Jordyn's #4

Happy Birthday Jordyn!!!!!

 

I don't know why it is that as you get older the years seem to fly by faster and faster. My one and only beautiful little girl is quickly growing up. She is now, officially four, in pre-school, a sunbeam in primary, silly, very girlly yet a tom boy at the same time, daddy's little precious, and mommy's little helper. She loves to play computer games, ride her trike, jump on the tramp, play with friends, dress up, bake cookies with mom, and wrestle with the boys.

 

While she was sleeping the night before Cory and I decorated her room with balloons and left one present (a birthday outfit) out for her so that she would wake up to a fun surprise. While the boys went hunting for a few hours we stayed home and I made her favorite breakfast and we got ready for a fun day.

 

 

 Once the boys got home Grandma and Grandpa Russell stopped by for a Birthday visit (and I totally forgot to get pictures duh). Then after they had to go we went to go play at Hee Haw Farms. As long as we have lived here we have never gone so it was a new adventure. The very first thing we did was hold the bunnies. Jordyn loved them as you can see:)

 Ashton loved these cool things. I gave it a whirl later and Cory said he would have loved to get a picture but, darn it my batteries died on my camera.

 This is the animal train ride

There was a play area where there was a big slide that the kids just loved. People were giggling at Reggie because once again he should no fear going down face first. Then we walk over to feed some animals. After seeing one of the bigger goats that wouldn't leave me alone and it kept jumping up on me Jordyn was a little nervous to feed them.

 

 Reggie on the other hand couldn't get enough. He was feeding them, chasing them, and giving them loves.

 Cory thought it was a nice clean fun experience (lol)

 I am sorry I just had to take a picture. I thought this was sooo funny this goat had an itch that it just couldn't reach so it got some help from this tree.

Then all the kids got to go on a pony ride. This was Jordyn's favorite!

Ahhhh my cute family

 

 Reggie liked to Pony too

 What a handsome devil

 Ashton thought it was the rodeo.  Later in that some corral they did a pig chase and Ashton caught a pig and won a free soda. He was stoke!

 

 

Don't you just love TRACTORS

 

 After a few hours at the FARM we went out to dinner at Applebees.  This is the kids table.

 This is the adults table, a toddler, and one baby. Bryndee took this picture and she loves Cory's face that he always likes to give her.

Opening Presents

 

Dinner was completely crazy. I wouldn't recommend Applebees for a kid friendly restaurant it is too crowded.  All the kids kept getting in the waiters way because the isles were so close together and anytime we got up to help the kids we were in the way.  So it was great to see everyone and we are so glad they came to celebrate with us but, we got out of there as quick as possible.  It was good timing though because the kids were very tired from their busy day, they all fell asleep in the van on the way home. I wish I had a camera for that one.

 

It was a GREAT day! We are so happy to celebrate our baby girl coming into our family four years ago.

October FUN!

The month of October is a busy but, fun month. I already put pictures of Reggie's Birthday on my blog and now I wanted to share some other fun things we did between his birthday and Jordyn's which will be a later post.  October first is Reggie's b-day, then on the seventh is my nieces  the eight is my best friends little girl, Jordyn's is on the thirteenth, and then my mother's is on the sixteenth.  So it is a lot of partying going on besides the other Halloween fun (like the school carnival, Halloween itself and the following pics). 

Ella's Birthday was on a Sunday so she got a really cute family party this year.  There was cute decorations, really really good food, great company, a masterpiece of a cake, and a special Birthday visit from Snow White (a friend of Bryndee and Ryan's). The girls were so excited it was really cute. Even Ashton was amazed to see her there:)

                                                                      

                                Jordyn is Bibbidie Boppidie Booping me

 

       Ella's mom Bryndee did this really cute cake.  I was very impressed it is far beyond my artistic abilities.


