4th of July 2013

We had another great year celebrating Independence Day! How blessed we are to live in this great county of the USA!  We have so many opportunities, freedoms and privileges and we are so very blessed. 

 We started off our day at our ward/neighborhood breakfast!  It was so much fun and the kids had a blast!

We decorated their big wheels and they were off!  Let's start the parade.

One of our sweetest neighbors Kennedy with Logan - she is such a doll and has been a favorite of our kids for years!

Daddy and Logan enjoying the parade

Here we go!!

Next, we celebrated doing some crafts and watching a magician.  So fun!

That afternoon, we made it over to Aunt Kristin's and Uncle Mike's to have some dinner and a firework show

Cousin Cole and Logan playing together

After we ate, we all had to play outside together - what a great time the kids had together

Grandma Morris singing one of her classics to Logan "Pony Boy" - love  it! So glad to capture that picture

Me and my sweet Logan enjoying watching everyone play getting ready for the "show"

Uncle Mike throwing some stink/color bombs for the kids

They were so fun to watch - the kids were completely amazed!

Jax

Rio

Austin

Jax was quite brave playing in all the smoke

And so was my bravest girl I know Rio

"Cough, cough" - the yard was filled!!

Hayden, Jax, Rio, Austin, Logan, Brinlee and Ty

We were finishing up our "pre-show" before the "big" fireworks began

*We honestly had a great show thank to Uncle Mike and Uncle Marc*

Happy 4th of July!

Logan's mischief & an awesome storm

This little boy is right in the thick of being a little mischievous monster :)

He is so cute to watch just how fast he crawls to get what he wants.  When he sees something he wants, he puts his head down and honestly flies around on his hands and knees - it is so cute!

And well, like all of the triplets, Logan is no different and wants to play in Lennox's food and water; ALL THE TIME!

But...how cute is he?

"Who me?  What did I do?"

 At the beginning of July, Logan started pulling himself up on EVERYTHING!  He absolutely loves to be one of the "big kids" - he doesn't see himself any different than than his siblings - what a cutie!

Austin and Rio think it is so cute and it just makes Jax mad that he is now super mobile!  Jax will have to get used to it!

 Another cute little pic of him pulling up and being super strong

 I'm going to have a heck of a time getting this kid off the bottle.  I was so regimented with the triplets but with Logan, I have been a bit to flexible and he LOVES his bottle!  Wish me luck in the next month or two :)

"How do I get out of here?"

Love this age - so curious and so fun!

We have had some of the coolest storms this summer - I have loved it!  They are so warm and so pretty after.  The kids had such a fun time this day just running back and forth into the rain

Logan's best buddy and brother Austin hanging out

Don't you love Logan's face looking at Austin?  So sweet!

YAH rain!

Having a total blast and getting soaked!

All my kids love water and I've said it before, Logan is no different!  He could have just sat in the rain the whole night - such a sweet, happy boy!

NICU reunion time 2013

Another great NICU reunion this year at Murray Park - it was a blast as usual.

It was a superhero theme this year so of course the boys were all over that theme but mostly my Jax.  He is such a creative little soul.  Rio insisted that there were no girl super heroes so I couldn't convince her to dress up although I did show her a picture of Wonder Woman...maybe at some point, they're will be a princess super hero :)

Our first stop was the balloon man - they are amazing at what they do!

All my kids had him make an animal with their favorite color

 Next was fishing for prizes - I love how Jax honestly kept his costume on the whole time

 Ready...

 Aim...

 Fire!

 Ring toss was next

 Here's Austin using his aiming skills

 Jax was actually really good at it

 We couldn't go to the reunion without stopping at the cotton candy booth!

They love it!  Just like their mama :)  YUM!

They had a really cute idea this year by having a photo booth with masks, bows and other silly things.  What a fun memory to have at the reunion!  I will treasure those nurses and doctors forever!  So, so grateful for all the help they gave to us.

After the reunion, we swung over to my friend Julies' house for her birthday party.  She is an amazing mother of 7 including her 4 year old triplets.  Love her so much!  She is an inspiration to me and such a great example and friend!

*Julie, Roxy, me and Ang*

Me and my very own Princess @ the Festival

All hail, princess Rio!

We're back at it again this year - Princess Festival at Thanksgiving Point.  Rio has honestly not forgotten it since last year and has mentioned it several times so I knew we had to go again.

I asked her who she wanted to dress up as this year and she said with an emphatic noise, "Cinderella, of course!"

So we picked out a new dress and crown at the store and luckily we already had the shoes to match :)

She was SO EXCITED; mostly I think because it was "only for girls" and the "boys had to stay home."

Reese & Rio and another little friend ready to arrive at the palace in their carriage

This year, they had a book for the little girls to take around with them and have the Princesses autograph.  Cute idea!  Rio was so excited to see Ariel and her beautiful tail.

