More Summer Fun and Samuel turns 5!!!

Samuel no longer takes naps but once in a blue moon he'll fall asleep on his own. Travis and I were talking on the couch and I guess we weren't paying attention to him so he got bored and fell asleep. I think he ended up taking a 2 hour nap that day.

The 4th of July is my favorite holiday so on the morning of the 4th of July I like to decorate the table for breakfast in red white and blue.

This is the 2nd year we've gone to the city of Lewiston for their activities for the 4th of July. The kids wanted to go down this slide. This little girl who ended up going down with Sam was scared so Sam held her hand on the way down. What a good boy.

Mom got the privilege of taking the twins down the slide. I ended up ripping the seam in my skirt. Lesson learned.... don't were a skirt on rides. :)

We bought a small pool for the kids to play in and they have loved it. Samuel has a good friend Landon and he came over one day and him and Sam took turns running and diving down the slide. They did some pretty darning stuff and Zachy loved to sit and watch them.

Aria likes to go down the slide but with no one else around. She isn't as daring as the boys are.

Zachary has trouble keeping his swim shorts up. I don't mind so much as his tushy is so cute and he doesn't mind at all. :)

Me and the kids got to go visit my sister Maria and her family in Lewisville, ID. Sam had the time of his life. She has 4 boys older than Sam and they played so well with him. They wrestled most of the time and wore Sam right out. He slept well at night. This is a picture of Mavrick and Sam wrestling. Tate (the youngest boy (9 yrs old)) played with Sam the whole time and I greatly appreciated him. I barely saw Sam except every once in a while he'd come find me to give me a hug.

We took all our kids to a lake there and they had a great time. This is Aria, Samuel, Mae and Tate. The girl in the far right was just some one who wanted to join in the fun.

Tate had made a swimming pool for himself and then decided to let the little kids play in it. What a nice cousin and brother. This is Zach, Tate and Marley.

Travis and I took the kids to 1st dam to feed the ducks. They thought that was pretty cool until one of the geese came right up to Aria and took the bread out of her hand. Thank goodness it didn't bite her but she was a little bit more cautious after that.

One morning Sam wanted to fix me breakfast. This is what I got...peppercini's, cheese, fresh peas, pickles and toast. What a nice boy but I think I'm going to have to teach him better on food combination's. I managed to eat a good portion of it and was very thankful he wants to do those types of things for me.

My little boy is growing up too fast. He turned 5 on Aug. 5th. He was so excited for his birthday. He had been talking about it a whole month before and is now talking about his next birthday. We asked him what he wanted to do for his birthday and he wanted to go to Grandpa and Grandpa Rasmussen's to camp and fish. So that is what we did. Actually he slept out in the trailer with G & G while Travis and I slept in the house with the twins. Perfect arrangement for Travis and I.

We went to a fish hatchery so the kids could fish. Aria caught the first fish but wasn't sure about touching it. But had a good time.

Grandpa was very patient with Samuel and I just loved this picture.

Zachy was more interested in the worms. I got a great picture of him holding one.

I took all the kids on a 4 wheeler ride. They loved it. Aria talked the whole time.

On our way back from my parents we stopped at Travis's parents and Samuel once again got to celebrate his birthday. He is one lucky boy to have such great grandparents. He is loved dearly.

Travis took part of a day off of work so we could take the kids to Bear Lake. His parents, Camille (his sister) and Max (Camille's son) came along with us. We had a great time and had perfect weather. The above picture is Travis, Becky (his mom) and Camille.

I was so thankful Max came along. Him and Sam had a blast and I didn't have to make all those sand castle with him. ;)

I'm also glad grandpa came along as he played with the twins too. It was quite a relaxing day for me.
I can't believe August is 1/2 over and school is getting ready to start. How did the summer get by me so fast. Well hopefully we will have plenty of good weather left for some more summer fun even though school is in session. Samuel starts kindergarten this year. Now that will be a whole other story as I can't believe I have a kid going to school. Now WHERE did the time go!

