The largest sum up in history

In between packing up our lives and stressing over everything on the planet, we've been able to squeeze in a few million more things to do before we drive into the sunrise.

 My baby brother started college and so we all gathered for an attempt at a family picture before 1/3 of us leave for Pennsylvania.

 Children make pictures hard.

 Mainly Heidi makes pictures hard.

 I finished up Quinn's blessing dress in the nick of time!  It was made from my mother's wedding dress and turned out quite nicely.  Alex informed me it was WAY too big.

 The little charmer was a sport on blessing day, although not during the blessing.  She actually cried through the entire thing.

 Afterwards we came home for a luncheon with all the visiting family.  These 4 entertained each other for hours, they play so well!

 Quinn and Grandpa held down the recliner for us.  It was a long day.

 And a hot one.  I had to get a picture before we released her from her tiny sauna dress.

 The rest of the week was spent packing, painting a dresser and playing with friends.

 We had a BBQ up the canyon with our dear neighbors who we will miss so much.  I always end up laughing my guts out when we are with these guys, and the kids are all best friends.

 We had one last play date at Great Grandma Jakes.  She insisted we look through the cupboards for lunch and I found some gems!!!! This lovely can of Bean and Bacon soup EXPIRED 22 years ago.  Then there were rusting cans that actually had no expiration date.  I was very tempted to open the broken shrimp up, but probably would have vomited.

 So we said goodbye to the second cousins.  One good thing about family is you always know that there will be a next time.

 Then there were my amazing friends who put together a luncheon party for me.  These are some of the most choice people I've ever met and I'm going to miss them like crazy!  They had even arranged for babysitters at a different house so we could sit and chat interruption free.  What amazing friends I have.

We had to end the week with a bang, literally.  Saturday after running errands with my brother I was in a head on collision on Geneva road.  The guy wasn't paying attention to the road and came completely into my lane.  35 mph and neither of us had time to put on the brakes.  My X-terra lost to his Tahoe and I was pushed back and spun around to hit a parked car on the side of the road.  It was terrifying.   I hit the horn and screamed.  After the major impact, and then secondary one I hugged myself crying and praying it would stop.  My eyes were clamped shut and I wasn't sure what was going on and if I was going to be hit by another car or if it was over.  When I opened up and saw the airbags and smelled the terrible smells I just started screaming and screaming.  My car door wouldn't open because I was right next to the parked car and I was in so much panic that I couldn't think clear enough to climb out the passenger side.  I'd seen the movies, I knew that car was going to explode!!!
   A sweet woman and her husband that were behind me jumped out and helped me.  She opened the side door and had me climb out while I was bawling and shaking.  She bossed everyone around to get me water and a chair, called Tyler and helped me rinse off the airbag fluid that felt like it was burning my arms and legs.
   She insisted I get in the ambulance and get checked out, I'm so glad she did because once the adrenaline wore off my back and neck started hurting.  I got strapped to a backboard and loaded up into the ambulance and taken to the hospital.  No fractures, just some gnarly whiplash, a skinned knee from the deploying airbag and some sore spots on my arms and neck.
   The car is totaled and we are moving in 2 days.  I can't even think about buying a new one, what would we get?!  So now instead of packing up and having goodbye lunches, we are talking to lawyers and calling insurance companies.  I do have to say how grateful I am though.
   I was alone in the car, and I had my seatbelt on.  The car seats will have to be replaced and I suppose now we should get a bigger car for our family- but I'm pretty sure we won't get the worth of the car reimbursed to us.  Being our only vehicle it was worth way more than the few thousand they will probably try to get us to settle with.   I really feel like angels were watching over me and protecting me.
   So we will see what the next few days brings, but I'm hoping for the best and I know that the Lord is watching over us!

Kate Days

Whenever Kate comes to visit it's non-stop fun.  But it's doesn't feel like we are trying our hardest to do every fun thing and make the most of every minute together- that just happens naturally.  In another day they will leave and it could potentially be 2 years before we see them again, but right now I feel like they have always been here and always will.

 We've had swimming lessons everyday, but also been to the spash pad, has some picnics, spent time with friends, played at parks and had plenty of good food (the mark of any Kristen/Kate get together).  But I think the kids favorite thing was the Springville Children's Parade.  We decorated their bikes and bought candy to throw and headed over to be part of the parade!

