A fun birthday party

Since we're reaching the age of 'friends' Embrie had been invited to two birthday parties. This one for her friend Lydia. They came dressed up as princesses. They made crowns and necklaces and then had a little tea party!

Look at those beautiful little princesses!

The Basement Project #1

So the basement is finally done! (mostly) 2 1/2 years ago we begin to work on our basement. We knew that it would take time and money. For one thing my husband does have another job (or two) so he can't be home to work on it all the time and in order to save money we decided to do as much of it ourselves as possible. We are very very lucky to have people in our family who know how to do things like this! Starting from scratch we got to work. Brad and my grandpa Clyde did almost everything. The first day my step-dad, grandpa and Brad started the framing. They both left us with most of the tools we'd need to keep going. After that Brad would work on it when he could and on many of his days off my grandpa would come down and help. They did the framing, insulation and sheet rock. The little bit of plumbing we hired out. Brad installed the shower. Our brother-in-law Eric came and did our wiring. My uncle Mont came and did the mudding and taping while my grandpa and Brad were there at his disposal to help. I primed and painted walls, ceiling, doors & trim (that's my only specialty and claim for helping since I was watching the kids most of the time). Brad and my grandpa installed the doors and trim with the help of my grandma (who actually came every time and helped quite a bit too). Brad's dad came and helped cut & lay the tile. Brad grouted the tile. Then finally it was someone else's turn to do the work! We had the carpet installed last week! yay! Brad will say it's not done, but I say it is close enough for a little comfort on my part (we have a baby coming soon and we need the room). The only things left are the toilet, vanity, and trim in the bathroom and shelves in the toy closet and book shelf.

We couldn't have done this without my grandpa Clyde! I love him tons! Thank you thank you thank you.
Also to my dear husband: he is so particular about how he wants things done, and having them perfect that sometimes I got impatient and thought " I don't care what it looks like just get it done!!!" (especially these last 3-4 months you know, pregnancy, nesting, etc.) BUT I have to say that because of his attention to detail and all of his hard work we have a very very nice basement. It has been finished much better than the rest of our house which was done by people who do this for a living, and this was Brad's first time doing any of it. Thanks honey! you did a GREAT job! I love you!

here is what it looks like today!

heading down the stair well (impossible to get a good shot of this)

looking in from the middle landing at how it is divided by the load baring wall

main living room

second room (toy room)

this little nitch has a built in book shelf on one side and a closet on the other.

and of course the bathroom is not finished yet, but close!

Remember When . . .

Man a lot has been going on lately! And maybe I just document 'everything' and that is why it seems like so much, but I really don't want to forget these moments with my kids. My memory is already not so good sometimes and I want to be able to look back and remember!

So last week Garrett and Embrie played with the babies almost every morning. I had to get pictures of this! I was so surprised at how Garrett was willing and wanted to play with the babies! They would change the babies' clothes, give them baths, feed them, put them to bed. Then wake them up and do it all over again. In the below picture they are taking them to the store. That is why they are in the shopping cart. However this was like the 3rd day they'd been playing this and Embrie let Garrett have the babies and she chose to wheel around one of his dinosaurs and her blankets. - Something you need to know about Embrie's blankies . . . they are to her like Garrett's stuffed animals have been to him. She sometimes acts like they are alive or talk. Pretty funny. So to see her with a stroller and 3 blankies inside is really not that uncommon around here.-

Embrie really likes these squishy dinosaurs that Garrett has.

Baby Jack, Baby Susie, Garrett with Baby Lulu and Embrie with Baby Amy.

Lets just hope they like real babies as much as they like these dolls!

America the Beautiful!

Our 4th of July 2011

I am proud to be an American!

If tomorrow all the things were gone,

I’d worked for all my life.
And I had to start again,
with just my children and my wife.

I’d thank my lucky stars,
to be livin here today.
‘ Cause the flag still stands for freedom,
and they can’t take that away.

And I’m proud to be an American,
where at least I know I’m free.
And I wont forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.

And I gladly stand up,
next to you and defend her still today.
‘ Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land,
God bless the USA.

From the lakes of Minnesota,
to the hills of Tennessee.
Across the plains of Texas,
From sea to shining sea.

From Detroit down to Houston,
and New York to L.A.
Well there's pride in every American heart,
and its time we stand and say.

That I’m proud to be an American,
where at least I know I’m free.
And I wont forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.