                         Oh aren't they soooo cute

Ok so one day I was having a bad day and needed a distraction so I decided to straighten my very curly headed little girls hair.  I was curious as to how long it really is.  So this is how we all know her so the BEFORE

And the AFTER!  It is so long I loved it. The first thing she said was that she wanted to be Jordyn again. But, as the night and the next day went on she was so girly with it. She kept flipping her hair back and forth and flipping it out of her face it was so adorable.  Dad and Uncle Joe were not big fans. Cory just kept looking at her and saying where did my Jordyn go. She would reply "right here daddy"! He asked me why I would do that to her and Uncle Joe thought it was permanent and asked why? I loved it so much I thought it was so pretty.  But, I love her curls too! Hey we're girls we can change it up once in a while right?

Other thing we did was over fall break we did a fun day of Halloween activities.  We did it last year and thought it was tons of fun we wanted to do it again this year. First we went to a Pumpkin patch that they have in PG and everyone got to pick out their pumpkins.

Reggie was a too little last year to pick his own out so he just chilled in the car. This year my little monkey was running around having a blast. What a difference a year makes:)

Nick showing me his beautiful pick.  We would have stuck around and did more cute pics but, it started to down pour so we all raced to the cars with muddy feet and all.  Then we went back to my house and everyone was starving so we made our own little pizzas.  Everyone got to pick out their own toppings and build their own.  The three of us mom's made something a little different for us. It was a tradition that Tiff and I used to do a lot in college. We made Oriental Chicken Salad and had a side of French Bread with some wonderful Cherry Coke to top it all off.  So we downed some lunch as fast as we could because we had some very excited children nagging us to get decorating pumpkins.

They all had a choice to either paint or carve. This is Ty masterpiece (I love that he is giving his own pumpkin   Bunny ears).


Ruby thinking......... BEAUUUUTIFUL!!!

Jordyn and Ella decorated very similar other that Ellas painted her a cute girly pink and Jordyn must be my child and painted her whole pumpkin a solid black.



Ashton was the only one that decided to carve his. I should have got a picture of the finished product it had guts coming out of it and everything it is awesome!

Then after decorating pumpkins we moved on to cutting out our own sugar cookies, cooking them, and then decorating them with lots of different candy.  This is Ella's cute cookie

                                                                 

                              Ty is very excited to show off his fancy cookies


Gavin is only showing off one of his because one was already in his tummy.

           Jordyn concentrating very hard with her candy decorating.

It was so much fun again the kids had a blast!!! I think it is a fun tradition to start so maybe we'll see similar pictures again next year.

Holy Cow My Baby is Two!

Happy Birthday Reggie!!!!!

You think that out of four kids that just one would be a little more mellow than the rest but, that is not my case.  Our number four is just as active, daring, and loud as all the rest. It is like he heard that he was turning two and over night became a toddler on me.  He loves to wrestle, go bouncy bounce (my little tigger), climb up onto everything, raid the candy cupboard, scream, yell, climb out of his crib, laugh, ride his trike, jump on the tramp, and do anything he can to keep up with the other three.  I am so happy to see him reach Birthday number two!  I think of what this day would be like if things would have turned out different.  That this could have been one of my worst memories and a day of sadness but, instead I giggle at Reggie doing laps around the van in the garage with his new trike.  I smile as he makes funny faces that mimic mine, and I watch him and say a little "thank"pray that he is apart of our family.  We love him so much and are so Thankful for Birthday number two!!!!

 

 His Birthday was on a Monday so we had a family party on Sunday. Isn't he so GQ?!

 

The party crowd

 

 
 Blow and make a wish

Yum this is some good cake! He was not shy at all at diggin' in.

 I love his little face:) He is trying so hard at ripping open that present. Sunday was a great night with a lot of family including tons of cousins running around. Reggie thought that it was fun to have all those people sing to him.

