Lengthy Post

so..... it always takes me so long to update this... We have been so busy recently, so I will start with current and work back! Last weekend, my older sister Heather got married! Her and Fredy got married in the dc temple, then we drove through tropical storm Hanna (it was HORRIBLE) to jersey for the reception later that evening. We had such a blast! The dj was awesome, the food delicious, and we rocked the reception until LATE! Heather looked gorgeous, and Fredy looked so handsome. the boys even stayed and danced until well after 10, and M even picked up a girlfriend. It was the first time the 6 of us kids had been together in a super long time, and Kelly and Holly had never met fredy, and none of us but Heather had ever met Hollys boyfriend Koji, so we had a blast hanging out....



Heather and my dad


Lyndsay and Kelly

the boys having a great time


the happy couple!

my aunt, uncle, a few cousins, and my family

















holly and koji









we went for another 4d sonogram a few weeks ago, and it is still a girl! She looks just like van did in his sonogram pics, and you can see her hair in the pictures. the technician was amazed at how much hair she has!





van started preschool! His teacher this year is Ms. Kim, and we LOVE her! M had her 2 years ago, and she is just such a sweet person, I am so glad Van got her, I don't know any other teacher there who could handle him quite as well as she can. Van going back to school means I went back to school. We actually have a great class this year, very few criers, which is amazing, and we just moved to a new building over the summer, so we have an awesome new classroom. I love it! van still hasn't learned to smile for pictures.... he still has that horrible cheese face.

Van and good friend

My friend Kelly threw me a shower 2 weeks ago to celebrate Carringtons upcoming arrival. We had to schedule it early, so it didn't interfere with football games... the pain of living in a college town... Her mom Donna made the cake, and Kelly made this adorable diaper cake. She held it on the weekend my mom and dad were in town, moving my youngest sister Lyndsay onto campus, so they came! It was really fun having my mom meet some of my friends up here, and getting to be there. Even though she only lives 2 hrs away, it is hard with her work schedule to make it up here often for things like that.

It has become something of a tradition for the boys and I to go to smith mountain lake with Kelly and her kids late summer. The lake is always dead, and her in laws own a lake front home so we get to BBQ and swim without worrying abt trying to keep everyone close. Brian took us out on his boat, but T was the only one of my boys brave enough to try tubing. It was so funny watching him fly through the air whenever Brian hit waves. Van wasn't so sure abt the boat at first but totally warmed up to it as we went along.

Jo, Christian, M, T, Julia

Hokie football season... We got together with some friends for the last open practice of the year before the official kickoff of the season. It is always fun to go watch these practices, as you get great seats, and it doesn't matter if the kids really watch the game or not bc you didn't have to pay 40.00 to bring them. (plus the kettle corn is the BEST!) I took the flattering pic of #67 for you Lauren and Mike! hope you enjoy your cousins belly;-)

After the game we went to macados with some friends... What a fun way to start the weekend!

Yea! school started for the older boys mid august! They each have awesome teachers, M is in K and has the same teacher both of his older brothers had, Jo started 2nd, and T is in 3rd and got the teacher I wanted him to have. Everyone (but T) was excited, and it was so weird only having 1 at home. This is the first time since Jo was born that i have been home alone w/ only 1... I still don't get as much done as I wish, but it sure is easier to run errands!

And finally, the biggest news... In august T and his cousin got baptized. we waited until Aug. even though T turned 8 in march so he could do it the same time as his cousin. We had such an awesome weekend! it was so special, and we loved having so many family members able to be there for his special day.

He did it!

After 2 whole days of serious potty training, we have decieded van is potty trained! He made it through last night dry, and is in the same underwear from 8 am w/ only 1 accident early this morning! YEA VAN!!! (and all it took was TONS of suckers;-) )


this is the first time in 8 years and 4 months we have not had a child in diapers!!!

due to a request...

this is sadly one of the only pregnant photos i have so far... this was taken in mid july, so i was roughly 25 weeks along.....

