Our Crazy Family

Grandma and Papa Visit

2012-02-06T08:45:00.000-08:00

My parents arrived the night of the 24th and boy were the kids excited to see them, they woke up on Wednesday very excited to see Grandma and Papa. My Dad went and ate lunch every day with Josie which made her feel very special and my Mom went a couple of times too. One of our fun outings with Grandma and Papa was the zoo. We had lots of fun at the zoo, here are some pictures from our outing.

Zachary

2012-01-24T09:22:00.000-08:00

So this morning Zachary had his surgery for ear tubes, he was very happy and content even though he had to wake up two hours earlier and wait to eat. He did very well while waiting for his turn, the surgery lasted literally less than fifteen minutes and he was only gone probably about 20-25 minutes from the room and we could hear him screaming as they brought him down the hall to us. Needless to say he was a little disoriented, confused and probably felt really goofy after the procedure. He was then able to eat and didn't keep it down long before throwing it back up all over me and himself. After that though he calmed down and snuggled till it was time to go home. On the way home he dozed and then once we walked in the door he was down and crawling and playing with his big brother and sister. Matt and I are so grateful that he stayed healthy enough so the procedure could take place. Hopefully now he will be fluid and ear infection free for quite sometime.

10 months old

2012-01-17T08:37:00.000-08:00

Matt and I can't believe that our baby is 10 months old already. This past 10 months has gone by so fast and we can't believe that soon it will be his 1st birthday. Zachary is really good now at cruising along the furniture, who knows how much longer till he starts letting go and working on his balance.

Anthony got some remote control cars for Christmas this year and needless to say Zachary loves them. He chases them down as quickly as he can.

As mentioned earlier he can go up the stairs but is not very good yet at going down, he likes to open up the gate and head for the stairs when no one is looking. His older siblings have been told not to hang out or play on the stairs because it encourages him to want to head down with them.
Zachary loves to dance when the radio is on, he crawls up to the table with the stereo and sways to the music. He especially loves it when someone joins in with him.
Some fun things about Zachary at this age are:

1. He loves to be wrestled with

2. He loves to be tossed up in the air

3. He loves to play peek a boo and he just laughs and laughs when we play

4. He loves to splash in water especially the bath tub

5. He is really branching out and eating new things even though he still only has two teeth

Another thing about Zachary is that he is following in his big sister Makayla's footsteps. He has been suffering from ear infections since this summer and so when he only lasted one week off antibiotics and was put back on because of another one then two days later we had to go back and switch antibiotics we decided it was time to go and see the ENT. So on the 4Th we went and was checked by the doctor and decided that on the 24Th, so next Tuesday he will be having tubes put in. We are trying very hard to keep him healthy till then so the surgery can take place and hopefully like Makayla the tubes will put an end to his ear aches.

We love our little boy and love watching his progression. He is always full of smiles even when he is sick. He brings such a sweet spirit into our home. Love you Zachary!!!

My little boys

2011-12-29T08:44:00.000-08:00

Anthony has been waiting since Easter for Zachary to grow into his shirt and it finally fits. Yeah!! I was surprised to see how the green brought out Zachary's red high lights in his hair though.

Merry Christmas Part 2

2011-12-29T08:05:00.000-08:00

After church and Zachary's nap we headed over to Sam and Susie's for Christmas at their house. We had a nice time opening up presents, visiting with family and eating a nice Christmas dinner.

Zachary with one of his new toys. He had fun crawling around playing with the wrapping paper, bows etc. For the most part he was very happy considering he had been sick since Wednesday. He had another ear infection/sinus infection and was running a fever of about 103 once the Motrin wore off so since he was happy and not feeling to poorly it was a good first Christmas for him. Anthony got a cool gorilla piggy bank, it even makes noise when you put money in it. Last year Josie got Clarice for Christmas so this year she asked Grandada to buy her Rudolph and every time she saw him she reminded him that he was supposed to buy it for her so Grandma and Grandada came through. She was so excited, even his nose lights up.
Josie decorated herself while unwrapping presents Even Holly got a Christmas present Thanks Sam and Susie for a great Christmas. The kids love the new clothes, books and toys. Josie has had so much fun painting her new horses and Anthony had fun painting his frog. We love you both and hope you have fun in Arizona.

Breakfast/lunch of Champions

2011-12-29T07:53:00.000-08:00

This is what Makayla ate for breakfast on Christmas morning.

And this is what she ate right after she finished her lunch. Needless to say she ate all of her Christmas candy pretty quickly.

Merry Christmas Part 1

2011-12-28T12:53:00.000-08:00

The three older children waited till 8 am for Zachary to wake up and since we told them they had to wait till then when he didn't wake up we told them they could start without him.

All we have heard for the last few months is how much Anthony wants some Happy Feet toys. When we went to see Santa he told him that that is what he wanted. So since then all I have heard from Anthony is I can't wait till Christmas because Santa is going to bring me some Happy Feet toys. It is a good thing Santa delivered because Anthony had 100% faith in him. Makayla got a new Princess chair for the basement kids table and she was so excited that she piled her presents right next to her chair and opened all of hers while sitting in her chair.
From Santa Josie asked for Cinderella's horse and carriage and she was very excited to find that he had brought it for her. Anthony was very excited to receive some more Happy Feet toys from Santa.Makayla got some much needed new zip up pajamas and they had her favorites on them one had Minnie Mouse and the other was Princesses.

Anthony got the Kung Fu Panda movies since he loves the cartoon so much.This year Josie made us a calender for Christmas and inside each month it had her hand prints made into a picture for instance February into a heart, March her hand made a Leprechaun etc. Also this year Anthony made us a really neat present in preschool.
From Grandma and Papa Anthony got a new penguin doll and George of the Jungle 1 and 2 movies.
Matt bought a train set for Anthony for his first Christmas and so he wanted to do the same for Zachary. Makayla got two new dress up dresses, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty.
Makayla got the Beast and the prince to Snow White to go with her dolls she got for her birthday. From Grandma and Papa she got the horse she has very much been checking out at the store.After we took Zachary's picture with his train I realized he was very poopy so I just changed him and took off his dirty clothes then figured he could get dressed after we were done with presents.
He got some much needed new trainer sippy cups.

Josie got a Cinderella doll in her stocking to go with her Cinderella horse and carriage and Prince Charming doll. she also got a new horse necklace
Zachary got a little Snoopy toy, a toy penguin and some shoes and teddy grahams in his stocking.Anthony got another Happy Feet toy in his stocking boy was he happy.
We had a very nice morning opening up presents then we literally rushed to eat breakfast then got dressed and headed to church. It was neat being able to celebrate Christmas on a Sunday this year to be able to go to church and worship Jesus, it really helped to put the true meaning of Christmas into the day.

Christmas Eve

2011-12-28T12:40:00.000-08:00

The kids were so excited to put cookies and milk out for Santa. They could not wait for this day to come. Merry 1st Christmas Eve Zachary!!!

Spaghetti

2011-12-28T12:30:00.000-08:00

For dinner on Christmas Eve we had some of Matt's yummy spaghetti. Zachary really liked it too. I love how they look after eating spaghetti it is a guaranteed bath time afterwards.

Jackson Family Christmas

2011-12-28T12:10:00.001-08:00

On Christmas Eve we had a Christmas party with Matt's mom's side of the family. Matt's Uncle Jeff hosted it this year and everyone had a great time visiting with one another.

Matt's sister Teresa and her fiance, Brendan.

Sam (my father in law) with his happy face, Matt's sister Carri and Poppa.

First Grade Program

2011-12-20T08:35:00.001-08:00

Last Thursday Josie had her 1st grade Music Program. The 5Th graders performed first then the first graders. Both grades did a great job with their performances. Josie got herself ready for her performance and I must say she was dressed very festive and looked really cute with her Reindeer antlers and jingle bell on. She did a great job singing!!
The last song sung for the night was the 5Th and 1st graders combined which was The Santa Claus Rock.

