Tyler's first day of preschool

Tyler was so excited to finally start preschool! This is Miss Tracy, his teacher. This was his first day. He wore his T-shirt from Niagara Falls because he wanted to show everyone.

This bottom picture is outside of the house where he has preschool. My little boy is growing up!

Fun with the kids

Just some fun moments we have had with each of our kids the past few weeks:
Andrea:
We enjoyed watching the BYU game on Saturday, probably more so because they won. But Andrea watched with us and learned a lot about football! There were a few moments that got intense so we told her she had to be quiet and not ask questions, but other than that, it was an enjoyable time. I guess we are breeding future BYU graduates early!
Kara:
I forgot to take first day of school pictures of my girls! I know, I am terrible! But Jason picked them up from school. When Kara came out, Jason picked her up and gave her a big hug. She said, "Put me down now, dad!" She looked mortified and checked all around her to make sure now one saw. "Don't ever do that again, dad." She was so embarrassed! She is only in 1st grade--don't we get a little more time than that?!?!
Tyler:
So we were driving to Jason's sister's house Sunday night to see her son open his mission call (he is going to Brazil). She lives about an hour away. Here is the conversation as we leave our house.
Tyler: "Do you have the map to get to her house?"
Jason: "It's all in my head."
Tyler: "What if you lose it?"
Mom: "Then we are all in trouble."
Dad didn't look very happy with mom's response, but we did get a laugh out of it. I love the things that kids say, especially when they don't even know they say it!
Ashley:
Finally, with Ashley, the other night at dinner, the other kids had finished and eaten everything on their plates. Ashley looked at them and then watched them clear their plates. She then tried to hand Jason a piece of her food. He didn't take it, so she put it on his plate. We watched her after that, and she put the remaining three pieces left on her plate onto Jason's plate. When she had successfully cleaned off her plate, she looked at us with a big smile and said, "All done!" Then went and put her plate in the sink too. I'm not sure we will let her get away with that again, but it sure struck us as funny. She is growing up so fast, and really just wants to be like her siblings.

Jason's Stitches

So last night Jason gets ready to go mountain biking after the kids get in bed, but he gashes open the side of his leg. It was really deep (I will spare you the gross details of that). It is obvious that it needs stitches, since it is 1 1/2 inch wide and 1/2 inch deep. So he decides to stitch them up himself!!!! And he did. He was so proud he took a picture and I told him I would post a picture on the blog! My favorite thing that he said was "It is harder putting stitches in skin than in the mouth. Or maybe it was just because I was doing it on myself." I think it was because he didn't have anything to numb it with!

Our trip

So my pictures aren't in order, but here are some different things that we did before, during, and after my family reunion in Ohio.

OUR FAMILY IN FRONT OF PALMYRA TEMPLE
(outside of Joseph Smith's family farm)

SUNSET AT LAKE ERIE

My kids all got pretty wet, but we were flying home the next day and didn't want to deal with wet swim suits. Ashley's shorts were dripping so she ended up just in her diaper.

The waves were really big because of the wind, but the kids thought it was awesome.

PALMYRA
Here is the monument at the Hill Cumorah.

This is where the first copy of the Book of Mormon was published. We loved this site and my kids liked walking on the same floor that Joseph Smith walked.

This is in the sacred grove. Even though we don't know exactly where, it was a very neat experience for my kids.

NIAGARA FALLS

This is the American Falls behind us. We LOVED the boat ride.

This is before we went on the boat.

We only really got good pictures of the American Falls. There was too much water getting on us at Horseshoe Falls--but they were spectacular!

HORSEBACK RIDING

REUNION

My girls are modeling the tutus Aunt Becky made with the scarfs that Grandma Heath made.

The beach at the house we stayed at. They are swimming with dad and their cousins.

KIRTLAND
Our family in front of the temple.

Side view of the temple.

On the steps with cousins at the Johnson Farm. These are the steps Joseph was dragged down when he was tarred and feathered.

We had a great time!!! We were so glad to get to see so many meaningful and fascinating sites. We also enjoyed the chance to be with family for a lot of the trip as well.

It's a girl!!!!

Since I finally told my family when I saw them this past week, I figured I might as well officially announce that we are expecting baby #5 right before Christmas. We found out what we were having right before our big trip (I will post pictures later of our travels), but thought I would let you all know! I am now just over halfway, and have been less sick this pregnancy than any of the others! (Thankfully!) Now when I post pictures of our trip, you won't have to wonder about my belly.

Andrea's 1st perm

I am not sure how she got it in her head, but Andrea begged me for a perm. So my sister-in-law and niece did the job for me, and Andrea is one happy girl. It turned out great, and she absolutely loves it! But I am still getting used to it--when did she grow up?

Recent pictures of my kids

Tyler on his birthday--Spiderman bike and pajamas--it doesn't get better than that for a 4 year old boy!

Lots of pool pictures, or course, it has been over 110 all week!

Ashley loves the waterfall.

My three independent swimmers. They all still think it is fair that they race each other! But they have a lot of fun.

Dad swimming with the kids.

Right before we watched fireworks. We went up to Pinedale an camped for the weekend with Jason's dad and brother's family, then went to a rodeo Saturday night (and ran into some old friends from dental school John and Michelle Bigler), and then sat on the grass and enjoyed the show. Well, Tyler was more interested in the root beer at first.