Mowing the lawn in 100 degree weather...

On Monday we broke 100 degrees! Let's not talk about how hot it was, it was terrible! It was around 4:00 in the afternoon when I heard someone mowing their lawn and I thought to myself, who would be mowing their lawn right now?! Silly crazy person! I looked out the window and saw it was Tristin mowing our front yard!

Willow turns 9 months old tomorrow...

I have no idea how this little girl grew up so fast! I guess 4 kids make the days go by quickly...
Willow continues to be the best baby ever. She is still nursing, eating baby food & "human food" (as Grace calls it), has 2 teeth, crawls EVERY WHERE, pulls herself up and stands, walks around stuff if shes holding onto something, LOVES bath time & is beginning to make messes around the house! She loves to pull things out of drawers now, eat my coupons and keep us incredibly happy. We adore this little girl and the kids still argue every single day over who gets to hold her next! I love being a Mommy.

Gracie, Grace...

Here's a few of our silly Grace.

Daisy's T-ball game...

I finally made it to one of Daisy's games on Tuesday, and oh, how fun it was to watch them play! Daisy was really tired, but did really well after she woke up a little. It took her a few minutes at first base to realize that everyone was going to throw the ball to her, but after she figured it out, she was chasing the ball.

I have a DISHWASHER again!!!!!!

I wish I could say that the kitchen is done, but sadly, it is not. It is making progress thanks to our Bishop's help though. The floor has been put in, the cabinets repaired (almost)and placed in the kitchen but not secured to the wall completely & our dishwasher was put in last night! We have ginormous boards acting as a counter top for now until we can get that done, which means I can actually make food in the kitchen now! The counter tops have been ordered, but will take 7 business days, the back splash has been purchased, our hood range was bought off craigslist a few weeks ago, so we are getting closer to normal! I can't wait to do dishes now- 2 1/2 months of doing dishes by hand for 6 people has NOT been fun. There will be more sanding, repainting cabinets and other jobs, but at least we are getting closer!

Piggy back rides...

The kids were giving Willow piggy back rides the other day- I thought they looked pretty cute. The picture with Daisy in it is blurry, but her smile just melted my heart.

Father's Day & a visit with G-pa...

Yesterday for Father's Day we went over to Trav's parents for a BBQ. Aunt Ellen, Uncle Will & the cousins were there too. Lots of fun!

Tristin's first time at Scouts!

Tristin has been SOOO excited to go into Boy Scouts and last week was his first meeting. He can't wait for Scout camp this week as well. I am thrilled for him- he has needed something for the longest time and I am so thankful he is enjoying it and looking forward to "boy" things. He is such a good sport, but hanging out with 4 girls ALL day has got to be tough sometimes. There is only so much pink a boy can take before he goes nuts! I love this little guy with all my heart. He is the best brother and is am amazing help. I love our moments together and my heart smiles everytime he kisses my cheek, wraps his arms around me and tells me he loves me a hundred times.

Church softball...

Church softball started a few weeks ago... let the fun begin!

Celebrating 10 years with my baby...

Our 10 year Aniversary got a little lost in all the events when we were in Seattle, but we managed to get away for a hour and 1/2 to go to dinner.

10 YEARS! That's a decade! We've been together for over 11.

10 reasons why I still love Trav:
#1- He is my Ron Burgandy. And I am his Veronica Corningstone. We quote that movie everyday and still laugh at ourselves. There's nothing better than eating icecream in bed watching Anchorman.
#2- He is and always has been my "calm water."
#3- He is an amazing Daddy and our children insainly adore him.
#4- He still loves my body after 10 years and 4 kids later! He can't keep his hands to himself!
#5- Even though we are COMPLETE oppisites, we make it work.
#6- He is a good man. Besides getting mad at drivers and authority figures, Trav is good to the core.
#7- He watches the kids ALL the time and never complains. He is active in their lives and that is why he is loved by them. He reads stories. He puts them to bed. He plays games. He takes them swimming. Takes them to the movies by himself. Makes dinner. Bathes them. And plays with them.He is always there, and they are so lucky.
#8- He is patient with me.
#9- He is crazy smart! Really, I am amazed by his knowledge of EVERYTHING! When I ask him: "Where did you learn that?" He says: "Didn't you pay attention in school?" Or when the kids ask me something I don't know, they'll say: "I'll go ask Dad."
#10- He will "Rock-a-bye" the girls. Almost every night, he rocks Daisy & Grace while singing to them. It melts my heart.