Makayla

2011-12-20T08:17:00.000-08:00

At Makayla's three year check up her stats were:

weight: 27 lbs. 4 oz. 16%

height: 35 3/4 inches 20%

I try to do some funny sayings of the kids as they start talking more because some things they say and do can be pretty funny:

1. Be nice to me Mommy

2. With a very stern look on her face she will say: Be nice to my brother Mommy (if he is in trouble)

3. She is always asking either Anthony or Josie "Do you want to play with me?" She then will get either very happy if they say yes or cry very loudly if they tell her no and persist that they play with her.

4. If the other two are playing together and she wants to be included she will say "I want to play with you guys."

5. When Matt comes home from work she YELLS "Daddy I missed you!!"

6. " Mommy I want to tell you something."

7. As we are driving she constantly says "Mom" then I will say what then she will say "Mom" and back and forth we go until finally she will tell me what she wants to tell me.

8. She will beat up on Zachary then she will be real quick to kiss him better then tell me "I made Zachary happy."

9. If she wants to get on Anthony's nerves she calls him a Boo Boo which then upsets Anthony to tears sometimes.

10. She will come to dinner sit down at the table look at what we are eating then either she will stay and eat or she will get up and say "No eat."

11. She calls the Seven Dwarfs "Heigh Ho"

12. She loves to wear dresses, have her hair down with pretty things in it, she loves shoes and will wear every ones shoes not just her own.

13. For a while she would not call a horse a horse she would call it by the sound it made. So for instance she would say "I want to ride a... then the noise a horse would make.

14. Makayla loves to sing along with some songs and sometims when I try to sing with her sometimes she will tell me "Mom no sing."

Snowmen

2011-12-20T08:08:00.001-08:00

The snow was just right so after Anthony's program Matt and the kids went out to make a snowman.

Josie made her own snowman, I thought it turned out very cute. I told her it looked kind of like a hippo and that was very cool.

Anthony's Christmas Program

2011-12-20T07:56:00.000-08:00

This month we have had quite a few different programs for the kids. On the 11Th it was Anthony's preschool Christmas program. He was so excited to get up and perform what his class had been practicing. He told us that it was his big day and he was right it was. Last year he was so shy and quiet that I don't know if he really sang or just moved his mouth but this year he did a great job. You could even hear him singing at times. Great job Anthony we had a great time watching you perform!!! We love you!!

Nine Months

2011-12-20T07:43:00.000-08:00

On the 2ND Zachary turned 9 months old (I am a little behind posting on it) he is such a good baby despite all the problems he has been having with his ears the past three months. He is usually always smiling unless his older sister won't leave him alone. He loves it when Dad comes home and gets mad if he doesn't pick him up to say hi. He loves it when Josie and Anthony bring him into their rooms and let him play with them. He loves it when Mom tosses him up or swings him back and forth. He will throw his head backwards sometimes to initiate play.

This little boy pulls himself up on to everything he isn't walking yet holding onto furniture but he is getting close.

Thanks to his big sister Josie he can climb the stairs but hasn't figured out yet how to go down them.
Some cute things about Zachary are:
1. He has this cute little giggle that he does when he is happy or excited
2. He loves to dance, right now he is a head and booty shaker
3. He learned how to clap
4. He gives such sweet little hugs when he is in a cuddly mood

His stats at nine months are:
weight: 19 lbs. 6 oz. 27%
height: 27 in. 9%
head circumference: 17.4 17%

We sure love Zachary and are very grateful he is part of our family!!

Santa Claus

2011-12-12T19:28:00.000-08:00

Last Wednesday we went to see Santa Claus and got very lucky and didn't have to wait in line, we just barely beat the crowd. It took a little doing to get everyone to look at the camera at the same time but we did it. The two older kids did a great job telling Santa what they want for Christmas. Anthony has been carrying around different ads with different things he wants and wanted to bring them to show Santa but we told him that he didn't need to.

The picture turned out quite cute I think!

Josie's Dance Christmas Program

2011-12-12T08:46:00.000-08:00

Last Tuesday Josie had her Christmas dance recital and once again she did a great job. She really has lots of fun at class and it shows when she performs especially the tap dances. Great Job sweetie! We are so proud of you and really enjoyed watching you dance.

THREE

2011-12-05T08:04:00.000-08:00

For a couple of weeks Makayla has been waiting for her big day. She has been showing everyone how old she will be with her fingers and the day is finally here. She was so excited when she woke up that morning because everyone was home since it was a Sunday. We all got to spend the day honoring and celebrating her.

The day before her big birthday she helped me bake the cake. The tradition is that the birthday girl or boy gets to lick the beater and she was ready to go at it. The day before I bought some fun doughnut holes for her birthday breakfast and she really enjoyed them. Makayla really enjoyed helping me frost the cake
The day before her birthday we got our first real snowfall of the season and since it was to cold and snowy to play in yesterday the kids played today. This was probably Makayla's first real time actually playing in the snow since the last couple of years she was to little or didn't really have an interest in it. The kids had a ball and Makayla was very excited to wear pink snow pants. From her siblings they gave her some new Princess sheets for her bed and then she got from us a fun very soft Princess pillow.
Alls this girl wanted for her birthday was a big Snow White and Belle but she being the girly girl that she is we got her her own dresses to match them and she loves them!! She couldn't wait to get one of her new dresses on and play with her new Minnie Mouse House. Thanks Grandma and Papa for the new toy she loves it!!
The birthday girl with her Princess cake that she wantedYou can tell she is related to Anthony when she blows out her candles. A little bit more spitting than blowing. WE really enjoy this little girl and all that she brings to our family. She brings so much smiles and laughter to our home along with some frustration from time to time with her attitude and stubbornness but it all balances out in the end. We love you our little Makayla!!!

Oh Christmas Tree

2011-12-02T07:44:00.001-08:00

Last Friday we picked up our tree that we tagged back in October on a 70 something degree day. Since it was to late to decorate it by the time we got home we just put it in the stand with some water and decorated it on Saturday. The kids were very excited to decorate it and to put their new ornaments up on the tree.

Zachary just took in all the excitement and played with whatever he could get his hands on. My little goof ball
Here it is our beautiful 2011 Christmas tree. It is smaller than we normally get but it is a nice pretty little tree. The needles are softer which is nice especially for Zachary who likes to crawl under the tree so when he gets poked in the head it doesn't hurt as much.

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-12-01T12:10:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving! We are so grateful for all the many blessings in our lives. We are so blessed and so Thankful for all of our blessings. On Thanksgiving after breakfast we watched the parade together which was something I have loved to do since I was a child than in the afternoon after Zachary's nap we headed over to Sam and Susie's to be with family and to celebrate with them.

At school both Josie and Anthony made Thanksgiving hats so Josie made one for Makayla so she wouldn't be left out. I thought they all turned out so cute.

It was this little boy's first Thanksgiving and he really enjoyed the jello and dinner rolls. I thought this picture was so funny so I had to include it. One of the things that I am thankful for this year is this little guy!! He joined our family back in March and we were so excited for him. Needless to say he brings much joy into our lives and we love him so much!!
The kids also decorated Grandma's tree for her again this year.
Each year Susie gives each of the kids a new ornament and this year Josie got a butterfly, Anthony got a gorilla one, Makayla got a ball with her name on it and Zachary got a baby's first Christmas one. Thanks Grandma for the fun new ornaments, everyone loves them. The kids each got a new winter hat and slippers from Aunt Carri and family. The girls got some pj's from Aunt Melissa and the boys each got a toy from her as well. The kids with all of their new hats from Aunt Carri.
It is hard to believe that this year is almost over, when I look back at it much has happened and much has changed. I am so grateful for this time of year to give thanks for so much. I have a wonderful family, a Savior who loves me and died for me , health not just for my family but myself, a home to raise my kids in, my husband's job which provides for everything we need, for the country we live in and the men and women who are serving for our country to ensure that my children live in a land that is free. These are just a few of the blessings that I am grateful for.

