Boy oh Boy

Bennett's Fourth Birthday

2012-01-19T21:13:00.001-08:00

It's starting to hit me how big my Bennett is getting. He's looking and acting so old these days and it's just crazy how fast they grow up. Bennett was super excited about his birthday. Having a birthday close to Christmas is a little tricky but I like that it is before Christmas and I'm not too burnt out yet. Bennett waited patiently all day for his presents. After the big boys got home from school we went to Jump on it. Then we had some cake and ice cream with the family. Bennett is a good boy and I sure love my happy buddy!

8 months

2011-12-11T16:57:00.001-08:00

Miles is 8 months today
He continues to be my easiest, most chill baby.
He is crawling and pulling himself up on stuff
He's pretty quiet and so he'll get places quickly and I have no idea - he's stealth!
Can't get enough of his smiley face
Eats baby and finger foods
Puts everything in his mouth
Loves Binja and wants to crawl all over him
Is spitting up a lot less - finally!
Is tiny - he's in the 5% but he's growing and happy, just a small guy

Is very loved by his big brothers and parents!

Bennett drew on his face :)

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-12-11T15:33:00.001-08:00

A turkey trot is the only way to start Thanksgiving Day. I like running in the FleetFeet 5k in American Fork. I really wanted to break 21 min and I did by 1 second!

The boys ran in the kids dash and did great!

We went over to the Abillas for our Thanksgiving feast. It was bittersweet knowing that this would be our last feast with them for a while. They are moving to Tennessee! We will miss them so much but are excited for the adventures they will have.

Pete did a great job with the turkey!

After we ate the kids made a cute little movie out back. This is me spying on them. How lucky we were to have such nice weather that day.

Post turkey shnoozin

We love you and will miss you Abillas!!

A Miscellaneous Post to get all caught up

2011-11-17T20:03:00.001-08:00

Clayton received his first cub scout award - the Bobcat at the last pack meeting.

I love that the boys are starting to interact and entertain Miles more.

Wish this picture was better quality but its so cute and Miles loves his Daddy!

We had a fun time at Jump on It. I love watching Conner do his backflips.

We took advantage of a beautiful fall afternoon and walked around the Timpanogas temple.

We had a get together to say goodbye to our dear friends the Mabeys. They have the 4 sweet girls that I hope my boys will marry! They are just in American Fork we sure miss being able to run down the street to play.

This guy is starting to be more mobile!

and I want to eat this face every day!

All the boys are getting more into art. Conner has started his own gallery.

Bennett and I get to have the afternoons together and it's been fun. We went to hee haw farms one day. Bennett is a fun boy - he likes to go on errands. He likes to make notes for his friends. He loves his preschool. He loves to make forts and give out stickers to those being good around the house. He puts on shows for Miles with his silliness. A happy boy but also very into being as big as his brothers and being able to do everything himself! Love my buddy.

Awards Assembly

2011-11-17T19:42:00.001-08:00

A funny story: We got an email from the school saying that our student was getting an award at the assembly and to come at 8:00 am. Each teacher chooses one academic award and once citizenship award recipient. We assumed that the award was for Clayton since Conner had afternoon kindergarten and the assembly was in the morning. We were surprised when they called Conner's name for an academic award. It was a good thing that he got dressed in his school clothes because I was just going to leave him in his pajamas because we were rushing to get everyone out the door. Then I was worried that Clayton wasn't getting one and we had sortof told him that he was. They read Clayton's name after - for the citizenship award. They were both excited, mainly about the Rolos. I'm proud of my boys!

Halloween

2011-11-11T20:14:00.001-08:00

Miles and Cooper. Cooper was "Super Cooper" Miles is out of his costume at this point, but they look cute in their stripes.

The boys wanted to be spies for Halloween this year. I wasn't really sure how to do a spy costume. I finally went to DI and got some vests, then I cut out some badges out of felt and glued them on - they wanted to be X1, X2 and X3. The rest of their costume was just black clothes, hats and gloves. When they were out trick or treating with their pillowcases they looked like little robbers! For school Clayton was Davy Crockett, Conner was Anansi the Spider and Bennett was black Spider Man. My Mom came out for Halloween weekend and it was so fun to have her. We loved Halloween growing up and we had to carry on the tradition of having Fondu and Wassail before trick or treating.

I'm not really good with costumes for myself. I decided to put on everything purple that I had and wear this nasty wig. It was different!

Conner the spy

Here they are planning their route with the ipad. Chad was strategizing on how they could get the most candy!

Such tough guys!

Trading candy after, another fun tradition.

Oh, Bennett decided last minute that he wanted to be a vampire, and he had to have a "V" for vampire on his cape.

Clayton the spy

Ready to trick or treat!

Lindsay and Jason had the BEST costumes - they were figure skaters - skates, sequins and all!

Wyatt was the cutest Super Why ever!

Hiking the Y

2011-11-10T20:02:00.001-08:00

A couple Saturdays ago we decided it would be fun to hike to the Y. We hadn't done it since Clayton was a baby. Now we have 4 kids and a dog and well let's just say it took us a little longer this time. It was a gorgeous day and the views were amazing. Dustin and Moriah met up with us and we all made it alive. Poor chad carried Bennett who is almost 4 and weighs almost as much as Conner all the way up and down in the hiking pack. He should have walked but then we really would have been up there all day. I loved the good weather we had in October and wanted to be doing something outside on every nice day we had to store up that sunshine for the winter!

Clayton's Baptism Day

2011-10-16T21:13:00.000-07:00

October 8, 2011. Our firstborn was baptized. It was a wonderful day. We are really proud of the good boy Clayton is and that he chose to take this important step in his life. We felt very loved and supported by our family and friends. You can tell from these pictures that he has lots of people who love him!

That morning, we attended the funeral for my Aunt Peggy. She is a wonderful, beautiful person and we are happy that she is once again with her husband. Because of the funeral we had our own baptism in the afternoon, instead of combining with the others in the stake. I have to admit it was pretty nice. Chad was able to conduct, Grandpa Leininger and Grandma Blodgett gave great talks. Lindsay and Jason sang "Lord, I would Follow Thee". The Spirit was strong and it helped me to remember the importance of this ordinance and to remember my own baptism.

Clayton is a sweet and diligent boy. He's always been a little wise beyond his years and he takes things seriously (for the most part :) He's very excited about having his own new scriptures and has already set the goal to read them every night. He's a good example to his little brothers.

We love you Clayton!

Grandma Blodgett

Grandpa and Grandma Leininger

Logan and Dave Harlow

Emily, Luke, Spencer, Camille and Elizabeth Leininger

Kaley Blodgett and Kelly Peterson

Nicole Lynes, Grace Mabey, Matthew Lynes, Anna Mabey

Kim, Devin, Wyatt and Cooper Blodgett

Cassie, Kim and Brad Hamilton

Pete and Angie Abilla

Lakin, Savanah, Preston, Carsen, Caden, Norah, Kameron, Mylie, Skyler, Logan

Moriah and Dustin Blodgett

Bryce Leininger

Family Photos

2011-09-28T20:34:00.000-07:00

Once again, the amazing Denae Harlow took these photos for us. I can finally update my walls that have pics from 3 years ago :)

Conner turns 6!

2011-09-28T19:54:00.001-07:00

This picture says it all. Conner is our little Renaissance man! He turned 6 on Aug. 28th. We had a little family party for him. He requested his favorite - Hawaiin pizza for dinner. He also wanted strawberry cupcakes with strawberry frosting. So, yes I never get to make pink anything but I did this year. Conner really wanted a skateboard and a harmonica and lucky him - he got both, plus a few other fun things. Conner is really into music and is taking piano lessons. He is surprising me with how quickly he is catching on. He is also my wiry little climber, gymnast, agile boy. It's fun to watch the things he can do on the trampoline. He loves school and is reading really well. He has a sensitive spirit and can really sense how others are feeling. We love Conner so much and can't believe how fast he's growing up!

