We MUST GET OUT!

Its amazing how when you have days and days and days of being indoors and sick you reach a point all of a sudden that you are being suffocated and you must get OUT!!!! We have been trapped in the house with sickness for more than a week now, and we just had to get out. We didn't want to reach out to friends quite yet or go spread germs at anyone's houses, but we needed some fresh air. The park was a perfect escape to renew us. Parks are a happy place in our simple little world!

Look Who's Two!!!

Happy Birthday Brooklyn!
Brooklyn has grown completely into the role of the Ham of the Fam! She intentionally does things to make us all laugh. She will go out of her way to do silly little things to her siblings or in front of us to "see her" and to be funny! We love her playful humor. It started when she was very tiny and has taught us that this is just who she is. I often forget that she's only 2 because she talks so well, and works so hard to keep up with Morgan and Tyler. She is their little tag along and often goes to them for help more often than Jared or I. She is so wonderful and I am so glad she's mine.

Today was a very hard day because we spend the entire day at the Dr. We have discovered that she has strep throat, Tyler has a double ear infection and bronchitis, and Chase has bronchitis with possible RSV! YIKES! But I managed to throw a cake together and have a few little presents to open to make it feel birthdayish, so I hope she feels loved and still thinks birthdays are fun after today.

Visit from the Allen's

For the past week I have been enjoying my sister and her family staying with us. We had a blast as usual. Time at the park, in the back yard, and in the play room! We discovered that with 6 Kids under age 5 is not fun going places. So we enjoyed just being together and chatting to our hearts content. My favorite part was the late night Cold stone runs and chick flicks. Becca also taught me how to make the yummiest bread. I realized on the last day that I had NO pictures of Juliana. She was having so much fun with the cousins and playing, that I couldn't get her to slow down long enough to catch some good photos of her. (next time for sure.)

Kent managed to brake his elbow skateboarding in Utah, so I was AMAZED that he still wanted to do some skating in California with a broken arm. He did some cool tricks regardless. Morgan and Tyler were captivated by his skills.

Bookie Boo

Now that Brooklyn is potty trained it seems like overnight she became a "Big Girl!" She is speaking full sentences and in a way that most of the time we can understand her. Its so exciting yet makes me a little nostalgic of the little Bookie boo that is slowly fading.

Mommy & Me

Today I was looking through all the baby pictures I've taken of Chase and enjoyed seeing how much he has changed and grown these past two months. In looking through the pictures, I noticed that I have very few pictures of he and I together. I tend to hide from cameras for a while after gaining 40 lbs and looking like I do by the end of pregnancy, but I thought I better capture myself in this moment with my 4th baby before he gets too big. It was kind of a joke to try to have a 3 year old push the shutter button(we had several mis-haps), but once I got all the settings just right on my camera and the tripod tight enough that his pressure wouldn't shift the framing, he did AWESOME!

Writer's Award

Last week we were able to attend a special assembly for the Kindergarteners of Rosa Parks Elementary. Only Morgan and one other child, were selected the coveted "Writers Award" out of 6 Kindergarten classes. Morgan was also chosen to read her paragraph in front of the whole assembly. I could hear the nerves in her voice... but she did an amazing job and was very brave to do it. We were very proud of her accomplishment. She loves reading and learning and tries to read everything she sees. Way to go Morgan!