The kitchen update...

Oh, how I want my normal life back!!! It's been 2 months now and I'm just tired of not having a kitchen! We have recieved all of our insurance checks now, we are no longer traveling, and the Bishop can help us in a week get things back together. (Hopefully in the 4 days that he has off, if not, it'll be another 2 weeks before he could get back to finish!) I am being patient, but it's been hard with everything ripped apart in the center of my house. Anyway, we ripped up the vinyl the other night in prep for the floor guy to lay our new one. It was not fun, but we got it done. Between a tiny 1 inch scrapper, a BBQ flipper, a butter knife and a fork, we scrapped off all the old stuff underneath! Oh, how fun it was...

Daisy is in T-ball!

A few months ago I was feeling like a REALLY terrible Mother because my kids wern't involved in anything. That's right- nothing, Zip. Zero. So when Annikan called and told me about T-ball coming up, and that it was only $ 25.00, I thought: I HAVE TO DO THIS! I have to have proof that I am OK as a Mom! So we signed her up and she's had 3 practices so far. The first one we missed because we were driving home from Seattle, the first one was a little funny because she had never really swung a bat, caught a ball or played any sport in her life, so after running like a fairy princess to first base, Trav & I knew we had to help her a little bit. I bought a mitt at a yard sale for .50 and opened up a T-ball set we had and off to the park we went yesterday to practice the basics. Let's just say that last night's practice was: MUCH BETTER! I was really proud of her for working so hard!
***Side note*** One of my biggest fears in the entire universe is head lice. Honestly, Satan himself invented it because it's the most horrid thing imaginable to me as a Mother. Seriously, I started praying 3 years ago when Tristin went into Kindergarten, that we would be spared. So anyway, my kids know NOT to put hats on at yard sales or thrift stores because of lice, so yesterday I was FREAKING OUT over the helmets they use because nobody sprayed them after the team before was done! I was so grossed out but I didn't have my Lysol on me and I was complaining about how discusting it was when all of a sudden we saw the coach put the helmet on Daisy's head and she said to her: "But I'll get head lice!!!" We busted up laughing and the coach told her:"NO you wont get lice." It was the funniest thing ever- seeing yourself in a 5 year old. Like Mother, like daughter!

On the road...

We left May 23rd (On Tristin's 8th bday!) for the Oregon Coast & Seattle for my brother's wedding. We were so excited to go and all the girls could talk about was being flower girls in the wedding. Tristin was a little more nervous to be the ring bearer, but I told him he would do great. We drove to the coast first and stayed 2 nights there. It was heaven to be near the water again and we had ok weather to enjoy it in. It was cloudy with a few sprinkles here and there (the last day we had more rain). It was nice to go down to the beach several times without it being so cold. We just wore coats and we were perfect! The kids had fun running around, playing in the water, building castles and collecting shells and decaying sea creatures! We went shopping, swimming, played at the arcade, ate yummy food, candy & ice cream. The kids loved the carosoul, buying toys and watching cartoons at bedtime. We had a great time, and it was nice to rest for a few days before driving an insain amount of miles again with 4 kids ready to jump out of the car. We left Tuesday afternoon and headed to Mom's. She had ribs & potato salad waiting for us when we arrived (and my lemon squares! That's how much she loves me! Did I mention she works full time too? She's amazing!) We rested, got our Pj's on, read stories and went to bed. We knew our next week was going to be busy.
We also stayed a night at my brother, Jake's house ( but I didn't have my camera!) He and April watched the kids so Trav and I could go out to dinner for our 10th wedding Anniversary! We had a fun time with the cousins. We also made it to IKEA, but only for 1 hour before the rehersal dinner (DEFINATLY not enough time in that store! But I found a new table within those short 60 minutes, so it was worth it!)
We were gone 9 wonderful days, but were eager to get home as well. We drove over 1600 miles, so we were all really tired. (That's over 3000 miles of traveling in the past month for us!) It was wonderful to see family, friends, see Eli & cindy get married, meet Steve & Carmel from London and be home for a week.

We finally made it to the coast!

Lots of fun at the coast...

Seaside Oregon...

The coast...

We had so much fun at the coast! Oh, how I miss the water...