Dillon turns 8!

On October 2nd, Dillon turned 8!  He was excited to wake up to a room full of balloons!

He requested a doughnut with sprinkles for his birthday breakfast.

For his birthday activity, he wanted to go to Lagoon's Frightmares.  My mom and Jarom's mom were able to come down from Idaho Falls to go to Lagoon with us.  Unfortunately, Sadie threw up that morning, so I stayed home with her while Jarom, the boys, and the Grandmas went.  They had a great time!

That night, we had his party.  He wanted a tennis cake which turned out...okay!  Definitely not my best!

For his presents, he got a lot of random things like Legos, a new tennis hat, video games, and other small stuff.  He had such a fun party and he is now looking forward to getting baptized.  

Dillon is definitely very special to our family.  Out of all our kids, he is probably the most like me.  At times, he gets stressed about life, but overall, he is a happy and caring little boy.  He is definitely my sensitive child and I often find him upset because he feels so bad for others.  Dillon's first 8 years have been a joy and we look forward to the many years we have ahead with him.  Happy Birthday, Dill!

September 2014

September was a really exciting month for our family because we found out that I'm...

EXPECTING BABY #4!  

When I turned 29 in June, I had an overwhelming feeling that I needed to have a 4th baby.  So, since I always pictured myself being done with having kids by the age of 30, that left a very narrow window of time for me to get pregnant and achieve that.  Fortunately, I've always been able to get pregnant fairly quickly, and was able to do so for this baby as well.  Our little bean is due May 10, and the whole family is so excited!  I think I'm more excited to see how our kids interact with he/she since they are so much older. 

 We sent this picture to our family announcing our little surprise!

In early September, I traveled into Idaho Falls to get our house ready to sell...again.  The kids had a blast baking snickerdoodles with Grandpa Johnson.  

That same night, Braylon was taking a shower when he started complaining that his head hurt.  He had told me earlier that he had gotten stung by a wasp during a field trip at school that day, but I hadn't noticed any marks on him after school, so I didn't really believe him.  Well, when I got him out of the shower, I noticed that his forehead and swelled up.  I also noticed a tiny little mark on his head from the sting.  His head and eyes were swollen for a week and the bee sting mark is just finally starting to fade.  Poor guy!

On September 9, Jarom celebrated his 33rd Birthday.  The boys had a flag football game that evening, so we weren't able to celebrate until really late.  Texas Sheet Cake tastes great at anytime of the day though!

The kids had their primary program in September.  They all had their parts memorized and delivered them clearly.  Jarom and I were definitely proud parents.  

1st Day of School!

The boys started school at Woodruff Elementary on August 26.  Braylon is in the 1st grade and his teacher is Mrs. Sawyer.  Dillon is in the 2nd grade and his teacher is Mrs. Todd.

So far they've been loving going to school and making new friends.  They are doing extremely well and they both scored very high on their state testing.  I have loved being at home with Sadie and we have grown even closer.  We always joke that all we do is "shop and eat" all day together.  I'm hoping to cherish this last year at home with her before she goes to school.

10 Year Anniversary!

For our ten year anniversary, Jarom and I decided to take a quick trip to California to visit our favorite place...DISNEYLAND!  We decided to go a couple of months before our actual anniversary so that the kids weren't in school while we were gone.  We flew out of Idaho Falls on Monday afternoon and landed in Los Angeles pretty late.  We drove down to Anaheim and went to dinner at Bubba Gump Shrimp. 

While we were eating in a secluded booth, a teen boy walked past us and into the bathroom.  I immediately recognized him from the show, "Sister Wives."  I knew that he was one of Janelle's sons, so Jarom and I decided to look around the restaurant for the rest of the family.  We spotted Janelle and the rest of her kids (minus Madison) sitting at a table at the far end of the restaurant.  Instead of going up to them while they were eating, we decided to leave the restaurant and wait for them as they were leaving.  After what seemed like forever, the family finally walked out and into the parking garage.  We started walking behind them and as they were about to get on an elevator, Jarom yelled out to them.  They turned around and immediately started chatting with us.  Janelle was very nice and was even excited that we were from Logan as Madison is going to school at Utah State.  Meeting them was definitely one of the highlights of the trip for us.

On Tuesday, we went to Disneyland! 

On Wednesday, we drove back up to Hollywood to attend a live taping of the Dr. Phil show.  It was fun seeing Dr. Phil and Robin in person and seeing the technical behind-the-scenes aspects of the show.  That night, we attended an Anaheim Angels game.

On Thursday, we went to California Adventure.  

We had a great time for the few days that we got to spend together.  It's always nice to get away and reconnect with each other after the chaos of everyday life with our kids.   

Summer 2014

This last summer was super busy and fun for our family.  We decided to buy season tickets to Lagoon for the year since we live so close and since the kids LOVE amusement parks.  They enjoyed every one of the many trips we took throughout the summer and they now consider themselves "Lagoon Experts!" 

Dillon played a ton of tennis this summer and he was even able to participate in a tennis camp for elite players where many college coaches came for a week and taught the technical aspects of the game.  He loved the camp and was sad when it ended.

One day while playing with Dillon, a man pulled over and asked if he could take pictures of Dillon.  He said that he was with the Logan paper.  He was amazed by Dillon's hitting ability and skills, so he wanted to put a picture of him in the paper.  The next day, Dillon was on the front page of Logan's Herald Journal.  We were all excited and bought many extras for us and our families. Dillon was also thrilled and claims that he is famous now.

 Dillon won 2nd place in Logan's tournament in May.

In July, we traveled to Idaho Falls for a tournament.  Many family members including Great Grandpa Johnson were able to see him play.  He placed 3rd in that tournament.

Braylon played tee ball this year!  Although he doesn't love sports, he actually surprised us by his hitting skills and overall knowledge of the game.  He did awesome!

Sadie participated in a summer dance program in June and July.  She also danced in a Safari Dance Camp for her studio during the last week of July.  She is quite the dancer and is always acknowledged for her good behavior and how quick she picks up on the steps.  

The kids were able to go fishing with Jarom a few times!

We went bowling!

We took many trips to the awesome playgrounds the city of Logan offers.

We went to the Hogle Zoo with Travis, Mary, and Alexis!

We went to Bear World with my mom!

For the Fourth of July, we went into Idaho Falls to attend the parade and then a BBQ at my sister's house.  The kids always have a blast on the 4th!

We went to the Preston Rodeo in August.  It's definitely one of the best rodeos in Utah!

We went to Bear Lake a couple of times.  The first time, the kids just played on the beach and in the water.  The second time, Mary and Travis went with us and we all went tubing.  The kids even went by themselves!  They had such a blast!

It was sad to see summer go, but it has been nice settling into a good routine now that school has started.  We feel so fortunate to be able to experience such fun activities with our kids.