Labor Day

Logan and Kody were beyond excited for a 3 day weekend and a break from their early schedule. Kody kept trying convince me to take them to Disneyland. Since that was not a possible last minute plan we tried to plan some other fun things. Kody informed me that it was the worst Labor Day holiday weekend he had ever heard of! :) Granted, it was nothing compared to a weekend in Disneyland , but by the end I think everyone (including Kody) had fun! A few of the highlights....

Saturday morning we went to Krispy Kreme Doughnuts and watch them make doughnuts ( I know I am horrible, I have never taken my kids in to see!)

We hung out at my Mom and Dad's. Carrie, Jonathan, and Sophia were here from Idaho!

We also headed out to a park across town that we had never been to!

(Love You Carrie!)

First Day of School 2011

The first day this year was C.R.A.Z.Y. They change our school's start time to 7:50am. Everyone was a little tired but we not only survived, but we made it ON TIME! :)

Logan 4th Grade:

Logan is so excited to be a big 4th grader! It makes Mom a little sad, he's just that much closer to being out of Elementary school! Logan's teacher from last year, Mrs. Pietranton, was moved up to the 4th grade and Logan is lucky enough to have her again! He was SO excited when he opened his envelope and saw that she was going to be his teacher again!

Kody 2nd Grade:

Kody was really nervous this year! After Logan found out he had his same teacher Kody got really excited and said that he hoped that he would have Mrs. Elmore again (Kody LOVED Mrs. Elmore. I think he might have had a little crush on her...) He kept asking if I could home-school him! Once he met Mrs. Mortimer he calmed down a little bit. She seems super nice and so far he is loving her! :)

Our house seem super quiet without the boys home all day! Lucie thinks that we should have girl's days and "girl parties" every day! :)

Let's Go Fly A Kite....

One of the "perks" of being a Hayes Hero in Kody's class is getting to pick out of the treasure box. Kody picked out an Iron Man kite (which ended up being 2 Iron Man kites). Since it was Monday and it also happened to be windy we decided to take the kids to a nearby park a fly Kody's kites. We had so much fun! Now every time we have a windy (or breezy day Logan and Kody ask if we can go to the park and fly the kites again!)

Kaylee chillin' in the stroller!

Dad, Lucie and Logan flying the kites!

Kody flying his kite!

Kody and Dad!

May to August (I told you I was behind!)

I can't believe the summer is already over! We had such a blast! The flash on our camera broke in June so the only pictures I could take were outside, and by the end of the summer I just flat out forgot it. Oh well!

Cub Scout Day Hike
On May 30th Jared helped take the cub scouts on a day hike, Logan DESPERATELY wants to go to scouts, so Jared caved and took him along on the hike. Logan was SOOO excited, I don't think he slept much the night before! :)

Water Day
The last week of school the first graders had a "Water Day/Camp Out". Logan thought that they were really going camping. It took quite a while, but I finally convinced him that they were only "camping" for the school day. They sang camp songs, earned merit badges, played water games, ate hot dogs, cooked on the grill, and made S'mores (in the microwave). He had so much fun!

Jeremy and Brittany's Wedding
The first weekend in June, Jared's younger brother Jeremy got married! Jeremy and Brittany asked Logan to be the Ring Bearer. Logan took his job SO seriously! I have NEVER seen him stand so still for so long! We all had a great time visiting with family! Welcome to the family Brittany! We love you tons!!!!


Owen's Graduation
The following Monday Owen graduated from Spring Valley High School! Congratulations Owen! We are so proud of you! Thanks for being such an awesome example! Go Grizzlies!!!! :)


Curtis Rex Reunion
Just 2 days after Owen's graduation we headed back up to Wyoming for a Curtis Rex Reunion! Mashelle and Jimmy planned a FUN weekend! Our kids keep asking when we are going to go fishing and bowling with their cousin's again! This is also the weekend our camera broke, so I only have pictures of fishing!

And so the rest of the summer is not forgotten:

Jared & I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary! Love Ya!

Celebrated Jared's Grandpa and Grandma Welling's 60th wedding anniversary!

Had an awesome Brent MacKay family Reunion!

Threw my sister Carrie a baby shower!

