Tyler's 10th Birthday

Double Digit boy. I am so proud of Tyler. He has grown into quite the young man. I cant really call him a little boy anymore, can I? It is amazing to think that 10 years has gone by, he has been a joy the whole time.

There are so many things about Tyler that it is hard to narrow it down to just a few. Here is a list of 10 wonderful things about Tyler for his 10 years of life.

• The bestest big brother that anyone could ever have. He plays with, takes care of, and looks out for each and every one of his brothers and his little sister.
• Loves cars, bikes, skateboards, and as he tells me anything with wheels. It is fascinating to watch his mind work when it comes to vehicles of all kinds.
• Has taken after his mom and loves to read. I enjoy being able to read the same books as he does and discussing things with him. We have enjoyed reading the Harry Potter Series together and he is now following me in reading the Twilight Series. It is great to have a reading buddy.
• He enjoys school so much and is eager to learn and grow.
• He loves Cub Scouts and is always eager to earn whatever badge I put in front of him.
• He is a hard worker. If I give him a task, he accepts it and does it to the best of his ability. He has taken very nicely to emptying the dishwasher and vacuuming, something I need help with more and more these days. He is happy to help and tries hard to get it all done with a smile on his face.
• He is the funniest 10 year old I have the pleasure of knowing. He is quickwitted and comes up with some very funny things just in the spur of the moment. One funny recently was stated in the wake of me teasing him that I was going to "break his bum" for some teasing to me of his own. He immediately turned and said, "Don't break my bum, It alread has a crack in it!" Okay, so crude humor, but funny nonetheless. He is always able to come up with these kinds of things so fast.
• He loves sports and outdoor fun. This is exciting for Jim and I as we were both sports people ourselves growing up. It will be fun watching him (and the others) grow into whatever sport they choose.
• He has a great personality that is very easy for anyone to get along with. He is a bit shy (like his mother), but once he opens up, it is so easy to just like him.
• He has such a wonderful spirit about him. He has such wonderful faith in the gospel that comes very easy for him. He never doubts or questions anything, he just simply believes. He is a constant reminder of how easy the gospel truly is and how we just need to simply believe. Tyler loves the Lord and always thinks of what the correct thing to do is. His wonderful spirit is just an added blessing in our home.

We love you Tyler!! Happy 10th Birthday!!

4 months old already

Just an update on our little J. I cant believe he will be 4 months old tomorrow. It goes so very fast. He is getting so big and so aware of all these other people around him. He is just in love with all of his brothers and his sister.

He is getting so strong, holding his head up and rolling over. He is even trying to crawl believe it or not. There are times when he gets himself up on his knees. He just needs to learn to strengthen those arms and he will be off. He is going to be a handful in a few months I think.

Here is an updated pic.

He sure is a cute little guy (of course I am not biased at all). He is smiling and laughing and so interactive. Tyler loves to play peek-a-boo with him and he just giggles and laughs at his biggest brother. He also takes after his mom and is very ticklish.

We are so excited to add this special boy to our family and look forward to getting to know his little personality. So far, he is a pure joy and such a very happy baby. Hopefully that continues.

4th of July

The next fun thing we did during our interlude in Yelm was enjoy a nice 4th of July with family. The last 3 years we have just ended up in Oly on the fourth and it has become a nice tradition to spend it at Grandma Snook's house with a blow out of fireworks. The kids have really enjoyed it and the time with the cousins is always great.

Heres a pic of all the cousins. They grow so much bigger each year, it is amazing how fast it all goes. Amanda is getting her driver's license this year, Zach is starting High School, and Skylar is keeping up with it all.

This is our booty this year. The kids loved to pick out some favorites and with Zach's help spent the day lighting snakes and throwing pop-its.

Time out for a cool moment with Daniel. Just way to cute for his own good.

Dog pile on Aunt Tammy and Uncle Kevin.

And here is the trick on getting the little kids to sit and watch, but not play with the fireworks. Both Abby and Daniel spend a bit of time "locked" into their carseats for their own safety and mom's peace of mind.

Overall, it is really a very fun time. We have decided that we will make it a family tradition, after all we have done it for the last 3 years so why not keep it up. Watching the fireworks is great, watching the kids is even better. We all look forward to the future years of fun and excitement.

Happy Birthday Noah

Another day, another catch up blog. While at Grammy and Poppy's Noah turned 6 years old. I cannot believe the little guy is 6 already. It goes by so fast. Seems like just the other day we were running around calling him Baby Noah.

He has grown so much in the last few years. He is our quiet little guy and has really begun to blossom in the last few years. He loves to tell stories and play pretend. He also loves his big brother Jacob and follows him whereever he goes.

I remember a few years in a row where Noah got Thomas the tank engine stuff for every birthday and christmas present. He has grown beyond Thomas now and is in to Dinosaurs and legos.

His 6 birthday just happened to fall on the day that Wall-E came out in the theaters, so Tyler, Jacob, Abby, and I all accompanied Noah on a trip to the theater to see Wall-E. It is now a new favorite movie and we eagerly await its arrival at the stores for purchase.

Amongst many birthday presents, Noah enjoyed receiving a V-smile pocket from Grammy and Poppy, a board game from Tyler and Jacob, and a Planet hero guy from Daniel. We had a nice quiet day and enjoyed some cake and ice cream for dinner. (Who said I cannot be a cool mom :)

Some highlights of Noah's year:

• Preschool at St. Pauls were he learned his ABC's and made lots of new friends. They went on some great feild trips including PetSmart, Griz Stadium and running through the tunnel, and the Bread store to learn how bread is made.
• Grew 2 inches since last summer. (Someday he will start to gain weight LOL).
• Enjoyed going Folfing with Daddy.
• Rode a 2 wheeler by himself for the first time.
• Moved from Missoula, MT to Spokane, WA.

I am sure there is more, but that is why we are supposed to write these things down before we forget them all. He really has grown a ton. I remember this time last year, we were stressing about if he was ready to go to Kindergarten. We decided to hold out one more year and I truly think it was the best decision. He is so ready and so excited for kindergarten this year. He is talking better and learning so much now. I am sure he will love school just like his big brothers. Happy Birthday and here is to another year with our little guy.

WE LOVE YOU NOAH!!!!!!

A Day at Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium

I thought maybe doing a scrapblog would be easier than posting all these pictures on blogger. LOL. You can click on the scrapblog logo in the bottom right corner and it should take you to scrapblog to view full size. I did not want to make a post that goes on forever and ever.

The kids had a great time. We took Aunt Tammie with us to help me out with all the kids. She was funny, kept hearing her count to make sure we had everyone. In our home video, you can even hear her in the backgroud counting, "One, two, three, four, five, and you have Jameson that's six." LOL. We kept her hopping and wore her out good.

This was one of the kids favorites events from our time at Grammy and Poppy's house. It is something we have not been able to do for a few years and don't have over here in Spokane either. It was nice to be able to take them. Hopefully we can make it back when Jameson is older and can appreciate it more.