My Family

Monster trucks

2010-03-23T12:35:00.000-07:00

Thank goodness for ear plugs. It was a blast, but could have been a headache if we had not thought to bring ear plugs. The kids thought it was better than they expected and are looking forward to next year in the hopes of going again. On a different note involving Ken and the van. He took a drive to borrow a saw and was on the freeway when something flew off the van. he didn't stop at that time, but on the way home he decided to look for the object. Amazingly he found it in one piece. That was super lucky since he didn't know what he was looking for. I will rewind to a few hours earlier when we took a walk and Conner wanted to ride home ahead of us so he asked for the garage door opener. He opened the door and placed the opener next to the windshield wiper on the van. Needles to say that when Ken found it the batteries were gone, but it had not been run over. Hopefully, I can make it to the store, when everyone stops throwing up, and it will work again. The day after Ken picked up the saw I took the girls to the grocery store. I turned the first corner and heard Abree scream "MOM." I looked back to not see her. Ken was unsure how big the saw was the day before so he unbuckled the car seat and put the seat down. The seat and car seat looked like they had not been moved. When I turned the corner the car seat fell completely sideways on the seat with Abree buckled in. She was like a turtle that could not roll over. It was a good laugh for me. I think Abree was a little shaken.
It wouldn't be Spring without a little sickness. Abree and Brenna both threw up yesterday within 10 minutes of each other getting all my clothes and the floor. I decided today would be a good time to start shampooing the carpet in sections so I started with the part that Abree nailed yesterday. It is filled up and ready to go if anyone else decides to hurl. At least the older kids cna go outside and get some fresh air to avoid some of the germs.

Thoroughly Modern Millie

2010-03-12T13:56:00.000-08:00

We took a risk and took the whole family to a middle school play on Sat. night. It was Thoroughly Modern Millie about a girl going from rags to riches. The kids were great and Brenna sat through the whole thing clapping when everyone else clapped. Conner's favorite part was the brownie that we got at intermission. We are taking the three older kids to the monster truck show tomorrow. Abree covered her ears at the play and I think she will be afraid of the trucks so the little ones are staying home.
Abree is full of wonderful and cute sayings. She had a conversation with Ken before bed the other night and told Ken that his eyes were blue, her eyes were blue and Brenna's eyes were orange. She is getting her colors down,but i don't know where the orange came from. Brenna's eyes are gray according to the doctor. Every time I take her in to get her well child the Dr. looks at my eyes, Abrees, and then Brenna's. He says he doesn't know what color to call them and settles on gray.

Brenna

2010-03-08T15:47:00.000-08:00

Brenna is now 10 months old. She loves to stand on her own and twirl her hands. She loves to clap and wave to anyone that looks at her. She will walk by shaking her shoulders which in turn makes her legs move forward like she is doing a jig. Her favorite thing to eat is paper. She took a bite out of Conner's spelling words last week. Conner could use the excuse to his teacher that his sister ate his homework. She has had legos, paper, food, fuzzy's and amything else that she can find taken out of her mouth. She also crawls as fast as she can when she sees the laundry basket and loves to pull the laundry out fast as I can fold them. Her brothers and sisters love to chase her and say "I am going to get you" then she squeals and crawls as fast as she can to get away.

Gallbladder

2010-02-12T15:59:00.000-08:00

Who would have thought something so little could be so painful. I started having pain last Tuesday Feb. 2nd and to make a long story short had my gallbladder taken out on Wednesday Feb. 10th. I am feeling a lot better and able to do a lot of things except pick up Brenna. She is over the 10 pound limit. I have had a lot of help from my mom who came from ID and Ken went to work one day this week. The hardest thing is when Brenna is crying for me and I can't pick her up. She has been a trooper with not being able to nurse for almost a day and taking more bottles than she has ever taken in her life. I should continue to heal and am looking forward to being able to shower again tomorrow. A sponge bath just isn't the same and my abdomen looks like tanning gone wrong from the iodine used for surgery. I appreciate friends and family and all the offers of meals and babysitting. I have felt so much better with my gallbladder out than I felt with it in.
On a lighter note while I was in the hospital Abree found my stash of her swimsuits and she has already tried on two of them today. I hid them so I could get her dressed and not turn around to leave the house and see her in her swimsuit. It is time to hide them again.

