Summers

Christmas Time :)

2012-01-08T11:15:00.000-08:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

We had a GREAT Christmas this year and hope that you all did as well! I have posted some pics just to show some of what we have been up to this Christmas season. The girls have enjoyed spending time together during Linley's break from school. Both girls LOVE to color :) Must take after Grandma Hamilton!

Linley also really likes to help cook so here is a pic of her helping me and Tyra (my future sis-in-law) make Christmas candy. I have to brag because I hear that making Divinity is very hard and tricky but we made three perfect batches on our first try.

This pic is a little odd but it is one of the games we played at our family Christmas Eve party. It was a really funny game. You put a hoola-hoop in the middle of the floor and then tie a string to a banana (we didn't have any bananas so we tied it to a thing of popcorn seeds) then tie the string around your waste and try to hit an orange into the hoola-hoop. We were all rolling around laughing super hard! I also must admit that the boys in this game had better aim than the women for some reason? Here is Raymond playing the game.

Briquelle, Bethany and Tyran

Linley and Addison playing a board game

Carissa, Chelsea holding Natalie and little Aiden

Natalie, Chelsea, and Grandma Jani (my mom) holding Aiden

Aunt Cathy

Brent and Brenda

Ha Ha this pic cracks me up! I need to use it as blackmail some day :) It is my dad playing the game I described earlier.

Hmmm.. This is pretty much what Natalie looks like after eating a lot of the time-especially if the food is squishy...She just loves to play with her food-what can I say?

It was crackers and cheese by the way..

Here is cute little Natalie wearing and holding the pajamas that she received on Christmas Eve.

Isn't Linley just beautiful! She is growing up way to fast-I can't believe how old she looks with her hair pulled up like this.

Me and Linley both in our pjs

Jake and the girls still showing off~

So this pic is from Christmas morning. The little can that you see on the counter has a live oyster inside it. We bought it for Linley when we went to Universal Studios this past November. We decided to save it for one of her Christmas gifts.

Jake had to open the Oyster and dig out the pearl that was hiding inside. We then had to rub it in salt and soak it in warm water and then dry it off.

The pearl that Linley got was a white one meaning she has=integrity! Ha it was funny because when she tried to read what it meant she thought it said incontinent! Jake and I had to laugh because since he is a nurse she probably heard him say that a few times and just didn't know what it meant. We had to explain to her the difference between the two :)

The pearl also came with a necklace that you just slide the pearl into-so here is Jake putting it around Linley's neck. Sorry the pics are so dark!

Here is Natalie's little stash of toys

and here is Linley's- of course Natalie is trying to play with Linley's stuff already :)

Hope you all got just as spoiled as we did!!!!!

Camping!`

2011-08-30T13:46:00.000-07:00

So we have been CaMpInG four times this year and that is a good amount for me. We went to Green Canyon two times, then to Bear Lake and then to Island Park. Of course I don't have pictures for all the camping trips because of my camera issues but here is a collage of pictures from Bear Lake......Enjoy!

Create your own picture collage

Getting BiG!

2011-08-30T12:01:00.000-07:00

Oh how I love this little stinker! Just look at her cute shining smile :) She is such a happy busy little bee and is learning soo much! She loves her babie dolls and takes good care of them and love love loves animals...

The obituary :(

2011-08-30T11:52:00.000-07:00

Sharon Voss

Sharon Marie Wiser Voss, 71, passed away Tuesday, July 12, 2011, at her home in St. Anthony, Idaho, following an illness with cancer. Sharon was born March 22, 1940, in St. Anthony, the daughter of Jack and Elizabeth Ostermiller Wiser. She grew up in St. Anthony and Henderson, Nev., graduating from South Fremont High School. She married Raymond Henry Voss Jr. on Feb. 6, 1959, in St. Anthony. The marriage was later solemnized in the Idaho Falls LDS Temple on April 28, 1965. They made their home in St. Anthony. Sharon was an active member of the LDS church, serving in the Primary, nursery, Relief Society and library and with her husband as workers in the Rexburg, Idaho, LDS Temple. For over 50 years, she baby-sat for many of the local children, and they all called her Grandma Voss. In 2009, she and Ray and family celebrated their 50th anniversary. Her greatest accomplishment and happiness was her family. She is survived by her husband, Ray of St. Anthony; children, Raymond Henry (Janilyn) Voss III of St. Anthony, Cathy Marie (Darren) Davis of Parker, Idaho, and Brenda Kaye (Brent) Pedersen of Idaho Falls; nine grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren; and two sisters, Deanna Lee (Paul) Osborn of St. Anthony and Betty Jean (Bill) Oppelt of Vaughn, Wash. Besides both her parents, she was preceded in death by a brother, Tom Wiser, and a sister, Jacqueline Wiser.
Funeral services will be conducted at 11 a.m. Saturday, July 16, in the St. Anthony 4th LDS Ward Chapel, with Bishop Kyle Moore officiating. Friends may call at Bidwell Funeral Home from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Friday, July 15, and at the church Saturday one hour prior to services. Burial will be in Teton-Newdale Cemetery.

My grandma was such a strong fighter...the cancer finally got the best of her :( It ate away at her fat and muscle and destroyed her insides as it moved through her lymph nodes. She never complained or questioned "why me?" I had the opportunity to sit with her and watch her for a bit while my grandpa got out of the house. There was so much I wanted to say-but she was so frail and tired and seemed to believe that rest would get her better. I knew she was to far gone but the right time to tell her how much I loved her and was gonna miss her never came...I know that she is where she belongs and that she knows how I feel and felt about her now. :) It's crazy but she seemed like a little child laying in her bed moaning and not able to get comfortable. I just wanted to pray and pray and pray that she could rest and I did.
Now my prayers go out to Grandpa Voss-I know he is hurting and lonely and suffering. He didn't even know how to use the microwave! But through all this we have all gotten closer to each other as a family and that is exactly what Grandma would have wanted :)

2011-08-30T09:59:00.000-07:00

So here is just a little scrapbook I made form our pictures over part of the 4th of July!

This free scrapbook generated with Smilebox

We had a BBQ/Swimming party at Jake's parents and the kids had a BLAST!! I don't have pictures from the actual day of the Fourth though-But I will tell you what we did! We went up to Rexburg for the parade and then ate at JB's restaurant. Then we went home and Linley and Briquelle had a water balloon fight (I promise we picked up the balloons when we were done but a couple days later I found 4 full size balloons in Natalie's diaper!! I couldn't figure out how she got them and then when I vacuumed behind the couch another few days later I found a pile of balloons that had fell between the cushions and I think that is where she found her little "balloon snack"-I just find it crazy that she was able to swallow them-I am shocked and impressed!) Any way I will get back to the Fourth...I then made some yummy flag sugar cookies and then we just relaxed around the house until later in the evening. Then Vincent and Tyra came over and we went to stake out a spot to save for the fireworks..and we found a GREAT one! The fireworks were almost right above us! We had a mini bbq at our little spot and thought about grandma Voss often throughout the firework show. She was still on her death bed and I just kept wishing she was with us! Then we came home and lit our own fireworks and went to bed very very tired!!

Movin along..

2011-08-20T14:38:00.001-07:00

Well, as you can tell I am movin right along with my "catch up" posts :) yay! I have made it thru June now and Natalie will probably be waking up from her nap anytime so I will post more later........................

Father's Day at Jackson :)

2011-08-20T14:36:00.000-07:00

For Father's Day we went to Jackson with Jake's parents. We had a fun time and got to ride the Alpine slide-it was Linley and I's first time :) I felt really bad for the person who rode behind Linley though! Linley went sooooo slllooowwwwwww-it took her forever to go down because she was scared-so when she finally made it to the bottom the girl riding behind her was right on Linley's tale and you could tell she was ticked off! But hey-what do you do in that kind of situation right? We also did a little shopping through the stores and got to ride the carriage. Happy "late" Father's Day Jake! You are the BEST!!!

Can you Say WATER?

2011-08-20T14:15:00.000-07:00

We decided to try out the Rexburg water park earlier this summer ;) the kids had a blast...but I do think the place is a bit to crowded-I have only been one more time since because there are so many kids making it to hard to keep track of mine. Anyway here are a few pics that I got from my father in laws camera.

In this pic you have Gayle (Jake's mom) holding Natalie, then you have Lindsey (Cody's wife) holding their daughter Landyn and then you have Rikki.

This is a pic of Lexi my niece

Here is my sister in law (Jake's sister) holding Landyn

Here is my little LINLEY

Here is my Nephew Nck and his cousin-I think his name is Cameron?

Here is my niece Lindsey climbing the wall

And Lastly here is grandma Gayle again holding Natalie!

Another Baptism!

2011-08-20T14:02:00.000-07:00

Little Lindsey turned 8 this year and was able to get baptised. We did a little photo shoot of her in her special baptism dress and the pictures turned out great! It's sad but they were some of the last pictures I downloaded to my computer before losing my camera at Rigby Lake :( So from here on out most the pictures are from other people's cameras that they let me put on my computer.

CONGRATS Lindsey!! We are very proud of you and happy we were able to attend!

Remembering those who have passed

2011-08-19T08:33:00.000-07:00

When Jake was just 13yrs. old his dad, brother and older sister got in a fetal car wreck. He lost his dad (Ben Summers) and his sister (Natalie Summers) his older brother Drue survived with awful head trauma. It was such a horrific thing that happened his his family! But they were tough and pulled through.. So for Memorial Day this year we went to their graves and brought a few flowers and took some pictures :) I am glad we did it and want to make it a tradition in my family to go to the graves of our loved ones on Memorial Day every year.

Attempting to catch up

2011-08-18T23:45:00.000-07:00

So I decided that I need to make an attempt at catching up on my blog. I started to get behind when school got out for summer so naturally that is were I will begin. We started summer break by taking a trip to Seattle.

Our first night there we went to watch the Mary Poppins play. It was amazing and the kids enjoyed dressing up for it.

The next day we went touring along the pier.

We had really yummy SEA food at The Crab Pot, even Natalie ate some :)

Kinda gross but we got to see the famous GUM wall-yep that's a TON of gum...

We then went to the farmers or "fish" market.

This picture of the fish just cracks me up.

We then went to the Space Needle and later that night we soaked in the pool and hot tub.

