Discovery Museum

Marishia (my sister-in-law) went with me to the Children's Discovery Museum in downtown Salt Lake last weekend. The kids had a blast. Tyson, Emma, Austin, and Peyton had so much fun interacting with everything!

Pioneer Day

I had to work on Pioneer Day. Luckily our ward had a breakfast and parade the following day!

Bees Game

Last week, we went to see the Bees' Game. These are my scrapbook pictures from the night. Sorry for the short posting. I'm tired!

Little Cottonwood Canyon

Last Friday, while Justin was in town, we took a quick drive up Little Cottonwood Canyon. We pulled off and took a little hike with the kids as far as the stroller would allow us to go. The sites were beautiful and the kids had so much fun, even if they couldn't play in the stream!

Last Pictures from Vegas

These is my last scrapbook page from our Vegas trip. On this day, there were clouds, so the sun wasn't beating down on us and we could actually play out back. The kids ran around, played Simon Says, and finally got hosed down by Aunt Shelly. They had a blast. Emma and Andrew spent a good deal of time inspecting the plants and flowers. The littlest things....

Rhiley Elizabeth

My sister, Carrie, and her husband, Jarod, had a new baby girl on June 23. Now, Emma is no longer the only granddaughter on my side of the family. Rhiley could not be more beautiful and dare I say she's already a princess? What a doll. All the kids loved holding her. Even Austin thought she was adorable. He just wanted to hold her....

Swimming Fun

My kids love to swim. When we're in Vegas, they do a lot of swimming. Usually, that's because it's so stinking hot there that we can't go outdoors otherwise.

Fourth Of July

We spent the Fourth of July in Vegas with my family. The kids had a great time watching uncle Jarod shoot off his illegal fireworks! Even Austin was so enthralled that he practically fell asleep on my arm it was so late, but he wanted to watch!

Austin's 11 months

Can't believe my baby is now 11 months. He's almost a year old. I really can't believe it! Here's his scrapbook page! What a cutie.

The Penguins

Justin and I have lovingly referred to our children by many names, such as monkeys, crazies, kiddies, etc., but our favorite name is "the penguins." I love penguins. I think they're adorable. But the real reason comes from the movie "Madagascar." One of the animals says a line that has forever stuck in my heart... "The penguins are psychotic!" There you have it! In that context, it's probably not the most endearing nickname to call our children, but oftentimes, it is the most fitting one.

Take last night, for instance. The penguins all were asleep by 8:30 or so, so I came down to the basement to finish typing reports. I finished up about 10:45 and climbed into bed around 11. Exhausted, I was certain I would be asleep before my head hit the pillow. I was wrong. One of the penguins came sauntering into my room because she had a cough. It was just a little tickle in her throat, but knowing Emma, who has a very sensitive gag reflex, I knew that she would be vomiting sooner than later. And she did. I got her all cleaned up. WIth the tickle in her throat gone, she went back to sleep without furhter incident.

Then comes penquin 3. THis littlest penguin doesn't like to eat "human" food. He'd rather just eat nourishment from a bottle so he wakes up at night just starving. So, once again, mom was awakened and fed this little penguin. He went back to sleep, but now I couldn't.

I tossed and turned for hours until I finally fell asleep around 4:30 in the morning. The next think I know, the eldest penguin was tapping my back at 6:35 because he had tried to come downstairs to play on the computer before school and something wasn't working right. That penguin knows better than to wake mom up about a computer game. Mom wasn't happy and by now, the littlest penguin was awake too and ready to play!

So very tired and convinced that the penguins were out to get me, I checked my email and got one from my mother-in-law (whom I just adore). She was letting me know that someone we knew who was going to be induced the night prior with her first baby had gone to the hospital, the induction was started, but there was no heartbeat to be found.

I sat there staring at her email just full of emotion. My heart was breaking for this young family. Her email has haunted me throughout the day how such a simple thing could have turned out so terribly wrong for them.

After reading her email, I simply just hugged the two penguins who were here and not at school. I played with them and just held them tighter. Our children may be penguins, but I'm glad I have them. It was a terrible event that made me remember that while the penguins may be psychotic, they are also stinking adorable!