Our poor, neglected blog...

Holy cow! I am so behind. This summer has flown by and been insanely busy. I don't have a lot of time, so here are highlights. Sadly, without pictures at the moment.

~Miles had his 3rd birthday on June 8th. I can't believe my little man is 3! He is talking more and more every day and he is so smart. The one area where he's lacking... using the toilet. We've made attempts at potty training. We even made a chart, and when he filled the whole chart, he chose going to Chuck E Cheese as a reward. We said "That's a great plan, Miles. When you're potty trained we'll take you to Chuck E Cheese." After that conversation, he started telling everyone that he gets to go to Chuck E Cheese and ride the "potty train". Needless to say, he's not quite ready, so we've taken a break. Potty training will resume again when school starts.

~We went to Lake Chelan with Justin's family. It was a lot of fun! We swam everyday. We went on a boat, and I even went para-sailing. Justin went on his annual golf trip with the boys. The kids didn't want to leave. They loved being around cousins all week and just soakin' up the sun.

~Brooklyn learned how to ride a two-wheeler. Shortly after the kids got their bikes for Easter, Brooklyn didn't want training wheels anymore. She was so determined and Justin was incredibly patient and supportive with her. She learned how to ride in two days! I couldn't believe it. She's gotten more steady throughout the summer, but she's doing well and having a blast. Riley isn't confident enough to go without training wheels yet, but she loves her bike. And Miles learned how to pedal. He's working on building those leg muscles, but he's getting the hang of it!

~My dad was here visiting, which was a blast. We went to the Naval Undersea Museum, The Dock, and Staircase where My dad, Brooklyn, Berlynn (the girls' friend), and Justin jumped off the rock into the beautifully clear, but ice cold water. The kids adore Grandpa Mike and we were so sad to see him go.

~More updates soon...

Riley is 5!!!!!

My sweet little Riley Ann was born on May 5, 2005, and has just had her 5th Birthday. I can't believe it! She is growing up so fast. She is such a happy, smart little girl. She loves to play outside and play with her friends. She loves story time and she can't wait to start kindergarten in the fall. She has a friend down the street, Makayla, who has a birthday a week before Riley, so this year we did a combined Birthday Party. It was an explosion theme, which was really fun. The kids got to make slime, pop balloons with their little bums, make play-dough volcanoes and watch them fizzle. They did bottle rockets and even had cupcakes that had pop rocks on top, so they popped in their mouths. Riley loved it, and we were all so happy it didn't rain! On Riley's actual birthday, we made her a pancake breakfast and had a cake that evening... just our little family. She is one cute little girl and we are so happy she's part of our family!

Makayla and Riley...
the Birthday Girls
Natalee, Miles, Brooklyn, Isaac, and friends watching the soda explode
Justin was in charge of the exploding soda... nicely done!
Isaac and Brooklyn making slime
Makayla, Riley and Allie pouring vinegar into their volcanoes
Natalee, Isaac and Brooklyn watching their volcanoes fizz
Singing Happy Birthday
Good Morning Birthday Girl...
Riley is 5, born on 5-5-05...
this should be her lucky year! :)
Cake time... make a wish

Easter

Early last week, the Easter Bunny stopped by Justin's work, and since he's good friends with the Easter Bunny, he was able to get him to call the kids and talk with each of them on the phone. Brooklyn told him she wanted a purple bike, Riley wanted a pink one, and Miles just wanted something to ride. The Easter Bunny told the kids that he would definitely get them what they wanted since they were so good. Well, sure enough the kids woke up Sunday morning to baskets and bikes. They LOVED it! They rode the bikes in a circle around the garage for hours. Seriously! They'd take small breaks, but then go right back to riding. We went to Justin's parents' house for Easter dinner, and an Easter program that Mark prepared for everyone. The kids took their bikes there and had fun riding where they had more room!
The Easter Program was awesome! Each of the adults had a part in it, helping the kids focus on the spiritual side of Easter, rather than just bunnies, baskets, and bikes. It was a tradition in the making! It was nice to have the family together, remembering that our Savior lives and loves us.
Here are some pictures of the more "silly" side of Easter...

Untouched Easter Baskets... all ready to go!