The next day we got all decked out in our Yankee gear to go support Jake's favorite baseball team..

We had a SUPER DUPER FUNARIFIC TIME!!!

I love you!

2011-07-01T00:02:00.000-07:00

Dear Grandma,

I love you so much and I miss you so much-though you have not yet passed your not the same, your week and your voice has no energy in it. You are skin and bone and can barely talk, you are scared and at times feel very alone. Your not alone, you are very very loved. I haven't been up to see you nearly enough. I think about you often and pray for you always everyday morning noon and night. Your condition has brought many fond memories to my consciousness. I use to play barbies in your basement and in your living room. You always had the best toys and were adamant about making us put one toy away before getting one out. Your home was always clean and had a wonderful smell. I could always tell that someone had been to your home because of the smell. It smelled of fresh linens and biz. You always smelt of perfume. You were an amazing cook, famous in our family for your mash potatoes and potato salad and evaporated milk macaroni's. You were super strict and spoke your mind. You worked hard to take care of your neighbors and those around you young and old. You always gave out a special vapor rub for when we were sick. This past year you handed your barbies down to Linley and you gave me so many blankets and bibs and baby toys for Natalie. You loved your grand kids and great grand kids dearly and we love you! Thank you for your love and example and courage. You are an amazing fighter so tough! You are a rock I love you and I hope that if it is your time you go in peace..your comfortable..you know we love you and we feel horrible that we haven't come to see you more..you understand you have been a young busy mom before. We know you love us! It's hard to have faith in knowing we will see you again but we will and we do. Grandpa will be ok you can look down and comfort him from your place above. Thank you again god will keep you busy till we meet again. Thank you for going and preparing the way for us when it is our time......

Birthday Party and Hogle Zoo

2011-06-09T14:55:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago was our niece Landyn's 1st birthday party. (Cody and Lindsey's baby) They live in Tooele, UT so we drove up with Jake's parents and Rikki (my sister in law) and her daughter. The party was Friday, they had a cook out and the kids had fun hitting the pinata. Then Saturday we went to Hogle Zoo and then swimming. We had fun visiting with family and playing with all the new toys and seeing the animals. Thanks for letting us stay at your home Cody and Lindsey!! Happy 1st Birthday Landyn!

Just some cute pictures of Landyn turning "ONE"!

Mother's Day 2011

2011-06-09T13:55:00.000-07:00

Grandma Voss (Jani) with Aiden Sweet Aiden

Ray, Mckell, Addison and Aiden

Addison holding Aiden

Diaper Cake I made..

We recently had the opportunity to attend my Nephew Aiden's Baby blessing is older sister Addison got the chance to be blessed as well. Aiden was blessed at the church during sacrament meeting and since Addison is older they blessed her in their home after sacrament and then they had a nice luncheon to celebrate. Congrats little Aiden and Addison I am glad I could be with you on your special day!!

Me on Mother's Day heading up to Yellowstone ;)

Linley and Natalie looking at the animals. The Buffalo were very close but Linley wanted to use the Binoculars anyway.

Natalie and Linley in the kids discovery portion of Yellowstone

My cute kids and hubby

Happy Mother's Day to me and all the other amazing mommy out there!!!

Waiting for Old Faithful

This year for Mother's Day Jake and I and the kids went with Jake's Parents to West Yellowstone. Then we came home and ordered carry out from Texas Roadhouse. Jake also let me pick out flowers for the yard-I planted them a bit early, but I LOVE working in the yard! Linley is so cute-this year she wanted to make me breakfast for Mother's Day so for a couple weeks before she kept begging for me to let her practice making eggs on the stove. She does a very good job now (sometimes she adds to much salt but for the most part they are super yummy). I a very proud of Linley she is going to be a great cook when she gets older and a great mother too. She helps me out a ton with Natalie and if I am ever babysitting she is a big help!

Easter Events

2011-05-03T09:13:00.000-07:00

Happy LATE Easter!!
Our family really enjoyed Easter this year..Linley had to go to her dad's house so on the Sunday before I had the girls wear their matching Easter dresses to church and then we went to the park to play. They loved being outside and Natalie loved the swings! But it was pretty windy so we couldn't stay very long.

These Pictures are all backwards..I should have started with the bottom ones but that's o.k. Here is Carissa and Natalie at my brother's house on Easter Sunday.

Ha the sun was in her eyes.

She loves to go up and down stairs. And of course she is eating a chip on the go!

Addison

Briquelle and Tia in their Easter dresses. Super cute:)

We went to Bear World on Saturday after the Easter Egg hunts and Natalie really really loved it. She stood up in the back seat and pointed and yelled and laughed at the animals. I didn't even think she would be interested but boy was I wrong!! Here she is looking out pretending she was a bear.

She loved watching the fish and ducks to. I love this picture, it reminds me of a fake doll that someone propped up.

Lindsey and Nat

Earlier that morning we went to a neighborhood egg hunt in Jake's parents neighborhood.

On Friday night we went to Grandma Gayles to color eggs. Here Linley is in her Easter apron that Grandma and Grandpa brought back for her from their trip to Nebraska

Nick and Nat

Grandma's pretty girls

We got in the Easter mood by painting all of our toes in pastel colors.

Thursday night Linley and I got busy and made Easter cookies

rfNatalie always goes and looks in the oven to see what is cooking and here she is..Ha Ha isn't that the cutest little body ever-she has such short legs!!

I accidentally got flour on Linley so she threw some on me, she had a very nervous look (I think she thought she was in trouble) but I surprised her and threw even more back and her :)

We also got together with Mckell and Addie and Aiden to color eggs and decorate the egg boxes.

We had a GREAT Easter weekend and hope you did too!!!!!!!!!!

i luv him

2011-04-16T21:48:00.000-07:00

Just thinking of how much I LOVE MY HUBBY! He cracks me up :) and thats it for today....

2011-04-13T21:52:00.000-07:00

This may seem like an odd post but it is from the heart. Lately I feel guilty..why? Well because I feel like I never get to connect with Linley anymore :( Before Natalie was born, Linley was my little baby-my little everything! I worried about her and thought about her sooo much, I still do but just not as much. It was her that got me through some very tough times in my last marriage and her that I worried about while I was at school or work, her that I wanted to come home to. Her that Jake and I adored and worried about while on our honey moon. It was just her for 8 years and now that Natalie is here I am constantly worrying about Natalie this or Natalie that. It is not that I love Linley any less or that I love Natalie any more- I feel that it is maybe their age differences. Linley is more independent and Natalie is very dependent. I am nursing Natalie so I can't leave her for very long and she always seems to be sick, so I never get to spend time with JUST Linley. Plus Linley always wants to do things like have a picnic (when the weather is horrible outside) or talk to me when I am on the phone, or wrestle with me and not know when enough is enough! So I find myself telling her "no" or "not now" a lot. It just makes me sad....I know that it's probably totally normal but I just cant help feeling guilty that I pay more attention to Natalie. I love Linley so much and want her to stay close to me, to trust me and feel like she can tell me anything-I love and hate seeing her grow up!!! Have any of you moms that have more than one child ever struggled with feeling guilty over spending so much time with the youngest ? Any comments will be greatly appreciated :)

Just want to show off our BIG girl

2011-04-11T13:06:00.000-07:00

I turned ONE!!

2011-04-08T15:49:00.000-07:00

Mckell, Ray and Aiden

Grandma Gayle (Jake's Mom)

Grandma Voss

Grandpa Hamilton

My daddy

Linley(sister), Carissa, Taylor, Rikki

Grandma Hamilton, Grandma Jani, Gpa Hamilton

Drue and Taylor

~*ME*~

Present Time

It's so much fun!

I had lots of help opening my gifts :)

My family...

My very own mini cake!

hmmm... kinda good

It's too messy for my hands maybe I can just bite it?

It's good mommy

Ooops I got it up my nose!!!

I don't know why but I keep getting sung to? The song goes something like this "Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Natalie Happy Birthday to you!" kinda odd but I like it and my mom and dad and big sister love it when I dance to it too. This past Sunday was lots of fun, daddy brought home balloons (I love balloons, I point at them every time I see them in the store and I even whine a bit to see if mom or dad will get me one), and people kept coming over to my house. We had hamburgers and lots of yummy salads. I sat in the middle of everyone and all my cousins and sister kept trying to get me to rip the paper off of boxes, I didn't get it but they helped me, I am glad they did because in the boxes and bags there was TOYS and super cute clothes. Then I was taken to my highchair and again I heard that silly song!!!! Only this time everyone sang it to me at the same time-it was a bit scary! Then mom and dad put a plate on my highchair with something very interesting on it. I decided to poke it with my finger and it got on my little finger, so I tasted it and it was sweet. So I poked it again and then I grabbed it and it was very messy. There was a lot of bright flashing lights (people taking pictures) but this didn't stop my curiosity of this yummy thing. I was having a blast I tried to eat it many different ways, I leaned forward and tried to get some of it in my mouth without using my hands everyone laughed at me? The plate was to far away for me to reach with my mouth so I went back to using my hands. I grabbed it by the handfuls and got a little carried away because I got some up my nose and couldn't breathe any more..I started to cry and mom came to my rescue. I was given a bath and pretty soon lots of that sweet stuff came out of my nose and I felt so much better! I had fun following my cousins around and getting lots of attention but I was ready for bed when everyone left. Thank you everyone for coming to see me and getting me presents and singing that song to me!!! I don't know why you did it but it was fun-Lets do it again sometime!!!! xoxoxo

Natalie Summers age 1

It's time

2011-03-27T22:03:00.000-07:00

Natalie is a funny little thing. instead of playing with the legos I found her putting the lego box on her head. She would put it on and then take it off and then put it on again, ha ha this kept her busy for a while.

This is Linley and her class waiting outside Barnes and Noble in the mall before they preformed a little song for us as a sort of fundraiser for their school. Sorry her eyes were closed :(

My little princess after a long rainy day at school. Ha Ha! This is my Grandma Hamilton trying on hats at the party store

My mom and Grandma came down to shop with me. They are so pretty!!

Grandma Hamilton got a kick out of trying on as many hats as Natalie would let her...

Natalie was a trooper and I think she secretly enjoyed being our little model.. I just wish Linley was there but she was in school. My mom had to come down early in the day so she could get home to my little sister when she got out of school.