School

2011-09-15T21:01:00.000-07:00

School knows just when to begin. A day later and the kids may just have killed eachother...and me! We had a wonderful summer but we were excited to start another school year and back to the routine.

Clayton: the big 2nd grader! Clayts has Ms. Gulledge this year and a couple great friends from the neighborhood are in his class. He is a good student and loves to learn and is good at getting his homework done fast and well (please stay this way!) His favorites are Math and Science. Clayton sometimes comes home with ziploc bags full of dirt and worms that he collects at recess. I'm hoping he grows out of this soon :) What a handsome boy and I can't believe he'll be 8 next month!

Conner the Kindergartner: This was a big day for Conner - one he'd been anticipating for a long time! Conner was really ready for Kindergarten. His birthday makes the deadline for school by 2 days so we held him back so that he could be older in his grade rather than the youngest. Conner wasn't nervous at all and just took to school like he'd been doing it forever. He loves the incentive system in his class. He comes home and tells me how quiet and good he was so that he could earn green cards which he can trade in for marshmallows at the end of the day. One day he ran in so excited with 5 squished marshmallows in his hand, "Look Mom! I was so good today! Can I eat them?" Sweet Conner - he's growing up!

Bennett: the Joyschooler. And full of joy he was when FINALLY it was his turn for school. He had been wearing his backpack around the house for a week. He's doing a great little preschool in the neighborhood where we swap turns. Bennett needs this thing that is his own. Bennett and I have more alone time this year with his older brothers gone and he's a great conversationalist and helps entertain his little brother.

And this little dude gets to hang out with me all day!

Leinfam Reunion 2011

2011-09-06T21:44:00.000-07:00

Since we were all in California together for Lindsay and Jason's wedding we decided to tack our reunion on after. Of course Lindsay and Jason weren't with us as they were in Carmel on their honeymoon (c'mon, where are their priorities?) but it was still a fun few days in beautiful Tahoe - one of my most favorite places on earth! Our theme this year was Eleven in '11, because my parents will have 11 grandkids this year. (Emily is due in Oct. with a boy) Here is the shirt Dan and Christy designed:

I love how they were all numbered

We stayed in a cool cabin and the kids had a great time playing together - Clayton, Spencer and Conner were mostly outside building on to a fort they found and playing with stray dogs. Oh, and making bows and arrows, spears etc. out of sticks. Then they tried to sell their weaponry to the rest of us. The girls and Bennett were mainly inside playing dress-ups and "king and queen". I love that Bennett still loves to play the pretend games with the girls.

We relaxed by the water, took turns on Dan's paddle board, played card games, sat in the hot tub, played with babies and just hung out. I guess the area we were staying has trouble with bears so one day the owner came and dumped a whole bunch of pine-sol around the cabin - which I guess bears hate. Luckily we didn't have any encounters. The cabin was called the "Bear's Lair" so we should have known!

The "highlight" of the trip was when Bennett split his chin open and had to get stitches. The kids were goofing off and not going to sleep so I put Bennett in a different bed in hopes that he would calm down. Well, he didn't - he was jumping and doing somersaults and did one right off the bed. There was lots of blood. It was 10 at night and we debated whether to take him to the ER or wait till the morning and go to urgent care. (the later being a lot less expensive) When we got the the ER I could see the fatty tissue in his chin and we thought we'd better get it taken care of right away. Poor Benny was a little traumatized and did not want to go get stitches. Chad and my Dad gave him a blessing and I could tell it really helped as he was super calm and brave once we got to the hospital. 16 stitches later (2 on the inside and 14 out) we were done and headed back home. This was our first ER incident ever with our kids so I guess we were past due - especially with 4 boys! Hopefully we will have a long break.

Here he is after with the teddy bear the nurse gave him. He named him "Aldy" because there were words on his shirt so "wordy" plus it said Al on his shirt. He decided to combine the two.

One day, we took a boat out and the kids had waterski lessons. They did great and felt pretty cool that they were able to get up.

These three are such great buds!

A great way to end the summer!!

August and Instagrams

2011-09-06T20:42:00.000-07:00

I really enjoy instagramming these days. It helps me to capture the candid moments of everyday life. Here are a few...

playing with Dad on the tramp is treasured time, and no - he didn't break his neck, even though it looks like he's about too.

tummy time on a new contraption from a garage sale

farmer's market in Danville

sitting by Miles on the road trip, holding his toy up.

Bennett is wearing his new flotation device while playing baseball - in case of a flash flood.

This was totally their idea - too bad I didn't get a picture of the finished product.

What a ladies man - Benny and his girl cousin gang

Lindsay and Jason

2011-09-06T19:08:00.000-07:00

My little sister got married on Aug. 12th!! She was the most beautiful bride and Jason is such a wonderful, handsome guy and you can just tell they are so happy and in love. They were married in the Oakland temple and had their reception in Moraga. Months of hard work and preparation(by my Mom and Linz and many others) paid off and all the details came together for a perfect day! Another highlight of the trip was going to the temple with all my siblings, their spouses and my parents - that was pretty neat.

LOVE - isn't it grand?

A tie on a onesie - it's the new fashion

My Mom coralling the kids at the reception with a hula hoop :)

Lindsay MADE her boquet out of broaches - it was gorgeous!

Here are some links to some awesome videos:

Lindsay and Jason from Balaine Wightman on Vimeo.

Lindsay and Jason - Reception from Balaine Wightman on Vimeo.

Lindsay and Jason - temple2 from Balaine Wightman on Vimeo.

Yeah for baby boy cousins!

2011-08-04T22:06:00.000-07:00

Kim an Cooper (5 wks) , Emily and Parker (4wks), Me and Miles. (3.5 months)

I love taking baby pictures - their expressions are hilarious and they are always tipping all over the place. Cooper, Miles and Parker!!

Miles thought Cooper's head tasted yummy!

Miles at 3 months

2011-08-04T21:39:00.000-07:00

Our little Miler boy is so fun these days. He is so smiley and happy and just a pleasant baby. I love his squinty-eyed smile face. He is sleeping through the night about half the time. Takes good naps and is being a trooper about taking naps in the bjorn at swim lessons. He is a HUGE spitter like my other babies and sometimes I call him "one big fountain" and wonder if he gets anything at all after he spits it all back up. I'm wondering if I need to change something in my diet but all my boys have been this way till about 8 months. He is also still really shaky but I'm sure he'll grow out of that too. The boys are more into him now that he will laugh and smile back at them. They fight over who can make him laugh and poor Miles gets lots of spit and air blown on him because that gets him to laugh. He can turn from his front to back and likes to grab his toys. He is getting better about his carseat but still doesn't love it. Having Clayton sit by him has helped a lot.

Camping

2011-08-01T21:51:00.000-07:00

I love to camp - we went a lot when I was little and I've just always thought it was fun! I love being outside, all the yummy smells of the pines and campfires. It is harder as the parents because of all the pack up and clean up but I still think it's worth it for the experience. The boys have been looking forward to it all summer. We went up American Fork canyon, to the Granite Flats campground. It was gorgeous! We headed up Friday night after Chad got home from work. I'm all about keeping it simple with the food tho, so we actually grabbed a pizza on the way out. When we got there the kids explored the campground. They had their walkee talkees and were having a blast. We started a fire and roasted smores. We told some stories and I did the traditional Okee talkee nunga song (from my Dad) Glow sticks are a must on a camping trip and the boys gave me a great light show. We all fit great in our tent. Miles was in his bassinett in the corner and I made sure to bring lots of warm stuff for him. It wasn't too cold which was great - I have a fear of being too cold when I camp. We all slept pretty good - Miles got up once to feed then went back to sleep. I had weird dreams that someone was trying to get into our tent. The next morning we ate fruit loops - again one day I'll do better with "real" camping food like pancakes and bacon.

