Our Family 2009!

These are just a few pictures that I thought were fun. Sometimes it's so nice to just be hanging out as a family. I just wish that it happened more often. Seems like we all get in such a hurry these days we sometimes forget to stop and "smell the roses" or maybe, we forget to stop and remember what it was that got this whole thing started. Here's to my kids, the life they have given me, my amazing husband and to .... smelling the roses! CHEERS! We took this family picture after Tate's homecoming talk in church. You can see that the boys were super excited about it. And this dress is making me look a little pregnant????? The answer is...no, I'm not! Thank you very much!
Me and the boy's cuddling on the couch. I was trying to get them to make a funny face, but this is the best we could get. I love you guys!

This was the first snow we had this year. The boys were so dang excited! They went out and built their very first snowman all by themselves. It almost made me want to cry. They are really big enough to do this by themselves now! But don't worry...I'll still be helping !

Here we are doing our nightly ritual! Book after book after book! We love to read, but this is the first time Teeka settled down long enough to read a little with us. She just nudged he way right in and made herself comfortable. I love that bossy personality she has!

I REALLY LOVE MY LITTLE FAMILY!

Teeka @ 14 Months!

Teeka turned 14 months old...a month ago:) She is growing and changing so fast and it has been so much fun seeing her little girly personality develop as the "little sister" of 3 big boys. She is starting to say a few more words on occasion: mama, dada, IU (I love you), NOoooo, nigh nigh, and bye bye. She recognizes most everybody when asked where they are and shows her sassy attitude frequently. That seems to be her only defense against her brothers at this point. She still loves to play with them and can always be found in whichever room they are in. She has started eating with utensils and is actually really good at it! She now has 12 teeth and is the best eater in the world. She loves all fruits and veggies! And her biggest accomplishment...she started walking when she was just over 13 months. Making her my earliest walker. We love our Little Lou! Teeka learning to walk & pretty proud of that!

Teeka is the biggest snuggler you will ever hold. She cuddles EVERYBODY the second they pick her up. It has been so fun that way.
Teeka eating with her fork. Okay...so it's still a little messy!
Compton and Teeka...Bath Time!
Garrett playing with his baby sis! She loves it when they play with her.

Teek decided she should ride in the car instead of on the car. I couldn't talk her out of it! Needless to say, she cratered a few time like this, but she is tough. You have to be...when your the little sister.

You can often find Teeka cuddling with her brothers. If they lay down she snuggles right in.

She literally wants to be EVERYWHERE they are!

This is a video of some of Teeka's first steps!

Chase & Sawyer's 1st Show and Share!

So, I am still really behind on all of my posts, but I want to get them all in because I will be making a book out of them at the end of each year as a journal for my kids. So, bear with me please!

Chase and Sawyer have entered preschool this year at the Learning Tree in Buffalo for a couple of hours in the mornings on the days I work. They are loving it and feel so "big, like Garrett" when they go. They are making friends and have really taken to a little girl named Holland. Everything is about Holland including; good dreams, bad dreams, giving me excuses for not taking a nap...like, "Holland never has to take a nap...ever...not even when it is dark...she never sleeps :) and they blush when you mention anything about a "girlfriend". So, is it possible twins can share everything? Including little girlfriends? I'm sure it doesn't hurt anything....at least for ...say...12 more years, right? LOL!!! It is so cute!

Well, they had their first show and share this past month and normally I won't have them do it on the same day, but I wanted to celebrate their birthdays at school in October, so I had them share on the same day. They were both so darn cute and eager to show off their halloween costumes. Chase made sure they all knew that I forgot his mask at home, so he wasn't able to wear it for the class. That made me smile:) and laugh a bit! I love being the reason for the season! That's what mom's do!I love this picture of them in their birthday crowns. They just happened to be doing the same exact thing when I took this picture. Things like this happen all the time. TWINS!
Chase telling about his Iron Man Halloween costume. I wish I could remember what he was saying in these pictures.

Sawyer showing his Bumblebee Halloween costume. I love that he put on his mask and then asked if he could pass it around.

