Friend Reunion IFHS

(July 5, 2013)

I've been out of high school 10 years. I've been married for 7 of those years, and have had children for 4 of those years.

We were supposed to have a high school reunion this summer... which was canceled due to lack of involvement/commitment. So Emily & I decided to have our own little reunion with friends. The turnout was bigger than I expected! And it was great to see those who came (and I actually remembered everyone there, as opposed to how it would have been at my actual reunion...).

Ben, Jeff, Taylor, Monty, Brittney, Jen, Emily, & me

Emily & I were the only ones who brought our kids. So they at least had playmates!

 Jackson, Lincoln, & Carly

Kiss her, Lincoln!

Lincoln's 4 Year Old Birthday Questions (I added a few since last year.)

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I asked the birthday questions again (on his actual birthday).

Lincoln 4 Years Old

7-15-13

1. What is your favorite color?

orange

2. What is your favorite toy?

um… those blocks (pointing to wooden block set)

3. What is your favorite fruit?

oranges. You know what else is my favorite thing? (What?) Those blocks.

4. What is your favorite tv show?

race cars. Race car monster truck. (What?)

5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch?

oranges. (What else?) pineapple. Mini sandwich made of hot dogs. And bread. Sandwiches. (Being silly)

6. What is your favorite outfit?

um. The coolest. Snake shirt. Easy pants (easy to pull up). Pants that have stripes.

7. What is your favorite game?

race cars. Race car monster trucks. That’s my favorite game. I used to play now I’m a big boy. Baxetball game. Parker loves Bug’s Life. (Parker: I love Fishies!)

8. What is your favorite snack?

Banana snack. Gummy bear. Skinny hot dogs. (He’s trying to be silly again…)

9. What is your favorite animal?

Crocodiles. Did you never seen that? Did you never seen that animal before? Snakes. Sharks. (Boy, through and through..)

10. What is your favorite song?

Rock Start! Ress Beat. (Fresh Beat Band?) YES! Fresh Beat Band. They are a rock start band!

11. What is your favorite book?

I’ll show you. This book (pointing to 'I Spy Fantasy').  (Also, 'Power Rangers Jungle Fury')

12. Who is your best friend? 

Keeley.  Keeley is so friendly.  She loves to play with me.

13. What is your favorite cereal?

Mini-Wheats

14. What is your favorite thing to do outside?

Play with the big ball.  Now we have another big ball (Flora gave it to him for his birthday).  Bounce it around.

15. What is your favorite drink?

Chocolate Milk!

16. What is your favorite holiday?

Toys! Sunday!

17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night?

Toys, balls, my toy frog over there.

18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? 

Toast. Eggs. Water.

19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday?

Chips. Ummm, Ummm, Ummm, I don't know.  Chips!  Hangehber (meaning hamburger), Hotdog.

20. What do you want to be when you grow up?

Batman.  I want to poop a couch out! (Laughs). That’s silly.

21. What is your favorite song?

Rock Start. I can’t tell you that thing. Only at a rock start store. (Shouts) “Rock Start!”

22. What is your favorite thing about your brothers?

·      Parker: Race cars. Super heroes. Cause that’s my best friend. And something else? I can read a super hero book. Mom, do we have a super hero book?

·      Griffin: Because. He likes to sleep in his crib.

·      Oliver: Because he crawls. Oliver can crawl fast.

23. Where is your favorite place to go?

Um. To the donut store. (Harmon’s grocery store) To eat donuts.

24. What would you like to learn more about now that you're 4?

Can I go to school? (yes.) Right now? (No. But what do you want to learn when you go to school?) Science. Can I do science at school? Did you know there are 2 schools in this town? 1 is little, and 1 is big.

25. What do you love about yourself?

Um. Big watermelons. That hit people in their heads. And their heads look so silly. That look funny? If there’s watermelon heads?
26. What does Daddy do at work?
Exercise. He exercise at work. Do work. (What kind of work?) Computers.
27. What do you pray about?

Jesus. God. Henenly Father.

Happy Birthday to 5 Grandkids!

 (July 4, 2013)

Later that evening (after the parade), we decided to celebrate July/August birthdays!

Lincoln - 4
Hannah - 9
Matthew - 5
Griffin - 1
Oliver - 1
(...and now brand new baby Bennett! Congrats, Rachel!! Born on July 3rd)

For having 14 grandkids, 6 centered around July is quite a few! The birthday kids even got fireworks! (Wink, wink.)

Lincoln, Hannah, Matthew, & Hailey

Lincoln blowing out his candles.

How cute, right? Lincoln is really into superheroes lately... so Grandma got him a Batman costume!

Matthew got a light saber

Oliver got a phone

We played a round of Bocce ball

Grandma hanging out with the babies on the blanket

Griffin (red) & Oliver (blue)

Angela & Mom laughing about something I said

Independence Day Parade

(July 4, 2013)

We went to "Breakfast on the Boulevard" - a lady in my parents' old ward (boundaries were moved) host a huge neighborhood breakfast. Crazy nice and generous. A lot of people help out, but still!

Afterwards, there is a parade that passes by on Boulevard. We sat by my high school friend, Emily, & her family (Christian, Carly, & Jackson), and left once the babies had enough (okay... and me, too).  Best part?

Yellow Fire Truck!

Lincoln (aqua blue), Carly (to the left of Lincoln's), Parker (to the right of Lincoln's), & Jackson (to the right of Parker); Also Jesse (green shirt... super patriotic), and Christian (between Lincoln & Parker)

Lincoln & Carly waving flags. Griffin in stroller with Jackson.

