Look who's 5

Happy Birthday Wesley. Wesley's birthday was November 25th. We went to the Blackfoot swimming pool for his party. He was so excited to go swimming he put on his life jacket to open presents even when it was mentioned it was not necessary. The top picture is such a funny story. Wesley's aunt Katie had been teasing him for a while that she was going to get him a barbie doll. Wesley of course objected to these teasings. When Katie handed him his gift he was really excited to open it and when he pulled it out he said "Katttie, you are naughty. Ahh, Kattie. I'm not a girl. Katie barbie dolls are for girls." What a belly laugh. Katie made top marks on Wesley's list with a backup present (a spiderman scooter).

Happy Holidays

This year as a family we decided to focus on traditions and memories for Christmas instead of a lot of presents. So here is our first memory. We have spent two weeks planning and building a gingerbread house to donate to the gateway for humanity. Sorry this picture is not rotated. We took it down to Mystique and Wesley was helping us put on the finishing touches.

This is a really good picture of Wesley. lol. The front of our house.

This was minutes before 2:00pm, which was the deadline for the entry. We made it with time to spare.

Some opps's along the way. We mis-measured the quantities of Gelatin in the mixture for our shingles. Lots of fun things to laugh about along the way.

Here is the house pattern we used. I think ours turned out pretty good.

HaPPy HaLLoWeen

The youth in our ward put on a carnival for the primary kids tonight. Lil' Natalie was so cute with her wig and tu-tu. I love having a girl. Halloween is going to be so much fun!!! I didn't get any super smiley pictures so I guess I will have to dress her up again and have a photo shoot.

Happy birthday Timmy!!!

Timothy's birthday was on Saturday. We went to the homecoming parade, and then went to his birthday party at deleta. The cake is inspiration from family fun that Jim and I did together. Timmy had a great time with his cousins. That evening I went to a fun costume party with the Ghouls, and Jim took the three kids to the homecoming game with my dad. I sure love Timmy. He seems to have gotten over the "I'm not the baby thing," and really has been a fun kid.

Cutie Patutie

Jim and I both love this picture. When Jim saw it he said "Oh what a cute picture, except for what is that on her head. Boys? Sometimes they don't understand the necessity of big hair things.

Wesley loved helping me peel the apples as I canned apple pie filling. He also loved helping grandma pick grapes at Jon and Monica's house. It looks like Jim almost got lost in the jungle of grapes vines.
Believe it or not this is grape juice. I think it turned out so pretty. Jon and Monica called and said we could have at their grapes we took em serious and ended up with over 22 quarts of grape juice. It was hard work but its fun since Jim and I do it together. Thanks Jon and Monica. This picture is to show Cindy a two quart jar compared to a one quart jar.
Here is a sample of our fall activities. So far we have canned apricot jam, pickles, salsa, grape juice, apple pie filling, pears, and peaches. We still have a few things left to can from our garden, but it looks like we're almost done. Yeah!!!

Bushels of Fruit

During the spring and summer we were so excited about the bounty of fruit on our pear tree. Its not a very big tree but it was loaded with fruit. After all the work it took to preserve the pears I'm ready to go and cut the tree down. We canned 27 quarts of pears and it was hard work. The boys enjoyed picking the pears or more like climbing the ladder. We are glad its done. Now we are on to apples and then salsa is next.

Signs of a true fisherman

We went fishing with my brother Jason's family and my parents. Timmy had way more fun with the cat tails then the fish. Wesley loved fishing with his Daddy. He did really good at reeling the fish in and proclaiming how big his fish were. He exagerated every time by a good foot or so. He sounds just like his daddy.

