Kite Festival

A few weeks ago my Dad was wanting DYING to go to this "kite & balloon" festival out on Antelope Island.  Well, I've never been there-Mark hasn't ever been there- & my kids have never been there....I thought it would be fun. Well......it was totally over-hyped up! We went on a Sunday morning with my parents, & my brother and his family.  Don't get me wrong...it was fun to go with all the kids; but Antelope Island is BORING!! sorry to those of you who love it.  The festival was just some food vendors sprawled out, a big huge stage that reminded me of the Sugarland one that blew down (the singers were horrible!), and a big canopy tent with table underneath.  Okay, so it wasn't nearly as horrible as I'm making it sound.  They had a cool hair feather booth, where I bought some cute purple feathers to wear to Kips football games. They had the coolest Face painting booth (at least Sier thought so) and they had some awesome BMX'ers there doing some trick. (they really were pretty rad) And the kites? okay, I have to say I've never seen people fly kites like that before! There was a group of people who choreographed kite flying...seriously, it was pretty ah-mazing. we drove around a little bit and found somewhere to have our picnic lunch...that I totally slacked on. You see, we had a HUGE breakfast at home before we left, so I didn't think we would be very hungry, so I just packed a few PB&J's.   Good thing my Mom and Jera packed extra! We were all starving! So maybe we'll go again next year and make it a tradition....it'll be a blast!

The Dam Fam

Koy fell asleep with my Moms hat over is face!

Alex's cute butterfly! I wish I could get away with that ;)

Captain America!

"what the hell are we doing here?"....I'm sure that's what he's thinking.

So them!

Koy Boy

Ohhh.....stop staring at my fat legs...I'm getting old people....sheesh

Booklynn's rainbow...so her! I love it.

Jera & Lara....or is it Lara & Jera?? Don't ask
our neices or nephews, they even get confused!

Watching the BMX tricks

Silverwolves Football

what do you get when you have a housefull of boys?? FOOTBALL.  kip has played flag football for a few years, but he has been so excited to start REAL football! I had no idea of how insanely busy it keeps you....i mean, friends have told me- and mark has been involved before...but seriously! the good news is that kip LOVES it...like LOVES it.  mark is one of his coaches, and i don't know what i was thinking when i volunteered to be team mom...but we are really liking it.  kip plays tight-end and does really good at it! i LOVE watching mark coach too, i really think he was born to be either a coach, or a sports announcer...i think i've said that before, but i really believe it. enough about kip....now on to sier.

Sier is also playing football! he has been waiting forever to play flag football. he's so excited to be on a team with some of his cousins and friends. mark is also coaching him...i don't know how we find the time. sier had his first practice last night, and he ran his guts out! his poor left leg and foot are sore today from it.  that kid just doesn't know how to not try hard.  everything he does he's trying to prove to himself and everybody else that he can do it. i'm just glad flag isn't as intense as tackle! 

School!

BOTH Kip and Sier are in school ALL DAY now.  I definitely am having Sier withdrawals.  This morning I even thought to myself that I would get a job so Koy could be in daycare because he's just so busy, and Sier helps me out so much with him! Seriously, the Beast is everywhere.  I don't think that will fly very well with Mark, plus he'd just turn into a bigger Beast.  ANYWAY....Kip and Sier are both very excited to start the school year, they are excited for new teachers, new friends, and a new track (A).  Kip has a new teacher, Mrs. Ton-Nu. It's here first year teaching and she's originally from Vietnam, so she's so short and cute...Kip is only a few inches shorter than her! So funny.  Sier has Mrs. Mann, I don't know very much about her, but have heard she is great, so Yippee!

Kip & Koy inside Kips class room.

Sier waiting to go inside!

Kip and his cute friend Parker

Sier and his cousin Konnor.

Since Sier's in first grade he started a day later than Kip did.  Sier was so excited he was up and dressed before his alarm went off. He came in my room and woke me up at 7:10 because he couldn't get the toothpaste lid off...and his shirt was on backwards. I hope he stays this excited for at least a week ;)

Paid Vacation!

Last weekend we had a PAID FOR VACATION!! Wait, hold on a minute....it really was.  My dad heard of a guy who needed a bunch of camping trailers to be moved to Tiogo, ND...yep NORTH DAKOTA. An 18 HOUR drive away.  So the deal was, they paid you to haul the trailers up, you pay for gas and expenses....My dad and brother also made the trip up there, but we all left on different days at different times, and we drove different ways! We ended up making enough to pay for an oil change, transmission flush, and my car payment!! hahaha....but we had a ton of fun doing it as a family.  Mark is up there this weekend with Sier, taking another trailer.  Kip, Koy and I stayed at home because Kip started school today and he didn't want to miss his first day of THIRD grade! (more on THAT later.) 

