SHE IS WALKING!!!!!

If you can't tell we are VERY excited about this! We have been concerned about her not walking but knew we just needed to keep working on it. And now she is starting to walk, she walks a lot at home and some outside she just needs to get more confidence in her ability to walk.

She does the best if she is walking from one person to the other.

She was walking across the whole upstairs and was happy to get our clapping!

She can even get back up after falling down on her own, we are so excited for her.

Olivia's Crush!

Okay, so I know he was on So You Think You Can Dance last year but Olivia watched it faithfully with Aunt Heather, Grandma, and I and was always rooting for Neil. So this year she has watched some with me but it didn't have the pull of last year because there was no Neil! She was so excited when the season finale this year had Neil on it for a few minutes. Then today I was looking for something to watch on TV while I straightened up and I came across last years season, so I set the Tivo to record the rest of what they had playing and Olivia has been in heaven today watching them! She keeps insisting she doesn't have a crush but we all know she really does! She is very shy about it but she has loved seeing Neil dance again and all the other dances she remembers and liked.

Beautiful Oregon Coast

James got a week off of work for our move but had to do training right away so we didn't get it until this past week. We decided to take the kids to the coast for a vacation. It was so fun to have time as a family to see fun things and enjoy being together. We started off with the Tillamook Cheese Factory, then we went on to Lincoln City and stayed in the worst motel we have ever stayed in. Though it does not compare to the motel I heard my sisters-in-law went to, this hotel was clean but scuzzy, but we had paid for it thru priceline so we stayed there. Here is a sign that hung on the wall of the room:


There was a sliding glass door but no screen so we had to be on constant patrol of Madalynn to not let her by the door or she obviously would have gotten hurt. And I felt weird having my motel door open so we did not do that.


This was the next day on our way to Newport, OR it was so fun to stop and see things along the way. And yes the kids are wearing coats even though it is the beginning of August it was cold the whole time we were there and we only saw the sun on Sat. just before heading home. This picture was at Depoe Bay.

This was at the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse there was a cobble beach there and we climbed down to the water and let the kids explore. I will post more pictures of the cobble beach tomorrow.

This was from down on the cobble beach I liked the lighthouse in the background. James, Olivia, and Will climbed up the lighthouse, Madalynn was not able to go so I stayed with her and she and I played outside. The only mishap we had on out trip was the last day of our trip we went back to the cobble beach to see the tide pools and Will fell on the rocks and scrapped his knee, then a few minutes later he told us his foot was bleeding we looked and saw that he had cut his heel. We headed to the car and the rangers gave us medical stuff to put on it. We then realized he had a rock in his foot, so James carried him to the car I held him and with tweezers James tried to get it out he screamed and fought so hard people thought we were hurting him. We then let him calm down while we drove to the cove by the lighthouse and I took the girls down to the beach. James got in the back with Will and was calming him down and then was able to get it out with more screaming and fighting than before. I came back to get the stroller for Madalynn and found out there was an older couple parked next to our car and they had stayed there the whole time Will was screaming " No Daddy don't do it, it will hurt really bad!" I am sure they thought they were watching out for this child whose father was beating him. But they left when James came out with a bleeding foot and saw everything was ok. It ended up being a rock about half the size of a penny all the way in his foot. It was a wonderful time and we enjoyed every minute of it.

My Wonderful Husband

This morning the kids woke me up and James wasn't home from work yet so I called him and said did you have to work late? He said he had just gone to the store to get some food to make breakfast. So when he got home he took the kids and fed them breakfast and let me stay in bed. Then he came upstairs to go to bed and the kids brought a target bag into me and it had Breaking Dawn inside of it. I was so excited to go buy it today but it was even nicer to have my husband bring it home to me. He said there was a line of women waiting for Target to open so they could buy the book and he just rested in the car for a 1/2 hour until the store opened. It made me smile to think of James waiting in line with all these womwn to buy the book, but of course he never would feel comfortable with that. :) It makes me happy to know he would go to all that trouble when he has been up all night working and still has to work tonight. Thank you, James!

My Silly and Sweet Son

In the last few days I have had 2 experiences with Will that have made me laugh and cry. The 1st one was on Monday night for FHE we had a movie night and watched Spiderwick, the kids loved it and towards the end it got a little intense. Will was sitting on the floor and during this intense part just blurted out "I don't know if I can do this" the way he said it and just the suddeness of it made James and I laugh so hard! He then came and sat next to me and snuggled and closed his eyes when he felt he needed to. The 2nd experience just happened a few minutes ago, all the kids were in bed and Will came down stairs and said " Mom I don't want you to grow old I will miss you if you do". I asked him why he was thinking about that and again it came from the movie we had watched. I told him it would be a long time before I grew old and he would grow up and be big before that even happened. Then I gave him a hug and a kiss and he got back in bed. Then about 10 minutes later I hear something thru Madalynn's monitor but it was very quiet so I came up to check on the kids. As I came up the stairs I could tell it was Will so I went in his room and he was sobbing that he didn't want to grow up because then I would get old. I pulled him into my room and we sat on the bed and talked and he told me if I grow old then I would die and he would miss me too much. I tried to get him to understand it would be a long time before that happened and we talked how we will always be together as an eternal family(as much as you can explain that to a 5 year old) and that we will have a lot of fun together now and be happy and try not to worry about that. He was smiling by the time we finished and I tucked him back in, it is amazing the things that little kids think about. I am so glad to have him and what a blessing he is in my life, even when he is driving me crazy!

Memory!

Have fun and please be kind. :)

Here are the directions:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you.It's actually pretty funny to see the responses.

If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my blog's comments.

Yes, We Are Alive!!!!

The kids on the 4th of July 2 families in our ward called us and invited us to go to a BBQ and to watch fireworks with them. All the kids had a great time and it was fun to meet new friends. Where we went to see fireworks they were shot of 200 yards in front of us it was one of the best firework shows we have seen!


Madalynn and I watching fireworks she really was happier she has just started this no smiling phase. She will laugh and giggle at home but in public if someone is paying attention she frowns at them. Everyone thinks she is grumpy but she isn't just shy.


These are the crazy jugs of milk you get here in Oregon if you buy from Costco. We tend to not get them because the kids have such a hard time with the large pouring spout.


This is one view of Olivia and Will's new room, we thought we were going to seperate these 2 but Madalynn is still having restless nights sometimes and we thought for better sleep we would keep them together. They were excited for bunk beds and new bedding. Olivia is like every other girl out there loving Hannah Montana, and Will like always loves his superheros! I will post more pictures of the house when we are a little more put together.


Well we are alive and doing wonderful in Oregon, it is a dream to have James home everyday and to have work less than a mile away. He even gets to come home sometimes on his breaks at night. The ward has been great and I am making new friends and the kids already have new friends with they like to play with. And of course they love having daddy here everyday to play with. Madalynn is still not walking on her own but loves to walk holding your hand so we have her walk all the time we can hoping it will rub off and she will get to walking by herself.
As for now we are enjoying the summer and hoping to take the kids to the beach soon.