T-ball and Soccer Fun!

Just thought I would post some T-ball pictures! We are in our 3rd week of T-ball this week. It has been a lot of fun. With all the rain we have only had one game rain out, pretty amazing! I love watching them play. And, I love talking to the other moms as they play. Sometimes it is a toss up of which part is more fun! Just kidding...but I do enjoy the watching and the talking very much!




All 3 above are of Easton, not great because I was a little too far away



I don't know what she was doing here!! That's my silly Paisley!



It has been especially fun to watch Easton's team this year. This is most of the players' 3rd year of T-ball and they are really starting to understand the rules of the game. Outs actually count as outs in this age group. It makes it much more of a defensive game than Paisley's which is almost exclusively an offensive game. But, it is very fun as a mom to watch your children improve. As I have said before, I am enjoying very much being a mom in the stands and am looking forward to many more years of it!


As I was uploading pictures for this post, I realized I haven't posted about Easton's last soccer game. He had a great season and really learned a lot this year. He had a really great coach which helped. I didn't take my camera to every game, so here are a few shots from his last game when I did take my camera...





Easton reading to Avery when it was his turn to sit out.

Yellowstone Park...

Dave and I decided to take the kids to Yellowstone Park this last weekend. We took them about 2 1/2 years ago when I was pregnant with Avery and they still talk about it. Well, at least Easton does. Paisley was still kind of young and doesn't remember much. I was pretty excited, but a little worried about the long day in the car with the 3 kids!

We left about 9:20 a.m. and got to West Yellowstone right about 11:00. Not too bad. The kids all did well on the ride down. We have two portable DVD players, so Easton watched his movies and the girls watched theirs. They were all quiet and happy!

We decided to do the whole loop around the perimeter of the park. We knew it would be a long day, but we wanted to see Old Faithful which was in the south and Mammoth which was clear up north. So, we headed out...

We saw a bald eagle up in her nest. That was really neat. Soon after that we saw several buffalo, which we ended up seeing a ton of all through the park.


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Those are amazing animals! They are like tanks! Dave and I were talking about how bad it would be to hit one with your car! Anyway, then we stopped at some of the "stink pots".






They were stinky as always, but really neat to look at. The kids enjoyed them.

Then on to Old Faithful. We weren't sure when Old Faithful would be erupting next. We had packed a picnic lunch and were all pretty hungry at that point. So, we decided to eat our lunch down on the benches right by Old Faithful. It was a little chaotic fixing all of our sandwiches with only a bench and no table, but we managed.






We ended up watching Old Faithful erupt right as we were finishing up lunch. It worked out perfect, killed two birds with one stone! :)

We got back on the road again and drove for quite a while. We came to the Fishing Bridge and decided to get out and walk across the walk way on the bridge to let the kids stretch their legs.


I love this picture! This is my beautiful family walking towards the Fishing Bridge!

It worried us having Avery walk close to the railing with the big swift river flowing underneath. On the other side of the walk way was a bench you could sit on to look at the river. There would be bench and then a pillar and more bench. So, I had Avery walk along the bench and then when we got to a pillar, I would swing her out and around and back to the bench. She thought this was great fun! So, one of the times I swung her pretty quickly and I heard "plop". I looked down, and there was her shoe in the river!! We were high up, and there was no possible way to get it out.



I was SO sad! I loved her little shoes. They were my favorites! We hadn't had them long and she had hardly wore them!! So, the rest of the day we had to carry her or put her in the stroller because of her bare foot!! She kept asking, "Shoes, shoes?" and I would say "They went bye-bye in the water" and she would sadly say "oh." It was funny!

Then for the best part of the trip. We got into "bear country!" We got to see 5 bears in all! First a black bear, then a grizzly bear, then a baby black bear (didn't see the mother), and finally a mother and baby black bear. The first 3 bears that we saw were pretty close up. Not so close that we were in danger, but close enough to see clearly. It was the greatest thing! The kids were so excited! I had never seen a bear in the wild, and I didn't expect to see one that day. But, to see 5! We felt very lucky.

We also saw many elk, a deer, and a few antelope. We had a very good day for seeing animals! Unfortunately our camera battery died right after we lost Avery's shoe so we didn't get any pictures of the bears except on our cell phones. I will try to upload them somehow!

We finally got back to the town of West Yellowstone about 7:30 p.m. We stopped and had some dinner and then made it home about 10:30. It was such a fun day as a family! We were all EXHAUSTED, but happy! I am so glad that we took this trip!

