Hangin' With The Wildlife

{Redfish Lake 2010}

I learned something about myself this past week.  I am afraid of bears.

We took our yearly trip up to the beautiful Redfish lake.  We had a blast-well 95% of the time, the other 5% was spent hiding from bears in our camper.  Just kidding but I wanted to. We have been going up to Redfish for 10 years and have never heard of problems with bears until this year.  They had signs posted everywhere and bear traps set up.  Fun fun! One night after dinner we were sitting around the camp fire and a man came high-tailing it down the trail right by our campsite, he said "just to let you folks know, there is a bear about 10 min up that trail." I freaked-- NATE get the kids and get into the camper now!!! He calmly told me that we weren't going to sit in the camper for the rest of the night-that was just ridiculous, and that I needed to get ahold of myself so that I didn't scare the kids.  So I reluctantly stepped out of the camper and sat in my camp chair with one eye on the woods the entire time!

One morning Braiden stepped out to go...potty, and quickly came back in and said, "Uh-mom, I think that there has been a bear here." So I follow him out and he shows me this:

OK so I am NOT claiming that this is from a bear but I can tell you that it is NOT from a dog and it is NOT from a horse.....

What ever it was walked right down this trail

and left us a lovely present right by the tent pad. Boy am I glad I wasn't sleeping in a tent!!!

OK enough drama.

We spent the majority of our time playing on the beach and boating.

Joslyn was a happy camper

Well, most of the time...

Hudson LOVED the water even though it was ICY cold.  He loved jumping off the dock to me.  He had a blast! Every day he played hard-and then he would crash hard:

Taking a little power nap on the softest spot he could find.

One day we visited the Stanley Museum and had a little picnic there:

Aunt Tiffany and the boys.

Our Family

Aaron and Tiffany

One day we boated everyone to the other end of the lake and hiked up to the Lilly pond and waterfall.

While we were over there Uncle Mark showed everyone this:

He claims it is a bear track, I think he was just trying to freak me out! I'm sticking with 'dog print.'

Hangin' around the campfire telling jokes and stories, and making s'mores of course.

That is scary!

What happens when it is late and dark and your two year old is crawling on top of the picnic table???

A big gash in his chin.  It probably needed stitches  but that wasn't going to happen at 10:00 at night in the mountains. Luckily Dr. Shiloh was there with her bag of tricks and fixed him up with some steri-strips. 

Nate's uncle Mark whittled all of the boys a wooden knife, they love them.

Thanks Mark, that was a lot of work!!

Notice Braiden's face, he is less than thrilled-he loves his knife but he doesn't love going home, we had a great week yes we stayed up there for an entire week but he would have gladly stayed for another!

We can't wait for next year, but someone please let the bears know that next year they are not invited!

Summer Fun

Wow --I feel like it's been forever, time to catch up!

Joslyn turned 6 months old on the forth of July

Isn't that the cutest thing you've ever seen?!?

I thought it was great that the fourth landed on a Sunday this year, that way we could have three days of picnics,  parades, boating and fireworks instead of just one! ;) We had a great time.

No one was really interested in getting their picture taken so this was about the best I could do.

Grandpa and "Josie"

Here's our little "Chubbykins" as her brothers so affectionately call her:

She is starting to do all sorts of new tricks nowadays, sitting up, army crawling and getting up to her hands and knees. ahhhh!!

This little stink can get anywhere she wants to go, today she wanted to get to the mail. 

I have to be careful now and block off the stairs.

Auntie Karla took us shopping the other day and Joslyn got her first pair of jellies, Yippee!

We had a fun day, Auntie Karla spoiled Joslyn despite the fact that she um--serenaded us the whole way there and the whole way home.  She must love us.

The other day Joslyn decided that she would try out the binki

She was so cute I couldn't help but snap a picture. She was a little wierded out by it. She is a fun little girl and we love her to pieces!

Baseball finished up just after the fourth, it was a fun season- despite the overwhelming loosing streak.  I was feeling a little lost, not going to games every day- so I signed the boys up for swimming lessons. Got to do something to stay busy-right? 

I got the slip-n-slide out the other day, the boys had a ball. I heard one of them say ,"this is the best day of my life" SAD

I'm glad they had so much fun.

We went to Boise over the weekend to see our newest little nephew and cousin.

He was born on July 9th tipping the scales at a whopping 4 lbs 4 oz!!! Welcome to the family Dillon.

The day we visited Dillon was also the day set to be the hottest day of the year so we did what was best--hit the water park.  It was a perfect day.  I forgot my camera in the car so I don't have any pictures but we had a blast and nobody got sunburned. Yay!  Hudson loves the water--Joslyn, not so much.

