Four Years Ago Today....

This sweet precious baby was born and made me a mommy! I love him so much and am so blessed to have him as my son! He is such a good kid and makes me laugh everyday! He is ALL boy and loves every kind of sport! He loves his cousins and gets SO excited when he gets around them! He loves his sister, even though they fight. He is so sweet with her when he wants to be. He usually doesn't give me too many problems, and when he does he's quick to correct it. He LOVES his daddy and takes every opportunity he can to play with him. Anything daddy does, he wants to do. If daddy is wearing a hat, he wants to, if daddy is wearing basketball shoes or flip flops, he has to do the same. He tells me constantly that I'm his best mommy and that he loves me! I LOVE being a mommy and I especially LOVE this kid! Happy Birthday Michael!

One Year Old

Two Year Old

Three Year Old

Four Year Old

First Day of Preschool!!

I had intended on signing the kids up with Sister Ricks' preschool (where Michael went last year), but life happened and we were unable to afford both kids to attend, SO Amanda and I were talking and thought we would alternate weeks and have my 2 and her 1 in preschool. I would've preferred to send the kids to preschool so they would be with other kids and not their cousin that they see all the time, but what can you do? Since then, however, we've added 2 other kids and things are going pretty good. I'm glad to have the other 2 so that there are more kids to interact with. The kids are learning a lot (they especially love the songs!) and are having a good time. They usually ask me "Do we have preschool tomorrow?" Michael even got really upset last Friday when I kept him from preschool so he could go with us to the doctors appointment and hear the baby's heartbeat! (I thought he would LOVE it, but I guess he would've rather gone to preschool!)

I couldn't resist!!! :o)

Almost Home!

We left Provo around 9ish to head home. I was anxious to just drive home, but we did make a couple of stops along the way. We arrived in St. George around lunchtime, so we picked up some KFC and had a picnic on the grass area accross the street from the temple. It was so nice, but pretty hot! After lunch, we walked around the grounds and visited the visitors center to cool off.

Can you see how tired we were?

After St. George we stopped in Vegas at the Excalibur so the kids could go to the "castle". We stayed a little longer than I would've liked, but we still had fun.

After we left Excalibur, we walked over to m&m World, MGM to see the lions, and then took the kids to Mandalay Bay to the aquarium. I hadn't been there before, and thought it was pretty neat! I didn't take my camera charger on the trip, so this was the last picture I was able to get before my batteries died.

We finally left Vegas around 8 and didn't make it home until just before 1 am. It wouldn't have been too bad, except I had to go to work the next morning! Oh well, I eventually caught up on my sleep!

Our Last Days

The last couple of days we were there, the weather was pretty cold and rainy, so we went up to the Horsley's cabin (some family members who have a cabin just up the street) to learn how to do some leatherwork. Chris made a wallet, Mary made a bracelet for her and for Michael (Michael's was made out of basketball leather that he was SO excited about!), and I made a purse for Emma. We basically sewed these items together by hand how a sewing machine would work (if that makes any sense.) Uncle Ed & Aunt Charlene have served several missions and used their skills to teach people of poverty to be more self sufficient. It was kinda hard, but was nice to learn a new skill. We had lunch over there and then invited them over for dinner a couple of nights. It was nice to listen to Uncle Ed's stories, and boy does he have a lot! That guy has done just about everything!

The day we left, we stopped in Lovell, WY to visit Grandma K's grave. I decided to pick some wild flowers from the cabin and take them down to her. One of grandma's favorite places to be was the cabin, so I thought it appropriate. I wasn't able to make it to grandma's funeral, but I was so glad to be able to visit her. It's always been a tradition in my family around Christmastime we visit our families gravesides and clean them and put poinsettia plants on each grave, so this was a special treat for me. The headstone is a temporary headstone. She wanted a rock from the mountain brought down, so we are in the process of trying to find one. We miss & love you, Grandma!

We had a great time being up there and being with family! I wish Ron could've come with us, but we will be able to go soon enough! The downside....THE DRIVE! Although the kids did EXTREMELY well considering how long of a drive it was, it was just such a long drive!

Shootin' Guns & Boulder Jumping

We took a couple of different guns up the mountain where no one was and took some empty soda cans/bottles & made a target out of cardboard. Emma had fallen asleep in the car, so she didn't shoot & Michael really enjoyed picking up the bullet shells.

I'm such a natural! ;o)

We took a drive to this river with lots of huge boulders that the kids really enjoyed jumping on! Emma still likes to jump from rug to rug pretending they're boulders she's jumping on.

Sibley Lake & S'mores

The next day we went to Sibley Lake to do some bobbing fishing. We took a picnic and then did a little fishing! The kids really enjoyed it. Michael was able to do that better than the fly fishing. We would help him cast out and he would reel it in. Once, he was reeling it in and when the end came close, there was a fish on it! Not a big one, but a fish none the less! Beats my record, which is zero!

The kids were "fishing" with sticks. They looked so cute sitting there!

Michael got to drive home. (Not the whole way, just down the street to the cabin)

After we got cleaned up and dinner eaten (fish!), the kids cooked up some s'mores!

Michael didn't want to eat all of his (who's kid is this?!)

Emma grabbed the marshmallow and got all sticky!

More Fishing!

We did some more fishing and I was lucky enough to get this video of the kids pulling out the fish and Emma getting smacked in the face with the fish!

Porcupine Falls

The next day, we headed to Porcupine Falls for another hike. This one wasn't as long as Medicine Wheel, but it was A LOT steeper & more rocky! Which made for a fun trip! you hike down first, which made you have to be careful where you step because the rocks were pretty loose. On the way up was REALLY hard because it was so steep! But we all made it alive and had a great time!

Auntie Mudgers & Emma

The View

The group (Alyssa, Chris, Kate, Gina [that's not how you spell it, but it's how you say it], Hesston [the dog] Mary, Grandpa K, Michael, Me, Emma--Grandma K was taking the photo)

The kids and I in front of the falls.

Playing in the water.

Alyssa, Chris & Mary hiking up the falls.

Chris attempting to make a raft out of logs....Fail!

The Falls

The steep walk up!

Bear Lodge

About 30 min from the cabin, there's a lodge called Bear Lodge with an indoor pool. So, after a little fishing, we took the kids down to go swimming. I didn't bring their swimsuits, so I just had Michael wear some shorts and I brought extra undies, a shirt & shorts for Emma. I decided to just put the shirt & undies on her, but she wanted to take off her shirt like Michael.

Shortly after, this is what happened. She didn't even get her undies wet before she took 'em off!

We conned Uncle Chris into getting in the pool with the kids! The water was pretty cold!

While we were swimming, there was a storm that came through.

Complete with a full rainbow! (I only got the one side because my camera wasn't taking good pictures.)

Gone Fishin'

After dinner, we went to the little stream near the cabin to try our luck.

After awhile, a fish was snagged! They gave the pole to Michael so he could reel it in!

He didn't much care to touch the fish or be near it, but still thought it was pretty cool that he was fishing! I don't think he liked the fact that the fish was wiggling around so much.