We got this chair for Natalie for Christmas and at the time she could barely crawl and it almost seemed like a waste but it wasn't, when she disappears this is where I find her, in her room on her little chair looking out her window.

Our little Nat is such a messy eater and loves to either put her food on her head or act like she is putting in her mouth and really drop it in her lap so you keep giving her more food thinking she ate it but find a nice surprise in her lap.

My little sister came over with this wig on the other day so I had to try it on Natalie :) pretty funny huh?

It's time for an update...I keep procrastinating at posting because I have gotten so behind lately. But first things first I need to wish my mom a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Happy Birthday Mommy!

We got together today for a Birthday dinner for my mom at my Grandma and Grandpa Hamilton's house. We had the usual yummy Mexican food for dinner :) We got to visit with cousins that we haven't seen in awhile and that was great fun.

Just a few things about my mom.....

1. She is the most kind hearted person I know and if anyone is ever in need she puts their needs in front of her own.

2. She is an amazingly talented crafter-you name it she can do it-seriously! If you need curtains she can make them, need your home painted in any way she can do it, need something built she can build it, need to make a gift basket she can do it, need something sewn she can do it and the list goes on and on and on!

3. She is a great friend, she is a best friend to me- I can tell her anything and she is always there to listen.

4. She is not quick to judge-If Jake and I get in a little argument I know that I can call my mom and tell her the situation and always get an honest answer,(she is not the type to always be on my side because I her daughter) if I am in the wrong she will let me know and if he is she will let me know( ha most of the time it is me :) but no matter what she is understanding and helps me fix what ever is going on.

I have a lot to catch up on so I will stop there but the list goes on-My mother is amazing I LOVE HER SO MUCH! and so do my girls-they love going to visit grandma Jani!!!

We also went to our niece Lexie's Birthday party tonight and had a nacho bar, it was super yummy and fun as well! HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEXIE!- Your becoming such a beautiful young lady!

Yesterday My mom, sister in law Mckell and her daughter Addison, my sisters Bethany and Carissa and little Natalie and I all went down to Pocatello to the fair in the Mini dome. It was fun but very crowded and I came home super pooped and ready for bed.

I have been just keeping busy making hair bows and helping my mom put together gifts baskets for her shop to open up in a few weeks. Did I mention how awesome my mom is? oh yeah I did, didn't I? ok then I can go on...

Jake is now doing home health for Creekside here in Idaho Falls and really enjoys it, and he also works at Bingham in Blackfoot and seems to like it as well-He is my little work aholic!

We added some little birds to our family. I will have to take pictures and post them later. Linley kept begging for us to let her bring home a parakeet from her dad's house I was against it at first but we eventually gave in and let her bring two home. They were in a tiny cage at first and Jake felt bad for them so he found a bigger cage on craigslist and had his dad pick it up for us, we were pretty shocked when we found out how big it was! It is taller than me-so of course we had to go shop for another bird and came home with two more. Natalie loves to watch them and yell at them from the top of the stairs.

I guess this post is getting pretty long so I will stop here. I hope you enjoy the pictures- they are just random pictures mostly of Natalie because Linley doesn't want her picture taken lately she just hides behind things. Have a GREAT week!

Addie

2011-03-14T13:56:00.000-07:00

And here are some pictures of Addison............

Bodies Museum

2011-03-14T13:10:00.001-07:00

So for FAMILY NIGHT a week ago (maybe two-can't remember since last week was super long because Natalie had Influenza) we decided to go to the Bodies Museum..We had a blast, it was super interesting and not too big so Linley was able to walk through it without whining. ;) We then went to IHop for dinner (this is Linley's favorite place to eat-Jake and I not so much-but we let her decide where to go). Linley wanted me to take a picture of her pancake face.....

Ha Ha pictures are not allowed in the Museum so we just took some in the elevator.

BaBy PiCtUrEs

2011-03-14T12:59:00.000-07:00

I had the opportunity to take pictures of baby Aiden for my brother a couple weeks ago... He is such a cutie pie..He is so loved and a very good baby, you neverr hear him cry-I am never so lucky with my babies.

2011-02-24T09:42:00.000-08:00

Shawnae came up this past weekend, so we decided to take the girls rock climbing, they had a blast!! Zippy was amazing, she climbed up, came down, climbed up, came down, over and over again. It wore me out just watching...

Solae-(can't spell her name) was super cute! She was to small to climb but she was a good sport watching.

Carissa got the hang of it pretty quickly and had a great time.

The girls didn't want to quit, this is definately something we will do again soon :)

My brother Raymond and his wife Mckell had thier baby last Wednesday. Here he is little Aiden Ray...

They had a lot of visitors all super excited!

Littel Addison stayed at our house while her parents went to the hospital, she was very good. She kept pretending to call her dad on the fake phone and kept asking when they were gonna have the baby-she couldn't wait!

Valentine's was super chill this year. We stayed home and I made a steak and lobster dinner for the family. We enjoyed it but didn't even eat the lobster, we have eaten lobster legs before in restaurants but never a whole lobster and I bought whole lobsters so when we went to eat it, we didn't know what parts were edible and what parts wern't. I eventually got grossed out by the beady eyes and just threw them away. ( I promise the dinner was better than it looks)

Linley and Jake got me this yummy chocolate and red velvet cake from cold stone, it was super rich and a great way to end our Valentine dinner.

I love love love finding notes from Linley, here is her Valentine one :)

And last but not least, Natalie is getting her 2nd tooth and she is WALKING!!

new post

2011-02-10T19:40:00.000-08:00

Well, I haven't posted this week and it has just flown by... There is not a lot of anything new going on just the normal stuff (cleaning, laundry, cooking, etc.) Natalie is growing like a weed, I don't think she will be in the 10-20% on her next check up in a couple months I think she will be BIGGER. Her 1st tooth (the bottom right one) popped through last Wednesday and she has been a ton happier since :) She still hasn't figured out walking but loves to climb up the stairs! She can even climb down the stairs too-and that is scary! The little boy that I babysit pulled the gate down a couple days ago and I haven't wanted to put it up for him to pull down again cuz I don't want the wall all scraped up or the gate ruined. So while I was reading the mail Nat decided to explore the stairs again and I found her happily climbing down on her own!! I about had a heart attack and decided to put the gate back up....Linley has had an earlier bed time this week and has been getting up a bit earlier as well, so that mornings can run smoother and it has been working out rally well. We decided to make her valentine's day cards this year with a cute picture of herself on them and they turned out pretty cool, she helped me finish them this afternoon. Linley and I have also been working on her times tables lately, she can do her O, 1, 2, and tens. She doesn't need to learn them till next year but she is proud of herself for learning them so I will keep on teaching her. Jake is doing home health now for Creekside Homehealth in Idaho Falls and really enjoys it~His last couple of semesters of school were super hard on us but I am glad that he stuck with it, I love the fact that he doesn't have to put in so many hard hours at work and is home a lot more now! And for me? Well, I am horrible at eating healthy~I wanted to get in shape and look good for the summer but working out is HARD and NOT FUN and rolls and ice-cream and chips and pizza and cheese and the list goes on and on, are just TOO TEMPTING! Oh well fat and happy works too, right?

OH, and ps..... I do plan on updating our pictures that stay at the right of my blog: I will do it someday! Hopefully someday soon :)

workin it*

2011-02-02T20:47:00.000-08:00

So I have now worked out four straight days in a row! I am proud, although I must admit~its HARD~and I only do 15 min!!! I know I am a baby but I will work my way to a longer time.
Go ME!!!!!

Buttons buttons whose got the buttons?

2011-02-01T10:44:00.000-08:00

ME ME pick ME!!!
So I have several buttons and store them in Ziploc bags and that works fine, but I also have many many baby food jars that are taking up way too much room in my pantry. So to solve the problem I decided to decorate the baby food jars and use them as storage containers. You can store buttons, little earrings, paper clips, etc. They work great and add a bit of style to my cupboard.

If you have baby food jars that are taking over your pantry you could also try decorating them for the holidays and putting candy in them for the kids. I did some ghosts and pumpkins for Halloween and little turkeys for thanksgiving~I didn't take pictures but they were super cute!

I seriously can't believe how big my babies are getting. Linley is turning into a pre pre pre teen girl. She doesn't want to watch cartoons anymore :( I thought I would be happy when she grew out of the annoying cartoons but I am actually sad. She loves kittens so much, every time her grandmas cat has kittens she begs to bring one home. She still loves to play dress up though and that makes me happy! This is how I found her last night in her room.

Then there is Natalie-just take a look and you can see how she has grown! She loves to walk along the furniture and still puts everything in her mouth (except food). I don't know how she knows the difference but she does, I can give her cookies, crackers, fruit anything food and still find her trying to eat paper or cords?

Jake bought me a treadmill this past weekend! I am very excited about it-I really need to tone up and now I have to excuse...so wish me luck

Sick baby= cranky mommy

2011-01-28T21:42:00.000-08:00

I am ultra exhausted, so bored of being bored! Natalie woke up at 5:30am with a fever and it took an hour of nursing her to get her back to sleep. Then she would sleep for a bit and want to nurse again and pretty much this is the game we played all day.. I figured that she was in pain by the way she was crying so I finally managed to put some clothes on and enough make-up to look decent and headed to the doc. His office was closed for lunch and the car ride put Natalie to sleep so I drove around for a bit and then returned to his office. They couldn't see her until 5:20p.m so I decided to go to community care instead. Found out that she has a bad ear infection on the right side..ugh those suck :( So off I went to Walgreens where I waited for over an hour for her prescription to be filled. Got home just in time for Linley to get off the bus, thankfully-
From then on I have got nothing done today, which really sucks because our washer broke earlier in the week and I badly needed to catch up! I just have to keep telling myself that all the hugs and kisses and continuous nursing is more valuable than cleaning, oh how I wish someone else could takeover sometimes. Jake comes home super tired and can't do much to help her when all she wants is me-It sure would be nice if Jake could grow some boobs-ha ha that was gross I know but true!!! Anyway I guess I just needed to vent and so I chose to do it here, sorry for the sob story. On a good note my package from haloheaven came, so I now have Linley and Natalie's Valentine wings and skirts so I can take cute pictures of them ;) I think it will be cute!!

