Easter Sunday

Well, we had missing family member this Easter. Greg was offered overtime for the weekend, so he decided to take it. Our Easter was still a busy one. So Greg wouldn't miss everything, the girls and I decided to wait on the Easter Egg Hunt until Greg came home. So I woke up on Easter and found all the eggs that the Easter Bunny left and put them in a bag. The girls did get their Easter baskets at home. Plus I must have not done a great job collecting all the eggs, there were still 3 I forgot to find! At noon we went over to Greg's Grandparents house to have lunch with the family. It was the quiet day. There weren't very many of us over. Our annual Easter Egg hunt was between the girls and I, usually I'm more competitive with finding the eggs, but when your finding them against your kids, you just can't be. Then we left for my parents house. It was quiet over there too! My mom, and Kerry, Christian and the kids were there. They had a great big blow up "Fun Ball" to play in.

The following Sunday we had our egg hunt. It was so much fun and I'm glad we waited for Greg.

The Fam

They do hold hands like this regularly!




Indy is not allowed on the couch, however, since his front feet stay on the ground, he technically isn't on the couch. Luckily this is the furthest he gets on the couch, he is a great dog for our family.





Poker is still going strong, she's got that middle aged pouch on her tummy, she is well fed and well loved. She usually sleeps with Julia at night, unless Greg isn't home, then she sleeps with me and sleeps in Riley's room in the daytime.



Morgan has had a rough start this year, we started off with a broken elbow, and after the cast came off she smashed her finger with Gregs 50 lb weights. She was a trooper though, she was so good at all the Doctors appts, never crying at any of them. She even watched them put in the stitches, and when they went to saw off the cast, she wasn't scared at all (I was)!









Riley is doing well, she has been killing it at soccer! This year she was the only girl on her team, and that didn't slow her down a bit. She seems to really like it and doesn't want to try a new sport. She is doing amazing in school and is just an awesome help around the house. Riley keeps us all laughing





Little Julia is not so little anymore, she has recently purchased her first set of glasses. She just finished the winter season of Basketball. She impressed me this year, she dribbles the ball around the house everyday and loves to try new drills, she even takes her ball to school with her and plays with the boys. I was able to coach a few of her games and then became the unofficial asst coach to her team. Her coach decided not to play the spring season and we wanted to keep the girls together, so I decided I would coach this next season. I am very excited to coach Julia, just a little unsure about teaching 10 3rd/4th graders. She is doing well in school, we've had a few battles on her testing the teacher, but I think she learned her lesson and is back on track and doing great.





Greg is doing well, he seems to be liking his new company, he started doing P90X and is seeing improvements already. His knees aren't hurting and his back has been fine. He eats like a horse trying to gain weight. It is so weird for him to try and eat so much, for years he had been watching his weight and trying to loose it, now he can't seem to gain any. When he finishes the program, I will post some pictures of before and after. He has also helped out and is the assistant assistant coach of Rileys soccer team. He is really enjoying being involved in the girls activities.
Nothing too exciting with me, I am the offical chauffeur of the family. I have been able to attend a few yoga workshops in the last few months, this last one Greg came with me and did partner yoga! We had so much fun, good thing there were no pictures, we did some weird poses!

Fun Summer

Well...its still hot, but school started so our summer is over. sad. We had a very unusual summer! Even though we decided not to go on the annual summer vacation, we still had many trips. We started off the summer in Tulsa, OK. We had a very fun time, like usual. That vacation was a great way to start off the summer.







In June we had a few bdays. Julia celebrated her 8th and she had a "Dive In" party at Grandmas house. She loved it! Morgan also had a party at Grandmas the next morning, She had a big Bouncehouse/Waterslide.




We also went to a surprise party for Greg's Aunt Becky. It was at the TGI Friday's Suite. The girls really enjoyed the game (I think it was all the junk food they ate)




Next was a nice cool weekend up North at my friend Jessica's Cabin. We enjoyed the rain and the cool weather, we went down to the creek and searched for HUGE crawdads. The end of the trip wasn't that much fun for MO, she threw up on the Taco Bell floor, I felt bad for her, she was a good sport and laughed about the carrot chunks in her hair (sorry, too much?).






