4th of July in Kansas

We went to Kansas for our annual 4th of July trip. We only live 8 hours away this time so that's nice :) We left Friday afternoon when Jeff got home from work. Dallin and Alyssa did pretty good besides not leaving Brooke alone, who was between them. Brooke pretty much split the time between screaming and sleeping. She was not a fan of the long car ride. 

Four out of the five siblings on Jeff's side were there and all 11 grandchildren, so it was a very full house. Dallin and Alyssa LOVED playing with all their cousins. Brooke loved being held the whole time. She slept great the whole time going sometimes 11 hours at night. Since we have been home, she wakes up almost every hour. I need to fix that :) The kids shared a bed and did better than I thought they would. They liked getting to play with each other until falling asleep...

 

On Monday everyone took shifts out to the lake. Since it was 105 + outside I didn't really take Brooke outside. Only Dallin and Jeff went from our family, but they were there the entire day. Dallin and Jeff loved it. Dallin did the ski trainer a few times (and even stood up) and did the tube. He loves being out there and Grandpa's boat. 

On Tuesday all the ladies + Brooke spent the day shopping. Brooke did pretty good and it was a lot of fun shopping. 

On Wednesday all the men went golfing while the kids played outside. The kids had a blast outside in the water. Alyssa did more than I thought she would do. 

 

Brooke in her 4th of July dress. 

Wednesday night was fireworks night. A couple nights before Dallin and Alyssa fought about whether or not Alyssa HAD to watch the fireworks. She really didn't want to but was brave and stayed up. Alyssa even did the poppers.

Alyssa feeling safe in Grandma's lap. 

Dallin LOVED setting off the fireworks. He was pretty good at setting them off and running away :)

 

Brooke had no problem with the fireworks. She even fell asleep in my arms during them.

On Thursday everyone went to the waterpark. I stayed home with Brooke. Apparently Alyssa screamed for the first hour or so. Finally she went down the baby slide and loved it :) The kids had so much fun.

On Friday we went to the children's museum and out to Chick Fil A. We all had lots of fun. We took a picture of all 11 of the kids while we were there. 

There was a sweet castle to climb around in with lots of activities.

Brooke smiling at Daddy while Dallin and Alyssa play.

 

Dallin in time out :)

 

Dallin and Kendra being King and Queen. 

 

Flying!

 

 

The rest of the days were spent hanging out with the family. Lots of good food was eaten (Blue Bell Ice cream!!!!!), movies were watched, and lots of talking with each other. It was lots of fun.

Brooke's Blessing Day

We blessed Brooke on June 3rd. Jeff gave her a wonderful blessing, and Brooke looked beautiful. It was the first time we had it done during church, and Brooke was great and didn't cry. In fact she slept in Jeff's arms almost the whole time at church. My mom, Jeff's parents, Jeff's brother, and Jeff's sister and her family where all there for the blessing. It was so nice to have everyone there. We took more pictures with everyone at the church, but I don't have any of them yet. Here are some pictures we took at home.Alyssa was not feeling it, so there aren't any good family pictures. This is the best we could do :)

 

Grandpa and Tori come

Grandpa and Aunt Tori came the day after Grandma came. The kids were SOOOOO excited to see Aunt Tori. I'm pretty sure they said her name a million times while she was here. I don't think they let her out of their sight. Tori really is great with the kids. She played with them a lot outside and inside. They miss playing with her so much. I had fun with Tori too. We went running a few times, she kicked my butt in Just Dance on the wii, did a little shopping (again too hard with 3 kids :)), watched some movies, and just talked!

 

The kids had lots of fun with Grandpa too. Dallin played lots of golf with Grandpa in the backyard. Alyssa finally warmed up to him when he bought her some donuts! I guess that's the way to her heart :) He also got in lots of Brooke time.

Grandpa bought Dallin a slip'n slide for his birthday. The kids had lots of fun.

 

 

One night we went to play miniature golf. The kids were awesome, and we all had lots of fun.

Alyssa was cracking us up. I love this video of her golfing. 

We rode some go karts. Jeff and Dallin were the fastest! It's a good thing Tori still has a couple years until she is driving :)

There was also a huge jumping pillow that the kids had a blast on. Although the kids get along great for the most part, they are still brother and sister. Here is a video proving that...watch Dallin as he runs next to her.

One day while they were here, a cement truck came into the backyard! Dallin thought that was awesome! The next day we had a bulldozer and 3 skid steers preparing the yard behind us for grass. He thought it was awesome, but he was a little sad to see his mountain go.

Grandma Came to Visit

My mom came to visit us from Utah. We really didn't do a whole lot, but we had lots of fun. My mom helped out a lot. She held Brooke a lot so that I could actually get some time playing with Dallin and Alyssa. 

She gave Alyssa her first necklaces, and Alyssa felt so pretty :)

Grandma spent HOURS and HOURS outside pushing the kids in the swings and playing with them. Dallin enjoyed playing tag with Grandma because he is already faster than her :)

We attempted to go shopping a few times, but with 3 kids it really isn't that much fun. I think at least one of them was crying the whole time. One day we went to the mall and the kids really wanted to go on the merry go round. Dallin was so excited the whole time. Alyssa SCREAMED and CRIED the whole time. She is scared to death of them I guess. Who knew they were so scary? 

The kids were so sad when she left. We took pictures at the airport right before she left. Both kids were crying. Alyssa would not look at the camera.

Dallin turned 5!!!

It's been awhile since I posted. I have found with 3 little kids I don't have as much time as I used to :) Dallin turned 5 at the beginning of the month. I can't believe I have a 5 year old! Dallin wanted to go to the museum on his birthday. So his aunt and 2 cousins came along with us and my mom to the museum in Iowa City. Then we got some Chick Fil A :) It was a great day.

 

Then Dallin chose Texas Roadhouse for dinner because he loves their ribs! I didn't complain about that choice. He really wanted to eat AT the restaurant, so we decided to be brave and take everyone. The kids were great! Then we went home and opened presents with his cousins. He got a garbage truck along with lots of trash cans and dumpsters, a skid steer, John Deere tractor, a yellow hummer, monster feet, fireman hose, lots of books like "I Stink" and John Deere books, a John Deere hat and shirt, and golf clubs. I'm sure he got more, but I don't remember now. He was so excited about every present he opened.

 

 

 

Then it was cake time!

He loves his golf clubs. He went with Daddy and Unlce Ken and did his first round of 18 holes! Jeff  said he did great and had a blast. He was so excited he ran most of the time instead of riding in golf cart, so he was exhausted when he got home :) Dallin practices in the yard A LOT!

He also likes to put out fires in the garden!

Dallin is such a sweet little guy. He loves to tell us how much he loves us all the time. He is always wanting to help out, and he is always very concerned about his sisters. He says it is his job to protect them :) He loves to help Daddy around the house working on different projects. Dallin is still obsessed with tornadoes. Trucks are his favorite. He plays with them all day. He loves to be outside. His favorite color is blue, with orange being a close second. He is a very active boy, and we are so thankful for having him in our family. We love our Dallin!