change...again

We are officially Sevier County residents again, woo hoo!!! We moved back on Sunday and the kids were so happy to be with their friends again and back in the school that the LOVED!! Vernal was an okay place, but there is something about this valley, I always seem to come back to it, it's just home. We sacraficed a lot, including selling our home, which we loved(but had outgrown) to move over there hoping for the best, but like things tend to, they just didn't work out. So here we are starting over, but I think good things will come from this.

Tyler's First Day of 2nd Grade

Today was Tyler's first day of 2nd grade. I can hardly believe it. People say that your children's lives will go by so fast and they really do. He was so excited to go today, he woke up at 6:30 even though school doesn't start untl 8:30. I know it sounds silly, but the title of second grader made him look a little older today. I know I am biased, but he is really an adorable little boy. He will be a heartbreaker for sure!

He was so excited about wearing his school clothes. I thought it was so funny this year how picky he was about them and how he had developed his own style. Last year I picked his outfits and he was fine with it, this year he had his own ideas. It just makes me realize how mature he is getting. He is an excellent student, in behavior and academics. He is sweet and approachable and makes friends easy, I look at him and think Kurt and I must be doing something right. He makes me very proud. Geez I sound like I am sending him to college. The truth of the matter is that as parents we struggle because our kids outgrow us long before we outgrow them!

Tyler at his desk, ready to go!!

Brave Kids

Jackson is on the move. He has had it in him for a week or so to crawl, he was just a little nervous. Friday we looked over and there he was, crawling across the floor like he had been doing it all along. It was a rather bittersweet feeling because I know he is my last baby. It is hard to grasp that this stage of life is ending for me. I have 2nd grader this year and I wonder where did the time go? On the other hand I am so happy that he is developing and becoming this little boy with such a sweet personality.


This weekend we had a BBQ with some of our friends and we found this praying mantis on the house. Anyone that knows Kaitlyn knows that she is extremely afraid of ANY bug. Consderig she has been stung by a bee 3 times, who would blame her. I was really surprised when our friend Chris talked her into holding it. She was the only one who dared!! On a sadder note Nicholas also had the opportunity to be brave. We were outside playing yesterday morning when he tipped his little toy car over and hit his head on the cement. He actually didn't cut his head open, but it made a rectanglar hole in his forehead. The cement actually cracked. He is so accident prone I have considered wrapping him in bubble wrap. He did so well considering we were at the ER for over 3 hours. Well 4 stitches later here he is:

Kids Say the Darnest Things

My kids are always coming up with the most hilarious things. Typical boy...Today Tyler told me that when he grows up he is only going to have 2 kids so that he can drive a mustang, I then asked well what if your wife wants more than 2 kids and he said, I never said anything about a wife! Yesterday at church when the sacrament was being passed, Nicholas handed the water cup back and asked for ice, embarrasing, but so funny. I watch the food network a lot and I realized I watched it to much when Kaitlyn thanked me for a delicious dinner and told me she loved the texture of the chicken and the way it was plated, priceless! My life would be so boring and uninteresting without them!!

A Trip to the Dinosaur Museum

Since we moved to Vernal 6 months ago my kids have been begging us to take them to the Dinosaur Museum here. It seems like an appropriate outing considering we live in Dino Land. Driving down mainstreet is an adventure in itself considering there are huge statue throughout the town. Needless to say it was a lot of fun and it was neat to see just how much history comes from our very backyard.

Going Private

We have decided to make our family blog private so anyone that wants to read it please e-mail me your e-mail address and I will give you an invite. My e-mail is keyserb0524@msn.com. Hope you all continue to follow along!!!

What a week!

