Life

Tony and I have been trying to get a good smiling picture of Megan to put up on our wall.  We have pictures of Tyler and Josh at about this same age, so we want to put all the baby pictures together.
We were not exactly successful on getting the picture we wanted.  I thought one of my pictures I got the other day would work well, but Tony still wanted to try some more.  I guess we will see if we keep trying, or just use the pictures that I took.

She was super funny while taking these pictures.  She kept eating either her fingers or her dress.  Totally not what we wanted to see.  She would smile, but you just couldn't see it.  It was pretty funny.  Tyler and Josh tried to get her to smile, but then she would just look over at them and not the camera.  She is super silly, we just love her. 

Tony is still working on the green beans at work.  After he left for work I needed to get some house work done, so I put Megan down by Tyler so he could entertain her while he played the computer.  I checked in on them a couple minutes later and saw that Koda had moved from the couch to the floor and was laying by Megan.  I decided to take a picture of my babysitters hard at work.  I am such a good mom.  I leave my four month old to be watched by my five year old and my dog.  Lucky for me, they both do a great job.

I don't have Josh watch Megan, but he does like to make her laugh.  If he gets her to laugh doing a certain thing once, then he will do that same thing over and over.  He wants so hard to make her laugh.  He also loves to give her loves.  He puts his head on the her tummy and gives her little kisses.  I really have been amazed by the love that he has shown for Megan.  I am so blessed that he loves her and doesn't seem to have hard feelings towards her.  I wonder if that is because Tyler has always been so loving towards her and Josh follows Tyler's lead?  I am just glad that they both love her so much.

Megan - Four Months Old

Megan is four months old today.  It really has gone by pretty quickly.  Here are some of her highlights.

Weight - 11 lbs 15.5 ounces (16%)

Height - 23 1/2 inches (23%)

Head - 39 1/2 cm (13%)

BMI - 18%

• She is a super cute and fun baby.  
• She has started to play with her feet.  
• She also reaches for and plays with toys.  
• She likes to hold onto play rings.  
• She scratches her self a lot, so I try hard to keep her nails trimmed.  
• She loves to smile and will smile at just about anybody.  
• Still has the cutest little dimples.  Her smile melts our hearts.
• She rolls over from her tummy to her back, but she has been doing this since she was just weeks old.
• She is still wearing size one diaper and 0-3 month clothes.  
• Still doesn't have much hair, but what she has is super cute and fine.  She looks great in her bows.
• She loves her brothers, especially Tyler.  They have a special bond that warms my heart when I see them interact.
• People say that she looks like her brothers...they are right.  She's a good, feminine mix of the two.
• She is still pretty petite.  But she is growing and eating just fine.
• She is still on Soy formula and acid reflux medicine.  Hope to get her off of those things within the next couple months.
• We all really do love her so much and feel so lucky to have her in our family.

Popcorn

We love popcorn at our house.  Not just Tony and I, but the boys love it and so does Koda.  I am sure that Megan will love it too.
We brought home our left over popcorn from our movie date and the boys loved it.  I think eating out of the bucket makes it that much more fun.  These boys really are too cute (even the dog who watches like a hawk for a piece of popcorn to fall down).

Josh kept shoving big hand fulls of popcorn into his mouth, it was pretty funny stuff.
Both Tony and I were raised enjoying popcorn so it only makes sense that our children would really love it too.  Add some ice cream and it would be the perfect snack.

After I got all the kids ready for bed we were all hanging out on Josh's bed and they all looked so cute I couldn't help but take a picture.  Tyler and Josh (and even Koda) love Megan so much and are such good big brothers.  We are so lucky to have such awesome kids.  I just need to remind my self sometimes that they are good kids, but they are just kids so I should be more patient with them.  I have such a fun family!

Happy Pioneer Day and Hair Cuts

This is the only sad picture I got from our 24th of July celebrations.  We started the day by dropping off the kids with Tony's mom while Tony and I went and saw Batman and went to lunch.  It was really nice to get away and go on a much needed date with my "one true love."
After we picked up the boys we went to my parents house so Tony could take the boys on the mini four-wheeler that my dad got.  The boys loved riding on the four-wheeling - never gets old.
Then it was off to work for Tony.  The kids and I stayed at my parents and hung out for the rest of the day.  We had a BBQ and then did some fireworks when it got dark.  My sister, Julie, gave all the kids glow sticks and they really liked them.  The fireworks were fun to watch and Megan did a really good job.  I was worried we would have to leave early because Megan would be fussy, but as long as they had fireworks burning, she was good.  She didn't seem to mind the loud noised and bright lights, she just took it all in.  We all had a good time, but it would have been much better if Tony could have enjoyed the whole day with us.  But hey, somebody's got to can the beans!

Before

After

The boys both needed hair cuts, so we decided to just do it on
Monday.  Tony cut both of the boys hair this time.

Tyler's before and after photos
don't look too different, but Josh's sure does.  Someday I will learn how to do Josh's curly hair better, then we can keep it a little longer.

