Finally, I know

I was not trying to avoid updating, but trying to survive morning sickness. It was over a month ago that it ended , but I had a lot of catch up on that I was not able to do. I am having a girl or "pretty sure" it is a girl according to the tech's words. I do have to have another ultrasound in a month to check on the stomach and kidneys that were not seen in the first one very well. Cadin also lost another tooth last night. That now makes seven teeth lost and at least two are growing. Cadin also has glasses now and Conner is begging to get some also. The weather is snowy, but Ken still went to work today without delay. We are hoping to make it to ID on Fri. if the weather permits for a vacation.
Abree is our little ham and here is a funny story about her. We were in the car going to Costco on Sat. and Ken was quizzing Conner on his spelling words from past tests and he said spell "but" and Abree pipes in "BUT" . We all started laughing and so she thought that she should keep saying it over and over again. It was hard not to laugh and yet be the parent and not egg her on to keep doing it. The river distracted her and she said "wa-wa". She has been talking up a storm and is keeping us laughing. I will get pictures on here soon. Merry Christmas to all and Happy New Year!

School has started!

Here are some pictures from swimming lessons.

The first day of school. The twins are in first grade and Sebrina is in kindergarten.

I know it has been a while and well we have been on the phone almost everyday with the rental company wondering about our A/C. It was finally fixed a week ago which was three weeks from when we called them to say that it was hit by lightning. Of course nothing else is fixed including the dishwasher and it seems like the dishes take three hours to do. The kids started school and Sebrina started dance. They are all liking it, but keeping three kids schedules straight is going to take a while. They each go to the library a different day and then they all have homework due at different times. I have started to help at the school a little bit and will help more as they need it.

Slowly, but surely

We are slowly getting everything fixed again. The lightning traveled through our phone line and fried the internet modem and our ethernet card in the computer. The sound does not work so it may have done damage there also. Our dish receiver was fried and had to everythig replaced except for the dish itself. The converter box in the house is not working so a new one will be put in tomorrow which means that we will have TV again. The weather is not cooperating though since it is creeping up into the 90's and it is supposed to be 106 by this weekend. I am hoping it will be fixed very soon. My week has been spent calling people about the damage or waiting for the people to come fix something. Last Saturday there was a city water line that broke and flooded a corner of our yard and the city had to dig down to it and fix it. They said that it was not from the lightning, but just bad timing with everything else out. That also meant no water for four hours. Our neighbor was nice and let us use her bathroom and drinking water while ours was turned off. The kids have been entertained by all the repairmen coming by and they watched intently as they dug down to the water line. We all had a family moment watching them repair the line and chilled outside eating chips especially since our house was hot inside. It is kind of intriguing seeing what the lightning affected and what it didn't. I have pictures of the roof and there is also a crack in the boy's wall from the lightning as well that I will post later. I have not tried that part of the computer to see if works yet. The kids finish swimming lessons this week. I don't think their teachers believed them when they told them that their house got struck by lightning.

Lightning strikes!!

There was a huge thunder and lightning storm last night and we were right in the middle of it literally. Our house was struck by lightning. It was the weirdest thing that has ever happened. I was standing in the kitchen when it happened and it was like a light bulb flashed and shattered above my head with a big bang. All of the smoke detectors went off for a couple of seconds and a toy started playing music across the room. Sebrina raced down the stairs and she was shaking so hard and her heart was racing that I could feel it. The power in half the house was off and there was a burning smell in the laundry room. I went out in the rain and looked at the house to make sure it wasn't on fire. All of the boxes with the wires from the phone and sprinklers were blown open on the side of the house. The lightning hit the overhang outside the master bedroom. There are raised shingles on the roof and there is wood that is splintered underneath the roof. The garage door opener is fried and so is the mother board to our furnace. We just got our lights back on and the A/C is done until a part is ordered. The modem for the internet is fried and we keep finding more things. We are so lucky that there wasn't a fire. We did jump in the car when we saw smoke down the street. The kids were so scared and were wide awake so we drove to the smoke and saw a huge stack of hay bales fully engulfed with flames. I am feeling very blessed that nothing worse happened and I am thankful for our safety.