2010-02-04T14:03:00.000-08:00

We got a new computer the day after Thanksgiving and I have felt a little handicapped with getting information and pictures to the new computer. Ken did stand in line all night in the pouring rain under an umbrella to score the computer. He called it an "adventure" and he also finished the book he had been reading.
In other news Sebrina turned seven and is in senior primary now because our ward is so large. Abree turned three and instantly thinks she is big enough to carry Brenna everywhere. She is also quickly becoming mischievous by getting into Brenna's teething tablets, knocking cheesecakes, and cookies onto the floor. Ken is now the Assistant Cub Scoutmaster and in nursery. I am the second counselor in the primary presidency. Conner and Cadin had their first piano recital last week and their first pinewood derby where they placed second and third. The three oldest are playing indoor soccer and in gymnastics. Abree would love to do all of these and am considering putting her in gymnastics because she does donkey kicks very well and headstands on the couch. Brenna is crawling everywhere now and she pulls herself up to standing position. She is 17 lbs today at her 9 month checkup and in the 25th percentile for her height and the 15th for her weight. She twirls her hands and feet when she is excited and loves to clap. Ken and I also hit our ten year anniversary. It doesn't seem like we have known each other for thirteen years now and married for ten. Time flies when you're having fun.

It's great to be 8!

2009-11-08T19:41:00.000-08:00

Cadin and Conner and their first day of Cub Scouts and their baptism.

Their birthday party. It has been a wonderful eight years. They are growing into remarkable young men and future missionaries. We love you Conner and Cadin.

summer

2009-08-01T16:54:00.001-07:00

I am trying to get on the ball and get the pictures printed and into the computer a little faster. I

also want to scrapbook them as soon as I print them. I am thinking that the kids will be able to help a little that might make it go a little faster. We have had a fun summer. Here are the three on the same soccer team. Great grandma has seen Brenna a couple of times so far. I wish she was going to see her more often, but there are no more trips planned to IF again until possibly Christmas. Abree loves to walk with Grandma Hemmer especially along the greenbelt in Idaho Falls.

All of the cousins at the Brown family reunion. They were on an adventure with Tricia and Jason at the cabin in Heber. The kids loved running around with their aunts and uncles. Conner and Cadin were each buried in the sand at Deer Creek reservoir by Provo.

Abree loves to lead Spencer to where she thinks he needs to go. This is at the Snake River in Idaho Falls.

Brenna is smiling now and she giggled for the first time two day ago. She is growing up too fast. This is the best that I have gotten so far of her smiling.

Abree is just a doll. Her hair is long enough to put it in two ponytails. She also knows how to pose for a picture.

ballet recital

2009-06-21T20:33:00.000-07:00

Abree is standing next to our garden. We have gotten broccoli so far.

Here are two friends that had babies right after I did. We got together for a playdate.

Brenna with grandma.

Abree decided to put sunscreen on herself.

Sebrina had her ballet recital last Saturday and she was a beautiful ballerina. The kids have been out of school for one week now and Brenna is two months old on Wednesday. Swimming lessons start tomorrow. Brenna with great grandma Chambers on the day of her blessing.

lightning again?

