Independence Day 2013

I didn't take too many pictures, but we sure had fun! After lunch we went and saw Despicable Me 2 with Grandma and Grandpa Hadley. Loved it!

Then we went home and packed up a picnic and headed to Sugarhouse Park for fireworks with Aunt Kaela and Uncle Brayden! 

We got there early enough we found a shady spot, although our neighbors were smokers and forgot most of their clothes. :P The kids were so tired once it was over, after less than 5 minutes of dragging a protesting Joey on a hill, I gave in to her and let her ride in the stroller and I carried Tristan. Luckily our route back to the car was much shorter, so it wasn't too bad. The parking lot was a different story. The boys were both asleep before we started moving, and all 3 before we left the parking lot. Man, people can be crazy and jerks! We got home around 11:30. I'm thinking next year we'll go to the closer and less crowded Magna fireworks, or skip it like we usually do. :)

Camping = DIRT!!

I know it's kind of a no-brainer that the kids would get dirty camping, and I wanted them to, but man did they deliver! We went last weekend with my family to a campground called Yellowpine, near Rock Creek (north of Duchesne). It had lots of trees, so we had at least a little shade most of the day.

Saturday just as we were finishing up lunch we started hearing thunder and getting sprinkled on. After a few minutes we finally saw lightning and it started raining hard, so we waited it out in the cars. Several times. We had starting and stopping for probably an hour or two. Once we decided we were really safe we let the kids have some fun.

Bubble snakes!

Of course, with everything wet it was now even easier for them to be covered! We went from this on the first day (throwing dirt on herself) 

to this after the rain.

And it got progressively worse as the day went on! She may like girlie stuff, but she's not afraid of getting dirty!

Another dirty face

Nick liked popping bubbles once the snakes were done

She went over to her cousins' tent for a few minutes Sunday morning as we were packing up, and came back looking like this!

Two tired little boys promptly lost consciousness after we hit the road. And wore their adorable dinosaur hats I bought them longer than the rest of the trip!

Fun fact learned on a nature walk at the campsite: Ponderosa pines with the lighter colored tree trunks for which the campsite got its name smell like vanilla in the cracks between the bark.

Lessons learned on this trip:

*Cargo space is a big deal when looking for our new minivan. A rooftop carrier may also not be out of the question.

*Even if you are planning on the kids getting dirty, wear dark enough clothes that when they climb all over you the dirt won't show up. My best fitting pair of maternity capris need more heavy duty stain removing.

*Get another air mattress for the big kids to share. Two packnplays are a pain, and if they have their own, jumping on your air mattress will be far less fun!

It's A...

Boy!!

We were pretty surprised! Josh and I were sure it was a girl. Poor Joey cried, she wanted so badly for it to be a sister so the boys and girls would be even. :) She's coming around. She's remembered her big sister role and is proud of it, and comes up with all sorts of fun suggestions for names. My favorite was Rolie, short for Rolie Polie! We still get the occasional, "I really wanted it to be a girl," but overall I think she's accepted it now.

The good news is we have a plethora of boys clothes, we won't even have to buy as much for opposite seasons as I expected (I went through the small stuff yesterday to see).

Now we just need a minivan, name, and to make it through the summer!

Quickie Update

My blogging has suffered again. I'll try to be better and we have things coming up we'll be wanting to share:

*Baby #4 is on the way! I'm due on Thanksgiving (Nov. 28th), and we find out pretty soon whether we're having a prince or princess! I really haven't been too sick this time, which has been a major blessing.

*Joey turned 5. She's growing up way too fast! She's registered for kindergarten and is anxious to start! She loves playing with her brothers and letting them know who's boss. ;)

*Nick and Tristan continue to amaze us. They're hilarious and smart. They're starting to play together more rather than just by each other. They know their colors and letters by sight and are quickly learning their numbers. We're pretty certain they're both lefties! They are still very tiny, Tristan is just a bit taller. We've noticed a recent increase in appetite (if the food is right), and they are definitely starting to feel more solid. They'll be 3 in just 2 months. Wow!!

*I spend my days watching the littles play and growing the next one. :) I've been doing lots of research and searching, and hopefully we will be upgrading our vehicle for our growing family soon. I've been serving in nursery for almost 2 years and truly love it! We have such a great ward!

*Josh has been plenty busy between being a Stake YM counselor, traveling for and teaching trainings for work, moving their office this last week, and being an awesome daddy and picking up my 1st trimester slack, and still trying to squeeze in some photo editing.

