Where did June go?

It is time I got things updated. It seems that our life was consumed with baseball during the month of June. Aaron played on Mondays and Wednesdays and sometimes Fridays, and Aidan played on Tuesdays and Thursdays. When they didn't have a game, they usually had practice, so we spent a lot of time juggling boys between practices and games. The girls spent a lot of time in the car and sitting at the baseball field. It was fun to watch the boys having fun and learning. They both had awesome coaches that were very generous in volunteering their time. Aidan was in pitching machine/coach pitch this year. His team was the Padres. He had some of his buddies on his team - Nate and Jesse Brown, Kaiden Brown, and Ben Jackson. Aidan is our little lefty or should we say righty. He plays sports left handed but writes right handed. His coaches had him bat right handed but he can do either. It is so much fun watching him learn and grow.

Waiting for the hit!

Nice hit! (Love the cheeks!)

Taking time out to give Mom a cheeser! So happy to be safe at 1st base.

Aaron was in his first year of Minors this year. It was the first year for the kids to actually do the pitching. He was on the Dodgers. His good friends Braden and James were on his team as their dads were his coaches. They go to a different elementary school, so it was fun for Aaron to get to spend a lot of time with them this summer doing what they love to do - play baseball. Aaron got the chance to even pitch during a few games. Boy did that make Mom a wreck!! But he was calm, cool, and collected! I am now experiencing what my mom went through for so many years as I played sports (and is still going through while my younger siblings play). It was so much fun watching him learn and grow!

Waiting for the pitch

Two of my favorite boys!! (Andy helped out during one of the few games he was able to make it to.)

1st time pitching!

Getting some advice from Coach Schiller

During all the hustle and bustle of baseball, Ashlee turned 6 months old!! Where has the time gone? She is such a sweet little girl that brings so much joy to our home. At her 6 month check up she was 14 lb. 14 oz. and 25 1/4 inches long. She had just started scooting/crawling before her appointment. She wasn't sitting completely yet, but she didn't like to be stationary. She wanted to just be on the go!! I always thought she might be my relaxed baby being the last and having so many siblings to dote on her, but I was so wrong! She wants to keep up with them. She is a very social little girl and likes to be right where the action is. She didn't do so well starting solid foods. Most of it came back up, so that is something we starting working on more after she turned 6 months. She loves to be laid down by herself to drink her bottle. She is not much into cuddling anymore, which makes me very sad!! I just wish I could stop time and keep her little for a while longer. I feel like I kind of missed out on her being a little baby, so I was hoping for her to stay one longer than the others did, but that is not happening. I am so grateful for each day to enjoy being home with my kids to see them grow and change! They are only little for such a short time!

Ashlee loves to play with the Little People toys, especially when one of her siblings plays with her.

My bright blue eyed, sweet bald headed baby!

Such a sweet little (life-saving) angel!!

Inseparable

Cailee and Megan were inseparable when Cailee was here. After Christy went home, she left Cailee here so she could have her "grandma time." The other kids had their turn when Christy was pregnant with Maddie but Cailee had to stay at home because she had school. Megan was so excited that she didn't have to say good-bye to Cailee right away. I am not sure there was a day they weren't together. It was hard to keep them apart. They are only about 16 months apart in age. They both love to do a lot of the same kind of things. We have had people ask us if they are twins before - I think a lot due to the dark brown eyes, olive complected skin, and the dark brown long hair. And they are almost the same height. It seems like Christy and I fix their hair the same too when we are together (not on purpose). In these pictures it was tixed the same on purpose because my mom waited for me to come fix Cailee's hair one day. She decided she wanted it just like Megan's. Meg's was kind of hashed already but they loved being "twinners."

We had to get a picture of everyone together before Cailee left. They are happy here, but they quickly turned sad as they said their good-byes. Grandma took Cailee home the next morning.

I had to have a picture with my little sweet niece. Not the greatest picture as I was taking it myself and the wind was blowing but I noticed I don't have many pictures with my nieces and nephews. So it is my goal to get more pics with them when I see them. This was the start of my new goal. I got to be there when Cailee was born. What an awesome experience that was!!! My mom and dad were on their way home from a church history trip back east and they didn't fly in until the night Cailee was born. It was so fun to be there as she made her entrance into the world!! I am so thankful to my sister and brother-in-law for giving me that opportunity.