At 9 we started the hike up to the Timpanogas caves for our tour. The hike is a mile and a half up and it is pretty steep and scary in spots. Clayton and Conner did great. Bennett was on the pack on Chad's back and of course Miles in his beloved Bjorne. It took us about an hour to get up. It was a work out! The cave tour was awesome - Clayton said it was "totally worth it" Inside the cave its 45 degrees so we put our sweatshirts on. The guide told cool stories about the cave and it was beautiful inside. After the tour we hiked down and it took about half the time. We headed back to our camp where we roasted hot dogs and hung out at camp. We packed up and spent some time at Tibble Creek reservoir before heading home. A fun family memory and I love that we are so close to some beautiful country.

(Chad wants to be a fly fisherman - he's cute)

A Summer Sunday eve

2011-07-24T21:20:00.000-07:00

I love a lazy summer Sunday evening, and I love these boys....

nice photo bomb Chad!

24th

2011-07-24T21:07:00.000-07:00

A few years ago my running buddies and I decided it would be fun to do a neighborhood kids fun run on the 24th of July. It has now become a tradition and it gets bigger and better every year! We had the 3rd annual one on Saturday. We have age group races of various lengths with prizes to the top 3 in each - Jenny's famous decorated cookies! After the running races we do bike and scooter races just for fun. There are popsicles and water a plenty and lots of hanging out and chatting in the hot sun. To pump up our kids the night before Chad told them all about Seabiscuit and showed them the clip of the race between Seabiscuit and War Admiral. Then he kept saying to them..."it's not in the legs Charly, its right here" (pointing to his heart) They had fun in the races, but maybe next year we will train a little bit - plus learn how to pace ourselves.

I love our neighborhood - so many fun young families!

Go Clayts!!

You can do it Conner!

I love Bennett's face - he was tough!

That night we lit off fireworks in the front yard, the boys LOVE it...and we got eaten alive by mosquitos. They are so bad this year.

Happy Pioneer Day!

Fireworks on Lake Wallowa

2011-07-12T20:04:00.000-07:00

Even if we just watched the pre-show and thought it was the real show, then left a few minutes before the big ones - it was still fun and the kids had a great time. I think the above picture Denae took could be in a magazine.

Adamson Reunion 2011

2011-07-10T19:27:00.000-07:00

Every couple years Chad's Mom's side (Adamson) has a reunion. This year it was in Wallowa, Oregon. First off we drove to Kennewick, WA - where a lot of Chad's family is from. Chad was born in Kennewick. We stayed with Chad's grandma and we were able to see lots of aunts, uncles and cousins. Chad got to golf with his Dad, uncle and brothers. Kids played with cousins and we had a great time visiting. After a couple nights there, we drove a few hours down to Wallowa. What a gorgeous area! There was no cell service or internet and it was nice to be unplugged and just enjoy nature and the family. Some camped, some stayed in cabins - which is what we did and most of the Blodgetts. Definitely the way to go, especially with a little baby. The reunion was great and well planned. It is always fun to reconnect and gain a greater appreciation for your heritage. We had fun horseback riding, tubing on the lake, sharing stories by the campfire, eating yummy food, walking around the little town of Joseph, making crafts (Conner was so sweet and wanted to make me earings and they turned out cute), hiking and some went on a cool river rafting trip. Most of these are photos by Denae (the good ones) - thanks ddawg!

The "club"! Of course the boys favorite thing was finding cool sticks. Clayton found one that looks like a club and he practically sleeps with it still.

Uncle Lando and Conner - isn't it beautiful?

The best was hanging out with cousins

Dave did face painting one day - Bennett loved the dinosaur he did for him

This is what I looked like most of the trip - gotta love the baby carriers.

With Grandma Hazel Blodgett

Chad being a dinosaur slash wrestling with the kids.

Yep, they found the mud

Denae me and cousin Lesley Mickelson Huff. Her cute baby girl was born the same day as Miles!

At Uncle Tom's for dinner

The boys loved hiking down to this waterfall. The water was rushing so fast, it was a little scary and we had to scare the kids from getting near it.

2 new Nephews!

2011-07-10T19:10:00.000-07:00

Look! Two new beautiful boys have come to the Blodgett Family.....

Cooper Blaine was born to Devin and Kim -- 3 weeks early but he's doing great!

Parker Vance - another cutie. Born to Brett and Emily - their first!

Miles seems huge now compared to his little cousins. Yeah for healthy babies!!

3 year olds

2011-07-07T21:07:00.001-07:00

Wyatt and Lakin are born 1 day apart so we had a fun little birthday party at Angie's for them. They are so cute!

Four 3 year olds!

Go Lakin!

Lehi Roundup Days

2011-07-07T21:03:00.000-07:00

We love Lehi Roundup Days and especially the rodeo. Such a fun country feel and there is something morbidly fun about watching the cowboys almost get killed as they are thrown off these huge animals. And of course, the motorcross half time show is pretty much the reason we go. This year Bremily and Deverly came. Who knew that they were each days away from having babies!

please excuse the many chins

Our ward did a float in the parade and the boys walked with it. It was a dinosaur themed float, hence the dinosaur faces. Chad told me afterwards that he really enjoyed all the attention he was getting and that he liked feeling famous. lol.

Fran was in town!

2011-07-07T21:01:00.000-07:00

My wonderful friend Francesca came to town the other week because she was performing with a singing group in the Tabernacle. Fran has an amazing voice and I loved listening to her in high school. It was so fun to hear her sing again and wow is that lady talented!

We went to dinner the night before with - Fran, Miss and La - just like the good ol days.

We love this little man

2011-07-07T20:14:00.000-07:00

Who does he look like?

In Heaven at the Harlows

2011-07-07T16:03:00.000-07:00

The great thing about cousins is that you can not see them for 6 months or so, then when you get together it's like you've never been apart. The Harlows were so nice to let us barge in on them and hang out for a couple days. Bennett told Lexi and Macey that they were his best friends :)

Father's day

2011-07-07T15:59:00.000-07:00

We love this Dad! The boys and I made him a candy bar poster and a "Teach me how to Chadder" music video.

Anyone who knows Chad knows that he is a wonderful Father. In fact, I'm sure that's why we have all these boys - so they can grow up to be just like their Dad. I love that he takes time to teach and explain things to them. The other night he took the time at bedtime to kneel with each of them and teach them how to pray better, to really think about what they were saying etc. Bedtime is when I have the least patience and I was grateful that he was so patient with them in teaching them such an important principle. I love you Chad, thanks for being such a great DAD!!

2 months old

2011-07-07T14:10:00.000-07:00

At 2 months Miles is: 10 lb 10oz, such a chill baby - my easiest yet! Smiling lots now. Strong little fellow, holding his head up well and likes to "stand". He is getting on a good schedule - still does one night feeding. Miles has already clocked several miles as we have done 2 long road trips with him and he's been so great about it. I love his cute squinty eyes when he smiles and is just so sweet, we love him a lot!

Photos by Denae!

Mack and Miles

2011-07-06T22:12:00.001-07:00

Their names are fun to say together, they are stinking cute, and if they are ever college roomates then they will have to hang up one of these in their dorm...

Denae took these darling pictures. Her baby Mack was born 4 days before Miles!

Some California sunshine

2011-07-06T21:10:00.000-07:00

We took a little trip to California at the beginning of June. We packed in a lot of fun and soaked up the sun.

Are they not twins?? Bennett and Grandpa B.

Went on a hike to frog pond with Grandma.