Rio enjoying some tea :)

We stopped to get our hair done first - what a treat it was.  It was royal treatment for sure!

Then, magic arrived as Rio met her namesake, the real Cinderella!

Then, it was off to meet Rapunzel at her tower!

*Roxy's friend Alicia's girls and their neighbor friend Tianna joined us and it was so fun to be surrounded by all these girls!*

Reese and Avery are nestled in her arms and my Rio is off to the side showing her (as Roxy calls it, "tentative joy"

Another favorite of Rio's was meeting Belle!  She loves Belle and thought it was so fun that she had a book and a rose with her

Me and my sweet, hot, tired Rio

I love you sweetheart and I am so glad to share this day with you!  You're a very kind and loving girl and I absolutely love being with you

After the festival, we got changed into our clothes and played at Noah's Ark for a bit to cool off!

What a fun, fun day!  Can't wait for next year!

Bear Lake trip 2013

We made our yearly trip to Bear Lake this summer in June and it was a blast!  And this year, Spence actually got to come :)

The kids honestly haven't stopped talking about their "new home" since we left.  They loved it at our place there and act like it is a new home for us to live in - they're so cute!

They loved sleeping together and being so close to everybody in a  smaller space - it was really fun being together as our little family for a few days at such a beautiful place!

The kids totally crashed that first night we were there and we loved their sleeping arrangement :)

 I just love both of these pictures so much - I love the beach and to have my kids there to enjoy it was just amazing!  Little cuties carrying their floaties and their sand toys

 They were ready to just take off into the water and play, play, play!

 And Logan was no different!  He loves the water so much and just splashes and splashes!

 Spence with the kids showing them how Bear Lake is super shallow for a LONG time!

 Daddy and Rio playing together - she doesn't care how cold it is - she loved playing with Spence

 Austin and Logan floating around

 Me and Austin loving every moment of the beach

 Love you Logan!  You are such an incredibly sweet boy!

 Here they go again!  Two peas in a pod when they play together

 Daddy and the kids

 After the sun went behind the clouds, it got a little chilly so my little miss decided it was best to "get warm and cozy" and one towel wouldn't do

 Jax

 Austin

 Building castles - let the sand party begin!

 Jax is quite precise with his building

 Oh how I love these little, tiny feet especially covered in sand

 Our fortress became a little difficult when destruc-o Logan came through :)  But we kept building anyway

 Way to stick with it!

 After a long day in the sun, we of course ended up at Lebeau's for dinner and ice cream & their "small" cones

We also played in our pools A LOT!  It was so fun - we had a great trip!

 You may find it strange that this pic is in our trip but sadly, we had quite a scare while there on our 2nd night.

To make a long story short(er):

The kids all went to bed and Spence was laying in there with them while I was out in the other room.  All of a sudden I heard a "boom" and went in to see that Austin had fallen off the bed which was really only maybe 3 feet off the ground.  But he was acting really, really strange and crying in a very strange way. 
He fell back asleep quickly and then woke up about 2 hours later acting kind of the same way.  And then, he threw up all over me and the bed!  Scared me to death because obviously, the scary word CONCUSSION ran through my head.  Keep in mind that this same kid has fallen onto concrete on his head at 10 months and fell off of his top bunk bed a few months ago and nothing!!
Yet this small fall on 2-3 feet and he gets a concussion??  So Spence and I brought him out with us and we sat there searching the Internet for what to do and if he should go to the ER and then I had Spence give him a priesthood blessing (SO grateful for the gift of the priesthood in our home and for the gospel) and we both felt afterwords that if he threw up again (he'd thrown up 3 more times since the first) then we'd take him.  But where?  We're in Bear Lake...Logan? Where?  So Spence looked up and saw the the Montpilier, ID hospital was much closer.  Austin threw up again so it was a no brainer.  The info we had found said after 3 or 4 times, he should be looked at and I kept having horrible images and scenes of his life being changed because we were stupid and didn't take him because honestly, there isn't much to do about a concussion but I did not want to think that his life or brain abilities would be different because of this.
So like a great daddy that he is, Spence scooped up Austin and drove him to the Idaho ER.
The doctor he saw said what we thought he would - not much to do other than to watch him.  He did hearing, vision and physical tests and he checked out just fine.  He said that we could do a CT scan but that he wouldn't put Austin through that because the procedure may be more damaging than the concussion itself!  When they got back, Austin slept with me out in the main room so I could watch him and he was just fine all night!  He didn't even throw up again and...

He was at it again the next morning on our walk!

He was totally fine - I just pray that he will have no issues later on because of this.  It was so incredibly difficult to watch him go through this and I am a mess in situations like this so I'm glad that he is okay :)

The best of friends!  They are so cute together!  Couldn't imagine life without any of them :)