My bald boys

Compare

I thought it would be fun to compare pictures of the kids and Ken and myself so here is the first one that I found. It is of Ken and his family. Ken is the bottom left kid. He is the one second from the right on the other picture. The twins are looking more like Ken when I look at this picture except I got a big surprise when I came home from washing the car windows of people attending the temple for mutual. Ken had told me that he was going to cut the boy's hair and I said "go for it" before I left. HE SHAVED THEIR HEADS. I didn't know what to say when I walked in the door. I was thinking if they were still going to be bald for school pictures in two months. I was too flabberghasted to take a picture so I will get one tomorrow. By the way, KEN SHAVED HIS HEAD ALSO. I am not sure what to think. I have never seen him with no hair. I don't know that I like it or hate it yet. Tomorrow is test day for swimming lessons so we will see if Conner and Cadin join Sebrina in level three.

Reading, Reading, Reading

There needs to be a Summer Reading Program for adults. Ken just finished the last Harry Potter book and I finished "The Host" which was better than I expected. The kids on the other hand are out of the habit of reading everyday and would rather be outside which makes it easy for me to read, but not them. The kids are almost finished with the reading program and I am trying to get them geared up for school to start again. I have pictures to post, but I don't have time now. We have went to the library a lot lately to see little programs which included reptile man from Monroe which is near Seattle. The kids got to see a cobra, viper, sea turtle, tortoise, iguana, and a baby alligator. Abree was fascinated and she touched the alligator and the tortoise. The tortoise also peed on the library carpet which of course made the kids say "gross". It was funny when Ken got home from work the kids all pitched the reasons that we needed to go to the Serpentarium. Some things they said were: "there is a two headed turtle there" and "it is only four hours away dad". I am really considering on going. I miss not having a zoo nearby. Abree is old enought to be fascinated by the animals. Last week the library had a band called the "Recess Monkeys" from Seattle. They consisted of three men who are K-2nd grade teachers and they sang songs about monkey bars, pools, and roller coasters. The kids enjoyed it and Abree even started dancing at the end. They did a monkey bar conga line and she just ran after them squealing. Next week is bugs that bite and I am sure that the kids will enjoy that one. Tonight we are going to a Pioneer picnic that is potluck and dutch oven desserts. We may have to skip dessert to make it to Conner and Cadin's soccer game. They love playing and can't wait to sign up for it again. I have been trying to get pictures of swimming and soccer and I will post them when I get a few more. Conner and Cadin want to sign up for flag football, soccer, and basketball. Sebrina wants to do soccer now and I think she will enjoy dance. I miss soccer, but it is either on Sunday here or on mutual night so I am holding off for now. I will live vicariously through my kids playing.

I am also amazed at the way the Spirit whispers to us. I have had several experiences lately especially with a friend losing a full term baby. I had a thought on Sunday and then my friend asked me something and I knew then that the thought that I had was not my own. The Elders were at our house and noticed that the people across the street were building a fence and wanted us to call them for them to come help. I just happened to be in the same swim session with them so I saw them and I asked them if they wanted help. The Elders were over there for three days helping them and they are hoping for potential investigators. What a crazy and wonderful life. The church is amazing and we have seen so many miracles happen with people. Our callings have given us many blessings and opportunities that we might not have been able to have.

