Track Meets and Apostles

This week has been a bit busy.  We had laundry to do and grocery shopping to do on Monday.  It's kinda funny, my days are so quiet in the morning, then crazy in the afternoon.  So opposite!  Afternoons include picking kids up all over the place at all sorts of times and then trying to get everyone's piano practicing in while still picking others up at the right time...  

Tuesday was my morning with Becca and Laura.  I went to their house - Becca brought up her baby swing and since her mom Deb and sister were visiting, we had lots of help with the babies so we could do more crafting!   

Wednesday was a regular school day, then in the evening, I had to leave early to go sing with the choir.  We were singing the opening and closing songs at a fireside on religious freedom, so I asked Megan Johnson to come with me to help with David while I was singing.  She was awesome and I had a lot of fun chatting with her and singing with her on the drive up.  The I bought her dinner after the performance on the way home.  Eileen and Dan had Mutual activities and Anna had Activity Day Girls Activities.  

Thursday morning was my obgyn appointment.  David was good for me and slept the whole time.  In the evening, Aaron had cub scouts and it was pack meeting night, so I went with him.  

Friday was more normal school stuff.  James loves school.  He loves his teacher and gives her a hug in the morning and before he leaves in the afternoon.  His favorite thing to talk about when I pick him up is what he ate for lunch.  

Saturday, Anna had another track meet.  She ran the 800 and the mile and one of the relays, plus the long jump.  She really seems to be enjoying track and having fun running.  Dan took her to the meet in the morning, then I took Eileen to flute lessons, then the kids had piano lessons, I took Eileen to the special Youth Q&A session with Elder Bednar at the church.  Then Dan had his priesthood session and Eileen rode her bike over to visit with a lady from our ward and help her in her garden and teach her how to crochet.  Then in the evening, Dan and I (and David) headed for the church building for the adult session of our Stake Conference.  It was wonderful hearing Elder Bednar speak.  Eileen came back from the youth session almost giddy.  She had stood up and asked Elder Bednar a question, and he had answered it.  She even answered a question that he had asked.  She went way outside of her comfort zone and had an amazing experience!  

David is officially 2 months old.  He is growing so fast and eating a ton.  He sometimes sleeps for as much as 4-5 hours in a night, but it's not consistent yet.  His siblings all still love him and love to help take care of him.  

Today was the general session of Stake Conference.  We got to listen to Elder Bednar again along with another general authority.  Plus we got to hear from our Stake President and some wonderful testimonies!  There was a theme running through the whole conference of ministering to the one and how the purpose of the programs of the church is to help Gods children make and keep covenants.  It was wonderful!   The spirit was strong and the messages were powerful.  I'm so grateful for this weekend and the chance to have my spiritual cup refilled!!  

Becca and Laura came over today along with her mom and sister.  We had a fun and yummy dinner together.  Then in the evening, the youth came to our house for a fireside with the bishop to talk about their experiences with the Stake Conference and what they had learned.  

Quiet vs.Crazy

Well, this week has been an adjustment.  James started his first day of Kindergarten on Monday.  He is LOVING it!  He loves to talk about his day after school and loves going each morning.  I can't believe my sweet little boy is a Kindergartner already!!  Here he is, ready for his first day of school!!

We are starting to adjust to our new routines - David and I get a quiet morning together, the pick up kids from school and life gets crazy and  busy.  I pick up James, head over to the other school to get Eileen and Aaron and Evie, then go back and get Anna at 4:30.  Eileen decided to quit swim team, but still wants to do club swimming.  I'm a little sad, but at least it makes our lives a bit less complicated.  

On Tuesday, Becca came over and we started working on making a couch for our dolls.  David was a bit cranky though, so I didn't get much done.  In the evening, I went and helped out with the service project again - we got a lot done!  

Wednesday Eileen and Dan had a youth temple trip and I had chorale.  The kids got to have some extra friends come to hang out while Megan babysat them for us.  

Thursday morning, I had a dentists visit - it went well - no cavities!  After school, Eileen had an orthodontist visit - hopefully, we can get her braces on soon so we can get them done soon.  Then in the evening was cub scouts for Aaron.  

Friday was relatively quiet.  David and i made a quick trip to Costco in the morning then headed home for lunch.  

Saturday was crazy.  Anna had her first track meet and needed to be there by 7:30 in the morning.  The meet lasted until after noon.  I went to the temple for the endowment of two wonderful young women.  Eileen babysat - for all 4 of the younger kids.  We left a bottle of breast milk and prayed that he would be good for her.  He was - he was quiet and happy and ate fine from the bottle.  When I got home, Sister Cotrell had come over to visit!  The kids loved having her over and she thanked us for the use of our washer and dryer by treating us to dinner.  It was fun chatting with her!  I wanted to say Thanks You to Eileen for doing so much to help out on a crazy busy day, so I took her to Hobby Lobby and let her pick out some yarn.  :)  She's been making doll clothes ever since.  

