We Are Still Here!!

I am writing to let any of our fans out there know, that we are still here. It has been a little busy around here but we are back and I have lot's of really cute Halloween pictures and Kam's birthday pics and stories to share. So. . . more to come soon! Until then, we hope all of you, our friends and fam, are doing well. We love you and thanks for being interested in what is going on in our lives!

Vacation in Florida!!

We just got back from Florida a couple of days ago!! It was our family trip for the year. We had so much fun!! Here are a few of the pics from the trip. They got a little messed up when I downloaded them so they are kind of out of order. The picture above is Mason hanging out by Aunt Joan and Uncle Richard's pool.
John, Gavin, Mason and John's cousin Rick when we went to feed the turtles by the dock and look for manatees.

Kam and Gav at MGM (now called Hollywood Studios)
John, Kam and Gav in front of the Rockin' Roller Coaster (this was the only ride Gav couldn't go on because of height restrictions)
Kam and Gav locked in a cage with Zorg(?) from Toy Story.
Us in front of the Disney castle at Magic Kingdom
The kids in A Bug's Life 3-D at Animal Kingdom

Playing in Aunt Joan's pool. Kam is doing a flip into the pool and Gav is snorkling. They really got to be really good swimmers while we were there.

John looking pretty studly and way excited to get into the pool:-)

Kam, Aunt Joan, Grandma Ivie and Gav in the house.

When we landing in Florida, it got a little bumpy and Beamer didn't like it very much.
Kam was way excited to almost be there though!
Kamryn and Gavin at the beach.
Mason at the beach. He didn't like it at first but after we took him in the waves, we couldn't get him out.
Us at the beach! (I can't believe I am posting me in a bathing suit on this blog...aghhh)

What a good time!!

Happy Birthday Gav

grandma and grandpa Bear gave Gav this Hulk suit. He loves dress ups!!
Gavin's new jeep! (This is my garage sale pride and joy moment. I got the jeep and the charger and everything for only 10 buckaroos) The kids have wanted one since Kam was little. Gav is almost too big for it now but he was way excited and Mason will be happy when he gets to have it:-)

Gavin had a birthday a couple of days ago (along with his uncle Matt and his cousins Jessie and Dallin)!! Since he is the big 5, I wanted to share 5 reasons why I love him!

Among other reasons:

1. He has a very tender heart. He looks out for his little brother and big sis. He is sweet to everyone (especially little kids) that he meets. It hurts his feelings when others aren't doing what they are supposed to.

2. He is a very good helper. When he is in the mood, which is most of the time, he will help me with odd jobs such as; taking out the garbage and putting a new liner in, making cookies or dinner, etc.

3. He gives great hugs. He is my little snuggle bug and is always so loving to me and to his family and friends.

4. He tries really hard to do what is right. When he makes a mistake, he is always very quick to say he is sorry. He recognizes when he is not doing what he is supposed to and then tries really hard to not do it anymore.

5. He knows the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints is true and he loves Jesus and Heavenly Father very much.

I Love You Brutus!! We are glad you are a part of our crazy fam!

gav's 1st day of Pre-K

gav in front of school
before we left home (so handsome!)
In his class room

Gav just started his school this week, so to be fair, I am posting some of his first day pictures too!! (He turns 5 this month, so he just barely missed the deadline for Kindergarten). He is twice as big as everyone in his class. I hope he likes sports!!:-)

Fall is in the air!!

I love fall and everything that comes with it! Football games, cooler temperature, beautiful colors, Kam and Gav's birthdays and especially the smell. I could smell fall in the air today and it was great! I am so excited for the babies that are going to be born this fall and winter. What a great time to be born! Fall has always been my favorite season and I just want to say, Welcome Fall!

1st day in 1st grade!

What a poser!

Kam, in front of her door at school!

It was Kam's first day of school 2 days ago. She was a little nervous but comes home everyday saying she had the best day! She loves school lunch and having two recesses now instead of just one! I am proud of you sis!

One year old and a mouth full of teeth:-)

So, my baby boy just turned one a couple of weeks ago. What a cute little stud!! He is always so happy and smiley. He makes everyone feel good because he acts like everyone is his best friend (including complete strangers). There are very few people he doesn't smile at. hahaha What makes his smile even cuter is his mouth full of teeth. He got his first two teeth when he was only 4 months old and has slowly gained more and more over the past year until he now has a whopping 8 teeth at a year old.

I just wanted to say happy birthday to my sweet, beautiful little man!! I love you buddy!

What are they really watching?!!

A couple of weeks ago, I was shopping at the grocery store with Gav. We had been there a while and I decided to buy a Stoufer's frozen lasagna. As I was putting the lasagna in the cart, gavin comes over and says, "hey, that's stoupers!" I was a little surprised to see that he knew what it was that I was putting in the cart, so I said, "how do you know what this is?" and he said, "I saw it on commercial, so that's stoupers and its really good for the whole family!" I thought that was pretty cute but it made me very wary of what kids really do see on television, watching their favorite cartoon or show.

A couple of days later, Kamryn and I were grocery shopping and she informed me that the green produce bags are better to put your produce in because they "stay fresher longer in the green produce bags." I again asked her how she knew that, and she said because she saw it on a commercial. Well, at least they are seeing the useful commercials instead of the smut they could be seeing. I guess bottom line is, I really should be very aware of what my children are watching on the t.v. so they don't start informing me what lingerie will strap me in the best or anything worse.

Only In Utah

We recently finished reading the Book of Mormon as a family!! (It took 1 and a half years reading 1 page most nights). We decided to celebrate by going bowling and getting ice cream. So, while we were purchasing our games and getting our shoes, Kamryn excitedly told the cahier, "We just finished reading the Book of Mormon as a family so now we get to go bowling and ice skating." Where else but in Utah would a young cashier reply, "Oh, you did? That is so awesome!"? I love living here in happy valley where people are proud of our family for having good values. I love living in a place where our children can feel comfortable sharing our exciting news with perfect strangers and then having the strangers be excited for them and know what the heck:-) they are talking about. We are truly blessed to live in such a wonderful state, city, nieghborhood, home.

Kamryn: Superstar

Here is our beautiful Kamryn. My dear wonderful friend Erin is an amazing photographer and she took a bunch of pictures of my kids for John's birthday. Kamryn is on her website as one of her child models! You can check out her website at:

www.erinsummerill.com

She is great, and look how pretty Kam is!