Help me decide

ok, the kids are having pictures taken tomorrow, nothing fancy, it is at portait innovations. Anyway, it will be individual as well as the kids all together. the boys clothing I have fingured out, but Brooklyne is another story. I have hers narrowed down to 6 outfits, can you guys help me figure out which one to do???? btw, I will not be changing her outfit, so it will be the same in all pictures. BTW, the background in the pictures will most likely be white, like 95% chance of that.

This is what the boys will be wearing.



here are the boys clothes showing the different outfits for Brook to choose from.

simple pink stausburg dress with smocking around collar. HAIR: 2 pony with white bows

green and dark pink pillowcase dress made by my mom. HAIR: 1 pony with dark pink bow

gymboree shorts and tank top outfit from the cherry line. HAIR: 2 pony tails with cork screw multi colored barrets.

Janie and Jack halter black, red and white dress. HAIR: 1 pony with red bow.

pillow case outfit, turqoise and pink outfit with striped capri. HAIR: 1 pony with blue bow

Janie and Jack butterfly white dress with blue bows on the front of her shoulders. this was her easter dress. HAIR: 1 pony with white bow.

Interesting Comparison

Sunday morning Kolby was going to the bathroom while I was fixing my hair:

Kolby: "Mommy, your hair is pretty."
Mom: "Thank you Kolby."
Kolby: "I like the color of your hair."
Mom: "You do?"
Kolby: "YES mom, it is the same color as my poop!"

Sack lunch at the library

Friday we took the kids to Morton Public Library for a sack lunch on the lawn and the local fire department came to speak to the kids. We had a fun time, and the boys loved getting in the fire truck.

evening entertainment

Last night Trent, Kolby and Tanner said they had some entertainment after dinner. Once we finished eating, the boys got right to work. I have NO clue what so ever what the first skit was, but it had something to do with Trent stealing money, Kolby going to jail, then Trent ends up in jail, and Kolby somehow just walks right out. Nonetheless, it sure was funny.


The second act was a magic act. A few days ago I read the book, The Adventures of Benny and Watch - The Magic Show Mystery, and they really enjoyed it. Hense, the reason the second skit of the night was the exact same stuff that was in the book. Trent had a cup, and would have things disappear. He was having so much fun. Then Kolby and Tanner wanted to get in on the action. The boys were laughing and having the greatest of time. We finished the night off with grandma reading a story, Mudball.

Summer nights in the humid south

In the hot summer month of July, what could be more fun for my boys then to spend the late evening at a R/C event. Brooklyne was still stick, so I had to stay home with her, but Donald took lots of pictures and said that the boys had a BLAST! There was good BBQ to be eaten, cars to race, and trophies to win. Don said that all three boys were really good, they did not complain, they were not sassy, and they were beaming from the nights fun.
Our family was invited to a R/C event being held at the home and property of a man from Don's work. He had build a large R/C track on part of his proporty and decided to host an activity where they would invite family and friends. There were about a hundred people in attendance, and our kids were some of the youngest. That did not seem to phase them one bit. The older kids were cheering my boys on and really made them feel welcome and part of the group. We were a little nervous that Trent and Kolby might be a bit embarrassed because they did not have a high fast powered BIG truck to race, but I don't think the thought or comparison even entered their minds. They were just having too much fun. Tanner decided to spend a lot of his time eating and flirting it up with another little girl. She took quiet the liking to him. Each boy walked away with a cool trophy and several prizes.

(I have no idea why my pictures did not post next to each other, so sorry about the long line of many pictures, next time I will just have to make them smaller.)

Childhood memories along the Mississippi River

It is mid July, and my mind wonders to the sweet memories of my summers in Nauvoo Illinois. For as long as I can remember, my mom would take my sisters and I camping in Nauvoo for a week during the pageant, City of Joseph. We always camped in the Nauvoo State Park just on the edge of town and of Historic Old Nauvoo. We would spend the week gallivanting around Historic Nauvoo visiting our favorite homes. We would visit the brick yard, the gun shop, Wilford Woodruff's home, the Lucy Mac Smith home, the bakery and many many more. We always visited the temple site (before the Nauvoo temple was restored) the Nauvoo Fudge Factory, and we would drive to Carthage Jail about 35 minutes away.