Walked around the Oakland temple.

At Rock City on Mt. Diablo. The kids are off with Danny, we couldn't watch them almost kill themselves every 5 seconds - they had a blast!

Lexi and Conner

Lucy and Bennett were so cute on this trip. They are the perfect age for each other right now.

Conner and Logan. Conner is a monkey and was climbing to the top of everything.

Chrissy Fields in SF - gorgeous view of the bay and the Golden Gate. We even walked up to the bridge and a little ways down it.

Summer outfit on a little baby - nothing cuter!

Santa Cruz

Miles and Grandma hanging out by the pool. And speaking of Grandma and the pool, I must document that she jumped in to save Clayton who slipped off an intertube. She was in all her clothes - but she didn't even hesitate, now that is grandmother love!

Uncle Danny

2011-07-06T21:00:00.000-07:00

Uncle Danny rules. He's so fun with my boys......

took them surfing in Santa Cruz...

making pizzas

keepin 'em cool

riding the long board

climbing mountains

digging holes

Joyce and Lydia

2011-07-06T20:43:00.000-07:00

Miles is super lucky in the cousin department - he has 5 cousins within 3 months of him! The boys and I drove to California the beginning of June and it was so fun to meet these little ladies...

Danny and Christy had their twin girls two weeks after Miles. It was really fun to see these beautiful baby girls and I am in awe of how Christy and Danny manage twins so well! Joyce, Miles, Lydia

Get used to women crying on your shoulder Miles :)

Bennett and Lydia

Babies, babies, everywhere!

MJ and Preschool Graduation

2011-06-27T15:45:00.000-07:00

The end of the school year had lots of fun activities - Clayton's class performed to Michael Jackson's "Bad" at the school dance festival. It was really cute. Conner graduated from preschool and is so ready to be a Kindergartner!

Connor S and Conner B - best of buds.

He doesn't look to happy in this picture, but he really did love his teachers - Ms Heather and Ms Jeanna.

Gma and Gpa L were here to see Clayton's MJ performance

Blessing Day

2011-06-05T20:05:00.000-07:00

Miles, 8 weeks old

4 boys!!!

Grandpa and Grandma Leininger and Bryce

Janelle Webb

Mike and Amy Bohn

Cassie, Kim and Brad Hamilton

Pete and Angie Abilla

Brett and Emily Blodgett

Kim and Devin Blodgett

The Birthday Boy

2011-05-22T20:21:00.000-07:00

Chad turned 31 last week! His brother Brett's birthday is two days before his so we decided to make a party out of it. We went to dinner at Blue Iguana with Brett and Emily, Dev and Kim and Pete and Angie....and Miles tagged along too. The food was very yummy. Afterwards we went to Bremily's place and played Pictureka and had cake and ice cream. I always end up laughing a lot with this group. Fun night.

The birthday boys!!

I love Chad. I love being with him. Some weeks I get cranky because I don't get to see him as much as I want to. He is such a happy, creative, loving, fun person. I love his optimism. He helps me to look on the bright side of things. I love that my boys have such a great example to follow. Happy birthday Chadders! Here's to another great year.

On Sunday we had Lindsay, Jason and Bryce over for a birthday dinner. Lindsay and Jason are such a cute engaged couple!

Mother's Day

2011-05-17T20:45:00.000-07:00

I had a wonderful Mother's Day. The kids sang to me in church which is always so cute to watch. It was Bennett's first time. He told me a few days before that when he was singing to me I had to smile and have tears coming down my face.

After church the kids gave me their cute homemade cards. Those are the best! I now have a couple coupon books full of free chores. I also got to take a really long nap which for me is better than anything you can buy.

Those who call me Mother

2011-05-10T19:53:00.000-07:00

You will find Clayton:
- working on his 3rd grade math book
- teaching sword fighting lessons to his brothers
- singing silly songs he learned at school
- riding his bike down to Matthew's house
- racing back home to get his animal book so they can identify the dead bird they found in his backyard
- asking me when we can start "homeschool" on Saturday.
- eating vanilla yogurt
- wearing his Jimmer shirt
- making flash cards for his multiplication tables
- reading Indiana Jones
- shooting hoops in the front yard

You will find Conner
- climbing on the mailbox
- dancing to Michael Jackson
- climbing on the van
- reading Dr. Seuss
- climbing in and out of the neighbors window wells
- holding baby Miles
- wearing one of his two hooded long sleeve shirts
- wearing his cowboy boots
- playing animal/owner with Bennett
- sleeping with his cowboy boots and michael jackson glove on
- doing magic tricks
- playing the piano

Conner built this spider and then would not let anyone take it down for a good month. He would not be persuaded or bribed. It was right in the middle of the loft and he was so nervous that it would get knocked down that he would never play up there nor did he want anyone else too. I started to wonder if there were some deeper issues like his whole self worth was associated with this spider. Well, bribery finally worked and it's been a huge weight lifted off all our shoulders.

You will find Bennett
- being an animal that can "turn into anything"
- sneaking fruit snacks behind the couch
- quoting Wild Kratts
- making forts
- wearing his underwear and pants backwards
- squishing the dog
- jumping on the trampoline
- petting Miles
- dancing to Dynomite

This next one, I admit he looks a little feminine...but it's hilarious!

You will find Miles
- eating
- sleeping
- pooping
- repeat :)

Easter Weekend

2011-05-06T23:17:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful Easter weekend. Denny, Jill and Landon came to visit and meet Miles. They helped us out a lot and it is always fun to hang out with them. We had a little Easter dinner at Devin and Kim's house. The men got some golfing in, I got to take lots of naps, the boys had fun going on outings, playing with Landon and helping Grandma do some planting. Clayton pulled out the 1000 piece Noah's ark puzzle because he knows Grandma likes to do puzzles. They worked on it for a while - but once Grandma left, it came down because it was never going to get done. We also enjoyed eating Tillamook ice cream and watching Castle episodes.

Uncle Lando

Meeting Aunt Moriah and Uncle Dustin!

Still makes this concerned face a lot - enjoy your babyhood Miles - save the worrying for later.

Is Bennett going to eat that egg??

It was a freezing cold weekend, but it didn't stop us from doing a little planting

Easter Baskets!

Went on a walk with Miles in his awesome Moby wrap that I got from Luke and Emily - I love it! I look like I'm ready to sell him on the black market.

Miles is a month old tomorrow! I can't believe it. He's still doing great - going through the acne, cradle cap stage but just as mellow and sweet as ever. And I'm starting to see hints of smiles wanting to come. I am feeling good and with the nice weather I am wanting to get out more and more. I even attempted a mile "run" and boy do I have a long ways to go.

2 weeks

2011-04-26T19:35:00.000-07:00

My Miles is two weeks old. He's now a whopping 6lbs 9 oz and doing great!

My wonderful and talented friend Melissa took these darling pictures...

Just chillin'

I love baby shoulders, I just want to eat them!

West side. He makes this concerned face a lot

Getting to know Miles

2011-04-20T20:00:00.000-07:00

This last week we have been holding, feeding, staring, kissing, loving the new guy in town. I know it has only been a week and a half, and he still sleeps a lot, but when he's awake he is so calm and alert and sweet. We're hoping this will last! The boys have been really good with him. They love to hold him and wonder why he has to sleep so much. Clayton has also expressed a little frustration in that fact that it's going to take so long for him to learn to do things like eat real food and talk and walk. He thinks we should work on teaching him those things right away. I just have a hard time putting him down. We have also enjoyed showing him off to family and friends.

