Girl's night out.

Wow we really forgot to take pictures this year. I'll have to take a couple of the crafts we did and add them.  Sierra made a deliciously yummy, creamy homemade mac and cheese. It was fantastic. So fantastic in fact that we made a trip to the store so we could make another batch! Nikcole made rice krispie treats. After all it isn't girls night out without those.  

For our crafts we made towels to hand on the stove. They turned out so stinkin' cute. I love that they will stay on the stove now and not walk off with my children. 

After towels Cass and I made super hero masks. Actually cass did all the hard work of cutting them out and I just sewed them together. Trevin and Cheyenne love them.

The little girls all dressed up in Sugar's slips and Lindsay put curlers in all of their hair. 

We even made friendship anklets out of sinew. That we burnt together, the girls started calling them our fire bracelets  They were all pretty scared but had fun encouraging each our to be tough. 

The next morning we painted toe nails Cheyenne did mine... 

  She was very careful and made sure she didn't miss any spots.  

 They turned out awesome!

half a year.

Levi is six months old.  He weighs 20.5 lbs. and is in the 99th percentile for height.  

He is just figuring out how to sit in the tripod position and thinks he is pretty cool. 

He loves to be on his tummy and rolls everywhere!!! He will roll until he can't get any further. Which usually results in him getting stuck somewhere... like under the piano. 

 One day I left Levi on the floor in his room listening to Trevin read. When I came back I couldn't see him.

Don't worry he hadn't gone far. He was just hiding under the bed. 

 Before long he had even found some toys to play with. 

Levi is such a content baby. That's the best way to describe him. Happy no matter what is going on around him, being held or not, and he can still sleep through just about anything. Lately he has decided that sleeping on the floor with all the chaos is fine with him as long as he has a blanket and can be on his tummy. 

 Trevin and Cheyenne are still great helpers. They love to play with Levi and make him laugh. 

At his 6month appointment we were told that no helmet would be needed for his head. YAY! and at the same time, erg. I don't really think it has improved much over the last two months. I am tired of waking up in the middle of the night to make sure he is still looking to the right. It would have been nice to have the helmet to do the work even if it did cause stares. Our doctor recommended jimmy rigging his car seat so he couldn't look to the left while we were running errands. I tried everything. But Levi can grab and move anything I stick by his head. Finally I decided a hat was the only option. So I quickly sewed a hat that has foam in it to prevent him from turning his head. And after a week of wearing it I think it's helping. Problem is I've found Levi with it off twice already. I don't know how long it will last. Oh well. No one can say I haven't tried. 

All the stress of the plagiocephaly fades away when I see this smile. ( I see it often!)

 

Odds n Ends

Trav's girlfriend, Nikcole, has a mini cooper...The kids all love it. Maybe it's because it small or maybe it's because they know how cool Nikcole is. Either way they are so fascinated with it.

 I talked Gage into joining us for free doughnuts at Krispie Kreme's on National Doughnut Day. They were way delicious. The kids were way excited... What child/adult doesn't love doughnuts!

 We went boating. Yes: I wake boarded. No: I didn't get any air... I am content to stay inside the wake. 

Trevin got a ride on Darrin's motorcycle and now wants to ride a motorcycle when he is grown up.

Cheyenne got a ride too, she can't wait until Trevin gets his motorcycle. 

 We were home for the 4th of July. This hasn't happened in, I think, 5 yrs. We are always at Bear lake and unfortunately they don't do fireworks. I was pretty excited. The show got off to a rough start (a 25min pause). But turned out to be pretty good.   

 Levi did great, you always worry about a baby's first time at fireworks. But he jumped at the band of the first few and then just settled back into Gage's lap. He really is a great baby. 

A family friend, Trp. Aaron Beesley died during a rescue mission. We had the opportunity to take the kids out and watch the procession. I am always amazed at the and the community support that is shown when an officer dies. I loved getting to show my kids the flags and firetruck that carried the casket and talked to them about Aaron. I am so grateful for the men and women that put their lives on the line for my safety. I hope that appreciation is something I can help my kids to feel and express.  

