this one..

This one has been sick lately.

And when he's sick he wants what he wants, like when he went all day with this travel neck pillow around his neck and would NOT take it off. For anything.

And what happened when mama tried to take it off just for a second so he could eat? A whole lotta sad pouty lip..

And some big tears.

Poor baby Sawyer.

Expressions of Love

.

I love this, and just wanted to pass it on.

Back to school Spa Day

.

Before school starts I like to do a fun Spa day to get the kids excited for school and also to make sure they are trimmed up and squeaky clean.

This year Macie got to be a part of the fun.

We did masks, manicures, pedicures, Connor got to "shave", and each one got to have a hot bubble bath with spa jets, and relaxing music.

I may have been just as excited as they were, I'll admit it.

.

This year Daddy decided that his contribution to the Spa day every year will be to get a fun surprise treat for them at the end.

BIG HIT!!

Pre, First and Third

It's back to school around our house! Last week Ellie started 3rd grade, Connor 1st grade and Macie Pre-school.

.

.

It is so nice to be back on a regular schedule and fun for mom getting use to having only ONE at home for 3 hours a day-3 days a week.

road trip to Cali

My sweet hubby said to me I should go on a little trip by myself (since having the kids for 9 days by myself made me a little loco) and he suggested that I take my sister Lauren who has been visiting with her one year old Oaklen.

And then my Mom decided she wanted to go. And my dad. And I decided that since we were headed to the "resort" that is my Aunt Jan's house....I might just need to take my oldest 2 kids too because they would never leave the pool anyway.

So my little vaca trip, turned out to be filled with lots of family and it was actually way better that way.

.

I got to have some great talks with my Dad while we drove and learned all about what kind of crops grow in EVERY field on the way to Elk Grove. 5 hours of "Look at that soil! That is fantastic soil." and "Did you all know that is the smallest mountain range in the world?" (we did. he had told us on the last trip) Oh, I love my Dad. He was destined to live out in the middle of nowhere and grow crops and raise cattle.

.
From the minute we got to Jan and Alan's we were nothing less than spoiled. Alan force fed us homemade guacamole and salsa till we burst.
We got to be lazy and swim, Garrett helped Ellie perfect her dive,
.
.

and Lauren and I shopped till we dropped. Seriously, in Davis there is a Forever 21 that is as big as my block. We spent 3 hours in it and I could have stayed a few more. I died.

.

The last few times I have gone down to CA. Jan and Alan pull out their scuba gear and

I scuba-it-up in their pool. Yep, that is the closest I will ever get to actually scuba diving...by choice.
.
.
.
.

I loved taking a trip with just my big kids this time. May have started a new tradition.

Olsen and Edgar Family Reunion 2011

As soon as Scott got back from Alaska we packed up and headed to the Olsen Family reunion up at Lake of the Woods. We actually split up the cabins with the Edgar's (Pam's sisters family) and we had a blast.

(Macie and Mhaya)
(Connor's talent was sword fighting for the talent show)
All of Scott's family was able to be there except his sister Kim and her family and 3 of our brothers in law. Can I just say that I love being with the Olsen's!
(Matt and Gavin)

They are such a fun group of people. His family is so talented and get the kids to do such cool things when we are together.

(Sweet Sawyer who spent a lot of time in the stroller)

You HAVE to go over HERE to Kara's blog to see the rest of these pictures that Chris took from the reunion. A-mazing!

( This is my ALL time favorite picture of Scott and Bud)
(Uncle Joe, Jillian and Anna)

We spent time on the lake in canoes and swimming. Our friends The Coffmans came up one afternoon and brought their boat, jet ski and tubes.

(Macie)
(Cousins on the tube)

We had a pretty awesome talent show, a big family dance and did a lot of singing. We played horse shoes and did science experiments.

We ate delicious food and roasted Smores every night. Cool Uncle Joe even scared the pants off of my kids with his scary ghost stories. Thanks Joe.

We kissed and loved on the cousins and Aunties that we don't get to see very often and came home dirty and happy!

Can't wait till the next one!

Alaska- father and son trip

Bud wanted to take a father and son trip with Scott and they choose Alaska.

According to Scott they could not have picked a better place. Alaska is one of his all time favorite places.

They got to go, just the 2 of them, on a 9 day trip that included camping, hiking, boating, visiting with family and SO. MUCH. FISHING!!!

Scott has such a great relationship with his dad and I could tell he was so glad that they got this opportunity to hang out together.

.

Little Landyn

Summer has come and gone and I have so much to blog! I have almost put it off because there is so much and I am overwhelmed.

But here goes.

First up we have a new cousin around these parts. My sister Julie had her 4th baby last month.

Landyn Marie Macdonald. She is such a fun mix of all of the rest of her family that I see someone new everyday.

Holding her I do miss that fantastic newborn stage but on the other hand I am kinda excited that I get to move onto the stages that come when your done with all the baby business.

horsies

.

Lucky little Macie got to come with me tonight to mutual. I took her because we took all the girls up to Suzanne's house to play with the horses, swim in the pool and make some smores.

If Macie could do one thing all day it would be to be on or around a horse so when Suzanne asked if Macie wanted to sit on it, well I just wish I would have taken a picture of her grin from ear to ear.

She learned that horse hair is used on the bow of a violin, that people hold on to the horses mane sometimes if they don't have reigns, oh...and that one of Suzanne's horses is a "Mr. Horse" and that you can see his bum. Apparently she thought that was pretty funny and kept pointing.

She loved having mom all to herself and being able to be one of the big girls for a day.