I don't think I have a single memory of camping in Nauvoo that is negative. We did not have showers, so we would have to use a hose or make our own, we did not have flush toilets close, we had to cart our water to our camp site, and it was buggy and very humid. None of that mattered or even phased any of us, we were in Nauvoo and it felt like home. I have a few funny memories, like when Jolene stepped on a garden snake and screamed so loud she probably could have broken windows with her high pitch. One year Tiffany stepped on her curling iron and the bottom of her foot was pretty burnt. But on the upside she and Jolene were able to use the car to drive around Nauvoo rather than the usual walking. Often times we would drive over to the pageant area, but where we would park, we always had to walk past the stinkiest blue cheese factory, the stench would make my stomach churn. All of those little memories hold a special place in my heart that I hope I will never forget.

Of course one of the best things about going to Nauvoo the end of July was being able to go to the City of Joseph each night. As evening would approach, the excitement and anticipation of sun down grew more and more, for that was when the pageant would begin. Most of the time we would go an hour or two before the show was to begin so that we could lay out our blankets to sit on. We would then spend the rest of the time mingling and enjoying ourselves and all the new faces. When I was still pretty young, there were hundreds of people that would come to see the pageant at night. By the time I was a teenager, it was a couple thousand. In the last year of the production, it had quadrupled in audience attendance. Tears have begun to stream down my face as I reflect on watching the pageant. I knew all the scenes, all the songs and even some of the cast members. The show was full of life, love, spirit, history and truth. The costumes were bright and colorful, the scenes were fun and entertaining, and the music was truly moving and spiritual. My love and connection for Nauvoo grew each and every year. there was a spirit about the city, about the pageant that is nearly unexplainable. My testimony of the restoration of the gospel, of Joseph Smith, of the Book of Mormon, and of the hard work and sacrifices made by the pioneers truly was developed and expanded by my experiences in Nauvoo.

2004 was the last year that the City of Joseph was preformed. The pageant ran for 29 years and had only been rained out once in all those years. I was lucky enough to have been able to take my family the last summer on the pageant. Nauvoo had changed so much from my childhood memories. You use to be able to go visit the Historic homes and not have to wait in long lines, but this was not the case any more. Once the temple was rebuilt, the number of visitors that would flood into the area grew by leaps and bounds. Unfortunately this made the Nauvoo that I remember a distant faded memory. It no longer was a quiet quaint little Historic town with lots of visitors from the surrounding areas. It now had families driving cross country, cast members from Utah out numbered those of Stakes surrounding Nauvoo. Everything was packed and noisy, no longer laid back and peaceful. We found that you had to wait outside the pageant area with our blankets at 2 pm and then you would be allowed to go in and RUN to a spot you wanted to lay your blankets. Within minutes, the grass was covered by blankets and people who were wanting to claim their viewing spots for the evening show. It was just so completely different from what it was just 10 years prior. Even though things were so different, it did not matter, it was still Nauvoo. There was still a spirit about the area that just captures your heart. The best thing I can compare it to if the feelings I have when I step on temple grounds. I find myself completely blessed that my mom felt it important enough to take us camping by herself every summer so that we could take part in such an amazing place.

The City of Joseph is no longer running, instead there is a different production called Nauvoo Pageant. It has a very different feel to it. It is wonderful and uplifting, but my heart will always belong to the City of Joseph.

PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!

We had a great 4th of July.

We got up early and headed off out our ward pancake breakfast. The food was a bit scanty and we were the only ones who brought bacon and blueberries, but at least there were enough pancakes for everyone to have as many as they wanted. When we got home from the breakfast we played a game of baseball in our front yard. A few of the neighbor kids came over and it was grown ups against kids (very unevenly matched I must say, since there were only 2 of us). We then had some left over pizza for lunch and let the kids take naps so they would not be too tired for the evening.

