NINE!

I have so much I need to catch up on with my blogging!! But first things first.....last month September turned 9!!! That makes me feel so old....even though I'm not!

Already getting a little attitude!

Something you should know about September.....she hates change probably more than even I do. She is just like me where she plans certain events in her head for weeks, even months sometimes, and if they don't go exactly like she had been planning on, it is very hard for her to adjust. But boy did she ever have to make some adjustments in dealing with her birthday this year.......again and again and again.

First of all, a month or so before her birthday we had discussed what she wanted to do and she wanted to either go swimming somewhere or go rollerskating. I looked for places I could get the best deal and it turned out that I could get an amazing deal at Hollywood Connection to take everyone skating. But a couple weeks before her birthday I realized that the place wasn't as local as I thought and I didn't want to have to drive as far as it was so we changed plans to go swimming at the Scera. And then it decided to rain....and rain, and rain! So we had to change plans yet again. In the end we decided to go skating at Classic. Well, her birthday came and Matthew woke up sick with the flu. I wasn't excited about the prospects of taking all of our kids, plus Ember's best friend and her little sister, to Classic by myself, but I wasn't about to disappoint Ember, plus Lisa and Kyle would be there to help me. And then at the last minute Lisa and Kyle started feeling kind of sick and weren't going to be able to go. All of her kids still wanted to go though, but I had no idea how I was going to get them all there. We had invited Kalun and Kristi and their kids, but Kristi wasn't going to be able to go, so I called Kalun and asked if he could help me transport some of the kids. So he came over and between our cars we were able to fit everyone. We got away about 45 minutes later than planned, so by the time we go there we were only able to stay for about an hour, but the kids all ended up having a great time. It was a little nuts trying to keep track of all the kids, but Bonnie met us up there as well and between her, me and Kalun we managed to not lose one child! We almost lost a couple scooters, but no children.

She was so excited about all of her gifts. One of the main things she wanted was a new Webkinz and she ended up with two. We got her one, and then the cute little neighbor boy that has a crush on her brought over a gift and part of it was a Webkinz. Apparently he had involved her best friend to find out what she wanted. He is too cute! She also got some new jewelry. She was very excited about the pool, but we weren't able to put it up until about 2 weeks after her birthday because it wouldn't stop raining!

Jessika and Kaiden were the only kids that knew how to skate very well, so Kalun helped me take some of the kids around and give them an opportunity to do it without falling.

There were still quite a few falls though!

Tristan didn't have to worry about falling though because he brought his BIG WHEEL! What a stud!

September and her best friend, Ariel.

So then we had planned to celebrate Ember's birthday with the Cluff side that following Saturday. She really wanted to put the new pool up that she had gotten for her birthday, along with the slip n' slide and do other fun water games. The weather looked like it was going to work out and then the day before it got really yucky and stormy again. She was so disappointed, but we decided to go forward with the party but just to keep it to cake and ice-cream and gifts inside and let the kids play for a bit. Then the day of the party Matthew woke up sick with the flu AGAIN!!! I had gotten sick the day after her birthday and we'd gone to the dr. to make sure it wasn't swine flu and it wasn't, but since we didn't want to take our chances that it could be this time, we decided it wasn't going to work out to have everyone come over. Poor Ember! It finally ended up working out to have everyone come the following week though. We sure like to draw birthdays out in our house, but not typically for a week and a half. The couple weeks before and week or so after were full of many talks with Ember about how things don't always work out the way you want and you have to learn to be flexible. Yeah, it was hard for ME to have to sit there and tell her that....but I managed to learn a lesson or two as well through the whole thing. As they say, there's nothing as constant as change, so I guess we'd better sort out our issues and learn to accept it.

This is 1 of 3 cakes we ended up eating on behalf of Ember's birthday. We are all caked out!
We also had a chance to celebrate with my parents, which was the only celebration that did end up going as planned....but almost didn't work out....again because of sickness! But it did work out and September was very excited about the gift that they gave her. My Mom gave her a sheet that had a bunch of pictures of different tutu's and she got to pick which one she wanted my Mom to make. She spent a long time figuring out which one to pick. Surely she didn't want to pick the "wrong" one.

