Alaska

Scott has been in Alaska this week. He gets home tonight, and we can't wait to see him. He is really missed when he is gone. This trip was just a small one, but it stresses me out because I know that the BIG Alaska trip is just around the corner.

Last week was Scott's dad's surgery. Scott spent a lot of evenings at the hospital visiting him. He was discharged on Saturday. Now comes the chemo. Then another surgery. It's going to be a long road to recovery. Cancer really sucks.

Owen has mastered moving from a crawling position, up to a sitting position, and back again. He's really proud of himself. He is growing so fast, too fast for my liking. He's such a joy to have in our home.





Last week, one evening Scott took Sara and Josh with him to the hospital to see his dad (Savannah and I had gone to visit earlier that day, and Josh and Sara wanted a turn to go see Grandpa). Savannah was playing next door with our neighbor, so I took my three little boys down the street to play at the tot lot. Nate and Aaron were playing in the sand, and I was sitting on the sidewalk next to Owen in the stroller. It was a beautiful lazy evening. Some of our friends live right next to the tot lot, and their oldest daughter is headed off to BYU this fall. The dad was out mowing the lawn, and when he stopped to empty the bag, he walked over to me and said, "I just have to tell you, enjoy this. Enjoy watching your little ones play because before you know it, you'll be packing them up to go to college, and wishing you could just have them little like this again". It's so true. These are some of the best days of my life. I really feel like I have it all. I am so incredibly blessed, and I'm trying as hard as I can to really appreciate it. I just wish I could freeze time right now. My kids are growing up so quickly, and I'm afraid if I blink I'll miss something. It feels like just yesterday Savannah was the baby in my arms, now she is almost 10 and has turned into such an amazing young woman. There is truly nothing else in the world that I would rather be doing, than being a mom to these 6 wonderful kids.

Josh Turns 8 Years Old

Sunday was Josh's actual birthday. Because 8 is an extra special birthday, he got special presents to go along with his new age. He got real scriptures with his name engraved on them, a scripture case, a CTR ring and bracelet (I guess they are called "bands" for boys), and a tie with Angel Moroni on it. Also for his birthday, we told him he gets to go shopping with his Dad to buy a suit to wear for his baptism.





After dinner (crepes made by Dad), we drove down to the greenbelt to go for a walk by the river.






Josh found an egg shell (and was very proud of it).


We walked down to the river's edge and let the kids wade in the water for a bit.





On the walk back, Savannah played photographer.


We had parked at Merrill Park, so when we got back from the river, we let the kids play for a bit. This time Sara stole the camera and took pictures. The girls LOVE getting to use my camera.





After we got back home, we had birthday brownies.





And we had a fire in the fire pit. Josh had been collecting sticks and dried pine needles for weeks, and he just couldn't wait to set fire to it.






While the fire was blazing, Scott set up our tent in the backyard. We let all 5 kids sleep in it together. They were beyond excited about getting to sleep in the tent. They talked and talked way into the night. Just before midnight, Nate decided he was too tired to stay out there with the big kids, and decided to come in. He came in, crawled up into our bed, and fell asleep within minutes (we were sitting in our chair watching a movie and listening through our window to our kids laughing and talking). Finally the tent noise subsided around 12:30 and all the kids slept through the night. The next morning Josh told me that his 8th birthday had been his best one so far. Happy Birthday Josh--we love you!

Josh's Birthday Party

On Saturday we celebrated Josh's birthday. He invited friends over for a water party. We rented a bouncehouse/water slide and fed the kids lots of pizza and juice. The kids had a blast.










Aaron enjoying some juice.

Scott and his phone--he's more than just a little addicted to that thing.

Present time. Savannah had gone shopping with me earlier in the week. She brought her own money to buy Josh a present from her. Josh had seen a particular nerf water gun on a tv commercial, and Savannah really wanted to buy it for him. She was so excited when she found it at Target--and it cost the exact amount of money she had brought to spend on him. She couldn't wait to give it to him, and he was so excited when he got it.





And cupcakes....


Josh got several water guns as presents, so after presents and cupcakes, the kids had a water fight.














Owen enjoyed some chocolate frosted cupcakes.



It was a great party. The kids played in the bouncehouse long after the party ended (it didn't get picked up till 9 that night). A good sign that you've thrown a fun party--exhausted kids at the end of the day!