2009-06-05T13:09:00.000-07:00

We were holding our breath last night that lightning would not strike in the same place twice. Just to be safe we unplugged the computer and the modem so that it would not go through there. I did not do the dishes just in case since the dishwasher was fried because it was running last time we got struck. The storm mostly missed us. Our neighbors however had their trampoline lifted right over their fence and land upside down on their basketball hoop from a burst of wind. Ken and another neighbor took it back up on their lawn since they were not home. There could be another storm coming in the next couple of days so hopefully no one gets struck.
Brenna is also six weeks now. She is getting so big and starting to smile. I am trying to get her to smile for a picture. She pulled a fast one on Ken on Sunday while he was in his church clothes. He was changing Brenna's diaper and she decided that she needed to go to the bathroom so she squirted Ken with poop all over his tie. She did not stop there. She also got the dresser that is probably three feet away, the bedspread, and the floor. Needless to say that a little cleaning had to be done on the Sabbath since mustard was not the desired color of the carpet. Of course this happened when we were already crunched for time in trying to get dinner and be part of a baptism for our old neighbor. We introduced her to the church 1 1/2 years ago and she was baptized on Sunday by Ken. I survived giving a talk on baptism. We are so excited for her choice to become a member. I couldn't help thinking that in a few months I will be at Conner and Cadin's baptism's. They are growing up way too fast.
Abree keeps us on our toes. She will sneak out the door and go to the back to the trampoline or to the swimming pool now. She loves to sing. She sings " I Love you" over and over and she has never seen Barney. She also sings "Tinkle Tinkle little star"

Brenna is here!

2009-04-25T19:23:00.000-07:00

Brenna is here after a little shoulder distoshia(I am sure I slaughtered the term) which is the baby's shoulder getting stuck under the pelvic bone. The shoulders were not too big, but she just chose the worst time to turn. She was born on April 24, 2009 at 4:21 pm. She was 8 lbs 5 oz and was 19 1/2 inches long. Sebrina had been my biggest baby thus far sitting at 7 lbs and 4 oz. Brenna blew that weight out of the water. We are home from the hospital and hoping to get a little more sleep for both of us. So far Brenna has slept almost the whole time since I got her in real clothes. I am wondering if she wasn't warm enough last night.

That is so not fair!

2009-04-17T14:38:00.000-07:00

The Dr. stripped my membranes yesterday hoping to put me into labor quickly so he would deliver before he went to Portland for a medical thing this morning. It is 24 hours later and still nothing. Now my Dr. is going to be gone until late Sat. night if I want him to deliver he said to cross my legs until then. I took the kids to school today and Conner's teacher whom is pregnant and due on May 1st was at the hospital having her baby and out for the rest of the school year. That should have been me. Such is life.
On to other things- Ken is jazzed about doing a square foot garden so he bought all of the wood and the dirt, etc. and today we went to the nursery and picked out plants. We are going to attempt onions, green pepper, zucchini, and tomatoes. We are also going to do some strawberries along the side of the house. Even though we are in a rental it is hard to not do something that we have always wanted to do. Now that we have put the money and time into it I hope that we don't move until we are able to reap the benefits of a garden. The weather has been cooperating very nicely and it should be 80 degrees by Sunday.

Easter

2009-04-16T10:40:00.001-07:00

The kids enjoyed Easter. Abree got mad when anybody tried to show her where to find an egg. She wanted the candy inside and didn't want anyone to tell her what to do. Conner thought it would be cool if the baby came out on Easter, but alas still no baby. I was on medicine to stop contractions from turning into labor and then I was going into labor at 35 weeks and 3 days and the hospital stopped it one more time because I was four days away from 36 weeks. Now I am 38 weeks and nothing has happened which seems to be the trend for my pregnancies. The kids keep asking when the baby is going to come out and I tell them anyday now.

The weather has been getting warmer and I have gotten a jump on Spring Cleaning inside and out. We piggy backed onto our neighbors yard sale and Ken is getting excited about putting together a square foot garden. He has the wood and the dirt to set up and then it is off to the nursery for plants. The kids have weeded the dandelions in our yard and that is what they want to do everyday after school. Of course there are so many more everyday for them to do. They all have their own pair of gloves and Abree got her own pair today because she kept walking around looking for her gloves when they weeded it last time. Today is another Dr's appt. so we will see if there is somewhat of an indication of when the baby will come.

Finally, I know

2008-12-23T12:20:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-09-08T17:07:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-12T18:29:00.000-07:00

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!!

2008-08-08T16:24:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-31T22:02:00.000-07:00

Compare

2008-07-30T21:49:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-24T14:50:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-11T11:21:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-06-23T12:45:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-07T20:06:00.000-07:00

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.

