rock!

What a blast! Thanks babe! I am so lucky to be married to my best friend.
Here's to the next 9...

Addie turns THREE! She was adamant that she get to blow out the candle AND make a wish! After she blew out the candle, I asked her what she wished for and she said, "That I'm three!" How about that, she got her wish!

The first day of school! On the 17th, I handed over two of my kids to the school system and they both loved it!

My adorable second grader

Sweet Kindergartner

Hannah was a bit anxious but after school said, "I LOVE second grade! It is so FUN!" Janessa was so excited to go and didn't even notice I had left or hear my heartstrings tearing...a full day of kindergarten...these people are insane! But even though she came home tired, she loved it too and asked, "Can I go back tomorrow?"

Just in case you're wondering how Addie and Brynlee felt about it, these two pictures pretty much sum it up:

JULY

July was such a fun month; It didn't last long enough. After Nana and Papa left, my dear friend Jennie from Colorado and her three daughters were here for 5 weeks! She's one of the few insane people who actually come here in the summer! Even natives flee the heat! But we were glad they came...what could be better than 7 girls 7 and under?

Before the Fourth of July festivities in town BJ made a box fort for our 7 girls. It was a hit!

We played at the park and ate a picnic dinner and waited for the firework show. Addie would only attempt the slides with "Miss Jennie's" help.

Maddie and Janessa Hannah and Morgan

Brynlee slept through the fireworks!

BJ and Janessa watching the fireworks. BJ doesn't know how to pose for pictures. Maybe the best way is public humiliation!

All the girls have birthdays in the summer and since we wouldn't be together, we decided to have a mass party at the Rainforest Cafe. It was so much fun and we enjoyed our time together. And Addie showed off her newest trick: Drinking out of two cups at once!

The rest of July was spent in the water! There's no other place to be in July. My girls can all swim on their own now. Even Brynlee holds her breath and kicks when under water. Pretty amazing since all but Hannah started off the summer wearing life jackets and a fear of the "deep end." Addie has improved the most and now fearless in the water, swims its width with no problem. Here's my favorite water fun pics:

Thanks for the fun everyone! You helped us have a great summer!

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!