"Oh Wesley"

I don't know how to turn the picture, sorry. The Friday before Labor Day I took the kids to The Red Lion to pick up our race packets for the 10K that Jim and I traditionally run. When we first arrived at the Red Lion we made it out of the lobby as Wesley flew down the hallway while turning to Timmy to have him catch him. At that precise moment a door stood in the way. Wesley dropped and I saw the wound. I had my composure initially until the blood covered his entire face. I may have over-reacted as I scooped him up and went to the desk as exclaimed "can somebody help me." The spectators didn't know the extent of his injury since there was quite a bit of blood. Someone called 911, another person exclaimed "he needs medical attention immediately." Another lady said "I think he will need plastic surgery." I told my helpers that my sister was a PA and could stitch him up, but she was in Idaho Falls. With the influence of the others they said I needed to get him in immediately. I called the children's clinic to see if they could do the stitches, and the spectators told me I should go to the ER. I ignored the advice and went to the clinic where Wesley got 6 stitches. When all was said and done and we had all over-reacted I should of just taken him to Shawna's home in Blackfoot where we could have ignored the drama and my sister would of fixed him up just fine. I'm sure there will be a next time though.

Natalie's Best Friend

These are the two most perfect babies. Collectively these two would make the Best twins. Natalie on the left is ours and Brianna is my sister Shawna's baby. Shawna has just started employment as a Physicians Assistant and I have been babysitting her two children while she is doing her training. Natalie and Brianna are perfect. Its those boys who are the trouble makers.

Why buy beds

I gave Jim instructions to put the kids to bed while I went for a jog. Natalie fell asleep in her bumbo (thanks aunt Jenny for a super cool gift). Wesley cuddled up to elmo in the front room and Timmy of course was still awake. The picture of Timmy is later that night. He loves books and can't go to sleep unless he is encircled by them.

Harvesting Time

This is a sample of our first crop. Harvesting time is bitter sweet. There is so much work involved in canning and perserving. Although I love being able to go to the garden and get all the fixins for salsa or dinner or to satisfy cravings. Timmy sure loves to pick onions even if they are still the size they started. Wesley is a big help in picking the right sized cucumbers for pickles and making sure Timmy knows if they are ready or not. We have already canned 30+ quarts of pickles, lots of apricot jam, and squash. We are getting ready to do applesauce and when our pears are ripe will can them as well.

Jim has worked so hard this summer. These pictures are actually from last fall. Although this summer he has the projects just about finished. He almost has the fence done. He just needs to put vents in the roof and then it will be complete and he just about has the sprinkler system finished. So that leaves us with 3 major projects all just about done. Jim's pretty determined so my guess is he won't leave any of them unfinished. I hope.


Along with all of our summer projects we had a little fun along the way visiting Jim's grandparents in the Denver area.

While in Denver we went to the Cherry Creek art festival with Jim's Brother Chris and his family and his uncle Andy. Wesley got to do the weather report. He was nervous and needed Jim's help. Timmy and Natalie spent part of the day zonked out in the stroller. The kids got to learn the hula. Wesley is quite the little dancer.

The fourth of July in Brighton Colorado (Jim's home town). Wesley and his cousin Amelia had such a good time.

We have had so much fun with these three bundles of joy. We thought having three would slow us down, but we still do every bit as much as we did with two. Natalie has really started to grow. She weighed 9lbs 13 ounces at her 2 month checkup. Which is a pound lighter then my nephew stiles was when he was born. She loves to smile and is a dream come true. Timothy is the funny one. He is constantly making Wesley laugh and is constantly in trouble because Wesley is usually laughing because Timmy is doing things that aren't o.k. with mom. I have to remind myself Timmy is only 2. Wesley has sure grown up. He is so obedient and loves to please his daddy. He wants to do whatever Daddy is doing and is a big help.

Wesley learned how to ride a bike today. His parents are so proud. He did such a good job. Last year his grandpa Woodin bought him a small bike at a garage sale. We never put training wheels on it and just had him play around with it in the back yard since we live on a hill. He started to look like he was getting the balance thing down so yesterday we took him to the park and around the church by grandma Woodin's house. He was doing so good and was catching on and then today he literally just took off. We are so proud of him. Our bike trailer only buckles in two kids so we are glad that since Wesley can ride a bike it has freed up a seat in the trailer.

Natalie is now two months old and has been a dream come true. She has slept 9 hours at night the last two nights and is such a sweetie. She was blessed yesterday by her daddy. I will hopefully get the pictures from my mother and have them posted soon. My mother made her dress and she looked beautiful. I am so happy to have my little girl she has been so much fun.

This is how we celebrated our 5th anniversary waiting for a light parade in Pocatello in freezing temperatures.