stitches

My little guy had a big accident on Sunday, just as we were packing up and getting ready to leave Utah! Somehow he got bounced too hard on the trampoline and fell on the bar, smack on his head. I didn't see it happen, but my guess is a big kid bounced him accidentally. Olivia brought him inside and there was blood everywhere. Luckily, there was a doctor in the house, whom I deferred to right away. Uncle Glenn sat him up on the counter and determined that the best route would be to get some stitches, so he and Jon jumped in the car and took him down to the Urgent Care. They walked in and Glenn walked right up to the counter and informed the nurse that he would be needing a room (connections are great, I tell you). They got to the exam room and stitched him up (with quite a struggle, I might add, Glenn said he might have been the hardest fighting kid he'd seen!), and he left with four stitches.

So, my big birthday plan of buying the kids a trampoline for their shared birthday is thwarted, as I now feel SICK about this darn accident. Dr. Glenn said "he'd never own one of those dag-blamed things" and I think I have come to feel the same.

A big bang ending to an otherwise accident-free vacation. Since they left the Urgent Care Max has not once complained about his head, and seems to be basically unscathed. And, if he's lucky and has my dad's hair line, no one will ever see the scar. If he gets his daddy's genes...........poor guy.

one last hoorah...

We made the trek down to Utah again for one last summer hoorah. We had tons of fun, as always, visiting, swimming, and riding on tractors...

here are the kiddos riding on Papa's tractor...(the dog came along)

Ian had lots of fun with TWO big days of swimming...

we got to swim with great friends in Bountiful...

these boys got along so great!!!

biggest and littlest (my nephew is about 6'5" and counting)

sweet Aunt Shirl took amazing care of us, as usual...

another tractor (Max let him have this ONE ride on it)...

brothers...

uncle-ly advice...

and yet another tractor ride...

The main reason we headed down was for the wedding of Jake and Emma. Their sealing was amazing. It made me remember my own, and I am so happy for those two love birds! Crystal and I helped the amazing Shirl with the food for their reception, which was TONS of fun, and lots of work, but I would do anything if it means spending time with those two sister in laws. The reception turned out great, and thanks to nearly 400 eclairs and 400+ barbeque beef sandwiches, we had just enough food! Thanks for getting married, Jake and Emma! Good luck in love and life....

nine months...

I can't believe my baby is nine months already. He is a total gem. He sleeps all night. He naps in his bed twice a day. He LOVES to play with his toys. He rarely fusses. He loves to eat. ANYTHING. He loves to drink out of big cups (he has the same hole in his lip that his mommy does). He has a contagious laugh. He loves to be snuggled, wrestled with, and doted on by all of his family. He brings us together. The perfect end to our little family. Our CABOOSE.

21 pounds

29 inches

(thanks, Jaide, for the cute picture!)

warning, here come a lot of pictures of a very fun stay-cation!

We had such a blast with Crystal, Jaide and Tage this past week and a half. It was too fun, too fast, and we wish we could do it all again! These visitors are so good to us, so helpful, and love to do all the things that we do, which makes it easy! Here are some of the highlights of our trip:

We had a fun picnic at a river-front park. The kids had fun playing in the water and watching the boats. This was part of Jaide's birthday extravaganza.

Molly roped Jaidie into some good-ole dress-up! Jaide was such a good sport when Molly brought her a dress that Molly promised was just her size!

Thank you, Jaide, for turning 17 at my house and choosing to go here for dinner:

Jaide under the banner, she is even cuter at 17, if that is possible!

Oh, I love this picture. These three have always been so close even with so much distance (because their moms do such a good job keeping in touch!) and pictures like this just warm my heart! We have so many of the three of them through the years, and I just want to take time by the shoulders and shake it and say stop, don't let these guys get a minute older.

We love you guys and will miss you dearly, dearly, dearly!

berries!

Berry picking is an integral part of summer in the Northwest. We have been doing our fair share. We like to freeze them, and love to jam them! This summer, before our visitors arrived, we made 20 pints of strawberry jam, 20 pints of sylvan berry jam, 15 containers of sylvan berry freezer jam. Probably sufficient for a nice long winter, but we couldn't resist one more opportunity to go picking with our favorite berry team! Here are some cute pictures Crystal took of our adventure!

Max with his goods!

Molly getting to work. We told them if they didn't pick, they didn't eat lunch. It was very motivating.

And, we decided to feed them, because we ended up with 67 pounds of boysenberries and raspberries. Yum!

It wore this guy out!

And, after this, Crystal and I were also very worn out! The end result? 72 pints of jam!

Crystal, I think we should go for double or nothin' next summer!

more, more, more!

We took a trip to the Farmer's Market on Saturday. We all walked and pushed two strollers two miles each way, with the promise that after the market we would hit the fountains and cool off! It was so fun. We have loved this attraction for years! The kids had a blast splashing each other, spitting water at each other, and eating lots of kettle corn!