Today was church.  we had a wonderful Sacrament meeting, including a great talk from a newly returned sister missionary.  Our ward choir sang  a musical number and did a great job!  David was good for Dan so that I could direct the choir and teach my lesson, the he and I crashed for most of 3rd hour in the mother's lounge so he could eat and eat and eat.  After church we headed home for lunch, a bit of a nap, some home teaching, ans Stake Choir.  After we had our Sunday dinner, Becca came over!  She has a standing invite and it's been lots of fun having her come join us!  The kids love little Laura.  Even Koopa was having fun playing with her today.  After scriptures and prayers, Eileen and Dan and I played Timeline and had lots of fun.  

Back to School

Monday, as usual was laundry and grocery shopping and of course we had fun playing with Sandi and Kai!  We had the sister missionaries over for dinner - it's so fun to have the missionaries in our house!  

Tuesday morning, Eileen and Anna started their first day of school, then I headed off with James for my 6 week check up which went well.  Then I met up with Sandi and the kids at the park.  After some bloody drama with a couple cut feet, we headed home, then I took Aaron to the Orthodontist to get him a couple more brackets on his teeth.  He now has top and bottom brackets.  

After, I got Aaron and I some lunch, then took him home where the kids watched the BFG with Aunt Sandi since Kai had hurt her foot again and needed to stay off it!!  I went to pick up Eileen and Anna from school and we went to the swim team and track team meeting, then Dan and I spent some time in the evening running some errands to get them ready for sports.  That night Sandi and Kai headed back to Texas, but it was a blast having them here!  

Wednesday, the younger kids and I met up with Becca at the park for a playdate and had fun chatting and playing.  Then Becca came back to our house to play some more and have lunch with us!  When we got home, Dan had just gotten home - he was feeling sick and needed to sleep to recover.  Anna had her first day of Track and came home tired and with sore legs.  Then in the evening, I had choir, and Eileen and Dan had mutual.  

Thursday, was Evie and Aaron's first day of school, plus, James had some back to school stuff to do, then Dan came home and rested, still not feeling quite up to normal.  Eileen had swimming after school.  They got two new coaches this year since Gabby moved and I am not able to deal with coaching with a brand new baby and kids at two different schools and in two different sports!  In the evening, Aaron had cub scouts.  

Friday, was a busy day - James and I went in to his school to meet his teacher and after school included all the running around that comes with picking up Evie and Aaron and Eileen, dropping off Eileen at swim, picking up Anna from track and then Dan picked up Eileen from swimming.  Then we got dinner done before dropping Anna off at Activity Days.

Saturday was even busier.  Eileen had flute in the morning, Dan took the primary age kids to the ward primary temple trip.  Eileen and I got a couple quiet hours while the kids were at the temple, then they came home and we got some stuff done around the house before heading to a fun kids event at Crit Castle games.  Eileen's friend had asked her to come - so we all headed over for a bit to play games and have fun.  The kids loved it and now want a ton of new games.  After, we headed home to can peaches.  Sister West came over to help us and learn how.  It actually went pretty quickly.  Then we had a yummy dinner of chicken soup and had some fun chatting and playing together.

Sunday was busy too - church of course was great - but Dan managed to give me his cold, so I woke up rather groggy and stuffy today.  After church, I had some leftover chicken noodle soup before taking a nap.  Then I headed to ward choir which went great!  Following that was Stake choir which was also great and finally back home to have dinner and have fun with Becca.  Natasha and Eldon were going to come too, but she wasn't feeling good.  :(  Dan and I played some games with Eileen before sending her to bed and now - I'm going to go crash!

Counting Down

My kids are all rather excited for school to start - some for rather odd reasons.  Eileen is excited for school to start so that she doesn't lose track of what day it is anymore.  This week has mostly been taking it easy and getting ready for school.  Monday was laundry and grocery shopping as usual.

On Tuesday, Becca came over to play and have fun making stuff.  The kids love playing with baby Laura and having fun together.

Wednesday was the beginning of Chorale for me.  It's always fun seeing everyone again and getting new music!  Dan and Eileen had their mutual activity - they all headed down to the reservoir for fun and boating and lots of good times.

Thursday was cub scouts for Aaron and normal fun stuff for the rest of us.  We met up with a friend at the park to play for awhile.  The kids had a great time!

Friday, I was brave and took the kids to the zoo.  We put David in his car seat in our wagon, I knew I wouldn't be able to carry him in the snuggly all day with out damaging my back!  It was pretty nice weather and the kids had a great time playing and exploring and checking out the animatronic dinos all over the zoo.

Saturday morning, Eileen had flute lessons, and the kids had piano lessons.  Then in the afternoon, Sandi and Kai got in for a visit!  We all had a fun time together!

Sunday was wonderful.  Classes were great, talks were great and we are rather excited about an upcoming Stake Conference with a General Authority coming!

