Fridge Quote!

I haven't been diligent in posting my fridge quote of the week like I had intended to do but I continue to post them on my fridge and have started posting different ones on my bathroom mirror. This week I chose one from the July Ensign article, Fortifying Our Family. I loved this article and this particular quote is needed in my life right now as I'm struggling with patience and kindness while caring for my 6 precious children. I can just be plain grumpy sometimes and I don't like myself when I act this way.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland (April 2007 General Conference)

"We must be so careful in speaking to a child. What we say or don't say, how we say it and when is so very, very important in shaping a child's view of himself or herself. But it is even more important in shaping that child's faith in us and their faith in God. Be constructive in your comments to a child--always."

Beautifully said--I need to follow this counsel better. My Heavenly Father has trusted me to care for these children, and I feel blessed to have each one in my life.

Trip to Grandma & Grandpa's house!

Tuesday and Wednesday of last week, the kids and I went to Blackfoot to visit Grandma and Grandpa Rose. Julie's cute little girls, Chloe and Lily, are staying with them while Juj, Stanton, & Brigham, are away in Boston for Brig's heart surgery. My kids LOVE spending time with cousins and these two days were no exception. They think G &G Rose have the best toy room ever and the backyard is so totally kid friendly so the kids were in heaven. And, as usual, Grandma & Grandpa had the yummiest food and lots of it. Wednesday's breakfast consisted of french toast, sausage (40+ links), bacon, fruit, & donuts for a mid morning snack...yummy!! Grandma kept the candy containers filled at all times and the kids willingly emptied them as fast as she filled them. I get the biggest kick out of my kids every time we go visit G & G Rose because as soon as they come in and give hugs, they are immediately off to the candy containers (the glass duck & the metal choo-choo train!) Thanks mom and dad for showing us a great time! There is nothing better than hanging out and visiting with my mom --I love her so much!
The babies got right in on the action. They love mom & dad's patio stairs and kept mom and me on our toes for two days. At one point, I got sick of watching them so I shut the screen dooer to keep them in, the picture on the far right lets you know just how they felt about that! They now love popsicles, thanks to Grandma's house!

Regan embroidered this napkin for Grandma Rose, and she loved the bead kit Grandma bought and spent time making jewelry for the cousins.

Mom took the kids to story time at the library. It was "pirate day" so they got to listen to stories read by the pirate and then they got to make cute pirate necklaces.

Morgan loves to climb the tree in the backyard. She's not a bit afraid and even went back for more after slipping a bit and scraping up the inside of her leg pretty good. Funny kid!

The kids spent hours playing in the backyard with all of grandma's buckets, watering cans, & lawn games. Her swimming pool with the slide was the biggest hit--even the babies got in on the action. What is it with kids and water??

Grandpa & Grandma's pea patch happened to be filled with peas that day so the kids spent atleast an hour hunting for peas and eating them. My kids were in seventh heaven! We also had a fun sleepover in the basement with kids piled all over the floor and they actually slept really well!

Once again, the babies prove that a box is the only thing kids really need to be entertained!

Chloe and Jordyn really hit it off. They played dress up, beauty shop, stuffed animals, and just about everything else imaginable. Chloe was a good sport and let Jordyn mess with her hair for over an hour.

Look, I'm walking! (well, almost)

I wonder if 13 months is going to be the charm for little Porter. He's pretty content just crawling with the occasional few steps here and there but yesterday he decided to take a few more and we caught it on video. It's so funny to see the difference in he and Kamryn's personalities, he's just so much more easy going and she is "little Miss High Strung." Yesterday while he was attempting walking, she was walking circles around him and clapping her hands with the biggest grin on her face, almost as if she was cheering him on!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I tried my darndest to get a cute picture of Porter's new haircut this morning but he was not having anything to do with it. Thank goodness we have an in home barber (my hubby) and he even cuts his own hair! Now that is talent!

Summer Haircuts!

The girls have begged for haircuts so I finally gave in and took them on Tuesday and boy did they get haircuts! Between all 3 girls, they lost near 17 inches. (a little more than I had planned on) but they do look adorable and I'm just excited to have less hair to do!!

