July

We had such a great time visiting with our family who came to visit this month! We were sad to see everyone go.

It was so nice to have Jody's family around. Jen helped out a lot with the kids. She watched the kids while I went to a doctor's and dentist appointment last week. She also helped with Rylee by holding her and changing her diapers. Don't worry Jen, you didn't spoil her too much, she is still a wonderful baby. Cindy and Larry bought the boys all kinds of books, toys, games, and movies. It was like Christmas all over again! Cindy also helped me clean up my house before my sisters came on Thursday and Larry kept the boys entertained. We loved having you here and were sad to see you go.

Kasey, her kids and Alex came Thursday afternoon. I took them to the Farmer's Market that evening and we went to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom on Friday. Jami met us there with her gorgeous baby, Keal. Lani, Donnell, Rona, Rich, Jami and Keal came here on Saturday. We ate lunch, relaxed and then walked around Windsor. The kids had a great time together and it was so good to be with my family! I love it when they come to visit me.

So things should start calming down now. I have been trying to keep up with all of your blogs but haven't had enough time to comment! I will be better. I personally love comments.

We are heading to McKinleyville again this weekend to see Kalie and Chris who are coming for her high school reunion. I can't wait to see them and their kids!

busy, busy

Still loving her carseat!

Yes, they both have bruises on their foreheads.

I am going to take five minutes and at least put some pictures on the blog. We have had visitors the last few weeks and I keep meaning to blog but haven't gotten a chance. This week Jody's mom, dad, sister and grandmother have been here. It's so much fun to have them here. Yesterday we went to San Francisco. We walked down by the wharf, ate lunch and went on a ferry ride. On the way home we stopped by my favorite shopping area in Corte Madera to eat dinner at my favorite restaurant the Cheesecake Factory.

Kasey will be back this weekend and I look forward to spending time with her, Lani and Jami. I just love my family! I had the best childhood growing up with my cousins.

More pics and details to come!

we made it!

Or should I say, "I made it!" I took care of my three kids by myself this week and it went great. Rylee is such a good baby and sleeps much of the time which makes it seem like I only have two kids. We had a busy week and I even ventured out with them by myself.

Monday we just hung out at home. Jody had a meeting in San Francisco and was gone from 7:00 in the morning until 7:30 and night. It was a long boring day but we survived.

Tuesday Tasha and Janelle came down from McKinleyville. We went to dinner at Olive Garden and stopped by Cost Plus and Cold Stone on the way home. The next day we woke up and went shopping to a few downtown stores, one called Cupcake is pricey but adorable. Then we went to Old Navy and Chevy's for lunch. Between the three of us we had five kids but they all did pretty good. Luckily Tasha only had Lex so she helped me. It was fun having them stay with us and I hope they will come again soon.

On Wednesday night we went to Walmart and finally got some birthday presents for Ammon. He was struggling with his decision on what to spend his money on. We got him a fish tank and three fish which he named Anikan, Yoda, and Obi-Wan Kenobi. He is really into Star Wars right now and calls himself Yoda, has a cane and tries to talk like him. Cohen and Ammon have spent lots of time just staring at the fish. I think they are waiting to play with them. Jody was teasing Ammon on the way home from the store about being hungry and that he was going to eat his fish for dinner. Then he started talking like Bruce from the movie Nemo. Ammon got upset and said, "Don't eat them Dad. They're my new friends!"

Yesterday I took the kids to the farmer's market they have in Windsor every Thursday. Talk about crazy I have never seen so many people so involved in the community. We couldn't find anywhere to park for about 15 minutes. I am so glad we went and plan on going every Thursday. They had big jumpy houses and slides for the kids, face painting, balloons, and all kinds of food. A lot of local restaurants and bakeries set up booths and sold food. They also show a movie once it gets dark. I was proud of myself for taking the kids alone and actually enjoying it.

Today I had some girls from the ward over for lunch. I made BBQ sandwiches from a recipe I got off of one of Lindsey's friends blogs and a yummy salad that Kasey gave me the recipe for. One of the girls is really cute and just had a baby girl in May the other has two boys and is super nice. It was fun to have people over and I realized that I need to do it more often.

My mom and Alex should be on their way here and Kasey and her fam will be here tomorrow night. I can't wait to be with everyone. Next week I am heading up to McKinleyville for the week while Jody goes to Anaheim for work.

I painted Rylee's toenails the other day, an idea I got from my friend Tiffany. Rylee slept the other night from 11:00 until 6:00 in the morning. Last night she slept from 11:00 to 4:00 and then 4:30 to 8! I felt so good today and didn't even need an afternoon nap! I don't know how this is possible but Rylee is one month old! I feel like I had her last week.

I love putting these cute summer dresses on her!

Cohen and "Algixs", that's how he pronounces her name.

You can't see Ammon very well but he is on the board with Jody.

We had a great time at the lake this last week. Some of you thought I was crazy and brave to take three kids to the lake especially because one is only 3 weeks old. But the kids were great. Rylee slept almost the whole time in the boat and did great at night as well. She had one bad night and was up with gas for a few hours. My sweet mother got up after a while and rocked her while I slept. Other than that incident she was perfect! I can't believe how quickly she is changing. She is so much more alert now. She also has beautiful olive colored skin. What a change from Ammon who we all called white boy as an infant.

It got pretty hot the later part of the week which made the trip a little more uncomfortable for me, because I'm not suppose to get in the water. I ended up jumping in a few times to cool off and it wasn't too bad.

Jody mastered landing a back flip on his wake board, see below, which made things more entertaining. Cohen and Ammon loved swimming in the water and even went on the tube with Jody and I.

It was so much fun seeing the boys after being away from them for a week. Cohen just kept hugging me and saying over and over, "mommy, mommy, mommy!" Ammon acted like he missed us a lot, but from what I hear he didn't talk about us much. He loved being back in McKinleyville and even told us today that he wants to live there again. Unfortunately for him, I don't think that will happen.

This month is already going by quickly. We have lots of visitors this month! I am excited for Jody's family and my sister Kasey to see Rylee when they come visit us in a few weeks.

Monday will be my first day alone with all three kids. I think I'm ready. I've had three weeks of help to get me prepared. Wish me luck!