Bad, Bad Parents!

The lake was great! We thought everything went well until, we discovered something on Brayden's nose!

Can you see those two blisters on his nose? So Sad! He didn't seem to be uncomfortable with them but it was still so sad to see. When we got on the lake we didn't really worry about putting sunblock on the kids. The boys had shirts on and their faces see the sun all the time. About a half hour to hour into the boat ride we saw that Brayd was starting to get a little red so we put sunblock on. Apparently it was a little late huh?

Then the next day the blisters popped! He didn't seem sad about it but it was so sad to look at. And......he needs a haircut! Holy Cow!

We Made lt On The Lake This Time!

So, since our supposed to be fun day of boating was filled with a fun day of swimming on Saturday we thought we would try the lake again on Monday. We watched the news on Sunday night and saw that it wasn't going to be windy until Wednesday this week. We called my brother and asked if he wanted to go boating. The first thing he said was, "what about the wind?" We assured him it wouldn't be windy, so he agreed. The weather was beautiful!

Russ, Porter, Aaron and Madison were so excited to be on the lake!

While everyone was in the back of the boat Ry took the drivers seat. Pushing the buttons is for sure the best part of sitting at the wheel.

Aaron was a little bit of a girl and wore half of a wet-suit. But, he still got behind the boat and did a little surfing. (Unlike Russ, or myself of course. I never do, I just soak up the sun!)

Porter was a little unsure about surfing at first, but once Russ grabbed him and handed him to Aaron he got use to it and he really enjoyed it. He did it about three different times. Good Job Porter!!!

Aaron was the scared one in this picture. He thought for sure both him and Ry were going to end up falling in the water. Thank goodness they didn't. Ry was happy to get back in the boat.

My cautious baby girl, Madison even got out there -she's a little competitive. There's no way she would let Porter get all the praise for surfing and her get none! It will be interesting raising those two.

I guess surfing wore Ry out! I love when my babies fall to sleep on me.

Just when Ry woke up and we were heading back to the dock, Brayd fell asleep. That was a long day in the sun but we had such a good time!

After all the fun in the sun we had Family Home Evening with some friends. The kids wanted Aaron give them a ride around the track on Porters bike.
This is what we got....

At first, Aaron put Ryan on his shoulders and told him to hang on. Then, Aaron started driving all crazy. As soon as Aaron got the bike under control, and stopped laughing he told us that Ry put his two little hands right over Aaron's eyes. Then the rest of us couldn't stop laughing, it was too funny!

My Monkey Man Ry

Aaron thought it was so cute that Ryan climbed up on the counter and started downing the sprinkles that go on cupcakes. He was even so cute to ask Porter if he wanted a taste.

That night Aaron took Ry to the store and they came home with a Snow Cone. Aaron loves this time of year, Snow Cones are his favorite!

HERE COMES SUMMER!

So, sometimes I get a little behind on my blogging, so I just back date everything and pretend like I am on top of things, but.......I'm not! So, let's pretend it's Saturday April 26th and we tried to go to the lake today. My family and our good friend Nicole, who should be our nanny, started out at 11:45 a.m. The weather was beautiful and we were going to have a great day at Sand Hollow Reservoir. Just when we started going up the main road to the lake it got SO windy out. We continued on and got in the boat prep line, loaded the kids in the boat and were ready. It was still so windy but we really wanted to be on the lake. Aaron backed the boat in the water and came to get in the boat. He looked at me and said, "do we really want to do this?" I told him I would do whatever. We decided to try a different lake.

To make a this long story shorter, 2 hours later we ended up swimming with Jill, Chloe and Mia in Sunbrook! We could have drove to Lake Powell! Anyway, we had a really good time and are so glad they let us come crash their peaceful party. Sorry Jill!

Aaron played with Madison and Porter in the pool, they had so much fun. Porter talked about it for the next two days.

Nicole was so cute to just hang out with Ry and Brayd. They are still getting use to swimming so are a little timid, but Nicole just sat next to them while I soaked up some sun! AHHHHH! I'm pretty sure I need a Nanny.

Although we didn't end up at the lake we still had a really fun day!
Thanks again Jill and Nicole.

Our sweet San Diego Trip

It has been a week since we got home from our San Diego trip. I finally got back into my routine and am ready to tell about it. The trip was great, NOT TOO NOISY or anything! We all headed out on Sunday afternoon. 6 adults and 8 kids. Of course Aaron and I didn't think it was too noisy since we had 3 of the boys and half the kids.

For our first two meals we went to McDonald's at State Line. It was................well, McDonald's. We were pleasantly surprised at how well the kids did during the meals (Aaron thought he did such a good job at getting a kandid picture of most of the group).

Madison and Chloe loved hanging out together. On the way down they spent most of their time laying on the back bed in the motorhome watching movies. They Loved It!

Ry........Where are You? This is how Ry spent about two hours of the road trip. He loves his blanky, his sleep and being his daddy's co-pilot. I'm not sure life could get any better than this for him.

We finally arrived in San Diego! It was too early to check in to our hotel so we went to "SPANKY'S PIZZA." It was delicious, but not only did we get pizza, we had a little/LOT of fries, onion rings, salad and cheesy bread. YUMMY!

We went to the beach the first full day we were there, which was Tuesday. It was a lot too cool for my liking, but it was still the beach. The kids really seemed to enjoy it. Brayden mostly stayed on the chair next to me and ate. We did get him away from the food and he ventured off for a nice little walk on the beach with his Daddy!

I knew there was a picture of Brayden and I sitting next to each other, but I didn't know he was eating in it! After all, I did say that is what he did the whole time. This picture just proves it! It really does surprise me that he is only in the 10 percentile of weight for his age group.

Madison had fun building sand castles. Ry did the same, then enjoyed destroying them after they were built. I guess Brayd did enjoy the sand for a minute.

I'm such a bad mom! This is the only picture I took of Porter at the beach. I guess I could justify it by saying he was in the water most of the time and I was on the beach. Sorry Porter! I do love you. Do I have too many kids?

We think this is a jelly fish that swept up on the shore and almost took Jill out! Aaron attempted to save it and put it back in the ocean. It was a pretty exciting moment at the beach.

After we left the beach we went back and swam at the hotel. That night Aaron took Madison to a baseball game with Mike, Chloe, Mia and Brent. That was a fun night for them! The rest of us ate too much, watched American Idol and went to bed!

I think this is the only picture we got of our whole family on the vacation.-Thanks Brent!- Here we are at Sea World on Wednesday. The kids did surprisingly well. Brayden and Ryan even took naps in the middle of it!

Madison and Porter had a good time touching the Stingrays until.............

WHOOPS!!! I guess the stingrays didn't like Madison and Porter as much as they liked them!

Ryan and Brayden liked looking at Shamu. They were a lot more interested in the Shamu Show than I thought they would be.

As long as Brayd had food he was happy watching Shamu.

That's a good Shamu! Thanks for the Excellent Show!

The rest of the day went good. After we got back from Sea World we cooked some yummy dinner. We then put the kids to bed and watched American Idol again and had a peaceful night!

The next day-Thursday- the kids and guys went swimming while the girls packed up to leave. After swimming we ate lunch and headed out. About 2 hours into the ride back home the motor home had some difficulties........come to find out there was an air leak in some thing that controls the suspension and brakes. We pulled over and unloaded Mike and Jill's Yukon off the trailer that we were pulling. We loaded all of us in the Yukon except Aaron and Brent. No kidding I was about to cry. It was a little too exciting for me. Mike found an outdoor mall with a big grassy area for us to hang out at while the guys handled the "situation".

This is what the kids did while we waited. Chloe was leading the group with Madison, Porter, Ryan, Mia and MaKenna following close behind. At least they were having a good time.

Are we for real? Did Jill, Lyndsi and I really take our 8 kids to The Cheesecake Factory for dinner? SURE DID! We thought it would help pass the time. It wasn't TOO bad but a little hectic.
Lucky for us the guys called just after dinner and said the motor home was fixed and we would be on our way home that night. By then Jill and Mike were tired of us...........I guess. No, it may be the truth but I don't blame them. The Yukon was already off the trailer, so they decided to drive it home. We arrived home between 2:00 and 2:30 Friday morning. The good thing about having to stop for a bit is that by the time we got back on the road the kids were all exhausted and went to sleep fairly quick.

Madison and Ryan slept on the bed

Porter slept on the floor. There wasn't too much space but he seemed to be cozy. Brayden slept in his playpen in the bathroom.

I think the trip turned out better than expected and Aaron and I both thought the kids did good. It is nice to be to a point where we feel like we can handle the kids without too much confusion. I'm not so sure our friends feel like we are under control but it's a lot better than it was 6 months ago!
LET'S DO IT AGAIN!

Madison's Birthday Party!

Madison had her birthday party with all her friends the day after her birthday. She invited all the girls in her class at school, a couple of friends from church and her little cousin Lexi. Along with that she had her Aunts Joanna and Christie, Uncle Jason, Her friend and baby-sitter Nicole and Grandma and Grandpa at her party. It surely was a PARTY!

These were all the girls that came. There was a total of 16 4, 5 and 6 Year Olds!
It was GREAT!

1st of all we made home-made pizza. Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for heading that up. The kids seem to love having their own pizza.