I can't believe that parade goes on for so long! It was hot. But the kids seemed to like it for the first little while. I only remember liking the parades where they throw candy out to the kids...

Summer BBQ

(July 2, 2013)

Later that night (after the zoo), we were invited to a BBQ at Mike & Bernie's, friends of the family since before I was even born. Mike made yummy steaks, Bernie made delicious potato salad, and there were lots of DElicious desserts!! Thank you so much for inviting us over! 

Sara and I (along with Holly and Rachel) used to get into all sorts of trouble together when we were young. Fun times!

Mike chatting with my parents; Grandma holding Griffin

Sara, Brad, & Tom

Bernie & Angela

They even had a little kiddie pool & a sprinkler set up by the trampoline to entertain the kids.

Rose with Parker

(L to R) Lincoln, Hailey (back), Matthew (front), and Hannah

Lincoln enjoyed the kiddie pool... the trampoline made him too nervous with his cousins jumping like crazy!

(L to R) Matthew (Sara's little boy), Oliver in back, & Griffin

It was overcast and even sprinkled (barely) a few times on us, so it was such nice weather for a barbeque. It was a little hot and humid for the babies, so we stripped them down and sprayed them with water to help cool them off. But the 75-80 degree evening was a wonderful break from the 115 degree heat down in St. George!!! Perfect time to visit Idaho!

The Zoo (plus 8 little monkeys)

(July 2, 2013)

We went with Angela & her kids to the Idaho Falls Zoo - perfect size for small kids.

 In front of the crocodiles. (L to R) Lincoln, Hannah, Matthew, Hailey, Parker, & Rose

Matthew & Lincoln in front of the flamingos - these two were quite the little buddies for the week!

Parker & Rose feeding the goats (or looking for the food he dropped...).

Hannah & Hailey feeding the goats.

Angela helping me out by feeding the babies. Thanks!

Taking a break on the little chicken playground.

Lincoln & Matthew

Angela's 3 girls - Hannah, Hailey, & Rose in the nest; Lincoln & Matthew in the back on the cracked egg.

They have lions, tigers, bears, zebras, penguins, camels, peacock, petting zoo, monkeys... quite a few for such a little zoo. Thanks for taking us, Angela & kids!

Angela's Girls with the Twins; Grandma & Grandpa with the Twins

(July 1, 2013)

We drove up to Idaho Falls to visit my parents and sister & her family. We were there from June 30th through July 6th and celebrated Indepence Day and some birthdays. It was a lot of fun and really good to see everyone. Thanks, Mom, for all the wonderful cooking and good food! Thank you for a nice place to sleep! We look forward to next time (hopefully without the fevers...)!

Rose & Oliver

(L to R) Griffin, Rose, Hailey, Oliver

(L to R) Hannah, Griffin, Rose, Hailey, & Oliver (who made his way toward me...)

Grandpa holding Griffin; Grandma holding Oliver

More Babies!

(June 28, 2013)

Griffin

Oliver

I tried to get a non-blurry one of Oliver... but he crawled away...

Oliver is Crawling!

(June 23, 2013)

Hanging out on a Sunday evening: playing blocks, taking pictures, relaxing. It's nice to spend time as a family.

Griffin loves this side-balance position.

Lincoln (sitting on my lap) took this picture of Oliver.

He also took this picture of Parker & Daddy.

Oliver started crawling (army style) mid-June at about 10 months. 

Griffin is not interested yet...

Swimming Lessons!

(June 17, 2013)

This lady, Linda, has a lot of experience teaching swimming to children, especially young children. She was just down the street from Jesse's mom, Janet, so it worked out perfectly - I took the big boys to swim lessons while Janet watched the babies.

Watching her teach the swim lessons helped me a lot - now I know how to work with my boys in the water.

Lincoln's turn with the back float; Parker (far right)

Listening to teacher Linda; Parker (standing up on right); Lincoln (just left of Parker)

Lincoln (orange goggles/green towel left-front); Teacher Linda holding Parker

Swimming at the Gym

(June 15, 2013)

What to do in (115 degree) St. George when it's summer?

Swim. Sprinklers. Splash pads. Water. Gym pass for the children for the pool.

Parker about to dive in (back-middle); Lincoln wearing goggles (front)

Parker is our little fish. Loves the water. A little reckless in the water... which worried me so I put him and Lincoln in some swim lessons. Post to come.

Target Trip with All 4

(June 12, 2013)

While Jesse was out of town (in New York), I took the kids out almost every night somewhere to help me keep my sanity. I hate the feeling of being stuck at home because of my kids... I'll just bring them with me and it can be an adventure!

One night we went to McDonald's, during the day to Mimi's house, one night to Chik-fil-A, one night to Target and Enrichment (mid-week church meeting/activity)... I wanted the kids to play, play, play, play so they would sleep peacefully. With a full night's rest, I would have energy during the day to keep up with them!

I didn't need to go to Target. So if we needed to drop everything and go out the door, no stress for mom. I thought it was a little funny when I was trying to figure out how to situate the kids in the cart. The babies weren't that great at sitting up yet, so I couldn't get the bigger cart with the 2-buckle seats. Here's what I came up with:

Lincoln (left); Griffin (middle-left); Oliver (middle-right); Parker (right)

Needless to say... we all were glad when Daddy came home!!!