Kid Updates!

Madelyn: This is actually her nine month picture... she has changed so much even since then. She'll be one in three weeks! She's crawling (still not walking - which I am fine with!), waving good-bye, sometimes it even sounds like she says, "Buh-bye"... She can say, "mama", "dada", just started blowing kisses, and loves playing peek-a-boo by lifting her bib over her face... She's my super fast one, she can empty a drawer of clothes before I even have the chance to walk across the room! She will definitely keep me on my toes!

Reagan: Is working through the no nap stage. I'm still making her rest for at least an hour. She is my constant helper, and loves to feel useful! She is also trying to learn how to ride a bike with no training wheels, and looking forward to Kindergarten in a few weeks - yikes!

Josiah: (Will be getting pictures next month) Our funny little comedian, who is always making us laugh with the silly things he says. Loves to cuddle (physical touch is definitely his love language!), can be found at any and all times making "monster truck" noises, and racing around the room pushing anything that has wheels!

Fishing

One of the most fun memories for me was watching Reagan making her own memories. A few years back my dad bought Reagan a fishing pole for Christmas, with the promise that he would take her fishing. This camping trip was the perfect opportunity... (I wish I would have video taped it, because it's so hard for a camera to capture all the precious moments: squeals, excitement, and funny things that were said). They found a little spot right off the dock, and within minutes caught a cute little sunfish. And a few minutes later caught another sunfish, and another, and another... 45 minutes later, they had caught ELEVEN sunfish!!! It was the perfect fishing experience for Reagan. She caught fish really fast (which kept her attention) and they were tiny, and actually really pretty fish! (So they weren't something she was scared of). In fact as time went on, she even wanted to help un-hook and release them. I told my dad this is one memory that she will never forget!

Camping

Little did I know that camping would be a controversial topic in our household. My sister and I come from a family where camping is something fun we look forward to every year. I think the reason we look forward to it so much, is not necessarily the mosquitoes, or sleeping on the ground, but the quality family time that it represents. No phones, no T.V., no interruptions... just us. I love the fact that we actually get to talk to each other, play games, and just hang out. Our husbands not so much. Neither of them enjoy camping. So depending on who you talk to you will get entirely two different stories. I'll just put it this way the kids and I had a blast, and if you want to hear Brad's version you'll have to talk to him...

We camped at Sun Lakes near Coulee City. Which was a big bonus because we had the chance to catch up with a lot of friends too! And when I say "camped" I don't mean camping in the wilderness with no electricity, no water, and all trees. There was no shortage of entertainment at this camping site. The kids played mini-golf, went out in paddle-boats, had water-balloon wars, played on the play-ground, went in the pool, played in the lake, went fishing (more on that later).... In fact when we got home Josiah looked at me and said, "I don't want to be home! I want to go back to camping! .... I wish I could go camping for the REST of my life!!!" And because I'm a brat I whispered back, "Go tell that to daddy and see what he says..." I didn't hear the full reply, but I did hear the last part ".....have fun." =0)

My mom surprised us by bringing my nephew Levi. My sister and I both said we hope our boys turn out to be as sweet as he is. I don't know many 15 year olds that let 6 kids under the age of 5 crawl, kick, bite, and hop all over them. He's amazing, and incredibly patient. A huge help to us moms who need as many hands helping them as possible!

Our biggest worry was how the kids would do for naps and night time. But amazingly enough it wasn't bad! The first night was a little rough getting all of us to sleep in the same tent. So I sent Madelyn to the cabin with my aunt Jo and mom. Now Madelyn is one of the easiest babies at night....NEVER wakes up! But for some strange reason, she payed them both a friendly middle-of-the-night visit from 1:00am - 3:00am. Where I hear they had a little party eating bananas, playing, and taking pictures! Needless to say they were all a little tired when I came over in the morning. The two older kids (once they got to sleep) were out! There's another plug for camping - definitely a bonus having lots of fresh air and exercise! The adults had a little harder time sleeping with the crazy amount of wind. The last night we were there the wind was so bad it was breaking people's tent poles! Thankfully our tent just kept collapsing all night... after awhile I figured out a way to kick the tent poles back up without getting out of bed - thank God for long legs! =0)

There are so many cute pictures of our camping adventures... these are just a few! I love the ones of Mallory and Josiah... they are two peas in a pod - both VERY messy eaters, and both love to growl! So funny! There's a cute one of my little nephew Stefan with Papa (his name-sake). You would never be able to tell that he is 6 months younger than Madelyn!

Fourth of July

We've had lots and lots of visitors this summer which has made our summer fly! (As you can tell by the fact I haven't spend much time on the computer updated our blog!) This fourth of July our good friends Reed and Cricket Warrick came to visit. It was so fun catching up with them, and getting to spend a whole weekend just hanging out together. We took all the kids to the Coeur d' Alene Parade. I assumed the kids would lose interest after the first half hour... but I was surprised that the entire parade even until the last group passed the kids were still waving and clapping. Little Jaida had it down to a science! Above are some cute pictures of them enjoying the parade. We also watched the huge fireworks show down by the lake. In the four years that we've lived here this is the first time we've ever made it down. Well worth it!