Pre-School Gradutation and Father's Day

Last week end my sister and her family where up to a wedding so they got to spend some time with us. In the picture above Tate was trying to teach Samuel how to ride his bike. It was so cute to watch. Tate was much more patient than I would have been. Sam still has some more practicing to do but we are hoping before the end of the summer he'll have it conquered.

We took the kids to the park and it worked out great for me. My sister has 4 older boys who are very helpful. So they each took a younger kid (their 2 younger sisters and my twins) and played with them. I got to sit and be lazy. It was so nice. They are great kids. Of course Aria and Zach loved the attention and the toys at the park. This face that Zachy is making above is one you will find on his face often.

Aria got to swing a lot. Every time she came to a stop one of her cousins was there to push her. She was pretty spoiled. She's not going to like going to the park with just her mom now. :)

Well I didn't get to take a picture of Travis and the kids on Father's Day this year. But I did find this picture that clearing depicts how much the kids love him. He is a wonderful dad and the kids love to play with him. The minute he sits or lays down on the floor the kids think it is play time. When I married Travis I thought he would be a good father or of course I wouldn't have married him, but I have be pleasantly surprised at how great of a father he is. The kids are blessed to have him as their father and I'm lucky to have found him. I love him dearly.

Aria has always loved shoes. But now she can put most of her shoes on by herself. This is the first time I noticed that she did and they were on the wrong feet. She was pretty proud of herself and I was proud of her too.

The kids love to be outside. But is seems no matter how big of yard you have for them they want to be on the other side of the fence. The grass is always greener on the other side, so they think. Anyway, they reach through the fence and grab rocks from the driveway and filter them through out the back yard. They have a great time but daddy isn't too happy about it.

This is Samuel's pre-school teacher Miss Jaci. He loved pre-school and learned lots. Miss Jaci was a great teacher and soooo full of energy. I don't know how she did it with 15 lively kids. Samuel keeps me hopping on his own. I will be sending the twins there in a couple of years and I know they will love it too.

Jaci put on a cute graduation for the parents. In this picture they are doing the "Brush your teeth" song. The little girl to Sam's left.... well lets just say they are good friend and couldn't keep their hands off of each other.

Grandpa and Grandma Porter got to come to Sam's graduation. He was very excited and proud to have them there. We are thankful for their love and support.

This is Sam and Aria on the train ride at Health Days. Aria doesn't look excited in this picture but she was and had a great time. Zach wasn't sure of the situation so he stayed with dad to be on the safer side.

Boot Camp!!

FYI!!!

My husband (Travis) is a trainer at the Smithfield Rec. Center. He is putting on a "Beach-Friendly" Boot Camp starting June 6th for six weeks. The class will be Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 7 pm for about an hour in the aerobics room. For members the cost is $125.00 and for non-members it is $145.00. For more information call the Rec. center at 563-0048 or you can email Travis at www.tsquared01.q.com.

I am really excited to take the class and of course I 'm very excited for him as this is his first class. I know he will do a great job and has a wealth of knowledge. I hope to see some of you there. Please no laughing at me. :)

Couldn't sleep so why not blog.....

We had a bit of spring in March and we took advantage of it. The twins are getting so brave. They will now go down the slides by themselves. Even the big ones. They had a blast.

Aria loves to put other peoples clothes on. She especially likes hats and shoes.

Zachy wasn't very happy about taking a picture with mommy. But I made him. He still is cute even though he is grumpy.

Sam is always ready and willing to get his picture taken.

He was much happier to take a picture with mommy than little brother was.

This was the first mowing of the lawn this year. All the kids were so excited to be outside. Sam loves to mow the lawn with daddy. It is one of the things I love to see. Father and son working along side each other. Of course, Sam sees it as fun for now.

Zach wasn't quite sure about the lawn mower. We barely got him to touch it.

Aria will do anything to spend time with daddy. Even if it is to just mow the lawn.