That issue though might be one of September's only character flaws. Generally speaking, she is about the most amazing daughter anyone could ask for. She is smart, funny, kind, beautiful, friendly, helpful, organized (well, in certain things), and I could go on and on. She was the perfect child to be first because she is so great with her younger siblings. Or maybe this is because she WAS first. But somehow I can't see Kya having all the traits that Ember has and vice-versa if they had been born in opposite order. I tell ya, God knows what he's doing when he sends them down in the order he does. Each one of my children are perfect where they are. I didn't always used to think that about Logan and Peyton, but I've come around.....and learned to accept the fact that things don't always go as planned. ;)

Out of all of my children, I think September is the one that is the most like me. This makes for a very close relationship, but also a lot of days where we butt heads with each other. On her birthday we had the opportunity to go, just the two of us, to JCW's for their huge twist cones. We sat and chatted and giggled while we ate them. Later that day we had a disagreement over something that neither one of us was going to budge on our position. But in the end, I wouldn't change a thing about her.....and not just because I hate change! ;)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SEPTEMBER!!!

Rain, rain, go away!!!

Can I just say....I am SOOOO sick of the rain!!!!!!!! I know it sounds so cliche because I know many people here in Utah feel the same way, but I am seriously ready to scream! I HATE RAIN!!! I can "deal with it" in the Spring, but this is getting ridiculous! (I know, I know, technically Spring just ended yesterday, but still, you know what I mean.) We are almost 1/3 of the way through the summer (or at least what is "summer break" from school) and it hasn't even truly felt like summer. I think we've had 2-3 days that have been rain-free since school let out. I know we need it, but can't it just rain in the middle of the night, please?!? I am not someone who handles bad weather days very well and all of this rain has really been getting to me lately! It cheered me up a little to see this the other day.....



....but I'd rather have no rain! Matthew and I leave tomorrow for Vegas for a week though, and even though it's SUPPOSEDLY going to start being better weather starting tomorrow, I'm happy to know that I'm headed somewhere that is pretty much GUARANTEED to be warm.....o.k. HOT!! I have so much to catch up on with blogging, but it will have to wait at least another week. I'm outta here!!

Oops!

So the other day I was making smoothies for everyone and the blender was having a hard time "blending".....so being the smart person I am, I stuck a wooden spoon in it to help push the strawberries down. When your mom tells you to NEVER stick any kind of utensil into the blender while it's going, she means it!

This picture doesn't actually do it justice. It was splattered EVERYWHERE! I was laughing hysterically, but the kids were all just staring at me like I was an idiot. O.k. maybe they were right.

FULL HOUSE!!!

Lisa's kids arrived last Tuesday and will be here for a month. So we now have 4 adults and 9 children in our household! Did you catch that? That's 13 people!!! Surprisingly it has not felt too crowded and things have actually been going VERY well, all things considered. They're such good kids, and all of the kids have really been getting along. Occasionally you'll see them as a couple separate groups doing their own things, but the majority of the time they're all together as one big group.

The weather has been horrible pretty much from the day they got here, so you'd think they'd all be cooped up in the house going stir-crazy and driving us crazy. But no.....they haven't let the bad weather deter them. Rain or shine, they spend most of their days outside running around.

The night they arrived.

Jessika spending time with her new baby sister. I think she was a little nervous to first meet her, but she has fallen in love and loves helping out with her.

Kaiden showing off his moves on his skateboard.

Like mother, like daughter!

Skyler trying to be like his big brother, Kaiden.

I think there was a game of football, soccer, and frisbee all going on at the same time in this picture....with all the same people. Fun times!

Logan's preschool graduation

O.k. so technically Logan still has another year of preschool, but he did graduate from his FIRST year of preschool. And he was NOT happy! He fell asleep about a half hour before we left for it and he is a BEAR to wake up. We dragged him over to it and tried to get him to sit in his chair. He eventually reluctantly stayed. He did not participate in any of the songs, but did go up to accept his diploma. We were so proud!

Could he be any more sad???

His amazing teacher, Ms. Patty!

He started perking up towards the end.

I think he finally woke up just as we came home.

Joey's & Emily's Big Day

It's official.....Joey is off the market. He and Emily got married a couple weekends ago (May 30th). We have a new sister-in-law and the kids have a new aunt. Although according to Kya, Emily was already her aunt. I saw her writing one day about how her Uncle Joey was marrying her Aunt Emily. Hmmmm..... Anyway, it was a beautiful day! The weather turned out great, but we were nervous about it all day long. It kept threatening to rain, but waited until the reception was over and we were almost done cleaning up. :) I think most everything went smoothly. There were only a couple things that didn't work out. Bonnie and Travis weren't able to get their temple recommends renewed in time (long story!) so they weren't able to make it to the ceremony. And Nick wasn't able to make it to the ceremony either.....or the luncheon. He is living back East and working for the summer, and he missed his flight home.....which led to a whole slew of missed/delayed flights. He finally arrived at about 3 or so that afternoon and was able to be there for the reception, but had to wake up at 3 am to turn around and go back. Poor Nick! I felt so bad! But other than that, I think everything else went very well. The actual ceremony was very sweet. I teared up....a lot. The sealer had some amazing words of advice. One of the things I remembered most was about how you should "RISE in love" not "FALL in love". I loved that!

