Cascades, take 2!

We spent last Saturday hiking the cascades. I LOVE that hike! Last year the hiking trip didn't go so well at all. This year, with an older Van, we were actually able to make it in decent time. We learned our lesson and ate lunch BEFORE we began hiking, and then had watermelon waiting in a cooler at the bottom of the hill. YUM! Van got to see a black snake, and John only had to carry him abt a quarter of the hike. I love the fact they are getting older, it just makes things like this so much easier!

Van, John, Kevin, baby A, M, T, Christy, Jo

I cant figure out how to work my friends Picasa album, so the pics are tiny! VAn fell face first into the water that was running off the pond at the top. He was soaking for the whole trip down the mountain! He also made a huge mess eating watermelon! The weather was perfect, and actually a little cool! Thanks for the great pics Kevin! Will you teach me how to download them in a bigger size next????

Oh, btw-We need a middle name for baby girl C... any suggestions? we have so far Grace, Paige, and Tate (my fav. John HATES:-) )

*56 days left until school starts again

think pink??

for those of you who have heard this story, please bear with me... Ever since I was pregnant with my oldest, who is 8, I have had the bad habit of buying girls clothes whenever i found something adorable on sale. I ended up with this large collection of pinks, purples, and creams that could rival any best dressed child. It was totally an obsession, but one that has over the years tamed itself. 3 years ago, we found out after 3 boys, that number 4 would be a girl! I went totally overboard, and bought tons of (non-returnable) girls clothes from ebay. a few weeks later, we found out that my doc was wrong and we were really expecting baby boy 4...

so, for the past 8 years, my collection has grown with little use. Today we had a confirmation sonogram and we are excited to announce the clothes will FINALLY be put to good use in Oct! (we were totally going to be surprised, it was way to much work:-) ) so now the only question is what to do with the 10 Tupperware boxes of boys clothes?????

long time, no post

Wow! IT has been such along time since I last posted! We have been so busy these past few weeks.... I guess I will work backwards since that is how i uploaded pics! We have been hitting the pool everyday the past 2 weeks. The weather has been so hot, and we have the BEST amenities in our neighborhood! the boys are all getting so nice and tan! T started swim team last week, and the middle 2 will start swim lessons again next week. van is fearless in the water and can "swim" under water all by himself. never a dull moment with that one. i got a super cute maternity tank and have loved getting in the water as our a/c is broken right now.
School ended may 30 for the boys and we are in a great summer routine already. we are doing the summer bridge books, which are fantastic as well as the comprehensive curriculum for M. the boys so far enjoy it and there has been no complaints yet. we spend abt 1 1/2 each morning working on school work, then T reads for 1-2 hrs at bedtime every night while jo reads a few chapters during the morning. jo is reading slightly above grade level now, and only has 1 more speech sounds to master. he had such a great year, and worked so hard! I am very proud of him. the pic above is of his schools independence celebration. they learned abt America, and why we celebrate the 4th of July. they had a cute parade, ate watermelon and sang a ton of patriotic songs. This age is so cute, and he will do great in 2nd grade next year! T moves up to 3rd and had a great year as well! we spent memorial weekend in l'burg meeting Fredy! we had a blast, and our kids are so excited abt uncle Fredy from "guat-e-mala who speaks Spanish, and cooks good". we had a great time hanging out with the family, and cannot wait until heather and Fredy get married and we can make the uncle title (or tio title) official! We love you guys!!!!

the older 3 boys finished up soccer for the year. T will play academy next year, and jo and M will continue regular seasons. they all had a great time, and we will def. miss coach Tim who has been T's coach since kindergarten.
van at a visit to a friends farm in may
T's class musical: Disney favorites
in may, the binkie fairy came and took vans pacifiers. long overdue, he got lighting mcqueen bed sheets, and pokemon figures for releasing his pacifiers. He hasn't slept well since;-)
M ended his preschool year may 23rd. he is off to kindergarten next year, and super excited!

in other news, i got released from young women, and called to be the primary 8 teacher. i LOVE teaching T and have such an awesome class. John and i are also getting another new calling tomorrow:-/

we hit the half way point in this pregnancy this week! We saw the baby last Mon and have an idea as to what we are having... the cord was kind of in the way. john and i went out on a date tonight and picked a few names! it feels like it is getting so close! I read somewhere that staying off the comp. helps with morning sickness, and that is so true. i haven't been sick in almost a week, and have been off medicine for it for over 3 weeks now. it feels so good to feel more normal, and be able to cook, eat and clean the house. when i went to the doc Mon, my weight gain for the entire pregnancy was -1 pounds. I am hoping when i go back next time to have gotten back into the positive and added some numbers to that. i think i was just so sick at first it has been hard to get back into eating normally. despite that, the baby looks great, we get sonograms every 4 weeks bc my doc is delivering this one free (he has a buy 4, get the 5th free policy and so he turns on the machine every time i go in!!!) i have more pics of this baby already then i do of Van total it seems like! all right, i think that is everything! more soon