Last Thursday I sponataniously decided to load up the kids and spend a few days with my mom over the 24th. Kurtis had to work all weekend anyway so I figured instead of being home bored this would be a good time to see everyone before school starts. We had so much fun on the 24th. My sister and her baby Tristan went with us to the parade and all the fun activities in Monroe and we really had a blast. Then come Saturday, my car decided it wasn't going to start anymore. The next couple of days it was in the shop getting fixed and so I just extended my vacation until today when it was finally fixed, yea!! So I am making the 4 hour drive home when 5 miles out of Price it decides to die in the middle of the highway. So I get it over to the side of the road as far as I can and then I start to smell gas, bad bad bad. It is 96 degrees outside and here I am all by myself with 4 little kids in the middle of nowhere. The closest person to me is over 2 hours away and I felt so helpless and I just started crying. I called the mechanic who had worked on my car and he was nice enough to find me a tow truck, but I couldn't stay in the car because gas was leaking everywhere, but it was too dangerous to get the kids out. I ran to the nearest highway sign which was just a few yards away so I could tell them exacty where I was because like I said I was in the middle of nowhere. A nice guy driving by seen that I was in trouble and offered to give us a ride into town. I hesitated of course because you never know, but I was desperate. He was such a nice person and I am so grateful that he helped us because we were in a very dangerous situation. I was truely blessed today. I kept thanking him and he said that he would hope someone would do the same for his wife if she was ever in my situation. I can think of so many times that Kurtis has stopped and helped people out, he never hesitates. So today I felt grateful that some of that goodness was passed back to our family. The car won't be fixed for a couple more days, so Kurtis came and picked us up from Price. Even though I am going to be over $700 into getting the darn thing fixed I still feel very blessed that we are all safe, and I am grateful that my kids were able to experience first hand what it means to be a good samaritan and help others out. These are the times when I am reminded to always pay it forward.

Children's Museum

For all of you haven't been to the Children's Discovery Museuem at Gateway- you have to plan a trip. I took Kaitlyn, Nicholas, and Jackson(Tyler was at the theatre seeing the new Harry Potter with my mom) there on Wednesday, and they had so much fun! We were there for almost 3 hours and still didn't do everything there was.


Kaitlyn and Nicholas as news anchors

Touring a Life flight helicopter

Role playing at the supermarket

little helper

4TH OF JULY

I know this is sort of a belated post, but I just never got around to uploading the photos until tonight!! We spent the 4th of July weekend in Richfield and Circleville this year. I love the parade in Circleville because it is not too long, plus we love to watch Gramps on the float. We had a really nice visit with my mom and siblings, unfortunately it was too short. My mom moved into a cute new place, which is also great news for us because now we can visit more often, the old place was a little too tiny for the family. Here are some pics!




This was the night before the 4th doing some sparklers with the kids. As you can see my brother Darren is the biggest kid of them all! It was Tristan, Jackson, and Kayson's first 4th and they really liked the fireworks as long as they weren't too loud.

Here is Kurt trying to copy Nick's face, he was not in a great mood that morning as you can see, but he came around once he got some candy!!





These are some pictures of the kids at the parade, and of course Kurt's grandpa who is in it every year. The baby was really into the whole thing, he just sat there and watched the whole thing so patiently.



On the 4th we also celebrated my nephew Brennan's 6th birthday so we had a bounce house and slip and slides, it kept thm buisy all day. They didn't even want to leave to go to the park for all the activities. The kids had a great time and we enjoyed spnding time with Kurt's grandparents.

Tagged

TUESDAY, July 7, 2009
Tagged!

8 things I'm looking forward to:
1. Getting together with friends on Friday
2. Company picnic this weekend
3. American Idol concert
4. Disneyland
5. Nicholas being potty trained
6. Going back to school in August
7. Weekend getaway with Kurt
8. 24th of July

8 things I did yesterday:
1. Baked cookies
2. went grocery shoping
3. cleaned my house
4. talked to Kim on the phone
5. went for a walk with the kids
6. returned books to the library
7. took the garbage out
8. went to bed

8 things I wish I could do:
1. lose weight
2. eat like i used to and not gain weight
3. have a date with my husband
4. finish my degree
5. see my family more
6. move to a bigger house
7. add a few more hours to my day
8. grow my hair long



8 shows I watch:
1. Jon & Kate plus Eight
2. Grey's Anantomy
3. Private Practice
4. House
5. Seinfield
6. Friends
7. Chelsea Lately
8. Tori and Dean

FuN In ThE SuN..aNd rAin ToO!

I can hardly believe that school has been out for a month already. I guess with the weather being so crummy it really hasn't felt like summer just yet. It has been a big adustment moving from a house with a big yard to a townhome where the grass is just starting to grow. Because of this I try to take the kids to the park and splash park as much as possible. This isn't always the case somedays. Kurt has a very demanding job and 4 kids is a lot of work all by yourself, but I do try my best to give my kids fun and fulfilling experiences. I can definitely say being a mom is the hardest, but most rewarding job there is and I feel so grateful that I am able to stay home with them. My husband works so hard for us and I am so grateful for his sacrifices! Well here is a little recap of June!!