2008-04-20T20:53:00.000-07:00

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.

Life goes on

2008-04-17T10:51:00.000-07:00

I only have a minute before the boys need to get ready for school. I have wanted to update the blog, but we were without our home phone and internet for over a week so we could keep the same phone number when we switched companies. Abree is now teething again with a cold and an ear infection. She will only sleep if I am standing up while holding her. I am finally able to lie her down if she is dead asleep. It has been a hard week to do anything except hold Abree and try to get the kids to school. We did enjoy watching conference on our computer which was nice since Cadin and Ken had a cold that weekend and we they would not have been going anywhere. Conner and Cadin are excited about school because they are incubating eggs and are learning about the life cycle of a chick. They got the eggs yesterday so in 21 days they will hatch. Sebrina also has a cold now so she has taken a nap all week without a hard time. We went on a hike last Saturday that was really fun. The kids did great and I have pictures that I will post later. Sebrina also had her first sleepover at someone else's house and then she had one at our house during Spring Break. We are off to northern Idaho this weekend for a mini vacation. Ken and I have been trading all week with the kids and it will be nice to have all of us together for a while. Ken has visits tonight after my Presidency meeting and that has been the schedule this week. We are doing the Lord's work so everything seems to work out. Last night at mutual the Laurels planned a crazy dinner where there was a main course, a side dish and one utensil to try and eat it. Some funny combinations were refried beans with spaghetti and a turkey baster to eat it. There were several people that had whisks for spaghetti. Another combination was taco soup, salad and chopsticks. It was a lot of fun. We offered some people forks to finsish their food at the end and most declined. They either had figured out a way to eat it or had resorted to eating spaghetti with their hands instead. Have a great weekend.

Teething

2008-03-20T22:02:00.000-07:00

I don't know where to start with the past week. Abree got two new teeth and has a bad diaper rash and runny nose to prove it. She is great at pulling grapes off the counter by standing on the stepstool. Then she pulled the tablecloth to get Conner's gatorade. She sees something she wants then she goes for it. She discovered the slide and loves to go down it when we drop the boys off at school. She is usually screaming as I am carrying out of the school yard. Conner is reading books now and Cadin is very close behind. I went to the MiaMaid youth conference last week and had a good time with the young women. I played volleyball and danced with them as well. We did a humanitarian project also by coloring the pages for nursery's or something. I just colored and didn't worry about the rest. We were even flagged down by a truck with a couple of rednecks wanting the young womens' phone numbers. I had to wonder if we were in Rigby :). It made me a little homesick. It was a lot of good time spent getting to know them better and there is a Laurel conference this Sat. that one of my counselors is going to with the Laurels. The kids also enjoyed watching a water leak by the sprinkler box get fixed. The conractor had to dig four feet down to get to it and he had about six kids watching him and asking all sorts of questions. Abree wanted to get in there as well and screamed when I wouldn't let her get in the mud. We did a service raffle tonight where we get to pick what service we would like to do out of a list that people previously had written down and I chose to wash someones dog because the kids would love to do that. Although it may backfire and they may ask for a dog. I chose to have someone watch our kids for us to go to the temple. Happy Easter to all and we love everyone.

2008-03-07T19:27:00.000-08:00

Today was busy once again full of school and errands. On Hanford Friday( Ken's Friday off from Hanford) there are always things for Ken to do on his day off. We both go to school and help with the teachers. Of course there is usually a Costco trip involved to get the things that only Costco has. I went to the temple with my friend Amy and it was neat to be in that temple. I had one more temple card to do for my family and now Ken and I just need to be sealed for her. I enjoy doing family names which means that maybe I should get on the family history. As if I am not busy enough. I would like to get into family history soon. Abree was just riding her bike with a phone to her ear. She has already learned to multitask. The weather has been great in the 50's and 60's which of course means outside time for the kids. The kids have a birthday party to go to tomorrow at the park. I hope the weather is warm. The kids go to school on Monday and then have the rest of the week off for parent teacher conferences. I hope the weather is nice because we can spend everyday outside and the kids will be happy.