On a lighter note... if you are going to make an awesome bubble bath. Don't forget that you turned on the bath tub. Thank goodness for those overflow drains. They were invented for people like me!

 City days!! We had a great time at the parade and enjoyed walking through the booths. The favorite booth... PRINCESSES!!! Cheyenne and A were in heaven and didn't want to leave anytime soon. 

Cinderella, Belle, and Snow White...

 Tiana...

 And Repunzel...

 We were supposed to go back to the park for fireworks but Gage, Levi and Cheyenne all feel asleep. So instead Trevin and I climbed up onto the roof and watched. He thought that was pretty cool.

WEDDING BELLS

First off... I stole all of the wedding photos from my cousin, a budding photographer. All credit goes to her, check out more of her stuff at chelsealainephotography.blogspot.com.

 Cheyenne woke up early and came into the bathroom while I was getting ready. She asked, "Mom is it morning." I told her it was and she responded with "Yay. It's Janae's wedding day." We have all been looking forward to this day. Cheyenne even helped set up the reception. With a quick break in the middle for a free slurpee.

While Trevin was out eatin his very first Sushi with Nate. Nate came over to help load furniture for the reception and when he said hi to Trevin Trevin responded with "Hi, My name is Trevin and this is my sister Cheyenne." I guess we need to skype more often so he recognizes his uncle. 

 It was a gorgeous day. Forget the fact that it was over a hundred degrees and it really was perfect. Don't worry I packed water bottles and a cloth diapper that ended up being used to blot faces instead of being used to catch spit up from Levi. It really was hot. We were the only wedding party that morning at the bountiful temple with meant we weren't rushed at all. It was fantastic. Janae and James looked awesome. 

 Trevin was excited when they made thier appearance he told me, "James, that boy that loves Janae. He's my uncle now." 

  Travis and Nikcole helped keep the kids entertained. It was so great to have all of the family in town.  

 Trevin and uncle Dave. Knuckles... then make it explode.

 An almost group shot of all the grandkids. I don't think Trevin and Chey are quite ready to hold Levi. 

 My grandma and Grandpa. (aka Biker and Nuny) 

The boys. Janae looks a little worried that they might drop her.

 It really was so great to have Nate a Trav here at the same time. I miss having them around.  

 I can't wait to see the photographers picture of all these neices and nephews with the bride and groom. Look how cute Levi is. 

While taking pictures at the temple Janae had a butterfly land on her. Everyone there said it just stuck around. They got a bunch of cool video of it. Here is a still shot from the video. Pretty cool huh?

I really love this picture. It might end up being our Christmas card this year. 

Congrats to the Bride and groom.

Splash pad

The kids have been so good at doing there chores the last couple of days I decided to make today extra fun. After we finished chores today we packed a lunch and headed to the splash pad. The kids weren't to sure about going in at first. I finally told Trevin to go get wet and come back to tell me which thing got him the most wet. What can I say... That boy loves a challenge. Once Trevin was in Cheyenne was quick to follow.  Reporting back. It is fun afterall!

Cheyenne like the smaller water features. 

But didn't mind playing in the bigger ones if Trevin joined her. 

Wrapped up and all splashed out. 

 Enjoying Levi in the sun! I love getting to relax with this little boy. It doesn't happen very often. 

It was so much fun to get out of the house and play. I love my life. 

Bear Lake 2012

We look forward to the big Bear Lake trip every year. This year we were in charge of the theme day (along with Alex and Bubba), so we were especially excited! We finished packing and woke up Thursday morning ready to go. Unfortunately Levi really is a Crabtree and decided to start coughing Wednesday night. (One of us always get sick when there is a family party.)  I decided to wait for a few hours and see if his cough was getting worse. It actually seemed to get better so we headed up to the lake. 

We had so much fun with cousins and Levi was doing great. Until about 6:00 pm. The coughing started again. He wouldn't drink a bottle. He couldn't sleep. We made it through the night with very little sleep and lots of wheezing and coughing. I called in to our pediatrician, when I mentioned I thought it was croup they got us any appointment for that afternoon. Trevin and Chey stayed at Bear Lake and had a great time on the boat with Grandma and Papa and the Heslops. I can't thank them enough from saving my kids from a 4 hour drive. 