Uncle Bryce

Grandma L

Brett and Emily

Miles Robert Blodgett

2011-04-18T20:26:00.000-07:00

Our sweet little Miles arrived April 11 at 8:12 pm. He weighed 6 lbs, 6 oz and was 18.5 in long. We feel so blessed to have another perfect, healthy baby boy! Chad and I both have grandfathers named Robert and we found out after he was born that April 11th is actually the anniversary of Chad's grandfather's death. Here are some pictures from the hospital:

Our smallest baby so far

Cuatro a comin'

2011-03-27T18:48:00.001-07:00

I haven't been good about updating my blog with details of this pregnancy. I guess it's gone by fast. Life with 3 little guys will help with that. These last couple weeks though have gotten uncomfortable and I'm reminded why the last month seems like 9. Some days I swear the baby is coming any minute and others I have more energy. My Mom came to help the last couple weeks while Chad was gone on some trips and that helped so much! She let me get some last minute things prepared and entertained the kids while I rested, and even helped clean and cook meals. (Yes she is an angel!) I feel much more ready physically and mentally. Now it is just the waiting game. We can't wait to meet our little brother!!

37 weeks

Blodgett Girls Weekend!

2011-03-09T18:28:00.001-08:00

A couple weekends ago the Blodgett gals took off on a little getaway to St. George. It was Jill, her 3 daughters Angie, Denae and Kaley and then her 4 daughter in laws me, Kim, Emily and Moriah. These are some seriously fun ladies and we had a great time!

What makes a good girl's weekend?

Lots of great food which we made sure we got plenty of. We researched the best places to eat down there and got to almost all of them:) I loved the breakfast place, the delicious cupcakes and Krave's yogurt. We did not anticipate how insanely early things closed down there so we missed out on a couple of the dessert places we wanted to go to - we coped :)

Pedis and Manis! Guess who's who.

We learned some really cool things at the Brigham Young home, St. George temple, Jacob Hamblin home and Daughters of Utah Pioneer Museum.

I guess there were 4 boys that snuck in our girls weekend....

We also made time for some chick flicks, games and fun conversations. I hope we can make it a tradition!

The story - we had 3 cameras on automatic and one slipped off the chair while the other snapped this photo!

LeinGal's Weekend 2011

2011-02-20T20:43:00.000-08:00

We are still going strong with our annual tradition of a girls weekend - usually in February - with my Mom and sister. It is always something I look forward to. I love being with these fun ladies! This year we went to Tiburon, which is a gorgeous little town outside of San Francisco. The weather couldn't have been more perfect and we enjoyed a relaxing weekend shopping, eating, watching movies and walking around enjoying the beautiful setting.

Chad is always so supportive of our tradition and the boys have a party too. One time when I called Chad said it was like Lord of the Flies over there. He said Bennett had started his own bath and gotten in the freezing water. He wanted to get the marker off his belly. Everyone was just fending for themselves. Maybe I shouldn't call and get updates anymore :) Always when I return the house is clean and everyone's alive.

Lindsay got us these awesome earrings so we could be stylin.

Staring into the fire, contemplating life...

Golden Gate Bridge

Benito

2011-02-17T21:02:00.000-08:00

I know I post about this little guy a lot but I seriously can't get enough of him these days. He just oozes with personality. I wanted to document some of his latest:

*Whenever I ask him a question he'll say: "Well to tell you the truth....N - O.....or okey dokey, Y - E - S. He's very into spelling yes and no.

*In the store tonight he yelled out of the blue - Mom, I like you! Then a second later, Actually Mom I LOVE you! That sure made my day.

*He's very excited about the baby and tells me he's going to be my biggest helper. When we talk about the baby's name he says, "I've got a cute one, Chase. Because I can chase him."

*He gets really upset when you talk about his middle name - which is Chad. He insists that he does NOT have a middle name. He loves his Dad but I think he feels less unique having that inserted in there. It's fun to tease him about it.

* He has a very cute relationship with Binja. He likes to "train" him with his dog food, squeeze him too hard, lay down and let him lick his face. He really loves him.

January

2011-01-25T20:10:00.000-08:00

January has never been my favorite month. Especially freezing Utah Januarys....7 months pregnant....with the flu....denied my antidepressant of choice: running....with energetic boys that can't run around outside. Some things that have kept us sane:

1. Wii Fit. We got this for Christmas and not only do I get some aerobic exercise from hula hooping, we all love the fun games.

2. The Legacy center - where we walk around the track, rock climb and watch Clayton play Jr. Jazz basketball.

3. Big paper and paint.

4. Feeling the baby tumbling around, we're getting so excited!

4. Netflix, and we've been watching way too many movies.

5. Jimmer Fredette. How can you not be happy watching that guy play?

A Happy Sunbeam

2011-01-25T19:43:00.000-08:00

Bennett started Sunbeams at Church this month. He is loving being in the big primary with his brothers. He has great teachers and I love to hear about what he learns each week. Is there anything cuter that a little boy in a suit coat?

Christmas in California

2011-01-14T18:53:00.000-08:00

We spent a wonderful week in California after Christmas. It made our Christmas complete to spend time with so much family.

Christmas Morning

2011-01-11T20:13:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve

2011-01-07T19:56:00.000-08:00

This was our first Christmas all by ourselves which was fun and cozy but it was also weird to not be around lots of extended family. It was fun to do all our traditions with the boys and there is nothing like the excitement of little kids at Christmas!

Santa 2010

2011-01-07T19:52:00.001-08:00

Bennett turns 3

2010-12-22T09:04:00.000-08:00

Bennett turned 3 last week! This is a fun age because he was really into his birthday. It was a very exciting day and he would tell everyone he saw that it was his birthday. When people would say happy birthday to him he'd say happy birthday back. He also kept saying, "I can't believe it's my birthday!" It's fun to make a big deal when they are so into it.

The day started with some breakfast scones and balloons. After Clayton got home from school we went to the Lehi pool and had a lot of fun swimming. When we got home we had his favorite - pizza for dinner. Then presents and cake and ice cream. He really wanted a lazer gun for his birthday so he was thrilled when he opened his buzz lightyear gun from Grandma B!

Caught frosting-handed!

I got him this little doggy vet kit and when Chad saw it he said, "You need a girl" But he loves it and can take care of his own little doggy.

Bennett knows what he is made of:

Merry Christmas 2010

2010-12-15T13:59:00.000-08:00

We want to wish our friends and family a very Merry Christmas! We love this time of year as we celebrate our Savior - His birth and His life. The Gospel of Jesus Christ gives us purpose, comfort, direction and true peace and we hope that each of you will feel His love as well.

2010 has been good to us. We still enjoy life in Lehi, Ut. Chad enjoys the juggling act of work, church and family. And because he thought he had too much free time he decided that he needed a puppy to train - Binja, our little cockapoo puppy joined our family in November. Chad loves him, Julie tolerates him, Clayton set up the poop clean up chart, Conner wrestles/loves him, and Bennett abuses him. So far, so good.

I continue my juggling act of boys and all things boy. We are expecting boy #4 in April! I am so in love with my boys and know it will be no different with this one. We affectionately call him Quatro for now. We are so excited for all of the cousins Quatro will have close to his age - Denae is having a boy in March, Christy is having twin girls in April, and Emily is due in July. I miss running and am already planning when I can start training again.

Clayton is 7 and in first grade. He loves science, math and art, he loves pizza day, loves basketball and is excited to be on a "real team" in January. He enjoys playing with his friends and brothers, collecting silly bands and spying. He's really become my big helper and I am grateful for that.

Conner is 5 and will start kindergarten next fall. He loves playing with his friends, drawing, climbing on anything he can, putting on magic shows and taking care of me - he is always telling me to get some rest and don't pick anything up because it will hurt the baby :) He's got a thoughtful heart.