First, the kids saw their Easter baskets and new helmets... they knew what the helmets meant. Where there are helmets, there must be...

Bikes!
Each of the kids sat on their new bike to get the feel of it. :)

Brooklyn

Riley

Miles

After the kids tested out the seat of their bikes, we made them eat a little breakfast before they could dive into their baskets and have some candy.

Finally! After breakfast they were able to really look through their baskets and sample some of the goods! :)

Now comes the test... do the bikes actually work???

The kids tested them out in the garage, and sure enough...


...they work! Just look at all that fun they're having!


It's only fair that since the kids had such a wonderful morning, they had to let me dress them up and put them through a grueling photo shoot!

My two
Lovely Little Ladies

Outside shots were difficult. Miles was blinded by the sun, so he wouldn't stand still and couldn't open his eyes.

We solved that problem with their very fashionable sunglasses! :)

HAPPY EASTER!

The Outdoors :)

With the weather warming up now and then, we've had more and more opportunities to play outside. Let me just say... it's fantastic! The kids are so much happier when they can go to the park or even play in the backyard. They really don't care if it's cold or rainy, but I won't let them go out then, at least not for very long. Here are a few pictures from the other day when we were all outside. Oh, and my Uncle Ron and Aunt Lynda, and their daughter, Tasha, stopped by on Sunday. The kids had fun playing with them.





Uncle Ron, Miles, Riley, Aunt Lynda, Brooklyn
The kids kept doing flips. Miles loved it the most!

Mary's Visit

My sister, Mary, came for a visit this week. It was a lot of fun! The kids LOVED playing with her! Mary brought barbie clothes, which the girls spent hours with... dressing and undressing each doll in different outfits for every occasion. Miles got a truck that Mary brought from Grandma Carolyn. He was in heaven. It made some loud noises and after a while, we were ready for the batteries to die :) but Miles thought it was the coolest thing ever!
Mary's birthday happened to be this week. The girls were very excited. We bought balloons and made a cake. We managed to get 24 candles on (I can't believe Mary is 24 already!), light them and have Mary blow them out without any disasters. Quite an accomplishment! Justin and I took Mary out to dinner and we went to see a movie for her birthday, too. We saw "Remember Me". I liked it. It had kind of a bitter-sweet end, though.
Anyway, we also went to the Illahee dock upon request from my mom. It was beautiful! The water level was high, so we weren't able to walk along the beach, but Mary still got a taste of the gorgeous views, and the interesting creatures in the water. Mary caught a jellyfish in a net! Crazy!
We had such a blast with Mary here. We look forward to many more visits from family and friends! :)

I lost my voice when Mary was here, and you can definitely hear it. I should have left the singing to the kids! (and Justin :) )

Happy Birthday Mary!
All the kids helped blow out the candles...
...then they licked the whipped cream off of each candle. Yum! :)
Mary painted cat faces for the girls
On our way to our grown-up night out.
Mary and Riley
Brooklyn and Justin
Riley
The gang holding some clams
Trying to catch creatures in the net... some luck! :)
Mary and Beth
Miles is very protective of me for some reason. Anytime I do something that is slightly out of the ordinary, he panics! I jumped on Justin's back for a piggy-back ride, and Miles was almost in tears, pulling on my leg, wanting me to get down. I stayed long enough for Mary to snap a picture then I got down to reassure my little man that everything was fine.
Riley workin' the net
Mary and Miles examining a dead crab leg
Justin and Brooklyn
Our Family
Leaving the dock... Farewell

A Few of This Month's Highlights

Hanging out at our Brownsville Ward Valentine's Dance

Justin was dancing a lot! Miles LOVED dancing with him!

Making heart pizza's during Grandma & Grandpa's Valentine's lunch.


The kids had a blast decorating cupcakes!


Sweet Girls made sweet cupcakes


Justin turns 29!!


Poor little Miles... this is when we got home from the urgent care last night. Justin bought special Diego band-aids for Miles on our way home.


We got him to smile!


His stitches are so long because when Miles was wiggling so much, the doctor didn't feel comfortable cutting the strands too short for fear that he would cut Miles. He didn't want to make a difficult situation worse.