Brooklyn's First Pigtails

 

Brooklyn's hair is officially long enough to do "real" pig tails. I can part her hair and pull it to both sides and curl her pig tails. It is SO cute!!

I love how long her hair is but, if I don't do something with it (especially first thing in the morning) it is so long it hangs in her eyes. I love how long and pretty her hair is... 

These pictures make me want to go wake you up from your nap just to give you a hugs and kisses. You are such a bubbly, fun little person. Growing up too fast but, we are enjoying every stage with you. 

Love you Baby Bee!!

Kaden Turns 6

The entrance to LegoLand. It was up an elevator to learn how they make Lego's in the factory.

Kaden turned six and we wanted to do something fun for his birthday. I had to work so I picked up the kids that afternoon from the sitter and then the kids and I met Reed at KUMed so we could head over to crown center to go to LegoLand. We figured since we wouldn't be having a friend party (being new to the area and all) so we celebrated as a family.The kids are the perfect age for Legoland. I went online to buy tickets but the pre-sold tickets were sold out. We decided to risk it and went and bought tickets at the door. It ended up being not very busy (because there were a few kids in wheelchairs) and we were able to ride the rides lots because there just weren't lines. It was really fun spending time with the kids at Lego Land and they have asked to go again...A LOT!! It was a huge success and a birthday to remember!

In the factory learning how they make Lego's. 

Then it was onto the rides. 

One whole section is for building race cars and racing them. There were cool soft play areas outside each area for small children. It was like a pool filled with Lego's and Brooklyn loved it! 

Abbie and Kaden building race cars. 

Kaden's race car. 

Everyone improving their cars to race again.

Brooklyn liked climbing the stairs to the car racing platform. 

Racing their cars. 

In part of Legoland their is a museum area of building built to replicate the buildings and landmarks in the area.

The ticket booth to the 4-D movie. This was the kids favorite part! It was in 3-D but also had huge wind fans for effects, water for spitting dragons and snow in the theatre. We all loved the movie! It was awesome!! It really looked like it was snowing in the theatre (I think it was done with bubbles) I don't know for sure but whatever they did....it was awesome!

Kaden with a Lego statue. 

The kids enjoying the wizard of oz part of the museum. 

Yellow brick road

The aquarium and LegoLand Building 

The raceway with firework lights. 

The details were amazing! 

More building race cars. 

Brooklyn on a lego statue. 

Kaden on the motorcycle lego statue. 

 We went home and ate dinner, opened presents. He got a slip'n' slide from thanks grandma and grandpa Tenney. He got some spending money from Grandma and Grandpa Millett (he is thinking hard about what he will spend his money on) and the only other thing he asked for....BLUE BOXING GLOVES!! He got a fun blue punching air bag to play with and it's been a huge hit in the playroom.
Some fun facts about Kaden at this age: He loves Lego's. His favorite color is green. He would rather have a yummy casserole over a dessert, anyday. He likes to swing on the swingset and to play Mario Kart on the Wii. We loved going to Legoland for your birthday and are so excited that you are six! You are such a lovable, smart little boy and we love you! Happy Sixth Birthday Kaden!

Climbing Monkey

This spring, I did take a couple fun pictures of the kids but, this was when we were finishing the basement and they were almost forgotten until I was looking back through a few pictures. The kids loved playing on the mattress we had downstairs for a trampoline. When clearing out the basement, the mattress was brought to the garage and leaned against the wall. The kids wanted to play on it outside before we took it away. So, we hauled the mattress to the backyard each day so the kids could play on it and then we leaned it back in the garage each night for the sprinklers. They got quite a few days of playing before the load to the dump was ready. The kids made up all sorts of games and loved playing on it. They thought it was so funny to try and sit in their chairs on the soft surface.....oh to be a kid again when simple fun is the best!

The other thing the kids figured out was how to climb!!! The first time Abbie tried....she got a few feet off the ground but, look at her now. She can climb the entire basketball banker. She's got skills! She is quite the climbing monkey!