Settling In

This week started off with laundry fun as usual and some grocery shopping.  Plus it was the day that our furniture was getting delivered!  The kids got things cleaned up - Dan took out the old stuff and we vacuumed and got stuff ready.  Now we have a living room full of new furniture to sit on.  A lot of the seats in the new pieces have reclining parts and every time the kids sit down they have to put the bottom out and lay back - even if they are only sitting down for a couple minutes.  

Tuesday, Becca came over.  The kids love having her and Laura come over to visit, and Laura loves the attention of the older kids.  Becca and I (and Anna and some Eileen too) had fun making books and pretend iphones for our dolls.  Plus we had a yummy lunch together.  

David hit the 1 month mark this week - I can't believe it's already been a month - he is starting to fill out and not be so skinny any more and is eating well and starting to sleep a little better.  

Eileen and Dan had youth activities on Wednesday and Anna had her activity days activity.  Eileen learned all about rhubarb from a sweet lady in our ward and she came home wanting to make rhubarb everything.  :)

Thursday afternoon, we met up with Grandpa at the Buckley AFB Fun Fest.  He was helping with a booth about the Philippine Scouts and the work that he's doing to find the Scouts and their families.  The kids had a great time and came home with a ton of junk swag - but they LOVED it - especially after a month of not getting out much.  The favorites were these balls - Eileen especially loved them, and the zip line -which Eileen wouldn't go on.  David and I went on the little train with James and over all - it went well - I'm ready to attempt a day out with the kids!

Friday, we got a call from the Elders who needed a dinner for Friday, so we had the Elders over along with some less active members of the ward.  We had a great time with them - their family is wonderful and it's always wonderful having the Elders in our home.  We had a great lesson from them and then had a yummy Oreo cheese cake that Dan and Eileen made for dessert.  The two of them have gotten on a cheesecake kick lately - my taste buds have been enjoying it - Eileen wants to make a Strawberry Rhubarb cheesecake next. :)  Poor Dan thought he would never have to eat Rhubarb again.

Saturday was rather busy.  Dan spent a lot of the day getting the kids school supplies.  Eileen had flute lessons in the morning, and the kids had piano lessons in the morning.  Then in the afternoon, James had a birthday party to go to.  His fried Wyatt was turning 5 - so he and I went and had fun partying.  Then Dan went with Anna and Evie for Adeline's birthday party.  Plus Sister Cottrell came up to visit us and meet the baby!  It was so nice to see her again and have her join us for scripture study.

Today was nice and quiet after a busy Saturday.  Church was wonderful.  David is complying well by eating during Sacrament meeting so he's not fussy or hungry while I teach Sunday School.  We had yummy Cinnamon Rolls for dinner with Scrambled eggs with fresh chives from a sweet sister's garden.  Choir was wonderful - we actually had a good turn out!  Tonight after the younger kids went to bed, we played Clue with the kids and I got lucky and won.  :)

On our own

After helping out with the laundry and cleaning up, Dan's parents headed home on Monday evening.  They stocked us up on food and helped us clean out our leftovers.  We had a great time with them and look forward to seeing them again!  

The rest of the week week was mostly just taking it easy at home.  Becca came over on Tuesday to play and craft stuff.  The kids had a great time outside this week, and we mostly just took care of the baby and played together.  

Wednesday was the youth activity for Dan and Eileen.  Thursday was cub scouts for Aaron and Friday was our end of week fun.  Eileen got to do her first paid babysitting job.  She did a great job taking care of the little girl and playing with her.  It was exciting!  (well exciting for me and hopefully for her since I told her dad that she would be happy to watch his daughter with out asking Eileen first...)  

On Saturday, Dan and I took Anna and David and went to American Furniture Warehouse to get some new furniture - actual new furniture (that wasn't bookshelves) for the first time in our married lives.  We walked around and with Anna's help, we picked out what we wanted.  It will be delivered on Monday!!  I feel like an adult! :)  

Sunday was wonderful as always - Church was great - I got to teach again and then after we had choir which was great!  I'm so excited about our new songs!  In the evening, Becca came over - Jeremiah works on Sunday evenings, so she has an open invitation to come over and hang out with us on Sundays.  She came to have dinner with us and play and while she was here, Anna set up our mermaid scene since I had finished all the tails and we set up our little underwater scene with all 5 of our dolls.  We ended up with everyone involved in holding up backgrounds and floating dolls and such!  And of course, and time I have a camera - James has to pose.  

Girls Camp and Visitors!

 This week has been busy and fun!  Monday was laundry and grocery shopping and getting Eileen all packed up for Girls Camp.  She got all packed up and we dropped her off at the church bright and early Tuesday morning.  She seems to have had a great time - despite lots of rain.  She also made some new friends from other wards and came home seeming to have grown up way too much...  Monday night for Family Home Evening, we did a family movie night and watched "Sing" together - such a cute movie and such a fun night!

Becca came to visit on Tuesday - it was great!  She was feeling great and the kids loved getting to see and play with baby Laura.  We had fun chatting and having lunch together and letting the kids play.  In the evening we had a quiet time with out Eileen around.  I missed her a lot more than I realized that I would and worried about her more than I needed to.

