Quelah 24

Sunriver has come and gone, and as always, we had such an amazing time as a family. I truly am so blessed to have such amazing parents and siblings. We have so much fun when we are together! We packed in so many fun activities this year, but managed to still feel like we relaxed. The house we stayed in (Quelah 24) was AMAZING! Everyone got their own room and private bathroom. It also had a nice big living room upstairs, not to mention a family room in the basement with a pool table, foosball table, and big screen tv where the Wii playing occurred, and a hot tub out on the deck.

Every morning us ladies went walking at 6:30am for 45 minutes to an hour. We also had a hot breakfast, compliments of Mom every morning; pumpkin pancakes, whole wheat pancakes, french toast, peppered bacon, scones.... yum. After a hot breakfast we always went and did a bike ride around the "big loop" past the airport, marina, and horse stables, and wound our way around back to the lodge where we would get a drink and snack. It was the perfect ride every morning.

Nap time was spent doing a lot of crafts for us girls: glitter toes, hair clips, picture frames, and cards. (Thank you Sharon for doing my toes so I didn't have to bend over my big belly!! Hopefully they last until I have my pedicure and then baby girl will be out!)

The boys did a lot of this:

And this:

The afternoons were spent riding bikes,

swimming,

playing at the park,

hiking Benham Falls,

playing at the village,

eating snow cones,

And just sitting around playing:

One evening is always spent at Goody's- that spells delicious ice cream.

Another night is always spent at "Rhythm on the Range." They close off the golf course and have live music and food. We packed a picnic dinner and let the kids run around and dance.

One very fun afternoon consisted of a surprise baby shower for me! I had no idea. My mom and I headed to the store to get a couple of things for dinner and when we got home, this is what I found:

I may have got a little teary when I saw everyone and everything set up. Baby girl got some super cute new things!

Thanks Summer for planning and prepping! And thank you everyone for the fabulous gifts!

The food was out of control this year. We had so much yummy goodness. Everyone took a turn cooking each night and we had delicious meals. There was never a lack of treats/dessert: peanut butter bars, magic cookie bars, peanut butter cup cookies, apple cookies, grasshopper cupcakes, not to mention all the candy that lined the counters. :)

And if that wasn't enough Grandpa gave each of the kids a dollar to spend at the candy store. They thought it was pretty neat to pick out whatever candy they wanted. The boys picked out gummy sharks and jets (West Side Story anyone?) and Andi picked out gummy butterflies.

Family Pictures:

Yup, no Jefferson again this year, and he did not surprise me on the Breeze. We missed him like crazy, but managed to survive with all the help of my family. Thank you everyone who helped with my kiddies. And a huge thank you to my mom and dad who plan and fund for everything every year! You are making some fabulous memories for us! Love you all!

Baby Name Poll

I have posted a baby name poll so feel free to cast your vote. This isn't to say that we will choose the name with the most votes, or even choose a name from that list, but these are a few of our favorite names as of now.

Say Aaaaaaaaaaw!

Carter had his first trip to the dentist this morning. I was a bit skeptical about how it would all go down, but my little guy did amazingly well! Frankly, he sat through his cleaning better than most grown ups do. Everything was decorated in jungle theme and there were jungle animals hanging everywhere, which really made Carter excited. The whole reclining in the chair thing was a bit nerve-racking for him, but then they gave him the cool giraffe sunglasses to wear. He made it through all the scratching of the teeth, flossing, fluoride, and then the cleaning with the little sandy "toothpaste" on the upper teeth. Once they tried to move to the lower teeth he had had enough. I mean, that is the worst part, sandy toothpaste, a little water squirter spraying everywhere, and a vacuum sucking up the inside of your mouth. So we scratched doing the toothpaste on the bottom and moved on to the x-ray. Carter bit down on the thing, wore the silly vest, and held perfectly still. He was the image of the perfect pediatric patient.

I, myself, was more disgusted over the flavors of everything. Orange flavored/scented gloves, cookie dough teeth cleaner, marshmallow fluoride.... yuck!!