My 3 little bulls

2011-12-01T12:07:00.000-08:00

Turkey in Disguise

2011-12-01T12:03:00.000-08:00

Josie was sent home with a turkey that needed a disguise to survive this Thanksgiving. She came up with the idea to disguise it as a Peacock. I helped her with the wings then she took over the rest. We had lots of fun working on it together and I think it turned out really cool looking. Her class loved it and thought she did a great job.

Zachary's 8 months old

2011-11-08T07:58:00.000-08:00

On the 2ND of November my sweet little boy turned eight months old. It is hard to believe how fast time is flying with him. He is such a sweet and cuddly little boy. He loves to be cuddled by his Mom and Dad and he loves to play with his big brother and big sisters. He loves any toys that make noise. He will lay on his back and wave all four extremities while shaking that toy. He also likes to dance, he will shake his little head back and forth with the music. Another thing that he loves is to be tickled, he is even more ticklish when he is tired. You can really get him laughing then. Zachary had a big seven months last month, he started crawling. First he started by army crawling than within a few weeks he was up on all fours crawling. Plus, he got two bottom teeth.
He loves to wrestle with his brother already, thankfully Anthony wrestles nicely back with him. At the end of the day when Matt gets home from work he will crawl up to Dad to say hi and get a hug. We sure love this little boy and all the smiles he shares with us. He is such a sweet and precious little boy.

Sorry Mommy

2011-11-08T07:50:00.001-08:00

My sweet little girl who never gets into things that she shouldn't. If she did she would come out of my bathroom with my mascara all over her face and hands.

Than the first words out of her mouth would be "Sorry Mommy!!" Thank goodness for some good makeup remover from Mary Kay!!

Trick or Treat

2011-11-01T07:43:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween!! The kids were very excited except Zachary to go Trick or Treating. They had been looking forward to wearing their costumes and of course getting some candy.

Here is Zachary on his first Halloween! Isn't he a cute little vampire baby? He absolutely hated his hat though, once we were done taking pictures we had to take it off.my beautiful monarch butterfly

My little own Minnie Mouse, isn't she just precious

My very strong gorilla
The crew ready and waiting to go and get some candy
and they are off!

It's Pumpkin Carving Time

2011-10-31T08:17:00.000-07:00

Last night we decorated and carved our pumpkins. Anthony decorated his pumpkin that he got from the pumpkin patch. Josie and her "girl" pumpkin Makayla wanted a happy face pumpkin
Anthony wanted a gorilla pumpkin so I did my best to create a gorilla face for him.
The kids did a great job cleaning out each of their pumpkins. Makayla wouldn't let me help her at all. The other two did a great job separating the seeds from the other stuff.
YUM!!
Zachary had a good time watching all the commotion The master carver
The final products

Josie's Costume Parade

2011-10-31T08:06:00.000-07:00

On Friday the elementary school had their parties and costume parade so me and the other kids went up to watch the costume parade to see Josie. The kids enjoyed seeing all of the different costumes.

Fun With Family

2011-10-31T07:43:00.001-07:00

My sister Rosalee came out to visit us for three days and it was a pretty activity packed three days. On Friday the 21st we took her to the Pumpkin Patch since she was here during the month of October she had to experience it. It just so happened that Josie was out of school that day and Matt took a half day to go with us. While there we went through the haunted houses, watched the pig races, rode the train, jumped on the jumpy pillows and did lots of other fun things. I hope she enjoyed herself at the pumpkin patch.

Matt's sister Carri and her family also met us up there for a short while.
Jackson and Josie
Trevan and Zachary
Josie, Jackson, Alainna and Jayden
Anthony, Trevan and Zachary
Then there is Makayla

What do you do on a beautiful fall day?

2011-10-06T12:00:00.000-07:00

The weather was almost 90 degrees on Tuesday so Matt got off work early and we headed out to the pumpkin patch for the afternoon. We went through some haunted houses, played on some big slides, looked at some donkeys, a long horn, a camel then headed over to ride the ponies. Josie's horse was wearing a hat, which she thought was really cool!! After dinner we took a ride on the train We couldn't have asked for a better day to go spend a few hours at one of our favorite places.

Zachary at 7 months

2011-10-06T11:48:00.000-07:00

At seven months old Zachary is a very happy little boy. He loves his big sisters and big brother especially when they take the time to play with him for instance when Josie takes him into her room and sings for him. Or when they do goofy things to make him laugh, he can really get some big belly laughs when they play with him. He is learning to feed himself some dry cereal, dry baby foods and has even had some toast which went over really well. The last few weeks he is really trying to figure out how to move, he will get up on all fours and rock or once he gets up on all fours he will push himself forward with his legs especially if there is something he wants that is just out of his reach.

Some other fun things that he is doing are: when we are dancing around he will sit there and bob his head or if he is lying on the floor he wiggle with the music. He makes these adorable little faces while tilting his head to the side as if saying aren't I cute? What more can I say, he is a fun loving little boy and we just love all the smiles he shares with us. We sure love you little Zachary!!

Anthony's Preschool Field Trip

2011-10-03T08:23:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday was Anthony's field trip to the pumpkin patch with his class. This year they went to the Apple Barn and learned about apple trees. This year unfortunately the apples had a bad year so he was unable to pick some from the trees like years past, we had a great time regardless. Here Anthony is on the hay rack ride going to pick out his perfect pumpkin Anthony with his perfect pumpkin Anthony and Makayla played on a giant spider web
And the last activity we did for the day before eating our picnic lunch was to ride the train.

It's Pumpkin Patch Time

2011-09-30T12:34:00.000-07:00

Yeah! The kids are so excited that once again for one month out of the year the Pumpkin Patch has reopened. Our first stop was to say hello and get our annual picture with who but Mickey!! The weather was beautiful and we couldn't have asked for a better evening to go and enjoy our first trip back.

While there we watched Xander's new act for the year
Anthony with a face full of food
Josie pretending she was getting eaten by the pumpkin

We even enjoyed some smores We rode the four seater bikes... Matt stayed behind with Zachary while I pedaled the rest around while Josie attempted to help.
We had a good first trip to the Pumpkin Patch and look forward to going again really soon!!

My Little Husker Fans

2011-09-30T12:21:00.000-07:00

Zachary's first year in Husker wear. Doesn't red look good on him!! My sweet little boys!

My four Husker Fans!! Don't they look like a great cheering squad!!

Anyone need a doctor

2011-09-13T12:30:00.000-07:00

For Josie's birthday our neighbors put together a very fun and nice doctors kit. Lets just say her first aid kit is way better than mine. She loves it needless to say and is having a ball with it. If anyone is in need of some assistance she comes running with her kit to patch it up, gloves and all.

Some things about Josie

2011-09-13T12:14:00.000-07:00

Some things about Josie right now are:

1. Loves horses
2. Loves butterflies, she likes to watch caterpillars go into cocoons and come out as a butterfly or moth
3. Loves school, loves to learn
4. Still loves her buddies
5. Her best friend is Jade
6. Likes to ride her bike, she is even allowed to ride her bike all by herself to her friends house
7. Is very artistic and loves to draw
8. Loves to play with her siblings
9. Has a very kind and sweet personality with a very tender heart
10. Loves to swim and is a very good swimmer for her age
11. She loves to cuddle and be included
12. Loves to sing and dance
13. She is a great helper to her parents and siblings

Josie's 7

2011-09-13T10:51:00.000-07:00

On Sunday my little girl turned 7 years old. It amazes me to think back seven years ago on the day she was born and through the years and how much she has changed and grown. From day one she has brought so much love, passion, humor and happiness into our lives. Matt and I can't imagine what life would be like without her. We love her so much and are so grateful for our little Josie. Thank you for being my daughter, my friend, my helper and for being such a helpful and loving little girl. I love you so much Josie!!

