Oh What Do You Do in the Summer Time??

So for some reason format of this post is turning out dumb so if it looks bad it's not my fault. I have tried to fix it four or five times and by now it's just not worth the aggravation!!

I can't believe school has started already!! This summer has gone by so fast!!! I'm not complaining though, it's nice to have cooler weather. We had a lot of fun this summer so here's a not so brief picture overview of our life since the wedding in June. We had a family reunion somewhere in the midst of all the chaos that I didn't blog here but I'll get it up soon.

THIS SUMMER WE......

HAD A GIRLS NIGHT!!

Ever since the amazing girl's night that Aunt Hayley put on while we were down for the wedding Emma has been wanting to do one with her friends. We finally did it a few weeks ago and they had so much fun. Between getting their hair and makeup done and getting all dressed up to the door signs they decorated and all the junk food that was there I think they all had a pretty good time.

They also had a ton of fun dancing to barbie music.










































Emma is so lucky to have so many wonderful friends here!!

We had a yard sale. Yuck, It is so much work to put one on!! Emma did make eight bucks selling doughnuts and juice though!!

Emma lost her first tooth!!!

Grandma and Grandpa Bean gave us a bunk bed!!! What a blessing this was!!! The kids love it and they actually have a little room to move around in now!! THANKS SO MUCH Mom and Dad.

We got into big sister's makeup!! Isn't that LOVELY!!

WE PLAYED WITH DADDY!! I realize more and more every day how very blessed I am that Josh is my kid's dad!! He is such an amazing person and I'm grateful that they have him to learn from. Josh had summer classes but wasn't able to find a job until mid-summer which meant that he had extra time with us and the kids had so much fun having him home.

WE HAD FUN WITH FRIENDS. Our friends the Shurtliffs moved away last March and we were so sad to see them go. They went camping not too far away from our home this summer though and it was so fun to be able to be with them again. We spent a really great day with them and were sad to have to say goodbye again.
















The campground that they started at had a bunch of chickens and ducks randomly running around so we decided to go feed them. Both Emma and Jaxson were afraid of them but at least Jaxson tried to be around them. Emma locked herself in the car and refused to come out. Isaac however couldn't get enough of them. He had so much fun chasing those birds around and traumatizing them.

Yes, it looks like I'm going to strangle Jaxson here but I'm really just trying to get him to calm down and look at the camera.

After that we found a park in town and had a picnic lunch. The kids loved playing on this train. Especially Isaac. I can't believe he didn't fall off and get hurt with the way he was climbing all over it!!

In the process of looking for a place to hike we found an amazing place for them to camp. It was perfect. Close to the river so the kids could throw rocks in and very secluded, the way camping should be. It was so fun but really hard because Isaac was running around everywhere!! At his age he doesn't understand how dangerous things are and he's so independent so he wants to be able to go wherever. It was a little stressful keeping him safe. I do think we'll try to go there next summer when he's a little older.

I love this picture of Jaxson picking a wedgie!! It cracks me up!!

PLAYTIME!! It is so nice when your children reach an age where they can actually communicate together and have fun playing. I love watching them and I'm so glad they can have so much fun together.

Yes it's a pink cowboy hat!!! I guess you do the best you can with what you've got.

Dance parties are a norm at our house. Excuse Jaxson's lack of clothing please.

WE PLAYED IN THE POOL!!

And of course what is a hot summer day without POPSICLES!!


WE PLAYED SOME MORE WITH DADDY

And did some snuggling too.

I think Emma asked Daddy for a massage first and when one kid gets something they all want it. Luckily they have a fantastic daddy that was more than willing to do it.

This picture is really random but it makes me laugh. Emma got a pair of skates from her cousin Alex and any time Jaxson sees them he has to put them on. He's obsessed and with Isaac liking them as well they cause quite a few problems. Needless to say, we don't bring them out very often.

MORE POPSICLES AND POOL FUN!!

MY FLOWERS WERE AMAZING THIS YEAR!! Thanks to mom!! When she was up in June she fertilized and got them all ready. I really love you mom!!

WE RAN AROUND WITH PILLOWS ON OUR HEADS. Don't ask me why!!

AND YES, WE PLAYED IN THE POOL SOME MORE!!

Isaac actually started this; I don't know why but he thought it was hilarious to pour water over his chest so he'd walk over to the pool, get a big cup full and them come and stand right in front of me to dump it down his front. The other kids caught on and had fun with it do.

Random Pics

I came in to check on Jaxson one day and found him like this. Yep, he's asleep. I don't how kids fall asleep where they do!! Doesn't that look so uncomfortable.

AHH, the classic horsey ride. Good Josh!! I don't know how they haven't broken his back yet!!

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.