Jared's Graduation

Tonight, my littlest brother graduated. Way to go Jared!

This picture is from Christmas because apparently we don't take enough pictures of Jared.

Our fun Campout

Sunday night Joe decided that we would do a little camp out. We set up some tents in the backyard, (thanks to the Dynes for letting us borrow one of their tents) and then we slept out there. Ben and Sara came over and joined in on the fun. We roasted marshmallows on our grill. Emily decided that she likes them better just plain without the brown on them. Madison didn't get to sleep outside and neither did JJ. Maddie was just to excited to stay in her tent so she went inside. We will try again though. We are trying to get them used to sleeping in the tent so it won't be such a big deal when we go to Yellowstone this summer. We had a great time. On Monday morning we had Bacon and pancakes for breakfast and then Ben and Sara went home.

Our Fun Weekend

This last weekend was very busy. On Saturday our friends in our ward The Strassers were able to be sealed to their little boy that they adopted. I went to the sealing while Joe was at work. Later that evening they had a BBQ for friends and family to celebrate the day. In between the sealing and the BBQ I went to the zoo with the girls and; my parents, Ben and Sara, Rachel and Tim, (and Tim's sister), and Jared and his friend Kacey. We had a fun time. It was the most rushed I have ever been at the zoo because it closed at 5 pm and we got there at 4:15 pm. We were able to see the new African area though. Then on Sunday we went to my parent's house for dinner and were able to see my Aunt Lenore and Uncle Gary along with my cousin Brett. We had a great time visiting with them and eating yummy food. Monday Joe took the girls to ice cream in the morning because Madison filled up her potty chart with stickers and that was her reward. That afternoon we went to a BBQ with some friends of ours in our ward, The Smiths and The Dynes. We had fun visiting and again eating yummy food and lots of dessert. Last night we just relaxed and then went to bed.

JJ's First Tooth

Now that JJ is 9 months he finally has his first tooth. It poked through on the 19th of May. He is very proud to show it off and even has a second tooth that poked through last Friday to join it. He is also getting two teeth on the top that should poke through anytime. Needless to say there have been a few cranky days around here as he is dealing with all four teeth coming in so quickly.

Nine Months

JJ turned nine months on the 14th. I kept forgetting to take his picture so it has taken me forever to post about this. At his 9 month appointment he was 16lb and 26 in. He hasn't grown a ton, but he looks like he is getting bigger. He likes to wave hi. Joe says that he says dada although I don't think that JJ really knows what it means. He is finally rolling all over the place and trying to get into things. Today he was pulling books out of the bookshelf with the cutest little smile on his face. He loves his sisters and if he is crying one of them can usually calm him down just by dancing for him. He loves to play with his toys and enjoys sitting in his exersaucer or johnny-jump-up. He also loves food. If food is placed in front of him his arm will grab it as fast as possible. You would think that we were constantly taking it away from him. We are so glad that he is a part of our family.

Jared's Seminary Graduation

Today was my little brother Jared's Seminary Graduation. He is officially the last of my siblings to graduate from seminary. Next week he will be graduating from High School and my parents won't have any more kids in school. I can't believe it. It seems like yesterday he was a little 2-year old that was scared to sleep by himself and would run into my room every night. Congratulations Jared! Great Job!

Our Garden!

Yesterday Joe and I finished planting our garden. We had already planted potatoes, peas, onions, and strawberries. Yesterday we added: tomatoes, peppers, cilantro, basil, watermelon, cantaloupe, carrots, corn, chives, dill, parsley, beans, cucumbers, and pickling cucumbers. I probably forgot something, but it is all in the ground now. All we have left to plant is oregano and zucchini. I can't wait until things start coming up. Joe also got 3 concord grape plants that we will be planting soon.

Celtic Woman

Joe took me to see Celtic Woman on Wednesday. It was amazing and we had so much fun. I hadn't heard of them until we were flipping through channels a couple of months ago and they just happened to be on PBS. They were trying to sell tickets along with the PBS Festival campaign and Joe didn't want to pay the $200 for a ticket so he looked online and found them much cheaper. We had amazing seats that were in the 2nd row on the mezzanine level right in the middle. They are very talented women. Check them out here. YouTube also has some videos of them singing. I am so glad that Joe took me. We both agreed that it is probably the best concert we have been to.

Garage Sale Find

Yesterday I went garage saleing for my first time. I have gone to a garage sale before but this was my first time driving around looking at several different ones. I was in search of a crib. Our crib has been broken by Madison. She likes to try to climb out of it and broke off an important piece. We got our previous crib for free before we had any children. It had something small wrong with it and we were just going to make do until we could get a new one. Now it has gone through 2 1/2 children and isn't working anymore. My friend Sally and I found a crib for $2. I was very happy about that. It looks like the bar won't stay up, but it will stay down. So this one will work for now. I don't think it will work very well when JJ is able to pull up because he could topple right over the side so I will keep searching.