 On Monday his actual Birthday we had to go play.  I know that he doesn't realize the difference but, I couldn't let the day go by without making it a special day for him.  So we went to Kangaroo Zoo.  It was just Reggie his sister, a cousin, a aunt, and my good friend with her little girl that went to party with us.  My other boys were sad that we went without them but, it was just easier to go while they were in school.  He had a blast, he has no fear, he went on every slide and bouncy thing that he could get on even the big huge tall slide.  All he would do would just laugh and run around to go again.

 The three stooges Jordyn, Ella, and Ruby

 I was laying inside the Alligators mouth and Reggie thought it was hilarious to pull his teeth down to eat me.

Our little dude sporting a couple of his B-day presents. He got some new jammies and his new ride. This was when he was doing laps around the van first thing after he woke up.

Signs of the Fall

I am so excited to be back to blogging again.  I finally bought a new camera even though I missed a ton of fun things that we did during the summer like....swimming lesson, gymnastics for Jordyn, karate for the boys, story time at the library, swimming in G-pa and G-ma Slades new pool, Russell first ever family reunion, and a lot of playing in the sunshine with friends.  Now I can begin fresh for the new fall season!  I can smell it in the air and in our household there are many signs that the season has turned like.......

 

 

 

Signs of the upcoming Halloween holiday. Ty has been showing everyone his Zombie eyes were you only get to see the whites of his eyes and of course Reggie has been practicing too.  Everytime he does it we all scream and he thinks he is just freakin funny.

The first days of school.  Jordyn gets to started Pre-school this year and she is so excited.  She has the same teacher that the boys had and they have said lots of good things.  She went on her first day very happy with no tears (except maybe from mom).

 I had to show off her very practical backpack that she picked out.  She just had to have it because it sparkled:)

 The start of Friday night movie nights again.  The other days are so crazy we just don't have time to watch a whole lot of tv but, it is so nice to have time together just chillin' and being together as a family.  It is close family bonding time and I mean close because our family of six all climb into our bed to watch the show (thank goodness it is at least a king).

 Fall sports have now begun.  Ty is playing soccer for his first time.  Watching him play soccer is a little nastalgic for me.  He is having a blast.   This is him and his buddy Cy.

                                         Look at that intensity he must get it from his father.

 Another first this season is Ashton's first year playing football.  He is still I little confused and trying to figure it all out but, he loves it and is having a ton of fun.  Cory is loving seeing one of his sons play football and I just laugh when he finally knocks someone on their butt instead of the other way around and Ashton looks at us, beams, and shows us his muscles.

                                                     He is number 14 third from the left.

                        The weather is changing from all sunny days to some fun rain storms.

                            Getting in the last few walks of the season before it gets too cold.

And the number one sign of the season change is the beautiful change of the leaves up the canyon.  It is official!!!!

Summer fun has begun

The last day of school the kids were invited to a out of school party.  They had so much fun!  There was a train ride, a kiddie pool, treats, lemonade, and a couple of large slip'n'slides.  My little Reggie from the moment we got there was so excited about the slides I couldn't keep him away.  The first time he went down I had him go with Ashton but, then the second time I was trying to get him to go down with Ty and he just got on his tummy and took off on his own.  I was laughing so hard and so were the the ladies that were camped out on their chairs watching.  You think out of four kids I would have one that was mellow or somewhat shy but, no not one.  So my friend had to catch a shot of my little camocazie going down the slide, I LOVE IT!!!

 What is summer to my boys without mud!  They think that they are so funny being mud hulks.  I told them to go and give my friend across the street a big hug and she thought that they looked awesome and took some pictures for me (mine broke and I still haven't bought a new one).

 I don't really know what muscle he is trying to kiss.  I can't see it can you?  Maybe it is to covered in mud to see, ya ya that's it.

                                                                  Anyone want a kiss?