While the pizzas were cooking Aunt Christie headed up the water games. They played hot balloon while jammin' out to what else than "Hannah Montana?" Madison got the balloon popped on her this time.

By the time the water balloons were all gone and a little playing with the hose and on the trampoline, the pizza was FINALLY done! All the girls sat out on the back patio and ate their creation. They all seemed to enjoy their own special pizzas.

Did I mention that Porter was hanging out with these 16 girls too? Well, he did. I'm not so sure this will be happening in 10 years, but he seemed to behave well enough at this party.
We then had a pinata! It was alot of fun! Uncle Jason manned the unicorn. THAT was an exciting part of the party.

Then..............When Jason thought no one was looking he let out all his frustrations of being around 16 little girls! Way to keep them hidden for so long Jason.

It was then time for cupcakes and singing time. The cupcakes were a hit and they left everyone with pink and blue faces. But hey, It's a party!

Grandpa got a little ALL OVER! Maybe grandpa just doesn't want to grow up? I mean really, who would after this fantastic party?

Last, but certainly not least, it was present time. For sure the best time of the whole party! Madison got lots and lots of fun little presents from bubbles to jewelry, and barbies to microphones.
All in all it was a good time for all who came!
Thanks so much to everyone who helped out! It wouldn't have been the sweet party it was without you.
THANKS AGAIN!!

FUN, FUN DAY!

Happy Birthday Madison!

On April 11, 2008 we celebrated my baby girl Madison's 6th Birthday. It is always so amazing how fast little ones grow up! She is such a good helper with her 3 little brothers and I really don't know if or how I would manage without her. When we found out we were having our 3rd boy I went to Madison and said, " Madison, what are we going to do with 3 boys?" To which she replied, "RAISE EM!" Good thinkin' Madison! I can tell you that raising them is exactly what she is doing. In fact, at times I have to get after her for thinking she is my mom too!

After we picked Madison up from school we went to Pizza Factory for lunch. Madison got her own 6 pizza for her birthday. It was DELICIOUS!!

For Madison's birthday we rode our bikes/walked on the trail behind Barefoot. It was a lot of fun. This is how it ended.....Madison riding her bike, with Brayden and Porter in the stroller. We took Porter's bike but this is why Porter was not riding it in the end....

Aaron needed to ride it to give Ry a ride on his shoulders. It was pretty cute! Ryan did ride his bike probably about a mile. But, he just couldn't make it back. We had a lot of fun on the ride and decided Aaron needs to buy his own bike. Porter wasn't too happy that he couldn't ride his.

Has anyone seen this candy before? Aaron's mom sent it to Madison as part of her birthday package which I thought was so nice of her! The kids loved them. They are little candies that are fizzy and about the size of tiny tarts. They come in this cute little bottle. The kids were pretending that they were their "special vitamins." (that is what we call the kids flouride) Anyway, Brayden wakes up while they are playing their little game and wants some. So, not thinking anything of it I give him some and he keeps wanting more and more. He ends up eating about ten of them.
Aaron and I were planning on taking Madison and Porter out to Samurai for Madison's birthday dinner, so Joanna and Jason came over to baby-sit. As I was leaving I told Joanna that he had just been being a little fussy and his burps smelled REALLY bad! So watch out! So we leave. Just as I am about to eat my yummy salad at Samurai I get this text that had a picture and read.....Joanna wants to know what you fed Brayden because she is now wearing it! I felt SO bad. We hurried and ate our meal and came home. I went upstairs to find Brayden cuddled up to Joanna with his stomach bloated and hard. It was so sad! I called Doctor Moss. I love Doctor Moss. I told him I had fed him all those candies and the doc told me to feed him lots of water and protein and he would throw up and poop it all out. Just after I got off the phone with him Brayd had a big 'ol blow-out. This is why I love Doctor Moss, he knows exactly what he is talking about. His diagnosis is right EVERY time! After we cleaned him all up we put him in the bath and I'm not kidding you he let out the longest gas bubble I have ever heard. It lasted for at least 5 seconds! After that one he released a couple of more but they were only about 2 seconds long. It was the funniest thing and seriously his tummy was a lot softer after that! By the end of the night he was feeling a lot better and his tummy was pretty much back to normal size. The point of my story?

DO NOT FEED YOUR BABY THESE CANDIES!!

Due to the craziness of the night Madison had an ice cream sandwich for her cake and ice cream. I felt bad but she loved it!

Happy Birthday to Madison!

WHOA BRAYD!

CAREFUL BRAYD!

So, here I am blog-stalking.(Which I can only do while Aaron is out of town and sure enough he is!) I look down to see Brayden HEADING down the stairs! I thought it was the funniest thing and very lucky he didn't fall all the way down while I grabbed my camera! Good job Brayd, now I know he can go down the stairs all by himself!