This is me...

I was at Walmart the other day with all 5 of my kids - brave, I know. As I was checking out, the cashier asked me, "Are all these kids yours?" When I told her they were, she looked confused and said, "Do you take care of them all by yourself?" I didn't quite know what to say to that - so I told her it was just me and my husband. She looked befuddled, then she said, "Well, then, may the Lord bless you!!"

Thank you, kind stranger for the blessing.

This comic strip has been hanging on our fridge for a couple of years. I'm pretty sure it's what people say when they see me...even in Utah.

Huh?

Even though Colin is has been potty trained for a while now, we are still working on staying dry at night. Yesterday, when he got up, I asked him, "Colin, are you dry?" and he said, "Yep, I'm dry. Now Jesus loves me."

It's a Jolly Holiday

24th of July. Pioneer Day. So much to celebrate, so little time.

Joe took Thursday and Friday off of work, so basically we have been playing for 4 days straight. We got up early Thursday morning and went to the parade downtown. It did not disappoint! The floats were great, and we were able to see our favorites.

We saw President Monson and Governor Huntsman. President Monson had a small army of security surrounding him - a black car in front full of guys, lots of guys walking by his car, and a black suburban full of guys behind him. It was very Jack Bauer. Then came Gov. Huntsman with his four guys walking along and a suburban following him. Interesting difference of coverage there.

Anyway, we saw the BYU float and the announcer said, "Here comes the BYU float, let's give it a cheer! Now that they're good again, we're fans again!!" Whatever. Doesn't he know that true blue is true blue, not fair-weather?

Later (and late) came the U of U float. I'm not one to judge, but they broke down and had to really work hard to catch up to the others. Maybe that could be their new motto. I'm just saying.
Hats off to Provo and Riverton. Their royalty all had modest dresses on! It was refreshing! Although we barely missed seeing it, I heard that the Days of '47 Royalty also had modest dresses on. Well done! (Other cities, take the hint and give our little girls real, modest princesses to look at!)

One of the best parts of the whole parade was when the service men and women from Utah marched down the street, there were hundreds!! I'm not sure, but I believe it was the ones that had been in Iraq. Koko said, "Mom, all of these people fight so we can have freedom!" As they walked by, we yelled "Thank you!!!", but they will never really know how much we appreciate them!

Without them, there would be no parade at all.

The party didn't end there. After a quick lunch (and naps for the littlest ones), we headed to Grandma and Grandpa's house for some swimming.

Koko swam across the pool for the first time by herself- Grandpa sure is a good teacher! Way to go Koko!

Of course, the boys had to be tough and play pellet guns. Don't they look cool?

We did a lot more playing this weekend - we went and saw a play (7 Brides for 7 Brothers), watched an outdoor movie (or two), went to Cafe Rio, got Beau's pictures taken, and hung out at home. To end it with a bang, the kids wound down with Joe by watching a movie in our room. It looks like it's time to get a bigger bed...

Spoiler Alert!!

If you are the kind of person that likes to show up at the Days of '47 Parade and be dazzled by all the floats for the first time then STOP READING RIGHT NOW!!

My parents and I took the kids to the Expo Center to see all the floats on display and vote for our favorites. It was so cool to see them all up close and each of the kids voted for a different one. We can't wait to see them in the Big Show...

Koko's favorite:

Emma's favorite:

Colin's favorite (of course):Some other great ones:Go Jazz!!!

It was free, it was fun, and I know that my vote will count. What more could you ask for on a summer afternoon?

Well?

Okay, generally, I'm not a "go-to-the-movies" kind of gal. I'll go once in a while for fun, but it doesn't hurt my feelings if Joe goes without me. That was the plan yesterday when "The Dark Knight" came out. He was going to go with his mom and dad and some brothers. Well, I guess that fell through - lucky for me :) His mom called up and offered to watch the kids while Joe and I went to the show! A real date.

I was a little hesitant - the Dark Knight? Crazy, evil clown killing people for fun? I don't know. Didn't really sound like my cup of tea. But I WILL NOT pass up on a date with my husband. Plus, the kids wanted to see Grandma and Grandpa so it was win-win.

We got to the show and it had me from hello. WOW! All that fuss about Heath Ledger was right on. He was fantastic -just the right amount of crazy. There should have been more fuss about Christian Bale and Aaron Eckhart, though, because they were just as good. It had everything a girl loves, down to a great car chase with the Bat-mo-cycle (or whatever it's called). I laughed, I cried, I even cringed a few times. That Joker is nuts!

There was some great dialogue along with the action. Maybe they were just trying to prepare some clips to show at the Oscars. Whatever they did, it worked. It was fun to watch, I will admit. The previews made it look a lot more creepy and evil then it actully is, although there is still a fair amount of creepy and evil - just enough for a movie based on a comic book. Take this review for what it's worth, but this skeptic gives it 2 thumbs up (just don't take your little ones, it's a bit too intense).

Good clean fun...

Joe got tickets to a screening of "Journey to the Center of the Earth", so we brought Beau and Colin. It was so cool! Colin loved his 3D glasses for about 20 minutes, then he watched the rest without them. I guess he didn't mind the fuzziness. I don't blame him, I had a hard time keeping the glasses on, too. They are just not that comfortable.

The story was pretty simple, but the effects were cool, especially watching it with kids. Any little boy loves to see spit and yo-yos come flying towards them. Not to mention the dinosaur chase and the flying pirahnas. PG movies are so rare, and this one was actually fun to watch!

Two thumbs up!

New nickname?

We were at my Mom and Dad's house with my sister, her husband, and their 2-year old daughter. Joe was laying in the hammock that their little girl had been playing on earlier. She ran to my sister and said, "Mom, Big Colin is laying in my bed!!!"

Let the party continue...

On Sunday, we blessed Beau and had lots of family and friends there to celebrate with us. The blessing was beautiful and the spirit in Sacrament meeting was very strong. It was like you could feel the love and the presence of all our family that has ever gone before us. There's something about a new baby that brings a big piece of heaven right to earth.

Thank you to everyone that came, we love you and appreciate your support. Beau will never remember that you were here, but we will. We love having family around and are glad it worked out for some of you out-of-towners to be here.






What a handsome guy!!

(Nice shoulder pads, buddy)

Camping, swimming, eating, talking...

We had our annual 4th of July campout at the Heugly's this weekend. We really like to rough it and pitch our tents on the grass next to the pool :) Of course, I really felt like I was camping while sleeping in the guest room with my private bathroom (hey, I have a baby!). Oh, the things we do to uphold tradition!

Koko and McKenna chillin' in the pool...

Emma and Colin chillin' on the hammock...

Camri chillin' with Daddy...

It was a great party with tons of food, tons of family, tons of talking, tons of laughing, tons of swimming, and tons of picturs. What is it with Ethan and Amy being in all our good pictures? They are so hot right now. This is the kids getting ready for our little fireworks show...This is the kids covering their ears for our little fireworks show...

Baby Beau's first 4th of July family party. Get used to it little fella, there's more fun to come.

The party was a hit, the food was great, and the company was the best! We missed Cindy and Kinzie and hope that Kinz recovers quickly. Our prayers are with you guys, we love you!!