windy

2008-03-03T14:11:00.000-08:00

It is now windy and blowing the tumbleweeds back. I can't complain because the weather is still in the 50's. Sebrina and I are making cinnamon rolls. She is watching a movie while the dough is rising. We will go pick up the boys from school and come home to roll out the cinnamon rolls. We had Stake Conference yesterday and it was really good. The Sat. session was also excellent. I must say that I got a lot more out of that one then the Sunday one due to kids. Although almost every speaker talked on having clean hands and a pure heart. I am glad that I went to both still. We were able to suustain Pres. Monson so that was worth it to go on Sunday just for that. I am going with the Young Women to do baptisms tomorrow. I am excited to share this great experience with the Young Women. Yesterday, Cadin saw me drying my hair before church and he got on the counter and held the hair dryer while I round brushed my hair. My hair actually went the way I wanted it to. I have to admit that it was nice to have two hands to manuever the brush. I am sure Cadin will tire of doing it everyday, but maybe he will help out on Sundays. He is a character. His teacher at school says he has quite the imagination. Parent teacher conferences are in a couple of weeks and the teachers always say such good things about them. I look forward to them and so do the kids because they get to show Sebrina where they go to school. I am in their classes helping at least once a week so all of the other kids know me also.

2008-02-25T20:47:00.000-08:00

The wind blows here and not only do we get dust, but we get the nice big tumbleweeds that collect at our back door. It took me a little while to put the pictures on the computer,but Abree enjoyed reading the paper one Sunday. Abree was so tired that she stayed asleep on Sebrina for a few minutes while we got ready to take the boys to school. I didn't want to put her in bed for fifteen minutes and then leave to take the boys to school.

2008-02-25T19:57:00.000-08:00

Today we played outside. It was nearly 60 and there was no need for jackets. Abree loves to be outside and she will cry when she is not outside. She also loves to look in the fridge and pick something out. It is usually yogurt. Cadin decided to put a tattoo on by himself. He walks out of the bathroom with is smack dab in the middle of his forehead. I scrubbed it off before he went to school, but I had to get a picture of it first.

Imagine that!

2008-02-23T15:15:00.001-08:00

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

My twin looks more like dad?

2008-02-23T15:11:00.001-08:00

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph

Who's your daddy?

2008-02-23T15:09:00.001-08:00

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

Brown

2008-02-23T15:04:00.001-08:00

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celeb - Collage - Morph

Nobody!!

2008-02-23T12:51:00.000-08:00

We are now warm and sunny and we have been outside every chance we get. Sebrina learned how to ride a bike with no training wheels. The boys have been practicing baseball so they have a little skill when they start playing this year. We also went to a hockey game last Friday with friends and the kids had a blast. The Tricity Americans killed the other team. Sebrina is now registered for kindergarten. I can't believe that she will be going next year. Abree is going to be so bored when all three are in school. We all had the flu in the first of February and now the girls including me have a cold. I hope this is it for a while. Cadin decided that he would try his phone skills by calling 911 last Saturday. We were asleep and heard the phone ringing. I asked Cadin who it was and he said it was nobody. The caller id said the name of our county and a phone number, but I didn't know what it would say if he really did call 911. Cadin said he was trying to call a friend from school so since he didn't tell me that he called 911 I dropped it and got in the shower. While I was in the shower Abree woke up and Ken took her downstairs with the other kids so he could shower . Cadin comes in the bathroom and tells Ken that there was somebody at the door. Of course it was the police checking on us since we had not talked to the operator on the phone to confirm that there was no emergency. The police asked if we were fighting and the kids called the police and Ken said "we were asleep" . Finally, they fessed up and said Conner told Cadin to call 911. Cadin's excuse was that Conner told him to. Oh, what an impressionable age. Ken scared them by telling them that next time he would be taken to jail. This made Conner worried all day about Ken going to jail. Hopefully, they got scared enough to not do it again. Someone in Cadin's class mooned some of the other students because someone told him to do it also. Yesterday, the girls and I were taking a walk while Ken was helping the boys in their classes at school and Sebrina stuck her finger in a hole in the cup holder of the stroller and got it stuck. I was talking to a friend and she got some oil before we could get her finger out. What a month. Phew! While I am at it Abree decided to lunge forward in the shopping cart and fell out on the carpeted area of the store. She screamed about it, of course, and everyone in the store heard her. I think two out of four isn't bad for falling out of shopping carts. Conner is the other child that has fallen on his head. I try so hard to watch them every minute and they are so fast. I am glad that this month is almost over and next month will be full of good things and warm weather. :) I thought I should recap the month since I haven't updated for a while.

