Lydia Jane's 4th Birthday!

Happy 4th Birthday, Lydia! What a sweet girl you are and what a joy you are to have in our family! There's not a day that goes by that I don't reflect on how grateful I am to have you. I love your energy and your buoyant spirit. You have such an excitement for life!

The blanket is how Jon wrapped Lydia's present.

A new big girl bike!

Jon was gone to Alaska on Lydia's actually birthday so we celebrated before he left and then again on her birthday in Washington at Grandma's.

The party kids... Lydia, Kira, Emma, Anikah, Alayna (Karen's daughter), and Hyrum

Unfortunately for my kids I'm not much of theme birthday person. This year I did however try. My sister and I made this Tinkerbell/fairy cake, the girls made fairy necklaces and each left with a fairy skirt (tutu).

For presents Lydia got a few barbies, princess dominoes, water paints, and a sleepy beauty toy set. She had a great time celebrating her birthday with her cousins.

Later that night I took the kids to Chuck E Cheese for dinner and fun. My parents worked at the Temple that night so instead of spending the evening by ourselves we went out and had some fun. Taunya and her kids and Dustin and Andrea and their kids joined us.

Sheer Exhaustion...

...is what overcomes Hyrum when his Dad takes him hunting. This was antelope hunting and much less strenuous than deer or elk hunting.

yep, this is Hyrum taking a nap as I am putting a stalk on some antelope. notice he has his bow and release ready in case of an antelope encounter. that is a small pillow under his head but the pillow is placed right on top of a cow patty.

Ok, I (Jon) had to add a few pictures to this post. this is some awesome country the family went camping at it was way back in. Fellow hunters couldn't believe Rachel and the kids came out with me. they were quite jealous.

A nice antelope buck and doe

A smaller buck

Here is my hunting partner Hyrum videoing Dad put a stalk on a couple of nice antelope 75 yards away.....stalk unsuccessful.

Ultrasound

These are some pictures from our ultrasound today. They're both profile shots and in this bottom one the baby has his/her arm over their face and a hand on their forehead. We decided since we haven't found out with the previous two what we were having we'd keep it going. We'll all be surprised in January!

Jon's 33rd Birthday

Jon with the kiddos and Trevor before opening his presents. We stayed home and had fajitas for dinner and zucchini brownies and ice cream for dessert. He spent the weekend before his birthday out antelope hunting.

Lydia must have taken this picture without me knowing. I found it when I downloaded the photos. This is me at 19 weeks.

Boise and Tucanos

Jon received a buy one get one free coupon for his birthday at popular Brazilian restaurant in Boise so we all enjoyed a good meal before Jon attended a session at the Temple while the kids and I hung out.

I am the worst at closing my eyes during pictures!

The kids on the beautiful Temple grounds

Backpacking to Long Lake

We decided to bite the bullet and give backing into a high mountain lake a try. We haven't backpacked since before we had Hyrum and it's an activity we enjoy quite a bit. Thankfully, the first 5 miles of the trek can be made by 4wheeler and only the last mile and a half or so have to be hiked. The kids did a great job and Hyrum even carried a light pack.

Lydia was super excited to sleep in a tent. It's hard to believe all she's known is trailer camping!

The evening was a little chilly and lots of mosquitoes. The fire helped with both. Neither Jon or I slept much that night. We've come to terms with the fact that we're just a tad spoiled by our trailer, and little mummy bags on a thermarest don't work. Being pregnant and not feeling too well, and worrying about the kids getting cold added to my insomnia. Fortunately, the kids slept well.

This lake we went to is supposedly a "trophy" lake but we didn't have much luck fishing. Hyrum caught a big one out in the float tube with Jon but unfortunately it broke his 4 lb test. Hyrum was really upset.

As a side note, the pack I had to carry was so heavy I couldn't even lift it. Jon had to lift it up for me to put on. Probably not the smartest thing being 4 months along and completely out of shape! However, it was so nice to finally get out and get a little exercise after being sick and indoors all summer.

Tubing, Fishing & Home Depot

Saturday morning Jon took the kids to Home Depot to make little wooden boats. They really enjoy the projects HD offers, especially Lydia.

Oops! Hyrum must have hammered his thumb!

Later that day we went out to Mann's Creek for some tubing and fishing. Although our boat is not technically a "ski" boat, my talented husband has found a way for it to be so. The other week was our youth boating activity and we were short boats so Jon volunteered to bring ours. He had some kind members of our Bishopric offer to be the guinea pigs as he tried the boat out for the 1st time as a "ski" boat and it actually worked!

Although there aren't any pictures to prove it, I rode on the tube also. Jon had no mercy for his 4 month pregnant wife and he tried hard to dump me. I guess I drive too nicely... the difference between men and women!

Earlier in the week....

Jon took the kids and some friends from Weiser out tubing and fishing.

My 31st Birthday

My birthday was very low key this year. Mainly due to pregnancy nausea. We went camping with my family last weekend at Emigrant Springs and my parents offered to keep my kids for the week because I'll be heading back up there tomorrow for a wedding reception. It was nice to relax and sleep today and not have to worry about the kids. I watched an old Audrey Hepburn movie I borrowed from a friend and after work Jon and I went out to dinner. Definitely not the most exciting birthday but considering my condition it wasn't too bad. My family did a little celebration for me last weekend with cupcakes and cobbler and gifts. One thing I should note is that Jon bought me a new purse for my birthday. I've been using the same purse since the summer of 2000. My cousin brought it back from Ecuador with her. I'm not big on change so I just kept using it though it's time expired long ago. I am proud to say I finally laid it to rest! The other notable gift was from my friend Lisa. She brought me a bag of snacks from the Health Food Store. Perfect for a pregnant sick women!