After

Before

Tony and I sure do have cute boys!

Beans Beans the Magical Fruit...

Megan ready to go for a car ride to Ogden

It is that time a year again when the green beans are ready to be harvested and canned.  Because of this Tony is now on his crazy 12 hour shifts 6 days a week.

We decided to go and visit Tony this morning to go see all the fun bean equipment and to see how they are prepared and canned.

Tyler, Tony, and Josh in front of the bean holder thing

Tony had spent the night at the cannery because he didn't get off until 4:30 this morning and had to be back working at noon.  So we decided to drive to Ogden and surprise him.

We got to the cannery right when Tony woke up for the day, so that was good timing.  Megan had just fallen asleep when we pulled up, so she hung out in the office while the boys and I went with Tony around the cannery.

Tyler and Tony watching the beans being washed

We started at the beginning where they dump all the beans that had just been harvested from the fields.  Then moved on to where the leaves and stems are removed, the beans are cleaned, chopped to size, picked through by volunteers, put into cans, water added to the cans, lids sealed onto the cans, the cans are all cooked, then they are cooled, labeled and then boxed.  It is a pretty interesting process and fun to see how much work goes into canning fresh produce.  We all had a good time watching the big equipment.

Tyler and Tony in front of a line of beans

Megan had woken up while we were still looking at the equipment so the secretary, Arlene, took her out of her car seat and walked around with her.  It was very nice of the sisters to let us leave Megan with them.  It is REALLY noisy when all the machines are going, so I don't think Megan would have had as much fun as we all did.

Tyler, Tony, and Josh watching the cans being sealed

After we got Megan back we went and got some lunch.  Tyler saw Panda Express and said he wanted to go there.  He really likes to eat there.  The food was good and we had a good time just hanging out with Tony before he had to get back to work.

After lunch we dropped off Tony and I headed back home with the kids.  Megan cried at first, but then fell to sleep, thankfully.  We all had a good time and I am glad that we were able to go and see Daddy at work!

Tony and Tyler looking in the big pressure cookers (retorts)

Swimming at Grandma's

Today we went to my mom's to go swimming in her pool.  It isn't huge, but it is a pretty good size for small boys.  Josh and Tyler loved it.  It took them a while to get all the way in because it was so cold, but they finally did.  
Tyler and Josh really do love the water.  They love to put their faces in and see how long they can hold their breath.  Silly boys.

It was like 103 degrees today.  So hot!  Megan and I sat and watched the boys on the patio and it was hot even in that shade.  Megan and I ended up going back inside after and while once Josh was done in the water.  We had some lunch and the boys played down stairs and with the I-pad.
Julie and Kimball came over.  Averee and Hayden were with Wendy and her boys at the big pool.  They came later and played in the water with the boys.  They had a good time.

There were times when I wished that I had my swim suit so that I could cool off.  But they boys played for a long time and then dried off and got dressed so that they could play inside and/or in the sand box.
Tony got home early today, so we left grandma's so that we could go home and spend time with him before he starts green beans and we don't get to see him very much. 

Super fun day at grandma's.  Glad the boys had a good time and Megan did good.  Oh, can't forget that we also all enjoyed my parents central air conditioning on this hot day!

St. George

We left for St. George on Friday morning.  Josh had an accident the night before where he fell on the front step on our porch and chipped his front tooth (so now BOTH his front teeth are chipped).  Tony took Josh into the dentist first thing Friday morning.  The dentist said that he didn't chip it too deep and it wasn't cracked or loose.  So he said Josh should be fine, he would probably hurt him for a couple of days.
Once they got back from the dentist we finished loading the car and headed to Tony's parents where we met them to drive down to St. George together
We made it to Nephi before we had to stop for a potty break.  Then Josh had to go potty like four more times after that.  But he didn't have any accidents, so that was really good.
All the kids did pretty good on the drive down.  Megan was able to take her bottle in her car seat, so we didn't have to stop to feed her - that was nice.  Tyler pretty much watch the movies and was entertained by that the whole time.  Josh got a little bored, but still did really good.  He wouldn't eat anything at first because of his tooth, so we gave him lots to drink (hence the four trips to the potty) and then got some popcorn and gobbled it right up.  So we were happy that he was eating again.

We got to St. George early afternoon and checked-in to our hotel.  The room wasn't ready yet so we went to Nana and Papa's house.  Nana was happy to see us all and we were happy to see her (and be out of the car).  Papa was at dialysis and Tony's mom and Nana went and got him shortly after we arrived.   

Nana had a list of things that she wanted done while we were there so we (mostly Margie and Tony) got right to work on the list.  After they got a lot of things done we all went out to dinner at Texas Roadhouse.  It was really good and we had a good time going out with the extended family.  After dinner we all headed to Costco where we bought the boys "Angry Birds" pillows.  They were discounted to less then $5 so we bought them the silly pillows.  The boys LOVED them.  They played with them all the time when we were in the hotel room.