(sorry, I failed to get pictures of us all dressing in our patriotic attire.)

We met up at the pool with a few families from our neighborhood in the late afternoon. About 30 minutes after I got there with Trent and Kolby, it started to get really dark outside and the sky was looking very scary. Sure enough, about 10 minutes later a storm is passing thru and it is pouring down rain. Luckily we had signed up for the pavilion and we chowed down our our dinner while it rained. The storm lasted about 20 minutes and after it pasted, the kids were eager to get back in the pool. We all had a great time swimming till 8:30 p.m.

(Tanner had so much fun in the baby pool as long as he had his floaty. Brooklyne just

wanted to be independent to play in the water how ever she wanted. Kolby loved

getting the other kids to laugh and have fun. He has really become

much more of a fish over the last few weeks.)

(Trent is a mad man in the water. He loved diving off the diving board as well as doing flips. If he wasn't doing tricks off the board he was playing baseball in the water,

having squirt gun wars, or playing marco - polo.)

(the kids loved these inflatable whales. I would whip them around the pool while taking part in the squirt gun wars. Of course I never used the floatation or CHILD to shield me from any water coming my way.)

We all decided to skip doing the city fireworks show and had our own display on our neighborhood street. The kids were having so much fun it was really hard to pull them away from doing more and more and more fireworks. Luckily, we ran out of fireworks and we all headed home. I think we got the kids to bed at about 10:30 p.m. but they had a blast, so it was worth it. The even better thing was that they slept in the next morning till 8:15 a.m. and that NEVER happens.

(the sparklers were a huge hit with the kids. Tanner is the only brave sole who actually tried to touch the burning end.)

(Tanner was "hot and cold" on his involvement with the fireworks. One minute he would be freaking out and crying, and then the next minute, he was having a great time. He loved collecting smoke booms and putting them in the bag all for himself.) (Brooklyne was not too thrilled about the fireworks. He kept getting scared every time there was a loud boom. My arms got so tired from holding her that Donald had to take over. Do you think that would stop him from playing with the fireworks? NOPE!)

We almost got THROWN out of the water park!