The tooth fairy!!

2008-02-01T13:06:00.000-08:00

I can't keep Cadin from losing all of his teeth. He has racked up one more to his four. He has lost five now and none have grown in yet.

He wants me to take a picture after he loses his teeth now. It will be fun for scrapbooking. I have so much to catch up on already. Abree finally had a birthday party. We waited until Matt was here and they celebrated it together. She loved her cake and all of the kids loved having Auntie Tricia and Uncle Matt. and Uncle Ryan and family here last weekend. As soon as they left they were distracted by all the snow that came. It snowed seven inches in one day and that is a record for here. Church was even cancelled. Ken's work was cancelled on Monday and the kids school was cancelled on Tuesday as well. The kids were out of school for semester break on Monday already. Ken had so much fun in the snow with the kids. Abree even enjoyed it outside. Sebrina would pull her around in the sled. Abree is being put to bed and she will cry herself to sleep. Last night she fell asleep sitting up with her head against the crib. She kept catching herself before she fell over. I wish I would have gotten a picture, but I didn't want to chance her waking up. She is walking now and when we go to the store she has to either push the cart or walk beside it. It makes for a long stroll through Target.

The New Year

2008-01-15T17:48:00.000-08:00

I have been so busy that this was on the back burner. There are so many things that have happened. The first thing is that we went to Idaho Falls for Christmas and it snowed and snowed and snowed. That is the most snow that we will be around for a long time. There is no snow here and when it snows then it is gone in a day or two. The kids were outside almost eveyday in ID and they loved it. Abree is now walking and prefers it to crawling. Cadin is losing teeth faster than they can grow in. The count is to four and he still has not had one grow in. Ken and I had our eight year anniversary and then Abree turned one. Sebrina decided that she wanted shorter hair. We are also joining the missionaries for the first discussion with our neighbors this week. I will put a lot of pictures and write more later.

Sebrina's birthday

2007-11-22T14:08:00.000-08:00

Sebrina is now five years old. I can't believe she will be in kindergarten next year. I attempted her cake and it was crooked, but she didn't care. The weather here is definitely warmer than Idaho Falls. That is one of the nice things about here. We are wishing we were in Idaho Falls for Thanksgiving. Abree has three teeth now and she is almost walking. I can't keep her in one place for very long. She likes to play with the other kids and gets mad if you try and keep her away. Conner and Cadin got their first report card and are doing very well in school. Cadin got a cold and stayed home while Ken, Conner, and Sebrina went to see their great grandpa Brown in Moscow. He was there at Ken's uncle's house. Unfortunately, Abree was not able to meet her great grandpa Brown.

