Gotta love the Aviary

We found out that there was free admission to the Tracy Aviary for UEA weekend, so we decided to collect our jackets and join the croud to see the birds. I am now one of those mom's who has to go to places when my kids are out of school because we can't just go on any old day because Max is in school. It kinda stincks because you know there will be a lot of people there because there is no school and because it's free. At least they were doing it all weekend and not just one day. The line was much longer when we were going out than when we were going in(we only waited behind one person who was returning a wagon). Here are a few pics from the outing. We had a good time and who wouldn't? You get to be outside on a beautiful day and you get to see flamingos! You can't say that everyday!

My 6 1/2 year stretch is officially over!

So, we have managed to go for 6 years and 8 1/2 months with no children needing stitches at our house. Well, that stretch has come to an end. Thursday morning about 8:30 am we were all getting ready do go to my aerobics class and Joey yells down the hall, "Um, Gus just got cut, I think he's going to need stitches!" NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! Turns out he was playing in the drawer in the nightstand that all of our children have played in over the years, but this time Gus found a scalpel that Joey got back in high school that we didn't even know was in there. He cut his hand with it and we ended up in the doctors office getting three lovely little stitches. I called the doctors office first and luckily they were able to do it and we didn't have to go to the emergency room cause that would have been a nightmare with four children in the ER waiting around all day long for three stitches. Those of you who have been there know what I'm talking about. He's good now and the stitches have already come out. Max is going to tell his class all about it in class tomorrow. His question of the week is, "What do you want to be when you grow up" and he was fascinated by the whole thing. He sat and asked the doctor questions while she was cleaning the cut and numbing the skin and giving a shot, stitching it up, then wrapping his hand.He now thinks he wants to be a doctor. Sounds like a win-win to me. Gus gets his hand sewed up and Max gets a homework assignment done!

one more pic from Boise

Hanging out in Boise

Max and Carly had an early day on Thursday and a day off on Friday Sept.24th-27th. We wanted to go somewhere and haven't visited Jeff and Wendy for a really long time, so we called them up to see if they were busy. They were, but said to come down anyway as their business wasn't anything that we couldn't join in on. For example, Jeff and Joey went to play basketball at the church on Thursday night. We went to walk the Boise River and play in the water with the kids(those not in school as the McDonough's still had school on Friday) on Friday morning. The fella's went golfing on Friday afternoon, then Wendy and I went to a scrapbook party Friday night. The ladies ran a 5K on Saturday morning, then joined the fella's for football games and cheerleading at the park. Then Wendy and I went to the women's broadcast and dinner on Saturday night. Jeff and Joey borrowed Guitar Hero from his brother in law and proceeded to beat the devil down in Georgia until the wee hours on Saturday night. Then off to church Sunday and a fun afternoon at home until we finally decided to hit the road about 5pm. We had a great time and the kids didn't want to leave. I thought it would be really overwhelming to have nine kids running around (yes, I said NINE!) but other than Leo, the others mostly entertained themselves. Here were the usual ranks: Carly following Kayla; Tyler,Max, and Mason; Cameron joined them ocassionally but spent some time with the neighbor kid too; Ellie and Gus; then Leo in the closet. So, thanks McDonough's for the good times. We'll have to do it again before the nine children come along!

Swiss Days 10K

So, over the last couple of years and last couple of pregnancies, my sister Steph has convinced me of the joys of running. If you would have asked me to go for a jog two years ago, I would have laughed at you and said, "I don't run." I was an avid walker for a long time. Running just brings back horrible memories from basketball practice in high school, running ladders and suicide sprints- yuck! But I can now report that when she told me it was addicting, she was right. Now I love to run and use the time by myself to think and to ponder alone.(Yes, it is also an excuse to get a little alone time too). So far this year I have done three 5K runs (West Jordan, Taylorsville Dayzz, and my stake's 5K they do every year), 2 10K runs (Deseret News/KJZZ marathon, and Swiss Days). And Steph and I are planning my first half-marathon on Halloween-the Provo half. I'll let you know how that goes. These pictures are from the Swiss Days 10K. Joey's brother Robert was so kind to come and cheer us on both before and after the race. He also took these pics for us. One is our sprint to the finish, two is our finish time, three is waiting for a doughnut after finishing the race, and four is the beautiful rainbow that became the backdrop to the finish line! Thanks, Steph for getting me into racing and being my running buddy!

My own kind of geneology

I know that it's the lazy way of doing geneology because I'm not really finding any decendents to add to the family tree but I do consider my scrapbooking to be my own family history. Someday I will be gone and my kids and grandkids can remember what we did and see pictures and read stories about when they were little. One thing that I have managed to do for all of my kids is to get pictures of them as babies with each of the living great-grandparents. When Max was born 6 1/2 years ago he had 7 great-grandparents as all were still living but grandpa Hazen. With Leo there are only three left; grandma Wilson, and the grand Allred's. That just goes to show that things do change in a short time. If I had not gotten their pictures with my children I may not have had the opportunity to have pictures of my grandparents to share. Here are the pics for your enjoyment.

This post is for Heidi(and anyone else who cares)

Hides, what do you think about my pictures of Max & Leo? Still think they could be twins? What about Gus? Can you tell which is which?

