The Dairy Festival

We went to the Thanksgiving Point Farm for the Dairy Festival.  We took the Gledhill kids and we met the Gregory's there.  Reagan got to ride on a horse all by herself and she loved it!

The festival was pretty fun!  They had games and activities for the kids.  My favorite game was cow pie bingo.  They painted a bingo grid on the floor of the cow pen, and the cow did all the work!  The kids got to make their own butter, their own homemade ice cream and sample milk and ice cream as well.  This picture is Bradon and Max on the wagon ride.  (Bradon's homemade ice cream has a leak!)

They made their own homemade ice cream that they had to shake up in a zip lock bag.  They thought that it was so yummy!  They acted like they had never had homemade ice cream before.  Maybe they hadn't, poor deprived children!  Well, we solved that little problem and got David an ice cream maker for father's day.  (We have been eating ice cream everyday since.)  This is a picture of Callie, Taylor and Reagan eating their homemade ice cream.  Yum!

This is Bradon, Carsten, Max and Ethan sampling chocolate milk and ice cream from Meadow Gold.  All in all I think that the kids had a good time.  Carsten desperately wanted to buy a chic to take home.  We had to explain to him that even though the chic only cost $2.00, there were a lot of other things the chic would need and he didn't have money for that.  He was pretty sure that the chic could live in his bedroom and eat whatever food we had around the house.  When we explained how much a chic pooped, he decided that the chic could live with our dog Teegs.  I think that Teegs would like that! Yum!   

Archery/Anniversary

David and I celebrated our 12th anniversary on Saturday, June 7th.  

We went to Thanksgiving Point to a 3D archery tournament that David competed in.  He did pretty good!  He made it into the top 8 out of 32 shooters.  If he had won that round he would have been in the finals and he would have won a bow.  Oh well, he had fun anyways and I guess that's all that really matters.  David took up archery just over a year ago and has been shooting in these archery tournaments for about a year now.  He really enjoys it!  As a family we enjoy going and watching him compete.  The Kids all love archery!  They each have their own bow and I'm sure they can't wait until they can compete someday like David does.    

ER visit

Early Sunday morning I took Talan to the Emergency Room.  He had been up for hours coughing, struggling to breath, throwing up and just not feeling well.  I packed him into his car seat and drove him down to the hospital after much debate about weather or not I should go.  By the time I got to the hospital he had finally calmed down and fallen asleep.  

CLASSIC!  Of course this would happen!  He was breathing just fine, he had no temperature and he was looking fairly healthy!  Now what do I do?  Do I go in and pay a $100.00 co-pay to have him looked at, or do I just go home and hope that he continues to do well.  Well, I decided that I had better have him checked out.  

They did a chest X-ray and found that he had fluid in his lungs but it didn't look serious.  They gave him a breathing treatment and sent him home.  Just before going home I noticed that his soft spot on his head was bulging.  I called a Doctor over to look at it and he said that he didn't know why it would be like that and told me to have his pediatrician look at it the next day when I took him in for his follow up visit.  When I got home from the ER, I got on-line to see what it said about bulging soft spots.  It said that it's a sign of meningitis.  SCARY!  So today I got him in for a follow up visit and the Doctor said that his soft spot was still squishy and so it's fine.  Since our ER visit, Talan has developed a fever.  The Doctor checked his ears and said that they looked like that were getting red.  So he either has an ear infection or a sinus infection brewing.  He gave me a prescription for an antibiotic and sent us on our way.  

It's  sad to see Talan not feeling well.  His eyes are all watery and his nose is running.  His checks are bright red and he has been sleeping a lot today.  Poor little guy!  Anyways, I think that it's hard to know what to do all the time with our little ones.  I would hate to let it go too long and have a simple illness turn  severe, yet it's a little embarrassing when you take them in too soon and you look like an over protective mother.  I guess it's better to be safe and over protective than sorry!  

New Tricks

This is one of Talan's new tricks!  He loves nothing more than grabbing his toes!  In lots of his outfits he can't get his toes close enough to grab.  So every time I change his diaper, as soon as he's unsnapped, his toes go up and his smile goes on!  

We are enjoying Talan so much!  He is an absolute joy!  And I think that I speak for the entire family when I say that!  We couldn't be luckier in that he's joined our family!  Yesterday was David and I's anniversary and David asked me, "Looking back on this last year, what would you say was the best thing that happened?"  Well that was easy, I told him "Talan!"  David agreed.  He's been a welcomed addition to our family who makes us complete!

Rice Cereal

Talan is a big boy now!