I just love this sculpture!

ooh, the water feels good!

At home, we stayed cool on the Slip-n-Slide. Aunt Crystal bought us a new Diego slide, and everyone had fun sliding (except Max, who had fun observing). Here is Molly reassuring him that it is "super fun" to slide!

Jaide is showing everyone how it's done!

And then she gave Molly lessons (and lots of support!)

Could these cousins be any more fun???

life's a beach...

Our trip to the coast was awesome! It was 90+ degrees when we packed up and left, but the weird Northwest Coast Phenomenon kicked in when we hit the coast, and it was windy and freezing on the beach! Never fear, we had fun nonetheless. We flew kites, dug in the sand with sticks (someone forgot the beach toys...), searched the tide pools, and watched the sunset over the Pacific Ocean from the warmth of our hotel room. Does it get any better than that?

The view from our patio

Tage looks like he's thinking...hey, look at my two cute babes!

silly cousins

here's to fifteen bliss-filled years...

Yesterday, Jonny and I celebrated our fifteenth wedding anniversary. He was on a plane all day and I was 67 pounds deep in boysenberries, but sometime in the very near future we plan on going out and painting the town to celebrate the best fifteen years EVER! I just love this guy!

...and this is how I picture us 15 years from now (and 15 years after that, and so on).

summer fun

more favorites...

Kristen, you've done it again!

Family Home Evening at the Temple

"As we touch the temple, the temple will touch us."

President Thomas S. Monson

he will be missed...

We got sad news that little Patrick passed away recently. Although he was only with us a bit over a year, he will be missed and we will never forget him! He is survived by his mother, Sweetheart. He had an accident while loading into the horse trailer, and it left him brain-damaged and with many cuts on his legs and face. Two vets determined that he would not be sound if he continued to live and it would be better for him to be put to sleep. He died by injection while Olivia's grandpa held him. Olivia is heartbroken, but she knows he is in a better place and is running free without any pain. That makes us all feel a bit better.

Patrick: born March 26, 2008 (here he is on the day of his birth)

Died June 10, 2009 (this is a recent picture from our trip to Utah just days after his accident)

daddy of the year...

I just wanted to give a little shout out to my sweet husband, who is the greatest daddy ever! I am so grateful that I chose HIM, and pretty happy that he puts up with ME. Here are the top ten reasons he is the BEST:

1. He plays with our kids. REALLY plays.

2. He takes ALL of them to "China Town" (tickles them relentlessly) EVERY SINGLE DAY.

3. He is SUPER positive.

4. He reads parenting books and is always trying to better himself as a dad.

5. He thinks that the most important thing that he can do for his kids is to love their mother.

6. He provides for them, so that they can have their mommy stay home to care for them.

7. He brings them silly prizes whenever he returns from a business trip.

8. He takes them on "daddy/kid dates" regularly.

9. He tells them every day how lucky he is to be their dad.

10. He reads the scriptures, prays with them, and cuddles with them every night.

**Photos courtesy of Kristen**

while the cats away..

So, it is the annual "Daddy/Daughter Camp-Out" for our ward this weekend, and Max was soooo sad that he was not invited along for this one! He always wants to be ANYWHERE that Dad is. Molly runs a close second. I, on the other hand, am constantly trying to win him over, to no avail! I stinkin' adore this kid. He just warms my heart with his sweet demeanor, his winning smile, his sensitive spirit. Not that I'm playing favorites, but geez this kid has got a hold on me! And, I know he loves me, he tells me so at least five times a day (he is so sweet!), but he just loves his daddy MORE (to say the least). Anywho, in my efforts to woo him and to make him happy he stayed with me this weekend, I pulled out the BIG GUNS! We went on a TRAIN RIDE! We rode the MAX train (how cool is that?) downtown, got dinner, and then rode it back! He was SO excited all day leading up to this big event. He just kept saying, "I wanna ride the train, the M-A-X spells Max train!". He was so enthusiastic, and the night did not disappoint! He was in heaven. Here are some pics of the outing:

Here's me, trying to prove I was there!

After we got back to the car he announced he wanted ice cream, and of course, his wish was my command. We stopped at Cold Stone on the way home. When we got home, we all got our jammies on. I quickly got a very tired Ian to bed, and asked Max if he'd like to sleep with me tonight ("oh yeah, baby," was his resounding answer). After we brushed our teeth, I read him 11 Dora the Explorer stories. He could not believe that I kept agreeing to "just one more." When he was ready to go to sleep, he rolled over and asked me to sing him some songs. "Which ones?" I asked.

Row your boat, Twinkle twinkle, Child of God (so I sang, and then he added) Hurries down the hill, Doe a dear, and Spoonful of Sugar.

I think Max enjoyed being an only child for the night.

I am soooooo much cooler than dad right now.