Joey is on the phone with Nick.....this was our way of getting a shot with Nick in it. ;)

My goofy sister-in-law, Ginger, jumped in front of the camera as I was trying to take a picture. She cracks me up!

My sweet, sweet cousin's daughter, Destiny watched our kids while we were at the temple and then brought them over after the ceremony was over. She was such a great help that whole day! I love her! I also love Kya and Logan in this picture. Hilarious! They're trying to entertain themselves while all the pictures were being taken. Bless their hearts.

Bonnie, Me, Chuck, Emily, Joey, Mom, Dad

Peyton

Emily looked beautiful!

The luncheon was held at Willow Park which is a really cool and fun park up there in Logan. (I totally forgot to get pics!!!) There's a little zoo as part of the park, but we didn't get a chance to go see any of the animals. Everything was great though except that the willow trees were shedding terribly! There were things floating all over in the air. You could hardly talk without one getting caught in your mouth. They were a wonderful addition to the allergies Matthew was already suffering from! I, however, thoroughly enjoyed myself because after one year and one whole extra week.....I had soda for the first time! It was only my mom's homemade root beer, but hey, you gotta ease back in, right?


The reception turned out great. Matthew even described it as "one of the least horrible receptions" he's ever been to. He hates receptions whether they're for close friends/family or very distant relatives. I appreciate him enduring that "trial". It really did turn out very nicely though. It was in Emily's parent's backyard which is beautifully landscaped and had many great areas to take pictures at.

The cool cake.

Peyton was being such a ham for the camera the whole day. I think the official photographer got as many pictures of her as she did of Joey and Emily. ;)

My battery died right after this picture which I was really mad about because they had a fun photo-worthy cake fight. I hate when people are cutesy-wootsy and just feed it to each other nicely, so I was happy about it, just mad that I didn't get any pics.

First dance

My Dad having one last man-to-man talk with Joey before they took off. I don't even want to know what THAT conversation was about.

And they're off......

What a beautiful day! I'm excited to have Emily as part of the family and I'm so happy for both of them. They're such a great couple! I wish them many, many wonderful memories together. I already know they'll have a happy life!

NO DOUBT!!!

One other fun thing Matthew and I got to do on Memorial Day was to go to the No Doubt concert!! I have been wanting to see them in concert for over 10 years. I am a HUGE No Doubt fan!! I was a little nervous because they performed a few weeks earlier on American Idol and the performance was really strange. I was so afraid that that's how the concert was going to be and I was kind of setting myself up to possibly be disappointed. But I absolutely was not! It was an amazing show!!! The stage set up was really cool and they all sounded great live. I'm not a fan of crazy interpretations of songs that sound nothing like the original, and they weren't like that. Everything sounded very similar to the albums which is perfect in my book. Sorry, I hate change! Also, it was Gwen's son's birthday the next day so she brought him out on stage toward the end and had everyone sing Happy Birthday to him. He was so cute. The whole thing was so awesome. One of the funnest nights of my life! A big thank you to my parents for watching the kids for us so we could go. :)

Paramore was the opening band. I like a few of their songs so it was pretty cool. And they sounded pretty good live.

This was No Doubt's grand entrance. I thought it was pretty cool.

Outfit #1

Outfit #2

Outfit #3

Memorial Day weekend

We had a very busy, but fun, Memorial Day weekend. We were determined to get the rest of our fence put up (the parts that connect from the side to the house), but it kept raining and ruining our plans, so we only got as far as getting the posts cemented in. We did get a bunch of other things done with the yard though. It now looks more complete than it ever has.

I forgot to take pics of the finished project, but here's some in the middle.

If you look closely in the top right window you can see Peyton peeking out of her window. She was taking a nap but could hear all the commotion and fun going on outside and was looking longingly down on us.

On Memorial Day it was actually Tate's birthday, so we took a break from the yardwork to go over and celebrate with him. Kalun and Kristi have been so busy with other things that it all got kind of thrown together at the last minute. But it turned out great! The weather cleared up for a few hours and they were even able to pull the slip n' slide out. The kids had a blast!

Matthew was trying to stay in the shade so he wouldn't get burned, and Peyton decided to be his friend.

Let's play "How many people can you fit on a trampoline?"

Tate got the bright idea to take the sprinkler out from under the tramp and spray the girls. We thought it was hilarious....the girls didn't.

Peyton was tired of waiting for someone to get her some cake so she went inside and got some utensils from the play kitchen and went and helped herself to some of Tate's. Smart girl! :)

Eventually she got her own and boy did she enjoy it!