It's another girl!!!

Here is our new baby. Well Nate's new baby actually. He named her Bella. No, he hasn't read the Twilight series, he just has a friend with the name and he likes it. One of our friends found her by their mailbox and put fliers up around the neighborhood. They had no luck finding the owner, so they called us because they thought she looks like Ruby and they thought she might need a sister.

Conveinantly, Nate has been saying the only thing that he wants for his birthday (the 12th) is his very own dog. What a great bargain--free present. Not that I need another dog, but there is nothing like making your kids so happy. All week he has been treating her like a baby. He picked out a cute pink collar with a sparkly bow. She is so tiny she fits in the palm of your hand. We are guessing she is a chiweannie or pug combo or something. I think she is so sad and ugly, that it makes her cute.

Part2

This very long post was erased somehow...I'll try again when I'm not mad at the computer.

The Last Month of Life part 1

I know I am a month behind. Give me sometime. Maybe a little more tomorrow, it's bedtime now.

We have been busy!!! Poor Baby Al has been trying so hard to keep up with the big boys. He helped himself to a cup of BBQ chips and was watching TV in Ben and Nate's room when he fell asleep with a mouthful. He has been so tired trying to go without naps.
I had a fun visit from my buddy Anna and her baby Kaden. He was so fun to play with and it was great to catch up with her for a few short hours!

Ben got to go on his first out-of-town overnight adventure with the Froehlich family. It was their Jake's 6Th birthday so they took a bunch of boys to their cabin to get dirty. He had a great time and I really think he didn't even miss me. Being the morbid mom that I am, I made him take this 'last" picture with his little brothers, just in case something happened.

Coach Rob had his All Star team over for a hit-a-thon and swimming. It was very hot that day -112 or something ridiculous. They had fun trying to get the whole team in a picture underwater!

Right after these pictures were taken Nate decided to jump in the pool on top of the team and fell back hitting his head on the side of the deck. It was gushing blood everywhere. We of course knew where we had to go, but we were hesitant because The Good Doctor's 40Th birthday party was about to begin. I gave him a large dose of Motrin and Rob ran down the street holding a towel on Nathan's head. Luckily Jonathan had his handy-dandy stapler at home and gave him 4 quick staples to the skull without any numbing-up. That Nate is one crazy and tough kid. What would we do without the Graffs! We had a great time celebrating Jonathan's big day with him and a million of their family members.

They had a great chocolate fountain and as you can see on Alexander it was a big hit with my chocolate lovers. (Why does he always do this strange pose?)


This is part of my cute Sunbeam class. It is fun to teach these little people every Sunday. I think they are darling.

To my few loyal readers (mainly Jomama and Aunt Jenn)

I know you were hoping to see lots of fun pictures and exciting dialogue, and believe me I have lots of great stuff I just don't have time to post it! The last 3 weeks have been so fun and CRAZY with 3 baseball tournaments, lots of driving, hotels, fireworks and family time!

I leave in the morning for a week of girls camp. No boys until Saturday. Just lots of fresh air, mountains, campfires and crafts with a couple hundred girls everyday. I am excited and also sad to not see my boys everyday. It will be good to miss them a little bit! I hope they remember they love me when I get home. I hope Zach and Rob realize I do things around here. Just a little bit. Off to Big Meadow! Good luck Heather

One of the many reasons I haven't been posting--I'm in love!!!

Besides the fact that we have been way more busy than usual, I have a new love. For those of you that know me well, I have been critized, chastized and teased relentlessly for carring around a brick of a phone that we disconntinued selling a year ago. Big Rob says that I am poor advertising, I say I am being frugal and don't really care about my phone unless I really need it. As long as Rob, my mom, Kim and Dana know where I am or I am with them I don't have much use for it.



ALL THAT HAS CHANGED. Meet the INSTINCT. It does everything but wipe noses, butts do laundry and make dinner as far as I'm concerned. I absolutley love this bad baby. Full internet--were not talking minimized pages here only from the network, but full color interactive pages at high speed. Live TV. Let me tell you how cool this was when Al wouldn't sit through Church last week. Little Einsteins saved the day. He might have screamed and raised his hands, "Rocket we need you!" a couple of times but I never had to get up and go out of the chapel. Besides he just looked like he was excited and seriously feeling the Spirit or sustaining someone.


Last week we had a baseball tournament down south and the navigation program (who's voice we named Raspusha-after watching Norbitt the night before(stuipdest movie ever by the way-that no kids should ever see!) was amazing at getting us to our destination. I love the voice recognition. I just scream at her "Call ROB!!!" and there she goes dialing away!

NEED THE PERFECT BABYSITTER?

Yesterday Heather Jackman moved in with us for the summer. We met Heather at church when she was 14 and she quickly became our boys' favorite babysitter. She also spent plenty of time with the Graff''s and lots of other families in our ward.

She just completed her freshman year at A.S.U. and needed somewhere to stay for a couple of months. We are happy to welcome her into our home. She is so great with the boys and very helpful to me. She is available anytime and would love to earn some extra money this summer to furnish her new apartment in the fall!

Swim Lessons

SO he cried for 2 weeks straight. Poor Allie had to deal with him, BUT HE CAN SWIM! Yeah--everyone can swim at our house! Allie has been a great teacher to all the boys. She taught most of them to swim and we love her for putting up with all the screaming & crying. What patience she has!


