Happy Birthday Mandi!!!

Happy Birthday, Mandi! We love you and always will. Thanks for the most handsome boys in the world. You've truly made our family complete and we love you so much for it.

Putting the Pool Up

Today we put the pool up. I am sad to finally admit that summer is over, but happy that I don't have to worry about the kids (especially the neighbor's 2 year old) trying to get in it anymore. Deilen, Kameni, and the neighbor kids (Kaymin is at Lagoon with her Grandpa and cousin, Oakley) helped me bailing out the last of the water. They ended up having a huge water fight and having a lot of fun. My kids have spent hours out there this summer and it has been WELL used. I'm so glad that we got it.

Gerrit's 15-month Check-Up

On Thursday I took Gerrit in for his 15-month check-up and I am so glad that I did. For the last several days his asthma has flared up and so I am back to doing breathing treatments. I believe he has allergies so I have been giving him that medication too! Also his eczema has been pretty bad so I am putting his medication on there as well. When I took him in he had an ear infection. The poor kid hasn't been sleeping and has cried for the last week. I just figured it was because of his asthma, but I was wrong. Today he is doing so much better and is happy and I have his asthma almost under control. His stats when I took him in was weight = 22 pounds 8 ounces, height = 32 inches. He is growing and getting so big. He only says mama and dada although I don't even think he knows what they mean. He has said "hi" at my mom's house, but hasn't said it since. He isn't really good at following commands, but does understand the word "no" since he hears that a lot (he is really naughty). By this age the doctor said they should be able to say 3-5 words and understand simple commands. Gerrit is really good at being naughty and grunting. He thinks it could be due to having older siblings and doesn't need to talk, but we will see how well he is progressing at his 18-month check-up.

First Day of School

On Monday, August 24th Kaymin started the 3rd grade. I am so excited for her teacher this year. I hear she is wonderful. Kaymin is excited too even though none of her friends are in her class. I always take pictures of her every morning in front of our house and then sitting at her desk at school. She begged me not to go in that she would be embarrassed. I was a little crushed but I guess that is a sign that my little girl is growing up and I don't want her to get embarrassed. So we comprised that I would take pictures of her getting out of the van and then walking into the school.

The bells weren't working so all of the 3rd graders were waiting outside of where I dropped her off. She was so embarrassed that she wouldn't even look at me when she was getting out. What a party pooper!

The "Lasts" Before School

Before Kaymin went back to school we had to have a swim day without friends. All summer long every time my kids swam the neighbor kids would come over. Today they wanted to swim without friends, which was perfectly fine by me. The kids swam so long that even Gerrit woke up and wanted to play in the water so I got his little pool out. The kids were out there for about 6-7 hours.

We also decided to surprise the kids and took them to Classic Waterslides last Saturday and forgot my camera of course. We had so much fun. When we got there we were hoping that Deilen or Kameni would go on the waterslides by themselves so Blake and I could take Gerrit and the other one. I put life jackets on Deilen and Kameni and while we were discussing it at the top, Deilen pretty much got a running start and went down by himself laughing all of the way. He is such a little dare devil and has no fear. We had so much fun and need to do it again next year.

That night I told my kids and the neighbor kids they could sleep out on our trampoline. But ours had sand on it (heaven forbid if I had to brush it off) so they ended up at the poor neighbor's house. She wasn't too excited, but let them do it anyway. There was 9 total. They finally feel asleep around 1am.

Bunk Beds

Kaymin has been waking up lately so upset because of Kameni. See Kameni is a snuggler rather she is awake or asleep. Kaymin is so tired of sleeping like this (I can't find the picture of the two of them where Kameni's leg and arm is draped over Kaymin and their faces are nose to nose, but you get the idea), that she has been begging for bunk beds. So we decided that for Christmas we would get the kids bunk beds and they could pick out their bedding. However, two weeks ago for fun I looked on KSL.com and found these bunk beds...both for $250. We wanted log ones for the girls since our girls have a log dresser. We went and looked at them and took them. I couldn't believe the steal we got on them. He even sold us two mattresses for $20/piece. They were for his kids to sleep in when they came home to visit from college so basically hardly used. Our kids were so excited. Deilen and Kaymin sleep on the top and Gerrit and Kameni on the bottom. We left the girls bed a loft right now and Kameni is sleeping on their old full sized bed. We wanted to keep that bed for when we finish our basement and didn't want to store it and buy another mattress. Now we have a bed for when Gerrit gets older. However, Kaymin has only slept in her bed once. She has been getting out and sleeping with Kameni.

s are

Slacker

Okay, so I've been doing this blogging thing for a year now and I am really slacking off. I just haven't found the time lately to post even though I have quite a few to do...so be ready!

Kaymin's New Haircut

So I am horrible at getting my haircut....I HATE it. I hate that fact that I have to find a babysitter for all of my kids and make an appointment and well...just everything. I have been cutting my hair for years and my poor kids just get me to cut their hair. Well I have taken Kaymin a few times before school starts to get her haircut. This year my mom talked me into using the girl that cuts their hair. If I drove up there to get her haircut then I could leave my other three with my mom...and since I didn't have any kids I thought I might as well get my cut too! So I made us some appointments and she did such a great job. Kaymin's hair looks so cute on her. Poor thing has my hair...or what little I have, but this haircut makes her look like she has some. I actually have mine cut the same way so we are twinners. Now she is ready for school..only if I were ready to send her. I guess I still have a few more days to let her go back.

Backpacking in the Uintahs

The first weekend in August Blake and Kaymin went on the annual backpacking trip in the Uintahs. So far Kaymin is the only grandkid that goes. Every year all of the Blake's brothers, uncles, and his dad go backpacking and they chose a different lake each time. They hike in and spend a day there fishing. Pack up the next day and hike to another and they do this the entire trip while fishing the whole time. This time they went to Ted's lake, Dollar lake and I'm not sure of the others and it was only Kaymin, Blake, his dad and brothers. I do know it was a four mile hike in. They had a great time but nearly froze. See here it was in the low 70's and there their water would freeze each night. So it was cold. I wasn't expecting them to come home until Monday late afternoon, but I got a surprise of my life when I woke up because my bedroom door was thrown open and there was a guy standing in my doorway. The first thing that went threw my mind was how do I get my kids who are across the hall? Luckily my eyes adjusted and there was Blake. Needless to say after that I got up and talked to him and Kaymin and then stayed awake until I had to work at 5am. I was glad they were home safe and sound and had such a great time.

Another Zoo Trip

We took another trip to the zoo on Thursday. We had a great time and thank heavens there was a breeze. It felt really nice and made it so it wasn't so hot. My mom and my sister, Jen, and her little girl came with us and we had a great time. We needed to get one more trip in there before school starts.

Deilen's New Bike

For Deilen's 5th birthday in January we were planning on buying him a new bike. However, thanks to the neighbor kids his birthday present came a little early. He loves his new bike and feels so big. We tried to get him to ride the bike without training wheels, but he was a too nervous. He told us he likes 4 wheels not 2. Oh well, that will come. We now have a new rule at our house...no neighbor kids riding bikes.