Levi and I made the drive and he coughed/barked all the whole way. When we got to the Dr's office. not a single cough...erg. Why do kids do that? Anyway. I told them his symptoms while he smiled and never fused.   Luckily the believed me and gave us the steroid that would help open things up. and make life more pleasant for my little guy. 

 On the upside. Since I headed back to our part of the world I was able to pick Gage up and bring him up a day earlier than expected. YAY! Levi did much better that night. (I still slept on the floor next to his pack n' play so I could hear him breath.)

Saturday with theme day. We decide to do the armed forces/boot camp theme. Trevin was in heaven wearing his camo all day. (This is his new chair..."Just like Chief's!")

 Levi loved the pinwheels that his cousins set out. He was feeling a ton better Saturday... Yay for modern medicine.  

 After breakfast Papa kicked off the day with a little friendly competition.... GO KARTS! It was just that, competition. It was so much fun. The kids joined in on the fun too. Cheyenne was with me and Trevin rode with Gage for the first round. It was so fun to see how excited they were about driving. When I put my hands on the wheel Chey would say "Don't worry mom. I got you!"  Chey was so excited when we passed Papa and even more excited when he passed us. 

 You can imagine that Gage and Trevin were very competitive. Trevin picked the #4 car and it was way fast. They had running everyone else into the barriers. I heard that Aanika was the hardest to pass, as a result she ended up backwards on track.  I wish I could've seen that one. After two rounds it was time to bring in the litttle kids and let the adults have at it. Gage won but barely... Darrin really gave him a run for his money. THANKS PAPA IT WAS GREAT!  

Back at the trailor we got the rest of boot camp underway. We had paper airplane contests for our Air Force training. Human battleship for the Navy. Marshmallow target practice for Army. And life size Angry Birds for the Marines.  We all had fun and at the end we passed out dog tags. 

Trevin in his army gear. (Gun provided by aunt ChaCha.)

After all that army training Trevin need to go on a secret mission to kill the bad guys. Gage went too. 

The girls with a little help from their cousins found a secret passageway, which got used often after discovery.  Look at those cute camo skirts that Chersti made from old army jackets. 

Every year we go up and give the kids the task of catching a lizard... Well this was the year! (With a little a lot of help from Chersti.) All the kids took turns holding it. 

The kids all decked out in their camouflage. 

The group shot. I'm gunna have to get another picture, this one is missing grandma. 

 It was a fun day and nearing the end some of us were wiped out from all the secret missions we went on...

Others still had plenty of energy to be mischevious... 

 Some came home with battle wounds... (ok it's a mosquito bite.) 

  But WE ALL HAD FUN!

Sunday started with church, next up was family pictures, then lunch. After lunch we all hung out for a while waiting for the Bear Lake wind to pick up and when it finally did... We flew kites!! 

 Which turned out to be an Adventure. Our Cousin X ran out of string and we all thought his kite was lost forever. Then the string got caught in a tree and the kite ended up flying itself for a few hours! We all kept watching and waiting for it to fall. Sometimes it dove really far down and then surprise it came back up. The kite was recovered the later that night. 

 Monday we went to the beach. We got an awesome spot. We had fun playing in the sand and in the water. Trevin finally learned to trust his life jacket. He has always worried and would death grip your neck in the pool if he couldn't touch. All it took for him to change his mind was being in the middle of the lake! who knew. He now LOVES swimming with his life jacket. 

  Levi hung out on the beach. What a cute kid!

 The Banana. This is the first time I've ever been on a ride on the banana. I'm not sure it actually counts since they were taking it easy for the kids. But Trevin and Cheyenne loved it! We had Gage "accidentally" fall off to help the kids realize that the boat will come get you if you fall off.  Then in the process of turning around to get Gage we started to tip. Even my counter weight wasn't helping so I bailed and without my weight the banana righted itself. As you can guess Trevin and Cheyenne were pretty proud that mom and dad both fell off and they stayed on. 

We stayed until Wednesday afternoon (swimming, Bloomington lake, more swimming) and as always it was sad to come home. We love the lake and hope to make it up a few more times before fall.