Catch up time...

Well since i seem to be slacking on the blog lately i guess now i get to play catch up. Since Easter we have had a crazy filled time with lots of things. Right after Easter Dusty, Brysan, Spencer and I were all able to go to Colorado to participate in and share with family the memorial service for Arlon, Dusty's brother. It was so much fun to be able to go and to have that time with family and those that were close to him. They held a golf tournament in his name to start a scholarship program and it was a great turn out.
After we got back from Colorado we have been spending the majority of our weekends over at my parents house visiting with my Grandpa who is now living in an assisted living place. So we go over and spend as much time with him as possible while trying to keep up with his house and going through everything so we can start selling things and getting the house ready to be sold. It has not been an easy thing to do, we all wish he could be at his home but as life has it's way it is not possible.
Mother's day weekend was a lot of fun, all of my sisters from Utah came home to surprise my mom. We all had a great time visiting and helping get things done both at my parents house and at grandpas house. It's fun to see how the kids learn what all these holidays are for and how they would just come up and give me a hug and tell me how much they loved me, i really enjoyed the day.
Since Mother's Day we have been on the go a lot. Over Memorial Day weekend we were able to go to Twin Falls and participate in a baptism for a niece, but the one thing that really touched us was being able to see the head stone for Dusty's brother. They had just put it in within the week before. It was a wonderful weekend filled with many emotions.
The biggest thing for us the last month or so is that Brysan finished 1st grade. It has been a wonderful year for her, she really enjoyed her teacher and made a lot of friends. She excelled in reading and spelling and loves to do math. We are very proud of her and hope she continues to have the desire to learn throughout the rest of her school years. It is hard to believe that she is almost 7 and will be in second grade next year. Time truly does fly by. it seems like she was born yesterday.
Spencer is growing fast and weighs about the same as Brysan and is only a few inches shorter. He loves firetrucks and ropes and has gotten into liking guns, I am really careful with that one. He is always trying to play with Brysan but most the time it is him and Aleysa playing together. As time goes by he is getting easier to understand but we think there still could be a speech issue hopefully by the end of summer we will know for sure. We love him and endure the many mood swings. He went to a preschool at the high school for a few weeks the last few months of school and he really enjoyed it and is looking forward to going to preschool again in the fall.
Aleysa is full of energy all day long. She loves to do whatever the others are doing and if we can't find her she is usually upstairs looking at books. She is always asking if she can help me with anything and tries to help out as much as she can. We call her our little shrimp because she is so tiny and small. Maybe some day she will finally have a growth spurt that we will be able to notice a difference. For the most part she is a very loving sweet girl but as most kids do she has her mean side, usually when she needs a nap. She is full of love and brings such a sweet spirit into our home.
Braidon well is 1! He gets into everything and loves to tease the other kids and the dog. He runs just about everywhere he goes and still loves to climb on anything he can. I always have to be on my toes with him because you never know what he is going to do. Kirby (our dog) and him get along just great, Kirby will follow him around because he knows eventually Braidon will drop something to eat. Braidon loves to tackle the dog or try to sit on him and Kirby just takes everything that is dished out to him. Braidon was a surprise to us but life wouldn't be the same without him. I can always count on a hug and kiss from him even if the other kids wont.
Well that about sums up what life has been like for us, we are busy and loving most of it. Hopefully within a day or two I can post some pictures of things. We are all happy and healthy and i couldn't ask for anything more. It is a challenge some days with all the kids home but I know how blessed i am to have them for my kids. I love them all and i am grateful to my Heavenly Father for trusting me with them.

Our Easter fun....

Well we had a great weekend. It started off on Friday night with a neighborhood Easter egg hunt in the park. Their was a great turn out, and it was a lot of fun to visit and get to know people better. My parents came over to watch and enjoy the kids doing the Easter egg hunt and they stayed the night so it was fun to visit and play games after the kids went to bed.

