Pony Express Days Parade?

Tyler liked the army guys and the guns.

Gabe just got some candy - Max just liked being outside.

Characters are always fun - Haleigh liked the bagpipers.

Tyler, "are we done yet?" - Hooray I got candy!

Cosmo showed up :) - Just hanging around

Max, just happy to be alive - Haleigh and Cadence spotting the parade coming our way, finally!

The question I am still asking myself... was it really worth the wait? For the kids, probably. For all the rest of us - nope. We waited for about 1 1/2 hours for the parade to reach us, then we watched for another 1 1/2, and it wasn't all that great. :( Maybe if we hadn't waited before it started it would've felt more worth it. I think I should put in a complaint. My kids were actually really good - considering. They did get candy, which is essentially what made it worth it for them. We had a couple of cool floats, and some characters, but nothing to get too excited about. However, when it was over Haleigh exclaimed, in her not so quiet voice, "Mom, that was the best parade ever!" This was her first parade, but she still thought it was the best. The boys weren't so exuberant. They were just happy they got something out of it. (candy, toothbrush, candy...) We sat by the Cannon and the Reyes families, so that totally made Haleigh's day, since she adores Cadence and Isabela. They were passing the time "whistling" and stepping into the street to see if it was coming yet - which you will see from the pictures. There was also a helicopter giving rides and the girls would all look up and point and my boys got annoyed by this after the third time of Haleigh saying, "There's another helicopter!" (she wouldn't listen to their pleas about the fact that is was indeed the SAME helicopter) Later that night we let the kids, "stay up" to watch fireworks. Unfortunately they didn't even start until after 11:00 and Haleigh was the only one half awake to see them. Even I dozed on and off. Ah well. If someone from the Pony Express Days committee is reading this, you may want to do some things differently next year. At least the kids don't mind the lameness, for now. :) At least I have my pictures and my memories. (even if some are of us all waiting, and waiting, and waiting)

A Rainy Memorial Weekend

Roger setting up the tent.

Shucking the corn for dinner. :)

Cutest baby ever!!!
The kids did their version of "Narnia" to pass the time. :)

So, I'm not going to pretend that I am not behind. I am just going to plow forward with May's events and hope to not get too behind in June's events during this process. I have some pics from Memorial weekend and our "attempted" camping trip... See, we went camping with my parent's and our friends (& family;) the Becksteads at my parent's stake property in Indianola... SOOO fabulous! Greatest campsite/facility ever and I was stoked since we were the only ones that were going to be there! We got there Friday night, set up camp and started some dinner. That was the night the rain started. It rained off and on through the next morning, then it pretty much never stopped after lunch on Saturday. At least it was endurable until the downpour. It rained, and rained and rained... ok so you get the picture. If you ask my husband he'll say that I am famous for being over-prepared. This time I was over-prepared for a summer camp - not a mid-fallish with rain camp. It got cold and wet and my kids were full of mud and everything was damp. Don't get me wrong, they were sad to leave even when they couldn't feel their fingers! :) It was a memory and we will probably try it again some time since the campsite had a sweet pavillion, a firepit and the best part - FLUSHING toilets!!! My parent's got some great "muddy pics" but my camera died in the morning.(Haleigh full on plowed into the mud - she has my grace you see) :( The saddest thing is that we had put tons of preparation into this camp. My mom had brought loads of great activities and fun things for the kids and we had sat down and planned out these yummy meals - which we were able to have a couple of at least. We were going to stay Friday through Monday and by Saturday night we knew we had to leave. (no dry clothes being the #1) One plus is that we did get to do s'mores on Friday night - YUMMY! That is the best part of camp. ;)

Slacker

So, I have decided blogging is just not what I do these days. My life is devoted to house and children and once in a while I get to the computer to check email and facebook. Rarely get to blogger. It is not that I don't want to... I just have too much to say and feel so behind that I get overwhelmed getting on. So, what I am saying is that I am not sure how much I will continue to blog, but I was never deep or intellectual about it anyways. It has always been for the benefit of posting and showing off pictures of my kids. So, maybe I'll get here once in a while. I just need to be more attentive to other things in my life right now. Here are some recent pics of the kids never before posted. Love you all!!!

Super cute Easter pics

Cutie pie Max looking like a big boy on his first Easter!

Haleigh running away from me as I am trying to get her wearing her gorgeous peach dress

Our family, looking all "peachy" - I know, what a sickening punn.

Our attempt at an outside photo - this isn't the best one, I actually meant to put the other one on, but oh well. It is a memory I suppose...

hope you had a happy Easter!