For Josie's birthday we wanted to do something special for her this year, we had decided not to do a birthday party this year but something just for her. This took some brain storming but soon we thought of the perfect thing for her. Those who know Josie knows how much she loves horses so we decided to take her on a horseback trail ride and boy was she excited. Since the other kids weren't old enough it was just me and her which made it even a little bit more special. Thanks Matt for letting me be the one to go with her. Needless to say she had so much fun and asked if she could do it again.

Before the trail ride we had some time to kill before the trail ride so we went over to the park to play. While there this lady was holding this sweet kitty, Josie asked her if it was hers and she said no that it just showed up so Josie asked her if she could hold it. This sweet little kitty let Josie take it down slides with her, she carried this cat around like it was a doll and it let her. Boy did she want to bring it home with her but Dad said no. Lucky for us another little girl showed up at the park and we were able to pawn off this sweet little kitty to her (we don't know if she took it home but we like to think that she did so it went to a good home).

Awaiting the start of the trail ride. Josie, Anthony and Makayla enjoyed petting the horses that were nearby. Josie and me before getting our horses.I was on a horse named Toby and Josie's horses name was Trooper. Trooper turned out to be a great horse for Josie to ride. He was very calm and cooperative whereas mine was a bit cranky at times. He liked to try to bit the horse in front of him.After the trail ride was over Josie and me on our horses. For Josie's birthday she got lots of fun new things : her first present was from Anthony...

from Makayla and Zachary she got her very own baseball glove with ball. Josie is really into learning the game of baseball so we got her a glove. Josie's helmet was starting to crack so a few weeks ago she saw this one in the store and commented on it so we decided to get her a new one for her birthday. Yup, it is a unicorn one.
For Josie's birthday she had a few requests that she really wanted which were the barbie fridge with lots of food and a barbie bunk bed for her barbie house. Lucky for her she got both!!
So this year since Josie has been really big into butterflies I found a butterfly cake idea online and decided to make it for her with our own twist of course. Between Matt, myself and Josie here is how it turned out.
I think it turned out pretty darn cute, don't you?

Happy 7Th birthday Josie!!! We hope that you had a birthday to remember and that you know how much we love you!!!!

The Tooth

2011-09-09T12:18:00.000-07:00

For at least a month now Josie has had a loose tooth, her bottom right front tooth. She would wiggle it and mess with it and then the big tooth came in behind it. I told her to keep wiggling it and to get it out since the new tooth was there already. I tried to pull it and so did Matt as much as Josie would let us. She tried to pull it and it wouldn't come it. So finally I called the dentist to see what we should do about it and they said to bring her in so on Wednesday I took her in and they pulled it out for us. No wonder we couldn't get that sucker out look at the roots on that thing.

Zachary at 6 months

2011-09-09T11:44:00.001-07:00

My baby was six months old on the 2ND and I can't believe it. He is such a joy in our family. He brings happiness and love into our family each day. He had a very busy month last month he finally rolled over and he does it both ways now, he sits up without support and he is pivoting around mainly in circles on his belly. Some of my favorite things about him are his big blue eyes, his big smile and when he smiles his eyes light up. He loves attention, he is sooo ticklish and when he laughs he has such a big belly laugh. He loves his exersaucer and boy does he get that thing rockin and rollin. This picture was taken a few days after the top ones and boy was he miserable that day. His nose was running and he was coughing and the respiratory virus that he has been fighting for over six weeks was not helping any.Here is Zachary the morning of his six month checkup taking a nice warm bath. At his checkup he wasn't able to get his shots because my poor baby has a double ear infection and he still after over six weeks has mild wheezing and so the doctor wants to see him in two weeks to recheck the ears and lungs and if he is still wheezing he wants to do some x-rays.

On another note his stats for six months are:
weight 17 lbs 2 oz. 38%
height 26 in 29%
head cir. 16.6 9%

I just want my little Zachary to know how much I love him and how happy he makes me. I love the smiles he gives me and when he cries it sounds like he says Ma. He is so precious and I thank the Lord every day for sending him to me.

Saturday Fun

2011-09-09T11:34:00.001-07:00

Makayla is always on the look out to see what she can get into and this is her latest. Anthony before a tummy virus hit him later that day.

Josie thought it liked like so much fun so she had to join Makayla in the barn

What we did while the older two were at school

2011-09-02T09:04:00.000-07:00

Makayla played with Zachary He played with his toes for a little while, his toys and exersaucer and oh yes his sister too!!

Makayla played the drums on the drum and her brother's head

Anthony's First Day of Preschool

2011-09-02T08:49:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Anthony's first day of preschool, after breakfast he went and got dressed in the perfect gorilla shirt to wear and after he was all dressed he came to me and I told him that he was missing something. He looks down at his shirt, shorts and socks then back at me with a confused look and I told him his new shoes that he has been anxiously waiting to wear. He got a huge grin then started giggling his excited giggle that he has, then ran to the laundry room to get his new shoes.

After school I asked him how his day was and he told me good and that he made a new friend, when asked what his name was he told me he didn't know that I should find out. He then proceeded to tell me that Amelia no longer wants to marry him that she has found somebody else and that he told her that he would let her. How sweet!

Butterflies

2011-08-23T08:51:00.000-07:00

Our Monarch hatched on Friday evening but Josie didn't know till Saturday when we showed it to her. It was a beautiful butterfly so we took a few pictures then it let it go.

Yesterday Matt caught a Tiger Swallowtail outside on one of our trees. This was Josie's first time getting up close to see one and she was very excited about it.

My Birthday

2011-08-23T08:38:00.000-07:00

Last Friday was my birthday and I had a very nice day. The kids were really excited to give me my presents that they picked out for me. I got lots of new Huskers clothes, a couple of new dresses, some shirts and the Wicked soundtrack for my birthday. Matt and the kids took me out to dinner then we came home for some yummy cookie. I decided to make a big chocolate chip cookie instead of a cake since we have lots of birthdays between July and September in our house.

Thanks to all those who called and wished me a Happy Birthday. Thank you Matt, Josie, Anthony, Makayla and Zachary for a very nice day!!! I love you all!!

2011-08-23T08:36:00.000-07:00

First Day of School

2011-08-23T08:24:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday was the first day of school and boy was Josie excited. She has grown so much this summer not only physically but emotionally and mentally. She is such a sweet precious little girl and we love her so much, I will miss having her home all day with me.

Open House Night

2011-08-23T08:20:00.000-07:00

So last Tuesday we had open house night at Josie's school to meet her teacher and drop off school supplies. Her teacher this year is Miss Rasmussen and she seems very nice. Josie was very excited to meet her teacher and check out her new classroom and to see who all is in her class this year.

Fire Ball

2011-08-23T08:12:00.000-07:00

So Makayla had her first fireball last week and I was very surprised at how much she actually liked it. Go figure out of any of my kids she probably would. She would suck on it for a little while spit it out in a cup then go back for more. Who knew!!!

Sleepy Time

2011-08-23T08:06:00.001-07:00

On the 9Th of August Zachary finally figured out how to roll. He now rolls from back to front all the time. He is still is not very good at rolling off of his stomach but at least he rolls one direction pretty good.

You now will find him always sleeping on his tummy

One very tired boy after drinking his bottle one night

Caterpillar and Cocoon

2011-08-12T12:25:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday Josie and Matt walked the trial and found a couple of things along the way. In the field grows milk weed and so where there is milk week one can find monarch caterpillars and even cocoons.