Summer of fun

The boys can't come inside if they see bugs. They got out of the car today after swimming and saw grasshoppers jumping so they had to catch some. Cadin found a baby "planter ray" as he calls it. In our terms it would be a praying mantis. Sebrina is out there catching bugs as well. Abree really wanted in the pool today when the kids went down the slide. We are going swimming tomorrow with our neighbors. Sebrina is having a sleepover tonight with her friend and she was invited to another birthday party tonight. The boys are begging to have a sleepover so we may be losing Sebrina tonight and gaining another boy instead. We have the missionaries coming over tonight with our old neighbors. Speaking of missionaries, they were in the right place at the right time on Monday. I saw that a neighbor was giving a lot of things away to move into an apartment and they had a swingset. She was leaving so it was first come first serve as posted on freecycle.org and so I didn't know how I was going to claim the swingset and keep it ours until Ken got off work. I had told another neighbor about it and she walked over there as I drove in the hopes of somehow fitting it in the van if we wanted it. The Elders just happened to ride by and they offered to carry a slide to my neighbor's house and they disassembled the swingset and carried it around the corner to my house. They also put it together since they took it apart they knew what went where. It is funny how things work out.

Sebrina treated Caesar and Bentley like royalty. Abree and Caesar were buddies also. Bentley is the black dog. The kids miss having dogs and loved to take these guys for walks and throw balls to them.

The girls were exhausted after two days of swimming and the fireworks. They fell asleep at 5:30 P.M. right before a neighborhood barbecue. I sat on the couch and read my book while Ken went to the BBQ with the boys.

This is the pool at the hotel where Grandpa Ford stayed at. The boys loved jumping in the water and they were diving for sunglasses and money at the bottom. The next week in swimming lessons they dove for sunglasses and they did very well at that skill with their previous practice. All three of the kids are in the same class which can be hard trying to get three open spots when I want them.

This is 4th of July weekend. We were busy with pool parties. People from the ward invited four families to their house for swimming, food, and fireworks. Grandpa and Grandma Brown watched the kids for Girl's Camp and the kids loved having them here. They love seeing their grandparents. Then we got a visit from Grandpa Ford and Teresa and the kids loved seeing all their grandparents. We saw Grandma and Grandpa Hemmer in May which is nice that they were able to see all of them in such a short period of time.

Conner likes to water his plants from school and Abree decied to use the tub as a mini swimming pool instead. She gravitates to any amount of water and splashed in it. Sometimes it is a little scary how comfortable she is with water. After being gone I loved the simple things in life like seeing Abree feed herself yogurt and finger painting at the same time. These are some of the leaders that went with us. I love the girl's personality. They are so fun.

I know that I am slacking, but after being at Girl's Camp for a week without electronic devices I am not as dependent on them. I loved Girl's Camp and would love to go back. It was amazing that we had a ward that was the smallest and we ran over on testimony meeting. I loved being there and the activities were awesome. I was glad to not have the distractions of phones or tvs and I have come back reading a ton of books. I am into a Mary Higgins Clark book right now that is intriguing and "The Host" is next on my list even though the first 250 pages are slow. I still want to say that I read it. The kids are gung ho in swimming lessons and soccer and I will get picture of them on here soon. Sebrina is asking to be in dance, swimming, and soccer. Thank goodness that swimming will end before dance begins. The twins want to sign up for soccer again as soon as they can. They had a game last night and even though there is not an official score the twins told us they had won 4-0. Cadin and Conner both played goalie and other positions also.

Conner's teeth!

Well - school is finally out and the hot weather is here. The kids have had fun in the splash parks and playgrounds that we have went to. All of the kids are signed up for the Summer reading programs and ready to read and play. This week Grandma and Grandpa Brown are here to entertain the kids while I am off to Girl's Camp tomorrow. Conner and Cadin started soccer practice and their first game is this week. Conner lost tooth #4 at church of all places. We were waiting for Ken to have a ten minute meeting which turned to thirty after church and Conner said his tooth was loose. I figured there was no better time so I got toilet paper and he pulled at his tooth. Ken came out of his meeting and Conner had a surprise to show him. Conner was telling everybody that was still at church about his tooth. Although, the tooth fairy didn't see Conner lose his tooth because we were at church and not at home so it took until night #2 to take the tooth away. Ooops! He loves sticking his tongue through his little hole in his mouth. The boys also got summer buzz cuts.