We originally went in, well, because he needed a general check up, but really because Carter fell up a slide a few weeks back and hit his front teeth. They were tender for a couple of days, but then seemed fine. Until... I noticed about a week ago that one of his front teeth was turning gray. Not a good sign. Well, the x-rays came back and Carter has no cavities!! Good little brusher of mine. And the supposedly "dead" tooth actually looks okay too. That's not to say that it won't get worse or anything, but it's not loose, and it's not dead... yet. The dentist said that graying of the teeth after trauma is pretty normal. It can be temporary and return to the normal color or just stay the same color of gray. She said there was nothing to worry about unless it ever bothered Carter or if other trauma occurs to the same tooth. (Any bets on whether a three year old boy is going to hit his mouth on something again? I think just the other night Carter was crying because he hit his mouth on Andi's crib while jumping off his bed)

I was thrilled that the tooth didn't have to be pulled or anything and oh so happy that there are no cavities!! Motivation to keep brushing and flossing. The thumb sucking is a concern because it's making his pallet really cramped, so we are going to work on ridding Carter of his thumbs, but other than that, everything looked great.

I was so proud of Carter. It went way better than I ever could have anticipated. And now his poor mom can breathe a little easier knowing that poor gray tooth isn't going anywhere for the moment. Way to go Carter!

I scheduled Andi's first dentist appointment for a few weeks from now. I have a feeling that hers is not going to go near as smooth... wish me luck!

Fourth of July fun!

We had such an incredibly fun 4th of July weekend. We headed down to Klamath to spend the holiday at my parents' house with some of my family. The weather could not have been more perfect. The pool was warm, the sun was out, what more could you ask for?

We spent Thursday swimming and swimming. Jefferson and Carter managed to sneak in a short four wheeler ride, but the rest of the day before and after naps was swimming. Carter has always loved water, but really turned into a fish this trip. He will put on one of those little swimsuits with the floaties in it and just swim around, jump in, swim some more, and will not let anyone help him with anything.

Gramzee playing telephone with Carter:

Grandpa Paul with Andi somewhere under that hat:

About to shoot Mom... that's Carter treading water while filling and shooting his water gun. I can't even do that!

Friday we headed out to train heaven. Some guy in my dad's stake belongs to a train club out in Chiloquin Oregon (aka middle of no where). We loaded up that morning, me personally, with low expectations. I'm thinking we'll go on a little five minute train ride around some trailer or something, but boy was I wrong! I can't even begin to describe this place. It has over 20 miles of mini train tracks over tons of acres. As you take this little train ride there are little towns set up along the way that are made to scale. Our little ride took just over 2 hours. The kids loved it!! Since the little seats didn't have seat belts we decided that the kids ought to sit on a grown up laps. Lucky for me I have a huge belly, so my mom, dad, and Jefferson so graciously took turns holding my kids. I definitely got the best end of the deal; relaxing in my own seat, legs outstretched in the sun, a drink and snacks in hand- yup, it was pretty sweet.

After train time was naps and then we headed to the movies, "Ice Age 3." The kids did great with their little snackpacks and it was good to be out of the sun a bit. Grandpa let the kids drive the John Deer when we got home. Carter and Gray thought it would be smart if Gray pushed the petal and Carter "steered." It was highly entertaining to watch my dad run beside them to make sure they didn't crash.

Then of course there was swimming!

And after the kids were in bed; marshmallow roasting:

Saturday, the 4th, was packed full of fun!! We started the day at my parents' ward pancake breakfast and flag raising. Then we hit the parade. It is so small town and quaint and I love it, as did the kids:

After wandering around the street fair and lunch, we did a few rounds of sparklers and pop-its.

Then of course, swimming! The kids even got a special treat of snow cones made by Gramzee.

Then we had a delicious bbq dinner and did fireworks. Again, the kids loved it.

After much debate on whether to go and watch the city fireworks or not, we decided to let the kids go to bed. They were all tuckered out from all the swimming, sun, and playing. Us adults could see them from my parents drive way and then enjoyed ice cream and brownies around the fire. It was a great 4th of July!

We are so grateful to live in this beautiful country with all the freedoms we enjoy. You know you're pregnant when you are trying to explain the concept of country and freedom to your three year old and you get teared up. Poor Carter thinks his mom is crazy.