Sunny Funny Anna

Anna turned 4 this week! I can't believe how quickly my kids are growing. I registered Cait for middle school and Anna turns 4. How can that be? Anna wanted to have a soda party with Savana for her birthday. It really turned into a sugar party with soda, cakes and candy, I felt sick for the kids after just watching them eat. The girls all had fun dressing up and talking with accents. Even the boys came and joined in after a while, which ended with them turning on the girls and shooting them with water guns. When they were finished with their little party, they traded in their cakes for mud pies. For dinner Anna picked her favorite, which is hot dogs. This little girl loves hot dogs. She is such a funny eater for a kid. I know most kids like hot dogs, but she would rather eat asparagus, than chicken and prefers eggs over pancakes. After dinner we had cake and ice cream and opened presents. When I had asked Anna what she wanted for her birthday, she had quickly answered "ponies, so I can do my hair with them, and a mirror with lights." She did get those ponies and a mirror, but no lights. She was also showered with lots of other gifts. Dresses, and make-up, coloring books and markers and money. She loved it all. We are so grateful to have Anna in our family. She certainly adds a unique style all her own.

Blowing out the candles.




At her soda party.


The whole gang.

Franklin Falls

My friend Caroline and I packed up the kids and headed out to Franklin Falls today. Of course it was beautiful and of course I left my camera at home. It was a great hike for kids and the reward at the end was great. I had Colten in my little hiking backpack and he kept leaning over the side so he could get a better look at the river as we hiked along it. "Look Mom!, awfthom (awesome), fish! fish! Look Mom!" was what I heard from him over and over! He loved it. Chance and his friend Nathan had a great time crawling all over the rocks in the river, exploring, and in general just being boys. These two are really cute to watch. I'm glad Chance has Nathan for a friend, he is a good kid. When Nathan is over at our house it is so much more peaceful, because Chance is not bugging the girls. Cait and Cody loved the water. Cait wanted to go swimming in the pool under the water fall, but her mother was too paranoid to let her (good thing I didn't have that mother growing up!). Cait is becoming pretty adventurous and I am not sure I am ready for it. Cody loved the smaller pools of water and was very content to sit and soak. Anna got in the water a little bit, but enjoyed soaking up the sun and snacking with Savana more than anything else. Colten was all over the place, trying to keep up with the big boys. I wished I would have wore my swimsuit, but just being there watching the kids play, hearing the water, feeling the mist from the waterfall, having good company was more than enough. I am still amazed by all of God's creations.

I will post pictures when I borrow some from Caroline who was smart enough to pack her camera. I can't wait to take Aaron there!

This post is very messy. It resembles what my brain feels like most of the day. Flashes of this and that. I really blog for myself, because I know how quickly things fade for me. Read at your own risk!


Anna has started doing her own hair lately. She loves to do hair. Anyones hair. When her friend Savana was over, she did Savana's hair over and over. Good thing Savana is a good sport.


Chance and and Nathan. These two get along really well. We like having Nathan come over. Then Chance isn't bothering the girls so much. They thought they were pretty cool with their sticker costumes. Do you like Chance's goatee. (not sure how to spell that one.)


Some of the kids watching the horse show while Caroline and I picked berries.

This one's for you Misty.

Having fun with cousins.

More fun.

Cait and Cody after they got their haircut. Such cute girls!

Colten's face was red all day long and he must have drank gallons and gallons of water, but he never wanted to come in.

Caroline would put the berries in and her baby would take them out.

Buddies, Anna and Savana, and Chance and Nathan after picking berries.

Bud sitting on Aaron's lap while he's driving!! That has to be against the law. Bud doesn't seem to care about laws though. We he decided to get up, he crawled over Aaron's head and onto Colten's lap.

Sitting between Anna and Colten.

Naptime. I guess just thinking about Aaron driving to California wore Grandpa out too.

After 2 months of no work for Aaron, he finally has work again! I must say it was pretty fun having him at home. It felt kinda lonely without him those first couple days. We managed to find fun stuff to do though. My friend Caroline and her kids came with us to go pick berries. We went to Carnation and it was one of the prettiest places I've seen. The kids had a great time playing together and I find berry picking very relaxing and enjoyable and having good conversation made it even better. The berries were so sweet and delicious. What could make the day any better? Well at the blueberry farm, they were having a horse show. So you know me, I was in heaven. The sun was shining, the blueberries were easy picking, the kids were happy and there were horses everywhere. I'm pretty sure that was close to heaven on earth. On our way home Caroline wanted to stop by a little burger place she had spotted on our way there. There sign read, "we specialize in grease, salt, sugar and caffiene." It sounded like my kind of place so I was in. The french fries were delicious! I really wanted to try one of their shakes, but there was no way I was paying $4.00 for a small shake.

We also made a mad dash to California for Aaron to take care of some stuff he had started for Grandma and Grandpa before he went back to work. I'm always amazed at how well the kids travel for 18 hours straight in the car. This time we had Bud with us too. That dog kept thinking it was okay to sit on my lap and everyone elses while we were driving. Needless to say at the end of the drive I felt oh so dirty. Visiting Grandma and Grandpa and Kym is always enjoyable, the kids love helping Kym with all the animals, Aaron loves hanging out with Grandpa, and it's fun for me to visit with all of them and be away from home. This time we were so close to AZ that I couldn't avoid the temptation and the kids and I stole away to tucson for a couple of days. It was so good to see my Mom and Dad and DD, Misty and kids and LD and kids. The heat wasn't as bad I thought is was going to be. It was 110 degrees both days and it certainly didn't stop the kids from playing outside all day. I wanted to see so many other people, but couldn't let myself steal away time from my family.

Cody had her adnoids removed this week and tubes put back in her ears. She was such a little trooper. After the surgery, it took her forever to wake up. She would open her little eyes and start to cry because she was so tired, so the nurse would tell her to go back to sleep. I think it was close to 2 hours later that we finally left the surgery center. Cody does love her sleep, that was what I worried about the most with the whole surgery, was putting her under. Everything went just fine though and other than a stuffy feeling nose Cody is doing well.