Swimming at Tomahawk

This summer has been crazy so far, yet we seem to always find ourselves at the pool. We have a family pool pass that our HomeOwners gave us because the house wasn't perfectly ready when we showed up. The tenants before didn't leave in time and therefore they weren't able to get everything done before we moved in. So, we've been having little things done here and there. But, the pool pass has really come in handy. The first time we went to Tomahawk Pool, we checked out the kiddie area that had a elephant slide, small pool and a huge sand box. We actually never made it out of this area to the pool with slides because the kids were having so much fun. 

Boys at Tomahawk.

They love the HUGE sandbox. You can fill buckets with water for your castle's mote and everything! It's every kids dream to make a huge mud mess and it's okay and go wash off in the fountains. Pretty cool! 

Brooklyn LOVES the sandbox. She must really love the feel of the sand because she is always picking it up and letting it sift through her hands. I love that there are nice huge umbrellas so the mom's and babies don't get too much sun. 

Bring on the water! The kids absolutely love making creations that contain some kind of "mote" or "lake". This lake was made for a mud bath for Brooklyn. She was hesitant at first of trying out the kids creation but, once she got the feel of the water on her toes, she was into it.

This summer we have been able to go to the pool a lot. Tomahawk stays open until 8 pm so I can even take the kids after work for just a little while.  This has been a life saver since we aren't use to the humidity with the heat. The kids love the curly slide and the long straight slide because they can all race together. The kids are loving going swimming so much.

Well, we finally have internet. We have been using our phones to power our internet but, it was limited so we only used it to power the computer when Reed needed it for school. So, I haven't been able to blog since we came to Kansas (not that I've had time!!! I am still living between boxes. Reed is always gone and I have four kids to manage while trying to get unboxed...quite the task!)

I finally got some pictures off my phone from our adventure to Kansas so I am going to post those and hopefully I can get updated on what we've been doing while here! Everyone wants to see the house and I will try to get some soon.

My view while driving to Kansas. I was following Reed or it was the other way around and he was following me....depending on whose vehicle needed to be followed. LOL (if you don't know what I am talking about, read the previous post about our adventure. 

The Auto Zone in Cheyenne that just happened to have the part that we needed and able to diagnose it and fix the part within five minutes. 

Kids holding our new tires for the trailer that we bought at Sportsmans in Sydney, Nebraska. While we were there (all ten minutes which included the potty break) we saw all the animals on display and they even have an elephant. Seriously...a real HUGE elephant. 

It was HUGE!! The kids loved seeing how big it was! 

This is the picture of Brooklyn after I found out that the kids had been feeding her licorice the last half an hour to keep her quiet and content. I had asked them to help entertain her for a half hour until we got to our next stop. I was pretty surprised to find that she had licorice EVERYWHERE. Seriously, we were picking it out of her eyebrows the next day. LOL

We are so mean, no really we aren't....we just took her binki out so we could get a picture of the entire licorice scene. She was definetely ready to get out of her carseat. On a brighter note, she didn't get one tiny bit on her outfit. Just her legs, arms, mouth, eyebrow....everywhere except on her clothes. Phew...

Well, I will try to stay caught up since we now have internet. Toodles! Hope everyone is having a nice Sunday!

We Made It to Kansas!!