*My sister got married! I was privileged to be her matron of honor, and it was just a beautiful day all around! So happy for Kaela and Brayden!

The one picture they were cooperative for on the wedding day... Too bad we were still inside! :)

I Know That My Redeemer Lives

I know that my Redeemer lives. 

What comfort this sweet sentence gives! 

He lives, he lives, who once was dead. 

He lives, my ever-living Head. 

He lives to bless me with his love. 

He lives to plead for me above. 

He lives my hungry soul to feed. 

He lives to bless in time of need. 

He lives to grant me rich supply. 

He lives to guide me with his eye. 

He lives to comfort me when faint. 

He lives to hear my soul’s complaint. 

He lives to silence all my fears. 

He lives to wipe away my tears. 

He lives to calm my troubled heart. 

He lives all blessings to impart. 

He lives, my kind, wise heav’nly Friend. 

He lives and loves me to the end. 

He lives, and while he lives, I’ll sing. 

He lives, my Prophet, Priest, and King. 

He lives and grants me daily breath. 

He lives, and I shall conquer death. 

He lives my mansion to prepare. 

He lives to bring me safely there. 

He lives! All glory to his name! 

He lives, my Savior, still the same. 

Oh, sweet the joy this sentence gives: 

“I know that my Redeemer lives!” 

He lives! All glory to his name! 

He lives, my Savior, still the same. 

Oh, sweet the joy this sentence gives: 

“I know that my Redeemer lives!"

How appropriate that this was our opening song in Sacrament Meeting on Fast Sunday. What better testimony than that of our Savior. He loves us. He watches over us. He feels our joy, sorrow, worry, triumph, and anything else in between. He knows our needs, wants, and desires. I've felt it. 

I know He knows me personally and blesses me with this knowledge on days that may seem especially hard or even hopeless. 

I'm thankful for the faith I have, and because of these experiences I've had I can keep that faith strong and know my family will be taken care of. Tithing has and always will be a no questions asked thing for us, and we see those blessings. I know without it we'd be struggling so much more!

I'm so grateful for my little (growing) family and the joy they bring to my life. I've been blessed with truly wonderful children and I'm so grateful for that. Again, my Savior knows me and that I couldn't handle much else. :) 

I'm grateful for our extended families and all the love, support, prayers, and joy we receive from being with them.

I'm so grateful for the wonderful man I've been blessed to be married to for the last 7 years, and get to keep for eternity. He's my rock and boy, do I lean on him! He teaches me, he inspires me, he picks up on the mass amounts of slack I have, and he's an amazing and loving father. I'm so thankful for the priesthood he holds and that he chooses to regularly bless me and our family with it.

I'm thankful for this gospel and that the scriptures are available for us to learn from. That we are encouraged to pray often, and pour out our hearts to The Lord. And for living prophets and apostles that know what we need to hear to help us to do better.

I'm blessed!

In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Balloon Bag End

Normally I save this kind of stuff for facebook, but this is a special circumstance.
My awesome and talented cousin made Bag End out of balloons and made this video about it. I'd say its gone viral. As of this minute he's approaching 200,000 views. He's had several websites feature it as well. A handful are:

JRR Tolkien fanpage TheOneRing.net
Komo News
BuzzFeed
Huffington Post
Yahoo!
MSN
KSL
Imgur
Wired

Or you could just do what my other cousin (Balloon Guy's brother-in-law) did and Google it. You'll be amazed.

October in a Nutshell

October felt crazy-busy for some reason. I don't know why. I'm home all day. But I didn't even manage to get my Halloween decorations out this year. Sadness! Anyways, here's the highlights (and lowlights) of October. Does it sound crazy to you too?

*Conference Weekend complete with a ride on the Heber Creeper and visiting my family to celebrate October birthdays
*My birthday, complete with a call to the fire dept
*A trip to Wyoming for Trace's Baptism
*Josh gone on a business trip for two nights
*Halloween Celebrations

And, of course, while Josh was on said business trip and the kids were in bed on Halloween, I went downstairs and something smelled funny. I discovered water in the laundry room and carpet in the family room. Awesome. I whined about it on FB and quickly had people jumping in to help. Turns out our water heater was leaking and we ended up replacing that as well. Luckily we have a plumber in our ward and he went above and beyond coming over 3 times to make sure that thing was installed properly and helped us out with other little misc things. Have I mentioned I love our ward? And also I need a vacation?