Broken

A couple weeks ago I went to put Dallen in his swing. I turned it on and it worked for about 30 seconds, then I heard the motor stop working. We replaced the batteries, and it did the same thing. I had Ky take it apart to try to fix it, but we just couldn't get it up and working again. Which is really frustrating since it was a new swing we got with Rylan. Our first swing we bought for Bethany broke when Hannah was about 2 months old. Do you see a pattern here? So I really wanted a swing, but didn't want to pay a lot for it. So I went to craigs list and found this awesome swing. It is in such good condition and Dallen loves it! It is a cradle swing so it goes side to side as well as front to back. I don't think it has been on the front to back mode since we have gotten it. He loves the side to side. And all for $30!

Then on Sunday night Ky was rocking Dallen in the rocking chair. He got up and lost his balance and fell on our trusty bouncer. That has made it through all the kids, until now. And it wasn't even one of the kids that broke it. I have to give Ky a little bit of a hard time:) So what to do. I really loved the bouncer. It was a nice convenient place to put Dallen where he could sit up a bit, and he could also sleep in it, but was not on the floor. But I had a hard time putting out the money for a new one when he would out grow it so soon. So we opted for a Bumbo.

I have heard great things about them, and thought it is something that he can grow into and we could get more use out of it than a bouncer. Plus, it's not very breakable, which apparently we need! So even though we had some frustrating moments while things were breaking, we have gotten a awesome swing that Dallen loves even more, and a new fun seat for him!

And a couple cute pictures of Dallen enjoying his swing. He is quite the smiler now. It is fun to watch the other kids talk and smile at him so he will smile back. It's fun to see Dallen interact more with us! Oh how I love this little guy!!

Baby love

I had layed Dallen down on the bean bag to get some pictures before bedtime. Then Rylan came over, then Bethany and then Hannah. This is typically what happens when I put Dallen down. It doesn't matter where, but suddenly there is a herd of loving children wanting to be RIGHT next to their baby brother. It's pretty cute until they start fighting over who gets to be right next to him. They also fight over who's baby it is. Rylan likes to say it is his baby, and Hannah gets mad at him and says" Rylan did you have Dallen, no mommy did so it is mommy's baby." I just remind them all that it is every one's baby!

Art Class

The girls just finished taking art lessons from a lady in our ward. We are so sad that she is moving! Bethany started going to art in April. Hannah didn't start up until summer. They have really loved going and bringing home their creations and telling us all about them. The girls pretend to have art class at home. One of them is the student and the other is Sister Gunn. It is fun to watch them play and be creative!! These are night paintings. She teaches them from books different kinds of art, and then they do a project similar to what they learned about.

The girls hard at work!

The girls and Sister Gunn. Thanks so much Nicole, my girls just adore you!!

Temple Square, Cafe Rio, and Park City!

Our first stop when we got into town on Friday was temple square. We met up with some of Ky's sister's and his dad. I love going to temple square and seeing all the sights we once took for granted working a block away. It is also fun to show the kids where mommy and daddy got married!

The kids loved playing in all the fountains.

We did a tour of the conference center. It is amazing what they have done up on the roof. It was neat showing the girls the place that we always see on the tv or more like computer when we watch conference. I think they will enjoy it when it's time to watch conference again and to see the familiar room.

After temple square we meet up with my dad, grandma and grandpa and sister for dinner at Cafe Rio. I always have to go there when we are in town. It was my suggestion for dinner, and felt bad afterwards because my grandparents had Mexican for lunch and my dad the night before. I did enjoy my salad though, especially after 2 weeks of not being able to eat hardly anything, it tastes even better than normal!

My dad sat with the kids at the kid table.

My grandma with Dallen. I love how he is cuddling up to her!
And we went to my sister's house after dinner to have some cake for my grandma's birthday. This is the 2nd year in a row that we have gotten to spend some time with my grandma on her birthday! Happy Birthday Grandma!!

Fast forward to Sunday night, we went up to Park City for a couple nights. It was so nice to have some time for just our family and to let the kids unwind a little bit from all the excitement. We of course hit the outlet stores, and then we took the kids on the alpine slides. None of the kids were big enough to ride down by themselves and they outnumber us, so we had to take turns and wait. Waiting was the hardest for everyone. But we all got to go and the kids just loved the slides. They have told everyone about the giant slide in Utah, and how you have to go on it! We are planning on going back up there in September and doing the slides again. They also have a coaster that goes down the mountain that me and the girls want to try!Daddy and Hannah going up!Me and Rylan coming down. I didn't know if he would be scared or not, but he just laughed the whole way down!

