BABY!!!

So most of you know that we are expecting our fourth child, and for those of you who don't, SURPRISE. I bet you're not as surprised as we were when we found out. This is something that we weren't expecting and it took a little while to get used to the idea but now we are so excited. We had our ultrasound on Friday and found out that it's a girl. I didn't think I'd ever want another girl because Emma is so dramatic and boys are crazy but not dramatic. But I really am excited to have another girl. It will be great. I know these ultrasound pictures are small and one's upside down but it's the best I could do for now.

Right now I feel incredibly grateful for the Lord's hand in our lives. I know that this little girl is supposed to come to our family now and I'm so grateful the Lord trusts me enough to send another child to our home inspite of my shortcomings. How blessed we are 1)to have children to help us remember how we should be and 2)that we have such a loving Father in Heaven that helps us so much in our lives. I know that our life hasn't been all that we expected but I am so grateful for all that I have learned. I truly am amazingly blessed!!

The Fourth of July

I'm going to slip this post in between the others because I want it for my records. Our fourth of July was different this year because it was the first year we didn't have any family around to celebrate with us. It still turned out fun. We did most of our celebrating on Saturday the third. Instead of going out to breakfast this year I decided to make a little restaurant for the family at home. I put together a menu of pictures of all the breakfast things you can think of and that morning they got to order whatever they wanted. Luckily they all wanted close to the same thing so it wasn't too much work.

Later that afternoon we went over to our friends house to have a barbecue. It would have been a lot more fun if Josh didn't have to work so I wasn't by myself with the kids. Plus to add to the excitement Jaxson picked that day of all days to poop in his underwear. Three times!!! I was exhausted by the end but I the kids sure had fun.

I had to take a picture of this because it was the first time I got all of them to sit down and eat at the same time in a place that wasn't home. I was so grateful!!
My friend had all sorts of fun games put together for everyone to play. Emma had fun playing them and the boys had fun running around the yard playing on the toys. Needless to say I had to stick with the boys instead of playing to make sure they didn't get into trouble.

We did go to the fireworks in Pullman this year. Yes it was on Sunday but we wanted to celebrate and we really tried hard to make it a good family time. We brought games and treats and just had fun being together. Isaac was enthralled by the fireworks as well as the other kids and I was surprised to find that the show was better than I thought it would be. They light of the fireworks on a hill and the crowd sits at the bottom of the hill so we were pretty close to them. All in all we actually had a pretty good fourth of July.

Trip Down South

I have been working on this post for about a month and I guess it's about time to finish it and get it published. My little brother Mike got married to an awesome girl named Liz at the beginning of June. What a great excuse for us to make a visit. We haven't been to Utah for years and even though it was a really quick trip down there before heading back to my parents Idaho it was so much fun. We went a day early so that we could have a little time to play before all the festivities began. We met my sister Jenny and her family and my Uncle Larry and his girls there and even Uncle Mike showed up at Hogle Zoo the day before the wedding. It was so fun being together. I haven't been to a zoo that big for a really long time so it was fun for us to go as well as the kids.
Emma and her cousins Brant and Alex. I love this photo!!!
Near the beginning of the zoo they have a massive elephant that makes weird noises and blows misty air from it's nose. Emma obviously thought it was funny.
I'm sure Jaxson was thinking "Get it over with Mom" while I was taking this picture but I love the little baby elephant with it's mom in the background.

All the cousins together. Apparently Jaxson had other things in mind than posing for a picture.
This is the last photo of Mike as a single man. Now he's hooked forever. Good thing he found someone great!!
We of course had to take a train ride around part of the park. They loved it.
At the entrance to the park they have this big ball with water running over it that the kids for some reason thought it was fun to play in.

AT THE TEMPLE

On this trip we got to see my little brother Greg and his family for the first time in three years. I had never met his kids and he'd never met my boys. The time was way too short but it was so wonderful to be with them again. This is Jaxson and his little girl Emiline. Isn't she a doll!!
Posing for yet another picture while waiting for Mike and Liz to come out of the temple.
THE LUNCHEON: After the temple ceremony we had quite a bit of time to kill while Mike and Liz got their photos taken and we had no where to go so we all ended up at the center where the luncheon would take place. They had a little ballroom that the kids had a blast running around and dancing in.

What a nice Uncle Brian to dance with the little girls.
Jaxson could not keep his hands off the piano. It's a good thing he's so cute!!
I am really lucky to have such a great dad for my kids!!

I don't know why I don't have any pictures of Mike and Liz at the temple or even from the reception but I don't. After the reception we drove back to Idaho and had a great time with all of us together.

LEOS PLACE: There is a great place in IF called Leos that has so many fun things for the kids to do. So after a meal of greasy pizza, yum, they ran off and had a blast.

Don't ask me why kids love these little machines that hardly move at all but they do. Especially Jaxson when it's a train.
They have a really fun play land there and the kids had a ball playing in it.
They also have an arcade and my kids had a blast running around playing games and trying to get as many tickets as they could.

Sadly this is the only photo I have of the girls night that Aunt Hayley put on for the girls. She went all out from crowns and games to any item of junk food you can think of. No exaggeration. I think that she is now the favorite Aunt, at least of all the girls.

Here are a few more random pictures of the kids at my parents house. Josh had to come home early for school and the rest of the family left a little after that so me and my kids were the only ones left at my parents house for awhile. It was sad but my kids still had a lot of fun running around the yard and getting into stuff they shouldn't. Isaac's favorite things to do was throw rocks into grandma's garden or throw them into the pond. Ahhh!! That kid is such a handful!! Both boys were very interested in the washer. It was so cute to watch them.

On one of the last nights that we were there, Grandpa Bean built a fire and we had a little cookout. It is a miracle Isaac didn't fall into the fire.

Isaac loves Poacher and the sweet dog patiently endures being poked and sat on.

What did I say about the washer? Well apparently the same thing applies to the dryer.
Our last night there Emma slept upstairs in the bunk beds. I came in to check on her and found that she had shoved a blanket through the rungs of the top bunk to make herself a little tent. So sweet.

Jaxson

So since I haven't blogged about his birthday that was way back in April I thought I'd do a post about Jaxson as well. Jaxson is a very caring little boy but he is definitely all boy. He can go from yelling at you one minute to snuggling you the next. And I'm so glad he's a snuggler. Whenever I have a bad day I can say "Jax, I need a hug" and he'll come and not just give me a hug but he'll snuggle me for a few minutes. He loves cars, trains, dinosaurs and he loves to be outside. He is so funny!! He really likes the show Dinosaur Train on PBS and I love to hear him sing the songs from it. We have been potty training lately and he is actually doing really well, thank goodness!! I'm tired of two kids in diapers!! I am so glad that he is a part of our family!! This picture cracks me up!! Talk about being able to fall asleep anywhere!!
Jaxson made a train out of blocks and was so proud of it I had to take a photo. Sorry it's at such an awkward angle!! Jax always likes to bury himself in the pillows of the couch.

Jaxson turned three on April 18th. I don't know why but he always picks the hardest cakes and they never turn out how I want them to. At some point in time during the process I huck the spatula with frosting across the table because I'm so frustrated. So please don't look very closely!! He really liked it though and I guess that's all that matters!!
He got trains and dinosaurs and I really can't remember what else but I know he liked them and I'm glad that he had a good birthday. I'm glad that we have days to celebrate the important people in our lives.