I promise I went to college..

2011-01-26T23:04:00.000-08:00

So I was just reading over a few of my posts and realized that I spell a lot of words wrong!! I also have horrible punctuation!!!!!!!! I promise I am not as dumb as I come across in some of my posts!!! sorry..

Dreams

2011-01-26T08:50:00.000-08:00

Had an amazing dream last night! It looked to be summertime maybe a family reunion people were handing out presents to each other though? There was a ton of family all my cousins were there and it felt like we were little again because we were still so close but we were not little we had our own families there as well. Then grandpa Hamilton brought out a book it was huge in size probably 4feet tall and 6-8feet wide. The book was awesome, every page was filled with pictures of everyone at the reunion! Pictures filled with memories from when we were little and even from when we were grown. It was so fun to see them-I forgot so much but when I looked at them I remembered and was very happy!! It was a way cool dream and I don't know that my description of it makes sense but I loved it.....

In fact I think it goes along with the visiting teaching message this month about how important history and heritage is and how we need to journal or keep track of our feelings, special events, our hardships, EVERYTHING that we can! The first page of the book in my dream was full of family trees it was amazing..

That book in my dream was sort of like a scrapbook but it did have little stories in it here and there- who ever made it spent a lot of time on it ;)

I am not good at journaling and have failed to catch up our scrap books but I think every little bit helps and some day my girls and their girls and so on can enjoy them....

So my challenge to myself and for you is to find a way to write down what you are going through in life. It can be by posting on your blog more or journaling more or doing a little scrap booking-How ever you choose to do it-GOOD LUCK!!!!!

Natalie at her 9 month check up :)

2011-01-20T15:08:00.001-08:00

I had posted an earlier post about Natalie turning the big NINE months but I didn't put her check up pictures on here, so here they are! We go to Idaho Falls Pediatrics and her Docter is Dr. Smith, (he is really really good). Every room has a different theme-this is the Narnia room...

Happy Aniversary to us...

2011-01-20T14:44:00.000-08:00

We celebrated our 3rd Anniversary on the 12th of January. We just ordered in pizza and then went to a movie. It was our first date since Natalie was born (nine months ago) so it was nice to go out WITHOUT KIDS.

Hello :)

2011-01-12T23:40:00.000-08:00

I love my little kiddos so I just thought I would add a couple pics of them to this post-

This past year was a very tough one for my Grandma Voss-she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and thankfully she beat it! But it was a long hard road with many ups and downs, but she is a strong amazing woman who kept positive and kept her faith in Heavenly Father. My Grandpa took super good care of her and I am very thankful that he is soo good to her! Over the holidays she started to feel fluish and the pain kept getting worse so Christmas afternoon she went to the hospital and they found a blockage in her bowls so she stayed in the hospital and had surgery on New Years day-come to find out the blockage was scar tissue from when they cut her open to remove the cancer!! Ughhhh stupid cancer, havn't you put her through enough?? Well, we got to visit her just before she was released to go home and here are a couple pics.

And last but not least, here are a few photos of my pretty sister and her two cute little girls. We got together last week and I took some family pics of them and I think they turned out rather good for an amature!!!

Hope you all enjoy!!

2011-01-11T21:45:00.000-08:00

Natalie had her NINE month check up today! I can't believe how time has flown-I feel that I just had her but in another way I feel that I have always had her! I can't imagine life without this little gal...Natalie is super duper cute and very opinionated lately. Her first word was da da and then ba ba then ya ya and finally ma ma and she now says na na, I think she is trying to say No No though because she is usually mad when she says na na. Natalie loves her big sister! When Linley gets home from school Natalie shrieks in excitement, but it is short lived because Linley loves Natalie back and sort of mauls her to the piont that Natalie grunts and cries for me to save her. But don't worry Linley gets tired of Natalia at times too-Natalie is kinda loud lately, she talks and talks and talks in her own little blabber way and gets really whiny towards the evening so Linley is always telling me how her sister is Driving her crazy and then she swoops her up and the next thing I know Linley has built a fort of toys for Natalie to play with in her room. (to keep her busy and quiet) but she doesn't realize that babies have a short attention span so Natalie is usually only distracted by the toys and fort for a few minuted and then she is loud and driving Linley crazy again. Natalie loves to wave bye and hi to people, she is also a little tease-she will hold her hand out with whatever she is holding and when you go to take it from her she is quickly bring her hand back in again. Natalie has been making leaps and bounds when it comes to developmental miles stones over the past couple weeks. She had learned to crawl and pulls herself up to stand at the couch and even lets go sometimes and stands by herself for a couple seconds. She loves to "get things" or "attack things especially baby dolls and stuffed animals. She will growl at them and then sort of suck or bite at them and then giggle. She is very ticklish on her back and neck and armpits. She weighed 16 lbs and 7 oz today and was 27 inches tall, so she has dropped closer to the tenth% for weight and went up to 30% for height. She loves to eat or chew on things and lately loves to chew on baby carrots because they are hard and cold and she is still teething- yup no teeth yet! She is not a big fan of baby food though, she would rather gum down whatever we are eating and is still a fan of nursing. Overall she is a healthy, luvy, duvy baby girl full of sugar and spice!!! xoxoxo. I will post a couple picture tomorrow---

New Years Eve

2011-01-08T08:37:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!
For New years Eve we met at my house around nine for some yummy Chinese food. The girls all decided to play games while the men watched a movie or slept? Who knows..Ha Ha. At Midnight
we went outside and popped confetti filled baloons and opened up
the Sparkling Cider. :) We had a good time
and hope you all did too!

Kids are so funny!

2011-01-07T13:36:00.000-08:00

So I was watching my niece Taylor who is two on Monday and she kept wanting to watch the little mermaid-we watched it over and over that day-it was lunch time and she was eating Macaroni and Cheese with a fork and she kept spilling so I asked her if she wanted a spoon instead of a fork and she replied with "Yes I don't want this dinglehopper!" and threw the fork down. I was like what? Dinglehopper? Then I remembered how we had been watching the Little Mermaid and it all clicked....she is funny!

I remember when Linley was around 2 and a half and totally into Cinderella so one year the Easter Bunny brought Linley a Cinderella costume. She looked so cute in it and when asked who she was she would say "Funerella." Got to love it!

Now today I am watching my niece Tia who is four and she came up to me and said " Bridgette I am Magical" My reply "oh you are, how?" Tia says " Well, when I fell asleep in my chair I pushed a button and it layed back" I was like "oh in the car?" and she says "yep, can you believe it, I can't believe how magical I am!" Ha Ha

Merry Christmas

2010-12-30T20:41:00.001-08:00

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!!

We have been having a blast this December... I quit my job as a PSR worker around the 13th and have been keeping myself busy ever since. Why did I quit? Well, I felt out of control, I couldn't keep the house clean, meals fixed, and laundry was way behind...I also missed just spending time with my own kids.
In fact I started the job when Natalie was just 8wks old and she wouln't take a bottle, so as you can imagine, it was very

hard... But I had an amazing baby sitter-Thank you Jylisha for all your help!!!!!

I took my nieces Briquelle and Tia with Linley, Natalie and I to the Christmas on the River at the Snake River Landing. We got to visit with Santa, eat yummy food, take a trolly ride, and get our faces painted. The girls had a good time but it was pretty cold out that night.

I also turned 27
this month. Linley had the flu all night the night before so we were all pretty tired but we made the best of things and went to
Narnia 3 in the afternoon and then we had dinner at Texas Rhodehouse, after that we went to Jake's brothers for cake and ice-cream.

We had our Christmas Eve Party at my house on Christmas Eve and it was rather dull this year because everyone was pretty much out of energy due to the flu having been passed around. As soon as everyone left Jake and Natalie and I went to spend the night at Jake's parents. I didn't get Linley this Christmas, she was with her dad so it was a bit sad :( But Natalie had a blast opening her gifts.........................................................

When Linley got back from her dad's it was like Christmas all over again. She got an American Girl doll and a DSi. She also had a gift for all of us. She gave Natalie a toy remote, Jake a pack of football cards and a pen that said "Worlds Greatest Dad" and she got me a key chain that was a heart and I just cried and cried. I don't know why either? I guess I just missed having her bright and bubbly personality on Christmas morning. I feel like I have been rambling a bit so I better end this post.

All in all it was a great Christmas!- But guess what? Santa (Jake) still hasn't given me my Christmas present yet. He and Linley won't tell me what they ordered but it is taking forever to get here! I really hope it is a new wedding RING----but I will let you know as soon as I do....

Have a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

I need help!

2010-12-02T12:22:00.000-08:00

O.k. so as you may have noticed, my blog is a bit messed up. I am doing a blog for my mom and grandma for thier Art and Antique Gallery. But the problem is when I wrote in the about me section of the Blog it showed up in my about section of my personal blog too. If anyone can give me advice please let me know. Thanks!!!!!!!!!!

Much Much to be THANKFUL for...

2010-11-30T09:12:00.000-08:00

We are very thankful for our families, we love them so much and are thankful for the support they show us! Jake and I are thankful for our two amazing daughters who bring us tons of joy! We are thankful for a wonderful home thats keeps us warm, for our jobs, for our vehicles that get us places and much much more! But the thing that we are the most thankful for is our Savior's love!!!!!!!!!!!

This year we had three Thanksgiving dinners, yep you heard right three! Wednesday night we had the Hamilton side dinner, Thursday was the Voss side and since Jake worked the whole time and didn't get any Thanksgiving food I cooked one for him on Sunday. We invited just our parents so it was pretty simple but Jake was glad :) I forgot to take any pictures on the Hamilton side or of the dinner I did but here are a few of the Voss side, so enjoy!

The Costumes

2010-11-30T09:02:00.001-08:00

There was plenty to do for Halloween this year, I had to go to a work Halloween Party and Linley went to my sister-in-law Candace's house for a family Halloween Party-she had lots of fun! The next night Linley went with her dad trunk or treating and then in the middle of the night started throwing up. Poor girl! So it was suppose to be her dad's holiday but I couldn't stand having her sick and not with me to take care of her so I went and got her. I kept hoping that she would feel well enough to trick-or-treat but she didn't so we just ended up taking Natalie up to visit the grandparents and stayed the night in Rexburg with Jake's parents, linley went right to bed around 8ish. So it was pretty uneventful but we still had a good time.