Halloween

2007-11-05T18:45:00.000-08:00

Of course Halloween was a hit with all of the kids. Even Abree got in the action. She is a speed crawler and kept going after the candy. The boys were eating suckers and she kept opening her mouth and trying to eat them. She knows what candy is now. There were about 200 people at our trunk or treat and then the kids went trick or treating for another hour after that. We have a ton of candy now. Abree is good at finding things that the kids left behind. She is eating Sebrina's leftover quesadilla that she left at the table in the picture below. The table that Sebrina likes to eat at is a kids table so Abree can reach it. Abree crawled over to it and started eating Sebrina's food. She also dumped a bowl of her cereal on Sat. when Sebrina left it unattended. She is just as mischievious as the other kids. Of course Sebrina was a Princess,a snow Princess, she loves princess anything. It was so warm on Halloween here. It was 46 degrees and it felt so nice. It has been in the 60's and we almost don't need a jacket, I love the weather here, but miss the people in Idaho Falls. We are going to be there for Christmas and hopefully be able to see everyone. We miss being close to family. Ken may be applying for a different job within the same company. It is still chemistry oriented, but he may get paid more. There are going to be many opportunities to change and move up on the totem pole. Abree is halfway up the stairs so I am going to rescue her before she decides to try coming down. We hope everyone had a safe and happy Halloween.

All I want for Christmas!

2007-10-25T19:20:00.001-07:00

Cadin lost his second tooth. He presented it to me early yesterday morning. The tooth fairy has since left money uncer his pillow. Conner is wondering even more why his teeth aren't fallling out. He did work on his tooth and get it to bleed. Abree also conquered the stairs yesterday. I was upstairs and she decided that she wanted to come get me and was halfway up the stairs when Sebrina spotted her. Everyday is filled with funny moments with kids. I got out the Halloween costumes today and Cadin was putting his on when I heard a truck outside. I told the kids to see what it was since they love watching the garbage truck and any other big trucks. The city was cleaning out the storm drains and Cadin was standing there in his costume. The men waved at them and went on their way down the street. They came to the drain right next to our house and Conner was trying on his costume by that time. One of the men came up to the door and said Trick or Treat. He brought mini candy bars and gave them to the kids. That made their day.

Ken attempted to set up a barrier for Abree and she crawled over it. She does not let anything stop her if she wants to go somewhere.

Sebrina incognito!

2007-10-22T20:01:00.000-07:00

Ken went to check on Sebrina last night and found her asleep with her sunglasses on. We had to get a picture of this. The weather is back in the 60's and we were outside all afternoon. We will take all the sun and warmth with it. We hope that it will be warm for Halloween. Ken has pack meeting tomorrow night and the kids love going with him for that. It was a lot of fun to help in Cadin and Conner's class on Friday. The first trimester is almost over. Parent teacher conferences are in a couple of weeks. We are going to try and make the school Halloween party on Friday. Sebrina loves writing her name and she loves making pictures for her friends.

Here comes the rain!

2007-10-18T14:56:00.000-07:00

The sun is gone and the rain is here. Today we walked to school with raincoats and umbrellas. It was only sprinkling a little and by the time we got to school it had stopped. The kids were so excited to use the umbrellas that they still had them out even when it had stopped. It has taken a turn for the cold weather and they still want to be outside all the time. It is time to get out the winter clothes. Everyone has colds now which made for Abree's first cold :(. She caught on real quick what a Kleenex was and to turn her head into my shirt instead. You have to love the snail trails. I am going to start helping in Cadin and Conner's class every other Friday when Ken is off. I will split the time between the two classrooms and come home with the kids. I hope they will have fun with me there and not be too distracted from their schoolwork. I am going to kindergarten again. Those were the days of snacks and recess. If only everyday could be so simple as kindergarten.

Fun in the Sun

2007-10-11T09:13:00.001-07:00

A nice warm day to be outside. Abree wants to be in the middle of things. There is no stopping her. Sebrina is also practicing on her roller blades and bike without training wheels. I was about to pack up the shorts, but now I might keep a couple of pairs out for a chance of another day like today. Conner and Cadin are enjoying school and really like their teachers. Sebrina is learning how to write her name and loves to practice it. Conner and Cadin's biggest complaint is living so close to school that we have to walk and not ride a bus. They ask when we will move further away so they can ride the bus.

2007-10-11T09:13:00.000-07:00

Cadin lost his first tooth on Tuesday. Conner wants to know when his tooth is going to fall out. Abree is crawling and pulling herself up on the couch. All of the kids went to the pumpkin patch this week. They had so much fun. They all brought home a pumpkin. Ken is liking his job and all is well.