Happy Birthday, Patty!

DJ's oldest sister, Patty celebrated her B-Day on August 18, just two days before Regan's B-Day.  We were able to go to Montpelier to the Nursing home where she lives to celebrate with some of DJ's family.  DJ's mom went to a lot of trouble to bring a yummy meal for all of us to enjoy out on the patio and thankfully the weather cooperated.  All the kids LOVE Aunt Patty as you can tell in the picture!!  She has the best sense of humor and can bring a smile to any one's face.  She's been through a lot in her life yet still keeps a positive out look and has a sense of humor about the many trials she's been through. The kids love when we get to stop at the nursing home to visit Patty--they love all of her fun talking stuffed animals, love all of her funny quotes and pictures on her walls, love her treat jar, love her funny sense of humor and love to take turns taking rides on her electric wheelchair!! 

The B-Day Girl, Patty!!  Some of my favorite things about Patty are:

* her quick wit

* her positive attitude

*her sense of humor

*her frequent phone calls

* her determination to not give up

*her concern for everyone around her

*her love for all the nieces and nephews

*her generosity

*her smile

....and the list could go on!  I love you Patty and hope you have a great year!

Morgan enjoying yummy food and mom making sure everyone has enough Cheetos!  DJ's mom is amazing!  She has always cooked for the 5,000 so even if there are only a few people coming to a party, there is always TONS of great food.  She knows how to throw a great party!

Tana and Kami

Regan and Janae

Patty's party on the patio (I dare you to say that a few times:)

She's "12"

We celebrated Regan's 12th B-Day last Friday.  It blows me away to look at these pictures and see my little girl growing up.  I can hardly believe we're old enough to have a daughter in Young Women's and entering Middle School.  She has been anxiously awaiting this B-Day for lot's of reasons, mainly because of her excitement over entering Young Women's and being able to go to the temple to do Baptisms for the dead which she got to do with her dad the morning of her B-Day.  Also, turning "12" meant a few other exciting things--getting her ears pierced and wearing a little mascara and lip gloss!!!  I about died when she got dressed for church last Sunday in her new outfit, applied a bit of mascara and did her own hair.  I think D.J. wanted to cry as he introduced her at the pulpit with her advancement in to the Young Women program.  He looked at her and said, "I don't think this young lady is old enough to go to Young Women's."  It was pretty cute and made me realize how quickly the years go by raising kids. 

Birthday cakes are a big deal at our house.  When the kids are really young I help them choose a fun cake and we have fun making and decorating it but as they get older, they get to do it all on their own.  This year Regan wanted to have a layered cake so we worked together finding the right size pans, baked the cakes, and then she did the rest.  Pretty darn cute!!  She was so proud of her masterpiece!!

Have you ever tried to take a picture of 6 kids all together??  Another example of my stinky camera skills but atleast you can see all of their adorable faces.   Jordyn kept sneaking in all of Regan's B-Day pic's.  She is NOT camera shy.

Regan opening one of her favorite gifts from her sister's--Earrings!!

Morgan and Regan checking out Grandma Rose's fun homemade cards.  They really are one of our favorite things about Birthday.  She has the cutest card making program and inserts some of her favorite photo's from the year of the kids and personalizes it with a cute message.  Morgan doesn't love having her picture taken as much as Jordyn so I'm always happy when I can get a cute photo of this beauty. 

My cute parents, just wish that DJ's parents didn't live so far away.  I truly have the best parents and in-laws ever!!!

Regan with one of her best buddies-Lindee Andrus!  These girls have been friends since 2nd grade and have remained great friends even though they attend different schools.  Regan had a late night the night of her B-Day and had a ball hanging out together!

These little munchkins love their big sister!  She really is like their second mom--if I'm going somewhere, they immediately ask for "Re Re."

Lindee and Regan wanted to watch their movie alone with no little one's bugging them.  I thought I was doing a pretty good job until I realized that Kami was missing.  This is where I found her, under the girls snack table, occasionally you'd see this little hand sneaking up for the popcorn bowl.

Is this face adorable, or what?

Morgan and Alissa Andrus (Lindee's younger sister) also one of Morgan's best buddies!  They got to have a late night of their own!  They always have the best time when they play together.

All in all, Regan had a great B-Day!  Some of my favorite things about her are:

Her kind personality

Her excitement for life

Her willingness to help

Her ability to recognize when I need help

Her desire to be obedient

Her hard work ethic

Her determination to do well at anything she tries

Her sensitivity to everyone's feelings

Her love for her brother's and sister's

I love you, Regan!  I'm so excited to watch you in all of your middle school activities!  It's going to be a great year!!  Regan is running cross country this year, she started the season a couple of weeks ago and is loving it so far.  She has her first meet on Friday at Sugar Salem High School!  Pictures to come!