Carving out the Pumpkins

2010-11-29T11:44:00.000-08:00

We have been hanging out with my older brother Ray his wife Mckell, and thier daughter Addison alot lately. It has been fun getting together to watch movies, eat and talk. So we decided to carve pumpkins together this year. I think they turned out cute and the baked pumpkin seeds were yummy as well!

fAlL LeAvEs

2010-11-29T11:21:00.000-08:00

We LOVE fall with all the leaves turning pale yellows, burnt oranges, and blazing reds. Fall is one of my favorite times of the year to take pictures, the kids enjoy playing in the leaves and I enjoy capturing the moment. Here are a few fall pictures we got this year. Along with Linley there are pictures of Addison-she is the blonde and Tia-she is the one in purple. Linley loves her cousins soooooo much (:

A pickin we will go!

2010-11-29T10:42:00.001-08:00

So back in October we went to the U-Pick Pumpkin Patch located just behind the zoo. I was surprised at how well Natalie liked to sit with the pumpkins. Linley and Lindsey had a great time trying to decide what pumpkin they wanted to take home, they also played in the straw maze and on the little train.

2010-10-15T07:09:00.000-07:00

Natalie is now 6months! I can't believe how time flys... Natalie was 14lbs and 6 ounces, she was in the 20% for both weight and height so she has slowed a bit in growth but the Doctor said she was doing well. Natalie is a very active little tike, she loves her saucer and goes crazy when she is in it. She sits alone and slides around on her back instead of rolling to get places. She loves to stand (with assistance) and I think she may just skip crawling just like her big sister and just stand and walk. She likes to wake up early now when Linley is just about to leave for school. She absolutely LOVES Linley.. Linley loves her too, she does anything she can to make Natalie laugh. Over the last few days Jake has been able to babysit, he must have held her most the day because she is now head over heels for him, and even fusses a bit when he leaves the room. She says dadadad and just barely started figuring out the B sound. We love our little Natalie so much and couldn't even begin to imagine life without her!!!!

The Birthday Bash

2010-10-11T09:35:00.000-07:00

Here is a Slideshow of Linley's Birthday Celebration!~Sorry the slideshow wouldn't show up so here is some pictures now!

Baptism Day!

2010-09-25T22:21:00.001-07:00

Linley turned 8 today and it was a very special day because she got BAPTISED today too!! She had so many family and friends there to support her and show thier love for her~Thank you everyone for your kindness you show!

I am soo proud of Linley for making the chioce to get baptized and to recieve the holey ghost and be confirmed a member of THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER DAY SAINTS. She is such a great example to those arround her, and she is a great big sister! I just couldn't stop looking at Jake and Linley in thier white clothes they looked so pure and happy. Jake did a wonderful job and I am very thankful that he is worthy to baptise her and that he sets such a great example to her and is a wonderful father to her!!! I had the chance to take Linley to the Idaho Falls Temple earlier this week to take a few pictures of her in her baptism dress, she was beautiful! The whole time while taking her pictures I couldn't help but imagine her on her wedding day~ The only thing that would make me happier than seeing her get baptized is to see her go through the temple!!!

I love you Linley and I am very proud of you :)
I will post pictures from her baptism and Birthday Luncheon soon..............

Bedtime Stories

2010-09-20T22:22:00.000-07:00

Since school has started and Linley has to read 20 minutes every night, we have been having bedtime stories. I love that Linley is a good reader now and that she can read the stories to Natalie~it's soo cute!

Wiser Family Reunion

2010-09-20T22:09:00.000-07:00

We went to the Wiser Family Reunion a few weeks ago, not alot of people came but it was still a good time!!

Lagoon :)

2010-09-20T21:55:00.000-07:00

The weekend before school started Jake, Linley and I went with my parents and Carissa to Lagoon :) We had a great time, even Natalie seemed to be enjoying herself. She sat in the stroller and hardly made a peep all day-she loves to be outside!

Life is crazy!!

2010-09-19T00:41:00.001-07:00

Life has been crazy so my goal for tomorrow-or actually today since it is 1:43 in the morning-is to update my blog....By the way I finally got a facebook :) so look for me on there.

FouR MonThs And SleePoveRs

2010-08-31T10:27:00.000-07:00

Little Natalie had her Four month check up a few weeks ago. It went really well she was 12pounds and 13 ounces so she was the 30% for wieght and she was in the 50% for hieght. She of course hated the shots again, but she did good. She is so much fun-she has missed her big sissy most of the summer but now she is back and we love it!! Linley makes Natalie smile so big and laugh so hard..for some odd reason Natalie loves to be scared so Linley just pops up at her randomly and scares her and then Natalie giggles and giggles. Natalie is also very ticklish, sometimes all you have to do is kiss her cheek next to her ear and she will laugh. But she is still very spoiled about where she gets her milk from and that makes it hard to go anywhere for very long, so I have started her on rice cereal and she takes it o.k. I gave her some real baby food for dinner last night (I know five months is a little early) it was sweet potatoes and chicken and she took it better than the cereal. She still doesn't eat much of course but she must have got more than I thought cuz she slept sooo good last night and didn't wake up to be fed until 6 a.m.

We are so happy that Linley is back I feel so spoiled to look over and see her and then look the other way to see Natalie, they both look a ton alike! I am so blessed to have such pretty little girls..Anyway Linley and Lindsey had a sleep over and here they are acting goofy.

Fransen Family Renunion

2010-08-31T10:03:00.000-07:00

The Fransen Family Reunion was a blast for the kids. There were games and candy and toys and rides on the little homeade train. So here are a few pictures of family friends and good times.................

New Posts~

2010-08-17T20:59:00.000-07:00

I have been super bad at posting lately.... So I just posted a couple things and I would continue to do so, but Natalie keeps waking up so I better go settle her down again.. But I will post more later!!

Swimming

2010-08-17T20:49:00.001-07:00

Jake's Parents put up a pool in thier backyard so we went to visit and enjoyed a day soaking in the sun and water. Linley got to come too and was super excited...

Pioneer Day

2010-08-17T20:32:00.001-07:00

For the 24th of July we went up to Saint Anthony to the parade. The parade was really good not to long and not to short~and the kids got a ton of candy so they were happy. We then went to Jake's parents and visited them there for a bit and then we went to the Rexburg Splash park and then we went back up to Saint Anthony for a cookout at Grandma and Grandpa Hamiltons. It was great fun~

Happy BIRTHDAY Jakeee!

2010-08-17T20:27:00.000-07:00

Jake turned 28 on July 19th! We didn't get to do much this year because Jake worked till 7:30ish and I had worked that day as well and we were both pretty tired so we just got together with family at Johny Carinos for dinner. Thank you everyone for coming and supporting Jake as he gets old-ha ha, and for the wonderful gifts!!

Camping

2010-08-17T20:17:00.001-07:00

CaMpInG!! We went camping in Island Park a few weekends ago. We got to float the river and pretty much just relax and enjoy nature. We had a great time~sorry there are not many pictures, I just wanted to chill and not worry about taking our camera everywhere.

Mowing the lawn? Take a BREAK!

2010-07-16T12:12:00.000-07:00

I was mowing the lawn but decided to take a much needed break because it is just way toooo HOT! It is currently 83 degrees and it is suppose to get to 93 degrees today! So while taking a break I obviously decided to update our blog.....
For the fourth of July we met of with some family at JB'S in Rexburg an 9:00 am and then sat our chairs right outside the restaurant to watch the parade. It was crazy weather I had to bundle Natalie up and wear a sweater, but by afternoon it had warmed up. The parade was o.k. but nothing like Saint Anthony's Pioneer Day parade. All the wards in Saint Anthony are in charge of making a float to be judged for the parade, so it is usually a fun one to watch. After the parade we went up to Green Canyon to take a swim. I have to admit I was worried at first because Natalie has never been swimming before, but to my surprise she LOVED it! She was so relaxed and happy and content and even fell asleep while I held her in the water. Then we all headed to my moms for a short rest and then to my aunts for dinner and fireworks. We had a great time but I must say next year I am going to make it to the Idaho Falls fireworks!!!

Linley has been spending alot of time at her dad's for the summer so the house feels empty with out her. But when she is here she has been enjoying the sunny weather. Here are a couple pictures of her and her cousin Lindsey playing in the pool. They got bored so I let them pour some dishsoap into the water for some bubbles.

Ever since I built our little firepit in our backyard last year, Linley has been begging me to start a fire in it. So we finally did, the only bad thing was that it was very windy that night and Jake had to study for finals. So I had to bring little Natalie outside with me and she didn't like the wind to much so I had to put out the fire a little earlier than the girls wanted.

Natalie's favorite thing to do is suck on everything and anything except a binky or a bottle- the two things that I WISH she would take because it has been a bit stressful leaving work everytime she needs fed! but my kids are the most important so they come first! Natalie also loves to be outside and she is growing like a weed.

Natalie is three months and T-ball is over

2010-07-05T09:04:00.000-07:00

I just love the age that Natalie is at right now! She is exactly three months old today! She has been able to roll from front to back for about a month now and can already roll from her back to her side. So I better be careful she will be rolling over from back to front soon and I won't ever be able to leave her alone at all. She is already getting teeth also. The bottom middle two are starting to show and she loves to chew on everything. Natalie always giggles in her sleep, she smiles and makes the cute little giggle sounds. I love it, but I have been wanting her to giggle while awake as well, so yesturday I played and played with her until she finally giggled out loud while awake!!! It was sooo cute-her smile always makes my day.

I never posted anything for father's day this year so I better post something now. Happy Father's Day to our DADS and GRANDPAS and JAKE!! We love all of you and are very thankful to have you in our lives. Linley was not able to spend Father's Day with us this year and Jake had to work but I was able to get together with my family at porter park for a BBQ. It was lots of fun to get together!!

Last but not least, T-ball is over... Linley's team was called the BIG DAWGS, it was her first year playing and for not knowing much about the sport she did pretty good. Since Linley gets to spend most the summer with her dad we only made it to four games, but it was interesting to go see the different personalities of the little kids they were way funny and cute...