Wednesday morning, Dan's parents arrived.  We had a great time with them - working and playing and snuggling the baby.  The kids all wanted to play games and read books all the time - they have loved having Grandma and Grandpa visit!  In the evening, Dan had the Young Men's activity and Anna had activity days.  She got to decorate cupcakes - and was sweet enough to decorate some for everyone - and she did a great job too - they were so cute!

Thursday was more work around the house and games with Grandma and lots of taking care of the baby.  In the evening, Aaron had cub scouts.  Mostly it was a busy but easy going day!

Friday was a fun day.  The kids had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa - helping around the house and trying to teach them games.  In the afternoon, it poured for a bit - but it was still nice and warm outside, so the kids (and Dan) got swimsuits on and headed out to jump on the trampoline in the downpour.  It was so funny!  I grabbed my camera to get pictures and a video - once Evelyn realized what I was doing - she had to pose for the camera.  In the evening, we had a fun movie night again and made personal pizzas for dinner and popped some pop corn and watched "The Secret Life of Pets" - it was a cute movie and we had a fun time together.

Saturday was spent by me eagerly awaiting Eileen's return.  My Dad flew in from Texas for the baby blessing and we all enjoyed a family dinner together!  Finally back together.  We also spent some time getting things ready for Sunday!  I just thought it was so fun watching the grandparents all trying to get the perfect picture of David - so I took a picture of them :)  

Sunday was a busy morning - getting ready for church and getting David ready for a day out.  Stephen came down for the blessing with Lincoln.  Newell and Becky and family came and Becca and Jeremiah came with Laura.  We had a wonderful full circle of family and friends.  These are the priesthood brothers that blessed baby David (not including the bishop and stake president) It was wonderful!  There were also two other babies blessed (twins) today and a confirmation.  There was also some Stake business to be taken care of and I led the choir in a musical number.  The choir did a great job and Stephen was kind enough to step in and sing with us too!

It was so wonderful to have so much family around us!  After - we invited people over to hang out at the house with us.  It was lots of fun and a great chance to be with people we care about!

In the evening, we all (we being our immediate family, the grandparents and Becca and Laura) went to the nursing home to see Glenna and play music for her.  The kids brought instruments and we used their piano and the kids all played songs for her.  We listened and sang and had a wonderful time.  The kids were so cute and so friendly and brought cheer to everyone!  After, we headed home for dinner before taking my Dad to the airport.

Week 2

This week Dan had Monday and Tuesday off for the holiday weekend.  Monday we mostly spent doing laundry and grocery shopping and all the usual stuff.  David is doing good and eating well.  

Tuesday our ward had our annual 4th of July breakfast sponsored by the scouts.  We all headed over - Even David and I made a cameo for a bit.  We then spent the afternoon taking it easy before heading outside to watch the fireworks - we really got to see some great ones from our own front yard.  David slept through them all.  :)

Wednesday, Dan headed back to work.  In the morning Anna got picked up to go to Water World with her friend from church, then in the afternoon, Tina stopped by and picked up the younger kids.  I dropped Anna off after she got back and then in the evening, Dan and Eileen had mutual.  Eileen had her pack check before camp - she is excited about this coming week!  Eileen wanted to stay and hang out with us and since she needed to be at the activity on Wednesday evening and we didn't really want to drive down to drop her off, we let her.  It was kinda fun - but I'm afraid she may have liked being an "only child" for a couple of days a bit too much.  

Thursday Eileen and I spent most of the day relaxing.  We played some Zelda and Dan came home and had lunch with us.  It was funny because Eileen still wanted to do scriptures and prayers at the same time we usually do them, even though there weren't other kids around to need to go to bed at that time!  

Friday morning was mostly us taking it easy again.  Tina and Frank dropped the kids off in the afternoon and they spent the whole evening trying to convince Dan to play Killer Bunnies.  They had played - even the younger ones had learned to play - with Frankie while down at Frank and Tina's house and were wild to play more games.  

Saturday was a busy morning.  Eileen had flute lessons in the morning, then she went to a baptism after that.  Plus, our good friends from Texas - the Tolberts - stopped by on their way to Utah.  It was so fun to see them - even if just for a little while.  It's so fun how even years after we moved away - the kids can all still get together and have a great time together.  Plus it was so much fun having them stop and chat for a while.  Spending time with them makes me really wish we lived close to them again.  Hopefully we will get to see them for a bit on their way back through to Texas next month!  

The next part of this post is just pictures of David.  He gets himself into the cutest poses - and though my cell phone camera can't do them justice, he really is such a cutie!  Both in his cute poses and cute faces and cute baby noises.  I figure that if this is our last baby - I better enjoy it while I can!  