Then Saturday was filled with lots of fun with everyone coming to our house for Easter dinner. It was fun to have everyone here and to spend that time with each other. My mom made a bunny cake for dessert and the kids thought that was the best thing ever.

They also colored eggs with my mom. Ever since i can remember we used crayons to color the eggs so it was fun to see the kids keep with the tradition. After a while the kids were excited to go hide the eggs. It was fun to watch them and see how creative they got when they were hiding the eggs. At one point i handed my Grandpa an egg and told him to hold onto it so the kids couldn't see it. (I know i am mean but Grandpa needed to be involved and that was about the only way.) So when they got down to the last egg we played hot and cold to get them to figure out were it was. But grandpa being just as sneaky put the egg in his pocket so when Brysan asked him if he had it he opened his hands and it wasn't there. He laughed at Brysans expression and it was great to have him participate.
We try to get the kids new Easter clothes every year and here are this years picks.

We really enjoyed the weekend and had a lot of fun making new memories. I am very thankful for my Savior and his willingness to sacrifice his life for me. I know that he lives and that I will be able to return to live with him again someday.

Random pictures

So here are some pictures of the last month or so, nothing super special but lots of memories.

The cake from Birthday weekend

caught in the action....

just sitting around...little stinker. This is when you know your baby is growing up to fast.

We went and visited Dusty's parents during Spring break so it was fun to go see the Twin Falls Temple.

We went up and showed the kids Shoshone Falls. They had a lot of fun and it was a beautiful day to go exploring.

A nice couple took a picture for us. We were looking into the sun so it was hard to get the kids to look up.
We found a little park that we went and played at for a little while. They had a blast riding down the slide so i could take their pictures. We have had a lot of fun this last few months and look forward to the next several months.

Our March madness....

Well it has been several weeks since i posted last, life got really crazy and is finally slowing down. We ended February with everyone sick but Spencer and myself. For about 2 weeks we had colds and fevers and cranky people around our house. I am very grateful that i did not catch it because the beginning of March I was able to have a mini vacation and i went up to spend time with Jessica and to go visit Monmouth and Independence. It was a lot of fun to spend time with everyone that I saw and to get caught up with old friends and family. I was especially excited to see Jessica, i had a great time hanging out and just visiting with her.
As soon as i got home we were back in crazy mode as we prepared for our traditional birthday weekend. This is a tradition in our family that we have had for many many years. We get together the weekend between my Grandpas birthday and what was my Grandmas birthday to eat, laugh and eat some more. We usually try to tie quilts too, but this year the quilts didn't make it into the agenda. Everyone was coming in and my sister surprised us by bringing a cousin in too. We were all ready for a great time.
The star of the weekend, my grandpa, decided to have different plans. He thought he needed to go visit the hospital instead. (not planned of course) He got dehydrated and with his Parkinson's he slipped off his bed and laid on the floor for 12 hours before anyone found him. Luckily my sister and cousin went over to get him and found him. We are very thankful that he didn't brake anything and is doing better. We spent the weekend still having fun but going to the hospital to be with Grandpa. We even took him birthday cake and all 17 of us sang happy birthday to him. It was fun to see him get so excited that we were there. Even though our plans changed and the weekend seemed a little crazier than normal we all still had a blast and enjoyed being with each other.
Since that time we have been busy non stop with visiting my Grandpa, who got moved to a transitional rehab center only 15 minutes from our house. It's been great to be able to just pop in and visit for a little while and i know he enjoys seeing the kids. We have had a crazy month for weather too, in fact just the other day Thursday or Friday i can't remember which one, it was snowing hard for a couple of hours and then it turned into some beautiful sunny days. Spring Break came and went, not to exciting here since i decided i needed to have a flu bug that week. So we didn't get to do as many fun things as i had hoped. Luckily my mom decided to take the kids for a few days so they got to go spend time with grandma and grandpa, which is always fun. I have really enjoyed the sun the last few days, we were able to finish weeding the garden and we mowed the yard for the first time this year. I love being able to send the kids outside to play. This time last year we didn't have the grass in yet so I have really enjoyed the grass this year.
Time is slowing down a little but every time i turn around it seems as though the kids are growing so fast. Brysan is reading like crazy and really enjoys reading the Magic Treehouse series, Spencer is always on the go and keeps me on my toes. Aleysa is so fun and is really into watching the Land Before Time Movies right now, which is fine because you can only handle so much Dora. Braidon is always climbing on something, if it's not the chairs and the table, it's the end table and then he flops down onto the couch and does it over and over again. Dusty is busy with work and is going to start doing a little more travel here soon and as for me i am always on the go trying to keep up with 4 kids. I am really enjoying my calling as the Emerengcy Preparedness Assistant. I am learning a lot and it has giving me the fire i needed to work on our food storage more. Dusty was put in as the Assistant Scout Leader, so i know that will take up some time but i am excited for him to have the opportunity to work with the young men.
Our next big adventure is in a couple of weeks when we head to Colorado for a memorial service and memorial golf Tournament for Dusty's Brother Arlon. We are really excited to go see everyone and to have that time to celebrate his brothers life again. After that we hopefully will have a quiet end to the school year and look forward to our camping trip and any other trips we take this summer. I don't have very many pictures of the last month but i will try to get some posted within the next couple of days.

