It's a jumper...

I had my first ultrasound yesterday... too early to tell what it is of course... but such an amazing experience!! This little one is a total mover! It would push off with both legs... hit the top... and float back down... over and over again! So so funny... Shane and I both decided it must be a boy... because it just couldn't hold still... but then maybe it was girl wanting to dance with its sisters... Or possibly it was just "burning" from those "peppercinis" that I crave and eat by the jarful... (I totally craved those with Tayler too! It's always good to have a craving that nobody else in the house would touch with a ten-foot pole... that means there are never any missing when I go for my daily dose!!) Either way... seeing that perfectly formed little thing was AMAZING!!

Gotta admit... I keep thinking about the fact that there is a two-inch little baby INSIDE of me... jumping around... and yet... I can't even feel it...!!

Even though that is TOTALLY AMAZING and definitely a MIRACLE if you think about it too long... it can kindof freak ya out!! (Although it could be possible that I just read "The Host" not too long ago and that's where those thoughts are coming from!!)

But... speaking of "aliens"... when Kenna was born Tayler and Saige were 6 and 4... we had an ultrasound of Kenna on the fridge... sometimes we would say... she kindof looks like an alien doesn't she (ya know the picture of the face from the front.) Obviously we didn't clarify very well... because poor Tayler and Saige were sure we were having an "alien"... they never told us... but apparently they told all of their friends!! When Kenna was born and they saw her for the first time the first thing that they did was look at each other and say! "SHE'S NOT AN ALIEN!" And they got these huge grins on their faces!! Poor kids didn't want to hurt our feelings by asking us if "we were really having an alien"! They just figured they would love her anyway!!!

Saige's 10th Birthday...

Seems like just yesterday our little Saige looked like this....

and loved dressing up in stuff like this...
and posing like this...
and eating ice cream like this... oh, that's right she still does that! :)

but she is growing up way too fast...

could swear she just got baptized last year...

But nope she's 10!!!

We sure do love our Saige and hope that June 2nd was a fabulous day for her!! She got lots of fun stuff... too much actually. We owe her a bike that we need to go get her... and she got another surprise that I will post about later...

One of her most thoughtful gifts came from her sweet sister Tayler. What a heartfelt gift this was... she did it all herself!! I Love that they Love each other so much!!

The last day of school was June 4th... a perfect day for a friend party for Saige. The girls all had fun playing "water games". Of course Shane was their target of choice. I made sure to always be holding a camera so I could be "off-limits".

Jadyn didn't like the water games much... but she sure did a number on the cake! What a fun group of girls! Hope you had a fabulous 10th Birthday!!

We love you Saige!

(And Gina... if you read this blog in Ireland... and I think you do... Happy belated B-day to you too! I think of you every year when celebrating Saige's B-day!!)

Lagoon...

We made our annual trip to Lagoon with the Carlsen's last Monday. We were worried about the weather since most days the last couple of weeks have been like we live in some tropical forest or something... (Which we don't... but we have enough mushrooms in our backyard we could probably harvest them!) Some how we avoided all rain... even though we were told it POURED in Cache Valley AGAIN!!

The kids were ALL brave this year... and went on everything they could including Samauri, Wicked, and all of those upside down "spinny" kinds that make us adults sick... like "rock-o-plane" or the "Tilt-a-whirl".

We were totally impressed with Kenna and Kason this year. They went on everything they could too... pretty sure Kenna REALLY wasn't tall enough for some of them... but they never stopped her. Not many 5-year-olds go on Wicked... or Colossus... and get off saying... "THAT WAS AWESOME!" Kenna did... !!! (But she made it clear that she did not like "Jet-star". Those brake checks were NOT awesome in her opinion!)

We spent some time at Lagoona Beach... but not for too long. It was awfully cloudy and a little breezy when we were there... and having just opened we were all pretty sure that the water was run-off straight from the snow-covered-mountains!! Brrrrr.... We couldn't believe the kids would even get in that water!!

Jadyn was a trooper and hung out in the stroller most of the day... we did find a few rides that she could go on though... and she thought they were mighty cool!

After Wicked... Puff was a little "babyish" for these two. They had to show their "braveness" all the way around!

"The Music Express"... I don't know why I like this ride... but it makes me laugh so hard... I had to beg Shane to go with me... but eventually he did!

The whole gang... minus the Calsen's boy Kyler and his girlfriend Lizzie... We had a fabulous time and are glad that our families like doing this kind of stuff together! If Lagoon wasn't so blasted expensive we would do it again... But since it is... we'll just have to wait until next year!

I guess it's time to change the name of my blog...

Not sure which way it will go yet... 6 girls and their favorite guy or 5 girls and their 2 favorite guys... But yes it is official... we are expecting baby #5 to arrive on or around Jan. 5th.

Baby #5 seems like A LOT of babies to me!!! (but doesn't freak me out nearly as bad as it did when I just forgot to hit the shift on the # key... which left me with baby 35!!)

We are all so excited... my favorite part so far is having Jadyn climb up on the bed... put her face to my tummy... and whisper... "I love you baby!"

Jackson Hole...

Shane is a good husband for a lot of reasons... one of them is that he is really good at getting us free trips to Jackson Hole. For years Shane has done carpet work for the Snow King Resort. They LOVE him up there... pretty much think he hung the moon... and is the best installer in the west... they tell us all the time... "Just let us know when you want to come up... we'll take care of ya." We've taken them up on that offer several times over the years. This time they wanted him to do a few repairs (that took him all of 2 hours) and they put us up in this sweet condo for the weekend. Pretty sure we didn't need the entire 2000 sq foot... 3 bedroom... 4 bath... full kitchen... 2 family room condo. But it was awfully nice!! So were the free breakfasts and lunches that we had at the resort...

