Long-Time, No-See

So we haven't been posting regularly. We got back from our big roadtrip and started school, and I just haven't gotten all the way on top of things yet. At this point, I'm pretty sure its just not going to happen (at least not in the forseeable future). I make no promises of regular updates in the future- sorry! I'm attempting to catch-up, but we haven't been up to much since we got back, and I just barely finished those posts today! Here are some random pictures from the last couple months, that weren't from our trip:

One day after we had a big hailstorm, I opened the fridge and found a bowl of hailstones, courtesy of Eden and Andrew- they were saving them for later!

Andrew loves his little brother, and Jake thinks Andrew is pretty neat!

First morning of Kindergarten, before school....

...and after.

Utah

Hogle Zoo

Bonneville SaltFlats

Go Cougars!

We went to Hogle Zoo during our first stop in Utah. We also got to see my cousin Anika and her girls, which was really fun! We saw my Dad, Michelle, Erin & Ryan, Dana, Logan, and my grandparents. Scott and I took Jacob to the first BYU football game of the season while Erin & Ryan entertained Eden and Andrew, thanks guys! I'm so glad we were able to visit with so many people, I'm just sorry we didn't remember to use the camera more often!

This is pretty much all we got for pictures. So, if anyone has pictures from our visit, PLEASE email them to me!

California Trip

Jacob 2 1/2 months, Andrew 3 1/2, Jared almost 4, TJ almost 7, Hallie 1, Eden almost 6.

The last two weeks in August, we made a big trip to Utah and California. For this post I'll just talk about the California part. We wanted to see Scott's family and introduce everyone to Jacob, but luckily Utah is a great halfway point, and we got to see a lot of family there too. The first picture is at Scott's Grandpa's house, the kids call him Opa (he's the one in the yellow shirt). Scott's Aunt Sandra and Uncle Jere came over to visit too. We had so much fun with Scott's sisters Anna and Laura and their families. Andrew is especially fond of Bryan, who is almost 8, and did a great job of being like a big brother for Andrew. And Eden had great fun with all the girl cousins.
On our way back to Utah, we were able to stop and visit one of my surfer-friends, Chelsea. She also has added to the family since leaving Hawaii, so it was really fun to visit and see how our families have grown. She made some delicious sweet pork that we had in tacos, it was super yummy! Thanks Chelsea!

We did a pretty horrible job at taking photos everywhere we went (maybe some of you are glad you don't have to scroll through as many pics), but if anyone has pictures from our visit, please share them with us! Thanks!

Happy Birthday Eden!

I can't believe its been six years already! We love you, Eden!

6 Things I love about Eden:
1. She thinks everyone is her friend.
2. She loves learning school.
3. She always wants to try new things.
4. Even though she sometimes acts shy, she really is very sure of herself.
5. She wants to do it herself and do it right (sometimes this leads to frustration- ie. learning to tie her shoes, but it really is a good trait to have).
6. She wants to be busy doing fun things- always. (Unfortunately, I can't keep up with the pace of life she'd like.)
... and one to grow on,
7. She's Andrew's best friend, even though he really knows how to push her buttons.

Jake News

The kids don't think we should call him anything besides Jacob, but I think I like using Jake for short, I guess we'll see what sticks.

Finally a baby who enjoys the swing!!! I know he's not smiling or anything, but at least he'll sit there for a useable amount of time.

And Jake still does well on his tummy! Sometimes a little too well- he sometimes falls asleep :) He's definitely getting stronger!

And the winner of our cloth diaper trial is.... bumGenius V3.0 one-size pocket diaper! We tried this one first, on recommendation from two friends who use them on their older babies. Then I tried these out as well. The bG's had the best overall fit. A lot of the others were just too big around the leg which caused leaks and/or wicking. I also liked the Fuzzi Bunz, but with those we'd have to buy more everytime Jake moves up in size. With the bG's, the size can adjust so supposedly it will fit until he's potty-trained. These will be our main diaper for now. My only concern is whether the aplix (velcro) will hold up, so I'm going to try a Blueberry Deluxe One-size (snaps are supposed to last longer which may be worth the additional cost if the velcro doesn't last). And if I can find diaper covers that fit around the leg better, we may add more of the traditional prefolds. Although they're not nearly as easy to use as newer style cloth diapers like the bGs, prefolds do a very adequate job considering the much lower cost. But I really need to find better covers before I would use them on a regular basis.

ARRRGH Matey!

I thought this series of pictures was so cute! Eden and Andrew were "hiding their buried treasure" when I got the camera. You can see how Andrew just thinks Eden is the coolest (at least sometimes)!

Ten on Wednesday

I like reading Emily's Ten on Tuesday, so I decided to steal that idea. Today's not Tuesday though... oh well, here it is anyway, Ten on Wednesday- Pilot: "In No Particular Order".

1. This morning Andrew woke me up with this conversation:

Andrew: "Can you help me find my Batman pajamas?" (Kind of whiny, he must have already been looking for the Batman pajamas he doesn't own)

Me: "You don't have any Batman pajamas, buddy."

Andrew: "YES, I do." (he then went to ask Eden to help him find them)

2. Yesterday marked the beginning of our official cloth diaper trial period. I'll post more about this later.

3. We had a huge hail storm today. The picture was taken a few minutes after it had stopped hailing, so the hail must have been even bigger when it first hit the ground. It didn't break any windows, but it did break the kids lawn chairs.

4. I wasn't going to renew our Sam's Club membership, but I'm reconsidering this decision because of these.

5. Jacob is starting to smile back at us.

6. Today Eden asked if we could move to college next time we move. I told her she had to be 18.

7. I ordered new pair of these the other day and can't wait for them to arrive. I have A LOT of work ahead of me.

8. We had a great time at our ward Pioneer Day celebration/picnic. There was a lot of water-fighting going on, and I got soaked even though I was holding Jacob at the time. I wasn't the only one with a baby to get wet- no one was safe.

9. Erin made this cool message board for me, and today I finally hung it. Thanks Erin!

10. I sometimes read or watch tv/movies while I'm nursing. I was pretty proud of myself for setting up a series recording for the new season of this on the DVR. Then for some reason it only recorded the first 10 minutes so I watched it a few days later on the internet. I love technology (at least in this situation)!

So there you have it, "Ten on Wednesday". "Ten on Tuesday" definitely has a nicer 'ring' to it. I even learned how to turn words in my post into links (finally)!