Water fun!

Baby is still in love with water :).  I love this about him... he's so cute when he finds water!  We washed our cars the other day and this was Baby's first time with us outside while we washed cars.  He found the soap bucket really fast and splashed and splashed... so I ran in to get the camera!

Here he is with some residue bubbles on his face and hands :)

going back for more!

While we were working the boys found a grasshopper.  I guess catching grasshoppers is funner than washing cars.


Here is Talmage holding it.

Then Grant got a turn.

It really matches our dead grass too ;)

Baby found where the water collected on the running boards and was splashing in it.  

He was very involved.  You would think the water spraying like that would scare him...

Nope, he loved it!

The girls did help, but somehow all of the pictures ended up being of Baby... not sure how that seems to happen ;).  It's nice to have clean cars and get to teach Clark more about water, oh and how to not run into the street.  Fun stuff!

3,2,K

The kids are back to school and we have one in 3rd grade, one in 2nd grade, and one in Kindergarten.  They met their teachers the week before and have been excited about starting school since then!

Here they are on the big day!

Sandra, Grant, and Talmage

Talmage is in 3rd grade and has 3 teachers he switches between.  He really likes his teachers and even has lots of friends from the previous years in his class.  He has lots of goals for this year... hmm, I can only remember one:  Read at least 150 books for AR.  He is a very goal oriented kid and I'm sure he'll accomplish all he sets out to do!  


Grant is in 2nd grade and switches between two classes this year.  He has different teachers than Talmage did so that's a fun change (even though we really liked Talmage's teachers).  Grant is loving his class and his teachers - especially his home room teacher, he says they are her best class ever and that makes him happy!  His goal for the year is to not get any notes home and to do his homework!  He's a great kid. 


Sandra is officially in kindergarten.  She likes her teacher, as do we.  She only has a couple of friends from her pre-k class so that makes her sad.  Her goal this year is to read really well and make lots of new friends.  I got a note from her teacher yesterday about how Sandra had a great 2nd day of school and wrote a story all by herself.  Sandra was very pleased with herself.  We're looking forward to Sandra really blossoming in reading and writing this year ;).


It's nice to have the routine back and the little ones are enjoying their day, even if Mhari asks lots of times when it's time to go get the older kids from school :).  The days are going by fast.  Happy back to school schedule everyone!

Wii Party

Our family has been living life with the very basics over the last... well, forever.  Jeff and I decided it was time to get a flat screen TV that we could use it to show pictures - like a big digital photo frame, in our living room.  When we were picking out which one to get Jeff suggested that we also get a Wii for the family.  That sounded like a great plan to me :).

We had one week with our wii before school started so we tried to get some good playing time in.  Our first Wii night was for FHE and the kids weren't really good at Mario Kart, but we also got Wii Sports and they had fun with that.  

Here are some pictures of the kids bowling - some with a little help from daddy :).  

Mhari.

Sandra

The new TV (32 inch).

Grant

and Talmage

It will be fun to have more Wii parties with the kids, they just won't be as often with the school schedule.  It's been fun to see the kids learning how to play the games :).  Jeff and I have even had some fun when the kids are in bed... even a few wii nights with friends.  Fun times ;).  

Baby accomplishments!

Baby has been growing up so fast.  He keeps doing new things and before I know it he'll be too big to call "Baby."  Here is an update of some of his "accomplishments."

He knows how to throw a fit... he even crawled under the stools and throw a fit!

He was so darn cute doing it too ;)

He is also a great thief.  Maybe that's not something to be proud of, but how can you help it when he's so cute!  Oh, and he's a trash thiefer... maybe the better term would be dumpster diver - see, not really a thief at all.  
He got the celery out of the trash (it had been left out from dinner and just wasn't worth keeping, unless you're a baby).

He really had a good time with it too!

Even got some chewing in on it too (I know, gross, sorry for the baby eating from the trash picture).

This one really doesn't count as an accomplishment, but just too cute not to share :).  Every one of our babies has a picture in Jeff's Michigan hat.  Well, I guess we forgot about it when he was younger so we did it now.  Let's just say he's not as cooperative with having hats on his head anymore.  It's fun to take them off though!

Just before he grabbed the hat.

When I shower the girls, Baby gets to hang with Daddy so he stays out of the way.  This night Daddy was on the bed so Baby was cuddled up next to him with his toothbrush.  By the time I was done with the girls Baby was asleep!  

What a handsome little Baby!

OK, last one:  I discovered this one because he was being too quiet and I went to see what he was up to.


Baby has figured out how to climb the stool in the bathroom.  He was super cute up there playing with the toothbrushes!

I wondered why he was so excited about it.

until I saw that he was enjoying seeing himself in the mirror.  He was so proud of himself!

Now he just needs to learn how to get off the stool!  He gets stuck up there now ;).  Silly Baby!


Clark is so great and we just love him!  I hope you enjoyed our little baby update ;)

One last stop

On our way home we got stuck in a traffic jam.  At first I figured it was from construction, but with the length of the delay I realized it was from an accident.  We were delayed an hour, and after seeing the accident I could tell why.  There were two vehicles and they were both really smashed up, especially the sedan.  We later found out it was a fatality.  

Here is a picture of the truck (it was pulling a boat that was 20 yards down the road).

With that behind us...


Our last place to see on our way home was the Albuquerque, NM temple.  It was pretty hot outside, but we enjoyed walking around the temple grounds.  
Here are the kids in front of the fountain.

In front of the temple

Grant, Mhari, and Sandra

Talmage

Baby and me

Trying to get a good picture as we drove away... sorry it's a little tilted.

We arrived safe and sound the next evening.  It was nice to be home after a long week of travel.

All the Family!

 OK, so this is getting long, but I want to be sure to share the pictures of the family from the reunion.  We had a group picture taken and then broke down into smaller family groups.  This group picture is of My mom, her kids and spouses and their kids.  Let's just say that families can sure multiply quickly!

At the old town area there were some fun photo ops... like locking the kids in the local jail :).

 Vance's fiance' Jessica with Sandra :)   

Grant as a cowboy

Mhari and Sandra posing in the western girl frame :)

Grant and Talmage :)

Grant and Mhari on the wooden horse and Sandra on a huge piece of petrified wood.

Grant almost standing on the huge petrified wood.

That evening at dinner... all of the family eating :)

cousins bonding :)

My mom with her brother and sister sharing memories of their parents... the ones who started this huge pile of people :).

Deer on the way into the canyon.

 Our family tree.

Aunt Shay with Baby and Grant with his favorite cousin :)

Mhari was having a hard day... Uncle Paul helped out and cuddled with her :)

He even got her to take a nap :)

Uncle Westen and his little girl.

Paul and me.

Heather and baby.

Heather keeping baby happy with the cell phone ;). 

Talmage with one of his favorite cousins.

The kids, especially Talmage and Grant, had a great time playing soccer with everyone.  We have enough people to get a good game going on too!  

It was hard to pull the kids away when it was time to go... but we had a long drive ahead of us to get back to TX.  It was great to see everyone and build cousin friendships for the kids!  Sorry if this was long, but there are even more pictures that weren't posted ;).