 There were lots of kids, and it was SO hot, but totally worth it to watch the little two cram their faces with tootsie rolls while the big ones threw candy to all the grandparents and police officers watching the parade.

 It was quite the scene- Alex and Archie would stop their bikes and then inch towards the observers who were obviously confused as to why these kids had stopped by them.  Then the kids would grab candy from their bags and throw a handfull of treats about 2 feet and ride off.  The adults were very gracious and would say thank you as they stood up and walked into the road to retrieve the candy.  It was awesome and Alex and Archie's favorite part of the parade.

 Annie never smiles for the camera, so chocolate face or not- this was a winner!

 After the parade we were treated to free snow cones, which basically just coated their sweaty bodies in a layer of sticky sweet.

 As if a parade wasn't enough, we got home and Grandma took us to the Discovery park at Thanksgiving point!  These 3 only need each other to have a good time.  I'm constantly impressed with their fantastic imaginations and how well they get along!

 Alex is in heaven having Archie around.  He is by far her best friend ever.

 Heidi is constantly saying "Annie is just so cute!"  Sometimes she sees herself as the older cousin and sometimes she see's herself as a peer.  It's adorable.

 Annie's been a pretty good sport, she can keep up with the big kids pretty well- but is tiny enough they just want to carry her around like a baby.  This stubborn little girl won't have any of it!

 They all love Quinn and are so sweet with her, occasionally running back in the middle of their play to check on her.

 I see a lot of Heidi in Annie and vice versa.  These two are going to be partners in crime when they get older.

 As if our week wasn't full of enough fun, we snuck in a trip to the cabin!  This is what Alex did when I told her I wanted to take her picture, she posed like she was in a catalogue.  hhhmmmmmmmm.

I'd done a pretty good job of hiding from my kids the fact that delicious soft white bread exists, but the past few weeks we've had it around and it's ALL they want to eat.  There will be withdrawals when we move to Pittsburgh.

 The kids were old enough this time to the cabin that we just let them run amuck with the walkie talkies.

 Heidi was all over the place, not needing the constant companionship of a friend or parent and happy to wander a bit on her own.

 Alex and Archie on the other hand couldn't be apart!  At one point I was fixing her button and she said "Hurry up Mom, I need to play with Archie, he is going to go home soon!"  Just like Kate and I, these guys like to get every minute out of our visits.

 There was lunch and shooting, hikes and dirt and the beaver pond.

 And then there was the zip line.

 The zip line terrifies me, so the thought of letting my kids ride?!  Heidi couldn't wait!

 That first drop turned her stomach, but after that she was hooked and kept coming back BEGGING to do it by herself!  We worked up to it but I finally relented and my little 3 year old rode the zip line a few times alone and didn't die!  The little dare devil.

 Alex on the other hand wasn't quite sure she was up to it and kept waivering.  She cried for 2 minutes afterwards and then did her own share of begging to ride again.

 This child is a bit more cautious.

 Annie had to do everything the big kids were doing!

 But I think one ride was enough for her.  She had proved her point that she could, and didn't feel the need to ride again.

 And then Kate spent the better part of an hour ferrying the rope up and down the hill for these 3 crazies.

 And it was hot.

 Tyler was able to con Heidi away from the zip line by offering to teach her to shoot.  Like the zipline, she didn't want to stop.

 Alex had to be bribed to try, but then turned into Annie Oakley.

 Some Cousins had met us up at the cabin and I realized that we had a perfect line of kids, newborn through 6 years old (with two 3 year olds) so I had to get a picture.  Unfortunately the 3 year olds didn't want to sit in order and the babies needed help, but you can guess their ages from their size.  We even got the biggest kid of them all to participate in the picture.

 With 4 little girls in matching dresses, I couldn't help but take a million pictures Sunday morning.

 I told the kids they could be good on a sheet by the front door, or I would drag them all to Kiddie Kandids in the mall so I could get a good picture.  After 5 minutes in front of the house I realized that I wanted to avoid Kiddie Kandids with 5 kids at all costs, and luckily they all cooperated, mostly.

This one has taken to sneaking into our bed at night.  I have a hard time saying no to her adorable teary face at 3 am when she snuggles up to me.