We also went to California for a long weekend. That was a really fun trip. Because we were on a "Budget" we were creative with what we did. Morgan had never seen the beach before, so we went and spent an afternoon there. The girls had a great time. Greg went out with the girls indiviually, Julia was a good sport, she got rocked with some huge waves. Then, while Greg was body surfing, the girls and I started to build a sandcastle, after that they started to search for sand crabs, that was entertaining, I think they enjoyed that the most. While we were there three dolphins came in with the waves, they were very close to shore and people in the ocean. It was really neat to see that, I had never seen wild dolphins before. We also went to Downtown Disney and spent a day there. Even though we didn't do much, Riley said it was "the best vacation ever!!" hmmmm...Can't seem to find those pictures.

We've also made it to the Science Center this summer. We decided to take the light rail to downtown Phoenix. It was our first time on the light rail and to the Science Center. We brought lunch and Julia's friend from school. They had this really amazing Storm Area that made us feel like we were in an earthquake, hurricane and volcano area. I think that was our favorites. We also got to lay on a bed of nails, see optical illusions, subduction and many other educational exhibits. I would like to go again, its hard to see everything, expecially with 4 kids.....and Greg!







We also got to spend the summer with family and friends, We made it out on the boat too, not as much as last year, but we expect that its going to be less and less as they get older and there's more and more bday parties to go to each weekend.

School's Out for the Summer!!

Well....almost. The girls (Julia and Riley) only have a few more days left, Morgans last day was Wednesday. Riley is having a Graduation for Kindergarten, she is going to be in 1st grade!!
And Miss Julia is ending the school year with wonderful grades and many new, nice friends. Girl Scouts ended last week, she earned many many badges, basketball ended today except (this is me bragging)she got recruited by another coach to play on there team, so she is going to practice with them through the summer and find a league for the fall. I'm real excited for her, she seems to really enjoy playing, she practices on her own and brings her basketball to school.
Gymnastics is over tonight, they all have a recital, I'm not sure if I'm putting Morgan back in dance or tumbling, she does have plenty to do this summer.
Soccer is almost over, Riley is on a new team this session, but she has really stepped up and become more agressive, that little girl really impresses me sometimes with her hustle, just like her big sister.
Its summer time again, our water is warming up, the older two started to wakeboard again, and Morgan is ready to ski and "wakey boarding" Thats all for now!

A Day at the Dairy Farm

Riley's Kindergarten Class went on to the Superstition Dairy Farm. I was chosen to chaperone. Riley's preschool class had been there before, so we knew what to expect. It was funny because Riley was real excited for the feild trip. The last night when I was putting her to bed she couldn't wait. Then this morning we get into the car and we are driving to school and she asks if we are dropping off Julia first. I told her that we were all going to school and then we were taking a bus. Oh my she was more excited about the Bus than the actual feild trip.



First we went to feed the animals. We got to feed a donkey, goats and a horse. And we petted the bunnies, and chickens.




Then we got to drink some of the milk they make, Riley had butterscotch flavored milk. After they drank that we played on the tractor and in the hay maze where we found chicken eggs.







Then we took a hayrack ride around the dairy we saw a few newborn calfs there was one that was about a hour old and he tried to stand up and kept falling it was pretty cute.


After the farm we went to Freestone park. We ate lunch and played on the playground. I saw the bench were Greg proposed to me! Thought that was neat!