The cute little monarch caterpillar. Hopefully we will be able to watch this cute little caterpillar go into a cocoon and turn into a beautiful butterfly. The cocoon they found. We pinned it up in the butterfly garden and are waiting for it to hatch.

Anthony's Five

2011-08-12T11:10:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday my little boy turned five years old and boy was he excited to turn five. We started off the day with baking the cake then we called his friend Amelia whose birthday is also the same day to wish her a Happy Birthday and they invited us to go to the Amazing Pizza Machine for lunch. So we went there where Matt met up with us he decided to take a half day to come join us for some fun. Then after we left the Pizza Machine we went to the Wildlife Safari were we had a nice time.
Anthony licking the beater to his cake
Pictures from lunch at the Pizza Machine

My silly little Josie posing with food hanging out of her mouth. Anthony, his friend Amelia and Makayla waiting in line for the ride Anthony and Amelia on the ride... the two birthday kiddos
Josie on the ride too, it turned out the Makayla was about 1/2 inch to short so she wasn't able to go, she wasn't to happy about it.We played a quick game of putt putt and stopped to take some pictures along the way
The much wanted gorilla birthday cake Anthony got a new mitt, tee ball bat, some balls and tee ball set for his birthday. He also got a new batman from Makayla.
Josie got this shirt for Anthony and he loved it. Once he saw it he said "Cool" I like it Josie!! Anthony got the first season of Beast Wars the transformers. In this series of transformers Optimus prime transforms into a gorilla which Anthony just loves to watch.
Anthony getting ready to catch the ball with his new mitt.
Swing batter batter
Matt showing him how to hit the ballAnthony with his cake
Anthony blowing out his candles, he did a much better job this year not giving his cake a bath. Some Things about Anthony at age 4-5 are:

1. Loves Gorillas and anything about them. He told his preschool teacher that when he grows up he wants Jesus to turn him into King Kong

2. Loves to play with his sisters

3. Loves having a little brother and can't wait for him to get bigger so he can play with him

4. Is becoming quite the little fish in the water this year. He loves to swim in deep water and jump off the diving board as long as he has his life jacket on. If the water is shallow he loves to flop around in the water like a fish without the jacket on. He loves to be thrown in the water while wearing his jacket

5. Loves to ride his bike while wearing his gorilla bike helmet

6. When he pretends to sleep he has a very unique snore were he snorts in and exhales youyouyou

7. Will only wear socks that has cartoon characters on them

8. Still loves his kitty!!!!

9. Likes transformers especially Bumblebee

10. Likes to eat cheese pizza, cheese sticks, candy and sweets

11. Is looking forward to Halloween so he can wear his gorilla costume that we bought on clearance last year

12. Likes to dance in the ran

13. Got to decorate his own room for him and Zachary

14. Got to move from a car seat to a booster this summer

We just want to tell Anthony how much we love you and that we love having you in our family. You bring love and humor into our lives and smiles to our faces everyday. Thank you for being our little boy!!!

Waiting Patiently

2011-08-11T12:05:00.001-07:00

Josie loves to catch butterflies to put in her butterfly garden and we have two trees in the backyard that attracts butterflies so she likes to go out and catch the butterflies that land on the tree. On Tuesday I looked outside to find this... her waiting for the butterflies to arrive

My poor bruised child

2011-08-11T12:00:00.001-07:00

My poor little girl last week had two different times were she hurt herself. The first one being the bruise on the right side of her forehead were she was running and tripped and smacked into the wall. The second one happened on Saturday while playing at a restaurant called Spikers, she was playing in the game run and fell off one of the games and hit her eye on the way down.

Zachary's new toy

2011-08-11T11:50:00.000-07:00

Well it is not a new toy to the house but it is for Zachary and he loves it. I finally got it out of storage and cleaned it up so he could have his turn in it. It didn't take him long to figure it out either he loves to explore the toys and can turn himself around in it.

Yummy Paper

2011-08-11T09:49:00.000-07:00

Zachary loves to play or eat paper he has so much fun till you take it away from him

It's Fair Time

2011-08-11T08:56:00.000-07:00

On the 4Th we took the kids to the fair. Every summer we look forward to going to the fair so we checked out which night was the all you could ride wrist band night and off we went. The kids really love riding rides and it is always fun to watch them have a great time.

Did I mention how much Makayla loves this slide? Makayla waiting in line for one more ride on the slide
Here comes Anthony, me and MakaylaThere goes Anthony's hat Zachary even enjoyed himself for the most part, there was lots to see from his front row seat to help keep him happy. We even spent a little bit of time at the petting zoo

They Hatched

2011-08-07T08:26:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday the 3rd the butterflies started hatching. Josie wasn't home when they started so she missed it but was very surprised when she came home from a friends house. It was fun to see and to experience. Within minutes the next one came out, this picture was taken as it was coming out of its coccoon.

Three out of the five hatched within minutes of each other The last one finally hatched on the 4Th of August, we were starting to get worried about it
One of the painted lady butterflies with its wings open. Aren't they pretty? Four out of the five getting a drink from the sugar water soaked paper towels
Letting them go Once Josie let them all go she broke down and cried because she missed her butterflies. Matt found one that had flown into one of our hanging plants and put it back into the butterfly garden so she could keep it one last night. That made her happy and when she let it go the next morning she wasn't so sad because one came back to say goodbye.

Zachary at 5 months old

2011-08-05T11:54:00.000-07:00

Zachary at 5 months is usually a very happy baby, he loves being talked to, sung to and played with. Right before he turned five months old he found his feet. He loves to grab them and roll himself onto his side. Another thing he really enjoys is his baby food and gets really excited when he sees it coming. He loves to babble and when he gets really excited he waves all four limbs pretty wildly. What can I say I just love this little boy, he brings a smile to my face every time I see him. I just love to kiss those chubby little cheeks. We love you Zachary!!

A wagon ride

2011-08-05T09:30:00.001-07:00

On Monday, August 1st Zachary got his first wagon ride from his big sister Josie. She is 100% sure that he enjoyed it but I think he just tolerated it.

Look who finally lost a tooth

2011-08-05T09:15:00.000-07:00

Since Josie was about 3 or 4 years old all I have heard from her is I want big teeth then once her classmates and friends started to lose some of their teeth the desire grew. Back in April the dentist told her that he was able to wiggle her two bottom front teeth with his pick which made it even worse. Well last Thursday Josie was sitting at the table and told me that her mouth hurt behind her two front teeth so I looked in her mouth and what do I find but a big tooth coming in behind her baby tooth. I tried to wiggle the tooth to see if it was loose but I couldn't wiggle it barely at all. So I called the dentist to see what we should do about it and he said that they would need to pull it out so I scheduled an appointment for Monday at 7:30 am. Well Matt gets home and starts messing with the tooth and shows Josie that he is able to wiggle this tooth so what does she start doing with it? She starts wiggling it none stop, by Saturday morning (the 30Th of July) the tooth was really loose. She kept whining on my bed all morning so I tried to get it out but couldn't. Once again Matt got home from work and he tried and couldn't so he tells her what to do and before we know it she comes running from the bathroom with her tooth in her hand.

She then announces to us that she is so excited for the tooth fairy to come and bring her a dollar since that is what all of her friends and classmates got. So can you guess what the tooth fairy brought her? That's right a shiny dollar.

Anthony did it!!!!!!!

2011-08-05T09:07:00.000-07:00

So when Anthony completed his first year of preschool I was slightly disappointed, you see he came out of it not being able to write most of the letters or his name. He grew in leaps and bounds other ways which was great but I really wanted him to be able to do those too or at least have more of a foundation to work with this summer. So what did I decide to do about it, well it is amazing what a little bribery can do. Anthony wanted this toy from Toys R Us really bad so I told him if he learned to write his uppercase letters and name that he could have the toy. We started once Josie was out of school and towards the end of July he earned his new toy. I am so proud of him, he worked so hard every morning Monday through Friday to earn it. Now we are working on lower case letters meanwhile reviewing every thing else he has learned every morning.