JJ's Neurology Appointment

Monday JJ had an appointment with a neurologist because our family doctor was worried since he doesn't like to put weight on his feet and he liked to arch his back a lot. Well we made the appointment 2 months ago and in the last 2 months he has improved a lot. He still doesn't like to put weight on his legs (stand on them) but he doesn't arch his back anymore. I decided to keep the appointment though because if his legs didn't get any better then it would take another 2 months to get in. At the appointment the doctor said that he is fine. He said that he has floppy muscles in his legs, but he thinks that he will be fine in time. He also said that he is delayed on his development, but he thinks JJ is just taking his time. He referred us to a physical therapist to work with JJ on his legs and said if JJ isn't doing better in 6 months then to come back, but he is confident he will be doing great.

Happy Mother's Day!

Today has been a great Mother's Day. We have 9 am church so we got up and went to church. For Relief Society we had an awesome lesson on Mothers after which the bishopric had cheesecake and fruit for everyone. Yummy! When we got home Joe wanted me to have lunch in bed since we didn't have time for breakfast in bed. The kids helped him make Mac and Cheese and bread and butter. They brought it into me with cards they had drawn for me. I loved it. I love being a mother and I love my mother for the great example she has been to me. She showed me how to be a Mom and did a great job at it. Happy Mother's Day to any Moms or future Moms.

Photography Giveaway

Fabulessly Frugal is having an amazing giveaway for a photo package from Shandy Vogt Photography. She does an amazing job. Take a look at her pictures through the link above. I would love to have more family photos taken. We normally do it at Christmas time, from Kiddie Kandids, but I would love something less posed. Here is the link to the giveaway.

Maddie's Hair

Monday I decided to do a new hairstyle on Maddie that I had found on a blog. This one. Because of her short hair we are kind of limited on different hairstyles. It took me 30 minutes and only lasted about 10. She said they hurt her head. We compromised and left half of them in and took the rest out. I thought it turned out cute though.Here is the front. Yes, she is crying. She said they hurt.
Here is the back when she had calmed down a little.

Laura's Wedding

This last weekend I went up to Couer d'Alene with my Mom, Ben, Sara, and JJ for my cousin Laura's wedding. We had a great time. My mom drove the entire time and we all talked, read books, and watched movies during the drive. Friday night we went to my Aunt Lenore's house for a little while and then went back to our hotel and swam. Saturday morning was the wedding at the Spokane temple. It was great. Laura and Rick looked very happy. After the wedding we went to the church for a luncheon and to set up for the reception. After the reception we went back to the hotel and swam some more. On Sunday morning we went to my Aunt and Uncle's ward and then we headed back home. Overall it was a quick trip, but we had a good time and it was fun to see Laura get married. Here are some pictures.

Laura's Family

Laura & Grandpa

Laura with her parents

My Mom holding JJ

Ben & Sara

JJ with the mohawk Sara gave him after on our way to the luncheon.

Drink

We were running errands and a car in front of us had a drink sitting on top of their car. Madison was very worried about this and kept pointing and saying "Drink, Drink!" I told her it was okay, but then she really got upset when they went around a corner and the drink fell to the ground. She started throwing a tantrum because the drink had fallen down! I couldn't help, but laugh. I told her several times it was okay, but she was so upset for them that they had lost their drink.

New Job

Okay, so we don't really have a new job, but today as I went to the dollar store with Madison and Emily they thought they did. While we were walking through the aisles they thought it was their job to put back anything that was out of place. Because it was the dollar store there were quite a few things that were laying on the ground. Emily and Madison would stop at each one and put it back on the shelf where it belonged. If I tried to stop them they would get upset. They were helping!

Awesome Website

I found a great website to help with scripture reading. Somebody (I don't remember who) had posted about it on their blog and I went to it and signed up. It is awesome! I signed up for which scriptures I want to read, what date I want to complete them, and they send me my scriptures to read every day in my email. They will also send you your weekly Relief Society and priesthood lessons, Sunday School scriptures, and the Ensign if you would like. I do all of these and it has helped so much. I have been trying to get through the Old Testament for quite a while now, but was having a hard time making it through Leviticus. Now I have almost completed Numbers and I have only been doing it for a couple of weeks. My goal is to complete the Old Testament by the end of the year and to do that they send me 76 verses each day. You can also choose to read by chapter or whatever you choose. I also always would forget to read the Relief Society lesson and Sunday School lesson and now they are in my inbox so I can't forget. So here is the link. It is called Read the Scriptures.