Gabe turns 2!!

Happy Birthday Gabe!!

Gabriel was born on July 29th 2006. He was two months early, though you'd never know now by looking at him or talking to him. He's such a big boy and so smart. I remember when he was in the N.I.C.U. he had such a strong spirit about him. He seemed so small and even frail in his little earthly body but his spirit was so strong. He is so fun to be around and brightens everyones day. He's so full of life even from one extreme to the next. I wouldn't trade him for anything.

Gabe's Birthday Party

http://www.slide.com/r/xSXgUGtd7z8rvU7ceqxzi1ccKIj_ib54?previous_view=mscd_embedded_url&view=original

Ok so I spent hours last night trying to get my slide show from Gabe's birthday party added to my blog but to no avail! So the best I can do is post the link on here and if you wanna see it just click on the link. :)
On the Sunday before Gabe's birthday I had a spontaneous moment and threw together a bag, loaded the kids in the car, and drove to my sister Kayleen's house in central Utah. So thats where we spent his birthday. We played and hung out all day then in the evening we took the kids bowling. It was my kids first time and they loved it, at least they did for the first 5 minutes. We had pizza before we bowled and after bowling Gabe opened presents and then we had cupcakes and played the arcades. They even had one of those three horse carousels, you know, the ones that are outside stores, only they had it inside and it was Shayne's favorite part of the night. Over all it was a good birthday and I think all the kids had a good time. Happy Birthday Gabe! I love you!

Payton and momma

I decided to put this one on here seperate from the slide show cause I was told that I hardly ever put pictures of myself on here. So... ta da. This is Payton and I at the bowling alley for Gabe's birthday. I think he was trying to say something when the picture was taken... we all have those pictures huh.

Never too tired for cupcakes...

On the day that we left my sisters I kind of lost track of time. I wasn't sure that I wanted to leave that day or stay a little longer or which direction I wanted to head from there for that matter. I had planned on leaving around naptime so the kids would sleep in the car. But, naptime came and went and we still hadn't left. Finally I was to the point of loading the car and I opened all the doors to the car to let the hot air out before I loaded the kids. Gabe, seeing an opportunity, had followed me out and was playing in the car, which he's not usually allowed to do. I went back inside to finalize my leaving (you know, grab the water bottles, do a quick sweep to make sure we didn't forget anything, and start the goodbyes) and realized that he was still out there so I went out to check on him. When I first walked out the door and didn't see his blonde head in the car I started to worry and pictured myself on the 6 o'clock news, but as I walked by the car I looked in and found the above sight. He had found the last of the cupcakes from his birthday and pryed open the container and started in on one just prior to falling asleep. The rest of the cupcakes were tipped over on the floor (as you can see in the picture) and he was asleep with the cupcake still pressed to his face... silly boy. We all had a good laugh peeking in at him though.

War Paint!

As I was sitting on the steps watching the kids play and talking with Julie, Shayne approached me with a wet piece of chalk. Before I knew it I was her art project. She was so cute with her compliments and her praise as she colored on me, saying things like "your doing good, mom" and "you look so beautiful" and "almost done...". I just couldn't help but let her finish. After She was done with me I volunteered her to work on Julie. She returned to my face at one point making it darker and bigger then her original lines hence the reason my face is way blue-er than Julie's. We decided that it was war paint and we kept it on for several hours after that. Thanks, Shayne for my beautiful face. :)

As we posed for the picture I realized that Shayne was in it as our artist, Julie and I had our faces painted but Payton didn't quite fit... so I borrowed shayne's chalk and helped him fit in a little.

Summer fun

Shayne coloring with chalk on the wet patio out back.

She's becoming quite the artist and her imagination for

what's she's drawing is getting good too.

Julie remembered that she had a raspberry bush yesterday evening and went out and picked all the ripe ones...

Gabe was more than willing to relieve her of the bowl as soon as she finished picking.

Here's happy little Payton Michael playing in the water and showing off his teeth for the camera.

Easily Entertained...

We had a little kiddie pool set up in the yard the last couple days and it was getting pretty dirty so I dumped all the water out on the patio. It didn't take Payton long to realize the fun a person can have in a puddle... He stayed there and splashed for a long time just as happy as can be.

Here's a picture of his saggy drawers. I also took this one to show how he's already climbing and pulling himself up on things. He's mastered the first step and can just barely get himself up to the second. He's really only been crawling pretty good for a week or so. This is a lot more progress this quick than either of my other two did. He's one determined little guy.

What do you remember??

Okay, so as I was checking Amy's blog last night I found this little game. Feel free to play it if you want.

Here are the directions:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you know me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.So let's have it! Don't be shy! What do you remember? Anything funny, embarrassing, silly...

Summer cut... finally

I have been needing to cut Gabriel's hair for the last few weeks but couldn't find my clippers nor the time to do it. But on sunday after we left the cabin from our reunion we went to my grandma's house in Idaho Falls to visit her. It was there that I asked my brother, Josh, to finally get rid of that floppy hair that had been decorating the tops of his ears. In usual form, he put up a good fight and it took several of us either holding, or distracting him. I'm so glad its done, and he looks so handsome. It really makes those blue eyes stand out.

Our Family Reunion

Last Thursday we started a new family tradition. Every year, in the past, we've gone to a family reunion on my dad's side of the family. Well, we started to realize that we were getting kind of big enough with just us. So we decided to try having our own family reunion with all us siblings and our kids this year. I have to say... it was so awesome! We decided to go to Victor, Idaho to a cabin that we rented there... and it was beautiful! It had 4 really nice bedrooms and 5 bathrooms and enough room everywhere else to put air mattresses for the rest of the adults. Then the kids just scattered about on the floors of every room. We had such a great time, we went to a parade on the morning of the 4th and did our own fireworks that night. On the 5th we went to String Lake at Teton National Park. We did crafts and played games and mostly just enjoyed each others company. It was a great weekend and I hope we do it again.

The Cabin in Idaho

Our home sweet home for 4 days... So beautiful!!

Day at the Lake

Hollywood

Um... Yes, She is posing!! Hence the reason that her nickname is Hollywood. But she sure is cute, huh?

Peas in a pod

I guess a visit with family just wouldn't be complete without a good picture of grandpa and gabe. Gabe is grandpa's shadow from the minute they get together. He woke up in the morning, every morning, for the past week and said "I need my gampa", and throughout the day if they were seperated he'd say "I gotta go find my gampa". He completely adores him and I'm pretty sure that the feeling is mutual. I think dad likes to be adored as well. Thanks for all your help with my little stinker, Dad. Its amazing how much difference it makes knowing that one of your kids is always being looked after, it really lightened my load.

Shayne and Gabe Havin Fun!

Just some random pictures of Shayne and Gabe while at the cabin in Victor, Id. The of Shayne on the right side was a posed shot by her... She had just put lip lip (lip gloss) on and she asked me to take a picture of her "beautiful lips". Oh dear! I may be in trouble in about ten years.