Absent

So, I have been gone from blogging for a month now. Time is valuable and I don't get to the blogging world like I used to. So, as you can imagine a lot goes on in a month, but I will do the "big mac recap" as best I can without getting too wordy. ;) I have chosen to blog about 2 things: Pre-Easter festivities and Easter Egg Hunt. Easter Sunday, and Max(FINALLY!) will have to wait. Mostly I will have pictures to view and little captions explaining them. So, hope you enjoy the things you've missed. :)

1) - We took a pre-Easter trip to Roger's parent's in St. George. It was nice and relaxing to do over conference weekend. Here are some picutres of the weekend we spent there.

First picture: Max playing with a slinky, he actually quite enjoyed it.

Haleigh eating a sucker next to the pinata Roger's Mom and I made for the kids :)

Gabe making gross noises into the walkietalkie that he and Tyler played with while we were there.

Tyler with the dogs, Abby and Martha. They loved each other! :)

Next, Easter Egg hunt... The Easter bunny comes on Saturday for our family;) We went to my parent's house in South Jordan, where the bunny left the kids' Easter "spoils." I say spoils because boy were they spoiled!!! (as you will see in the pictures) It was a little chilly but still fun!

Tyler got hooked up with the "blue" stuff this year!

Haleigh looked super cute in her dress and she got all the pink she could possibly want! :)

Max was happy just chewing on a toy still wrapped in a bag!

Gabe looking a little "green" after pounding down some candy right away.




I have decided the rest of the Easter pics will have to wait. I am out of time for today. So, the WAY cute ones are on the way, just gotta be patient with me. Happy belated Easter everyone!

Gag Reflex

Ok, I don't know what it is with my kids and their gag reflex but I swear it is stronger than most! I think Gabe is the only one who hasn't truly dry heaved in his entire life. Even our baby has shown early "easily gagged" signs! Tyler is our CLASSIC and most EASILY gagged child. If you even put a piece of pork on his plate look out! We can't decide if he really has a choice or if it just comes naturally to him to be able to dry heave when there is something in front of him that he would rather not eat. However, I am getting off the subject of this particualr entry. Haleigh had NEVER shown signs of being easily grossed out enough to dry heave/gag... until she decided to be a big helper and feed max his rice cereal mixed with formula and applesauce. Holy Cow! That girl can GAG! It was quite comical at the time. She took the spoon and started to feed him, then out of no where she dry heaves! NO IDEA where they get it from, but it is just crazy to me. And all she says is, "Yuk, I don't like baby sauce!" Then, she would CONTINUE feeding him, just to be GAGGED again! Silly girl. It was a noble effort, but she didn't last too long so I finished the feeding while she stood to the side, looking like she was holding back a gag. SIGH. Hopefully her stomach gets stronger as time goes on. But only time will tell. Hopefully these pictures give you some of the effect of the event as it occured. (Of course I had to get my camera out for it)

BEAUTIFUL

Tyler and Daddy in their baptismal jumpsuits, very stylish! :) Isn't he just glowing?

Grandpa Doug Deming, Tyler and Grandma Pat Deming

Aunt Peggy Deming and Grandma Heidi Martell - the two who made my stress level a lot less!Mommy, Tyler and Daddy after he was baptized and confirmed - we are so proud of him!

Yesterday afternoon my first child, my little Tyler, was baptized. I knew it was an important day. I tried to make everything just right and perfect. I wish I had stopped to think for more than a second that he would officially be a member of the church. I was busy running around getting him ready and getting things ready for the luncheon that was to follow the baptism. I let myself get so wrapped up in these aspects that the spiritual nature of the event was being drowned out. (good practice for the other 3) Once we got into the chapel and I looked up and saw my wonderful husband and my precious boy all in white it hit me. We had to share the program with 2 other children which made it a little bigger and louder, unfortunately. But, you do what you can. We had to take turns at the font. When we went in I helped all the children to the front and then Tyler and Roger walked down into the water and he beamed. It was BEAUTIFUL!There is no possible words to describe the beauty of it. Roger said the words for the baptism and then immersed Tyler in the water and I cannot explain how strong the spirit was when he came back up. AMAZING! I was brought immediately to tears without any warning. I will never forget the spirit of that moment. My son had chosen to be a member of Heavenly Father's church and I was so pleased with him and his good choice. All the morning's preparation was not important at that moment. My son and his decision and our family being together forever were, in that moment, all there was... and it was BEAUTIFUL and PERFECT. I love you Tyler! I am so happy that you and your AMAZING spirt are part of our eternal family. **A special thanks to my mother, who makes everything she touches AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL! I could not have done it without her. And thanks to Amy Jo for the AWESOME video she put together of the kids! And to Peggy for her willingness to help with all the kids and run errands and pick up last minute items - you are the BEST. And last but definately not least, thank you to ALL my family and friends who helped and participated in several different ways - you ROCK! :) Right at this moment, life seems BEAUTIFUL to me...