Monthly updates

Well, here I am again and another month has passed. I'm going to quit apologizing for myself because clearly this might be how it is for the next little while. Right now we are in the middle of finishing little odds and ends around our house to sell it, we bought the house next door and are fixing it up to flip it, and we are preparing to build our new home out in West Haven (YAY). So needless to say things around here are crazy...oh yeah, need I remind you that I also have 4 children. So I'll do my best to get on here every once in a while and give a shout out. These are all in kind of a random order so just try and keep up.

Right now things are actually feeling pretty sane because we just got back into town yesterday afternoon from Cedar City for the summer games. Rob played basketball with a team that we went down there with last year. It was totally fun and the team did OK too. We kind of counted this as our summer family vacation. We stayed at the Abbey Inn (Cooper decided that next time we go down there that we should stay in the Cooper Inn) and it was lots of fun with an indoor pool and yummy breakfast. We took the camera but it stayed safely in its case the most of the trip. Here is a picture of the kids in there sleeping arrangements. Whitney actually slept in her car seat, but the other three shared a bed, for most of the night at least. At about 2 am Coop fell out of be and that woke Shelby up. He, however, slept right through it. Then she came into bed with us.We took Rob's brother down with us so we had two rooms. The first night Rob, Abby, and Coop slept in with him but the next two nights we all stayed in our room together and let Brian have some space. He was a champ being with the kids the whole time. They love him so much. You'd think that I would have got a picture with them all together, however you are mistaken:(

Last weekend we went camping with some friends from the ward, the Bees and Aardemas (we so love our ward and are having a very hard time thinking about leaving). This basically the only picture we have of Whitney. That's my friend Sharon holding her. Yes, it was raining and Sharon is innovative and through the burp clothe on her head to keep her dry.



Here is Abby on her cool princess bike. She was the oldest one up there and was SO in charge. She is always trying to be helpful in one way or another. She really kept some of the kids taken care of.
Here's Coop and Shelb. Aardema's were geniouses in suggesting that we take up the kids bikes. They were all on them most of the time. We had the little 4-wheeler up there too and they loved it with the open space.
Here is Ms Whitney on her blessing day. I only took a few pictures but Barb is a champ and always takes her grandkids and does a big photoshoot with them with her own camera. Whitney, of course, was adorable and Rob gave a beautiful blessing. I'm so greatful to have a husband who takes his priesthood authority seriously and is worthy to take care of his responsibilities.
And here is Whitney today. She is loving her siblings so much. I was straight in front of her and could get her to smile but the minute I called Abby in she turned into a cheeseball. You can tell that Abby was sitting to the side. She looks so cute when she smiles. She's getting pretty chubby too. I love those cheeks!


And lastly, every summer we have shaved Coop's head. Last year we though it would be funny to shave his head into a mohawk, but he looked so cute that we let him keep it for a few days. This year he kept asking when he gets his mohawk again and finally, the day after Whitney's blessing I gave him one. I did it on a Monday morning so he could have it all week before we cut it for church.Well, that's about it for now. A few milestones on kids (because remember I count this as my journal)...Abby is loving being home for summer vacation, though she gets bored often and I'm on the countdown to school already. She is really a good reader, but isn't really thrilled about having to do it. She needs things to be her idea.
Coop got a big boy bike a couple of weeks ago and loves riding it where ever he can. Hopefully we'll have the training wheels off by the end of summer.
Shelby's new favorite word is "NO", and that is in capital letters for a reason, and "MY SELF". She is sooooo 2 years old. We still love her, but I'm really looking forward to her growing out of this phase.
And of course Ms. Whitney is doing the adorable baby thing. She just started sitting in the bumbo and is kind of a fan. Hopefully we'll start working on rolling over soon.
Rob is crazy busy with work (which is such a blessing in this economy) and I am trying to juggle 18 things at once.

What a crazy, wonderful life!