I've got my flat bum on!

Leo is starting to sit up and as grandma Romes says, "Look who's got his flat bum on!" He has been such a cutie and everyone has enjoyed having him in our home. He is learning new tricks and laughs easily. He even let's Max and Carly feed him without complaint. And now he is rolling and sitting and pushing himself around on his stomache a little. I guess crawling is next, but I'm not holding my breath for that one yet, I have had lazy babies in the past. I guess only time will tell!

First Day of Kindergarten for Carly

Ok, so I know that Carly has been in school now for almost two weeks and I am just getting around to posting the pics, but let us review the last post, I am TRYING to do better and they are being posted before graduation! She absolutly loves kindergarten. She has successfully worn a different dress/skirt to school everyday of school so far with no repeats. Her closet can only go back so far but she shows no signs of giving into the pants/shorts. She likes her teacher, although she was a little sad at first that she didn't get the same teacher as Max, she is now over it. She loves to read and color and reports everyday after school that she did not get a card today(that is what you get when you get into trouble) which we are very glad for. She is a cutie and will do great at school! Now if we could only find a pair of shoes that can be worn with a skirt and still be good for recess?!?

1st Day of School, 1st Day of Schoooooool!!!!

Ok, so I know I haven't posted anything in over two months. I am here to say I will try my best to do better. I have decided that instead of trying to catch up I am going to start today and post what happened today and never look back! The only birthday we missed was mine and no photos were taken. We had Austin at our house(hi Austin!) and were in the middle of a really fun summer! We did go to Austin's soccer game that day in Park City and watched him and his team win first place in the tournament! Yeah! Go Austin! Then we went to Chick-Fil-A for dinner and played Dominion with Avery and Austin until late into the night!

So, on to today. Today was Max's first day of 1st grade and he couldn't have been more excited to go. I got up early (6am) to get my run in and when I walked in the back door at 7:10am there was Max, dressed, backpack packed and on his back, lunch packed(yes, he made his own lunch, I was very impressed), glasses on, teeth brushed, and ready to go. Now, this only caused a small problem seeing how his alarm wasn't even set to go off until 7:15am. For now he had a whole 40 minutes to kill before he could leave for school. He did forget breakfast so he had a bowl of cereal and a glass of milk, we also combed his hair and he played with Leo. FINALLY, at 7:41am, Mikelle from next door rang the doorbell and he was off. I had totally planned on walking with him to school, but he didn't need me to! I snapped a quick photo and he was off! Good Luck Max! You will love first grade.

It's my birthday, let's play ball!

For about the last four years(except last year, because we were on our cruise) we have had a big softball game for Joey's birthday. We reserve the pavillion at the stake ball park and have dinner and play a rousing game of softball. This year the competition was fierce. The boys got right out there and started warming up as soon as they got to the field. They even got so impatient waiting for all the food to arrive that they wanted to play a few innings before dinner! We had a few new players this year that added to the fun! Gabe and Asher Sorensen came to play, and poor Asher got beaned in the knees on the second pitch in warm-ups(gee, that sounds like something I would do). We also welcomed TJ Wilcken to the game. Everyone seemed to have a great time! We'll see you all next year!

Look at me, I'm a star!

For the primary activity on Saturday June 8th Max, Carly, and Gus got a pair of sunglasses attached to their invitation. Before the party they were messing around with the glasses and decided to put them on Leo. He shook his head back and forth to get them off but then when he realized that the other kids were laughing, he smiled at them and cooed! What a cutie. I took the opportunity to snap a few pictures!

Max's kindergarten spring program

Every spring before school gets out for the summer the kindergarten classes put on a spring program for parents and friends to attend. Max's theme was' "Off to school with Snow White". His part was to say, "Snow White is here on scene. The dwarfs are here to teach us all that school is SUPREME!" He got to shout the last word, SUPREME! How did Mrs. Richards know that he would like to have the part where you get to yell. He practiced his part and all the songs and the program was a lot of fun. Here are some pictures of him on stage. The didn't turn out very good because it was dark in the auditorium, but cute still. I love you Max! I can't believe that I will have a first grader next year! How time flies! Now if we can just get him to stop sucking his thumb!?!

Pre-school Graduation for Carly

Carly graduated from pre-school on May 14, 2009. She attended the Mini Warrior's preschool at Taylorsville High School. There is one supervising teacher, Miss Annie, and then all the high school students that take the class teach the kids everyday and assist in projects and games and such. She had a great time in preschool this year and is finally done! She can't wait to go to kindergarten next year. The first picture is her at the ceremony. The second is getting her diploma from her teacher Miss Annie. The third is having a cookie after graduation, and the last is with her favorite student teacher, Kellyann. She is a sweet, smart, and caring girl and we love her. Now that it's summer all she can think about is her birthday! Everyday she says, "Mom, how many days till my birthday?" Congratulations, Carly! You're getting so big!

More egg hunt photos

I Almost Forgot About Easter...Almost

So, we had the two Easter egg hunts again this year. Grandma Vonnie's on Saturday and Grandma Romes's on Sunday. And as usual, they both provided enough loot to make any childs eyes wide with pure greed in anticipation of the sugar. Thanks Grandma for the fun!