I was so excited to get out and weed my flower garden. I had plenty of help too. This is Samuel and Zachary helping. They helped so much that I found one of my flower plants cut to the ground. Thank goodness I have more than one flower plant.

The kids love being outside. Aria found she could fit her whole body in Sam's dump truck.

Sam tried to fit himself in the dump truck too.

Out of all my kids Zachy loves being out side the most. When Aria and Sam have decided they've had enough, Zach is still out side playing and exploring. He always comes in kicking and screaming. I love that he enjoys the outdoors.

It was Mother's Day this last Sunday and I have to say this is why I love being a mother and wife. I have a wonderful husband and 3 of the best kids around. They all bring so much joy into my life. I can't think of a better place to be then here with my family.

Grandpa and Grandma Rasmussen came for visit with their trailer. Samuel got to sleep out with them one night. He had a great time. In the morning they fixed us all a yummy breakfast.

Last week end Travis and I went to Lava Hot Spring for a couple of nights. Now the really cool story behind this is that it was given to us by my sisters. They booked the hotel and gave us spending money. They felt we needed some time alone. This past 6 months have been really busy and I've been gone a lot. So being the sweetest sisters I know they decided to take it upon themselves to get a couple of nights alone. Amy watched Samuel and he was so excited. He was also on a vacation. My parents watched Aria and Zach. They also loved the one on one time with Grandma and Grandpa. Travis and I had a very fun and relaxing time. We needed it more than we thought. Thank you Lori, Maria, Amy, Shea, mom and dad. This is a picture of us in our hotel. My camera ran out of batteries so I don't have any more pictures of the week end but we stayed up late watching T.V. , ate good food (and I didn't have to cook), sat in the mineral pools, met my sister Maria and Roger for the movie "Tron" (loved it), sat in the jetted tub in our room, slept in and just enjoyed each others company. Thanks again!

Adoption Update

I don't know how else to say this...but there is not going to be an adoption. They sent us a text last night saying they have decided to keep the baby. For those who don't know, he was born April 9th at 29 weeks. He is still in the NICU and doing pretty well. It has been a very long 6 months and we feel a great loss. But what doesn't kill us makes us stronger... Right? :) Our prayers will be with this little guy that he will continue to grow big and strong and be watched over. We are so grateful for the kids we have. They bring us so much joy and happiness. We still feel there is one more out there to complete our family. We are anxiously awaiting this little baby's arrival.

We also want to thank all of those who have gone through this journey with us. We have felt your love and support and could not have done it without you. We love you all.

Just catching up again.

We decided to take the kids sledding to a hill in Richmond. Well Sam had a great time and as for the rest of us (I'll just be honest) it was a ton of work and frustration. Zach didn't seem to mind going down the hills but Aria wasn't very happy about it. Of course carrying one kid in one arm and dragging the sled with the other free hand and then helping Sam after he kept losing his sled and putting gloves, hats and boots on over and over again wasn't the funnest. But we did it and next year will be fun as the twins will be able to walk better in the snow. But either way we were together as a family and I absolutely love that.

At the end of January Aria and Zachary got RSV. Aria ended up in the hospital for 2 nights and 3 days. I stayed with Aria and Travis was with Zachy and Sam. Zach just laid on daddy the whole time and Sam was a big helper. It was a scary time but they are doing great now. The nurses took great care of Aria and even brought her a brownie with a candle and a stuffed animal for her birthday. We celebrated the twins birthday a week and half later once they were feeling better.

The kids like to lick the beaters after I make a cake. Above is Samuel and below is Zachy.

Aria likes to sit by Samuel when watching a movie. It is funny at family prayer time she will go sit on Samuel's lap. She loves her big brother.

We celebrated the twins birthday on Feb. 9th (b-day Feb. 1st) Zach got a very noisy fire engine and he loves it.

Aria got a bike and she loves it too.

I can't believe they are 2 years old already. Where did the time go.