Jane is 11 Years Old!

August was a busy month for us. We had two birthdays, a baptism, a family party, a friend party, and a visit from Grandma C

and Grandpa Jerry

as well as B and Papa.

All of this while we put the finishing touches on our new house

and got ready for school to begin once again.

Jane's 11th birthday was the first big party of the month. We started off the day with a birthday breakfast of German Pancakes, raspberries, applesauce, warm butter-caramel syrup and orange juice.

Next, Jane opened a gazillion gifts.

After cleaning up the tissue paper and assortment of gift bags we headed for the lake,

which was Jane's choice for her special day.

We hauled kids on the inner-tube and the adults plus Elsie and Kate on the boat out to what we have nicknamed "birthday island". We came here last year for Kate's birthday.

We jumped off cliffs and swam in the lake.

We had cheesecake!

After leaving birthday island, I gave William and Hank a wild tube ride and then he returned the favor to my mom and I. It was what I call a bonding experience.

I love days on the lake. After having Eleanor, I was quite paranoid to go out on the boat for fear that someone would definitely drown or be paralyzed falling off the inner-tube. It's amazing how paralyzing those fears can be. The minute we got the boat out on the water though, my fears blew away with the wind in my face and all felt right in my world. I loved watching my crazy kiddos bounce around on the tube, hollering and waving and having a grand time.

Jane is growing up to be such a helpful, sweet, funny, wonderful, and loving daughter. She often surprises me with a tidy house when I come home from errands or a date with Dad. Her cooking skills are improving daily and she loves to make us all dinner or a yummy Sunday treat.

We are delighted to have sweet Jane in our family.

Happy Birthday Jane!

We love you!

Birthday Blueberries

Hank insisted I should have a cake for my birthday, but I'm off sugar so I opted for blueberries. After the kids were tucked in their beds I sat on the couch and nibbled on a bowl of fresh berries. Wouldn't you know it, within minutes the bowl was practically empty and my tummy was terribly full. Now, I'm up with a stomach ache and it's not even from too much sugar! It's all good though. I got to watch an episode of Losing It With Jillian and America's Got Talent. The dancing rock climbers were mesmerizing and the singing sisters with CF were heart wrenching.

I guess I should be heading to bed seeing how I've been up for 20 hours straight. What am I still doing up? Guess I was just winding down after an eventful day. Woke up at 4:30, drove a van full of youth to the temple, enjoyed a lovely two hours there, drove an even fuller van home, got my kiddos and some groceries, fed them dinner and put them to bed. Then I had a little me time. It was a fabulous birthday.

I'm 33!

Look Who's Three!

So I realize this happened almost a week ago, but no matter how good my intentions were, this has somehow slipped to the bottom of the list day after day. I've been preoccupied enrolling my girls in Connections Academy (homeschool), feeding my children daily (well at least three times daily) and nursing Walter (that boy is still growing like a weed and is still refusing solid foods). I was told today that if I stopped carrying Walter around in a hammock then maybe he would crawl. Well, to tell you the truth, the reason why he's in a sling (not a hammock Devon...but that did make me laugh) at church (where this comment was made by funny Devon) is so I can carry two church bags, a pair of Katie's sandals, a blanket or two, a Relief Society handout which was shoved at me while I was gathering up my YW lesson materials and my sweet dear 19 pound 7 month old. I am able to do all this without dropping the sweet child on the way to the van which is hot and stuffy after four hours (who really leaves church right away?) in the sun and smells strongly of banana peel which the kids forgot to put in the trash because I have a wonderful contraption called a sling...not a hammock. But this is not why he is not crawling yet...I think he just chooses not to crawl yet....and the day he decides to crawl he will just up and do it. He will be into everything and everyone will be wishing the mishevious little boy had decided to stay put for a while longer...but there will be no stopping Sir Walter once he sets his mind on crawling. Hey, for I know, he'll be walking next week and just skip the whole crawling ordeal all together. Enough about Walter the Great...this post is all about .....

Kate Camilla who just turned THREE!

We started the morning of the 22nd off with number three pancakes, trick candles, presents and a very excited Kate. She knew exactly what was going on, why we were celebrating, how old she use to be and she knew she was now three. What a sweet little girl she is.

We spent the day like most every other day playing, eating and cleaning. Kate helped me mix and bake the cake and that evening our family met Grandma B and Papa at the park for some birthday cake and visiting. It was a simple, sweet and enjoyable birthday.

Happy Birthday Katie! You are growing up so quickly. I love to watch you learn and explore and have fun doing silly things like dance for Walter while he bounces around in the johnny jump-up. You are so smart and inquisitive. I hope you have a wonderful year!

Happy Birthday Yesterday DAD!

Happy Birthday to my wonderful father. Words I would use to describe him are: Fun, Energetic, Optimistic, Faithful, Funny, Determined, Strict, Stubborn, Calm, Lean, Marathon Runner, Fast, Grandpa and Fabulous! Happy Birthday Dad! I love you!

I called and wished him a Happy Birthday, but I thought it would be fun to have a record of it here, seeing as how this is our family journal. Who has time to write in a journal when you blog? Please tell if you do and how you do it!