We also went to the Olympic park. It was fun to walk through the museum and see pictures, since we were living downtown during that time. It brought back memories!

We got to see some freestyle skiers practing! Pretty crazy the way they can flip their bodies around!

We had such a good time up there, and wished we could of stayed longer. So that is what we are going to do in September! I am excited already!

Utah

We did finally make it to Utah. I got better enough to go, and we had an uneventful drive up which is always good. Our main reason for going up was for Dallen's baby blessing. So that is where I will start, even though it is out of order. I am going to do individual posts for the different parts of our trip this time, so I don't have to battle with getting pictures in the right order.
We blessed Dallen on July 4th. We chose to go up to Utah so more of our family could be there for it, and pretty much everyone was, which we really appreciate the support! It was fun to see and visit with everyone. Ky gave Dallen a very special blessing and I'm so thankful for him and for the priesthood that he holds!My kids with some of their "girl" cousins. They had so much fun with them. It would be fun to live closer so they could play more.We remembered to do some 4 generations pictures this time. I don't think we have with any of the other kids. It will be fun to have for memories!

And with our mom's we were missing the 1st of the 4 generations. I sure wish my Grandma Davis was still around, she would love playing with my kids. But I know she was there in spirit. Plus I'm sure she gave Dallen some big kisses before he came down.

We did forget to get a family picture though. I am pretty bummed about that. Maybe we will have to put on the same cloths on Sunday and pose for a pretend family blessing photo. It could work! Thanks everyone that came to the blessing. Especially those to traveled into town for it. I wish we would of had more time to spend with everyone. You all helped to make it such a special day for our family!! Thank you.

Oquirah Mountain Temple and sleep

On Tuesday Ky flew home to get back to work. Me and the kids chose to hang out in Utah for the rest of the week so we could have more time to visit with people. We had a good time, but I was so ready for Ky to be back on Friday when he flew back to Utah to help us drive home.

While he was gone we went with my mom to the Oquirah Mountain open house. I was so excited for the opportunity to take my kids through a real temple! They were pretty excited too!

I enjoyed taking the girls into the sealing room and for them to see the special room that they can be married in. All they see on shows and elsewhere is people getting married in church's with these big elaborate weddings. And they know that we can be married in the temple, and I enjoyed showing them a room and being able to talk to them about it. I hope all my kids make that choice!!

Afterward we got to get cookies and water. They were the best cookies ever!!

Even this little boy was able to enjoy being in the temple. When we got there Dallen was sound asleep. Once we walked through those doors, his eyes were wide open and he was looking around for about 5 minutes. Then he went back to sleep. I know that he was able to feel the presence of our Heavenly Father and he probably felt like he was "home", since that is who he has just come from. That was such a neat experience!

They did sleep, and here is proof!! After my last post and complaining about the kids not sleeping on our trip to Durango, I took pictures of the kids. They are so peaceful when they are sleeping and it makes you wonder what the problem is when they are awake, and then they wake up in the morning and you are reminded why you love it when they are sleeping!! Hannah and Rylan did have some issues with going to bed, but once we got them all asleep they stayed asleep. It always make trips more enjoyable when everyone gets their rest!

Photoshoot and Cousins!

One of the nights we had dinner at the park by my mom's house. I had fun taking pictures of the kids.

I really wanted to get some pictures of all the kids together. I did get some but they are kind of crazy. Rylan wanted nothing to do with getting his picture taken. Then Jerrod decided he was done and started jumping off the rocks. That was the end of it since all the other kids started jumping too. It's fun to see their personalities though.

This little guy is so fun to take picture of. He will just sit there and smile and smile and he is quite photogenic. So he gets a page all to himself!!

We did have a great time in Utah and enjoyed visiting with our families. Thank you all for making time for us and for those who let us stay with you. We appreciate it! We ended up leaving Friday night to head home and ended up staying in Monticello and doing it in two days. I had the pleasure of getting sick again and that made it for an interesting ride home and first few days home. But after $650 in medicine I am finally feeling better. So hopefully it stays that way for a long time!!