July update

I have been so bad at updating recently! We have loved summertime... we spend a ton of time at the pool (it is soooo nice having 2 pools in walking distance) and the kids have the best butt tans to prove it! We have been working every morning doing a summer school type routine with the boys, and it has been really enlightening to see exactly where their strengths and weaknesses lie. It has been a great experience, and confirmed my belief that I could NEVER home school my kids (not like it has EVER been a serious consideration for me...) In mid July, we took the boys to Ithaca, New York and spent a week camping at one of the state parks there. We had such a great time seeing uncle kelly, visiting extended family during a reunion, and cooking over campfires! Halfway through our trip our tent flooded (it had an inch of water in it!) and we ended up at kellys very bachelor townhouse for the night. Def. an experience we wont soon forget, but the rest of the trip was sunny and dry. The boys LOVED cooking over fires, making s'mores and lemon chicken. We will def. try to do another camping trip soon...



The highlight of our trip to New York was the day we spent in Palmyra, NY. We toured the printing press where the first Book of Mormon was published, and since we had yet to buy T his own set of scriptures, we got them at the bookstore next to the original printing press... he thought it was so cool, and I enjoyed the sentiment as well. We also went to the Smiths Farm, and the Sacred Grove, and topped the evening off watching the hill Cumorah pageant. The boys thought it was so magical, Nephi building the boat amazed them, and they seemed to get a lot out of seeing their favorite scripture stories come to life. Van fell asleep at King Noah, and M fell asleep when Christ came to the Americas. the older 2 boys stayed awake for the whole thing, and loved every minute of it! It was Johns first time to Palymra as well, and it is def. a vacation worth taking.... We will go back soon. The Spirit is so strong, and it feels like you walk through time touring the area.... T was highly offended at the protesters who lined the streets with their bull horns to protest the pageant. He took a long time to calm down (Dad, why are they calling us stupid??) but enjoyed the evening other then that.

Before we left for New York, we went blueberry picking! I had gone a few days earlier and picked a few pounds only to bring them home and have the kids DEVOUR them, so the day before we left, we went and picked again, and came home with 10 pounds. We took 5 to NY with us, and the rest are almost gone.... Unbelievable. We had a great time. Van ate all of his. He would pick them into his bucket, then eat them all out and start again. The older boys would find us "magic bushes" where the berries were excellent and eat all the big ones before they would start picking.

The picture is out of order, but T just finished his first season of swim team! He had a great year, and started off pretty slow. (he wont dive off the blocks bc he almost hit his head on the bottom of the pool the first meet) but by the end of the season he was consistently scoring for his team! Championship was this past sat and he got DQ'd in breaststroke, but would have taken 6th overall, he took 7th overall in free, and 5th overall in back! I am so proud of how hard he worked, and am amazed at the change to his body as a result of so much pool time. They grow up so fast!!!

And.... since I am already working backwards... Happy 4th of July! We spent all morning at the pool enjoying a rainy (hard...) bbq with tons of games. the rain broke mid afternoon and we headed to the park for my orchestra group to play a concert. Right before we were supposed to play, it started pouring again so we hung around under the tent and Van and a cute friend of his Graham had a throwdown to keep us all entertained. Finally the rain ended and we could play our show. T had a great time playing with sparklers as it got dark and we lost LOST van for several minutes in a crowd of hundreds. it was horrifying, to say the least. Luckily he wandered back to the blanket while we were looking for him and we found him unharmed... The boys had fun making their t-shirts for the day, and even now when van wears his he calls it his July fourth shirt and wants to go back and watch the fireworks...



FInally, recent news:

i went to the doc today (john and I went as a date, then out to lunch!! THANKS CAROL!) and have finally packed on the pounds! 4.5 to be exact, to put my preg. weight gain to 9 pounds! I feel so much better knowing I am closer to where I should be. HE scheduled another 4d sonogram for 4 more weeks, so we'll end up getting 2 of those, in addition to the 5 we have already had! I love my doctor! We settled on baby C Grace (i think.... right john??) and he has asked me for 10 more weeks. Hopefully my body will co-operate and we will make it to 37 weeks. She is getting so big, and is already stuck under my ribs. I have no idea what I will do when she is triple this size! I feel like there is nowhere else for her to....

YEA!

Johns done with first year! let summer vacation officially begin!!!

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