The Beautiful Outdoors!

I have a new calling in the ward. I was in the Relief Society Presidency for about 9 1/2 months. I loved that calling. I was the secretary. It was a great calling. I really felt like I got to know a lot of the women in our ward. I served with really fun women, in two different presidencies. I was very surprised that we got released, but with change comes new opportunities, right?? Are you ready for my new opportunity/calling???






Bear Cub Scout Leader!!

I was really surprised to receive that calling! I have NEVER done anything with scouting. Easton isn't quite old enough, so I literally know NOTHING! But, I gladly accepted and now I feel a little in over my head. But, I have really good friends to work with in scouts and I know they will help me!

So, last Thursday was my first official scout activity. We went on a hike! Oh, how I LOVE to hike!?!?! But, it was actually a pretty easy and fun hike. There were 3 leaders there and we all have sons who are 7, so we brought them with us even if they weren't quite old enough. So, in all there were 14 boys. Easton was very excited that he was able to go and I could tell that he felt like a "big kid." I left the girls with my friend, Megan, who volunteered to watch them. Thank you SO much, Megan!

Hike day was a little cloudy, but that made it nice because it wasn't hot. It was the perfect temperature for hiking. The boys all did really well. We got through the hike relatively quickly, with a few stops on the way to...

Take a group photo:



Read signs:



Look at the scenery:



and Find lizards! (someone spotted one and they were all around that tree trying to catch it.)



Then, it was on to lunch.



Good ol' sack lunches from home. There is something about being in the beautiful outdoors that makes sack lunches taste really good to me.

Just a few more pictures from our hike:







I had a really great time. I am thankful for this new opportunity. There is SO much I need to learn, but the journey will be great, I am sure!

SOOOO SWEET!!

I have meant to blog about the arrival of our newest little niece for a few days. I am finally getting to it. Dave's brother, Dan, and his wife, Josie, had their first baby May 30th. They named her Brailey Belle. What a sweetie, I tell ya!

Josie went into labor on Saturday morning. Dave and I had planned on going out on a date that night and were going to go up and see them in the hospital. But, unfortunately, we couldn't find a babysitter. That night I was complaining to Dave about how sad I was that we couldn't go up. I had talked to Dan and several members of Josie's family were at the hospital awaiting the arrival, but no one from our family. He so kindly suggested that he stay home with the kids and I go up! I couldn't believe that I hadn't thought of that idea myself!! So, I more than happily agreed. I called my sister-in-law, Erin, and we left to the hospital. Thanks Dave!!!!

We got to the hospital right as she was born. We waited in the waiting room with some of Josie's family until it we could go in to see her. She was sooo cute! She weighed 8 lb. 11 oz. and was 21 1/2 inches long (I believe). When we saw her she was less than an hour old and so alert. I loved it. It was a neat experience to be there that soon after the birth. I hadn't had that experience except for my own children's births.

We went up with our husbands the next day again. She was even cuter the next day with her hair all done and bows in it. So sweet.

After that I "craved" holding her! It was weird. I think that is a sign, I am a bit baby hungry, I think. I just need to convince Dave that our family needs one more little one! :) (Good luck to me on that!)

Friday night, Dave's mom was in town and we had a little BBQ with all Dave's family at our house. Dan and Josie came with Brailey! I ended up holding her for quite a long time. I loved it. She was so cute and cuddly. I really miss having a newborn!! Paisley and especially Avery could not get enough of her. I had to protect her from Avery! She was trying to be nice to her, just didn't grasp the concept that she was not one of her dolls. But, she just smiled and talked and loved little Brailey.

Here she is...



And here is Paisley holding her...



We had a really nice BBQ. We were almost done eating when some big, black, swirling clouds moved in really quickly. All of a sudden it began to sprinkle. We quickly worked together to bring everything in and managed to get it in as the hail started! It was a downpour!



It was okay, we just moved the party inside. Here is the only other picture I took at the BBQ.


Dan, Erin & Jace, Brandon, Tammy

I tried so hard to get a nice group picture, but Dave's brothers just wouldn't let me! :) It is always interesting! :)

Happy Birthday, Mom!!

I wanted to wish my mom a very happy birthday today!! I won't disclose her age...but let me just say, she is a young grandma! :)



I also wanted to tell some of my favorite memories of my mom.

1. When I was younger, we enjoyed evenings together with just the girls, when my brothers and dad were gone on a camp out or something. One night we were watching a movie and the house was dark. I had to use the bathroom. While I was gone, mom found a clown mask that one of my brothers had made in school. Not scary at all, but in the dark...SCARY!