October 09

Well October has come and gone (fast). To start off with, we were blessed with many visitors. We had Leslie, Matt, Roman, Jenny, Ben and Maddie come stay at our house for a few days. WE HAD SO MUCH FUN! Greg asked me yesterday when they were coming back. On Friday Night we had everyone over, there were 11 kids running around (except Roman he can't even walk yet) It was very noisy and chaotic and I Loved it. We went to the lake with them everyday! We hope they enjoyed it too and would love for them all to come back again next year. Then a few weeks later we got to spend 5 days with Mike and Allison. We always seem to enjoy there company!
Okay, I never wrote about this before, but it started last month not in October, but Little Morgan is in School. It it kinda sad that all my girls are old enough to be in school. She loves it. I really don't get to see her there, she goes to school when I'm at work. Greg drops her off at Jenny and Steve's and they take her and pick her up. Its Wed and Friday at a Baptist Church, and I love her Preschool, they do some really neat stuff. They had a Father's night on the 28th so Greg and Morgan went and they did some crafts and painted and ate Ice Cream. Greg had a great time with her.
Riley LOVES kindergarten. She has the same teacher Julia had in Kindergarten, Mrs. Salce. She is a really nice teacher and Riley is doing very well. She brings homework home every Monday and she is supposed to do one page a night, its done Monday night and she is asking for more! I hope she keeps up the good habits! Tonight she brought home her first book from school. She read the whole thing to me with out help! I'm very proud of her and glad she is so excited to learn. She is also playing soccer, her team is awesome! Riley plays very well and that's definitely one of my favorite parts of the week is to go to her games. She seems to have a nice cheering squad, Steve and Marcel have been to every game to support her, and she had many other family members come out to watch too.
Julia is doing so much better in 2nd grade than 1st. She likes her teacher and she just started to like reading. I'm SOOO happy she enjoys it. She reads every night before bed and she loves to read to her sisters. Julia has been busy with Brownies, they meet every other week and have a fun schedule this year. So get ready everyone, Girl Scout Cookies this year!! Julia fit in well this month will a jack o lantern smile. She has lost a total of 6 teeth, 3 within the last few weeks. Julia went to a Vet Clinic this month, she has started to become real passionate about animals (she always has been, but she is definitely expressing it more now). I have had many conversations with her about killing animals. I have a feeling that she will become a vegetarian pretty soon, except I don't think she could give up the bacon (Like her Aunt Jessie) She asks me all kinds of questions like if I would ever kill an animal, I told her I would if I was stranded on an island and needed food, she said she would die first.
Which brings me to the next story, Julia and Riley got bit by dogs a few weeks ago. They went to visit the new puppies next door to Jenny and Steve and the owners weren't home. The mom and another dog didn't like the girls coming over so they were protecting the puppies and started to attack the girls. Julia got bit once and Riley got bit 3 times. Poor girls I felt really bad, but in the middle of the attach Julia was trying to get away and stepped on one of the puppies. It was very sad. I felt bad for poor Jules, but she seems to have mad a full recovery!
We just separated the girls into there own rooms. Julia took over the toy room and Riley kept her room. Now we have to start the decoration process. Julia is going to have rainbow room(sorta, more like a colorful room) and Riley, well....not sure yet since she changes her mind all the time, but right now she is wanting a zebra room. We started on Julia's this last weekend, and its coming along, Greg is paneling the walls. I hope to post a picture when the wall are done, but we've got a long way to go on the decorations.
Halloween this year was fun. Now that they are older they are funny, even Morgan can keep up (for the most part) with them. We went to all four blocks in our neighborhood and they said Trick or Treat and Thank you to everyone, which is a big deal since the majority of kids that came to my door never said thank you. They got so much candy, when we got home they dumped there candy on the ground and started to dig in, we let them eat as much as they wanted and they took full advantage of it! Julia even received a King size Snickers bar because the guy thought it was the best costume of the night(which I was very happy about because she came up with the idea herself and we had to put it together, which is something I don't do very often). We have hundreds of kids in our neighborhood, every year I run out of candy, and we aren't even home much for the trick or treaters! When we were out the fire truck came by and they were passing out candy, It was pretty neat, they turned there lights on for the girls and everything. I was exhausted by the end, I have now Idea how they ran the whole time, even Morgan. Wait.. I know..it was all the sugar!Ok that's it for now, hopefully I'll write again sooner.

lake Powell

Ok, I told Kerry that I would try and post more pictures, she said to start with powell, so here are few from our trip to Lake Powell. Amazing doesn't describe the trip, we all the best time. Allison brought her nice camera and the pictures that she took don't even do the lake justice. I feel that everyone should make sure they take a trip up to that lake. We didn't even wake board very much at all. we all just wanted to explore. We would find a channel in the lake and go through it. Some would go back a little ways, while others went over a mile. Some were deep over hundreds of feet while others would get us in 10 ft of water. We would take narrow channels and had a "team building experience" Allison and I would sit in the bow on each side and Michael and Todd would take the back corners while Greg drove. The water was so clear, we would let him know to stay to the right or watch out for the rock to the left. At one point I was able to touch the 100 ft canyon wall with my feet while Allison was on the other side touching the other canyon wall with her feet. Then it would open up to a nice little beach area. Like I said it was amazing and I really recommend going. Absolutely beautiful. We also got to see one of the seven wonders of the world. Rainbow Bridge, it was way cooler than I thought it was going to be. We had a great time camping with all 5 of us. This will be a trip I will never forget! Thanks Jenny, Steve, Mom, Dad, kerry, Christian, Jessie Kevin and Tamara for helping us out with the girls, Indy and camping gear. Here are just a few of my favorite pictures.