Cousin Fun

So I am still trying to play catch up with all the happenings this summer! I think one of the highlights of my kids' lives in when they get to be with their cousins. My sister Christy lives in Fruita, Colorado, so it is a treat for the kids to get to be together. They were so excited to be together that is was hard to separate them. One night we had a sleepover at our house with Cailee (age 5 - just turned 6) and Abby age 4. It was so much fun to drag out all the mattresses and couch cushions for one big sleepover in the family room. The kids watched a movie and eventually fell asleep. They had so much fun giggling, whispering, and just playing together.

Megan - age 4

Cailee - age 5 almost 6

Abby - age 4

Kenna - age 2

Aidan - age 7

Aaron - age 9

It has been fun to have been pregnant at the same time as my sister two times. Our sweet little girls are 4 weeks and 15 minutes apart in age. We were together for the first time at state basketball in Capser, but we never got pictures with the girls together. So we made sure we got a few when Christy was here for Darcee's graduation. This is is Miss Madison (Maddie) Lee Crossley and Miss Ashlee Rose Jacobsen. Maddie was born Nov. 17 and Ashlee was born Dec. 15. They are just the sweetest little girls. I hope they grow up to be such good buddies.

More sleepover pictures!

Proof that everyone did eventually fall asleep!!

I was sad that I didn't have a picture of sweet little Brandon (age 3) with everyone. He stayed at Grandma's house with his mom and baby sister the night of the sleepover. He is such a fun little guy! My boys love having a boy cousin even though there is a big age gap. Maybe Christy has one of him with the kids that I will be able to get to add to their scrapbook.

Crafty

I am not the most crafty person, but I can kind of copy cat. I have seen bow boards on the internet for sale and decided I could make one myself so that it matched my girls' rooms. I was so tired of not having a nice way to keep their bows. So, here is the bow board I made for Megan and Kenna's room. No, it isn't hung yet cause Megan changed her mind about her bunkbeds and wanted them separated for now, which changed the layout of the furniture. Now I need to decide where to hang it. I ran out of room on it though, so I have since purchased stuff to match Ashlee's room and will make another one for the rest of the bows. If I run out of room on that one I will make one to match the bathroom (which I know Andy would just love!). I love to do crafts, and it is so fun to actually finish projects. I have a closet full of projects that I need to finish.

This is a bow board I made for my cousin's new baby. My aunt and grandma had me do it for a gift along with some bows and flowers that we put on it. I hope it matches her room. I put hooks on the bottom of hers to hang headbands on. When I find hooks to match my girls', I plan on adding them to theirs.

My latest craft project was this new FHE assignment board. Since our family is complete I decided it would be nice to have everyone on it finally!! I love doing things that benefit my family. Now, I need to get back to scrapbooking but I don't know if that will happen anytime soon. It seems like there is always a card to make or some other project I "need" to do.

Every Girl Needs a Sister!

I remember when I found out I was pregnant with Megan. I just couldn't believe that I was actually going to get a girl!! After the two boys I just thought I would only have boys. My sister had a girl, and I was so jealous watching her do the bows, headbands, dresses, painted fingernails, etc. I was so worried that even after 4 ultrasounds that my doctor was wrong, I didn't buy a single girl thing until after she was born. I asked my doctor, "Is it really a girl?" He just laughed at me. Who would have thought over 4 years ago that I would end up with not only one girl but THREE!!! They are each so different in their personalities, but it is so much fun to see them interact together. There is just something so special about the bond between sisters. I know they will go through their times of not getting along, but I hope in the end they end up best friends like I am with my sisters.

As I was looking back through pictures, I couldn't find very many of my sisters and me, so when Christy was home for Darcee's graduation we made sure we got some pictures. Of course, we always took them at the end of our festivites, when we were exhausted, but none the less we got them. I am so lucky to have the best sisters in the world!!! Yes, I am the oldest but the shortest, the only one with blue eyes and blonde hair, but none of that matters when it comes to sisters. I love having sisters to share my joys and disappointments with, my milestones and frustrations, a good laugh and a good cry, and someone to just chat with when I am needing a boost! It doesn't matter how many miles separate us, we will always be the best of friends!!

Aspiring Photographer

Megan (4 years old) loves to take our camera and take pictures. I love having a digital camera so I can let the kids just use their imaginations and practicing taking photos without it costing me money to see what they have taken. I love to see what interests Megan. She is such a fun little girl - full of life! I think my favorites are when she takes pictures of herself, but she uses various subjects including her siblings, the tv, different stuffed animals, the outdoors, etc. Here's just a taste of what you get in Megan's little world!!

(If you come to our house - BEWARE!! You will likely become the subject in one of Megan's pictures as Grandpa Don found out here.)

(Part of our front door)

One of my rose bushes - it now has beautiful yellow roses blooming on it. (Too bad she didn't wait to take this after I had weeded.)

My friend Michele's vehicle. Bet you never thought you'd be this famous, huh?

The tree in our front yard.

I also found pictures of Tigger and Pooh posed together, pics of her wonder horse she occassionally rides on, and some pictures I just couldn't tell what they were - probably practicing zooming in. Technology can be so much fun!

Way Back When ...

it was Memorial Day weekend (yes, I am just a bit behind), we decided to enjoy a day at Yellowstone National Park. We live so close and the kids didn't really remember our last trip there, so we decided to have a fun day with Daddy. We packed our picnic lunch and headed out. The kids had high hopes for seeing a bear, but they eluded us this time. We didn't quite make the whole loop we thought we would make, so we didn't make it to the Lamar Valley which is a great place to see bears. We did see deer, a coyote, Bighorn sheep (not in Yellowstone), tons of buffalo (of course), elk, and hmmm... I need my list I made. Maybe that was all. The kids had fun trying to be the first one to spot the animals.


We stopped at Yellowstone Lake to let the kids throw and skip rocks. There was still a lot of ice on it, which they thought was very neat. They could have stayed here forever. It was fun to watch them get better at skipping rocks. Daddy is such a good teacher!


Ashlee and I hung out watching everyone. She was not so sure about the wind, but she is tolerating it a lot better. We also made a stop at fishing bridge. We didn't think we would see any fish since it was early in the year, but we got lucky enough to see some huge fish. It was too hard to take pictures though and I was worried about keeping track of five little munchkins that close to the road.

We stopped at Bridge Bay to enjoy our picnic lunch. The boats weren't out yet on the bay, but it was still a gorgeous place to sit and enjoy lunch. Some of the boats were parked by the hut, so the kids got to see them and talk about all the fun things they would do if they were "rich" enough to have one of those "big" boats.

When we stopped at one of the geysers, their were a few elk just roaming very close. We could have reached out and touched them if we had decided to act like some of the tourists we saw. The kids loved seeing a "live" elk this close. They have seen dead ones hanging in our garage, but they decided after being this close to them that maybe they didn't want Daddy to hunt any more. Sorry, kids!! No such luck!

One of the views of Yellowstone Lake by the geysers. It was so beautiful! The water looked just like glass. We are so blessed to live in such a beautiful part of the country. Heavenly Father truly loves us!! He has blessed us with beautiful country to enjoy!

We had to make a stop at Old Faithful. It had been a long time since Andy and I had been, and the kids had never been before. We timed it just right. We only had to wait about 20 minutes before it went off. Just enough time for a bathroom break and then speculating if it would be early or late (it was early the time before people said). The kids would get excited each time it would tease us. When it went off for "real," they sat their in amazement!! The wind was blowing, so they even got hit with some of the spray.

We had planned to make the whole loop and go out the northeast entrance by Cooke City, but we just ran out of time. It was so much fun to just have a relaxing day with no real plans. We stopped when we saw something we wanted to see and we played as long as we wanted at each place. It is so much fun to see the world through the eyes of my children! It reminds me of all the many things I am blessed with and makes me slow down and enjoy the little things in life!