Bennett turns 3 tomorrow and is Mr. Independent. He does everything himself - including going potty which is wonderful. He's still my cuddly boy though and tells me that I'm his favorite Mommy. He loves to pretend play a.k.a boss me around in his little imaginary world. This morning when I told him that we needed to get ready to go he said, "Ok, I'll eat breakfast, get dressed, find a weapon, then get in the car." Wouldn't want to forget the weapon!

We look forward to 2011 and all the adventures it will bring.

Love to you all!!

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-12-06T20:25:00.000-08:00

We had a lovely Thanksgiving dinner at Devin and Kim's new house. Yummy food, good company, great day!

eat up boys!

littlest kid table, cuties :)

Dig in!

last one

2010-12-06T20:21:00.000-08:00

Chad and the boys had so much fun on tom sawyer's island. They could have spent all day there exploring the caves.

There was "snow" after the fireworks show!

Disneyland

2010-12-06T16:16:00.000-08:00

More Disneyland

2010-12-06T15:55:00.000-08:00

Jedi Training

2010-12-05T20:21:00.000-08:00

This was so cool! There was a show at Disneyland where you could volunteer to be a Jedi in training. Both boys were picked and they put on this whole show/training thing where Darth Vader and Darth Maul come out at the end. Every little boys dream.

Clayton fighting Darth Maul.

Duck!

Disneyland!

2010-12-05T20:16:00.000-08:00

For Christmas my Mom and Dad gave the boys tickets to Disneyland! They have never been and you can imagine how excited we all were. On the Thursday before Thanksgiving, we drove down to Irvine where Danny and Christy live. Here is Uncle Danny helping the boys to meditate and calm themselves so they can get some sleep before the big day.

There is just nothing like taking kids to Disneyland for the first time. Such excitement and so much MAGIC! It was so fun to have Lucy with us too!

Thanks Grandma!!

I think we went on the perfect day. It was not that crowded. It was overcast and a little chilly but I think that helped to keep the crowds down too. We were able to fit so much in because we never waited in line for more than 15 min. The boys were so brave and went on all the rides that their height allowed. Clayton just barely made the cutoff for Indiana Jones and went on that twice. Conner went on Big Thunder Mountain railroad three times. He's such a little daredevil. Bennett was great too and I could tell he was a little scared on some of them but always after he said he loved it. He especially loved Buzz lightyear and the teacups. We also got to see all the fun Christmas decorations and parade, eat some yummy food and just really enjoy everything. The fireworks show was cool too. I'll blog about the Jedi training in my next post. We played until we dropped!

Love this face

2010-12-05T20:04:00.000-08:00

More October

2010-12-05T20:01:00.000-08:00

My Mom stayed after Lindsay's concert and hung out with us during UEA weekend. The weather was beautiful and we did some fun outdoor things. We hiked in Provo canyon.

And
went to Cornbelly's.

Halloween part 2

2010-12-03T20:14:00.000-08:00

Clayton was Anansi the Spider for his school assembly.

My cutest little pumpkin

Halloween

2010-12-03T15:39:00.000-08:00

Conner was a skeleton this year. I got him this shirt from Children's place and he loved it - I think he wore it every day in October. Clayton wanted to be a vampire - but a black faced one. What happened to dressing up like cute little animals or superheroes? I guess my boys are growing up.

Bennett was several things this year. A dinosaur for the block party...

a dragon just for fun...

Lindsay Aline's Concert

2010-12-03T15:34:00.000-08:00

On October 9th my sister Lindsay had her concert in Salt Lake City at the Rose Wagner theatre. Look at this poster outside the theatre - she's famous! I'm a huge fan and her concert was amazing! She performed with a band and it was really fun and upbeat. She has written the music and lyrics for all her songs and she never ceases to amaze me. It was a fun night! To see pictures from the concert go to www.LindsayAline.com

Me and my bros out to dinner before the concert

That weekend we also had a fun get together with our wonderful friends the Collettes who we grew up with.

Clayton turns 7

2010-11-30T19:47:00.000-08:00

My Clayton turned 7 on Oct. 2nd!! He is getting so old and I love him so much. He had a friend party with 15 boys! It was wild and crazy but lots of fun. He is really into rocks and gems, so that was the theme of the party. I had to get creative but we did things like painting rocks, finding the "gold" in the sandbox, throw the rocks in the bucket for candy, etc. Lots of energy and what was I thinking - boys + rocks?? No one was injured thankfully :)

A geode from Dad.

Some birthday cash from Gma and Gpa B!

Clayton is such a good boy. He is loving first grade and says his favorite subjects are math and art. I'm continually amazed at that boys attention span and his ability to think up some project or way to fix something and then spend so much time on it. He loves to draw and make charts, organize his special stuff on his special shelf. He loves to read and is enjoying the animated scripture books. Tonight before bed he said "Mom, I just read from when Moses was zero in that basket to when he was 120 years old!" He also loves to play with his friends and when it was still warm enough him and Conner and Matthew spent hours working on their fort in Matthew's backyard and being "wild men". He loves having two pets now - his snake corny, that he got from uncle Landon and now our new puppy, Binja! While Conner does most of the rolling around on the ground with Binja, Clayton has drawn up a job chart for us and makes sure the dogs play area, food, etc is all taken care of. It's so fun to see these different personalities and I love them all! I love you my sweet seven year old.

Conner's first soccer season

2010-11-14T18:28:00.000-08:00

No more contention

2010-10-01T21:11:00.000-07:00

In an effort to eliminate some of the contention in our home...which I know, it's hard to believe there is any contention in our home with 3 rambunctious boys....we practiced reciting the scripture in the Book of Mormon 3 Nephi 11:29. Here is Bennett's version:

A Fish Story

2010-10-01T21:00:00.000-07:00

The other day we rode down to the duck pond that we often go to. Clayton wanted to
bring his fishing pole. He brought the worm that he caught at recess that day. He hooked it on and cast it really well. I didn't think he would catch anything at all. I was busy with the other kids when I noticed Clayton struggling. This was like 2 min after he cast. I thought it was just stuck on something. I go over and realize it is a fish so we are both reeling and yanking and I'm screaming "It's a fish!! It's a fish!" Then we pull out this huge ugly catfish. We were all really excited but had no idea what to do. I didn't have any pliers to get the hook out so we put it in a plastic bag with it still hooked to the pole and I carried it while riding my bike home. But of
course first we stopped to climb a tree for 20min. When we got home our neighbor helped us get the hook out. The boys insisted in putting it in a bucket of water....and it was still alive!!! Our brave neighbor Addy pulled the hook out with pliers. Clayton prayed that it would stay alive till Chad could see it tomorrow morning. (he gets back from Dallas tonight) Anyways...I can see why people get into fishing. There is something thrilling about it. Oh I forgot to mention that they went around and gathered all the boys in the neighborhood to come check it out. I like boys...it's always an adventure!

P.S. The fish is now back in the pond, but he is "sleeping"

School

2010-09-26T19:54:00.001-07:00

This year Clayton started First Grade at Odyssey Charter School. He has Mrs. Hill. He loves it! I was surprised at how easily he adjusted to going all day. He has made some friends, loves eating lunch at school and really enjoys art, music and math.

Conner is doing preschool one last year! He goes to Starting Point preschool with Ms. Jeanna and Ms. Heather. He went there 2 years ago and we really like it. He instantly made friends with Connor with an "o" and several other little boys. He loves the social part of it and will be really ready for kindergarten next year!

Right now I love that....

2010-09-26T19:27:00.000-07:00

*Bennett prefers to sleep in the rocking chair. He falls asleep in it every night and for nap time. After he's asleep we move him to his bed. I know this is a bad habit and he'll probably need major chiropractic work in the future so we'll have to ween him of the rocking chair soon.