We fed Talan a little rice cereal!  I think he liked it!  Well actually, I'm not sure what he liked more;  Attacking the spoon, attacking the bib, or eating the rice cereal itself.  He was like a little animal attacking his prey.  This is a picture that our little budding photographer Ethan took toward the end of Talan's feeding.  So very cute, I love a messy cereal face!

Microwave cooking 101

Last night Ethan decided to make himself some Top Roman.  In scouts they are learning how to plan and prepare meals and to take care of themselves.  He has prepared a meal plan for himself for next week which includes having Top Roman for lunch everyday!  He knows how to make Top Roman all by himself  in the microwave which is a wonderful thing for me because this means that I don't have to help him with it or do it for him.   He got his Top Roman ready and put it in the microwave and then came in to the other room to chit chat with David and I.  A few minuets later he went back into the kitchen to check on his Top Roman.  He came running back in screaming, "I forgot the water!"  I didn't realize what he meant by this until I went into the kitchen to find smoke billowing out of the microwave. He forgot to put water in with the Roman noodles prior to putting it into the microwave.  The Roman was black and the plastic bowl he was cooking it in had a whole in it and the house was filled with smoke and smelled horrible!  

We quickly opened all the doors and windows in the house and did everything we could think of to fix the smell.  David cleaned out the microwave with Clorox bleach, I sprayed air freshener throughout the house and we aired out the house for hours.  The upstairs smelled so bad that the kids had to sleep in the basement and this morning it still reeks terribly!  I have gone to the store and bought Febreze and have sprayed that everywhere too!  Now our house smells like a cheap hotel!  

These are the priceless lessons in microwave cooking 101!  I'm pretty sure that Ethan will never forget the water again!  Ethan feels bad for the horrible smell he has created.  We are very greatful that Ethan went back into the kitchen to check on his Top Roman or else it could have been much worst.  Having a cheap smelling hotel house is a lot better than a burnt down one.

Another case of Croup

croup 1 |kroōp|nouninflammation of the larynx and trachea in children, associated with infection and causing breathing difficulties.DERIVATIVEScroupy adjectiveORIGIN mid 18th cent.: from dialect croup [to croak,] of imitative origin.

Talan has had another case of Croup.  Last night before Talan went to bed David and I thought that for sure we would end up in the ER in the middle of the night.  Luckily he didn't get bad enough for us to go to the ER but I called the doctor first thing this morning and got him in.  They gave him a steroid shot and he should be good to go!  There is nothing worst than when your child can't breath.

Shooting!

Last Saturday we took the kids shooting.  We went to Saratoga Springs to a place on the other side of Utah lake.

Reagan loves hanging out with the boys doing boy things.  But if you ask her, shooting is NOT a boy thing!  

Talan was having a good time under the shade of the umbrella.

Check out the difference in these two kids skin color.

Ethan wasn't so sure that he wanted to go shooting.  Turns out that Ethan really likes shooting guns.  When we were all done he told David "That was a lot of fun!  I really liked it!"

Carsten thought that the 22 was a little heavy so he had to have his dad help him out with it.  He can shoot his bb-gun all day long without any help and trust me, he does!

Bradon had no problem with the 22 and thinks that he wants one of his own.  Wishful thinking if you ask me!  He already came home with a bird he shot out of the tree in the front yard with his bb-gun, like we would get him his own 22!

Of course this his mother talking.  His dad probably has plans of buying him one for his next birthday.  I'm constantly surprised with the things our kids do and the things we LET them do! There lives are much different than my life growing up.  They do way more adventurous things!  

Oh, dad just pipped in saying that he won't get one until he's at least 12!  Sorry Bradon!

Summer kick off!

To kick off the summer we took the kids to a local pond for a picnic and fishing.  We went with the Gregory's and the Harley's.  We had a lot of fun and then a cloud came from nowhere and started to rain!  Notice all the BOYS!  Our neighborhood has been blessed with a plethora of boys!  

Briggs Gregory, Carsten Adair, and Dallin Harley.

Talan being just as happy and cute as ever!

Reagan climbing on the rocks by the pond!  Cute thing!

Ethan loved playing with that super huge umbrella.

Award Ceremony

Ethan received a couple of awards at his school's award ceremony.

He received the READ ACROSS UTAH award (He got a medal and a certificate for that).

And an award for participating in the Knowledge bowl.

It was fun to see Ethan get these awards.  I love watching my kids work hard to achieve their goals.  And then with a little added bonus, receive an actual award!  Too fun!  We are very proud of Ethan and I think that Ethan is pretty proud of Ethan too!  He was so thrilled to receive these awards!  He showed me them several times when he got home from school and then wore his medal for several days after receiving it.  Way to go Ethan!