Attended a FUN Robert Raymond Rex Reuion! (Kody cried when it was time to leave! He has so much fun with ihis cousins!)

And TONS more! Hope you all also had an awesome summer!!!

Happy Easter

Happy Easter!

So it was my intent just to post one picture of my kids looking so cute in their Easter clothes and leaving it at that...Happy Easter! Kody was mad we were taking his picture, he said that taking pictures made it THE worst Easter day of his life! (Yes he is a tad dramatic). So anyway, here is my attempt at a "cute" Easter picture of my kids. It's OK maybe someday I look back at these pictures and be glad, their not too posed and that I capture their personalities on camera...:)

Notice Lucie's arm around Kody :)

Logan: "Smile Kody" Kody: "I don't want to!"

Try not to look too mad Kody! :)



Logan doing his signature pose (he does that EVERY time someone tries to take a picture...Lucie thought she might try it as well...

2 Weeks (a day late!)

Kaylee is 2 weeks old!

Sometimes it feels like she couldn't already be 2 weeks old, and other times it seems like she has always been a part of our family! She is such a good baby...she hardly ever cries! I can't believe how much Kaylee has already changed, she still has a different look from the rest of our kids, I'm anxious to see what she will look like in a few more weeks. She has the funniest facial expressions and scowls while she's sleeping.


Lucie ADORES her, I have to watch and make sure Lucie isn't loving her too much! Logan could hold her all day, the first thing he asks when he wakes up in the morning is "Can I hold Kaylee before I go to school?". Kody has not been interested in her at all until the past 2 days, I'm glad he has started to acknowledge she's here...I was starting to worry! Kody has been overly protective of Lucie, it's been pretty cute.

Welcome!

Kaylee

March 11, 2009
1:04pm
7lbs 5oz
19 inches

Welcome to our family! We are so glad you are here!

Updates

"Sleeping" on the top bunk!


Since it has been so long since we have last posted I thought I'd give a quick update on everyone!



Logan can hardly wait until his birthday in April. He is SO excited to be 7, mostly because it is one year away from being 8. He REALLY wants to be baptized and we also told him that when he turned 8 he could start going hunting with Jared. He has asked me a few time if he can turn 8 on his birthday instead of 7. :) He doesn't particularly like school, but we are starting to see an improvement, he has moved up 3 reading levels since the start of the school year...he still isn't where he should be, but we are so proud of how hard he is trying! He LOVES the days when he gets to go to PE and will tell you that PE and Lunch are his favorite parts of school!



Kody is so excited to start school in the fall, he asks me almost everyday if he is ever going to get to go to school like Logan. Kody is such a good big brother to Lucie, he is always watching out for her and playing with her. Kody loves going to primary, he will talk all week about the lessons and what he learned at church. Kody also LOVES Transformers, loves might be an understatement, obsessed is probably a more appropriate word, he knows all of the Transformers by name and can tell you if they are an Auto bot (good guy) or a Dedepticon (bad guy). Most of our conversations during the day somehow turn to the topic of Transformers like, "Mom, do you think Bumblebee had a big brother?" or "Do you think that Optomis Prime has to clean his bedroom?".


Lucie making dinner...she said she was making "A suprise, oranges suprise".

Lucie thinks she is such a big girl. She wants to help me with whatever I am doing. She LOVES shoes, bows, lotions, make up (pretty much anything girly), and having her hair done, if we leave the house without doing her hair she will cry and touch her hair saying "My hair, my hair". She LOVES the color pink and is sure to point out to you anything that is pink (and try to convince you to buy it just because it is pink), with all of the Valentines Day stuff out it has made for quite eventful trips to the store! Kody has nicknamed her "Princess Pink". She loves her brothers and wants to do everything they are doing...she hates it when Jared takes the boys to do something with out her, so this past weekend Jared took all of the kids to look around at the Sportsman's Warehouse, Lucie convinced him to buy her a pink and blue fishing pole. :) Lucie also loves to sing, she can hardly wait for singing time in Nursery, she will sing all the words and do the hand motions to all of the songs. Logan and Kody have taught her to hum the Indiana Jones theme song. It's pretty cute.

