Our Country's Birthday

The 4th of July could very well be my most favorite family holiday. I've been polishing up on my understanding of this wonderful country this past year, and boy oh boy, do I have a love that is just growing and growing for this land. Hannah asked me yesterday why we celebrate the 4th of July, (such a thinker she is). She knows that the symbol of our country is the Eagle, and that it represents freedom and that the flag is our symbol of freedom too. (I was shocked that she knew about the eagle as she didn't learn that at home). Susan and I told her that the 4th of July is our country's birthday and we celebrate because we are so thankful to those who fought, both then and now, so we can continue to celebrate our freedoms here.
Hannah drew this picture of our flag. It says, "In Lehi, Utah. The symbol of our Country".

As has been our tradition in our neighborhood for the past 4 years, we celebrated with a carnival that could rival anywhere you'd have to pay top dollar for. We had bounce houses, the traditional dunk tank and train rides, snow cones, face painting, pie eating contest, BBQ, bonding with neighbors and friends, and of course, front row seats to Thanksgiving Points fireworks.

 This was Hannah favorite attraction this year.  Nathan did it one time, but his favorite was the many bounce houses.

Brave Boy!

  Addy Troxel and Hannah....and Kanoa!

 Chadley, Hannah, Grace

 Abigail's "bff" Owen.

 Our face painters

 Snake face

 Butterfly face

 Abigail, Kamryn, Nathan

 Carlee's family: Beckham, Brett, Car, Hayden.....and Lydia.

My friend texted this picture to me while I was inside my house feeding Joe. Hmm.....think she's watched me a few times? Love this girl and love her serious face for this picture. It is after all serious business. Aren't you all impressed with how perfectly placed her baby is? Apparently she even handed her baby to Owen, who is behind her, so he could burp the baby and then he promptly handed her back so Abigail could finish feeding on the other side. Smart girl!

Grace and Eliza

Lydia and Nathan

Darling Eliza

 This is what I get for cheering him on... Kissed!

Sparklers!!!!

Happy Birthday America! Land that I LOVE!!!!

*not pictured is a perfect, wonderful, precious baby boy that slept inside most of the day and whose mother completely forgot to take a picture of.
**Happy Birthday sister Robin!

We are welcoming the awkward years!

Still a sweet beauty.

 I'm loving all her freckles.

One Month Old

I have a one month old. Unbelievable! In some ways I feel like he's been here for much longer, but then I can't believe how fast it's gone by either. We sure love him and love having him around. He brings a sweetness to our family and it is so fun to see the kids learning things like, being soft, talking quiet, even cooing at their little brother. Joe is pretty happy to be here too I think. He is generally a very happy baby. I'm thrilled that he's a good eater and good sleeper. In just a month he's changed so much. I'm pretty sure he's gaining weight faster than any of my other babies did and yesterday he rolled over from his tummy to his back. At first I thought maybe it was a fluke, but he's done it twice. I am not pleased.  Don't grow up too fast!  He has a strong neck and when I have him on his tummy he pushes off with his feet and lifts his whole body up. Crazy! I'm taking way too many pictures of him, but I can't help it. He's so adorable! Today he gave me all kinds of smiles, but rather than grabbing my camera, I just soaked them all in and cood and smiled right back.

So, I'm no photographer and sure would love to get some great pictures of him soon. These were taken with my i-phone.

Sometimes someone else says it better

Found this on a blog and laughed out loud and could completely relate.

How to burp a new baby

• Step 1: Nurse them really good to relieve any engorgement.
• Step 2: Burp them in all the traditional ways -over the shoulder or on your lap.
• Step 3: Because you were unsuccessful, hold them in an upright position patting their back until they or you fall asleep.
• Step 4: Because it is the middle of the night, lay them back down in bed and crawl in yourself.
• Step 5: Pretend you’re asleep. Wait patiently for 1 to 2 minutes. Baby will begin to whine and fuss.
• Step 6: Pick baby up and a large boisterous burp will come out. This method never fails.
• Step 7: Now that baby is fully awake and will want to be topped off start over at step 1. 

And here is a few pictures of my Joe at some point in the night. Love this little stinker!

 A perfect Angel!

A few things

Thing #1: Hannah lost another tooth. This time it was the front top tooth. She now has an adorable little lisp and a giant space.

Also worth mentioning, the other night Aaron was reading the scriptures to the kids before bedtime. We never know how much they are actually listening. He was reading to them from 3rd Nephi when the Savior blesses the children and then he discussed with them a little more in depth about this event in the Book of Mormon. After scriptures, we said our family prayer. We noticed that Hannah was crying during the prayer so I asked her what was wrong afterwards. She said that she loved listening about the Savior and the children and that she was feeling so good inside. We told her that the Spirit was touching her and letting her know that the things we read from the scriptures are true and that the reason she was feeling that way was because the Savior loves her too. It was a sweet experience for us all.

Thing #2: Joseph has broken into a rash all over his adorable little face.

Does he look annoyed or what? His sleeping cycle is hit or miss most days. Night before last he had a rough night, but then last night he slept amazing! Go figure. He's precious and I adore him to pieces. The rash is supposedly due to my hormones. Sheesh! at least it is supposed to be short lived. I wonder if it's as painful as it looks.

Thing #3: When the kids fight (which has been a lot lately) they get to work it out together on our repentance chair. It doesn't always work as you can see from this picture of Nathan and Hannah.

Not a whole lot of love or repenting going on here.

Joseph's Birth Photos

Thanks to my sister, Carlee, who was able to capture our intimate (yet not too intimate) experience of Joseph's birth. Thanks so much Carlee Anne!

Dr. Aagard. The BEST OB I've had so far!