More pictures of Jasper

Here are the pictures we had done in the hospital the day we brought Jasper home. He is doing all the things a newborn does (eat, sleep, eat some more...) and growing fast. We had a doctors appointment today and he is already up to 6 pounds and measuring 18 inches! Since he was 4 lbs 9 oz and about 17 inches at birth, I'd say he is growing fast.

Jasper is home!!

The day after I got home we were back at the hospital to get our little boy! It's great to have him home. Ken's parents and my dad were here to welcome him and help us out. Jasper has already filled our home with love and laughter. Gwen won't leave him alone and Ethan grabs him like he's a Christmas present that needs to be unwrapped. We are trying to teach him what "gently" means.

Gwen and Ethan are growing up

Gwen started kindergarten and Ethan turned three this last month! It was a busy one and we loved every minute of it!

Welcome Jasper

Jasper Alan was born August 29! He was early and very small, 4 lbs 9 oz and 16 inch. Hopefully he will be home soon. It wasn't fun leaving him there in the hospital, but he is in good hands and we can go visit him any time. Here are some pictures. We will keep you updated and let you know when he is home with us!

Family Reunion

Every other year my family gets together for a reunion. This year we went to Bear Lake Utah. It was wonderful! Even though it rained a lot, we still had a good time. My sister-in-law planed out this great birthday party for all the kids. Since they all live so far apart, they don't get to celebrate birthdays with cousins, so we had one big party and exchanged gifts. She did an amazing job planning it all out.



















After leaving Bear Lake, we got to go to Logan where two of my nieces were baptized. It was great to see all my family and we even got to spend time with Ken's family too since they live in Utah.
















We even got to go to the open house of the Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple the day before coming home on Monday. It is beautiful!! The Angle Moroni on top of the temple was struck by lightning Sunday night, so we got some very unusual pictures while we were there.







Ethan was still in his cast but that didn't stop him from joining in on the fun. He got it off the day after we got back. Just in time for us to go to the NASCAR race. He was walking and running all over the same day, making Mom very nervous. I keep hearing these stories of kids re-breaking their bones days after the cast comes off. If it does happen, at least he got one good bath in!

Gwen is loving the freedom of summer and has turned into a very social butterfly. For those of you who knew her even just a year ago, you know how amazing that is. Her life is all about friends now. It was very hard for her to leave her cousins, but she has good friends here too.

All boy

Well, it finally happened. Our first visit the the ER. And surprise, surprise, it was for Ethan. He fractured the top of his foot and now has to spend the first month of summer is a bright orange (what other color would he have chosen?!) cast. He was so good about the entire experience though. He even said "cheese" for the x-rays. Hopefully he will stop being afraid to put weight on his foot and start walking again. His little knees are all raw from crawling everywhere!

Gwen has been the best little helper and big sister! She is very kind to him and always wanting to help him. She makes his bed for me every morning without being asked, fills his cup with milk, gets toys he can't reach and is constantly worried about him.






I was so proud of my little kids! They sat and listened to most of General Conference. Well, Gwen did. Ethan played with toy most the time. The primary presidency gave all the kids a little package to fill out about all the speakers and Gwen filled out every page. She was awesome!

The obsession continues

The Muppet's have become my new babysitter! They are also teaching Ethan and Gwen how to use the computer. It's scary how easy it is for them to find these videos. Gwen found "Danny Boy" (along with a bunch of other cute clips) the other day and it's yet another hit! I wish I knew how to just get the ones I want on here. The one with the girl is NOT suppose to be here.

The Muppet Show

I just checked out the first season of The Muppet Show from the library and my kids can't get enough. I've seen "Mahnahmahnah" about 50 times today alone!! The one with Beaker singing "Feelings" is one of my all time favorites. Why don't they make good family shows like this any more?!

Snow trip

It's great to have the mountains so close. We don't have to deal with the snow here in town, but if we want to go play in it, it's just a quick drive away. The kids loved it and Ethan would still be sledding if he let him. We took the youth of our ward up for the day. It was a great activity!



Yes, I put a purple snow suit on my son! I needed something to use as leverage against him when he gets older.




The snow was so deep, Gwen and I kept sinking down to our knees, and our waist in some places.



One of the boys was eating snow and showed Gwen what snow was okay to eat. She kept getting stuck truing to find "the best" snow.



I thought this spot was cool. You wouldn't believe what we went through to get to it.



Just another cute picture of Ethan.

Bike race

We were lucky enough to have the Tour of California bike race end Stage four here in Clovis. It was a beautiful day and we got to see some pretty great athletes like Lance Armstrong. It's amazing how fast they go on a bike! We were at the finish line and they were all riding together. When they passed us it felt like a semi-truck going by it got so windy! Gwen still talks about how the riders made her hair fly up.
We didn't get any good pictures, but here's what we got.

Gwen's Five!!!

Gwen turned five this month and had her first real birthday party. It was great! I can't believe how big she is getting. She thought she was going to kindergarten the day after her birthday. I had to explain to her she had to finish out the school year in her preschool class first. She was NOT happy!



Here she is playing in her room with Madisyn and Elly after opening all the gifts.



Elly just moved into our ward and she and Gwen get into plenty of trouble in primary with each other. Gwen has NEVER had a girl her age in our ward. The primary leaders always use to tell me how good Gwen was. Now they're bringing her to me because she won't stop talking! (Poor Elly)



Jacob and Gwen have been friends their whole lives (I think) and get into plenty of trouble of their own.

A quick look back

I just realized I didn't post any pictures of the kids for Halloween. Better late than never.

Ethan is obsessed with WAL-E. He still wants to wear his costume every once in a while.

I'll try to get Christmas pictures up soon.