Mini Family Vacation 2010!

We decided to do a mini family vacation this year but it turned out to be every bit as fun as our South Dakota trip last summer.  I generally like to have things all planned out but this year it just worked to be spontaneous and flexible with our plans.  We headed for Utah Wednesday morning, August 4th and got home on the 7th.  We had 4 days packed full of fun and got to spend some time with family members along the way. 

A visit to our favorite store, Cabella's and visiting DJ's brother, Mel in Syracuse!

Snowbird Ski Resort (Up Little Cottonwood Canyon)

This is a continuation of our fun at Snowbird. We took an Arial Tram ride Ride to the 11,000 foot summit of Hidden Peak… the view was amazing! Rather than ride the tram back down we took a 15 minute scenic hike down the mountain where we saw lots beautiful wild flowers and then walked through a 600 foot tunnel in to the Mineral Basin where we then caught the Peruvian Chairlift and road it back down the mountain. We saw some wildlife and just enjoyed the relaxing scenic ride and it worked out great because each chair held 4 people--perfect split for our family of 8!!

After a 7 hour fun-filled day at Snowbird we headed to Cokeville where we spent a day at the Afton fair and rodeo and the next day we spent playing in the water at Bear Lake--no pictures of the fair fun but lots of pics of the day at Bear Lake!

This was our second trip to Bear Lake this summer and the kids loved every minute of it.  I love that it is so shallow for so long so you don't have to worry too much about the little ones.  Jordyn was much more brave this time around and ended up venturing as far out as the older kids.  Kaleb was content to play on the shore in the sand and the babies loved giving each other rides in the tube and covering themselves head to toe in sand.  This will be a must-do summer event from here on out!

Table Rock hike- August 10, 2010

I'm still impressed that these girls hiked this with their dads.  I googled Table Rock and it said, "Table Rock is daunting- be warned, this is not for children as the hike is approximately 11,000 feet." So, I'm totally impressed that these girls did it and love that their dad's took the time out of their busy schedules to help them accomplish this.  Funny side note:  The bottom left picture of Cadee and Regan cracks me up--look at the height difference in these girls--only 2 months difference in age!     

Po-Po & Kami

Toothless Jordyn

Jordy lost her first tooth on July 22 and her second one just a couple of days ago! She actually let me pull them both out! I can only stand watching my kids fingers in their mouth wiggling teeth for so long until I practically wrestle them to the floor with dental floss in hand. No, I'm not that mean, they actually have all let me pull their teeth out and are slowly finding out that my way is pretty quick and painless. Anyway, Jordyn was nervous at the thought of the tooth fairy coming in her room so she left a note on the kitchen counter asking for the money to be delivered to my pillow. Cute! After the first one she decided that the toothfairy wasn't so bad so she left the tooth on the end of her bed so as to not have ANY contact with it but still have the experience. She is such a funny girl.

She lost the two bottom middle teeth so when she smiles she really trys to make her bottom lip go down so everyone can see the missing teeth:)

My cup is full....

..........actually, it runneth over. Thanks to my sweet husband suggesting that I take 3 whole days to myself to attend BYU Education Week. I declined the offer a few times and then changed my thinking the morning it started and I'm so thankful I did! It was just what I needed, spiritually, physically, & mentally. My back hasn't hurt at all for 2 days and before this I was popping Ibuprofen right and left. My mind is clear and I have a renewed sense of energy to be the kind of mother I know Heavenly Father wants and knows I can be. And my head is full of thoughts, quotes, scriptures, suggestions, etc. that are moving me to action. Not to mention, I was reminded of how wonderful it is to eat a sandwich by MYSELF with no one telling me it looks gross, or on the flip side, just deciding that it's their sandwich. I enjoyed doing my infamous speed walking in between classes with no one telling me to "slow down mommy!" I had time to clear my head while enjoying the silence walking through the Garden's. And, I must mention that above all, I thoroughly enjoyed listening to around 22 hours of lectures w/out having to pass out snacks, shush the loudness, give "the look," and leave the room with fussy babies. Now, I may sound as though I begrudge my life as a mommy of 6, actually, I totally love it, it's just stressful at times and I realized that every mommy needs a break now and BYU Education week just might become my little break. Once again, I've gotta say how much I love my husband for making it possible!! He's a gem!