2010-06-22T17:52:00.000-07:00

I don't know why but for some reason I just need to vent today! We have had a few women have thier babies in our ward this week and thankfully they have all been safe and everything has gone well-I am soo happy for them!! Giving birth is such an amazing experience...But everytime someone gives birth I start thinking about my birth experience with little Natalie. Jake and I ad my parents met with the hospital a month ago to discuss how the hospital could have prevented sending me home two different times resulting in me having Natalie on my bedroom floor. During the meeting Cathleen Neilson actually made the comment to me that they didn't have a crystal ball! So without the crystal ball how would they know when the baby was going to come. Are you kidding me? A crystal ball? I didn't go find a tent and a person who could look into a crystal ball and be able to tell me I was going to have a baby!!!!!!! I went to the hospital for pain relief that I DIDN'T get and I went for safety reasons so that if anything went wrong it would be taken care of and I DIDN"T get that either! Sorry but that whole crystal ball comment ticks me off today. Oh and my family wanted me to sue the hospital for neglect and Cathleen threatened Jake that if we did it would ruin his career because it would follow him and no one would hire him. Are you serious? My husband is a great nurse and if I decided to sue the hospital for thier wrong doings no one should hold it against my hsuband who wouldn't be involved I could sue without my husband couldn't I? And to her comment about being happy and forgetting how Natalie came to this world because everything turned out good and she is safe- She is safe thanks to me taking vitamins, not drinking caffiene while pregnant and going to all my doctor visits- she was safe because of my efforts NOT the hospitals!!!! Sorry if I offeneded anyone with this post but I have been very forgiving to the nurse and hospital but it takes time to take memories that are scary and make them into happy ones, Natalies birth is special to me and dear to my heart I am thankful for her- I promise I am not some big Jerk I am just sick of feeling like I have to be hush hush about the event so that the hospital has a good name and people that make rude comments about crystal balls and threatening people with thier careers should not hold such high positions in hospitals especially the labor and delivery area because anyone with common sense doesn't need a crystal ball to know someone is in labor they just need to acutally listen to the patient!

Natalie's Blessing Day!

2010-06-20T22:37:00.000-07:00

Natalie Elizabeth Summers was blessed June 6th! Her DADDY did a great job blessing her and I am so thankful to have a husband that holds the priesthood and is worthy to give blessings!! We had planned on the weather being good so that we could set up a dinner in our backyard but I woke up Sunday morning to gray skies with rain! I was a little worried because we were planning on having a good amount of people over and they wouldn't all fit comfortably in our home. So I called my mommy and she said to set up tables in the garage-so we had to hurry and make the garage presentable.. But it all worked out really well. Thank you everyone who stood in the circle and supported Natalie on her special day! Thank you everyone for the yummy food and gifts and good company- We love all of you!!!!

Lunch with the girls, shots, and a circus

2010-06-14T20:24:00.001-07:00

I was invited to the Olive Garden for lunch with a bunch of girls that I went to Highschool with. It was fun to see how everyone was and catch up on where everyone lives and how many kids they have. Here are a few pictures sorry they are not the best-it was hard for the waitress to fit everyone in!

Last Monday (June 7th) was Natalie's 8 week check up. She weighed 10pounds and 2 and a half ounecs and was 22 inches long. It surprised me that she was only in the 30th percentile for weight because she seems so big to me. But that must be because she has chubby cheeks. Natalie choked on the oral vacine and cried during the shots but as soon as I nursed her she was as happy as could be.

There was a Circus last weekend at the Rexburg Fairgrounds. Ray, Mckell, Addison, Me, Linley, Carissa and Little Natalie all went. I hadn't been to a Circus in years and forgot how fun and expensive they are. I loved the Elephants-they are so cute but they looked sad. Linley's eyes were glued to all the different balancing acts-she was affraid that someone would fall so she sat in the bleachers biting her nails the whole time, it was kinda funny to watch how nervous she was.!. The girls also got to ride the Elephants I was glad to see them be so brave.

Memorial Day Weekend

2010-06-14T10:42:00.001-07:00

So my parents went to a concert in Boise for Memorial Weekend and Jake and I got to watch my little sister Carissa. We decided to go camping but the weather wouldn't cooperate so we just took a drive up to see Jake's parents in Rexburg and Linley and Carissa got bored so we hopped in the car and went to Mesa Falls. The Falls were so pretty and peaceful and the girls had a great time running around outside in the fresh air.

The next day we took another drive and went to West Yellowstone to see Old Faithful. We had a great time but it was pretty cold! We are just glad that we didn't get struck by lightning....

Busy Busy

2010-05-30T00:45:00.000-07:00

Between diaper changes

Swing time

Bath time

and nap time-We have been busy!

New babies have been born....

Jake's brother Cody and his wife Lindsey had their baby and named her Landyn-she is super duper cute! (Sorry if names are spelt wrong!
We have been able to hang out with family a lot and took some cute pictures of Natalie and Linley and cousins....

We noticed that Natalie was tongue tied and had to go get it clipped. I was scared and thought that it would hurt her ;( but she did great and didn't cry or bleed!
Little Lindsey turned 7 on the 26th-HaPpY bIrThDaY LiNdSeY

My little brother went to prom and he also graduated-We are so proud of you James-

Linley and Natalie and I were able to spend Thursday night up in Saint Anthony and go to the Fisherman's Breakfast-it was cold but fun and today (Saturday) My mom and lil sis Carissa came to Idaho Falls and went shopping for some summer clothes with us, ha I don't know if summer will ever come though!!
We plan on having a great summer this year hopefully hanging out with family a whole bunch because it will be our first summer that we have got to spend at home for a few years..Hurray!
So stay tuned for some Summers' Family Adventures!

Visiting Teaching

2010-05-19T18:52:00.000-07:00

I am about to do my visiting teaching and once again went to the fab vistingteachingtips.blogspot.com for ideas. The message this month is from the April 2010 General Conference talks. If you choose President Uchtdorf's conference talk to use for your visiting teaching message here is a cute handout idea-Free cute printable bookmarks.

Check out http://visitingteachingtips.blogspot.com for ideas! << I love that blog:)
Another cute website to check out if you like to do homeade crafts is http://www.skiptomylou.org. It has fun crafts for the kids too!

I finally made it

2010-05-10T00:13:00.000-07:00

Make a free digital slideshow

Oh baby

2010-05-09T23:50:00.000-07:00

Customize a digital slideshow

A collage for Linley

2010-04-30T23:48:00.000-07:00

These Collages are small but if you click on them you can view them a little bigger. I found a collage maker and you can do collages in a heart, square, or circle. I think they are cute! These are just practice ones, I want to do a collage of Linley and the baby for myself and for all the grandmas for mothers day-I will have to keep you posted on how it turns out...Super essy to do though!

Thank You!!!

2010-04-21T07:21:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to throw a HUGE THANK YOU!! to everyone for all the kind words and support and wonderful meals and love and prayers and gifts!!! I just want to cry because I am so thankful for everyone and all the help that has been given. I know that I havn't posted the delivery story yet but I just don't know what to say. One day I am hurt and mad and don't understand why it all happened the way it did and the next day I am thankful and feel blessed that it happened that way. So when I get my thought more together and feel that I can write about it without crying I will.

I took Natalie to her two week check up yesturday and she is doing great! She wieghs 8lbs and 2ounces. I love her so much, she is such a funny little girl with the loudest burps and farts possible for someone soo small-Okay I am sure that was to much info. She wakes up 3-5 times in the night to feed and has about two hours a day that she is fussy but other than that she is a really really good baby. She looks so much like her daddy- I call them the twins and he is very proud of her.

I know that this post is sort of all over the place but I just wanted to say that I am thankful for the gospel!! I know what we are taught is true and that we are capable of so much all we have to do is pray. I prayed and prayed and prayed so hard easter weekend I had so many promptings from the holy ghost and I know that angels were watching over me. I don't know why things happen the way they do sometimes but I feel that things do happen for a reason and we may not always have the answers or understand but we do have faith and that faith and prayer can get us through anything. But I won't bore you all with my testimony I just wanted to say how thankful I am for faith and prayer!!!

One last thing.. I had a really sore neck in the front on both sides when I was in the hospital and was told that I strained it from pushing since I was not propt up and didn't have stirrups or handles to hold while pushing, that made sense and the pain is now gone from the front of my neck, hurray! But now I can't move my neck from side to side it is so stiff and sore in the back right below my head. It feels like I slept on it wrong but I didn't and it has been hurting since friday. I was thinking maybe it is from my nursing position? Has any other mom had a really sore neck from nursing? I am going to keep my posture better and keep pillows around to help with support for nursing and use a heat pad for the next couple days to see if it helps. I just feel bad that i am taking so many Ibuprofen while nursing!! Anyway if I don't feel better in the next couple days I will go to the doctor, I just wanted to see if anyone else got a sore neck from nursing in the wrong position before I go run to the doctor. So any advice on this is welcome!!!!

Thanks!!

Natalie Elizabeth Summers

2010-04-18T18:45:00.001-07:00

Born April 5th at 7:05 a.m. 8lbs 20 inches

Happy Easter

2010-04-16T16:43:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday to the BEST MOM in the WORLD

2010-03-27T22:35:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday MOM!!!

I hope everyone can see,
What a great mom you’ve always been,
And how much you mean to me.

I always think about you,
In times both good and bad,
For the things you taught are with me,
In happy times and sad.

On your birthday I wish you joy,
Just like you pass around.
May all your good times multiply,
And happiness abound.

(By Karl Fuchs)

Just a little catch up

2010-03-27T22:01:00.001-07:00

Happy Late Saint Patrick's Day!
So here is a pic of Linley eating her green eggs and pancakes-I know it look gross but they were good!

Linley is my little photographer when it comes to my pregnancy photos. I am so thankful that I have her, I know she will be a great help with the baby! She already rubs my feet and even painted my toe nails the other day-Ha more like all my toes but hey it washes of skin right? So after it was all said and done they looked good. Here I am on Saint Patty's Day at 36 and a half weeks...

Jake's sister Candace gave linley a box of "stickers" fruit roll ups, I didn't realize why they were called "stickers" until I looked in the backseat at Linley, she is silly.