After Costco we went to the hotel and got the room ready for going to bed.  We got a really nice room.  It was a King Deluxe room with a king bed, pull-out couch, and a big bathroom with a jetted bathtub.  The hotel had a portable crib for Megan.  I would like to say Megan had a good night sleep, but she didn't sleep well either night we were in the hotel.  She woke up a lot and needed help to get back to sleep.

If you look really close you can see both of his front teeth are chipped.

On Saturday morning we ate breakfast at the hotel.  After breakfast Tony went with his mom and Nana to help out with more things on her list.  They wanted to get as much done as they could while it was a little cooler in the morning .  When Tony came back to the hotel, he took the boys swimming while I hung out with Megan while she was sleeping.  After they got back and Megan woke up, we all went back to Tony's grandparents house. 

After we ate some lunch Tony helped some more with the listed items.  After getting some things done we headed back to the hotel to go swimming.  This time Margie and I got to go swimming too.  Tyler and Josh LOVE the water.  Josh had no fear what-so-ever and would just jump right into the pool to Tony and then "swim" to him under the water.  Tyler pretty much just liked staying where he could touch and liked playing with the girls that were there.  The hotel had an indoor and outdoor pool, so it was nice to choose either one.  Megan did great in the pool.  She lasted a long time just hanging out in the water.  She has learned how to splash with her hands and feet.  Super cute.
After bathing and dressing we then went back to Nana and Papa's for some dinner.  After dinner we went and got a root beer float.
Then it was back to the hotel for the night.  The boys (especially Tyler) just loved our room.  They loved throwing their pillows up and all around the room.  It really was a nice room.
The only problem was trying to keep the boys quiet while Megan took her naps in the hotel.  That was not an easy task, but they did pretty good for silly little boys.

Sunday morning we got up and ate some breakfast.  After we hung out for a while we all got ready to go to sacrament in Nana and Papa's ward.  It started at 10:45.  It was a ward just for older people, so luckily the kids were pretty good so no one gave us any dirty looks.
After church we went to Nana's and took some pictures of the four generations.  We also changed and had some lunch before we started our journey home. 

We headed out later then we thought we would so we got back a lot later then we had planned.  We had to stop a couple extra times to put air in the tire that seemed to have a slow leak.
Also we ran into some crazy traffic and ended up going a different route.  But it was a nice route that led us to a nice diner for dinner.  It was pretty hot inside, but the food was good.
After dinner we headed home.  We got into Murray about 7:00 pm and then we loaded back up our car and headed home.

Teagan was nice enough to house sit for us so we didn't have to worry about Koda.  It was just way too hot for him to be outside for too long.  It was like 106 degrees in St. George - WAY TOO HOT! It was nice to be back where it wasn't as hot, but it still is hot here.  We all had a good time visiting Nana and Papa and we look forward to seeing them again hopefully in August for Nana's 80th birthday, but for sure in September on our way to California.

Happy Independence Day

I just love Independence Day.  I would say that it is my favorite holiday.  It is filled with family traditions.  It all starts off with going to the Murray parade.  My dad goes early in the morning and sets up chairs for the whole family.  He normally takes his PA system, but this year he could not get it working.  It was super sad, but a good time was still had by all.
The boys got TONS of candy from all the parade floats.  They had a good time waving to the people and seeing all the fun parade people.  Their were fire trucks and fire men, lots of cars, bands, and much more.
Megan did really good during the parade.  I wasn't sure how she would handle all the noise and such, but she was a champ.  She watched for a long time and then finally fell asleep for about twenty minutes.  Then enjoyed the rest of the parade.  She was not happy when we put her in her car seat to go back to my parents.  But she was happy when she got her bottle.
I got Megan a cute outfit for the 4th and I was super glad that I did.  I had flag shirts for all of us, but Megan didn't have any.  I also had a cute dress from my friend and it was super fun to see her in it for church.  It really is fun to dress a little baby girl. 
After the parade we went back to my parents.  We fed Megan and the boys played with their cousins.  It was nice to just relax and chat with family.  We had a nice BBQ and then hung out some more.
We went on our own family parade on the back of my dads trailer.  It is super silly and a good time.  My dad just drives around the neighborhood and this year Alex brought his parade candy and threw it to people who were outside their homes.  It was pretty fun to be silly. 

A little later I went to Julie's house down the street to help her fill up water balloons for Averee's birthday party.  It was nice in the shade and we made quick work of it.  After a while Tony and the boys came down and we left to pick up some dinner.  We went to Panda Express.  It wasn't as good as it normally is, but it was good enough. 

After dinner we went to Averee's birthday party.  She turned eight on the 4th.  The kids had a good time.  After the party and such we started doing snaps and fireworks.
Megan did really good during the fire works as well.  She did good until the very end.  She was tired and wanted to go to bed.  After all the fireworks were done we took the boys back to my parents down the street and changed them into their jammies.  Then we drove home and enjoyed all the fireworks from around the valley.  It was a good night.