Emily Ann is Three!!!!

Happy Birthday Baby Girl

Okay...it's been so long since I've blogged, I think that I've forgotten how :)....I haven't know where to start -so here goes:

We have had the BEST summer! I am dreading the return to school in 2 1/2 short weeks. Usually, I'm at least ready for our "schedule" to return, but this year I'm NOT!

We just returned from Hermiston and had an awesome visit with my family! Except for a visit to the mountains, we didn't leave Hermiston! I got used to driving 25 mph wherever I went and loved how it took less than three minutes to get ANYWHERE! The kids were constantly swimming in "shammy's" ( as Em would say) little pool, having air-soft wars with their cousins, family kick-ball games, sleepovers, visiting the park, eating TONS of ice cream and enjoying 2 weeks chore free! I loved the nightly 1:00 a.m visits with mom and laughing with my sisters! We really missed Mark and were so glad to have him join us for the last few days!

The one day that we did leave Hermiston, we went on a hike at the north fork of the Umatilla River. It was beautiful!

The trail was dense and full of little blue butterflies.

Little Em - yes don't you love the cast! On the way to Oregon, we stayed at our good friends - the Seeley's. On Sunday morning before we left, Em fell down the basement stairs. She broke her arm! Poor little thing! She's a trooper! Second broken arm and she's not even three!!!

My little cutie.

I love this picture of Mark and Garrett. We waded in the Umatilla after our hike. It was amazing there! The water was a little cold but felt so good!

Jordan and Nick crossing the river on the slippery rocks.

Jessica!

The boys were showing us their brute strength!

They make me laugh!!!

Em is strong too!!!

EMILY...

We went once again to the Dr. this morning to find out that Emily has pneumonia. He lungs are full of junk!! On top of that she has asthmatic symptoms so her breathing isn't so good. We're on day 6 of high fevers and feeling yucky. Now she is on some major meds and we hope to see some good improvement. She is going back to the Dr. on Wednesday morning - so hopefully we'll see some results by then! She is such a good little patient! It's amazing how happy she is being so sick. Everyone else is well (thank goodness!) and we'll be glad when daddy gets home!!!

Sometimes I Wonder....

It's been quite a week at out house. Mark has been gone and Em has been really sick. I had to teach Relief Society today and Em still had a high fever (5 days and counting...). So, I stayed home until I had to go to R.S. and left the kids to keep watch over the baby. Jordan has been babysitting for some time now and does a great job...but today while I was gone I think that they must have decided to party. When I got home it looked like a tornado had hit it...there had been some attempt to pick up, but unfortunately, they didn't cover all of their bases. When I went upstairs to change my clothes I found large lids to the rubbermaid containers, all of the couch accent pillows and some big quilts. They had been sliding down the stairs on the lids! Then I found Emily's mattress in the hall with all of the sheets and blankets off (no the bunk bed has NOT arrived yet - hopefully this week). I have no idea what they were doing with the bed - nor do I want to know!!! Needless to say I was not a happy mama! We spent the next 30 minutes digging out from the mess and they were trying to make up for their "fun" time! When we were done, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Nick sneak out to the backyard. This was what he was doing...I love that little boy!

NASCAR BABY!

Well, for the last 13 years, Mark has been dying to take me to a nascar race. We've been a little busy having babies and more babies and more babies, so this was my year! Last weekend we went to Phoenix International Raceway and saw more then I ever could have anticipated (If you've ever been to a race, you know exactly what I'm talking about :))! Honestly, tho...nascar fans are the nicest bunch of people...yes I saw plenty of the stereotypical fans - (I have never seen so many missing teeth and men without their shirts on and sagging grandma's) But honestly, I have never been around to many nice drunk people!!! :) We took Jordan and Nick with us and had the time of our lives! It was SOOO much fun! I'm hooked! It's amazing at the complexity of it all and I loved every minute of it! Here are some pictures of our day...

The view from our seats. We sat right on curve 4.

Jordan and Nick listening to Uncle Jame's headsets. He had it tuned in to Dale Jr's radio so that they could hear him and his pit crew talking!

We got "Pit Passes" so we got to go down into the pit before the race. This is picture of us standing on the race track. Jordan has become very "anti-picture" and Nick decided to put a bracelet in his mouth for the picture...nice :)! Dontchya love how we support our driver with our shirts? :)

This is our friend Doug, Jordan, Mark and Uncle James at Dale Jr's pit.

Jordan and Nick sitting in front of Dale Jr's tires at his pit.

The boys are standing in front of Dale Jr's Semi-trailer.

Nick with the 88 gas can!

Here were are again!

As they were clearing us off of the track before the race began, we were able to see the 88 car being brought out on the track by the pit crew!

The boys with their matching hats...they were so excited!


Nick got a little tired near the end of the race... It had been a long day, but the boys were troopers and had a blast. Can't wait for next year!

Holy Cow....it's been too long since I've visited my blog....but it's only because it's BASEBALL SEASON!!! Mark is on the board this year as well as coaching 2 teams. I help purchase the food for the concession stands - So GT, Em and I are at Costo and Sam's ALOT! Needless to say, we eat at the baseball park, and some nights (when it's 10:00 and we're STILL there) i think I should just pitch a tent and sleep at the park! I'm convinced that Em is going to get some serious cavities at the rate that she is downing those ring pops! As crazy as it is, we are not yet sick of ballpark food, or the games, or the endless amount of time that it is taking up in our lives! Ask me in 6 weeks tho :)! All of the kids except Emily are playing ball...here are some of our pics from the first week: (I'll get some better ones of Nick and Jordan's are still coming...stay tuned)