Sorry, Mom!

Sam and Jackson

Enough of this crawling stuff, my knees hurt.

Okay, Mom, before you say it, Yes, these pictures are all of Samantha. I took them pretty much all at the same time and the other kids were all long gone. (You can catch a couple of them in the background if you look carefully for camo swim trunks.) They never came back...really...except to forage for food. And once I put the camera away, that's all she wrote. Not enough memory cells left to remember to pull it out again.

But I still had to post this because this was the day she really decided to start walking. Because the deck surface was rough, so she figured out pretty quick that it didn't hurt her feet as much as her knees. After that day at the pool, she was off and running...Literally.

My friend Jami and I took my kids, her kids, my cousin's kids and a couple of another friend's kids to this awesome water park in Valley Ranch. Yes, Jami and I and TWELVE kids. And you were wondering why my brain cells were diminishing. I have to say though, the kids were FABULOUS. Not a single problem, no one drowned, we took lots of food, and they ate it...all of it.

It was a great day.

WOW!

My first harvest!

I can't believe it's been 2 months since I last posted! I feel like a failure as a mom! Not really, just awfully busy. Then you think, "I need to update the blog, but there's so much to update, it would take forever, so I'll do it later." Then it just keeps adding up! Well, a little at a time, then. First of all, for Mother's Day I got just what I wanted. A garden! Some friends of ours do the square foot gardening, and one couple gave us a frame that they had made but weren't going to use. So I spent Mother's Day afternoon filling it up and planting my stuff! I was so excited to see my abundant harvest. Fast forward a couple of months. My corn never got over 2 feet tall and never produced, my squash all dried up and blew away, my tomatoes didn't grow, my peppers produced, although I think I must have mistakenly bought the miniature variety, because each one was only about a mouthful. My okra plants went nuts and I got to try my hand at home grown fried okra. Not too bad. I did get a few cucumbers and a couple of banana peppers. All in all, not too bad for my first attempt. And much to Tony's chagrin, I will keep trying!

New Webelos Scouts

Joseph and Joshua and three other boys in their den earned their Webelos Badges over the past few months. They have been working so hard. They have wonderful den leaders who work with them and teach them. We are so proud of them! I can't believe they are almost finished with Cub Scouts.
Next stop: Arrow of Light!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAM!

May 13th, 2010 - Samantha's first Birthday. We had a party planned for Saturday, but made cupcakes and sang to her on Thurs, her actual birthday, too.

She REALLY enjoyed the cupcake.

She had a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse party, because for several months, from the time she was about 4 months old, until she was about 10 months, that was her favorite show. She was fascinated every time it came on, and would just sit and watch it. (Then she got really mobile, and no longer had time for TV. Dang it!)

We even invited Minnie Mouse (AKA Makala) to the party!
Thanks for the use of the costume, Karen!

Her big sister, Jaynie, brought her an adorable little tent to play in. She loves it!

Kathleen put together a slide show set to music of all of the pictures we had of her first year. It was awesome! Everyone sat and watched it.

Our good friends, the Cooks, (with Sam's future husband, Colton) came to celebrate with us. That's Sam's nephew, Braiden, in the front.

Eating a cookie!

Opening presents. She wasn't terribly interested in this part. She got some absolutely adorable dresses and outfits.

The Cooks brought her this beautiful blue and white dress.
She looks like a princess in it!

A trike from the McClellans!

And her very own Toodles cake.
What a mess!!!

This was Toodles before.

Make a wish!

Her Aunt Robin made the cake. She did an AWESOME job!!
I felt guilty for letting anyone eat it.

This is all that was left.
It sure was good!

I can't believe our sweet little Sam has already been with us a year. It seems like just yesterday we found out she was coming. There are no words for the blessing she has been in our family. For all of the shock and surprise of her coming, we can't even imagine life without her. Heavenly Father blesses us in some unexpected ways, and I thank Him every day for this sweet spirit that has already brought us so much joy.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAM!

Look out world, we have a driver!

This is Kathleen, the first time she took her dad driving.

And this is her dad.
Need I say more?
Actually, she is a pretty good driver, so far. She makes the normal mistakes, but not anything terribly life-threatening so far, and she seems to have a good instinct for what to do and what not to. She has a healthy fear of the road and the other cars, which I think is better than the opposite, no fear at all. I think by the time she gets her license next February, she'll have plenty of experience under her belt. I might even let her drive by herself. To school. Across the street. There's only one problem.
I'M NOT OLD ENOUGH TO HAVE A TEENAGE DRIVER!!!

Easter 2010

Yes, I realize Sam's first memory of the Easter Bunny was thinking she might by suffocated. (It really only looks that way, she didn't seem to mind.)

Yes, the boys are too old, but isn't he a cute Bunny??

I love this picture. Is she cute or what????

Braiden and Elizabeth, our adorable grandkids.
(Yes, I said grandkids.)

All the kids watching Chipmunks: the Squeakquel.
(The Easter Bunny brought it.)

Jaynie and Rick.
(Parents of those adorable grandkids.)

Easter was really nice. It was General Conference weekend, so no Church. Just a relaxing day of watching conference and going to Granny and Grandpa's house for dinner. The kids got new towels for the pool this summer and a little bit of candy. We try not to go overboard. (The Easter Bunny isn't paying the dentist bills!)
(Well, come to think of it, I guess he is.)
Okay, kids, next year the Easter Bunny is only bringing fruit!

Long time, No post

Well, it's been a little while since we've posted. Things have been a little hectic around here! I haven't even uploaded the pictures from my camera into the computer yet. Oh, and then there's the issue of getting pictures from my new phone into the computer. Yeah, not sure when that will happen.

Makala turned the big 13 on March 26th. The day after I turned the big you-don't-want-to-know. She had a great party, a "top secret" scavenger hunt at the mall with some of her closest friends. She also had a FABULOUS cake made by her oh-so-talented Aunt Robin. (Pictures to be posted soon.) Then she came down with a HORRENDOUS kidney infection that kept her glued to the couch for 4 days straight.

Then Joseph told me his "stomach" was hurting in a weird spot, so I checked it out. Low and behold, our little Joseph has a hernia and will soon be making his FOURTH trip to the hospital in his short 10 1/2 years. Need to have it fixed, the doctor says. Well, yeah!!

My scoping business has picked up quite a bit in the last couple of weeks. It seems to be feast or famine in this business, so when it's busy, nothing else seems to get done. I'll try to update a little more often. Even if it's just a few lines. This is our Family History after all!