*Conner spent all morning making a movie and he had me burn it onto a
DVD. He chose to title it "Call of the dead" which has nothing to do
with the content of his movie. Except for the brief sword fight I
guess. He carries it around everywhere and has shared it with several
neighbors.

*Clayton writes everything down in his journal. And he loves to draw
birds. I love his toothless grin too. He lost another bottom tooth.

*Bennett's goofiness and his random stories. He is SUCH a talker and now that we have Bennett-mommy time every MWF morning he gets my undivided attention for a couple hours. That kid is such a ham, I love him! Oh....and he's almost officially potty trained! Only a couple accidents in the last week.

*The fact that we lived without a kitchen table for 6 weeks. Brilliant me thought it would be a great idea to restain our table. Well, it sat in our garage for a looong time. It got done though but now I think it stinks up our house. I'm regretting doing it and want a new table now...Santa??

*Soccer is almost over. Did I say that? Soccer has been fine, but 2 kids in soccer means we spend every Tues and Wed night at the soccer fields. This boys have done well, but it will be nice to have those nights a little less hectic.

*I have such a great husband who is SO busy with work and Church but comes home and lets everyone bombard him and will kindly help the kids walk upside down on the
ceiling, throw the soccer ball on the roof, eat cereal for dinner and let me crash.

Mr. 5 year old!

2010-09-07T19:47:00.000-07:00

My sweet Conner boy turned 5 on Aug. 28th. The Fathers and sons campout was that weekend and they had tons of fun at that. Conner even caught a fish! That afternoon we had our family party. He got a bike as big as Clayton's and he couldn't be happier about it. Clayton had spent a lot of time wrapping things up for Conner - just random things from around the house, but it was cute.

I love my Conner. Sometimes I feel like he gets a bit overlooked being the middle child so I'm trying to be better at focusing on his talents and interests more. He is still really into magic and got a fun magic set too. He is a happy go lucky kid and loves to play with his friends and brothers. He is doing preschool one more year and can't wait to be a kindergartner next year.

Family Photos

2010-07-23T06:43:00.000-07:00

These are some fun family photos taken by Chad's sister Denae Harlow in June.

Enjoying the outdoors

2010-07-20T20:15:00.000-07:00

I like to be outside as much as possible during the summer. I love the heat. I love the mountains. I love camping. We went a lot when I was little and I've always loved the smell of the campfire, sleeping in a tent, roasting hot dogs and smores, being dirty, etc. It's a lot more work to go camping as the parents than the kids but it is still so much fun and I know the kids love it. A couple of weekends ago we thought we'd go try and find a camping spot on Friday afternoon. So I packed everything up and took off with the boys. Chad was going to meet us after work. Well, I learned that you can't just pop into a campsite on a Friday evening in Utah. There is something to that whole reserving thing. Long story short, we spend three hours driving up and down 3 canyons and everything is full. We ended up just having a campfire and dinner, smores etc till late and then heading home. We set the tent up in the backyard and were in that until the thunder storm. The boys slept in their sleeping bags in the living room.

The next weekend we had a successful camping trip. Our stake had some spots reserved at a nice place up in Heber. We went with some good friends the Mabeys and had a blast! We found a cool obstacle course and the boys had fun on the rope swing.

That night Chad and I had our first wake boarding experience. We live close to Utah Lake. Our good friends the Lynes have a boat and invited us to go out with them. Well, wake boarding is way fun! I haven't been boating in forever and we always used to do the double skis. I guess just like snowboarding has taken over the slopes, wake boarding has taken over the water. I was suprised that I was able to get up on the thing but I have yet to successfully cross over a wake...next time. The only sad thing was how incredibly sore Chad and I were the next day. We felt old. And the Lynes are amazing wake boarders. Woodson even did a flip!! Ok, that's my new goal :)

Summer please stay forever.

The highlight of the camping trip was setting a squirrel trap and catching one! Actually we don't know what it was exactly - we heard it called a pot gut? Looked like a mix of a squirrell and chipmunk. Clayton especially got really into it and was very patient.

How can kids sleep so soundly on such hard ground?

Clayton and Anna

Foil dinners, yum!

Just chillaxin'

Sweet baby Emily

Biking up to Bridal Veil falls with cousins Carsen and Caden (random pic thrown in but it has to do with the outdoors)

I look strange, but look I'm up!

Jenny - making it look so easy!

And...he's up!

The 4th of July as told by iphone videos

2010-07-07T21:07:00.000-07:00

So I'm having fun playing with the imovie app on the iphone - I took all the footage and edited it right on the phone, super easy and fun and a new way to waste my time

(and for some reason it's only showing half the video)

Summer Days

2010-07-01T20:49:00.000-07:00

Oh how we love summer. Here are some things we've been up to lately:

The boys had a blast at Kameron and Savanah's summer camp!

Lakin and Bennett on Lakin's 2nd birthday

Matthew and Clayton have been really into catching bugs.

Spending lots of time at the pool.

Exploring and finding rivers to throw rocks into.

Getting together with great friends.

Geocaching! This is something new we've gotten into and we LOVE it! We went with the Abillas one night and Angie found this very tricky one (she's pointing to it)

Enduring head injuries. In one weeks time: Bennett got pushed in his stroller off a curb (by anonymous brother) and got a nasty goose egg on the side of his head. He also leaped out of his crib onto his head. Conner got a concussion - him and his brother were goofing off in Costco and he fell HARD on his forehead on Costco's HARD floor. That was not a fun day. I think I may have my kids wear helmets ALL the time.

Chad Bauer

2010-07-01T20:43:00.000-07:00

So, I have to just document this crazy day(s) so when we are old we can look back and think, "wow, I could never do that now"

Chad was scheduled to cater a wedding here in Salt Lake City. Well, there was a malfunction in the delivery truck and all the ice cream bars melted. So, he was going to have to drive to Vegas to meet his business partner who drove them up from Irvine in coolers with dry ice.

Here is what Chad did:
Thursday: 5am woke up and went golfing with co-workers.
8-6 worked all day
6:45 gets home, changed and off to church meeting.
7-12:30am Bishopric meeting (trying to get ALL the new callings set)
Now it is Friday am
12:30 - 2:30am He had to do some ehealthcompete work.
3:00 He figured he better leave for Vegas to get there in time
Drives to Vegas, gets the ice cream, and starts heading back. We are supposed to be at the reception at 6 pm. He hits some traffic and picks me up in Lehi at 6. We are a little late to the reception but we made it and set up fast. Once we were up and going everyone LOVED it.

I don't know how Chad survived. He went without sleeping for like 42 hours!

Kindof a fun/crazy experience....not one he wants to do again :)

Lehi Roundup Days!

2010-06-29T21:32:00.000-07:00

We look forward to the Lehi Roundup Days every summer! On Monday we went to Lehi's got talent and had a picnic in the park. We also had fun during the week going to the events at the Hutchings museum. The live reptile show was definitely the highlight. We went to it twice. The other highlight was collecting a whole bunch of disgusting candy at the parades. There is just something so fun about candy being thrown at you and having to fight all the other little kids for it. It's a sport.

We also LOVE the rodeo. We've been every year since we've lived here and it never dissapoints. I get so nervous for those bull riders and I'm glad I wasn't a mother of any of them. I secretly want to be a barrell racer. And that Motorcross half time show is always so exhilirating!

I also ran the 10k on Sat. morning. I wanted to run and finish a race soon after the huge dissapointment of not being able to finish the marathon a few weeks ago. I know it is 20 miles shorter, but I still felt a sense of closure to be able to finish. And it also got me thinking how nice the shorter races are :) I got 45:12 and was 2nd place in the women.

Till next year...YEEHAW!!!