Grandpa Collins

 On Monday April 23, 2012 my last living Grandparent passed away, My Grandpa Collins.  He was ninety two and three days.  He hung in there just long enough to have one last Birthday Party and one bite of cake. For him it probably seemed like forever for him to pass but, for us it was very quick.  He struggled for two weeks before he decided it was time to let go.  My mother is a daddy's girl and she has been his main caregiver for the past four years since my grandmother passed.  He would come to her home a week or two every month and when he wasn't there she would go to his house to clean, cook for him, and keep him company, once a week.  Other siblings help with visiting when he was at home, so he was well taken care of and loved.  In the last two weeks of his life he was in hospice care in my parents home with my mother by his side almost every moment.   It was so beautiful to see the dedication and love she had for him.    It was very hard on her but, one of her greatest gifts and talents is service and she served him with great love until the end.  He was a wonderful man.  He loved his family, he served his country, he served his church, he loved loved loved to read, he was the best records keeper, and he loved very dearly my grandmother.  They were married sixty plus years before she passed and he missed her so so so much.  That is one of the most wonderful things about his passing is knowing that they are now together again.  He yearned to be with her again so much.  They had the kind of relationship that anyone should want to emulate.  That had a great respect for each other, great kindness, an amazing love.  Even in there old age they were the biggest flirts.  One of my grandmothers sayings was even if there is snow on the roof it doesn't mean the fire is out inside.   I was giving my husband a kiss one time at a family get together and she grabbed my grandpa and gave him the biggest smacker he was so stunned.  She said she didn't want to be left out.  Grandpa wasn't complaining one little bit.  We will miss him here very much but, knowing they are now in each others arms puts a big smile on my face.

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The First of Four

 Last Saturday was one of the PROUDEST days of being a parent for me.  Our oldest child Ashton decided to be baptized a member of The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints.  His birthday was the end of March but, because of Conference in April he had to wait until May to do it.  He was so excited and it was so hard for him to wait that extra month but we made it.

 On the tag on his shirt it says Future Missionary.  Doesn't he look like he'll be a good one.  He is a good kid and tries hard to Choose The Right.  Plus he looks really handsome in his suit.

 Cory made the comment that this was his favorite thing to wear :p.   Ashton was the only boy being baptized that day and there were three other girls in the ward also.  Before the baptism part they had some speakers one of them was our home teacher Ryan Smith.  They also had the kids being baptized and their sibling sing a primary song and again my boys were the only boys up there.  They did a great job! After Ashton was baptized and dunked in the water there were a few giggles in the audience because when Ashton came out of the water his face was a mix of being shocked and excited.  He was smiling and had the biggest wide eyes it was so cute.

 I love my little family!  I just realized though looking at this picture that we are missing one whoops.  He was with Grandma and we were hurrying to get pictures taken before they had to go to the font.  Oh well he was there and did get to watch it all happen.  After the baptism we went back into the Chapel so that Ashton could be Confirmed.  Even thought the Bishop asked us to try and keep the circle small it is kind of hard to do when we have a big family.  We ended up having around thirteen men encircle Ashton for the Confirmation.  Even though it is hard for them all to fit my heart swells when they they gather around one of my children for blessings.  It is a huge blessing in my life that I am surrounded by so many worthy Priesthood holders.  It gives me a sense of comfort to now that if I or any of my kids ever need a blessing and Cory wasn't there to do it I wouldn't have to look far for someone that could.  I am so Grateful for so many Wonderful men in my life!!!!

 It was a Beautiful Baptism and after we all went to our place for some brunch.  Uncle Ryan is in Utah for a little bit to work and after everyone was gone he hung out to visit and play with the kids.  It was so cute I was in the house cleaning up and Cory was Snoozing on the couch Ryan was outside for probably an hour or so just playing with the kids.  They love him!  I had to take this picture because it was funny.  Jordyn talked Ryan into having a Tea Party with her.

When it was all said and done it must have taken a lot out of Cory because two seconds after everyone left this was him.  I was very proud of him that day as well.  What an amazing feeling to have your husband exercise the Priesthood especially on one of our children.  It was a day I will not soon forget.