Ok, so Donald and I surprised Trent and Kolby by taking them to the water park Thursday. We had gotten a sitter for Tanner and Brook so that we could actually do water slides with the 2 older boys. When Trent and Kolby found out what we were doing, they were thrilled and were bursting with excitement the whole drive there (about 1 hour). We got the the park, and discover they had raised the admission price by $8.00 . Then they had both my boys stand against the wall to see if they were 48 inches, neither of them were, so they got arm bands. I asked what those were for (because in the past 4 years, we have never had to have arm bands for the kids) she said it was because they were not tall enough to go on the water slides but they could do the other stuff. It did not quite register in my head what she was saying, but we continued on our way and entered the park. We were having a great time, we floated down the lazy river some, played at Leaky Creaky (smaller water slides where there is water being sprayed everywhere and you are going to be drenched just by stepping over in that area) and then we headed for the wave pool. This is where things kinda took a turn. We were in the wave pool and a lifeguard comes up to me and says my boys need to have life jackets on. I told him "no, they did not need life jackets, that we were with our kids and they were fine." He said that since they are not 48 inches they need to wear life jackets. I said NO, I was not going to put life jackets on my kids, they were fine. He walked away. About 10 minutes later, another life guard came over and said the same thing, to which my reply was the same as before. She put up a bit more of a stink, so I told her that my boys know how to swim, they do not need life jackets in the wave pool and that we have been coming here for the past 4 years and never had to use them before, so NO,,, I was not going to put life jackets on my kids. She then left. About 10 minutes later, she came back, and said that her supervisor would like to talk with me. I said "sure." He explained that they need to wear life jackets because they are not 48 inches tall. I explained that I was NOT putting life jackets on my 7 and 5 year old, etc., etc., etc.. He then left. About 5 minutes later, his manager came over and wanted to talk with me. She explained the rule, and I explained my stance. She said I had it put life jackets on my children if they are to be in the wave pool. I explained to her that actually putting the unfit life jackets on my children was actually a safety HAZARD for them and that I was not going to put them in the situation. She got more firm. I became more firm as well. She explained we can leave the park. I told her that she is free to give us a full refund and we will leave the park. She said she could have us escorted out, I said not without a full refund. She became more frustrated, I became more frustrated. I kept explaining to her that my children do NOT need the life jackets ESPECIALLY because they do not fit and it is more dangerous than helpful. I explained that the water is 3 foot deep TOTAL in the entire wave pool and that my kids were FINE. My voice became elevated, she said we must leave the park immediately. I told her NO, not without a full refund. This went on for a good 10 minutes, then a security guard came up to us and another manager. I continued to stand my ground. They continued to explain that because of safety, my children must have life jackets on if they are to be in the wave pool. I asked them if they would make a dwarf wear a life jacket if he/she was not 48 inches tall, they said YES. I asked, so it does not matter the ability of the person, only the height? They said YES. I said "that is discrimination! you are discriminating against my family because we are SHORT?" They continued to say that it is for safety reasons because my child could get knocked down in the wave pool and put under and his life would be in danger. I argued that statement with " it that is the reason my child has to wear a life jacket then EVERYONE in this wave pool should wear a life jacket. Anyone can get knocked down, any size any age, and be in danger. Therefore, your 48 inches rule has no merit of safety, just height, which is discrimination against those who are short!" I said my 7 year old has been swimming for the past 4 years jumping off diving boards and swimming in the deep end, and you want him to wear a life jacket? They of course replied with a YES. I explained that there are children out there in the wave pool who are 4 years old who do not know how to swim, but they don't have to wear a life jacket. They said NO, because they are taller than 48 inches. So I say, "my 7 year old must wear a life jacket because he is SHORT? that is pure discrimination and has no merit of safety. This water is 3 foot deep total, and that if my son wore a life jacket, he could get knocked down, and because he is wearing the life jacket, he would remain being knocked down because of the buoyancy of the life jacket and the fact that others are knocking him around, he can not get his feet beneath him to stand up in the water. " They again try to throw us out of the water park. I tell them "NO, not without a full refund." They explain we are more than able to do the baby area, the beach area, leaky creaky and the lazy river. I explain that the lazy river and the beach area go all the way to 4 feet, but life jackets are not required. They said no, because they do not have the waves. We went in circles for a good 30 minutes, as we all stood in the wave pool, Donald, myself, both boys, 3 managers (fully dressed) and 2 security guards (fully dressed). Finally, I could see and they could see that there was no budging. My children were bored out of their minds and just wanted to go and swim. I explained that I always try to fallow the rules the best I can, but that this rule was ridiculous and absurd, that it had NOTHING to do with safety at all. Anyone of any height and age can get knocked down in the wave pool and be at risk making this 48 inches rule discrimination! I explained that I understand they are not the ones that make the rules, but they are required to enforce the rules. I explained that I would leave the wave pool as long as they promised this issue would be brought up to higher authorities because the rule has no merit of safety and that it discriminates against those who are not tall, and that is NOT right. They agreed to do this and thanked us for our cooperation. As we walked back to our towels, Trent asked me why they did not think he could swim in the water and why it mattered how tall he was. Tears just started streaming down my face, I could not stop them. After the frustration of the situation my heart was just breaking for my kids. It is just so sad that because my kids are SHORT that they have to miss out on things that other kids their age and YOUNGER get to do. I understand rules dealing with safety, like seat belts, roller coasters, etc. But for my children to have to wear life jackets in water that is only 3 feet tall because they do not meet the height requirement??? (by the way, the water came up to Trent's waist) It seriously breaks my heart. It teaches my kids that it is BAD to not be tall. It teaches them that they are different and should be looked at as LESS. Kids have so many battles they must face in this life, and to have this be one of them just tears me apart, because it has no merit on life. So now I am not certain on what I am going to do from here. I am going to right a letter of complaint, I just am not sure to whom. I am very frustrated about the situation and a small part of me wishes I had not stood up to them, but I had to, I had to stand up for my family, ya know what I mean? So what would you do?