Canning Weekend

Still playing catch up...

Back in September I decided to take a trip to my sister's (Jamie) house in Caldwell, Idaho and do some canning since she has amazing resources. So I loaded up the 3 kids, kissed Brad goodbye, and while Brad worked I canned! It was such a fun trip, my mom and youngest sister, Kara, met us there and we made a canning party out of it. The kids did GREAT in the car both ways. The only tricky part was stopping once at a rest stop for a potty break and to feed Brooks, but thankfully I was able to manage it pretty well.

The kids had a blast playing with their cousins and thankfully Kara was willing to come and be the favorite aunt by helping take care of our 7 children. We wouldn't have been able to get done as much as we did without her or the SPEED of my mom. I am so grateful for a very knowledgeable mother and older sister to teach me!

These cute boys are only 5 days apart although Benson is MUCH bigger.

Need I say more? This picture sums up Jamie. I can't believe how much this girl does.

This picture doesn't even show everything we canned which was sweet 'n sour sauce, peaches, pears, pear sauce, steak, and pork.

The peaches weren't all ready so I took home what we didn't do and canned 5 more batches at home. I've been canning on my own for a 3 or 4 years now and I've decided it's much more fun to do it with my mom and sister!

Brooks and Kara playing.

Nathan, Kara, Daylen, and Lily taking funny pictures for Kara's phone.

Grandma and Brooks

Grandma with 7 of her 8 grandchildren.

Summer 2010

Since I have been terrible about updating our blog this summer you get one big picture overload. Between visiting family and family visiting us, playing with friends, and just living life, summer FLEW by! I have decided that life with 3 kids is just busy anyway and I wouldn't have it any other way. Here is a very brief overview of some of our activities this summer and random pictures.

Miss Kate continues to keep us on our toes. She is our crazy, funny, way too independent, bundle of joy.

Little Brookster is the sweetest baby you will ever find. I just love him to pieces! He makes having 3 kids seem much easier than I thought it would be.

Daylen is our smart, funny, BYU fan who keeps us laughing with his infectious smile and facial expressions.

Kate loves to dress herself and change her clothes often. The following pictures were all taken in 1 day. I missed her first outfit of the day however.

Backwards, insideout, it's all good!

Love her cheesy smile btw, don't know where she got that from. :)

Exploring around Spanish Fork Canyon and found red rock! How long have we lived in this area now and never knew we had red rock so close!

We decided to take Tyrel, Mandy, Ivan, Garret, and Brett exploring with us.

Kate also loves dancing, (as does Daylen, I'll have to post some video of their moves), here she is sporting one of the cute tutu's Aunt Mandy made for her.

Why are cribs so fun after we outgrow them?

I took the kids to the Hogle Zoo one day with some friends. The kids had fun, and this little guy did amazingly well. (Ok so I guess it's not that amazing he would do so well.)

Eating popcicles on the porch was an every day, multiple times a day, activity at our house.

Swimming at the ward party. Love those blue eyes!

Hiking the Grotto up Payson Canyon with friends.

We are still here loving life and doing well. Maybe with Fall and Winter coming on I'll be better about updating.

Daylen's first day of Preschool!

Daylen went to his first day of preschool today! I can't believe he's old enough for that already. He was so excited to go, he kept telling me he was going to practice his letters, do puzzles, and play with toys. He had a great time, but informed me he didn't practice his letters today. When I asked what he did today he said, "I sat crisscross applesauce, we read 'Take a Mouse to School' and 'Kissing Hand' with the racoon, and ate a snack with yellow frosting and graham crackers." He did so well, just went on in by himself and didn't look back.

Daylen has taken up winking lately, he is such a character, he cracks me up! He likes to pose for pictures now.

Birthday Boy!

I'm a little behind in my posts...Daylen turned 4 August 7! We were in Washington for Brad's 10 year high school reunion/Grandpa Gilbert's 92nd birthday party/helping my parents paint their house. It was a quick trip, but it's always fun to visit with family. We celebrated Daylen's and Kara's brithdays after a long day of painting by enjoying some Reeses Peanut Butter Pie and opening presents.

Dance Dance Revolution!

Daylen has been asking for a "Lady Bug Pillow Pet" ever since April when he saw a commercial on TV. Needless to say, he was pretty excited to finally get one for his birthday. Brad took a class at BYU on Scandinavian media and did you know that it is illegal to advertise during the day anything geared toward kids? I'm really wishing we had these kind of laws here in the States cause Daylen is very impressionable lately and anything he see it's, "mom can I get ______ for my birthday?"

He sleeps with it every night! It's a pillow and it's a pet!

Kara turned 17! I can't believe my little sister is 17!

Grandpa Gilbert is celebrating his 92nd birthday this month! Doesn't he look great! We had some yummy grub at Uncle Jim's house and enjoyed visiting with family.

Improvements

My crafty sister-in-law, Mandy, taught me a super cute, easy way to decorate using fabric on walls. While visiting this last weekend, she helped me get started putting these cute flowers and hearts on Kate's bedroom wall. So much easier than paint! We made a pattern for the flowers and hearts and cut out the material. Then all you do is get the fabric wet and place it on the wall wherever you want it, and brush liquid starch over the fabric to make it stick. It's easy to put up, easy to take down when you want a change of scenery, and no big paint mess! Love it, thanks for your help, Mandy!!

Daylen's Spot

This is Daylen's "Spot."

Ever since we moved into our house Daylen has claimed the crack between the middle and left cushions. He likes to snuggle down in it and get comfortable.

So when Kate fell asleep on Daylen's "spot," instead of picking a different place to sit, like maybe the other crack between the middle and right cushions, or the rocking chair, instead he pushed her aside and snuggled in behind.