I can't believe how big they are getting. It doesn't seem like it has really been 4 years since I was watching their little lifeless bodies in those incubators! How blessed we are!

Pumpkin Patch 2009!

One of the fun Friday activities that the BH school recently put on was going to the pumpkin patch, which I have never been to. I didn't even know there was a pumpkin patch here until a year ago and I have been wanting to take the kids to it since. So, since Lance couldn't come with us because of work we invited Jill and Grace to come join in the fun. We rode the school bus to the pumpkin patch and the kids thought that was so cool. This was chase and Sawyer's first experience on a bus, so they had a great time and have wanted to ride it again ever since. Once we got there we were able to take a little hayride to and from the pumpkin patch. They had animals out that the kids could feed and pet along with cookies and Kool-aid. We had a great time and the kids still love their pumpkins. Garrett, Teeka, Sawyer, Chase and "baby grace"
Waiting for the hayride back

Garrett searching for a pumpkin just his size

Sawyer taking a much needed break

Teeka loved this pumpkin and didn't want anyone else to hold it

SK8 RETRO STYLE!

So, did I say how much I love the Big Horn School District? I've probably said it a hundred times. I promise I will stop....someday! We have been having so much fun since Garrett entered school. I have started to socialize with the Big Horn Community and I continue to be amazed at how many people I know from years past and it has been fun to reacquaint ourselves with them (ie. college friends etc.).

The school week is Monday thru Thursday with Fridays off, K-12. The recreation district offers activities for the kids and their families on Fridays while other schools in the area are still in school. We get to go roller skating a lot and we were able to go while Kaycee was in town. We had a blast! Kaycee and I took the strollers which helped make us look like a lot better skaters than we really are. They worked a little like walkers on wheels for us. It was great!

Compton and Teeka slept most of the time, while Garrett and Sawyer ventured off on wheels all by themselves. I was so proud of them and they had so much fun! Chase liked the front seat of the stroller and thought he was "king of the world"! We are looking forward to many more days of roller skating.Kaycee decided to see how low she could go!Garrett gets so excited to participate in everything! I never dreamed he would be this social. It makes me so happy!Garrett took Sawyers hand to help him do the limbo! He is such a great big brother!Sawyer saw Kaycee and I doing this pose and busted one out himself. I just happened to catch it on film. I love this picture!Chase was king of the "roller world"Sawyer getting ready to venture off on roller skates for the first time.Garrett taking on the obstacle coarse. He did great!I'm surprised we didn't fall over trying to take this self portrait! Okay....So maybe I nearly did:OSo...What's your Vote? Are we HOT or NOT! LOL!!!!!

We really miss having Kaycee and Loren around all the time. Love you guys!

Uncle Tate's Coming Home!

Life has been so crazy since school started and one of our most important events was the homecoming of Uncle Tate. Tate just completed his two year mission for our church which he served in Ecuador. He loved his mission and was hesitant to leave, yet excited to come home. The best part about him being fluent in Spanish is that he has a hard time speaking English occasionally. Especially when he gets excited about something. He is still speaking a little SPANGLISH these days, but we are so excited to have him home. He had so many new things to come home to...including a vast amount of band new nieces and nephews...6 new babies to be exact! What a blessing!

Welcome Home Uncle Tate! We Love You! Uncle Tate doing what he does best! Chillin' with the kids!

Avery, Tate, Garrett, & Sawyer
Picking Uncle Tate up from the airport & meeting Compton for the first time.

The best part about a missionary coming home is watching him see his mom for the first time in 2 years. Always an emotional moment.

Garrett really missed his Uncle and asked about him all the time while he was gone. Uncle Tate is a great example to my boys and I am so glad that they look up to him so much!

LOVE YA LITTLE BRO!

Garrett's First Day Of School!