A Special Father's Day

2010-06-23T06:52:00.000-07:00

On Father's Day we were lucky to have Chad's Dad in town. He came to ordain Chad a High Priest. Chad was recently called as the First Counselor in the Bishopbric in our newly formed North Lake 3rd ward. It was also fun to have Brett, Emily and Kaley!

I wish I could have seen my Dad too on Father's Day. My Dad continues to influence my life as I'm often thinking of his example.

I am lucky to have such great men in my life.

2, 4, 6, GREAT!

2010-06-23T05:57:00.000-07:00

The 2 yeard old:
Bennett is Mr. talk talk talker! The first thing he’ll say to you is “I saw twain a dragon” He got such great response from that when he started saying it a couple months ago, that he thinks that’s the way you start conversations. What I love about Bennett’s talking is that his pronunciation is so clear it’s almost comical. And I love when he says his L’s. They aren’t W’s like most little kids start out doing. It’s CLLLLLayton and pLLLLaate. The best are Bennett’s facial expressions when he talks. The raised eyebrows and big eyes.

A funny Bennett conversation:
“Mommy, are you a boy or a girl?” I’m a girl. Me: Are you a boy or a girl? Bennett: I’m a girl.....TEASIN I’m just a boy!!” and then he cracks up because he thinks he’s so funny.

The 4 year old:
Conner is busy as ever. Collecting treasures, riding his bike like a pro, doing head spins and climbing anything that is climbable. He is excited to go to preschool in the fall - his final year. Conner is my lover boy and has a big crush on the girl next door. He's always wanting to make her little gifts. I’m going to have to watch out for this Romeo as he gets older. It doesn’t help that he’s so stinking cute.

The 6 year old:
Clayton has been showing his sweet side more lately. Picking me flowers, playing sweetly with Bennett and when Conner gets upset about something, he (sometimes) tries to find a solution. Him and his friends spend their days collecting bugs - right now the jar has 5 crickets, a catepillar, a mosquito eater, 2 rolly pollys and a BEE! Most likely you'll find them at the "dirt pile" or doing tricks on the trampoline. He’s also enjoying helping me with the garden and is as astounded as I am that its actually growing. He will be a big 1st grader in the fall.

A joke from Bennett:

Leininger Family Reunion 2010

2010-06-16T19:41:00.000-07:00

Another great Leininger family reunion has come and gone. We look forward to these every summer. This was our 8th annual reunion and how fun it was to have everyone there! We drove to San Luis Obispo and stayed at a really cool ranch home that was off the beaten path. We were pretty much in the middle of nowhere but that made it so much cooler. We had lots of room to explore.

I love when these cousins get together. Even though we don't see eachother that often, they just seem to pick up where they left off and have a great time.

These boys were the explorers. During the week they caught 3 lizards, one frog, and almost one California King snake.

Clayton is showing his snake skin that he found.

Bennett had no problems playing princesses with the girls. Although after he discovered the nerf guns he became protector of the princesses.

Each year we have a theme and a t-shirt. This year's theme was "Don't Stop Believin'" There are a bunch of GLEEks in the family so it's sortof after that song, plus the spiritual side of it - especially after a rough year.

There were lots of trails to go exploring on.

This barn was cool - ping pong, foosball, and more room to run around.

The pool

The Beach

Lindsay and Danny jammin

We celebrated Spencer's 6th birthday

One day we hung out in downtown SLO and went to their fabulous farmers market. Just the smells could fill you up. We saw a long line for this BBQ food and decided to stand in it because it obviously was the best. It was well worth the wait - yum!

Elder Bryce Leininger Returns from the Mexico Leon Mission

2010-06-15T20:47:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday we all headed to the San Francisco airport to pick up my little brother Bryce. He was returning home after serving two years on a mission for our church. We were all so anxious and excited and there is just nothing like that moment - seeing this new man returning home. I love returned missionaries. They are so calm and humble and full of light. Bryce looks great and served well.

On Sunday morning we had a wonderful experience. My parents, and all 5 of their kids were able to go to Bryce's report to the High Council. This is where he reports on his mission and bears his testimony. The rest of us had the opportunity to bear our testimonies as well and it was just an indescribable experience. One that I will remember forever. I was filled with gratitude for righteous, loving parents and siblings.

It's been a while since we've all been in the same car together!

Bryce creamed Danny and Luke in a push-up contest. I guess they did this right before he left and didn't do so well - but it looks like Bryce did a few push ups in Mexico.

Look at these MEN! What a good looking group.

We're happy you are home Bryce!!

A trip to Midway

2010-06-04T10:04:00.000-07:00

Last week my parents were in town and one day we decided to hang out
in Midway. The drive up the canton was so pretty. I hadn't been up
there in a while and had forgotten how quaint it is. I used to work
for gold medal schools and would go to a school up there a few times a
week.

First we went to the homestead to check out the crater. We got to go
inside and see the scuba divers. The water is 90 degrees year round. I
want to do that some day! The boys thought we were inside a volcano.

Potty training is cool!

2010-05-28T19:12:00.001-07:00

A trip to the Berg

2010-05-25T22:00:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we had a fun trip to Rexburg to visit Bremily and Kaley who are all attending BYU-I. It had been about 3 years since we had been there and it has sure grown! Brett and Emily have a really cute apartment and they were very nice to let us bombard them.

Eating cookie cwis.

On Saturday we toured around the gardens on campus - so pretty and the boys were just climbing all over everything.

Bennett and Uncle Bwett chillin.

While on campus, Chad had the sports med team check out his IT band issue. They were pretty helpful.

We also went bowling on campus. It got intense at the end with Brett and Chad neck and neck.

And a trip to Rexburg wouldn't be complete without a stuff - yourself - fest at Craigo's all you can eat pizza buffet.

One night, Brett, Chad and Kaley went to Robin Hood. Emily and I stayed home to watch a chick-flick. The boys were having a tough time going to sleep and someone (I won't name names) thought we didn't need to bring the pack n play for Bennett. Well - he was just too excited that he was sleeping with the big boys that he couldn't fall asleep so we finally decided the next best thing to a crib is....a bathtub! Worked like a charm.

Another highlight (yes, it has to do with food) was G's dairy. The BEST ice cream....I have been dreaming of it ever since .

On Sunday we went to Bremily's ward. Brett was released from the Bishopbric. They have a cute young ward and it was SO quiet compared to our ward. After church we had a BBQ and walked around a duck pond. On our walk Emily saw a snake and screamed bloody murder :) Then Kaley and Clayton hunted it down and caught it. Mr. Reptile was eccstatic.

It is pretty in Rexburg and so peaceful.

I think we will just have to take another trip to Rexburg in the Fall

Garden

2010-05-25T21:45:00.000-07:00

I want to be a good gardner. When I die I want Nacho Libre to say...."she had a lush garden." I know that gardening takes some skill and that this year I'll be lucky if anything grows. BUT we planted a garden. Clayts got really into it too.

So I planted it last Friday and of course on Monday it SNOWED!! I was so mad. If it doesn't grow then I can blame it on that. Also, you'll notice my soil is a little rocky and well...I didn't do anything special to it. I'm callin it the miracle garden because it will be a miracle if anything grows.

Clayton Graduates!

2010-05-25T21:30:00.000-07:00

Clayton graduated kindergarten last week! I can't believe how old he is!! We love Odyssey Charter School. Mrs. Garrett and Mrs. Miller are the best. The graduation was cute - they sang some songs and got their diplomas. Clayton cracks me up because in situations like this he is just very stoic. I could not get him to smile. My mom said I was the same way as a little kid. Just more on the serious side especially in big group situations. Clayton is such a bright thoughtful boy and loves learning. I'm excited for him to be a first grader.

I love this picture - he is totally checking out that cute little blonde girl!

The best part - refreshments afterwards. Why did my kids have to pick the messiest thing?

This is how Bennett entertained himself during the ceremony.