Very First Day of School

Yesterday was Carters first day of preschool. He was so nervous. He has been telling me for more than a year that he doesn't ever want to go to school. Well yesterday he did. Gregg's Mom Kathy was visiting so she stayed with Kyle and Cameron, and Gregg and I were able to take Carter together. He cried when we left and was so excited to see us when we came to pick him up. His teacher said that he did as well as expected. He stayed close to the teachers and seemed to enjoy the quieter activities like circle time, and his teacher said that he ate well, I think that's a good sign. He goes half days Monday, Wednesday, and Friday so he is home today and not looking forward to going back tomorrow. He has always been very shy which is part of the reason we put him in preschool. I'm sure that after a week or two he will be much better and maybe he will eventually ask if he can go.

Fresno Family Picture (Grandkids)

On Monday I took the kids to Fresno. My step sister Kim was in town from Utah with her family, and my parents wanted to get a picture of all their grandkids. They have a total of 16 grandkids. Amazingly we were able to get all of them together for this picture except for baby Wesley who lives in Ohio. Kim's husband Jaron was the photographer for the evening, but these are a few shots that I snapped while he was taking the official pictures.
Grammie and Grandpa jumped in after a few shots in hopes of getting a good one before the group broke down. They barely made it before little ones started running off. Out of all the kids Carter seemed to be the most reluctant to smile and look at the camera. (Of course, it would have to be one of my kids.)

Here is Grammie and all her girls.

I tried to be sneaky and have my brother take a couple of me and the kids but as soon as Carter realized that Nolan was taking our picture he layed down on the grass behind me. What a little stinker.

Nolan just cropped him out and took a couple cute ones of the three of us.

It was very special to get to hang out with Kim and her family and meet her very sweet one year old twins. I look forward to seeing the pictures that everyone else got that day, (especially Jarons.)

Five Years

Gregg and I have been best friends for almost 10 years. We have been a couple for 8 years, and today we have been married for 5 years. Since then our lives have changed dramatically. The biggest change has been adding our 3 beautiful children to our family. I cant express in words how much I love Gregg, but here are a few things I love about him.

I love the wonderful father that he is to our children.

I love that he makes me laugh every single day.

I love that he is a great cook, because I love to eat.
I love his patients, with the kids and with me.

I love that he has the ability to diffuse me.

I love that we are truly Best Friends.

Gregg,

You are my true sole mate. I love you and look forward to a lifetime of more years with you!

Mammoth!

Yay a vacation. Last week we got to go on vacation and do one of our favorite things, camp, at one of our favorite places, Mammoth! We went from Thursday to Sunday. Mammoth is about a 4-5 hour drive from our house depending on how many stops we make along the way ;-). The kids did well, they were so excited to go. The place where we usually camp was full which was frustrating at first, but it ended up being a blessing in disguise because we ended up finding a better place to camp that we didn't know existed before. The sites were huge and it was a quad and dirt bike friendly camp ground. That worked out really well for us because Gregg did a job last week and took a quad in lieu of payment. Between that, the camp fire, and the dirt, our boys had a total blast! I came down with the stomach flu in the night Friday. Gregg took care of the kids Saturday morning while I slept and recovered and I was feeling much better by noon. Gregg offered to take me home but I wasn't going to let a little thing like vomiting ruin our vacation. Later we went to town for a few things and decided to take a "4 wheel drive" trail that Gregg took with his Mom and brother as a kid. It was so much fun but I was still a bit queasy so we only did half of it. The trail is 4 miles and goes up a mountain to a lake. At the 2 mile point there was a stream. It was so beautiful and peaceful.. We let the dogs out there to get a drink and then we headed back down the mountain. Even though I didn't feel well it was a high point of the trip. We missed Chris and the girls who weren't able to make it last minute, but we had so much fun! We will definitely be doing it again as soon as we can!

The kiddos all bundled up!

It felt great to be cold.

Kyle and Daddy on the quad.

Carters turn!

Roasting marshmallows, yum!

Bath time. You should have seen the tub when Gregg was done with them.

Then it was time to snuggle up in bed. The third night we gave Carter his own bed so they would stop having "kicking wars" in the middle of the night. (Kyle is very particular about his sleeping space. I wonder where he gets that? lol)

Cammie ready for bed.

The beautiful place where we stopped while 4 wheeling.

The view from half way up the mountain. The air was so clear. It felt like we could see forever.

Can't wait to go back!

Pee Pee in the Potty

Kyle did it! He went pee pee in the potty tonight. After dinner the boys were playing in the sprinklers. They came in and were both wrapped in towels and nothing else. Kyle pees outside often but hasn't been able to go in the potty, (though not for lack of trying - I think it's that stage fright thing.) He jumped up and said he had to go pee on the grass. I suggested we do it in the potty and that's just what he did. We jumped up and down and called Grandmas, (one of his favorite things to do,) and he got a treat. I have a feeling it will still be a while before we can stop buying diapers, but that's okay. Baby steps. Maybe we will try training pants soon. ;-)