Our rig....8 mpg pulling that beast! This is where we slept in Island Park.

So on our adventure we left on a Friday night and stopped in Island Park, ID....BEAUTIFUL! (oh ya, you could use the trailers- so that's where we slept and ate- but you couldn't use the bathroom...so we had to use the gas stations. NO COMMENT on that) 
When we woke up Saturday morning we headed into Yellowstone and drove most of the loop.  We saw "Old Faithful"

The kids were so bored waiting for Old Faithful to erupt, or whatever it is you call it when it blows!  We also saw this Crow in the parking lot picking at a bag on a motorcycle....Kip and Sier couldn't stop talking about the stupid bird, apparently it was WAY COOLER than the boring Old Faithful!

In total fairness...it really was a BIG crow.

After Old Faithful, we took a wrong turn and went out the West Entrance (we wanted to go out the North entrance! oops).  But we saw this really cool water fall because of the wrong turn.

We also saw the standard in the Park....tons of Elk, and Bison.  Sier and I just wanted to see a Bear, and Kip wanted to see Wolves.  Some people told us they saw Bears and Wolves earlier in the day which made us so excited, but really....if you were a bear OR a wolf would you be out in the middle of the day? I doubt it!

We ended up leaving Yellowstone out of the NORTH entrance.  I've NEVER been to Yellowstone before, and I have to say it really is so pretty there!  (oh ya, you know how I said Mark and Sier made another trip this weekend? Well....they saw a stupid Bear in the middle of the day.)
After Yellowstone we drove the rest of the way to Tiogo.  We were in the car from 7:00 am to 2:00 am! When we got to Tiogo it was a monsoon and muddy! We couldn't find the "field" we were suppose to drop the trailer of at, got stuck, finally found out how to get in the field, and fell dead asleep! The next morning we were up and out of there at 9:00 am. We drove down through Sturgis and to Mt. Rushmore. If you've never been to Mt. Rushmore...GO! It really is "awe inspiring".  It was 98 degrees there, muggy, and we probably stunk so bad! There's only so much baby wipes can do to clean you up! There were people there from all over the world...AMAZING.  Next time we go (and there will be a next time...hopefully) we plan to spend a few days in the area. There is so much to do in the Black hills!

The Miniature Clones!

Koy was so happy to be out of the car and walking around

After Mt. Rushmore, we drove to Riverton, WY to stay with Marks Aunt and Uncle for the night....THANK YOU Scott and Amy! They live on 4 acres, and it is so pretty there.  Maybe one day we'll move out of Riverton to live in Riverton!

And apparently everywhere has gotten a lot of water this spring/summer....look at this river in North Dakota...

I think it's the Little Missouri River

And here are some cute pictures of Koy....Sorry, I just think he could be one of the cutest babies I've ever seen!

 

I'm Back!

So many people have told me that I need to update! And, honestly....I agree.  I LOVE reading everyone's blogs still.  I think Face Space has taken over a lot of people, and we just aren't blogging like we use to.  So I've been thinking- how in the heck to I catch UP or should I just start up with where we are NOW?  Well, I think the best answer is to just start out with where we are NOW!  But....to catch you up to speed here's what we've been doing the past year:

We've been chasing after this little BEAST for a year now!  And let me just tell you BEAST describes him to a "T".  But really, this is Koy- he was born July 1st, 2010.  I never thought that just ONE person could bond a family together like he has.  Kip and Sier absolutely adore him and have though he was the greatest thing ever from the second they met him...(who am I kidding, they loved him way before he was ever born!). He looks just like a miniature of the other two. And that's what Kip calls him...his "miniature".  He was NEVER a baby, he hated to be wrapped up tight, hated binki's, hated warm bottles.  BUT he was my easiest baby- Until he turned about 4 months old and decided to start rolling everywhere, the then walking at 9 1/2 months...and that's with me holding him back as best I could! He really is everywhere- I'm exhausted by the end of the day. BUT he's so funny, sweet, and cute.  He loves EVERYBODY, blows everybody kisses, yells "HEY"! to total random people who he wants to see.  He loves playing on the swing set, jumping, riding his little push four wheeler, looking at airplanes, and most of all playing where and with what he's not suppose to.  (How do you discipline a 13 month old?)
There you have it, that's what we've been doing the past 13 months.  I have other stuff to blog about, so hopefully you'll all check back every few days to see what we've been up to, and maybe even be inspired on updating YOUR OWN BLOGS!!!! You ALL are a bunch of slackers! hahaha

Baseball!