It finally happened. I sent my first born baby to school this year! I know I have said this so many times, but I can't believe how fast time goes. Garrett is 6 now and is growing up and maturing by the second. It is scary, sad, and exciting all at the same time. I love seeing his little personality and sense of humor developing. He is doing so well in school, making friends, and loving his teacher, Mrs. Swan. Garrett is so smart and wants to learn everything possible and learn it clear down to the smallest detail you can image.

He is such a perfectionist, but is also branching out, wanting to try new things, and doesn't seem the least bite scarred to do anything. The first day of school we pulled into the parking lot and he said, "how about you drop me off here. I'll do it myself and lets see what happens"!


Obviously, I couldn't do that on the first day of school, nor did I want to, but his confidence has made sending him to school much easier than I anticipated. He was definitely ready!

Surprise! I was running a little late the first day of school, so I buckled all the kids in the car and realized I hadn't taken a "first day of school" photo. So, I ran inside to get the camera. When I got back to the truck I couldn't take a picture because Garrett had picked up the phone and gave Uncle Loren a call! LOL! Why does that surprise me? It doesn't, so this is the picture I got...Garrett on the phone with Uncle Loren, giving him the low down at 7:30 am!The boys were so excited to take Garrett in on the first day, but so confused and sad without him all day long. I think they asked me at least 20 times if it was time to go get Garrett and eventually they decided that Garrett was never coming home. They have since become accustom to the change and it has helped since they have started preschool themselves.Mrs. Swan took this picture of all of us just before we said good-bye to Garrett for the day. What a great memory!Garrett had been wanting to ride the bus since the first day of school, but I was NOT ready for that yet. So, after the first month I decided to give it a try. This is Garrett waiting in the truck for the bus to come. I can't believe how outgoing he has become. He said, "If I cry, I'll just have to try it again tomorrow". What he should have said is..."If YOU cry, I'll just have to try again tomorrow"! Because I did...... .....And...I wasn't going tooooo.....But, I followed the bus all the way to school! I parked where he couldn't see me and I watched as he walked up the stairs and out of site! He is the very last one with the white sweat shirt on.
MY BABY IS GROWING UP AND I AM SO PROUD OF HIM!

Billings Zoo!

At the end of August, the kids and I were able to have a sleep over with their cousins, Raelyn and Kagen. This was the first sleep over we have ever had with them and we were so excited! We decided to go all out and make a trip to Billings and go to the zoo and Chuck E. Cheese. Needless to say, Chuck E. Cheese was more of a hit than the Zoo...go figure:)!

Lance was working that day and there was no room in Wade and Vicki's van for another adult anyway, so off I went, just me and my six kids! I had an 8 year old, two 6 years olds, two 3 year olds and a 1 year old...call me crazy, but we had a blast! All the kids couldn't have been better. I was so proud of them. I even took them all to Applebee's to eat because I really didn't want cardboard pizza at Chuck E. Cheese. You should have seen all the looks and comments I was getting from people! It was great! I actually took the stroller for the little kids, but I ended up pushing the older kids in it more. What a workout! Sawyer was a trooper, he walked the whole way through the zoo. One time I was pushing all the kids over a bridge that had a very steep incline and I got stalled out!LOL! Luckily some nice gentleman was right behind me and gave us a boost up the hill. I was laughing so hard! I'm sure people thought I was nuts! I think I took the CIRCUS to the ZOO!
The bear was COOL! It came right up to the window and was sniffing the kids!

The kids decided the tiger was dead...or maybe not even real. It didn't move once, but I could see it breathing:)

I don't know how many pictures I took of the kids in this "thing". They each had to try a different hole out and each time insisted on a picture. Funny!

I had to get this picture. See the peacock in the back ground? Chase was convinced it was a "sharp tooth" (AKA .... T-Rex) because it was walking on only two legs and it had sharp claws. So dang cute!

For those of you who know Raelyn, you know that she is a horse LOVER! She spent the most time looking at this horse than anything else and decided that the horse was the best part about the zoo.... even though they have how many horses at home?????LOL!

The kids were able to feed these ducks out of their hands. They got such a kick out of them and were laughing so hard!

Thanks for the memories kids.
I think this was more for me than for you!