Conner lost tooth #3 and he was so excited.

vacation

We were home from ID for one day and the excitement didn't end. Cadin was playing in the bathroom and Conner comes downstairs saying "I won't tell mommy." That is a red flag right there then Cadin comes down the stairs and flashes me his grin. He had pulled out another tooth on the top. He said that he did it by biting on his wooden ladder to his bunkbed. Then Conner says that his tooth was loose so I pushed on it a little and it came out pretty easy. Cadin has six teeth lost now and Conner has lost two. Then a couple of hours later there was smoke outside our house with police blocking the street off and firetrucks all over. Someone was burning paper and the wind blew it and started a fence on fire which spread to the dry field behind their house. We watched the flames jump due to the wind and then the firemen put out the fire. The kids liked seeing the trucks and watch them in action. I took the first picture on our doorstep. Life has calmed down a lot more since then.

Cadin and Uncle Andrew. A picture with grandma and their cousin Spencer. We were in ID twice in May so I got behind on the updates. This is the second time we were in ID. Abree and Cadin are buddies. He is always helping her and she loves to be with all of her brothers and sisters. We were at this playground several times in the two trips. We got back to HOT weather in WA and the kids had to try out the pool and wash the car to cool off.

Abree was the most excited about the bucket of water and was happy for a long time.

Cadin couldn't resist in pulling someone in the wagon and Talen and Abree were so happy that someone would take them around. This is our first trip to ID. Ken was in Sun Valley for training so we dropped him off and went the rest of the way to see my family. This is the new playground and the kids played with their cousins Hayden and Ashton.

There was a free fishing day at the family fishing pond and the kids wanted to go. They always get frustrated because they can't throw the line very far. It has rained here several times and the kids have enjoyed going out in it. This is Abree feeling the rain. The kids still have school until Wed. or at least the twins do. Sebrina is out for the year. They missed a lot of school, but they didn't seem to mind. Their teachers said that they are all at the top of their class. We find out the kids teachers for next year in the next two weeks. Sebrina is going to have Conner's teacher next year and she is also on the waiting list for the dual language program. They give first priority to the kids that have olser siblings in the class and unfortunately we moved here a couple of weeks too late to have the twins tested for the program. They have to start it in kindergarten if they are going to start it.

We went to visit Ryan and went swimming in the hotel together. The pool was a little chilly so we hung out in the hot tub that wasn't super hot. It was a lot of fun and nice to get away for the weekend. Abree is feeling so much better and she and Jane loved to put their feet in the hot tub and kick the water. Although, it did snow on the way home and we are glad that we won't get any here. We went to the mall play area and I asked Sebrina is she wanted her ears pierced and she has told me no for several months. She said yes today so we took her and she went through with it. We also got Abree's pierced as well and Sebrina picked the earrings out for both of them.

Conner finally lost his first tooth. Sorry for the bloodiness, but we had to pick up Sebrina from school five minutes later and I had to get a picture. He finished lunch and said that his tooth hurt because he kept biting on it so I told him to come here and I pushed it a little. I asked if I should stop and he said no so I kept pushing it and it came out pretty easy. He was so excited!!

Abree was not too fond of the swings though.

Conner can do the monkey bars all by himself now.

We are at the top of a mountain. In the aerial picture the building kind of to the left of the center is Target.

Sebrina made a temple out of her toast. I though they were just taking a long time to eat by nibbling around the edges, but they were really forming masterpieces.

The girls got matching dresses and Sebrina wanted to wear the even if if was Conference Sunday. Abree did not want to sit still so they are not great pictures, but very cute dresses.

Conner was eating toast and made the ten commandments. I had to get a picture of this. Abree likes to pull the marker lid off and then suck on it so her tongue is yellow if you look closely. I was able to get her to stick out her tongue to show me. The kids were being very imaginative in building with the foam alphabet letters. They even built around Sebrina.

Here are some pictures from the park a couple of weeks ago. Double click on the pictures and they go fullsize.