This is trip we took to Flaming Gorge a few weeks ago. It is only about 30 minutes from our house so we just decided to check it out one Saturday. It's a really bautiful place. Unfortunately we were 20 minutes too late for the tour so we are definitely going to make another trip back for that.



I know it's kind of silly, but this is a picture of my kids enjoying one of my favorite childhood pastimes, the ice cream man. I haven't seen one of these around since I was little and lived in Salt Lake so this was a fun experience for them and me too.

Here is a picture of Jackson while we were waiting for the specialist at Primary Children's, I think he was happy to finally get some answers too. He was diagnosed with Reactive Airway Disease. He is on a new treatment plan and has been doing wonderfully so far. Winter is going to be scary again especially with 2 kids in school, but hopefully his airways will be a little bigger and we won't have another winter like the last.





In the top pictures you can see us trying to get some fun park time in before the down pour showed up (note the big black sky). Then just 2 days later the sun was shining at sweltering 92 degrees while we enjoyed some time at the splash park.

TYLER'S 1ST DRIVING EXPERIENCE

So lately we have noticed that Tyler and Kaitlyn were really in the need of some one on one time with me and Kurtis. It's so hard with the two little boys, because they demand so much attention and so I think it is probably hard on them. We decide to get a sitter for Nick and Jax and take them to Boondocks last Saturday. We had so much fun and it was so fun to spend that much needed quality time with Tyler and Kaitlyn. Sure it rained and poured a good deal of the time, but we managed to get a few rides in on the go-carts. Tyler was so cute. He was really excited that he was tall enough to drive one himself, well until it was almost time for his turn. His smile went to a straight, strictly business face, it was priceless. He kept doing this really dramatic breathing in and out thing, he was so nervous. The whole time he was driving he never smiled once and I thought that he really wasn't enjoying himself, but he has been raving about the experience since.


Tyler when he first got in line, all smiles!





Tyler not so sure





All business














We all had a really great time and we also took my niece Megan, she was such a big help and we are so glad she came along!






Megan and Kaitlyn having a blast!

Nick's Fall Day 2

The poor little guy looks worse today, all the bruising has appeared and he is really sore. I feel so sorry for him!! :(

The Saddest Thing I have Ever Seen!

Today we went on the mountain with some friends of ours to enjoy a nice day outdoors. The men and kid were target shooting and having a great time. I had to leave early because the baby was tired and had enough, but the kids wanted to stay behind with dad. Well soon after the weather started getting cloudy so they decided to pack up and head for home. Nick was so tired and wanted to sit on the tailgate of Kurt's truck like he has many times. Just as Kurt sat him down and started to walk over a ways to pack some stuff up, somehow he fell a plummeted to the gravel encased groung, straight on his face. Kurt picked him up and there was blood everywhere so he rushed him back to town. We got him all cleaned up and I found that he had both upper lips swollen past recognition and massive road rash on the lower half of his face. I was worried about head trauma because I was't there and I didn't see how he fell so I took him to the ER. They did an ultrasound to check for internal bleeding, a CT scan on his brain, and an x-ray of his lungs. All checked out to be fine, but his face will show the signs for a while to come. Kurt is just overcome with guilt and I feel so sorry for both of them. Here are some pics, sad huh!

What a Wonderful Couple of Days!!

Wednesday night I was making dinner when I heard someone banging on my door. Since we really don't know anyone here I was confused as to who it was. When I opened the door there stood my mom. We were all so excited becase we had no idea she was coming and we always love her visits. We were inseperable before we moved out to Vernal so it has been really hard being away from each other. She is the best mom and grandma we love her so much!!

Yesterday my mom and I took the kids to a little place over here called Splash Park. It is full of different water features and the kids had a blast. One of the great things about living in Uintah county as opposed to Sevier county is that there is a lot more places like this around. We have this amazing rec center with big water slides and a park inside the pool and at least 3 museums.

Yesterday was also mine and Kurtis' 6 year anniversary. We have come a long way in 6 years, including 3 kids!! We went to dinner and had a great night out, we rarely get one alone. I am looking forward to many more anniversaries, love you babe!!