So Jake and I had spring break this last week, I had my baby shower last Saturday and got spioled rotten! Thank you everyone for everything and for all the support!!! I have been having panick attacks about going into labor without being ready but now I actually have a daiper bag packed and a car seat so I am feeling alot more prepared! I got so many cute blankets/burp clothes/outfits/a wipe warmer/diapers/wipes/lotions and lots more so again thank you everyone! I love you all!!
So about spring break? Jake got really bad Strep throat and had a constant fever, his antibiotics didn't work so he had to get a shot in his rear-Linley likes to tease him cuz he nearly jumped off the table and limped around for a little bit. Then they upped his dose of antibiotics and sent us home. He still kept fevering and wouldn't eat so he had to get an I.V. He must have been pretty dehydrated because his sister had to try 3-4 times to hit the vien right. He seemed to do alot better after that but he still isn't feeling himself. Poor guy!

And for the big news...............My doctor is starting me a week early!! I will know the exact date after my appiontment wenesday. HURRAY!!!!

2010-03-17T22:11:00.000-07:00

So Linley had a nightmare last thursday night, she came in on friday morning crying and all worried that the baby wouldn't like her. Apparently she had a nightmare that I had the baby and the baby was nice to me and Jake but everytime Linley held her she would throw up because she didn't like her. It really upset her badly, Linley already loves Natalie so much! She draws her pictures and today she wrote her a note saying that she loves her. She also likes to feel her kick, she is going to be a great big sister! But I also realize that Linley has been a single child for seven years and I am sure that having a baby sister is going to be an adjustment for her. So I was a bad mom and let Linley stay home from school to have a mommy daughter day. We danced to music and went out for pizza and just had fun spending time together just the two of us. Here are some pictures of her that day......

Also we finally put up the crib that Jake's parents bought for us...I will post some pictures of the finished project later, but here is Jake and Bernie hard at work

And last but not least here are some pictures of me at 35 weeks pregnant-warning!!! The following pictures are not that cute I was headed to bed so I am all scrubbed out

My little bookworm

2010-03-17T00:27:00.000-07:00

Linley has really stepped up the pace in reading this year! I am so proud of how far she has come. A couple weeks ago her school (Discovery) had a Barnes and Noble book fair, the kids got to preform a couple songs and then you could buy a book and a certain percentage would go to thier school for the funding of new books. Linley had a good time.

This is a couple pictures of me at like 32 weeks along. Yes, I cut my hair and I still don't know if I like it, hate it, or love it? I have just been so HOT lately and I had one of those feeling big and tired days and I wanted change so I cut it all off.
p.s. I know I said I would post more recent pictures but I am tired and my feet are swollen so I better get to bed.... I will post again soon-I go to the doctor tomorrow afternoon and they are going to see if I am dilated at all-Hurray!! Hopefully I am.. so wish me luck

Make it and love it!!

2010-03-16T21:47:00.000-07:00

So I added a new friend to my blog....makeitandloveit.blogspot.com. I found this blog while searching for a diaper and wipe case pattern to sew. I covered my first wipe case with zebra fabric and it is way cute but I needed to find a pattern for the diaper/wipe case to put it in. I found a pattern and this great blog. She has all sorts of great ideas of things to make-check out the flip flops that she dolled up -way cute-.. By the way I only have 3.5 weeks left until we meet baby Natalie!! Hurray! and I am charging my batteries to my camera so I can upload a few pictures later tonight to show how enormous I am getting so stay tuned...

2010-03-01T22:21:00.000-08:00

Ahhhhh! It's midterm week I have a test tommorrow and I was up all night and day with Linley because she had the flu. So of course I wasn't able to study and guess what? I caught the flu too! I am stressed! I don't want to re schedule the test because I will be studying wenesday for my thursday test and I don't have time to take it friday. Anyways I am sure it will all work out-I just had to vent for a sec before I try to study. But it is painful having the flu at 34 weeks along-so wish me luck this week!!!!!! :(

2010-02-14T20:33:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day!
My mom invited us up earlier in the week to decorate heart shaped sugar cookies for valentines. The girls had a good time and the cookies turned out super cute! I love my mom soo much and I am so thankful for her and her patience she is an amazing person.Valentine's Day was not to eventful for us this year as Jake was working (yes I know he is always working)so we decided to celebrate on Saturday and Jake took me to see Avatar-I loved it- except for the fact that my feet were pretty swollen by the time we got home. My parents kept Linley over night so Jake and I are just chilling watching t.v. and eating wings as I type. It is crazy how being pregnant really deflates on your energy and how the holidays are all spent just relaxing instead of being real eventful but I kinda like it that way for now. By the way I am 32 weeks pregnant today-I will have to get a few more pictures taken this week to show how big I have gotten. I am huge!!!! But I better get off the computer and go take some tums for my heartburn so I will have to post more later. Hope all is well for everyone!!

Prego

2010-02-14T20:04:00.000-08:00

So I havn't taken alot of pictures of me and my pregnant belly, I have just had alot on my mind and keep forgetting to have Jake take pictures of me but I have a couple from when I was 28 weeks along so here they are

January 12th our 2nd Aniversary

2010-02-14T19:51:00.000-08:00

Our aniversary was on a tuesday this year and both Jake and I had school and Linley had gymnastics that night so we didn't do a whole lot. I decorated the table all cute and we ordered pizza and watched our wedding video and that is pretty much all that we did but it was fun and we were able to just relax a bit. Here are a few pictures but beware we had been laying around taking it easy while waiting for the pizza so we look pretty hashed...

New Years Eve Pictures

2010-02-14T19:36:00.000-08:00

I havn't been in the mood to upload pictures until today so here are some from New Years Eve. We celebrated at My brother Raymond and his wife McKell's home. We ate way to much food and played games and watched t.v. and spent time together as a family.
Jake and I... I am about about 26 weeks pregnant here.

Mckell

Little Carissa being silly

My dad sleepin

My pretty mommy

Jake and I again

2010-01-01T00:28:00.000-08:00

Happy New Years Everyone!!!
I know it's like 1:30 in the morning and I am still up watching t.v. and stalking people's blogs. I have been in this phase of wanting to stay up way late. I am just glad that I am not in the constantly sleeping stage anymore ha and hopefully I will get out of the forgetful blonde stage too, but I don't think it's a stage of pregnancy more like my life. So if anyone drives by and sees that I have left my car running for hours on end again please feel free to hound me about it. I have seriously left my car running three times so far during the last few months but luckily my husband hasn't ever been around to know or he would tease me.

Now for the real reason I am blogging......
I just wanted to post what our new years goals are, I figure If I let them be known then I would be more likely to stick with them.
I have two goals the first is to have family home evening every monday night, I already try to but as of lately I have not been good to do it and I feel that it is important for my family and to teach Linley and our other children so when they get older they will do it with thier own families out of habbit, my second goal is to attend sacrament meating more-ahhh I know it is the most important meeting to go to, but it has been hard for me cuz I have to go alone so much with Linley always at her dad's and Jake always working so I just go to primary. But there is no excuse good enough for me not to attend so I will be going now!!!!!! okay now that I am ashamed I will move on to Jakes goal
He will be drinking less pop. I know it is hard to believe because pop is Jakes life line but that is what he said and if anyone knows Linley, they know she will hold him to it!
Linley's goal
Linley wants to brush her teeth more and put handsanitizer and lotion on everyday. I don't know about the handsanitizer and lotion goal because I just don't see her putting them on everyday but she got to choose her goals so what can a mother do. However I like the brushing her teeth Idea very much. Just so you all know she does currently brush just not as much as she should. Okay I am glad she isn't old enough to read this because she would be mad at me.
I hope everyone has a wonderful NEW YEAR, sorry to bore you all!!!
Goodnight-
p.s. I painted Linley's room pink last night while staying up late and it is umm very pinkalicious!!!

Random Acts of Kindness

2009-12-30T09:34:00.001-08:00

A Beautiful Act of Kindness:
This past Christmas Eve a woman had just finished checking out her tiems in the check out line of the Ammon Walmart. After she finished loading her cart she turned to a young couple and handed the young woman a gift card, she then said, " This is for you, think of it as a random act of kindness" Then before walking off she looked at the girl again and sad, " Heavenly Father is watching over you."
The woman had no idea who the young girl was or what she had been through in the last couple weeks,
Just less than two weeks before the girl woke up to her mother who was gasping for air. Her boyfriend called 911 as she preformed CPR on her mother, She tried and tried helplessly to save her but with little prevail. She sobbed and prayed as she heard her mother take her last breath.
He mother passed away from a heartattack at age 49, one day before her 50th birthday. I can't even imaginge how hard this Christmas has been for this young girl and her family. To open a package that was recenlty wrapped from your mother who had just past away, not being able to see her smile as you open it or to reach over and hug her and tell her thank you, or to be able to create new memories with her with each new holiday to come, Christmas would never be the same.
I am soo lucky to have both my parents and all the grandparents on both sides of my family!
I know that some people feel that the random act of kindness here was the $150.00 gift card, to me I feel the real act of kindness was in the womans words that were said to the young girl "Heavenly Father is watching over you." It is amazing to me that of all the people at Wal-mart that day the card and the words were given to this young woman who really needed to hear them at that exact time.
I know our Heavenly Father watches over us, we may feel lonely at times but he is always there we just need to reach out to him, and listen for times that we can reach out to others with his love.
I know that my brother and his girlfriend are truelly thankful for this random act of kindness this past Christmas Eve!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We never know who our kindness touches............................................................................

2009-12-28T20:58:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures of Linley in her Christmas dress. I actually took them a couple weeks before Christmas so I could use them on our Christmas card, I think they turned out really good

The Nutcracker Ballet

2009-12-06T15:44:00.000-08:00

So yesturday Linley and I went with my parents and little sister to the Nutcracker ballet. Linley has been in a very talkative mood the last few days, it drives me crazy sometimes. So I was worried that she would talk the whole preformance, ha but to my surprise she was really really good! She sat on the edge of her seat watching with her big brown eyes, smiling and making all sorts of cute faces as she watched. It was cute and the preformance was amazing! Before we left Jake snapped this picture of Linley kissing my belly-just thought I would share........

We are having....

2009-11-30T19:13:00.001-08:00

A baby GIRL!!!