Jordyn is a little obssessed with the new haircut and spends much of her time in the bathroom primping and posing. Hopefully this is not a sign of things to come in the teenage years. Regan either broke or sprained her toe that very same day so between the new hairdo and toe injury she said, "it's like it's a whole new me." So funny!

4th of July

We started the fun day by going to the parade! Regan and I went at 6:30 in the morning to reserve spots right at the beginning of the parade route. The kids always get lots of candy and the best thing is that we can be out of there quick.

DJ & Jonathan played Boce' with the girls and the neighbors came over with their water balloon launcher and tried their best to hit DJ. I think he ended up catching a few of them.

My mom and dad came up with Julie's cute little girls, Chloe & Lily, for a yummy picnic. Grandma Johnson joined us and DJ's brother, Jonathan, came the night before to spend the weekend with us. We had great food and the kids played for hours and thoroughly entertained us.

We ended the long day with a trip to the Malelueca Freedom Celebration. We have a great little spot that we've been going to for a few years where we have a fabulous view of the fireworks. Again, the best part is that we can be home in 5 minutes. By the time the show was over, 3 out of the 6 kids were fast asleep......evidence of a very, very, fun & long day.

The kids absolutely LOVE their Uncle Johnny. He's going to hurt me if he discovers these goofy pictures we took but I couldn't resist.

Binky Game!

This is the babies favorite past time. One of them always ends up crying and today it happened to be Porter. I'm kind of feeling like a mean mom because I actually get a kick out of this. Is that terrible???

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Trip to Lava Hot Springs

Monday, DJ took the day off so we could spend the day at Lava Hot springs. My mom was kind enough to watch the babies so we could spend time with just the 4 kids. Lava is definetly no place for babies, especially with a mom & dad who like to ride the slides right along with the kids. We were all anxious to try out the new slides that were just put in this year. You supposedly hit top speed at 38 mph. Yep, that's a wild ride, atleast for my 33 year old body. DJ thought it was great fun as well, but the long lines and 30 min + wait kept us from going again. Morgan & Regan
tried it as well, Morgan thought it was "awesome" and Regan thought it was "freaky."

I think that's Morgan coming down the hardest slide on the right. The picture of Regan on the right pretty much tells the story of what she thought of the wild ride. I thought it was a pretty fun ride but I must be getting old because my stomach went up in my throat at the drop-off point.

Kaleb & Jordyn were happy to play in the pool and took a few rides down the easier slides.

Kaleb always has to find a stick to play with no matter where we are. He was fascinated with this tree and was showing off his big muscles trying to hit it with a stick.



Here are Morgan and DJ coming down the river the second time. Morg's is loving every minute! The picture of DJ and the kids was taken after Morg's and DJ's second ride down the river. The kids all had life jackets on before, in case you are wondering. I think I would've preferred having one on myself because at the end, DJ hopped out and it was up to his chest, so when I got out it was up to my neck, not to mention the water was pretty swift. Next time, I think I'll be a little smarter.

We ended the fun day with a wild ride down the Portneuf River. I must say that it was deeper and more swift than I remember in years past, (no surprise with all the rain we've had) so the kids weren't as fond of it as we thought they would be. Actually, I think they were having a good time until Jordyn and I got dumped on a little waterfall. We must have hit it just right because we made it over and then it sucked us back in and tipped us right over and we both went head first in the river. It took me by surprise but my motherly instince kicked in and I was able to grab Jordyn and the tube fairly quickly before they went sailing down the river. Anyway, we climbed back on the tubes and made it safely down the river. The funniest thing was Kaleb saying over and over again as we were walking back to float again "did we have fun?"like he was trying to decide wether that was actually fun or just plain scary. Morgan was the only one that wanted to go again, so she and DJ took another ride while we ran along side taking pictures.

Here is a little clip of the DJ and Morgan's ride. The second clip I took video of is where Jordyn and I went off. It's the little (and I do mean little) waterfall right against the cement wall. DJ and Morgan were lucky enough to be on the other side. I wonder how many other people went off at this same place. Or maybe I'm just wimpy. Hmmm!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com