Hudson

 The Milkaholic

milkawha???

(ha remember that one?)

This kid drinks so much milk we go though about a gallon a day between him and the rest of us.

Cha-Ching!

10 Years Ago...

{was the best day of my life}

I married my best friend. Little did I know that I would have many many more "best days of my life."

Milestones of Togetherness

June 30, 2000- Married for time and all eternity in the Bountiful temple.

June 30, 2001- Celebrated our first anniversary in New York City.

2002- Had our first child- a boy.  That was the best day of my life.

2003- Celebrated our third anniversary in Duluth, Minnesota.

2004- Started dental school.

2005- Had our 2nd child-a boy.  That was the best day of my life. Bought our first house and moved to Omaha Nebraska.

2006- Celebrated our sixth anniversary.

2007- Celebrated our seventh anniversary. For every special event (birthdays, anniversaries, even graduation) while we were living in Omaha we went to Kobe Steakhouse (a delicious teppanyaki grill.)

2008- Had our third child- a boy.  That was the best day of my life.  Graduated from dental school.  That was the best day of my life.  Got a dog--ummm what were we thinking??

2009- Moved into our first house that WE built.  That was the best day of my life.

2010- Had our fourth child- a GIRL.  That was the best day of my life.

Nate thank you for 10 wonderful years, I'm looking forward to the next ten and the next. Oh, and many more "best days."

♥♥I LOVE YOU♥♥

5 Months Old

{and cute as can be}

Joslyn I can't believe you are five months old already!! You are such a sweet baby! You love your brothers, they can entertain you for hours, OK maybe hour. ;) You are all over the place rolling and scooting.  You are starting to sit, it's a good thing because you love to be up watching the action all around you.  You are a champion napper, and a first class eater. Can't ya tell? You are very sensitive to sounds around you if something startles you, you will let us know that you didn't like it--even in church. You are picky about who holds you, or even talks to you for that matter. You love your toys and you get very excited when we give one to you.  It's easy to make you laugh and you even laugh when we're laughing.  You are the best little baby and we love you to pieces!!

Joslyn had her well baby visit today She weighs 15 lbs 12 oz (75th  percentile) and she is 26 inches long (90th  percentile) can you believe with all that chubby goodness that she is only in the 75th percentile for weight?  I couldn't.

Since she likes to sit I thought I'd let her try out her high chair today, she did great and had fun watching me do dishes.  However I think the princess needs a new throne, this one is pretty hammered. I'll let you know how that goes.  She looks so cute and tiny in there.

Cara's Baby Shower

My sister in law Cara is going to have a baby in July, so we had a little party for her. She got a ton of great stuff, we can't wait to meet this sweet baby boy!!

Cute little mama to be.

Some of the loot.

A funny, not so little centipede with a letter of the alphabet on each section of it's body.  Let's just say this kid is gonna learn his letters. This is Aunt Janet showing Joslyn the funny creature.

See what I mean when I say not so little.  This is Travis holding it up. It's taller than him by a foot and Travis is no shorty.

Grandma holding Ashley, the newest Catmull grand baby.

Joslyn and Ashley

5 months old and 6 weeks old.

Mealtime

{Hudson's idea of a healthy and nutritious lunch.}

Hudson just woke up from a nap and was feeling a little hungry.  I walked into the kitchen to find him enjoying a chip from the massive pile he had dumped on his plate.  It was only later that I noticed the page of the book read: Mealtime.  HA

Tree! Tree!

{Sorry it's an inside joke}

Well we got 12 of the 17 trees planted, is there such a thing as too many trees? I'm thinkin' so. We have yet to figure out where to put the remaining 5.  They look good though, and I like the 5 along the back, it really defines the edge of the property.

The sprinklers are done but the curbing guy is two weeks out, so it looks like about 3 weeks before we get grass :(

{The Preschool Graduate}

He did it!! He graduated from preschool, we are so proud!  Brody has learned so much this year, we appreciate his wonderful teacher who has taught him so much.  Now she has two years to prepare before she gets Hudson.

Look at how much he's grown-this is a picture of Brody when he started preschool with Andrea in the fall of 08'

Kindergarten here I come!!

Well baseball is in full swing around here, we have baseball games every night Mon-Thurs.  Braiden is playing pitching machine this year and I must admit, it is FUN to watch his games. My big bro is going to have to rub his eyes and read that one again ;)  These boys know what they are doing, they are getting runners out and trying for extra bases.  It's fun to cheer them on- on the sidelines.  Pitching machine is a bit of an adjustment from tee ball so we have some work to do, but he seems to like it. Now don't get me wrong tee ball is fun to watch in it's own way- they are cute and funny, just trying to figure the game out YAY for baseball!!