So, we made it!! We are here in the house and trying to get settled (well, we will once our truck gets here on tuesday). Our adventure to Kansas really was an adventure. We feel very blessed to be here safe and sound and know that on our crazy road trip we were watched over and protected. SO....this is our adventure.
We originally wanted to leave by noon on Wednesday but, we ended up getting away at 9 p.m. Just a few short hours later than our goal (ha ha). We drove to a little town just before Rock Springs Wyoming and stayed for the night (Reed and I were exhausted). We had promised the kids we would get to swim but, it was super cold the next morning and come to find out, the pool was outside. Not swimming THAT day, so we loaded up and started driving. We ate lunch in Laramie, WY and continued on driving. We had radio's between the two cars which was nice but, that meant that Reed and myself had to drive the entire way to Kansas, so it was quite gruelling. I was driving in front of Reed and I had just passed an exit (the only one for miles) and he gets on the radio telling me his car has died. He was able to coast off the exit and down the ramp. I was able to get stopped (with the trailer) just where the on ramp was coming back on the freeway. I didn't know what to do because there wasn't anywhere to turn around to go get him for miles. We were discussing a few options and luckily his car started again. We were able to drive (me following him now) to cheyenne. The whole way to cheyenne we were on our phones finding the nearest  Auto Zone) We found one and pulled in and they diagnosed it as a "cam shaft position sensor" (whatever that is). We were able to get the part and install it within five minutes. We were back on the road and it seemed to have fixed whatever the problem was. We were able to continue on and we were almost to sydney, nebraska when a tire on the trailer blew out. I felt and heard a big "pop" and I looked in my mirror to see the tire shredding off and flying off the road. I was able to stop (riding on the rim) and came to rest on the metal arm that is used to stand the trailer up when it is folded for storing. We were very blessed that we had a spare. So, we put it on and could go only the minimum 40 mph because the spare had a "bubble" on it and wouldn't last at high speeds. We called every "tire" store we could find on our phones and they were all closed. We had resigned ourselves to stopping in the next town for the night until a tire store opened in the morning. Little did we know that the next town was Sydney, Nebraska, the town with the original Cabela's. We pulled in with a half an hour until closing. This is important because they have a "trailer" section and had, on their tiny tire section,  two tires with our 4-lug pattern. (Insert Angels singing here!!) So, we bought two new "high speed" tires and installed them in the parking lot. We were able to get back on the road. We had hoped to get to Lincoln, Nebraska that night but, ended up in North Platte, Nebraska at a Holiday Inn. This hotel had a pool and at 11:30 p.m. we were swimming in their pool (all to ourselves). We swam until midnight (Reed and I were very tired by this point) and we went to bed. Due to the drive, the late nights and just being really tired, we didn't get on the road again until 11 a.m.
So, we arrived in Overland Park (without any more stops)....oh wait, I forgot about the paper shredder. Let me tell you about this last little hiccup. For Reed, it was quite the incident. So, we were driving along in Nebraska in a one-lane construction zone and I was in front of Reed driving. All I hear over the radio is something about the paper shredder. Reed says that he's driving along and notices something coming out of the back of the trailer, before he could fumble and get the radio the top comes off and hits the edge of the freedway and shatters into many pieces and flies off the road. Then came the bottom and the same happened to it. By the time we could stop, we were over a mile from where it happened. We stopped and secured our load. One of the bungi straps had broken. So, if you were one of the unlucky drivers behind us, I am sure it was scary for a moment before it bounced off the road. I was thankful it didn't hit Reed's car or anyone elses. The funny part is that we had just been talking about the liter sign that said "$750 litering penalty" Well, we wouldn't have litered if we could have gotten back to where it was but, it was an orange coned one lane freeway road for tons of miles with no way to even turn around. So, sorry Nebraska highway, we didn't mean to liter.
Other than our few "incidences", we have made it here safe. We feel very blessed and felt Heavenly Father's hand in our safety. We were blessed that if things did go wrong, there were ways for us to fix them and keep going. We are very thankful for our safe arrival.
We were supposed to have our trucks here on friday but, one came on saturday (the smaller truck packed with the odds and ends. So, we have bikes, one mattress, a few kitchen items but, nothing else) The other truck (the main one packed with everything else) will arrive on tuesday and the elder's quorum in our new ward will help us unload it.
So, I know everyone was interested in how we are doing and if we made it okay. We are all safe and well and adjusting to the humidity. It is very different from the "dry" heat in Utah. We have felt very welcomed here and pray that we can continue to make as a good of friends as we have in Utah. We love you all and hope all is well.

MOVING

Today's the day!! We start our adventure to Kansas. We have a few things to load on our little trailer and we'll be off! So, wish us luck and a safe travel! Love you all! Thank you all for your help getting us to this point, we couldn't have done it without all of you! Your selflessness and helpfulness has not gone un-noticed. Thank you SO much for all of our family and friends help getting us to this point. So, let the adventure begin!