football vs purse

We had a great weekend! My two little sisters came up from Logan to attend the BSU vs USU basketball game here in Boise. Along with them they also brought 4 friends. My sisters were babysitting for us on Saturday afternoon so we could go out for a late lunch early dinner. It was a lot of fun. Meanwhile, while we are away their friends showed up and the kids went crazy. One of their friends Travis wanted to play with a football so they sent Spencer on a mission to go find the football. A short time later he reappeared and said "I couldn't find the football but i found my purse!" and pulled out a purse. They all started busting up laughing and thought it was the funniest thing ever. I have to admit i wish i would have been here to witness it but i can totally picture it. Needless to say i think we really need to find more boy things for him to play with. It was funny to watch all these college student bust up every time the story was told. It was a lot of fun to have them here, they all spent the night at our house Saturday night. It was really nice to finally meet these friends that my sisters are always talking about. We really enjoy having family come visit and the kids are always so excited when they find out they are coming.

Do what with the cake?????

Our family has always giving the kids a birthday cake that they can dive into. Well we waited this year until more family could be together so we all could enjoy the experience. It was funny to watch Braidon as we put the cake in front of him. He sat and looked at it and laughed at all of us that were just waiting to see what he was going to do. Finally with help from his great aunt, he started the process and by the time he was done he finally got the hang of what needed to happen. It is fun to see how the kids can be so different but so alike in so many ways. The other dove on in without hasatation but he took his time. We all enjoyed the evening and it was so great to have the family that could be here to help us celebrate. We of coursed missed the rest of the family that were not able to attend but hopefully the pictures make you feel like you were here. We all kept waiting for the foot to go in.

He kept lifting it up and teasing us all!! It finally landed in the cake.

We all cheered and laughed.

The end result. Looks tasty huh??? Well I always bake an extra cake so the rest of us can enjoy the cake as well. It was a great day and we all had a wonderful time.

He is "1"....

Well it is hard to believe but it's true Braidon turned 1 on Monday. It is amazing how fast the year has gone by. Which also means that we have lived here for a year as well which seems unreal. So here we are a year later and celebrating Braidons birthday. We had a small get together with some of my family, but we will be having a bigger get together this weekend when most of us can be together. It was a lot of fun to see his face all day as we would say something about it being his birthday and he would smile from ear to ear and get all excited.
We went simple and easy for the cake on Monday since we will be having another one, so i made cupcakes which is perfect for him to grab and eat. It was a fun evening sharing it with those that were here and watching him get so excited over everything. Time sure does fly and it is fun to see how the kids change in just a years time period. Enjoy the pictures of our little party....I think that picture says it all.................