Nate and Ben have been taking some fun lessons with Jordan. They are working on different strokes and diving. Little Ben is so funny-notice his in air pose-he almost always lands on his belly. He'll get it sometime. Jordan is so great with them. They love him so much and we will miss him when he leaves to spread the word so far away! We have been lucky to have him as Ben's Primary teacher and for swimming the last couple years. He is a great example to all my boys!

Happy Big Daddy's Day Rob, Happy Popa's Day Pop!

Happy Father's Day to 2 of my favorite people.

Rob you are a great dad to our boys. They are so lucky to have you to be their baseball, soccer, football, basketball or whatever sport Big Coach. You are a great teacher and a good example to them of hard work and determination.

Popa you are the best Popa anyone could ask for. You are so loving in your own unique way and make all the boys feel so special and important. They all think they're your favorite. Thanks for all the endless games you watch and cheer at. Thanks for teaching them to love music, life, guns, peeing in holes and everything crazy we forget to teach them. What would we do without you Pop?!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY BIG ROB!

THANKS FOR STICKING IT OUT FOR SO MANY YEARS!

ALTHOUGH SO MANY TIMES ALL WE'VE WANTED TO DO WAS GET A CHANCE TO SHOVE CAKE IN EACH OTHERS FACE AGAIN.

I LOVE YOU.

Happy Birthday Jake!

Our Jake is 10 today! Time goes so fast. A decade seems so short. Jake is one of the greatest people I have ever known. When he was very tiny we knew we had a very special boy on our hands. He was the most docile baby I have ever seen. Always happy. Always smiling. Big hungry. He is extremely caring and a gentle giant with an enormous heart. He is like a big, soft teddy bear. He is a great big brother and all his brothers love to play with him. He is extremely intelligent and talented in many areas and I has never brought home a B. Although he can be way dingy and it is fun and tempting to mess with him! He has read every book on animals he can get his hands on and loves to learn facts about anything. He loves sports and is very good at baseball and football. He is very strong and often doesn't know his strength. He loves music, and is always singing, loves the Beatles, thanks to Papa and he's always trying to play a new instrument. He is a people person and has never met a stranger. I know Jake is destined for greatness, and I can't wait to see what the future holds for him. Rob and I have always felt very lucky to be his parents. We love you Jacob and can't wait to move into that beach house you keep promising us! You are the best son any parents could ask for--you make us so proud! Here are some pictures for our family to enjoy.

BIG Dork & BIG Coach

I know I am a total dork, but I have been having a really great time with my camera. Today was a great day of swimming with the boys and some of our favorite friends.

Jake enjoys joining me in a lot of nonsense.

Even Zach the serious got in on it.

Friday night Coach Rob invited his baseball team over for a family dinner and swimming. Then he had the whole team sleep over. What a crazy man. They had the best time. They swam, played every type of ball-baseball, wiffleball, football, basketball, played Xbox, watched a movie outside on the big screen, you name they did it. Finally after hours of wild fun, Big Rob laid down with them outside at 1:45 am and made them go to sleep. At 5:30 I started hearing noises, and by 5:45 am they were back in the pool. Lucky boys.
Rob really is a great coach, and these boys were so lucky to have such a fun big kid to hang out with and learn from. When he handed out their trophies he gave a long speech about each kid individually. He makes me proud at times like this.

My new toy & a couple of my little boys

Nate making a funny face underwater for me. He said I made the spa too hot to open his eyes. The pool is just way to cold for me to get in.

4 of my pretty birthday toes underwater. Hopefully I'll get better with my skills.

Baby Al kickin back and of course making faces. Why can't they ever just smile?

School's out for summer!

It's over. Another year of fun school. My kids are so happy. The fighting has already began. I better get some chore charts made and lay down the rules.

DUUUUUUUUHHHHHHH!!!!

That is all I can think of when I look at this picture of Zach and Jared from this afternoon. I hope they spend more time outside than in front of the tube this summer. On the flip side, Zach and Jake finally got their XBOX 360 after earning straight A's all year (deal with Big Daddy-my little bragging moment).

I had a little fun with Benny and his buddies this morning while they wrapped up Kindergarten--can't wait to do it again next year!

Hannah, Benjamin & Owen--aren't they cute?

Jake with his little posse. Tough 5th graders now.

29 Again

Thanks to all of my wonderful friends and family who helped make sure I had another great 29th birthday. I had fun with my supersonic pretty kitty girlfriends yesterday without kids at breakfast. Today my mom took the day off and we played all day. We started off at the kids talent show. Britton got down to Neil Diamond on his electric guitar and Jake gave it his all on the piano. Great entertainment. Then we hit breakfast and the grocery store. Very exciting. Next we hit 7-eleven for Slurpees to keep the 3 little boys happy while we enjoyed a pedicure--thanks Kim and Dana! When I got home I found some wonderful chocolate treats from Allie and a cute wooden star her talentness whipped up for me. Thank you Allie, you always make me feel loved!

My dad made a great dinner and baked me a cake and my brother and Michelle came over with 3 of the girls to help celebrate. It was a good day and I look forward to another year of fun!

We obviously wore out baby Al. When we got home tonight he went to potty and the next thing you know--loud snoring is echoing from the bathroom! I love that boy!