It's Been a little crazy around here....

I had to post this picture of Jessica. Last week, we ventured into Phoenix. The kids and I spent a night at the Pointe Hilton Resort. The prices go wayyyy down in the summer and it's a fun little getaway! In the back of the resort, they have a water park just for the hotel patrons. It was great fun for the kids. In the park, there is a lazy river. At one point in the river there are some rapids. It was Jessica's favorite part! We had just finished playing in the wave pool and were walking towards the lazy river when Jess and I had a cute little conversation.

Jess: Hurry mom...we need to get there quick so that we can see the rabbits.

Jill: What jess? (I'm thinking - Are there rabbits hopping around this place?)

Jess: Mom - we need to hurry to the rabbits!

Jill: I'm sorry jessica, but I don't understand.

Jess: Mom - you know - bunnys - the rabbits in the river!

Ahhhhhhh....I realized that I'm just a little slow...the RAPIDS! Silly me!


School started yesterday....I'm such a wienie! I was such a blubbering mama! I told Mark that it's a good thing that I ran in to the Principal after I dropped Jessica off...i had to get control! This is the first year that Jordan wanted to walk to class on his own! Dang! I still got to walk Nick...but he stayed a good 20 paces in front of me! This is Jess before we left! My big first grader!


Nick on his first day! He's in 3rd Grade this year!

Jordan is in fifth Grade. Next year on to Jr. High!

Emily just had her very first haircut! She had a little mullet going on that we had to trim up! So Serious!!!

There's our happy girl! She is so proud of that fact that she got her hair cut!

Emily is 2!!

Emily's birthday breakfast...she wanted "pantakes!"

Right before nap time, Ag and Tim brought Emily over her 1st birthday present of the day...She went to bed with most of it! A new bracelet, necklace, sunglasses and sippy cup! We left the ball downstairs! :)

Posing with her birthday crown on.

Talking on her new cell phone!

Opening her stroller. She was so funny when she opened her presents. She got so excited that I was sure that she was going to hyperventilate! It was great!

For those of you who are wondering...yes it's a black beetle cake! :) I thought the pink bow would be a nice touch!

Blowing out her two birthday candles!

Licking the frosting off the candles - a must!

I had to include this picture..Nick is trying to convince Emily to give up some of the candy on the cake! I love her little expression! Happy Birthday Emily!

Last night, we were all sitting in the family room when suddenly, Garrett came up to me with big crocodile tears. He had found the super glue that had been sitting on Marks knee (he had been fixing something and had apparently been a little distracted at the time). Well, next thing you know, his hands are covered with it. He was bright enough not to put his hands together, but all of the little creases in his wrist were stuck! Needless to say, we spent the next 30 minutes working on getting the glue off. He was not a happy little boy. After doing the best that I could, he sadly went up to bed with lots of lotion on his hands. "Mom, it feels like my hands are covered with rocks," he said! Poor little Guy!

I love those quiet (and sometimes not so quiet) moments when you're talking to your kids and get a glimpse of what is going in that little head of theirs. The other night, Mark had gone to pick up the boys from a friends. The girls were both in bed and Garret and I were sitting on the couch in the office waiting for the boys to come home. We decided to turn off the office light so that we could surprise Jordan and Nick. We were talking and this is a glimpse of our conversation:

Jill: Garrett - what do you want to be when you grow up?

Garrett: (With no hesitation) A Bear.

Jill: A Bear???

Garrett: Yes Mom...I want to be a bear!

Jill: Well Garrett, how will you become a bear?

Garrett: Heavenly Father will kill me and then I will be a bear! (At this point, I remind myself he's four :). Mark said that I should have told him to go and find the lights on the mountain! I think we've watched "Brother Bear" a few too many times)

Jill: But Garrett, I doesn't work like that!

Garrett: (heartbroken) But Mom...why not???

Jill: Heavenly Father gives us just one body. When we die, we go back and live with Him. We can't come back as a bear!

He was so disappointed! We went on to talk about all of the things he could do when he "grows up". Maybe he'll be a bear trainer!

I love these pictures! Emily is completely OBSESSED with what we call "black beetles". I really have no clue what they really are. They are these little black bugs that seem perfectly harmless! (I hope!) Every where we go, she has her eye open for them. When she finds one, she will pick it up and come running up to me as fast as those little legs can carry her! "Black Beetle! Black Beetle!" - she yells! Her eyes will be huge and she'll have big smile on her face. There is no such thing as "The Itsy Bitsy Spider went up the water spout..." In our house, it's "The Little Black Beetle..etc."

One morning, she made it outside bright and early. There were several black beetles on the porch and Em was in black beetle heaven!

Don't you just love the little rat's nest in her hair? She wakes up with it every morning!

A perfect close up! So cute aren't they? Ewh......

Well, we're back from Nauvoo! What an amazing trip it was. I really wondered if it would affect my children - as they are so young! It did! I am so glad that we went now...as it is just one more small piece to build their testimonies upon! We have had some great talks and I could see in their countenance that they were impacted from the great events that took place there!

Em sharing the ipod with Jordan. We figured that we clocked 3800 miles on this trip. Great memories!

Jessica while waiting in line for our wagon ride. We took a wagon ride up to the point in Nauvoo that Emma and Joseph loved to look over the Missouri River.

Garrett waiting in line too! What a doll!

Em is sitting on the fence with an oxen and the temple in the background as we were walking along the "Trail of Hope" on Parley Street. It was amazing and the the spirit was so strong. Nick, Mark and I got to read many of the pioneer testimonies together. He was fascinated by the strength of the pioneer children and what they had to endure.

We went to "Sunset on Parley Street". It was a fabulous night full of music and skits put on by all of the missionaries in Nauvoo. The kids got to make hats and participate in a parade. The loved it. We were on the very end of Parley Street and had the river and plenty of firefly's in background! What a view!

Jessica, Emma, Preston and Garrett playing at the Nauvoo Visitor's Center.

Emily and Garrett in the parade at "Sunset on Parley Street".

Jordan watching the performance at "Sunset on Parley Street". Mark, Andy, Kendra and baby Issac are in the background.

We are singing Nick's song at our family dinner! Hooray Nick!

We are parked in front of the site of Mark's Great Great Great Grandpa Edwin D. Woolley's home site (we think :)). Beautiful!

Mark and I at Carthage Jail.

All 5 of my brothers and sisters and I had a baby boy born to us in one single year. Garrett was the first. These are the 5 of them in age order! Garrett, Collin, Preston, Ezra and Caleb. They are such friends.

The 5 kids in front of Carthage Jail. They are standing below the second floor window that Joseph Smith fell out of when he was killed.

Emily...what more can I say???