More Summer Fun!

We had a fabulous 24th of July with mom, dad, Stanton, Juj & kids at Heise Hot Springs. Dad has a company party there every year and invites us to come along. There is a big green waterslide that is the kids favorite as well as a big pool and of course, the hot springs. We never make it over to the hot springs though because the kids spend most of their day on the waterslide and this year was no exception! I decided not to even bother getting in to a swimsuit because I knew I'd need to be in and out with the babies so DJ enjoyed swimming with the kids and I enjoyed visiting with mom & Juj and it's never boring watching my kids. Regan and Morgan love going down the waterslide by themselves and Jordyn and Kaleb went down on DJ's lap which Jordyn seemed to like but Kaleb was not convinced even after DJ had taken him down a handful of times. Jordyn's cousin, Chloe, went down all by herself so Jordyn decided to try it and the poor little thing came out laughing and crying at the same time. She got turned around backwards when she was just about to come out and slammed her head in to the side of the tube and she has a nice big bump and bruise to show for it. It was pretty funny to see her reaction to it all, "Mom, I went down all by myself (happy, smiley face), "Ouch, my head hurts" (sad, crying face) Do you get the picture??? Anyway, it was so much fun to have cousins to play with and even Grandma Rose got to go this year!!! YEAH!!! We stopped for lunch at about 1:00 and then headed back over to do some more watersliding and ended up staying until 6:00 that evening. It was such a relaxing day and the babies slept all day with the exception of a couple of feedings. Sometimes it's almost easier to be out and about with the babies because they seem to like all the noise and commotion. Thanks, Dad, for another fun year at Heise!! Below is a picture of Regan coming out of the waterslide, one of my "hunky, farmer tanned" husband and little Kaleb (scared to death and screaming for mommy) and Jordyn coming out of the waterslide. (I love the look on her face)

Gotta love Albertsons Cereal Sales

I have to admit that I can't pass up a good cereal sale (unless of course I already have a good stock in food storage) which I didn't until today so I restocked! No, I don't feed the kids cold cereal every day, DJ makes them pancakes quite often and then there is their personal favorite, hot cereal (they really can't stand it but choke it down knowing that the alternative is a very hungry stomach." Anyway, just for recording purposes, I came out of Albertsons with over 50 boxes of cereal, granola bars, yogurts, gogurts, etc. and spent $51.00 and saved $147.00. I considered that a pretty good deal but not as good as my 40 boxes of granola bars for $3.00 last year. (no, that is not a typo) We are just about out of those granola bars so it was time to restock. I do love a good deal though especially with the cost of food right now! (maybe we'll just have cold cereal for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.) ha ha

Baby Update!

Porter with Aunt Lori ******Cindy with Porter and Kamryn

My two helpers! (what would I do without them?)

I took Kamryn and Porter to the Doctor today and couldn't believe it when they were weighed. Kamryn weighs 7 lbs. 14 oz. and Porter weighs a whopping 9 lbs. 10 oz. I guess all my worries about them not getting enough to eat can be put to rest. They are such cute little things and we are truly enjoying them even though they are a ton of work. They both have cracked, what I call, "non gas induced" smiles in the past couple of days. They will make eye contact with you and if you're lucky they might smile a bit! I love it!!! They are such different personalities and right now Porter seems to be pretty relaxed and low maintenance where Kamryn is a little bit more needy but I've had enough kids to know that the tables can turn quickly so I'm really trying to enjoy every moment with them, fussy or not!!

Family Reunion 2008

We had our Rose family reunion minus Matt & Sara and family. It wasn't quite the same without them but we were so happy to see them a couple of weeks ago and be able to have almost a whole day with them. We went to mom and dad's Friday night and had a wonderful dinner prepared by mom, followed by Family Home Evening by Lor and Brad and a few words from Grandpa Rose, and then topped the evening off with a fun talent show. I always look forward to all the kids talents each year and again, they didn't disappoint! It was also fun to have Grandma Johnson and Aunt Kim, Uncle Derin, and there son Collin join us. We haven't seen them for a long time and it was so fun to catch up with them. The next day Lor and Brad & kids, and mom and dad came to our house for the day. We missed Juj & Stanton and the kids but we enjoyed a very relaxing (okay, down right lazy) day watching the kids play and visiting. I think we were all in need of a day off. Thanks to mom and dad for planning and carrying out another successful and fun Family Reunion. Again, I slacked off in the picture taking area except for 2 very funny pictures of DJ and his infamous "loaded" dinner plate. Anyone who knows DJ very well knows that he has a huge appetite. (one of the things I love about him) This year mom made taco salad and he made himself an enormous plate full. The kids laughed their heads off when they saw this so I couldn't resist taking a picture.

Do you think he finished all this??? Well, not quite, he got to the last 6 or 7 bites and took a deep breath, I asked him if he was going to finish or if he got a little cocky while filling his plate. I actually ended up finishing his plate and he took a much needed nap!!!

Music Camp with cousins!