Today, Dan stayed with David so I could go to Sacrament Meeting.   It was wonderful to be there!  Then we switched off and I came back home to eat breakfast and feed David, and Dan headed to church for Young Mens.  After church, we had lunch, then I went back to the church for ward choir - directing them with David in the baby carrier.  :)  After choir, we were talking to the West's and Evie asked if they could come over for dinner - I said that it was ok by me - and so they came over for French Toast and eggs and sausage and then of course, for games.  It was so fun to watch the kids playing games with them!  After they headed home, Eileen and Dan and I played a game they introduced us to.  You use your cell phone and place it on your forehead and people describe the words that come up and you try and guess the word.  Eileen found that there is a distinct disadvantage to playing with two people who have been married for 14 years and know how to give each other clues.

Finally He's Here

Sunday night we headed into the hospital - the plan was to start on some meds to soften the cervix before starting the pitocin the next morning - but upon arrival, the nurse checked me and decided that my cervix was soft enough already and after communicating with my doctor, she started the pitocin drip in the early hours of Monday morning.  She slowed it down a bit while I got the epidural then kicked it back up.  Around 7 am the nurse checked me and I was dilated to a 7.  She had the doctor on rotation come in and break my water and my doctor showed up just in time for David Paul Jones to be born at 8:10 am.  He was 8 lbs 5 oz and 20 in. long.  He was healthy and the delivery went well.  It was all so calm and clear.  By lunchtime, I was in my regular room and getting lunch sent up.  In the afternoon, Dan stopped by with the kids who said they wanted to visit me - but really just all wanted to see the baby!  They were so cute!  

When he came back Tuesday morning, he came back with my first visitor.  Grandpa came up to visit and see the baby and to chat for a bit.

My mom came in to help out for a bit while Dan stayed at home with the kids.  We also had a friend from Dan's work stop by with flowers and a card to hold and snuggle the baby.  

Then in the evening, Dan and the kids and my mom all came over and we got hospital dinner and had a little birthday party for Anna.  She got to open her presents, and we had cupcakes and sang to her and everything.  It was so nice to have us all together for her birthday!

 The kids of course all wanted to hold David - and have spent most of the week wanting to hold him.  They have all been so sweet and so helpful!

Wednesday afternoon, we headed home!  The morning was spent in going through everything necessary to get discharged and then finally we could take our little one home!  

Thursday, we had a check up for David.   He was born tongue tied and we were starting to worry that getting it clipped was going to be a pain in the neck - but at his appointment they said that one of the doctors there could do it later that day, so we came back in the afternoon and got that done quick and easily.  In the afternoon, Frank picked up the older kids so they could spend the night and have fun with Aunt Tina and Uncle Frank.  It was so strange having them gone.  

Friday morning, we took David into the doctor's office again to have his bili-ruben levels tested again since they had been a bit high the day before.  After this check - the doctor said that if things were going well, we didn't have to bring him in again, but if we had concerns, then we could.  Tina took the kids to the Children's Museum and they had a great time, then dropped them off in the evening and stayed and chatted and held the baby for awhile.

Saturday was really our first full day all together.  The older kids are so helpful and sweet and the younger kids just dote on him and want to hold him all the time.  Feeding has been a bit rough - he is hungry all the time - but getting him to latch on properly has been difficult.  He is a champion pooper though!

Today Dan took the kids and headed to church, David and I hung out at home and watched General Conference.  After church, our friends the West's stopped by and ended up hanging out and having dinner with us and playing games.  It was lots of fun!

Waiting

This week has been one of waiting.  I felt like I was counting down all week.  James would come up to me each day and ask how many more days.  How many more days until Grandma gets here?  How many more days until the baby comes?  How many more days until Anna's birthday?  And he wanted to keep tabs on the countdown every day.

The week was mostly summer normal.  Dan still had young men's stuff - including a hike with them on Friday morning - and work of course.  We still had laundry to get done, dinners to cook, and days to fill with play and crafts and fun.  Dan and I had a list of stuff that we needed to get done before Sunday in addition to the usual - including packing my hospital bag, cleaning up the spare bedroom, and getting stuff ready for baby.

The waiting to head into the hospital was the worst.  I wanted the time to pass, I wanted to be busy doing something, but didn't know what.  Dan asked if I would like a blessing - I did.  It was an incredibly precious moment where words he used lines up almost exactly with my patriarchal blessing and after filling as much time as possible pacing the house, it was time to go.

Summer Fun

This week has been rather exhausting and busy, but still fun!  Monday was laundry day as usual.  I haven't got a whole lot of energy these days, especially after climbing up and down the stairs all day while doing laundry, so other than that, we mostly just stayed home and played outside and read books and had fun together.  In the evening, we had a nice family home evening together before sending the kids to bed! 

