Ed's 32nd Birthday!

The day I got back from vacation (Labor Day) was Ed's birthday. We got in at 5:30 that morning and then didn't get home from the airport until 7:30. Everyone was so so tired so we all napped until like 2:30 (including the baby).
Once we were up and awake everyone was still so jet lagged that Ed didn't get much of a party! I did get him a new watch while on vacation and his mom came over for dinner and brought a cake with her. Poor him, maybe next year I will plan something really fun to make up for this year! Sorry Ed :(

I tried several times to get a picture of the 4 of them with everyone actually looking at the camera. It was quite a challenge! HA HA!
















































GOT IT!!!!!!!

More from our Utah trip....

The morning after we got there, we took the kids down to the parkway for a walk alnog the trails. Jillian was really cranky on this morning. I think she must have had a little case of jet lag because after she caught up on her sleep she was so good for the rest of the trip!

Later in the day, we got a hip hop dance lesson from Addyson. She loves to have dance offs with her cousin Whitnie. Whitnie is almost 21 but somehow Addyson always wins!! :)























Our cousin Kia came to visit and the next day we all headed to the water park!
















































We met up with Jenny's friend Jacey along with her nieces and nephew. These were just about the nicest most polite kids I have ever met!!! Not to mention so so cute!























Alexis and Jake got the courage up to go down this huge water slide. Jake went up but never made it down. Turns out he didn't weigh enough so he got to the huge dip and was on his way back up but didn't have enough momentum to get him back over the hill! Next it was Alexis' turn and as we watched she went down and then back up to the top of the hill and then literally clawed her way over the top and slide the rest of the way down. It was hilarious to watch!














































In this picture, Addyson remind me so much of her dad. She has all of his same facial expressions!!
















































I think this was the most fun we had the whole time we were there. All of the kids got along well and there was plenty to keep them entertained!! Fun Fun day!!!

Bus stop

Ok just want to see what other people's opinions are about something I'm nervous about. This year the bus stop for Alexis (who is 11 and in 6th grade) is about 3 blocks from our house which would mean she would have to walk out of our development on to the sidewalk of a busy high way and 2 streets down to catch the bus. I'm thinking in the winter it will still be dark when she leaves to catch the bus, so today I decided that I will just drive her in to school everyday. Who thinks I'm crazy and that she is old enough to go alone? Does anyone agree with me that that is ridiculous to have her walk in the dark three blocks away alone? I know I'm a paranoid mom, but I also think I don't want to treat her like a baby. If you are reading this please let me know what your thoughts are!!!

Back to School

School started today and it was Alexis' first day in middle school (gulp). I was so much more nervous than she was. We were talking this morning as I was helping her get ready and I was asking her if she felt nervous about today. All she said was why? There isn't anything to be nervous about! I was so nervous this morning for her to go that I thought for sure I would throw up on the drive over to drop her off! I kept thinking what if she can't find her classes or what if someone is mean to her? You know this is about the age when all of the catty girl stuff starts. I so hope she never gets involved in that! I can not believe how old she looks in these pictures from this morning! I absolutely LOVE the clothes she picked out this year. Not to girly but for the first time ever, we didn't shop in the boys section!! YEA!!!

Since Alexis had to be to school so much earlier than Marissa this year when I had them do my annual "first day of school" pictures her hair wasn't even done. She was barely dressed yet! This morning was a little hectic with the girls leaving at different times, I can't imagine what next week will be like when I have to go back to work and get everyone off in the morning including dropping Jillian off at daycare!

Marissa waiting at the bus stop. How cute is she! Big 3rd grader this year!

And of course Jillian at the bus stop still in her PJ's watching Marissa leave. I was also still in my pajamas, if I looked this cute just rolling out of bed I may have posted one of myself, but of course that's not going to happen!! LOL

I can NOT wait for everyone to get home today to see how it went. Especially Alexis!!

Day one in Utah

After a very early morning and traveling for 8 hours including a long layover we were finally in Utah. Once we got back to Jenny's house the girls ate some noodles. Addyson was cracking us up with her huge mouthfuls of food!!!

Then the kids changed in to their suits for some fun in the back yard. The swing set has misters on it and Addyson also has a huge blow up water slide.























Jillian loved this swing with the spinning ducks at the top






















Ok so there are still 12 more days of our trip to blog, so it is going to take some time to get it all up. Be patient and I will try my best to get through all of the pictures in the next few days. Alexis and Marissa are back to school tomorrow and I don;t go back to work til next week so hopefully while Jillian naps, I can blog!!!

Utah

Just got back this morning from our 2 week visit to Utah. We are all so tired since we flew in on the red eye and didn't get home this morning until about 7:30. Hopefully by tomorrow I will be awake enough to post some of our pictures from the trip! It was a fun time and I took a ton of pictures!

She's Baaaaaaaaack!!!!!!!!!!

Ok so I know the first picture of Alexis is blurry but it was all I had!! We picked her up from camp tonight and Marissa told me on the way over that she had butterflies in her stomach because she was so excited to be picking Alexis up from camp! She has been back for about 2 hours and they will not go to sleep. We are leaving here at 5am tomorrow morning for our trip to Utah and I can still hear them whispering in their room. I went in earlier to tell them to save it for tomorrow on the plane and found them both in Alexis' bed. Which is a little crazy because she only has a little twin bed. I have no idea how they can be comfortable sleeping that way! I'm sure all of the "back together bliss" will end tomorrow morning when I wake them up at 4am to get ready. I'm already preparing myself for traveling with 3 cranky girls tomorrow!! I have so much to blog from this past weekend, but no time. Hopefully I will get to it when I get back from vacation!







































The camp gives out medals for different relays and Alexis got the silver medal for fast swimming!! Not sure what the other one was for, I will have to find out in the morning!


























They were both so happy to see each other!