Unfortunately the weather was monsoon like... hence we didn't get to use the 10 free alpine slide passes... or the 10 trampoline/bungee passes. The girls were awfully bummed about that!! But we did have an awfully nice place to "chillax" in out of the rain.

We took a drive looking for wildlife...that was a bust... we saw buffalo WAY out in a field... and an elk's rear... pretty much this was all the wildlife we saw...

The girls were excited that we did finally see several fox right off our deck.

We were feeling guilty about eating every meal at the resort (on the resorts tab). So one night we ventured out to "Bubba's" one of our very favorite restaurants in Jackson. I should have known my girls would be ecstatic about that... because Bubba's being a bbq place has "towelettes"... our girls have a love for "towelettes"... I mean they steal them off of other tables and are so giddy that they got "extras". I told Tayler I should buy her a box of individually wrapped towelettes for her birthday. She was so happy you'd think I had said I should buy her a car!!"

She was almost as happy as when we let her stop and pick a YELLOW flower! That child is pretty easy to please!!

We debated staying another couple of days... as we were told we could stay as long as we wanted... but we had other plans so we had to pack up. Thanks Shane... I give you a hard time for being a brown-noser... but there are definite perks!!

May Holidays...

Finally getting around to posting May Holiday stuff... which must include Mother's Day. What a lucky mother I am to have such awesome girls! I think that being a mother is the best job in the world! I sure appreciate my mom for everything she has done for me throughout my life!! I love you Mom!!

We had a very casual bbq at our house after church...

The day before... Shane presented me with this sweet ride... Pretty much think that was the best Mother's Day Present ever!! I had only 2 requests when Shane was looking for a 2nd 4-wheeler... I wanted it fully automatic, and wanted a seat in the back. It was all that and more... Tayler was freaking out about the color. In her mind it needed no other features as long as it was YELLOW she was HAPPY!!

We had a few extra friends over that day ready for a ride... I LIKE 4-wheeling... I don't LOVE it... probably because I don't feel completely safe or fully in control on some of the trails Shane wants me to follow him on... And with two little buddies on the back with me it makes me even more nervous. Maybe I'm old... or just plain a wimp... but I'd rather stick to non "rutty" trails like Green Canyon... none of that straight up and down a mountain stuff like Shane likes!!

Memorial Day we drove to Midway with my parents to visit graves. Shane and I both enjoy going and feel that it is important for our girls to learn about their ancestors and to have my mom recount stories of her early days in Midway. My mom obviously has a great love for Midway... it is a very pretty and peaceful place, but after telling us that Midway has the best water... the sturdiest rock... etc. Tayler said to me... "gosh mom, if Grandma loves this place so much, why doesn't she live here!" I had to chuckle...

Grandma Floris and Grandpa Lee... O, how I miss both of them and wish my children knew them like I did! I'm sure my parents feel the same way about their grandparents... which helps me to explain and understand the love that my mom has for this beautiful place! It's about memories...


Aunt Pauline and Uncle Joe. I often think of a favorite phrase of Aunt Pauline's when I am in awe of my children. She would say over and over and over again when we brought the girls to see her, "Did you ever think anything could be so wonderful!" I didn't Aunt Pauline... I really didn't.

My mom and dad and our girls.

After a stop for lunch and visiting at my mom's cousin Jerry's. We headed to Park City for a little shopping... Shane and my Dad LOVE that part of the trip!! And were both happy when it was FINALLY time to leave and head to Red Lobster for dinner... It was a great day... we had a lot of fun... the kids were tired when we got home though... here's proof!!

Thanks for taking us Mom and Dad!!

Little girls...

Love this picture that Tayler took of Kenna and Jadyn ...because it reminded me of this one from 8 years ago! Two other cute little girls in the same dresses.

This was back in the day when I used to make cute Easter dresses like this for my little girls... not high on my priority list anymore!

Kenna...

Kenna has been busy!! She kept us hopping with her first year of soccer. We all loved watching her play. Kindergarten soccer is entertainment at its best... didn't love that it poured and snowed almost every game... but entertainment all the same!!

She did fantastic in her Dance Review!! She's got the moves and the smile to go with it!!

Tayler and Saige will be busy with their review next week... but they did both perform their competition numbers at Kenna's Review. We were proud of them all... and little Jadyn looks pleased about the whole experience too!!

Kenna successfully finished Kindergarten... loved, loved, loved her end of year program... we can't believe how fast she is growing up!! I had a vivid memory when we were walking out of the school that day... I remembered walking out with Tayler 6 years ago after her program... back then I was marveling at how fast she had grown. At the time I was quite pregnant with Kenna... how time flies!!

Now that school is over... t-ball has begun! I don't think I've ever been to a T-ball game before... I've been missing out... because it was just as entertaining as Kindergarten soccer!! Loved it!!
They've got their game faces on! :)
Not sure if this cute little guy is that excited about the game though!

Kenna did great... but the question that she asked me when we were getting ready for the game reminded me that we really should practice with her... or at least explain the game since she has never SEEN a baseball game!

She said, "Mom, I don't get it... our coach told us where we should stand... so why when someone hits the ball do people leave where the coach told us to stand to get it?" I explained to her, that you get it if it's close to you and then run back to that spot. Her eyes got big and she said, "Oh, no wonder... cuz' no one ever hit it RIGHT to the spot the coach put me in..."

We love you Kenna!!