Rusty started preschool last week. I was thinking that this was going to give me 3 hours of a little more calmness. Wrong!! Rusty and Gavin have become good buddies latly (which I am so glad about), but good buddies that are 2 little boys tend to be more desrtuctive. It takes me the time that Rusty is at school to fix/pick up everything that they undo 
They are such boys!! They wrestle, color all over everything, get into anything that is not theirs and tear it apart, have decided that of all the places that they could be playing in the house my garden tub is the best slide (even though we have one in the house) and they love hearing themselves yell as loud as they can, and when I go to clean up one thing they are finding some other mischevious thing to do. So what do I do? Take LOTS of deep breaths, clean up one mess at a time, and try my best to redirect them to other fun and less destructive activites. So how am I having time to type this you may ask? Well Gavin is taking a nap, Jaxon is sitting on my lap while I type, Rusty is at school, and I spent all morning cleaning up mess after mess and luckily found plenty of thing to keep the boy distracted while I cleaned.
Rusty & Gavin September 10, 2009
First Day of School… August 24, 2009
Today was Eldon & Lizzi’s first day back to school. They were so excited to wear their new clothes, use their new back packs, and see their new teachers (hopefully these feelings last all year). They said that they had a great first day. Rusty will start preschool next week for a few hours in the afternoon. Now I just need to get Gavin and Jaxon talked into using that time as nap time I also just found out today that kindergarten here is all day!! So next year I will have 3 kids in school all day, kind of crazy to think about.
Lizzi’s Baptism August 24, 2009
Yesterday was such a great day. Lizzi was baptised. I was emotional of course, but almost made it through my talk without crying. I am so thankful for the wonderful friends that we have made here. Our ward is great. There were so many of our friends that showed up and helped with the boys, refreshments, and making the day even more special.
Wrapping Up the Summer With Parties!! August 18, 2009
I am finally getting around to posting about Lizzi & Rusty’s birthday parties. Rusty was having a little bit of trouble deciding between a Transformer party and Pirate, so the Dollar Store decided I went there and found so many fun party favors for so cheap. I love doing the ”do it your self” parties!!
We couldn’t leave out the Transformers though, so we had a Optimus Prime pinata!!
We celebrated with our neighbors and good friends the Bastians. Between our family of 7 and their family of 8, minus Carter (he’s 14), it was quite the party! I forgot to buy candles (thinking that with all the kids we have I must have some in the house) so we improvised…
Bouncy house fun, Pin the Pirate Treasure on the X, pinata, candy, pizza, cake, presents, and lots of running around we ended the night with a very pleased 4 year old.
Friday night was Rusty’s party and not having a long enough weekend to recover we took on Lizzi’s slumber party!
Lizzi had a very girlie slumber party to celebrate turning 8!
She wanted to do a fashion show. We borrowed some dresses from the Young Women in our ward and let the girls have at it. They each dressed up in their put yourself together outfit and walked the runway. We even got one of her friends that does not like dresses to join inon the fun. Lizzi is obsessed with France right now so this was her version of a french girl outfit…
The girls all made their own pizza and designed their cupcakes:
No slumber party is complete without makeovers. The girls all had a great time doing each others make up.
The girls all had fun and were up very late!! No more week night slumber parties and it might just take me a year to recover
Let Gavin lay where he will… July 28, 2009
For the last 2 months Gavin has taken on a new born baby sleeping routine. He gets up at least 2 times a night, wants to sleep anywhere but his own bed, and so he usually ends up getting a bed made up on the floor of our room or out on a cushy chair in the family room. I would love to end this habit, but getting up with Jaxon & Gavin throughout the night is kicking my butt and so he gets to sleep where he will sleep for now as long as it isn’ t my bed!! This is where he snuck into bed last night:
Pioneer Day Celebration July 28, 2009
Friday we celebrated our pioneer heritage. The kids had tons of fun!! They ate lots of snow cones, funnel cakes, and watermelon. Eldon won the women & children watermelon eating contest. They got their faces painted by the Young Women and Eldon, Lizzi, and Rusty sang us a fun pioneer song. I was proud of the Young Women for performing their pioneer rap that they had made up and choreographed earlier in the week. We enjoyed lots of yummy food and a good time with friends.
Breakfast by Eldon… July 23, 2009
This morning Eldon (with some help from little brother’s and sister) made us breakfast. It was a way to keep them busy for an hour this morning. Eldon was happy with how they turned out. Lizzi, Rusty, & Gaving thought that they were yummy too.
Okeefanokee (yes a real place) July 21, 2009
A few weekends ago we went in search of Okeefanokee. This is a swamp/state park that is about 90 minutes from our house. We rented 2 jon boats, you know you have a big family when you can’t all go in one. Then we went on the search for alligators. This was an exciting and some what scary adventure all in one. Its not so bad when you see the little guys, but when an alligator about the size of your boat from head to tail swims by it is some what scary. We all had a great time and can’t wait to go again. Who wants to join us?
Riding with the kids in our jon boat:
This guy was crossing the road as we were leaving:
Nathan & the boys:
Some of the alligators we saw:
A cool tree with a scary face:
Happy 5th!! July 21, 2009
In the slew of craziness that was going on Friday, and the excitment of the day I forgot to post about a very important and special event. Friday July 17th was Nathan & my 5th anniversary. It has been wonderful, trying, happy and sad moments, but over all joyful and growing. I love Nathan so very much and I am so grateful for Heavenly Father allowing me to be blessed with a wonderful husband for all eternity!! He took charge this year and planned a nice lunch for us on Friday and then Satruday night we went to a place for dinner where we have memories from our 2nd anniversary. It was a fun and sillly memory. We walked around St. Augustine ( one of our favorite places) and enjoyed the nice weather after getting rained on a bit, he bought me some yummy ice cream, and we drove the A1A (the highway that runs along the coast) home. He was so sweet to share loving thoughts with me and I love him all the more.
Engagment picture:
5 years ago:
