Ooops more November

So after I stayed up late last night to finally submit some posts I hit submit at 1130 and went straight to bed.  The second my head hit my pillow I remembered stuff I was going to say but forgot because I didnt have any pictures to accompany them. 
First of all.. at the very first of November the kids and I took the chance to go into Bountiful to stay with Aunt Carrie while my Dad was in town with work.  We only got to see him in the evenings but it was a great visit.  The first night we went out to McDonalds (treat for the kids) for dinner and Grandpa Arterburn bought them all happy meals and ice creams and they played for probably 2 hours in the play place while we chatted.  The kids LOVED it.  Then the second night he came over to Aunt Carrie's house for dessert and brought all the fixings for Root Bear Floats.  Yummy.  He bought enough to feed an army but thats practically what he fed because with the option we all had two.  And I took a 2 liter bottle of unopened root bear home, which we used for family home evening treats a couple weeks later.  Next time we all get together I will have to make sure I pull out the camera.
Also this month Rebekah decided to join the other kids in the world of mobility.  She is a crawling girl now.  Not that this makes my job any easier.  I clean the floor sparkling, put her down and then turn around and there are suddenly 40thousand little chocking hazards.  And she puts EVERYTHING in her mouth.  She is much worse than any of our other kids ever were in this respect.  And as if that's not enough she is even already trying to pull up on things !!!   She hasnt quite figured it out or have the balance but she is trying and she loves to hold onto stuff and just stand there.  Though her falls are far less than graceful. 

Well thats kid.  Goodness I hope I didnt forget something else.

November

November for us really started Veterans day.. or the day before.  The day before Nathan and David did a program at school.  They sang songs and Nathan's class recited the Preamble in sign language.  I was impressed.  Then we had and extra long weekend so we used it as an opportunity to go out of town and take a bunch of us to DR appointments, David, Zephen, McCaul, and Sheldon all needed checkups.  I was going to go to but the dr canceled on me.  And then Sheldon and Nathan went to the eye dr.  Sheldon got a slightly stronger RX for glasses but not terribly different and Nathan is just under the need glasses range.  Its likely he will need them as he gets older but right now he barely doesn't. 


  The goal was while we were there we would do our business but also have fun.  So we stayed for a couple days with the Thomas'.  I think we all had alot of fun.  Melanie took me out to ice cream for my birthday (early).  And Nate treated us all to a tour of some of the local archeology sites.  We went to Parowan Gap where you can see petroglyphs (essentially ancient graffiti).  Then we went to see a dinosaur foot print.  The kids loved this.  Then we went to an old cemetery that was built on a mound.  Basically the early settlers to the area ended up burying their people on an ancient site.  It was cool.  Apparently when they dig the graves to bury people they can find all sorts of neat things.  What was also cool was there was a bunch of graves there for people who crossed with the pioneers.  The only thing not cool about it was the frigid icy cold wind that hurried us back to our cars. 
Keziah and Melanie

All of us with the dinosaur foot print

Then we came home and suffered through a bout of the stomach flu... ugh... Every last one of us was afflicted.  The last day of that Sheldon had to go to Baker for work so we came along.  Nathan was still claiming to be sick so he stayed behind with grandma and grandpa Nicholes.  While we were out there the kids played on the play ground and then we decided to go up and take a tour of Lehman Caves.  Since it was freezing cold no one else was there so our family got our own private personalized tour.  It was pretty cool.

And then it just got cold here.  I mean 20 below cold.  Its been super super cold.  Not even warm enough to even start to melt the 8 or so inches of snow we got.  And one day last week the school had a water pipe break and all the water ran down the street and then down our sidewalk.  So the whole area where we park our cars and our whole front sidewalk is one huge sheet of ice.  The school was very generous and has tried to plow it every day and gave us a whole back of ice melt but its barely made a difference.  I have taken to just driving the car right up to the front steps or to the back to load kids in and out.

This picture is Nathan after just 5 minutes out trying to pick up some garbage in the yard (he didnt put it in the can the night before and dogs got into it so he had to go out there in the cold and gather it up) he didnt really appreciate it but maybe he will make sure he puts it in the can next time.  At any rate after only 5 minutes he had an inch of snow accumulated on his head. 

Birthdays and Halloween

First for the birthdays.  Zephen and McCaul turned 4 on the 27th of October.  So we took them out for the annual mommy and me meal.  Where I take just the birthday kid and me out to breakfast usually.  We did a dinner though.  And I am embarassed to admit it but we had to make up to Keziah hers.  She isnt exactly old enough to know better but the weekend I was to take her we all got sick and then we just got busy.  But we felt we couldnt not take her.  So I took her Friday morning, McCaul Friday night, and Zephen on Saturday morning.... yeah I was STUFFED.  They all went to the Jail house.  Everyone wanted hot cocoa with whip cream like Nathan told them about. 

When they found out it was McCaul's birthday though they brought out this HUGE ice cream for him.  And Zephen got a pie with a candle and they sang happy birthday to him. 

WE didn't get too many pictures for Halloween.  How in the world one does amid all the chaos of getting hyper excited kids ready is beyond me.  This year Nathan chose to be a Zombie (thought alot of people thought he looked more like the incredible hulk, David was a ninja, Zephen was a monster, McCaul was a monkey, Keziah was a monster, and Rebekah was a kitty. 

October

So we haven't had a whole lot of picture worthy events this month however we have had a few.
First David and Nathan FINALLY got to do something they have been dying to do.  Hike the Peak.  See we live on the side of a mountain and at the "peak" of the mountain is a flag pole.  I have been told years ago some guy used to hike up there every day to put a flag up.  I am not sure if that's true but what a job that would be.  At any rate its one of those things the boys have been asking to do for over a year.  And it finally wasnt too hot or too cold.  Seems like when we have time is the summer and its 90 degrees out there.  We found a nice warmish, autumn day and Sheldon, David, and Nathan took off.  We gave them a walkie talkie and the rest of us went to grandma and grandpa Nicholes' house.  We checked in with them a few times and when they were near and at the top we pulled out the binoculars and found them.  David and Nathan insisted on wearing darker colored shirts and they were hard to see.  However Sheldon wore a white shirt which was clearly visible with the naked eye.  Grandpa Nicholes' camera managed to take some great shots of them, but we need to get those still (hint, hint).  Sheldon and the boys took a camera with them and here are some shots.

Sheldon said that David brought up the rear for the first part of the hike until they got to the steep part at the top.  Then the mountain goat in him kicked in and he scaled the rocks ahead of Sheldon and Nathan.  He also walked right past a rattle snake without realizing, and when by the time Nathan got there the snake had his rattlers going. 

 Also this month... Kitty decided she doesnt like silly putty.   Seems that our boys left some on some laundry and then kitty laid on top.   It got nice and soft and spread right down her belly.  She had a nice 8 inch long section of goo.  And it looked mighty uncomfortable.  So Sheldon and I carefully pinned her down and shaved her belly.  I am not sure she appreciated the boys or us all that much but we took care of the silly putty and she could walk a little easier... here is a picture of the shaved strip down her belly.

The girls and I found some matching outfits one morning.  I thought it was kinda cute and took a picture.... yeah we are dorks we know.

And the weather was highly confusing around here for much of the month.  Seems all the flowers started trying to go into winter mode.  And then it warmed up and we got a few last minute beautiful blooms.  Of course everything looks awful now because it went from 70 to freezing so all the trees and flowers now have black frozen leaves.  Yuck!

The rest of the summer

The last of July

So for the last half of July the girls and I headed north to Seattle with Grandma and Grandpa Arterburn while Sheldon and the boys stayed home.

Apparently nothing picture worthy happened for the boys because Sheldon didn't take any pictures. However in his defense the poor guy had to deal with the run of a stomach bug and some other icky illness. So he was a very busy guy doing his job and mine.

The girls and I weren't too much better with our camera. We did take some pictures of our visits with some friends but (so embarrassing) didn't take the camera out for the time we spent hanging out with family. Rebekah LOVED her Uncle Jace and spent much time sticking her tongue out at him and making raspberries and screaming with him. He had a lot of fun with her too.

I also got to take Lexi out on her first attempt to teach her how to drive stick. We managed to survive and got quite a few laughs at the same time. I think I really like teaching people to drive stick.

Grandma Jan and I also had a ball shopping for new clothes for me (I have lost quite a big of weight recently and needed new clothes that didn't fall off me) and sewing new things for the girl. It was fun and exciting. Though backbreaking at the same time.

Here we are visiting with our friend Amy and her family. We even got to spend the night. It was a lot of fun.

Then we visited with Jessica and Amy at Jessica's house. Keziah was sick so we chose not to bring her. Which was sad cause we had to cancel staying at Amy's house a second time.

August

August flew by way too fast and the camera got seriously neglected but this is what we got.

First we went on a ward campout up to camp success. Lots of people came to the dinner but only us and two other families stayed the night. Here are some pictures of us waiting for the daddies to come home since we forgot the diaper bag we had to send Sheldon back down the mountain to get it. Brother Kesler also forgot some vital items and left too. So Kaliegh and I were left to start a fire without any matches or anything. After getting it all set up we really didn't want to do anything too difficult and seeing as the other family had a rip roaring fire we decided to borrow some matches from them. (Sheldon had taken our lighter with him). They came over to help us thinking we were incapable or something but after we lit it and it was going slowly they ran back over to get some aerosol spray can to help get it going... UM NO!!!! while they were gone we threw a bunch of kindling on it and by the time they got back we had a rip roaring fire. When they left we explained to our kids how very dangerous it was what they were doing. About 5 minutes later we heard a LOUD bang and were quite sure they threw their can into the fire. NOT smart but for their sake no one got hurt.

The next morning we gathered wood and this is pretty much what we spent the next few days doing. We were told by the forest service that that wood was up for grabs. However while we were getting a load a rather rude man walked up to us and told us we were on private property and to leave before he called the sheriff. Luckily we were with the Munsons an older couple because an older gentleman who was with the younger rude one looked at them and took pity on them and said we could take what we had but to leave and not come back and tell everyone else it was private property and not to come. We honestly thought and were told that it was okay to take that wood. Oh well. At least we got to keep it and have a nice start on our winter wood pile.

We ended off August with Keziah's second birthday. I cannot believe she is two (though she certainly acts like a terrible two year old).

Nathan bought her a gift with his own money (some hair pretties)

She got Money from Grandma Great Nicholes which she was excited about. I have no clue what she intends to spend it on but she was sure happy to see it.

She also got this HUGE bag with clothes and a new baby doll. Then she got some bath toys from us and a tinkerbell chair from her aunt and uncle and a book from her Great Grandma Warren. (Sorry if I forgot something) Overall she made out and then was excited to see her “doggy” cake. Which did not turn out how I envisioned but thats okay it still tasted good and she still really liked it.

July...Hikes and Blessings

Okay now for July.

First we sent Sheldon off on a hiking trip with his brother and sister. They had fun but came back a day early after enduring a seriously windy night and after Travis's dog attacked his tent leaving it damaged. They just decided it would be better to come home. They went later in the year this time and it was a good thing as there was quite a snow drift up there and it snowed some in June when they normally would have gone.

On top of the world

On the fourth of July we also celebrated with Rebekah's blessing. It was good to have so much family around.

Picture Picnic

More July

We have tried and MOSTLY succeeded in taking most of our family on our own. It usually takes a couple trips and that seemed to hold true this year.

I * think * we managed to get all the individual pictures but our family photos were a joke... and we were reminded once again that despite his being the oldest David is our hardest one to photograph. He always whines and cries about the sun or this or that and mommy and daddy have to exercise some serious self control not to strangle him and proclaim we are never taking pictures again.

During the same outing we helped david plan and pull off an outdoor meal to sign off on scouts.

June

Okay now that we are getting the husband and kids back in school
I will hopefully have time to update this...   I cannot believe I have to go all the way back to June and cover the entire summer.  So once again I am going to do this in shifts because as much as I like sharing this with everyone, this blog is mostly a way of keeping memories for our family.

Our big event in June was a trip into Salt Lake City.  We went and visited temple square and then went to the zoo.  It was incredibly hot but very fun.   We were joined by Grandma and Grandpa Nicholes, Aunt Shauna, Aunt Trista, and Travis, Tianna, Tiffany and Trenton.

Now on to the pictures.

Temple Square...
 Grandma loving on Rebekah

 All the kids at Temple Square

 Grandma and her girls at Temple Square

Grandma and her boys at Temple Square

Nathan with his shades... Aunt Shauna gave all the kids a few treasures for their trip to the zoo

Twins in their ride

Zephen with his shades (he has become quite the face maker these days)

Rebekah at the zoo

Keziah with Aunt Trista on the merry-go-round

Keziah was hot along with the rest of us... The zoo has misters and fans everywhere but it was still flaming hot... after the merry-go-round we bought a couple snow cones and shared (they were HUGE)

The highlight of the Zoo.. their baby elephant

 We ended our Zoo experience with a ride on their "train" and a visit to the gift shop.