Tuesday morning, I had my OB appointment - I was just shy of 2 cm dilated, so right about where I would expect to be at this point in the pregnancy.  At the very least it's nice to know that things are progressing as expected.  She also did the group b strep test and sent me home!  Becca came over to hang out and crochet.  The kids LOVED having baby Laura over to play with and entertain.  Aaron had an orthodontist appointment that we ran over to quickly before coming back for lunch.  Aaron got two more brackets on his teeth - he is now up to a grand total of 4.  Aaron also had Twilight Camp this week with the cub scouts - so Tuesday evening, we dropped him off at the church and he went off for an afternoon of cub scout fun.  He had a great time!  In the evening, Dan and I went on a date night - we got a quick dinner, the went to see Wonder Woman together.  We also tried to watch our nephew Colin open his mission call live on Facebook.  We are so excited for him as he prepares to serve in Mexico!  

Wednesday was quiet most of the morning, but the evening got a little crazy.  Dan was helping out at Twilight camp, so he took Aaron up in the afternoon.  I left not too much later to stop by Doug's new house and get the tour and the rest of the trampoline parts.  I got home just in time to let Eileen head off to Young Women's.  

Thursday was again Twilight Camp for Aaron, along with me running a bunch of errands.  I hit Costco and Walmart to get everything ready for the weekend.  Plus, the group b strep test kit they used at my appointment on Tuesday was found to be an expired one, so I had to go back in for another quick test.  In the evening, Dan set up the trampoline for the kids, but by the time they got it all done, it was time for the kids to go to bed.  

Friday they spent all day on the trampoline.  They figured out after lunch that putting on swimsuits and soaking themselves while jumping was a LOT of fun.  They also had piano lessons in the morning.  Even during lessons - when they weren't doing lessons, they were mostly jumping.  It's been really nice to have something to entertain the kids while I have no energy :)  Friday afternoon, Becky picked me up for our Mom's night out.  We headed to the hotel, checked in and watched Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries while she worked on knitting a baby blanket and I worked on the baby's cross stitch.  We grabbed a quick dinner at Noodles and Co and finished up our evening. We had a great time - we always do - relaxing with a great friend and no kids for a night.  Plus, we got to sleep in the next day!  

We had planned Anna's birthday party for Saturday - she wanted a party with some friends, and since the baby will be coming right before her birthday, we wanted to kinda let her have a party just for her.  We did hamburgers and hot dogs for lunch and cake and ice cream and presents - but the rest of the party was spent outside in swim suits throwing water balloons, jumping on the trampoline with a hose, playing on the slip and slide, and shooting each other with water guns.  They had a great time together!  After the party and clean up, we tried to make sure we got everything ready for the Sabbath before heading to bed exhausted.

Dan made Anna an awesome rainbow cake!

Eileen has been wanting to get her hair cut short for Summer, so after the younger kids were in bed, I took her over to J.C. Penny's and she got her hair cut.  She looks so cute!  And she got lots of compliments on it today at church.

Church today was wonderful.  Aaron helped me make biscuits for breakfast for Dan for Father's Day, and the primary kids sang for the father's in Sacrament meeting.  It was hilarious - they sang "Daddy's Homecoming" and at the part where they sing "put my arms around his neck" when most of the kids made motions of pretending to hug their daddy, Evelyn put her hands around her throat and looked like she was trying to pretend to choke her daddy.  Classes and lessons were wonderful!  After church, we had lunch, I made cookies and then we headed to ward choir.  I managed to make it and stand the whole time.  Just one more week!  In the evening, we had some friends from church over to cake and ice cream and games.  It was lots of fun!

We are now down to one week.  I kinda thought I might be a bit melancholy about this being my last pregnancy, but really I'm just glad.  I'm at that least comfortable and most achy part of pregnancy and I'm eager to be done with pregnancy and eager to get to hold our baby!!  James was so cute the other day - he told me that he wanted our family to be bigger - I told him that it would be in just a little while!  I think I may have "Final Countdown" stuck in my head all week....

Utah

Monday morning, we loaded up the car and headed out to Utah.  It's funny how a 9 hour car ride can feel short compared to the usual 14 hour trip to Texas!  We had a stop for lunch and had a yummy egg salad sandwich lunch courtesy of Anna and the kids got to play a bit before we finished the trip.  We got in just in time for a late dinner and to put the kids to bed.  My parents had gotten in earlier in the day and Sandi and Jon got in later that evening.  The next day, the fun started - at least for the kids.  My parents ended up spending most of the trip trying to get things sorted out for Grandma Penny and while they got a lot done - they didn't get to spend nearly as much time as they would have liked hanging out with the rest of us.

Tuesday we started out the day in the pool, then for a change of pace, we headed to a really neat public park that Jon found!  It had some really cool things to play on and a smoking volcano and a fun little cheap train ride and even some water fun to splash around in.  The kids (and adults) had a great time!  We headed back to the pool before dinner for a bit and had fun, then had a yummy dinner before sending some tired out kids to bed!   Dan didn't go to the pool with us in the morning - he had a phone interview, but he joined us for the park!

Wednesday again included as much pool time as the kids could talk us into.  In the afternoon, we met up with mom for pedicures.  I know Eileen doesn't look happy in this picture, but she did enjoy herself.  We all had a nice time together chatting and getting a bit of pampering.

