jake's 1st stitches

on 08/24/12 jacob got his very first stitches.  not only are they his first stitches, but they are the first stitches for any of my children.  (i'd say we're doin' pretty good.  knock on wood.)  he said that he was walking in the hall at school when someone opened a door and the door got his toe.  obviously he was wearing sandals.  when i got the call from the school health tech, i happened to be at work.  i explained to her that she should be able to get a hold of ben because he was the one home with the kiddos that day, but that if she couldn't to call me right back and i'd come. 

so, she did get in touch with ben.  ben had just gotten his blizzard from dairy queen so he did what any reasonable parent would have done.  he asked if the bleeding had stopped and it had.  so he said he'd be there in 20 minutes.  he sat down ate that blizzard...and then went to his sons aid.  here's a photo of the damage.

one last get-away

the week before school started we decided we needed on last get-away.  our family usually loves to camp, but i didn't want all the work.  vacation never totally feels like vacation for mom, right?  i didn't want to have to cook and clean.  i knew i'd still have laundry when we got home, but while we were away i wanted no part of it.  so, we went to a resort down in phoenix.  they have great deals since summer time is off season.  we went to a hilton resort that has several pools and a small waterpark.  we had a blast and lots of r & r.  (when i find the photos, they will be posted here)

noelle's dance recital 06/15/12

 noelle took hip hop at the dance academy this last school year.  every june the dance academy puts on a dance recital that is very entertaining.  noelle's class did a routine to dynamite and i must say that my girl does have rhythm.  she did awesome...and she looked adorable if i don't say so myself.  good job, ellie belle!

it's great to be eight!

on may 26, 2012 ethan was baptised.  he chose this all on his own and we could not be more proud of him. 

what a great weekend it was.  we had lots of family in town because not only was it ethan's baptism, but kalen, libby's new son, was sealed to his family in the snowflake temple the night before the baptism.  we also celebrated a couple of the may birthdays at the firestation that weekend.  what a wonderful weekend to celebrate family!

Sadie is 5!

can't believe my baby girl is 5.  yes, i am doing this post 6 months too late, but she was ready for kindergarten well before it started.  this girl is sweet and sassy.  she is not a morning person.  in fact most mornings i question if she even likes this family.  don't be fooled by her sassy disposition.  she would be so sad not to have us around and we all know better.  and we would be sad not to have her around.  when she's not waking up on the wrong side of the bed, she is sweet, says clever, funny things and has got to be the prettiest 5 year old around.  she is quirky, clumbsy, messy and sweet...the cutest train wreck around!  i really do say this in the most endearing of ways.  she has the best hair ever, but it's usually a crazy mess within a half an hour of me spending a lot of time on it and she is the craziest dresser around.  combine all of this with the clumbsiness and her morning attitude and you've got the perfect train wreck.  oh, we love this little girl!!  underneath all of this sassiness, is the sweetest, most polite little ballerina who is a pile of putty when it comes to her daddy.  she loves her dad, and nothing will come between the two of 'em.  we love you sadie mae altop!  we know that our family would not be complete without our sadie lady!

on the day of your birthday, you had happy shake for breakfast, mcdonald's for lunch, and tortellini salad for dinner and a rainbow cake for dessert.  we had your friends karsyn, sarah and addie come with us for lunch at mcdonald's.

about sadie mae in her own words:

favorite song: twinkle, twinkle li'l star

favorite food: tacos, no... cereal!

favorite book:  that book with the talking bugs.  me: do you mean miss spiders sunny patch friends? sadie: yeah!

favorite movie: dora

what do you want to be when you grow up?: firefighter

who is your best friend?: karsyn

what are you good at?: coloring

what are you not good at?: uuhhh...doing backflips

what do you want to accomplish while you are 5 years old?:  doing sommersaults

what is funny about you?: doing a silly dance.

Ethan is 8

my E man is 8!  my oldest boy is 8!  let me tell ya, this kid is fun to have around.  he has the best, most contagious laugh.  he is also very easy to make laugh.  i love that he finds such joy in the simple things.  i love that ethan lets me cuddle him for as long as i want and he seems to love it as much as i do.  and his eyes...i mean really!  his eyes are to die for.  ben calls them his lady slayers.  i really don't want to let ethan on to that term for a couple twenty years.



ethan with his birthday breakfast in bed



so the day of ethan's birthday...he wanted happy shake for breakfast, mcdonald's for lunch and shrimp tacos for dinner.  so, that is just what we had. 

he wanted cookies for dessert, so that is just what we had.  he always wants cookies and i really never mind cookies.  he got a giant chocolate chip cookie for his dessert.  we had his best friend, braedon over after school and since dad was working, we had his birthday dessert at the fire station.

here are some fun facts about ethan in his own words:

favorite song: glad you came

favorite food: shrimp tacos

favorite book: don't have one

favorite movie: anything with dinosaurs

best friend: braedon

what are you good at?: popping wheelies on my bike.

what are you not so good at?: making snow angels

what do you want to accomplish while you are 8?:  doing a bunny hop on my bike.

what is something funny about you?: that i always play fight with jacob.  it's fun.

WE SURE DO LOVE YOU OUR E-MAN!!