Joy To The World

{We finally have some grass}

I think I saw our neighbor doing cartwheels.  Nate, his brother Aaron, and his cousin Matthew worked like animals.  Lets just say that laying down the grass was the EASY part.  Hauling 10 tons of rock was the hard part, it made my back hurt just watching them.  Thanks guys it looks awesome!!! Not that they're ever going to read this. The sprinkler system is being installed in the back yard as we speak, so it will be green back there in a week or two. 

On Saturday Nate braved the wind and the snow...(yes I said snow) and went to an auction at the local garden center.  He got a ton of trees and shrubs for a great deal, the easy part was buying them, now we have to plant them.  It's lookin' alive around here people.  Ya-Hoo!!

Four Months Old

Yesterday it rained and rained and RAINED, I don't think it ever stopped, and we kinda ended up with a lake in the backyard.  But that's OK rain is good. So last night after we got the kids in bed Nate and I walked upstairs to see this:

This picture is a little dark but it really gives you an idea of what the color was like..just beautiful.  So while it was raining, raining, raining here it was snowing snowing, snowing on the mountain.  The sun finally decided to make it's appearance at the end of the day and painted this beautiful picture.

Ever since little Joslyn was born time has flown by, I can't believe that school is almost out!! Most of all I can't believe that she is four months old already. 

Gotta love that tongue! She is starting to have an opinion an opinion about who is holding her, and an opinion about who is in her space.  Brody loves her...a lot.  The other day when he was getting in her space she squealed in protest, when he backed off she stopped, they did this about three times and Brody finally surrendered.  She also has an opinion about how she sleeps.

It must be like this. She will squirm around until she has her face against something.  This little lady needs her beauty rest, taking a good 3 hour nap during the day is not uncommon, I hope that lasts!!

She can move! As soon as I lay her down she rolls to her tummy and from there she wiggles around and pretty soon she is off the blanket that I put her on.  Speaking of wiggling, changing her diaper is next to impossible because she is moving so much. I guess she just likes to be free.  She is grabbing onto everything and becoming more coordinated about it every day...dinner plate, watch out!  She is also very ticklish when I am trying to change her clothes she is laughing out loud, so cute!! 

We love you Joslyn!!

Braiden is full of it these days, saying and doing things that make me smile.  A few weeks ago they read a story in class about a boy who was a hero and saved his town from a flood.  So on the test at the end of the story, they were asked who they knew that was a hero and why.  He wrote: "My dad is a hero because he saves people from tooth aches.  My mom is a hero because she makes good food." LOL I love this kid!  Braiden loves scouts it makes me so happy when he comes bounding out of the church with a huge smile on his face. A couple of weeks ago they went to the little local museum for their activity.  The first thing he said to me was, "mom, there is a museum in Idaho." Wow not only is there a museum in Idaho but there is one in Rupert! Amazing.  He was floored by the fact that people didn't have bathrooms and they had to use chamber pots, ewww! "And MOM we got to go inside an old jail, it was from the 1980's!" me- Oh WOW that was a LONG time ago!! I think he was a little off on his dates. See what I mean, this kid makes me laugh.

 He is SO excited for field day coming up next week he talks about it every day.  He is constantly asking me what he can do so that he can earn money to buy a hot dog and pop at the picnic.  I think he is more excited about field day than he is about the last day of school. 

Love ya Braiden!! 

We just finished up spring soccer (thank goodness) I am so awful! It was kind of nightmarish Braiden and Brody usually had games at the same time at fields across town from each other hmmmm.  But they had fun and learned a lot.  Most of the time it was too cold for me to get out of the car with the baby, for those times I was grateful, for I didn't have to run after Hudson as he ran out onto the field or into the road. UGH!

This picture says it all BRRRRR! The last game was SO cold that it made your stomach hurt. Brody only played for about 3 min. and then he was climbing into the car with me, he wouldn't even get out of the car to receive his medal.  Bring on the T-ball we can't wait!!!

Hudson is talking a lot lately.  His favorite saying is:  "Brody (which ironically sounds like he's saying Buddy) pushed me down." It doesn't matter what Brody does, he could look at him wrong, but it's always, "Brody pushed me down." kinda funny. 

Love Ya Hudson!

We registered Brody for Kindergarten this last week WOW He is so excited!!! He is such a smarty pants he is going to do great!! Funny his preschool teacher just happened to be subbing the day of registration and she walked by as we were sitting at the table, she said Brody you don't want to come to school here, don't you want to come to my school again, he said NO WAY!! Funny boy- he loves Preschool though!

Love Ya Brody!