I am ashamed of myself for not writing sooner about the fun week my girls had at Aunt Lori's house last week but it seems like I have such a difficult time finding a second to sit at the computer. So to sum up the week, music camp was such ball for all of them especially being able to be with cousins! I think they all came back with a little more confidence in singing in front of people because all 3 were able to sing solo's. Jordyn sang, "Rubby Ducky," Morgan sang "Bear Necessities," and Regan sang, "God Help the Outcasts," and "Feed the Birds." According to Lor, they all did great and apparently Jordyn is quite the little performer. She is definetly our drama queen so that doesn't surprise me. Kate, Morgan, and Jordyn all got to participate in the Children's Chorus and Todd and Regan participated in a Musical Theater (selections from "Oliver") which was so adorable. They all seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves and I'm thankful to Lori for taking them in for a week and making it possible for them to do this. They loved all the time in the pool at Lor's house and are all better swimmers! They are looking forward to our trip to Heise with Grandpa and Grandma Rose tomorrow. Thanks again Lori for taking in 3 extra bodies last week and for being patient with the 3 extra heads of hair. Jack was great for us and he and Kaleb got to be good buddies. Having 4 in diapers was a little crazy at times but Kaleb reminded me periodically: One day I said, "okay everyone, now we've got to" and then I paused and he filled in, "CHANGE BUMS"!! I got the biggest kick out of that one but at the same time I was thinking how sad it is that he's 2 1/2 and not potty trained yet. Oh well, I'm still trying to gear myself up for it. Anyway, the girls had a great time but were excited to get home and I was so excited to get my helpers back. I found out just how much I rely on Regan's help everyday and I was completely lost without her. She is such a huge help and always so willing to do anything I ask. In fact, I went to Walmart today and saw that school supplies were being put out and I had a quick reality check as to how hard it's going to be when she goes back to school. I'm hoping by then we will have established some sort of a routine and I might have things under control! ( ha ha ha) I didn't take good pics of music camp but these will have to do!

I mentioned in an earlier post that Regan, Morgan, & Jordyn are staying with Aunt Lori in Rupert this week attending a music camp with Todd & Kate. They have also been able to take swimming lessons in the evening in Lori's pool so they are having the time of their lives. They've called every evening and informed me that they miss us but they are having so much fun. Thanks to Lor for taking 3 extra kids. We have had Lor's little Jack who is Kaleb's age for the week and he has been excellent, considering how tiny he is. He and Kaleb have had a great time playing together and I think it's made it so much easier on Kaleb because he has really missed them. The other night he said, "mom, when are my girls going to be home?" They are his best friends which makes me really happy!! Anyway, things have been busy but good here. I have had a glimpse in to the future of how it will be to have twin 2 1/2 year olds. Ha ha!! I can only hope that Porter and Kamryn will even half as good as Jack and Kaleb have been. They definetly have their moments but all in all, they've been great. Last night I decided to give all the kids baths so I let the little boys play in the tub while I fed the babies and got them ready for bath. I walked away for a few minutes (I know, big no, no) and all the sudden I hear them giggling uncontrollably so I walked back in to find them dumping water on each others heads and then pouring a few cups out on to the rug. I was not pleased about the water on the rug but I'm pretty sure I know who the ring leader was judging by the picture below. Is that a mischievous grin, or what??????

After I got the boys out of the tub, I put the babies in and generally they hate bath time but this time they decided to cooperate. I know bath tub pics are hated by some but I just couldn't resist.

Porter looks like a giant next to Kamryn!

Yesterday the boys were playing outside with the neighbor kids and having a ball. They were being pulled around in a wagon behind a bike, up and down the street. It was nice to have them both entertained for a while!

I have made a few trips to the store with the 4 kids this week and if you think I got stared at before, you should've seen us this time. The trip to Fred Meyer yesterday was pretty uneventful considering I was pushing one cart and pulling another behind. I was proud of myself for only running the second cart in to the back of my legs 2 times and I only came home with one bruise to show for it. I was amazed at how good the little boys were on all our trips though, but I have to admit that I used a little bribery with popcorn chicken at Walmart today since I had quite a few things I needed to get but the other times they behaved themselves with no bribery tactics from me!

Last night after baths I was putting Jack to bed and I walked out to fill his sippy cup up and when I went back in I heard Kaleb say, "okay, Jack, now lets say prayers, Heavenly Father, bless mommy and daddy, bless we have fun, amen" and then he said, okay have a good sleep and proceeded to shut the door. Jack was amused up until the point of the door closing and then I don't think he appreciated Kaleb very much. Anyway, it was pretty cute and I have to say that Jack is such a trooper about going to bed in a not so familiar place and he is pretty low maintenance during the day! I can only hope that the girls have been this good for Lor!

A visit from Grandma & Grandpa Rose, Aunt Christie & Aunt Nancy

Grandma, Kamryn, Cindy, Porter, Grandpa, Jack, & Kaleb

Great Grandma Rose holding Porter

Great Grandpa Rose holding Kamryn

Aunt Christie (holding Kamryn),

Grandpa Rose holding Kaleb, Grandma Rose,

Aunt Nancy (holding Porter)

Great Grandpa & Grandma Rose holding Kamryn & Porter

I've been looking forward to this day for a few weeks now since I found out that my grandparents from Park Valley would be coming to visit. It was an added bonus to have two of my dad's sisters, Aunt Christie and Aunt Nancy come with them. We don't get to see each other very often and they hadn't seen the babies yet so it was great to have them come! I felt bad that the girls weren't here to see them but they are staying with Aunt Lori for the week attending a music camp and having swimming lessons and I have her little boy, Jack staying for the week! Anyway, it was so much fun visiting with them and the boys had fun playing and showing off! I have to admit it was nice to have some extra arms here to hold the babies since my biggest helps are away for the week. I was so happy to get some pics of the babies with Great Gram &Gramp; I hope my kids know how fortunate they are to know their great Grandparents!! (not to mention their Great Aunts! Thanks for taking the time to stop and visit, it made my day!