Thursday morning, we got to go and meet up with Grandma Penny - they wheeled her outside so we could chat and eat angel food cake and let the kids run around.  We found a hummingbird nest with 2 babies in it and we all got rather excited about that!  The kids had a fun time playing and chatting with Grandma.  She tired easily, but the kids were very good about being careful around her and listening to her.

Friday morning, Sandi and Jon took Taz and Kai and Eileen and Aaron to Zion's National Park to hike.  They had a great time.  Weather was good for them and Eileen found a whole bunch of tadpoles and frogs that she could pick up and play with, so she was in 7th heaven.  While they went there - I took the younger kids to the pool.  They have been loving being in the pool this week - we tried to be good about sunscreen, but there was still a little bit in the way of sunburns.  I've been enjoying the pool too - taking the weight off my joints every day really helped with me being comfortable and with the swelling in my feet!  We finished the day with a fun game that Grandpa set up with questions about Great Grandma Penny.  The kids played in teams and got to answer questions for fake money which they used after to "buy" some fun little prizes.  I was amazed at how well Eileen had listened to Great Grandma Penny and remembered the answers that she had given the day before.  We were all amazed at James' ability to guess the right answer almost every time - despite all his answers being random guesses!

After most of the kids had gone to bed, Eileen was enjoying her quiet time and got a gentle hair brushing from Grandpa!

Overall it was a wonderful week.  I know my parents would have liked less stress and more time with the grand kids, but they were able to figure a lot of things out and get things understood and figured out in a way that will help them have peace of mind now and channels of communication for the future.  The kids had a great time playing with their cousins and it was wonderful to get to see the kids with Grandma Penny.  Saturday morning, we cleaned up and then hit the road heading for home.  We had a lunch break and a couple gas breaks and made it home in good time for dinner and bed!  Dan picked up Koopa and mowed the lawn and we got a few things done before the Sabbath.

Church today was wonderful.  We got to listen to a couple awesome talks from our high councilmen and an amazing musical number by one of our wards elders and one of our young men.  Classes and lessons were great - both ended up being wonderful reminders of what an amazing man I'm married to.  After church, Dan went to visit a friend from work for a little baby shower get together.  I took the kids and headed to choir.

We now officially have 2 weeks left - 2 weeks from now I will be in the hospital getting ready to have a baby!

Vacation Time

This week was the kids first full week of Summer Break.  The kids spent a lot of the week just playing and having fun together.  Monday was laundry and grocery shopping as usual.  

Tuesday, Aunt Tina came and took the kids to the Butterfly Pavilion for a few hours and I went to get a hair cut and relax a bit.  The kids had a blast - they always love the Butterfly Pavilion.  I chopped about a foot off my hair - but it is still half way down my back - so not exactly short.  Aaron decided to re-read through the Harry Potter books and at one point, I caught him reading like this and couldn't help snapping a picture.  :)  In the evening, I had my last institute class - we had some yummy snacks and a great lesson!  I'm looking forward to next year and diving into the Book of Mormon!  We also had our friends Kay and Reggie over for some games - Apparently Eileen had thrown down the gauntlet about beating Reggie at Dominion, so they came over to try and take her down a notch... and failed....  Thankfully they were still there playing and having fun when I got back from Institute and stuck around for another game - where Dan and I both got brutally beaten.  :) 

Wednesday, Eileen went over to help out a sister in our ward who had just had twins - she had a great time serving and helping with the tiny babies and their toddler age older sister!  While she was there, I took the kids and we all went to the dentist's office for Evie's appointment which went well, then we headed back to pick up Eileen, then home.  In the evening was the usual summer Wednesday - Young Men's and Young Women's activities and the younger kids hanging out with me.

Thursday was piano lessons in the morning, then just hanging out and playing outside most of the afternoon.  We also were starting to want to get things ready for our trip next week.  I took Eileen and Anna with me to drop off Aaron and Cub Scouts, then we headed over to the Dollar Store and Walmart to get some things for the trip.  Then we picked up Aaron and headed home.

Friday was more time at home - getting some stuff ready and getting some clean up done.  I took the kids to the used book sale before lunch and we picked up some books and headed home.  Anna was excited to find a bunch of Babysitter Club books that we didn't already have and we got some good stuff - but the selection wasn't as good as it's been in the past.

Saturday was rather busy.  Eileen had flute lessons in the morning.  Dan was taking his Project Manager Certification Test that he has been studying hard for this past month.  He passed it and did very well - it was such a relief for him to have that done and to be able to be done studying and stressing out.  We also spent a lot of the day getting laundry done and getting things ready for the trip.
Sunday was church in the morning with great talks and lessons and choir in the afternoon, then in the evening we got the kids clothes packed up and ready to go for the next day!

School's Out for Summer

Well, it's been a busy week, with Dan out of town, life is always more tiring - he is such an amazing husband and father that there is truly a big hole in our lives when he's gone.  Monday included laundry and grocery shopping and all the usual school and home fun.  I tried to get most of the laundry folded, but after grocery shopping, I just couldn't stay up that late.  So I headed to bed and finished it later.