Play time

2011-08-05T09:01:00.001-07:00

Zachary got some play time last week with some of Josie's horses, she was so nice to let him play with her. She really hopes that someday he will have a love for horses just like she does, I guess it doesn't hurt to start him now.

Coccoons

2011-08-05T08:55:00.000-07:00

Last year for Josie's birthday she received a live butterfly garden. With it came a coupon to receive 3-5 caterpillars shipped to you with food included for them. I finally remembered to send off for them this year since we figured we should wait till this summer to redeem the coupon. She was so excited when they finally arrived, I didn't get their picture taken until they were in the cocoons.

Swimming Lessons

2011-08-04T12:12:00.001-07:00

This summer we did two sessions of swim lessons. The first session we took part in was cold and rainy some days which took place the last two weeks of June. The second session which took place July 11-22 was very hot so the kids had no excuse when it came to getting in the water.

All the pictures shown are from the second session.
Josie this year finally learned how to swim underwater she hasn't been able to do that till this year. She has had lots of fun retrieving toys from the bottom of the pool this year.
Josie practicing her elementary back stroke Anthony practicing his bobs
Josie practicing her front stroke this picture has both kids: Josie swimming her front stroke and Anthony learning the arm movements Josie practicing her back stroke
During swim lessons I would feed Makayla snacks to get her to stay put and usually it worked. Although her favorite game was to run into the boys bathroom because she knew I wouldn't follow her in there. I would have to hide and wait for her to run through the boys then the girls and back through the boys to catch her. Little stinker!! Needless to say next summer it will be Zachary's turn to drive me crazy because Makayla will join the other two in swim lessons. Josie learned to dive from the side of the pool this year in swim lessons and she does a pretty good job at it.and there she goes Anthony waiting for his turn on the diving board
It is really funny how Anthony will jump off the diving board all by himself as long as he has his life jacket on but if he doesn't then he will refuse to jump.
and there he goes
Both kids did a great job this summer in swim lessons. Anthony passed level one in the first session that we did and did level two the second session he will need to repeat the level next year. Josie did level three both times this summer she actually passed level three last summer but I thought she should repeat it the first session to be refreshed well she didn't pass it the first session but the second session she nailed it. I think she just needed to get her sea legs back. I didn't care that she repeated it due to the fact I think it is more important that she is strong in the level versus just completes it.

Poppa's 88th Birthday

2011-08-03T12:59:00.001-07:00

On July 15Th, 16Th and 17Th we had a weekend of celebration down at the Embassy for a special person in our family Matt's grandfather Poppa. Poppa will turn 88 on August 30Th. There is a story about this number. Every year on his birthday when the grand kids were younger and they would ask him how old he was he would answer 88 will finally he is turning 88 so of course we had to celebrate it. We started it with a dinner at Rick's Boat Yard. Some of the flooding by the restaurant from the Missouri River

A picture of the dinner
On Saturday morning we took a tour on Ollie the Trolley. The tour was a history of Poppa's life pretty much after college. Here are some pictures from it.
Some of the houses Poppa used to live in
That afternoon it was a free for all until dinner time so went to a farmers market downtown and then to lunch finally we even had some fun in the pool
Poppa with his Birthday Cake
Some pictures from our nice sit down dinner
Zachary with his Great Uncle Steve. Steve just loved holding little Zach.
Poppa with his children: Susie, Jeff and Betsy Poppa with all of the great grandchildren
A picture of Matt with his siblings, cousins and Poppa A picture of all the grandchildren with their spouses
A picture of Poppa with just our family A picture of the whole family
Happy 88Th birthday Poppa, we love you so much. It was great celebrating it with you, because of you and Pauline this family is what we are. You are a great example to us and we thank you for all your love and support.

Zachary's first taste of cereal

2011-08-03T11:02:00.000-07:00

After we got back from our trip we started Zachary on rice cereal. He really didn't know if he liked it or not. It took a couple of weeks before he would really open his mouth on his own for it. That was even after we mixed it with some bananas, it wasn't until we mixed pears with it that he really started to open up to baby food. Now he has had pears, bananas, carrots, squash, apples and peas.

Also after we got home I took him for his four month checkup his stats:

wt. 14 lbs. 15 oz. 40%

ht. 24 1/2 in. long 23%

hc 16 1/4 in. 17%

He is a growing happy boy and we love him so much, he is always full of smiles and he sure loves his family. He loves most of the attention he gets from everyone. He still won't roll over very much but then again he really doesn't have to with three older siblings who rescue him at the first cry. Some other things about him are: he is a good sleeper at night he sleeps about 12 hours and he is very good about sleeping through noise and putting himself to sleep (a must being number 4). His naps are hit and miss if he takes good ones. He likes to play with his spit rags probably because they are very easy for him to hold at this point. He loves to play peek a boo and when he is in a giggly mood he will just laugh and laugh at just about anything you do.

We sure do love you Zachary and are so blessed by you!!!

Day 8

2011-08-03T08:41:00.000-07:00

On the 8Th day of our trip we went up to a Pioneer Village, as I was taking pictures of some of the town my brother commented to me that I take more pictures than an Asian on vacation which I wouldn't know but I will say this that I do like to document our vacations thoroughly.

My niece looks so tired that she could hardly sit up and eat but had to lay on the ground to eat some cereal. The kids really enjoyed riding the train

Some cute little baby ducks Anthony and Makayla really liked riding the small train. Makayla still wasn't 100% and still running some fevers but she was a great sport throughout the day. Don't the two look sweet together?
Josie had fun looking for gold in the little stream Here Anthony and Makayla are checking out the inside of a ship
The kids especially Josie and Makayla really were excited to ride the horses. Makayla asks to ride a horse every time she sees one and we told her that she might be able to ride one on our trip. The kids enjoyed checking out the goats and pigs
After we left we said our goodbyes to Jacob and his family then followed my sister Shannon to the house they just bought and took a tour then we said our goodbyes to her and her family then we went to my parents house where we stayed the night then got up early the next morning to drive home. By that time both Anthony and Makayla were running fevers but luckily no one got sick on the drive home which was a huge blessing. We had a fantastic trip and it was great to be with my family once again. We love and miss you all so much!!

Day 7

2011-08-02T11:29:00.001-07:00

On Day 7 of our trip after a morning of shopping at the outlet stores we went out for some pizza and some bowling. The kids had a great time since we don't get out and bowl ever. Expect for a few minor hiccups we all had a great time.

A beautiful picture of my brother Adam
Aunt Rose snuggling Makayla
Makayla got pretty cranky which at times isn't unusual for her but quickly fell asleep on her Aunt Rose. That was when we noticed that she was running a fever. Later after she woke up I went to pick her up and snuggle her then she decided to repay me by pucking all over me. I had to finish bowling that way till our time ran out. On the way home we decided to stop at Walmart and pick up some Motrin to help out with the fevers.
Zachary may not have bowled but he still had a pretty good time.

Day 6

2011-07-29T08:25:00.000-07:00

During our trip we went to the Hogle Zoo for a day. They had some fun dinosaurs displays going on which the kids liked to see. Some of them even would spit at you which was really funny when it got you. For the most part we had a great time at the zoo despite the heat.

We thought the baby elephant and her mom was pretty fun to see.
We watched a fun little bird show while there. The kids really enjoyed watching the neat things the birds did.Finally we got to the gorilla's. Since we arrived at the zoo that was all everyone heard from Anthony was I want to see the gorillas. I must say the Hogle Zoo really lacked in the gorilla department compared to our zoo but that is okay. We still had fun looking at this zoo's gorilla. At the zoo Makayla and Anthony rode on the carousel some lady was very nice to Anthony and gave up the gorilla just for him which needless to say made his day.

