Just had to add this one, I mean really look at that face dirty and all it's still irresistible!!!

The boys have discovered how much they love fishing. Kev has taken them the last couple of weekends and they enjoy themselves to the fullest. The first weekend they didn't catch anything but the second weekend sissy went and she was good luck, they caught three!! Abi caught one and Ben caught two catfish they all thought they were gross. Mac did catch a tiny little guy. The funny thing is Ben only spent a total of 5 minutes but every time he grabbed his reel he caught one.

I think they enjoy this more than fishing but all in all they have a wonderful time with their dad.

The first day of school (kind of)

So the first day of school pictures went down with the camera these were taken a few days later. It's too bad that I don't have their first day of school outfits, oh well they looks pretty cute in these.

Our Mighty 7th grader!
Our warrior 2nd grader.

Our tike preschooler.

Although Ben turned 5 in June we made the decision to keep him back. That being said it was only fair to give him a little something more than just my preschool (fair for both of us.) So we signed him up with a local preschool ran through the school district. His teacher is Mrs. Penny and he loves it.

So right before school started we made our annual trip to New Mexico to visit with grandparents and do some school clothes shopping. Wouldn't you know those picture were of course on my wonderful camera that is still broken. This is the only picture Abi had on hers. We had a special treat while we were there, the Bloomfields happened to be coming to Farminton the same weekend we were there.We were excited that we were able to visit with them even if it was for only an hour, it was much needed!!! Grandma and Grandpa in New Mexico provided a wonderful end of summer vacation for us. They surprised us and took us to the Bar "D" in Colorado. We loved it! The food was great and the music was wonderful. We just had a wonderful time visiting and being together. Thank you Joe and Viv for the great time and for being such great grandparents to our kidos.

We have a walker!! Our little butterfly took her first steps when she was about 10.5 months old. We were excited but I have to admit a little sad. She is too little to be walking. Is she really almost a year old?! She loves to walk if everyone is watching and clapping for her. What can I say she likes a little attention.

Maggie's very favorite thing to do is go up the stairs. So when we put the gate up she was very frustrated. She will stand at the gate and yell for her brothers or sister to come to her rescue. Sometimes they think it's fun to stand on the other side and tease her.

Before After
Abi had her hair cut. She looks so cute. It is fun to watch her fuss in the mirror over her hair.

Pictures that make me smile.

Julie is going to kill me for this but I love it!

Our favorite little face.

This break my heart to say this but this is the only picture I have of Abi's birthday. I had a great many on my broken camera and they would have told a fabulous story of her special day. Since I don't have the pictures I will just write about it. We started the day with being pulled out of bed by our beautiful angel 12 year old daughter. We opened presents and then had breakfast. She wanted waffles with chocolate chips, sausage, and eggs (She only had eggs because she knows I love them, too sweet.) Later in the day her dad took her to Toy Story 3 she loves having special one on one dates. While they were at the movies Mac, Ben, Maggie and I were getting ready to surprise her with a birthday party. She thought we were going to have the party after we returned home from Farmington. Her friends all arrived right before she returned home and were hiding when she came into the kitchen there we all were with a huge "SURPRISE!!!" She was shocked (I know I keep going on but really I am bothered by the fact that I captured this moment perfectly on the camera. I never capture things perfect and when I do I can't share it.) Anyway needless to say she loved having a surprise party and I loved that she really didn't know anything about it. At the party we played games, ate nachos and cake, and opened more presents. The one thing that I have come to realize is that people crave to be recognized. It doesn't have to be a huge recognition just being called on your birthday and having people make you feel special because they are so glad you were born. Abi was loved and recognized over and over on her birthday and she went to bed knowing she is a pretty amazing girl. We love our angel sunshine girl and are so excited for all the adventure that await her. We hesitate to let her go and grow but this is life, and we hope she will continue to stand strong and shine.

Yes this is real!!! This summer I had a little summer camp with a few kids. We would have fun activities outside and then head inside to cool off and do a few more activities. One day on our way inside I had a little boy pick something up and ask if he could play with it. I looked and thought it was a plastic scorpion. He was swinging it back and forth and I thought wow they sure make them look real, and then it clicked and my insides froze. IT...WAS....REAL!!!!! Thank heavens it was dead I tried to play like it was no big deal and really wanted the little boy to think it was a toy, so I said, well, not today lets just leave that toy outside. He looked at me and said Mrs. Jill I think it's real it has hair. So much for fooling a four year old.
Kev and the boys thought it was so neat. I have no idea what got into Kevs head when he asked Mac if he wanted to hold it and I really don't know what was wrong with Mac when he said yes. Silly boys and their creepy crawlies I just don't get it!

Over the 24th of July holiday the kids and I were able to spend time in Beaver. We were so excited to go because we had a new addition to the family. Mr. Noah Daniel James Tobey. He is as precious as they come and the kids think he is amazing. I had some great shots with Maggie checking him out as well but again they are on the other camera. He decided to come early, which was good for Julie but sad for me because I was going to be able to be there on his birthday. We are just glad that he made it healthy and beautiful!

Our annual girls trip!!This year we had our girls trip in July it was a little hotter than normal but what an amazing time we had!! We started off being able to visit in Cedar with both grandmas that was such a treat, and then we all loaded up and headed to St. Gearge our first stop was Olive Garden for some good grub. After eating we headed over to T.J. Max for our competition to see who can get the most out of 20 dollars. Andrea won this year, I have come to the conclusion that I am not a bargain shopper. After a little shopping we made our way to Tarzan. What an awesome show. Maggie loved it as well. She would sing along with them and clap her hands. It was cute but she was a little loud.
Abi was dying to get close to Jane and Tarzan but the line was huge, so this is as close as we were able to get. The little boy was the young Tarzan I think Abi thought he was cute.

The gorillas were so unbelievable. They were flying through the air above the crowd it was soo cool.

The daddy gorilla, I can't remember his name but it was the Disney Tarzan.

My girls and I all shared the same bed isn't it sweet.

Beautiful angel just feeling lucky she was able to come along.

My sweet girl in one of her traditional poses.

Here is another traditional picture. Maggie didn't like this tradition. I hate that we didn't get a good group picture. Mom thanks for an amazing weekend. I love the memories that it creates and I love being with my mom, sisters, and daughters. What a special time! Another thing that is bothering me is that my camera is still not good thank heavens Abi had these pictures on her camera, but while we had our girls weekend Kev and the boys had a boys weekend. They had a good time together they went out hiking and loved it. The pictures they took we hope to retreive off the other camera soon.

My baby girl went to girls camp! It is hard for me to believe that Abi is 12(well she was almost 12 when she went to camp.)She had such a great time, and truly felt of the spirit. I have always loved to go to girls camp even when I wasn't in young women's any more. It is a chance to get yourself outside of the world and be in nature close to our Heavenly Father. Abi was so glad to have her friend Mia there.
She loved the rope swing she had about 30 pictures of her and her friends swinging away.

The camp theme this year was "Be all you can be in Gods Army" Abi loved the fact that she was able to wear camo and participate in an obstacle course.

Getting ready to hit her target with her marshmallow gun.

Kev was so excited that he was able to go up on Bishopric night. I was glad as well that way he could check on our girl. He and Bishop cooked up a good meal for the girls and enjoyed the outdoors and the spirit that was there.