The Quail

So a while back Josh rescued 2 baby quails. One of them didn't make it, but the other has continued to grow and thrive. He has hand fed it and become quite attached. It was finally time to let it go. We let it go in our next door neighbor's flower garden. It was so domesticated that she didn't quite know what to do. We ended up putting the aquarium where we kept her out in our front yard. She would sleep in it at night and hang out in the yard during the days. She loved to follow everyone around and would even let you pet it. We then went to the cabin and when we came back she was gone. We like to believe she finally flew away and is living happily ever after rather than thinking a neighbor's cat got her. We'll never know!

Josh's Birthday

Last year I spent months planning Josh's birthday, so this year I got to take it easy. Unfortunately, he had is quarterly sales meetings on his birthday so he didn't get home until after 9. So on Sunday we had his family over to celebrate his and Natalie's birthdays. We had a bbq and let the kids play.

 The 3 cousins. Brynlee is the oldest, Oakley is 2 months younger, and little Greyson is 5 weeks after Oakley. 3 babes in 3 months! So fun!

Just Because...

Brielle is seriously the happiest baby we've had. Rarely cries or whines. She just loves to smile at everyone!!!

1st Day of 1st Grade

Brooklyn had Kindergarten testing the first week of school so she didn't start until later. Brayden has been SO excited to start first grade. We met with his teacher on the first official day, then he started the next day. He loves his teacher and is already doing so well! Have a fun year buddy!!!

Pioneer Day

We were going to have a swimming party at one of our friend's parent's house. That fell through so we decided to throw together a quick bbq at our house. It was fun that all of our friends were able to make it. It's always a lot of work and I hadn't planned on spending our whole holiday cleaning the house and getting the yard ready, but it was a lot of fun.

 Brynlee didn't know there was a hot dutch oven on the ground and burnt her leg pretty bad. It took me a minute to realize what had happened...we all thought she touched it. I finally found the burn on her leg and she let Trianna hold her (she never lets anyone hold her) and put a wet rag on it.

 All the kids.  So. Many. Kids!!!

Float Preview

We had no intentions on going to the Days of 47 parade, so for family night we headed to the Expo center to see the floats. The kids had a lot of fun looking at all the awesome floats and participating in some of the games and activities. And all I got to say is that I am SO grateful my mom face paints and does balloon animals so we NEVER have to wait in those lines. We just tell the kids next time we see grandma she'll paint their faces and they are happy as can be.

Jesse

Brynlee loves to hang out in the backyard with the dogs, especially if they are tethered so she can sit down without them knocking her over.

Week at the Cabin - Part 3

The rest of the time at the cabin was a lot of fun. Lots of crafts, games, and kids exploring outside. The kids all took turns on the 4-wheeler and loved it. Although it was a lot of work to be up there that long, it was fun and worth it! We had SO much fun with the Jensen's I'm sure we'll go up again.

 Marshmallows + toothpicks = kids entertained for an hour!

 Brielle was pretty tired and fell asleep while Josh was holding her.

 Another awesome craft. Lots of squared of tissue paper that they squish into a ball and put on the shapes that were sticky. Awesome concept and kept them busy for hours...even the boys!

 Marbleworks...always a cabin favorite.

 Brooklyn got the biggest rug burn on her chest from doing this. They had fun though!

Week at the Cabin - Part 2

Our plans were to have the Jensen family from our ward join us on Monday morning. They called and unfortunately their boy had strep throat and their little girl had ruptured her eardrum :( But they were willing to come anyway so they came up Monday night. Mark is a teacher at Bingham so they were able to come up easily without having to take off work. So Monday we spent relaxing with the kids getting really bored and excited for the Jensens to come up. They finally made it and the fun began!!! They have 5 kids...1 boy and 4 girls. They have a girl that's 10, a boy that is about 1 1/2 yrs older than Brayden, a girl Brooklyn's age, a girl Brynlee's age, and a girl 6 weeks younger than Brielle. It's perfect and the kids love playing together. 

Tuesday we headed up to the old cabin. We spent some time throwing rocks in the river and running around then ate lunch.

 Rylee and Taesyn trying to pick up a huge rock to throw in the river:

 All the kids!

 Being silly!

 After lunch we headed out for a hike to the waterfalls. About 7 minutes after we started walking it started pouring rain! We all huddled under a tree while it poured. Lori and I ended up taking the babies back to the cabin with Ryann and Brynlee. We hung out at the cabin for a few hours while they all kept going. They made it to the waterfalls and ponds about the waterfalls to fish a little bit. Raygan ended up falling in the river and was not happy about it. By the time they all got back they were all soaking wet and muddy. We cleaned up as good as we could and headed back to the other cabin where we all bathed and played games the rest of the evening.

Week at the Cabin - Part 1

Josh has always wanted to take a few days off of work to head up to the cabin. We finally decided it was time to go up so we headed up there Friday night and stayed til Wednesday night. Josh's parents as well as Michael and Natalie all came up Saturday and Sunday. The guys spent a lot of time working outside hauling dirt, moving logs, and building a handrail. We finally were able to bring up our old swingset so we spent a lot of time digging out part of the hill to put it on. The kids have LOVED the swingset. It's nice to finally have something out there for them to do.

 Brielle looks so much like Brayden's baby pictures!

3 Months!!!

Brielle continues to be such a good baby. She is ALWAYS happy and rarely cries. She loves to smile and giggle at everyone. She is still SO curious about everything. She insists on always sitting up so she can see everything. She wiggles constantly and loves being on her tummy. She rolls from her back to her tummy, then loves to pick at the carpet. She is SUCH a good sleeper. She has been sleeping 10hrs at night for quite some time. She takes a 30 minute nap in the morning, a 4 hr nap in the afternoon, and a 30 minute nap in the evening. She loves her brothers and sisters and is a joy to have in our home.

Wikki Stix

I bought these for the kids last Christmas and have never gotten them out. So we finally opened up the box and the kids loved them. The made pictures on paper, then we made a race track on the floor.