Tuesday was more tired me.  Becca came over which was fun and we had fun chatting and crafting stuff.  After school was the usual, and then in the evening was institute.  Class was wonderful!!!  I love getting to go and dive into the scriptures every week!

Wednesday was field day for the kids.  I sent them off to school covered in sunscreen and with more to apply during the day and for once they came home mostly sunburn free - Anna, despite bringing a hat managed to lose it early on and get a sunburn on her head, but other than that - they did pretty good this year!  In the evening, Eileen had her YW activity and Anna had her Activity Day girls activity.

Thursday was the kids last day of school!  It was overcast most of the day - but rain held off long enough to allow the kids to all get together at the park after school with their friends.  They had a great time and now they are excited about the end of school.  After school was mostly the usual.  Aaron had cub scouts, Anna took him there and got him after on bikes (thankfully weather was mostly good though they got a bit rained on on the way home, and the sun is going down late enough for it to still be light at 8) and I had a baby shower that I went to for a bit.

Friday was the first official day of summer break and we celebrated by starting the day off with piano lessons.  :)  After, Nevaeh came over to play for the day.  The kids had a fun day of playing outside and making crafts for their American Girl type dolls.  Dan got home just in time for dinner and some fun together in the evening.  We started watching "The Flash" with Eileen since she's been on a superhero kick lately.  So far, she's really enjoying it.

Saturday morning, Eileen had flute lessons, then we spent the morning taking it a bit easy and getting some stuff done around the house.  In the evening, we went over to the church for a pot luck dinner with the Crockett's visiting from Kansas City and had a great time!  Dan got some more practice in for the big test next week.  And we ended the day with a quiet evening getting ready for the Sabbath.

Church today was wonderful.   The talks given in Sacrament meeting were wonderful and the rest of church went great - and for once I didn't get called out of class to try and help one of my kids make better choices...  :)  After church, Dan did some home teaching and then I had choir practice, then Dan did some more home teaching.  There was a bit of napping that happened and then a yummy dinner with the family.  I picked Doug up from the airport - he had gone out for Julia's graduation - and had a nice conversation with him on the way home.  Then in the evening, Dan beat us soundly at Killer Bunnies and then took great joy in rubbing it in to Eileen.  While I just looked on and laughed.  :)  Now it's time for bed!!  just over 1 week before we go to Utah and 4 weeks to baby!

Almost Done

Well - the kids are in the final stretch.  They survived immersion and now they have less than a week left of school.  Monday was the kids first day of immersion and they loved it!  For James and I, it was full of books, games, laundry, daddy fun (Dan worked mostly from home) family home evening, grocery shopping and a trip to Costco to get ready for the weekend.

Tuesday, James and I went to his final preschool day - we did a fun little field day and had a fun snack together and just had fun.  James and I got there early to play at the park for a bit and ran into some friends from the Peoria ward!

After preschool, James and I headed over to Quest to be there for Evie and Aaron's Hogwarts End Feast and the other fun.  It was a blast to watch them have fun and play quidditch.  Then we grabbed the rest of the kids and headed home.  In the evening, I had Institute which was so awesome!

Wednesday was late start.  James and I mostly hung out and read books and played games.  In the evening, Dan and Eileen had youth activities and I hung out with the younger three.  

Thursday was much the same, but with out the late start.  In the evening, Aaron had cub scouts and the rest of us tried to work some on getting the house cleaned up.  

Friday was more clean up and get ready stuff, then in the evening, we went over to Dwayne and Nicole's house for a yummy birthday dinner for Dan.  Dwayne made curried chicken (SO YUMMY) and I brought a pineapple upside down cake.  We all had a blast - the kids playing and the grownups chatting and laughing.  

Saturday was long and exhausting, but lots of fun too.  It started off with Flute lessons for Eileen.  Piano lessons for the kids, a doctor's appointment for Evie to get a wart burned off and then we all met up at a graduation party for one of the young men in our ward.  Then we headed home to get everything finally set up and ready for Dan's birthday party.  I meant to take pictures, but failed.  We had a great turn out and got a lot of the food eaten.  I made 12 avocados worth of guacamole and it mostly got eaten.  We got to see lots of friends and had lots of fun.  After, we did some clean up and then Dan ran some quick errands to get ready for his trip and the Sabbath, then we crashed.  

We got up for church the next morning, not quite recovered from our Saturday, but happy to be there.  The choir sang and they did a great job, we had some great lessons and then we headed home.  Dan had just enough time to get home and grab his stuff and kiss us good by before heading to the airport.  He will be gone most of next week in San Francisco.  :(  The kids let me take a little Sunday nap, then we played a game of Life (I won!)  Then we did dinner and had fun playing together.  Our home teacher stopped by with some popsicles, so we had popsicles and played outside until bed time.