We are all getting excited for our new baby to come...time has gone by too quickly, there is so much that I wanted to get done before she comes, but with only about 3 weeks left I don't think it's all going to happen. Oh, well!

Snow Fun!

It was so fun picking Logan up from school, the field was completely covered in snow! When the bell rang kids were squealing and laughing and throwing snow balls at each other, parents were taking pictures. It was just so fun to see all the smiles and happy faces! The best part of all...it was all melted this morning...no shoveling! The mountains all around the valley are covered in snow, it finally feels like winter is here! Kody told me last night, "Santa can finally come to our house because it snowed today!"

Let it Snow!

We woke up this morning to a very cold and overcast day. The news said that we were supposed to wake up to 6-8 inches of snow...we didn't. By the time I took Logan to school it was raining slush, so I figured I should take a picture of my kids in the "snow" before it stopped. As you can tell they were not very happy, Logan kept asking why he had to take a picture in the rain, I told him that it was "snow". (Look at Kody...he is holding his hand out to see if it is really snow. I think they all are thinking that mom had gone bonkers! And no, I did not make Kody wear the Santa hat, they gave it to them at a primary activity day and he has worn it ever since!)





Well, it has been snowing ever since and it is starting to stick! I keep thinking I should run out and take another picture before it stops snowing and starts melting. Maybe we will get a few inches stuck to the ground before the end of the day!!! I sure hope they let the kids play in it at school, or that it sticks/keeps snowing until Logan gets home!

So for all of you who have ever doubted, it does snow here...rarely, but it does! Here is the proof...SNOW in LAS VEGAS! :)

Chirstmas

Well, it has turned out already to be a busy holiday season! I have to admit I have taken very few pictures, I know I totally deserve a Mother of the Year award. I will take tons and post them soon!

We spent Thanksgiving in Evanston with Jared's family and had tons of fun! Just about every day since we've been home either Logan or Kody (or both) re-tell me a story of something that happened while helping with Grandma and Grandpa's "new house" (their addition), or something that happened while playing with their cousins.

We have all been looking forward to Christmas, the kids especially! :) Last weekend was our ward Christmas Party/Brunch. Santa attended and all three kids were SO excited to meet him...When we walked into the classroom Santa was in Kody's eyes got HUGE and I think he might have forgotten his own name, he could hardly speak. Finally Santa got Kody to tell him what he wanted for Christmas, all Kody could get out was a smile and, "A Journal". It was pretty cute! Logan of course almost tackled Santa to the floor to tell him his list of things he wanted for Christmas. And Lucie just stared (I'm sure wondering the whole time why she had to sit on this strange man's lap) then she saw his bag full of candy canes pointed to them and said "candy" he handed her one she said "Thank You" and climbed down. There was a girl taking pictures so, when we get them I will post them!!!

Here is a picture of our three cuties at the Christmas party, someday I hope to get a picture of ALL three smiling and looking at the camera at the same time...someday :)

It's Maybe A Girl...Maybe

So today was the day! We were going to be able to find out if we are having a boy or a girl. Jared, Logan and Kody all thought it was a boy...Lucie even said "brother like mine Kody". I was even convinced that it was a boy. The results....the ultrasound tech THINKS that "it MIGHT be a girl...but don't go out and buy anything or rearrange the bedrooms" yes those were even her words! We have a shy girl..maybe girl, she kept her legs together with the umbilical cord in between the whole time! We can go back in a few weeks for a gender check...but now the suspense is killing me! This afternoon Logan said, "That lady said it's a girl but I still think I'm having a brother!"

So what do you think??? (I am hoping that one of you has some unknown/hidden talent of reading ultrasounds!:))





Already such a cutie!!!

Happy Halloween!

Hi! We hope everyone had a FUN and Happy Halloween! We sure did! There was no school due to Nevada Day, so we had a little Halloween party at my Mom's house. The kids had such a good time! Pizza for lunch, watching "Journey to the Center of the Earth" in 3D, making carmeled apples, playing out back (since it was such a nice day...low 80's!), eating Mummy Enchiladas for dinner, and finally trick or treating! Thanks for such a fun day Mom!

Be sure to scroll down to see our other fall posts! Sorry to do so many in one day!

Pumpkin Carving!