And I gladly stand up,
next to you and defend her still today.
‘ Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land,
God bless the USA.

Ok I just had to put that in there. I really love that song. I always have and I think it pretty much sums it up. Even when our country seems to be a mess sometimes or things aren't going the way we think they should we are still very lucky and the Lord has blessed this land. And maybe if we don't forget our Heavenly Father then He will let us keep it.

Now as I mentioned previously we were sick for the 4th of July. So pretty much the day was spent sitting and watching movies and holding buckets (at least the kids). But we still wanted to do a little something. So we went out to eat meaning that Brad and I ate. Garrett ate for the first time that day and we crossed our fingers and Embrie had eaten toast that morning but wasn't interested in anything else.

After that we went and bought some fireworks to light off at home and got some shaved ice too! This is when the kids seemed to perk up.

While it was still light out side we did some smoke balls, and parachutes.

and some snaps.

When it got dark Daddy lit of the other fireworks. This kids laid on a blanket and watched.

and giggled.

and this is how we ended the night. With our puke buckets on our heads.
(Don't worry they were clean!)

I would say the holiday wasn't a total loss.

(The next day Brad got sick, I am the lucky one in the family that got off scott free!)

The kids loved all the guys taking them on the Rhino and 4-wheelers. They got some pretty good rides in. No one wanted it to end.

Holiday Weekend

Over the holiday weekend we went to the cabin to spend one day and night hanging out with the family.

Miss Embrie was very independent going up the steep trail by herself.

Jaxon and Garrett throwing rocks in the creek.

Reese, Embrie, and Jerzee

we BBQ-ed and had Popsicles and s'mores around the fire.

Jaxon, Garrett, Jerzee, Embrie, Reese

At bedtime the kids were going to sleep in their sleeping bags together on the main floor, but . . . it didn't quite work out that way.

I ended up taking Embrie to the loft with me because she wouldn't settle down and Brad slept with the kids and it turns out that is a good thing. Around 2am she started crying which unfortunately woke everyone up (that is what happens in a cabin) and then she started throwing up. So I ended up sleeping down with the kids on the floor and Embrie crashed on the couch and Brad went upstairs. We figured this was best because the kids sleep through more than the adults do and I am better at being hyper-aware of when a child will throw up. So I got probably 2 1/2 hrs. of sleep and I hope everyone else was able to get a little more than that. She threw up all night and had -other stomach issues- as well. So we were showering her off at 5:30am. Lucky for everyone else we were heading home the next day, but it sounds like a bunch of people got sick after we left. Oooops. :( I feel really bad about that. But of course we had no idea this would happen.

This was probably the sickest she has ever been. Poor girl. puking like crazy drained everything out of her. And then Garrett got it next . . .

Health Fair

The Hospital that Brad works at put on a free health fair day last month. Brad was there doing demonstrations and telling people about the MRI machine. He usually shows the people on the tours how magnetic the machine is by holding a metal dog leash and letting people see how strong the pull is toward the machine. Then he can show them some scans (pictures) taken by the MRI. I didn't get a picture of his demonstration, I guess I wasn't thinking BUT its a good thing the hospital got him to pose with this cougar (which they posted on the hospital facebook page) and I was able to snag it. I am sure he appreciates me sharing it.

We went with some good friends and toured through the hospital. There were some really fun things for the kids to do and information for the adults. They also did free testing for things like cholesterol etc. But we didn't really have time to do those things and I am sure that in my 'condition' I would not have gotten an accurate reading.

Here is Garrett learning how to do stitches!

In the teddy bear clinic they showed the kids some x-rays of broken bones and an x-ray of a teddy bear. Then they let each kid patch up a teddy bear to take home.

Embrie, Bailey, and Garrett with their bears who have broken arms and legs bandaged up.

Bailey was brave and let them do an ultrasound (I think) on her arm.

Garrett watched them do an ultra sound on a goldfish.

In the surgical department they got caps, masks, and gloves. They got to scrub in to go into the operating rooms. They had a light showing the germs on their hands. They washed and checked again to see how well they'd washed.

At the end we finally found where they were giving away free slushies in the Primary Childrens wing of the hospital. Where they told us moms how much liquids a child should have especially if dehydrated. They had more fun things there for the kids to look at and do. And by that time I think we were all ready to rest. But it was a lot of fun and very interesting.