Hurray! Last monday we went in for my 20 week ultrasound, everything looked great and we found out we are having a GIRL! I was and am still very happy- I would have been happy if she had been a boy too, but it is just so exciting and fun to know the gender and that she was healthy. We went to the mall afterword to pick out a first outfit and it was alot harder than I thought it would be. There were to many cute outfits but we ended up just getting a five pack of pink and brown undershirts. I am getting way excited about decorating bedrooms. I told Linley that if we were having a girl we would update her room. Her room is done in butterflies in pastel colors and I have been wanting to give her room a more grown up look so since we are having a girl, I will move all Linley's old things to the baby room and do Linley's room in the paris/french style with a bit of Zebra print mixed in. It will be way cute, but with Christmas right around the bend I am sure the rooms wont get done for a couple months. I will be sure to take pictures to show how both rooms turn out. Oh by the way my due date is anywhere between April 7th-April 14th. I am very very behind on my blog-our internet had some problems and wouldn't let anything on my blog save. Now that it is fixed I will start blogging more often. Below are some ultra sound pictures.... The first ones are from my 9wk ultra sound and the rest are from last week! Hope all is well for everyone!!!!
9 weeks

20 weeks, but measuring at 21 weeks....
This is the baby's head, notice the placenta in in the front and she was hiding behind it the whole time.

ha she is definately a girl!! Here are her parts to prove it...

her foot...

Last but not least..this one is a little fuzzy, but its her head, neck and abdomen

Sorry the pictures are not that great, I used my camera to take a picture of the ones the lady gave me. But I still think they are cute!!

Bloggers Block

2009-08-14T09:42:00.001-07:00

Wow I keep getting further and further behind on my blog! I wanted to catch you all up on the last few weeks of my summer in Baltimore for instance; Jake's 27th Birthday in New York with our crazy ghetto hotel and our trips to six flags and the beach, but if that all happened weeks ago no one cares.. right? So I will just move right on. I have been having a great time back in Idaho! I love how the skies are so much more blue and it is not so humid so my sinuses are thanking me! We have been doing a lot of fun things like going to rodeos, parades, the dance festival, huckleberry picking, making zucchini bread, swimming, family reunions, celebrating birthdays, and etc. Also my biggest hurray is that Jake gets home pretty soon, we all start school again in a week and a half so he gets to come home early and I am way excited! I miss him a lot and I am glad the summers away from him are over. Well, I am babysitting so I better go check on the kids right now. Have a good rest of the week!!

Just a little pond but a lot of pictures

2009-07-26T22:27:00.001-07:00

Just across the street from our apt was a little path that you could walk on and enjoy the scenery of large trees, rocks, and a pond. Lin and I decided to take a walk there one day and just take pictures and relax, so that is exactly what we did.

Independence Day

2009-07-26T19:12:00.001-07:00

For the Fourth of July Linley and I made some cupcakes to decorate with red/white/and blue icing. We had Kami and Kayden come frost them with us and it was fun to see what the kids came up with. Linley made a flag cupcake and used enough frosting to do a whole cake. We also went to the parade in Towson, Baltimore-That is the town we lived in. The parade was really long but it was good. That night we all rode the bus into the Inner Harbor of Baltimore to see the fireworks. We chose to watch them from a big hill looking out over the harbor and the view of the buildings and water was breathtaking. The view of the fire works though was not that great-the fireworks went off from two different places and from where we sat we either had to go clear to the right of the hill or clear to the left of the hill and it was hectic. I am sure the fireworks were awesome if we had sat in a different spot but, we tried and I think Linley had fun so thats what matters-right??

Just an UPDATE

2009-07-15T17:16:00.001-07:00

I guess it is time for an update to my highly put off blog. I really don't mean to never post but I always have to wait for a computer to come available and when one does I have to put homework first-dang it!! j/k. (But I still make the time to check out everyone Else's) Well even though it is just the middle of the summer I somehow feel that it is winding down to the end to quickly for me. I think it is because I have to take Linley back to Idaho to see her dad on the 23rd. I am very excited to go home to Idaho and see all my friends and family but I hate leaving Jake and since we were not able to come out to Baltimore until mid-June this year I feel rushed to go do everything I can while I am here. I still want to go to ocean city and to Washington D.c. one last time. Jake and Linley and I are planning a little trip to New York at the end of the week (for is 27th B-day!)and I am very excited about it! Central Park here we come! N-e-ways, Jake and I decided that since he will be starting school in the fall, that it is probably wise that I stay in Idaho to save money- instead of getting another set of round trip tickets for just two weeks back out here to see him. I will be very Happy next year when Jake gets to spend all summer with us in Idaho instead of having to go slave away in the heat selling security!! Just as a warning I am sure that next week I will have a major picture overload for you all-I have taken many pictures of the fun things we have done lately and I of course will want to share them-so when you see a post titled "4th of July" I hope you realize I am not crazy but that I am back home and can upload all my pictures safely. Well I keep rambling on and on and I could keep going but I am sure you are all busy-so have a great-fun-crazy-busy-lazy-hazy week and I will see some of you soon!!

Father's Day!

2009-06-30T13:02:00.001-07:00

On Father's Day we went to the National Zoo- we had a ton of fun!! I am soo thankful to have Jake in mine and Linley's life! He is such a great example to us. Linley gets all wound up and excited for him to come home everynight. The bad thing is he doesn't get home until really late so we end up staying up way past what her bed time should be. She says that Jake is way more fun than I am because he lets her climb on him and werestle arround with him. I don't like wrestling around so I am glad that she has him to do it with. Linley is very lucky to have two dads in her life and both of them bring her joy and teach her many different valuable things. So thank you both!

Baltimore/Maryland

2009-06-30T13:01:00.001-07:00

We are finally here! So I have been here just over 3 weeks and it has been raining most of the time. Linley's favorite part about traveling back east for the last couple summers is swimming at the pool almost everyday. But we can't swim in the rain so here Linley is in our big bath tug with her floaty pretending she is at the pool. She actually stayed in the bath for 2 hours!
I know that is crazy but she had fun.

When Linley was just over a year old she had gotten in to my mascara and it was all over her face, since then she hasn't been very interested in wearing my makeup- ha but that has changed! I keep going into my bathroom to find powder everywhere! So whe
n jake came home the other night and asked Linley what was on her lips I just ignored their little conversation cuz I thought it would just be lipstick. But to my surprise silly little Linley had "accidently" put blue marker on her lips, I know it wasn't funny, but every time I looked at her it made me laugh.
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We have been hanging out with a really nice girl, Jennifer Wiser for the last couple weeks. here are some pictures of her daughter Allie and Linley playing at a park near by.
Well, that is it for now-Have a great week everyone!!!

Blogging

2009-06-29T13:05:00.000-07:00

I am not able to post much onto my blog lately because I do not have my own computer out here. So I will try to post pictures and posts whenever I can-Sorry! I hope everyone is having a great SUMMER!

Good Bye!

2009-06-22T14:41:00.001-07:00

My mom took Lin and I out to eat for a little goodbye outing, I just thought I would share a couple photos;

Packing

2009-06-08T22:03:00.000-07:00

AHHHHH!! It's time to pack to leave for the SuMmUr!!

Linley spent last week with her real dad, so without her the house was way too quiet(I know is it really possible?). I decided to spend a few days in Saint Anthony with my parents. During those few days we went to ball games and played at the Rexburg spray park and stayed up late watching movies. Then my sister Rachel and my sister- in-law Mckell and I went to dinner and had a girls night out at the outback. We decided to do things backwards and ordered our desert first then our appetizer and then dinner. Ohh.. we were soo stuffed before our dinner even arrived, but it was fun to try something different. Then on Saturday I went with Jake's family to Jackson to swim- we had a ton of fun going down the slides and spending time together.

I finally get to fly out to see my sweetheart on Wednesday! I have been packing a little here and a little there and suddenly I realized holy moly I better get on the ball. So tommorow and Wednesday are going to be very busy days full of cleaning and organizing and packing and last minute yard work.

We are thinking that this will be our last year with APX and that leaves me with very mixed emotions. I have had a blast leaving for the last 3 summers and I have seen and experienced soo much. But since both Jake and I will be done with school this year we feel that it's time to move on and settle down a bit more. bitter/sweet? Who knows?
I better get back to my homework assignment but I will try to post some good bye pics soon.!.

Carissa

2009-06-08T21:49:00.000-07:00

Okay, so while visiting with my Aunt Shawnae about our blogs she pionted out to me that I had posted that Carissa is Linley's cousin (In Linley's graduation post). Carissa is NOT Linley's cousin, she is her AUNT!

Carissa is my little sister-She was born the day before I turned 17. I know it's crazy! She is such a great sister and aunt to all the COUSINS. I am very thankful that even though she was born way too late for me to play with-she can play with Linley who loves and adores her!!!

Here is a few pictures of Carissa at her game last wk. She cracked me up because she kept spinning circles and dancing and jumping and doing everything but paying attention to what was going on. I guess she is more like me than I knew ( I sucked at sports-I was always scared of the ball).

Graduation

2009-06-01T10:22:00.000-07:00

Linley's Kindergarten Graduation!!

Well, Summer is officially here!
Linley Graduated Kindergarten this last Wednesday night. I am soo proud of her! She learned alot this last year and made soo many new friends and she loved her teacher Mrs. Davenport. I threw her a mini party right before her graduation with pizza and some family. While the adults were all eating Linley and her cousin Carissa snook off to her room and on the way to her school Linley showed me what she and her cousin had been doing while in her room. They had made Mrs. Davenport a thank you note. Linley can write a little but not much soo she told Carissa what to write. It said something like this. "Teacher I like you, Thank you teacher. I love you, you did a good job, I will miss you." It was in cute little kid sloppy hand writing, I thought it was soo sweat it melted my heart because it was her own words and Idea. I had originally wanted to get her teacher something nice and special for Linley to give her on her last day of school. I decided not to though because that note was way more special than something bought at the store.
K is for Kindergarten---hip, hip, hooray.

I is for imagination we use everyday.

N is for numbers—we know one, two, three.

D is for drawing, the best you can see!

E is for exercise to keep our bodies strong.

R is for reading books all day long.

G is for good friends. We made more each day.

A is for the alphabet we know how to say.

R is for remembering everything we learned.

T is for treats every Friday we earned.

E is for excitement. This year we've had some.

N is for next year.