Day 5

2011-07-28T12:31:00.001-07:00

On day 5 of our trip my dad took those of us that were able and willing scuba diving up at Homestead where there is an extinct volcano or aka a crater. Matt and I were a little nervous about it but once we figured everything out we had a great time. We went scuba diving for about two hours and I went down to the bottom which was 65 feet which technically I wasn't supposed to go that far but I lost my dad's mask which ended up on the bottom of the crater but luckily I found it. Thanks to Rose, Shannon, Adam and my grandparents Gowans for watching the kids for us so we could scuba diving. Thanks Dad for the fun adventure!!! Afterwards we all came back to the condos for some dinner and more family bonding time.

Zachary and Asher playing together on the floor

Rosalee enjoying her dinner, for some reason it always seems like I get her picture while she is eating or maybe it is because she is always eating.
Zachary with his great grandparents Gowans
The kids playing outside the condos. The kids did a great job getting along with each other. It was great that they had this opportunity to bond with each other.
My family plus my Grandparents Gowans
All of my family, my how we have grown from a family of seven to a family of twenty four
A four generation picture

Zachary's First Fourth of July

2011-07-28T12:00:00.000-07:00

It just so happened that while we were out in Utah Zachary not only turned four months old already but also celebrated his first fourth of July. He is such a sweet loving little baby and we just all love him dearly. If you look closely in these pictures you can see his cute little dimple on the right side.

Day 4

2011-07-28T11:03:00.000-07:00

On the 4Th of July we went downtown Park City to watch a parade and enjoy some of the festivities that were going on in the city. After we finally found some parking we made it to watch the second half of the parade. The kids still had fun watching the part we got to see.

After the parade we went and found a nice grassy spot to go and eat lunch. Then we walked part of the city meanwhile window shopping for a little while.
Uncle Adam with Zachary
A view of part of the city
Josie had a bit of a stomach bug that hit that afternoon which made her sick for a few hours. The next morning though she was fine.

Day 3

2011-07-27T12:41:00.001-07:00

On the third of July we got up went to church then spent most of the day relaxing which was kind of hard to due at times since it was so hot you see we didn't have any air conditioning in the condos so we had to wait till the sun went down for things to cool off. We did watch some fireworks that night which was fun.

Zachary got to meet lots of new family members on this trip so I tried to get his picture with as many as I could.

Aunt Shannon with Zachary

Aunt Rose with Zach

Day 2

2011-07-27T12:14:00.000-07:00

On Day 2 of our trip we drove up to Roy, UT. to see my niece Emma get baptized, after her baptism we were able to visit with lots of my extended family who we haven't seen in two years. I didn't get a chance to get the camera out due to dealing with Zachary who was a very tired and grumpy baby at that time.
After the baptism and luncheon we went and had a family picture taken then those of who were going to go on a scuba adventure later in the week went up to be fitted for our gear. Once we were done with all of those activities we drove back to Park City and took a dip in the pool which felt great since it was a nice hot summer day.

Eric with Makayla and Jessica

Anthony has really blossomed this summer in the pool, he loves to swim as long as he has his life jacket on. He really loved being thrown around in the pool.
Emma, Liz and Dad playing with a floaty

Day 1 of our trip

2011-07-27T11:53:00.000-07:00

Last month we went out to Park City, Utah for a week of vacation with all of my family. We have not all been together in one place since Rosalee got married almost five years ago so we had a nice family reunion up in Park City. We left the night of the 30th and drove as far as Cheyenne stayed the night then arrived late afternoon on the 1st. We rented out three condos and split them up amongst all of our families. Needless to say the kids were so excited to go and see Papa, Grandma and all of the aunts, uncles and cousins.

We would meet up at Dad's condo for meals everyday. Here are Rosalee's boys eating dinner on the first night.
Rosalee made Anthony and Josie a birthday present and gave it to them early.

Isn't his gorilla sock puppet adorable.
So is Josie's turtle that Rose made her. Thanks Aunt Rosalee.
Some fun shots while sitting around visiting. Shannon and her family didn't show up the first night so they were not there yet.

Big G

2011-07-27T11:46:00.001-07:00

A guy who works with Matt gave him this gorilla, it was so big that we couldn't keep it here with us so Grandma volunteered to give him a home in her basement. The kids love going to Grandma's to say hi to Big G.

She Did It

2011-07-27T11:39:00.000-07:00

Josie finally did it!!! She can ride her bike without any training wheels. One day it just clicked and away she went. When Matt got home from work we surprised him by showing him that she could do it all by herself. Josie then proceeded to tell Matt that "mommy is the best teacher and that you dad tried but mom was the one to teach me." She learned to do this last month and I am just now getting around to posting it. We are so proud of you, Josie.

Bath Time

2011-07-27T11:34:00.000-07:00

Zachary is really starting to enjoy his bath times a little more. He is starting to kick his legs more and more while in the tub. He especially likes it when one of his older siblings takes a bath with him.

Rainstorm

2011-06-23T09:46:00.000-07:00

While we driving home from a grocery storm on Monday the winds picked up and the rain really started to come down. The clouds in this storm were amazing to see. After we got home Anthony decided that he was going to go out and dance in the rain, Matt and Josie joined him. Makayla who is completely terrified of big rainstorms was literally shaking inside while she watched them.

While everyone else was playing outside Makayla stood inside and watched with a very concerned look on her face. After everyone came in she decided that she wanted to go and hide from the rain. Makayla hiding in her bed from the rain This is how she went to sleep that night still hiding from the rain. She was asleep in minutes after we said prayers, that was how scared she was.

College World Series

2011-06-21T13:04:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday the 18Th we went to the very first ever College World Series game at the new stadium. We had a beautiful day to watch a game. We invited our neighbors to go with us and had a great time. It was my first time really leaving Zach with a sitter for an extended period of time but he did great while I was gone. The Vanderbilt starters

The North Carolina starters
They did this during the National Anthem
President George H. Bush announcing his son who threw the first pitch.
President George Bush walking out onto the field to throw the first pitch.Lets play ball!!

Kick Back And Relax And Let Someone Else Do the Work

2011-06-15T14:24:00.000-07:00

Josie Practicing

2011-06-15T14:18:00.001-07:00

Family Fun

2011-06-15T14:09:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday we took the kids up to see the fish and ducks, the baby geese sure have grown since last time we were there. We also brought up the kids bikes so they could ride them on the nice open flat roads. We took Josie's training wheels off prior to leaving home so we could start teaching her to ride without them. We figured the open flat roads would be a good place to start practicing. As always we have a great time while we are there.

Anthony's New Helmet

2011-06-15T07:39:00.000-07:00

Matt bought Anthony a cool new helmet to help encourage him to be brave and ride his bike more. Well, it is amazing how well it worked. We tell him that now he is King Kong on a bike which he thinks is totally cool or in his words Super Doper Cool!! He now will ride his bike without being encouraged and he even rode the trail all by himself last night.

Cooling Off

2011-06-09T11:04:00.001-07:00

After the Taste of Omaha we came home very sweaty and sticky. We did not have enough time to go to the pool to take a dip since it closes earlier on weekends so we did the next best thing.

As we were running through the sprinkler our neighbor across the street from us was mowing then stopped to see if we wanted to see some baby bunnies that were in his yard. He has a nest by his tree in the front yard. They were so cute and we got so close to them that it was amazing.

We saw about four baby bunnies. It was a good thing that Holly wasn't with us.

The Taste of Omaha

2011-06-09T08:58:00.001-07:00

Last weekend we went up to the Taste of Omaha something that we enjoy doing every year. As usual it was very hot outside but after we got done eating we let the kids hit some of the rides which they always love to do. Makayla LOVED the slide she would still be there going down it if she could. Sam, Susie, Teresa and Carri's family all joined us up there too this year. Josie took Makayla for a turn on the slide...
it looks like she struggled a little bit with her
Anthony, Alainna and Josie rode together. Alainna was a little scared at first but once realized that Josie and Anthony were laughing from the butterflies in their tummies then she had a good time too.
Makayla and Jayden rode together and he did a great job making sure she didn't try to stand up on the ride which she didn't but you never know with her.