 

We tried to get a frame worthy picture of the girls, but Heidi had put in her 5 minutes of sitting still for the day, and Alex was having a hard time holding a cranky Quinn, smiling and keeping Heidi from bowling her over so we resigned ourselves to trying another day.

Arches and Swimming

The days keep ticking away and with summer just beginning we are trying to prepare for the new and enjoy a bit of the old. 

 This of course means summer afternoons with Grandma jake and the cousins.  Catching bugs, playing puzzles and avoiding cats.  Grandma was able to con a few genuine smiles from little Quinn.

 Alex asked me a month ago about the orange rainbow she kept seeing on people's license plates.  I cringed to think that here we were in Utah and she didn't know what an arch was.  So we decided to make a final trip to Southern Utah before we left.  The night before I told her to go find her hiking outfit.  This is what she chose.  Adorable, but not something I was going to let her hike 3 miles in 100 degree weather in.  Naked Heidi wouldn't move out of the way for my picture. 

 I was pretty confident in our awesomeness.  We used to hike all the time, so what if I was 7 weeks postpartum, I'm still hard core.

Turns out, no, not exercising for 6 months really takes its tole.  I was slower than the kids (in all fairness they were carried like 1/3 of the way)

 This was the one and only part of the hike to Delicate Arch where Heidi and I were in the lead.  Thank goodness Grandma and Grandpa came or we may not have made it out alive.  I think Tyler was maxed out carrying 2 kids and after carrying Heidi a dozen yards up hill, I was done in for the rest of the day.  

 We could have chosen some easier hikes, but I was dead set on Alex seeing the license plate arch.  

 Heidi made it about a mile before she decided to become a kitty who refused to walk or be carried.

 I'm sure we were quite the spectacle, between Heidi crawling and meowing along the trail, to us tying her up to prevent any accidents along the cliff edges.

 Each child I have makes me a bit more afraid of heights.  When we arrived at the viewpoint my heart jumped up my throat about every 20 seconds until we left.  I don't trust Heidi not to jump off a cliff, although Alex was cautious enough to only moderately freak me out.  

 I couldn't watch as Grandpa and Tyler took Heidi and Alex to touch the arch, so instead I nursed and changed Quinn in the desert on a cliff, she is so far the most hard core infant we've had- more adventures at 2 months than her sisters had their first 6.

 Proof we made it!

 Proof to our children that we did fun things when they were little.

 Saying that Heidi is a character is a gross understatement.  She is either driving me nuts and ignoring me, or making me laugh and smothering me with her love and attention.  She is a child of extremes.  

 With all the side treks she made trying to climb everything, and I mean EVERYTHING- she probably hiked an extra mile.  

 Heidi is completely fearless.

 Grandma and Alex were buddies the whole time.  First ones to the Arch, first ones back- they were awesome hikers.  

 About 5 minutes into the return trip Heidi reverted back to being a kitty.

 And if you stare at this picture a minute you can just imagine how fun, and how long it took to get back to the car.

 There were a few times when super awesome Tyler was able to con her onto his shoulders.  He would run ahead and try to get as far as he could before she bailed.  And then ran BACK towards me- trying to keep up.

 Quinn was a trooper, and Tyler more so for hauling that little heatbox around.

 We some a few lizards, one was a beautiful turquoise, this is not that one.

 Another picture to sum up the return trip.  I should probably delete it so we will forget and try a hike again with her.

 Seeing the parking lot made my heart flutter.

 Until I remembered that we had parked an extra 100 yards down the road.

 Everyone worked up an appetite.  Lunchables have NEVER tasted so good.  

Other than Alex getting car sick and puking on the way to Arches, and me discovering a mile into our hike how out of shape I am, it was a great mini vacation and we loved having Grandma and Grandpa along to save our bacon and take turns carrying, bribing and rescuing kids.

 The Monday after Arches, Alex and Heidi started swimming lessons!  I was pretty nervous that they wouldn't participate- but they LOVE it!

I was informed that neither of them will probably pass their classes though because they both refuse to put their faces in the water.  I wasn't aware that they could pass or fail, and the fact that they willingly leave my side to go get in the water with their teacher is a victory so I'm not heart broken.

 Monday night Kate, Ben, Archie and Annie arrived for a week long visit! They tagged along to watch swimming lessons because we want to squeeze every single minute out of their visit!  It's been so much fun and we still have 2 more days!!!