Baseball games have officially started, and I am so exhausted excited!  Sier is in Coach Pitch with Mark as his coach, and he totally loves it!  He has such a cute little baseball stance. He is always telling Kip "you need to pay attention to me when I hit the ball because my eyes are always on it" (very true, Kip could take a lesson for Sier on that!)
Kip is in PeeWee's this year...that means kid pitch!  He is really enjoying it, and is on the brink of actually being good at it....you know what I'm talking about...the stage of awkardness that looks like if just one thing "clicked" then you would get it?  He really likes it, and his coaches, and his team! 
They both play 2 games a week, and Mark is playing his softball once a week.  By some MIRACLE none of Marks games or the kids games overlap this year!  I have some pictures from their opening games that I can post later...I'm posting this from my work computer, so I can't do it yet.  Until next time!

I want!

I want....the windows to all wash themselves & the screens to spray themselves off. I want a Shark Steam Mop so I don't have to mop my floors on my hands and knees anymore. (don't come over right now, our kitchen floor is pretty gross. I keep telling myself that if it gets bad enough Mark will just break down and buy me one!) I want the rose bushes to prune and move themselves to where I really want them. I want the trees to bloom and bud. I want our doors painted! I want the 15 yards of concrete that we need to pour RIGHT NOW! I want Kip to learn to hold still so I don't have to take him to have tests for ADD...seriously he can't hold still and pay attention for any length of time, and it's become a huge problem at school and practices. I want a bigger tax refund. I want to crave food that's good for me instead of chocolate cinnamon bears, twix, and french fries. I want to go on Vacation! I want my face to stop breaking out!!! I want a new dishwasher...even a KSL dishwasher. I want, I want, I want!!! I better get busy.

Birthdays!

Both of the boys had birthdays in February! Wow....Kip turned 7 and Sier turned 5. When Kip was born I would always wonder to myself "I wonder what my life is going to be like when he's five years old." Now Sier is 5...What the crap???....and I'll have another little one in just a few months! AHHH....what am I doing? We let them choose what or where they wanted to go to dinner for their birthdays. Kip chose 50 chicken nuggets from McDonalds (and he was sick on his birthday, no fun) Sier chose Tepinyaki...with NO help from me. We didn't have any friends parties for them this year, and it was SO NICE NOT TO WORRY ABOUT IT! I really am going to try for that next year to, but I don't think they'll let me get away with it again.
Kip got Marks old pellet gun for his birthday, and was so excited! He thinks it's so awesome because it was his dads. He also wanted a chess set so dang bad...(I know Nerd!) Mark doesn't know how to play chess very well, and I have no idea how to play. Apparently he knows though! One of our friends comes over to play with him, so he's learning.

Sier wanted more of his "star wars collection". He loves those things. They are little star wars guys that are short and squatty...and he has almost all of them! He carry's them everywhere, and almost always has one in his pocket. Kip got him some little batman guys also, and wrapped it in Barbie wrapping paper. Sier was so mad at him! He didn't even want to open his present.

7 reasons why I love Kip

1. his blue eyes

2. his soft heart

3. his desire to please

4. his awesome trampoline tricks!

5. his desire to learn

6. his humor

7. he loves me no matter what I do!

5 reasons why I love Sier

1. his big green eyes

2. his determination to do anything his brother does

3. his sense of humor!
4. his joy of just being alive

5. his love for his DAD (I fall into a DISTANT 2nd in that category!)

I love my kids!

It's a good day!

Everything went great at the Cardiologists! The baby's heart looks just like it should, and I don't have to go in again! Technology is amazing.....and so is the human body. I learned a lot of how the heart works before a baby is born and after a baby is born. I left the Dr.'s office in awe of how little I know about the little person growing inside me, and I know it's a miracle that this little baby develops all the right organs at just the right time in order to live a healthy life. I'm glad everything is good!

I'm NERVOUS!!

I'm off to a Pediatric Cardiologist....and I'm a little nervous. At my ultra-sound they weren't able to get a clear picture of the baby's heart, so they set me up an appointment with a specialist at Primary Childrens. (luckily they've opened another one in Riverton) I don't think there is any thing wrong. All of us can feel him moving, kicking, and swinging around on the umbilical cord...but the Dr.'s just want to be sure. In the back of my mind I keep thinking "with our luck there is something wrong" but I feel good about it, so we'll just wait and see. Wish me luck!