Matt's Fishing Trip

2011-06-07T07:58:00.001-07:00

Matt went fishing up in Canada for a week he left the 27TH and returned home the following Friday morning. He had a great time fishing with his Dad, nephew Trevan, Uncles Vince and Ralph and his Dad's two friends Steve and Jim. They had some rain and winds which kind of stumped how many fish they were able to catch. All in all though they had a great time.

Sam, Trevan and Matt.

Matt with a Walleye

Uncle Vince and Uncle Ralph

Sam and Trevan waiting for a bite

Sam with a Walleye

Trevan with a Walleye

A beautiful sunset
Matt with a Northern

Sam with a Northern

Zachary at 3 months

2011-06-06T13:49:00.001-07:00

It is hard to believe that Zachary was three months old on the 2ND. He is such a sweet happy baby and we all just love him so much. Here are a few things about him at three months.

1. He finally got moved into his crib into his room with Anthony.

2. He loves to smile and coo, he even sounds like he says "Hi"

3. He loves to be held and talked to

4. He rarely will take a pacifier

5. He hasn't rolled over yet but can push himself backwards with his feet while laying on the floor

6. He is very popular with the ladies at the pool, the teenage girls love to come look at him and hold him already

Don't you just love the way babies sleep? They always look so peaceful.

Garter + Josie= silly

2011-06-06T13:43:00.001-07:00

My garter hangs on Matt's side of the bed since we got married. Well Josie took it off one day and well you get the idea...

Little Zachary and Josie

2011-06-06T13:34:00.000-07:00

A week ago from Sunday, Josie was playing with Zachary and he was enjoying it too. I love to see my children interact with each other. Josie can be so tender with him at times and he really enjoys his big sis when she is.

Josie's last day of Kindergarten

2011-05-28T14:39:00.001-07:00

The 25TH was Josie's last day of school. It is so hard to believe that she has completed her first year of school already. The changes that have taken place with her this year are unbelievable. It is absolutely amazing everything they learned this year. We are so proud of her and all of her accomplishments. We love you Josie!!!

Makayla's First Haircut

2011-05-28T14:26:00.001-07:00

On the 24Th Makayla got her first haircut. Her hair is so pretty and has a natural curl to it right now that we were worried that if we cut her curls off that they would be gone like with Anthony. She was so excited to get a haircut and did very well sitting in the chair.

Her before picture:

the first cut
during the hair cutand the after picture
She sure is a cutie!!! And her hair looks great considering we really didn't cut that much off only an inch.

Field Day

2011-05-28T08:34:00.001-07:00

Last Monday was Josie's Field Day up at school. They had a series of different stops with different activities to do. Me, Anthony, Makayla and Zachary all went up to watch for a little while. I am really glad that we were able to go and watch her for a little while we sure had fun watching her and cheering her on. The sun was hotter than I thought it was and so we all got a little bit sun burned while there. Josie was surprised to see us since we didn't tell her ahead of time that we were coming.

Josie's first station was a three legged race were her partner was Jade.

A water game with squirt bottles
Makayla had fun playing peek a boo behind the tree with me
They did some tug a war
Relay races to see who could fill up the bucket the fastest with water.

Watch out for my pet Tiger

2011-05-27T20:30:00.001-07:00

Zachary's Baby Dedication

2011-05-27T20:13:00.001-07:00

On the 22ND we had a baby dedication at our church for Zachary, we invited Matt's parents, his sister Carrie and her family and his sister Teresa to share in the event. We are so grateful to the Lord for blessing us with Zachary, he is such a great addition to our family. He has only been here for two and half short months but it feels like he has been a part of our family forever. I could not imagine life without this sweet little boy. He has such a sweet smile and he shares it so willingly. When he smiles it brightens my day. I love you so much my sweet little Zachary and I am so honored to be your mother.

Our Beautiful Family. Josie in this picture is wearing my old dress from when I was her age.

The Billings family with Zachary

Zachary with his Aunt Teresa
Zachary with Grandada and Grandma

Our quick trip visitors

2011-05-27T19:32:00.000-07:00

My Dad and my brother Jacob and his family stopped by for a day and a half to visit with us as they were driving through from Ohio to Utah. My brother just graduated from dental school on the 15Th and will start work the middle of July. I am so proud of him!! Anyways it was great to see him, his wife and three kids while they were here. Their youngest is a month older than Zachary so I got to meet him for the first time.

My brother Jacob and Zachary

My dad who is always a big hit when he is here. Anthony kept telling my dad "Papa you are my favorite guy." Or he was always telling him "Papa I like you." Needless to say my kids were very happy to see him and very sad to see him go so soon.

My nephew Jake.
Here are the two babies together. Zachary and Asher. To bad they won't live closer together so they could play together.

Thanks for stopping by we love you all!!

No more pacifier

2011-05-27T13:46:00.001-07:00

Earlier this month one fine Saturday morning while Makayla was going to the bathroom she accidentally dropped her pacifier into the toilet. We had been wanting to take it away but she was so dependent on it at bedtime that no one wanted to take it away. But lately it was becoming a problem because she was wanting it all the time not just at bedtime. She would cry and scream when we would take it away. So when it fell into the toilet I told her it was icky and she thinks that I flushed it down the toilet whereas I fished it out when she wasn't looking and threw it away. Since then she has realized it is gone and that she is done with them. Problem solved and now the pacifier battle is over and no one had to be the bad guy.

Josie's Fans

2011-05-27T12:42:00.000-07:00

Josie did a fantastic job dancing in her recital. I love to watch her perform, she works really hard at learning her dances and it shows when she gets up on the stage. I ran into one of her teachers as I was making my way to the dressing room and she said that everyone backstage was really impressed with how well she knew and performed her dances. Way to go Josie!!

This year she had lots of people come out to support her and she was very excited to have everyone there to see her.

Josie with one her teachers Miss Amy.

My friend Sue who loves to come and watch Josie dance every year. She gave Josie the Willow Tree doll up above which Josie loved.
Of course her beautiful handsome love, John came to watch her again. He even managed to smile for the picture.
Our neighbors Carol and Rick came to watch her this year
A group shot. Teresa came to watch this year.

Grandma and Grandada with her Thanks to everyone who came out to support Josie on her big day. She loves having the support and love shown to her. Josie we couldn't be more proud of you, you did a fantastic job. We love to watch you perform, you looked so beautiful in your outfit and up on stage dancing.

Josie's Dance Rehearsal

2011-05-25T12:32:00.001-07:00

On the 14Th Josie had her dance rehearsal up at the Music Hall for her dance recital on the 15Th. She has two dances this year one ballet dance to "A Whole New World" from the movie Aladdin and the other her tap dance to "Achy Breaky Heart." She has been so excited for this day to come, Josie loves to perform and she does a great job performing her dances.

Josie self posing for me, she sure can be silly sometimes in front of the camera.

Pictures from her ballet dance
Her classes pose at the end of her ballet dance.

Pictures from her tap dance

Josie and Zachary

2011-05-25T12:28:00.000-07:00

Aren't these two sweet? Zachary gets lots of lovin throughout the day from everyone.

Anthony's Preschool Program

2011-05-24T11:18:00.000-07:00

On May 10Th Anthony had his preschool program, his class sang some songs for us and even did the Pledge of Allegiance for us. He did a great job performing for us. One of the songs they sang for us was the ABC song but they sang it about three different ways, one being normal then opera style then gorilla style. They came up with that way just for Anthony, needless to say he loved that version.

Here they are beating their chests to the gorilla version.