The kids had such a good time carving pumpkins! Grandma MacKay took them down and let them pick out their own pumkins. Thanks Grandma!!! They could hardly wait to carve them! Kody kept bringing his in and setting it on the kitchen table and then would ask if it was time to carve them yet. I was so worried he was going to drop it and break it before he had a chance to carve it!

Logan and Kody both wanted REALLY scary faces! Kody kept making a scary face to show us what he wanted his pumpkin to look like. Both Kody and Lucie cleaned out the insides all by themselves...almost. Lucie kept eating the raw insides and seeds. Logan didn't really want to help until Jared pulled his utility knives out of his work-tool buckets, then he wanted to do it just because we were using Dad's tools. :) They were all so proud of their pumpkins! Lucie kept telling us they were spooky...it comes out more like "poopkey"!

Logan's Pod Performance

On the 30th Logan had a "Pod Performance". At our elementary school the classrooms are set up in "pods" Kindergarten through 5 grade in each "pod" (there are several pods in the school). Each Pod has a performance throughout the year. The theme for Logan's pod was Latin American. Each grade study a different Latin American country, the 1st graders studied Brazil. All the kids sang songs from their countries and told fun facts...they all did such a good job!!! As you can tell from the pictures, Logan did NOT want me to take anymore pictures, he stood there, but would smile!

Logan at the performance!





Kody and Lucie waiting for the performance to start!
Of course I couldn't get them to smile at the same time!




Logan's Pod also had a Fiesta the day before their performance, families were invited, Kody thought that it was way fun to eat lunch with Logan at school! Logan LOVED showing us his desk and all of the fun things in his classroom. Logan's teacher also had a coloring page for the kids...Kody thought it was so cool that he got to do "school work" with Logan!

A Random Post: Sick Kids, Breaking Dawn & Refrigerator Pickles

I know, I have totally been slacking in the blogging department. There just hasn't been anything too exciting to blog about. All 3 kids have had the flu, and they couldn't make it easy by having it at the same time. As soon as one was over the vomiting and diarrhea, and I had gotten all of the nasty laundry done, the next one would get it. Yuck!

I have also finished Breaking Dawn!!! I won't spoil anything, I know there are still some of you that haven't read it yet. I REALLY enjoyed it. I thought that it was the perfect end to the series (can I just say I LOVED the end!). It did not leave me wanting for more or wondering what could happen to the characters if she were to write more. There were a few things in the middle I didn't really like, but besides that...I LOVED it! It is definitely the end, and I am kind of glad, I don't know that I could handle the waiting and anticipation of another one! :)

Also, I have been meaning to post this recipe that I found on Prudence Penny Wise. Here's the story: Back in February we were starting the seeds to plant in our garden. (I know to most of you that sounds way too early!) Kody, LOVES to plant a garden and eat the food out of it! He asked if we could plant pickles, another love of his. I told him that we could plant cucumbers to make pickles. He then asked "How do we make pickles?" So I told him, he did not like the part of having to wait MONTHS for the cucumbers to become pickled. A few days later I found this recipe, we ran to the store and bought cucumbers (I can only imagine how much better they would be with home grown cucumbers!). These are SOOO good and easy. Best of all...they only take a week! To quote Kody..."They are so 'squmtious' and 'dewishious'!" :)

Refrigerator Pickles
(from Prudence Penny Wise)

about 10 Kirby cucumbers, sliced
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, sliced
fresh dill, about 10 sprigs
6 cups water
2 cups vinegar
1/4 cup salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon black pepper

Layer cucumbers, onion, and garlic in clean glass bottles (I used about 6 quart jars). In a medium saucepan, boil water, vinegar, salt and sugar. Let cool for five minutes. Pour over cucumbers in jars to cover and refrigerate. (If you run out of liquid, just add equal parts water and vinegar.) Cucumbers will be best after one week. Good luck!

Missing Teeth and 3 Cute Kids!

We had a pretty good weekend...we missed being able to go to the "Rex Family Camp". We hope they all had a GREAT time! Logan lost his two front teeth, I think he looks way cute with out them. The rest of the pictures are of our cute kids!

Logan's Missing Teeth!


Cute Kody!


Lucie Hiding


Lucie being found!