So, when I came out of the bathroom she jumped out and yelled "BOO" and scared me to death!! She had a good long laugh! A while later, she went to use the bathroom. That's right...pay back's are a you-know-what!! So, I scared her with the clown mask. We had a really good laugh and then promptly threw the mask away!!

2. Doing crafts. We liked to do crafts together. Especially when I was younger and was less busy with kids! She is a really good at painting figurines. We would go buy a ceramic figurine of some kind and paint them. I specifically remember painting really cute Halloween figurines one year. Of course, while letting the paint dry we would usually have a treat of some kind. We both LOVE big cinnamon rolls warmed in the microwave and a cold glass of milk. I definitely think of her when I eat a cinnamon roll.



3. When I was a junior, my parents planned a big family trip to California. We did all of the fun things there is to do in Southern California, Sea World, Disney Land, Universal Studios. So, before we left, my mom had a big talk about how we didn't want any family bickering on this trip. So, she said if anyone got cranky, we had to do the Mork and Mindy (an OLD show on TV) "shake" and say Na-New-Na-New like they did on the show.



Totally weird, and I don't know WHY she came up with it. But, amazingly, it worked. When someone would start to get mad, she would say, "Na-New-Na-New" and we had to do the "shake." It was so dumb, and embarrassed us, as we were all teenagers, that it took our minds off whatever was bugging us. Crazy, but good...and a funny memory.

4. I don't know how old I was, but my mom one time did this really funny and weird dance when no one but me was watching. Her arms were flapping like wings and she was moving her legs. I laughed so hard! My brothers and dad wanted to know what was so funny. So, I told her to repeat it. She acted like she had NO idea what I was talking about! She denied it up and down. Then, when no one else was looking, she would do it again...and then promptly deny it. It was so funny! This when on for quite a while, off and on, she would just break out in her silly dance for my eyes only! :)

5. I have been lucky enough to have my mom by my side at each of the births of my children. She was there through the craziness of Easton's birth, with the emergency C-section. And then at Paisley and Avery's c-sections.


My mom showing me Avery right after she was born.

This is really gross, but after they give me the epidural, I usually get really nauseous. When they were getting prepared for Paisley's C-section, I suddenly had to throw up. I said that, but there were no nurses around. I was laying on my back, unable to move. Dave took off to find something for me to throw up in. But, my sweet sweet mom, came to my bedside and cupped her hands and it is there that I threw up. So gross, but SOOO sweet. Something only a mother would do. It honestly brings tears to my eyes, because I can understand doing that for my child. I HAVE done that for my child. She later said the same. She wouldn't have done it for anyone else. (Who would?) I love her for that! :)

It was really neat to have her at the births. She would always try to watch the C-section. With Avery, she just pulled the curtain down a bit and watched the whole thing! :)



Very brave of her.

My mom is so funny. She has been such a wonderful mother to me in my life. She is such an example to me. I admittedly am just like her. More so each day! :) But, I think of that as a good thing. She is a great woman who loves her family very much. She is a wonderful grandmother. She has dropped everything to be there for me when I have needed her as a mother. She has attended many doctors appointments with me for moral support with my children. When Paisley has been put in the hospital for her asthma, she has taken off work and spent the whole time with me.



I am truly grateful for her in my life. I love you, mom!!

The Ups and Downs of Gardening

We have definitely learned there are ups and downs to this gardening thing. Times that I have been so proud of us and times I wonder why we, two people who know NOTHING about gardening, are bothering to try.

So, here are the ups...



What a difference a week makes when I was photographing our first little sprout. Now almost all the beans, peas, and onions are up.

Okay, here are the DOWNS!!

We planted 12 tomato plants and 8 pepper plants. I lovingly dug holes, put water and fertilizer in and then covered them up. Then, I put hot caps on them and we even covered them that night with blankets. The next day we went and took a hot cap off to water them and THIS is what we found, (basically...this is 4 days later)



AHHHHHHH!!!

This is our LONE survivor! (You can see his dead comrade in the background!)



What?!?! You read right 12 tomatoes and 8 peppers and we have 1 survivor!! I don't know what happened! We are wondering if there was too much fertilizer or something. We have no idea. They looked so great in the house and then they died in one day in the ground! Crazy!

So, here are our new recruits...



I am almost scared to plant them! Let's hope they do better than the last ones!!