IT'S BEEN A WHILE!

So, last time I posted, I had full intentions of adding another post within the week. Well, within that week I found out that I was pregnant and by the time I got over the shock, the next week the awful sickness kicked in and I was a barely breathing body laying on the couch. Getting the motivation to move to my bed about wiped me out let alone getting onto the computer to catch up on anything was out of the question.
So apparently almost 5 months has passed since then and I am ready to come back to life. The good news is that I have this wonderful medicine that makes me feel normal again. It was keeping me out of the hospital from needing to get the good ol' IV treatments that I grew so fond of in my previous pregnancies but I still felt about as crummy as I get but now the nausea has worn off a little bit so that the meds are working full force. I am so grateful for them!!
We also just found out that we are going to be welcoming a baby boy into our home. If anyone has any name suggestions, that would be wonderful. The childrens suggestions are a little scary, but who knows, maybe 'ELMO' is making a comeback!
For those of you who haven't heard, I am due July 16th.

PRIVATE

So, unfortunetly there are way too many weird people out there so we are going to go private with this blog. If you would like access to it, just let me know in the comments. I will need your email if I don't already have it. Thank you!
Lynne

HALLOWEEN '08

They're ready to go on the prowl for candy
Joe DirtVadar

Super(cute)Girl

Our little lady

Another Halloween has come and gone, there are candy wrappers decorating the house and two tired parents. With all of the carnivals and parties and finally the actual night, the kids had a lot of fun but as for me...I am glad I have 365 days until it all starts again.

LOOKING BACK THIS SUMMER

my favorite people

Christian throwing mud (probably at Isaac)

Andy & Ava at the park


Christian & Isaac

the family pool

heading to the lake at the sand dunes

Andy taking Addie out on a date

You Are a Yellow Crayon

Your world is colored with happy, warm, fun colors. You have a thoughtful and wise way about you. Some people might even consider you a genius. Charming and eloquent, you are able to get people to do things your way. While you seem spontaneous and free wheeling, you are calculating to the extreme. Your color wheel opposite is purple. You both are charismatic leaders, but purple people act like you have no depth.

http://www.blogthings.com/whatcolorcrayonareyouquiz/">What Color Crayon Are You?

ok i had to posst this, it was on my friend, Dacia's blog. She is purple, I thought it was funny what it says about purple people. Dacia, that is so not true, the only thing in here that was accurate was the part about being a genius!!

A LITTLE LESLIENESS

Not much to update on, although life still feels terribly busy. Every once in a while, there isn't anything pressing and I wonder why I don't do it more often. One of those moments

this week was when Andy's sister Leslie came to visit her old stomping grounds and we got to just hang out for 2 days. I put the endless responsibilities on hold just enjoyed the moment. Let the kids play while we just chat about whatever comes up. She is such a beautiful person both inward and outward. I love to be around her, she has so many amazing qualities that I admire. She is a great mother, wife, friend, and her inner strength is so vibrant! We got to take pictures of her very cute girls, I have to post them so you can see what I mean. I didn't get any pictures of all of us because my other memory card is messed up (its always something with my little cameras!) Anyway, it was great to be together and I hope we see them again soon.

LOVE YOU, MOM!

my new little niece, Sierra (Tori and Steve's)

My wonderful mother traveled so far to spend a couple days with me in between her visits with my 2 sisiter who just had babies. I thought that was so kind of her to take the time to do that.

first stop, pedicures then out to lunch my mom and Addie by the beautiful changing colors of autumn
seeing the new templeMy kids sure got attached to her very quickly. They couldn't get enough of her little action songs. It was fun to hear her sing them to my kids, they were the same ones she used to sing to me and my sibilings.
I have been wanting for some time now to see how far back I could trace my mothers line. With the help of my mom I have record of my mothers, mothers, mothers, mothers, mother. I think this would be neat to pass this onto my daughters who can keep passing it onto their daughters. Anyway, an extra special find was when we went searching cemetary's and found my 4th great grandma, Ruth Pack. We noticed that she had been honored with an honorary pioneer plaque on her headstone. It was a very solemn moment to stand by her grave and think of the sacrifices that she made which have been carried on so that I can enjoy the blessings that I have today.
I've got to hand it to all mothers, who sacrifice so much for their children so that they may have a happy life, thank you mom, I have been richly blessed to have you for my mother!

ANOTHER SUNDAY DRIVE

This sunflower is in our garden, the kids noticed that it looked like a heart.

This was our most recent Sunday drive, we decided to follow the Snake River out past Heise. It was very pretty with the fall colors changing on the trees. It was so peaceful out there.

TEMPLE SQUARE PART 2

sweetie pie
classic Isaac!

the gang
Ava kept running away from our 'girl' picture so just me and Ad

our family picture
on top of the conference center
the famous temple square water fountain Ava fell in the fountain
the spot on temple square that Andy proposed


Here are some of the pictures from our day at temple square, thank you Mary & Jeff!!!

TEMPLE SQUARE...PART 1

Christian in front of a covered wagon
Addie didn't want to walk so she found this little spot to hang out
Isaac in front of a 'really cool' ship
'The Christus'

We went to Salt Lake for the weekend to attend our niece, Lily's baptism. We were going to head back home on Sunday but before we left I wanted to get a family picture by the temple we got married in. Mary and Jeff were kind enough to come with us and take pictures, so I will put some of those pictures on after I get them. When we got done taking the last picture next to one of the water fountains, we turned around and Ava fell into the water. It was pretty funny to watch. We went over to the Conference Center to show the kids where they will be doing General Conference, we ende up doing a tour of the building which is pretty amazing. They have these gardens on the roof of the building, they were beautiful. Then we went over to Church History Museum, Christian has been wanting to go there really bad. He had been reading a lot about the pioneers and wanted to be able to see some of the actual artifacts. Then Andy wanted to show the kids the Christus before we left. There is always such a strong Spirit in that room when you go there. I love this church and I am so grateful and blessed that I have this knowledge in my life. I hope I can pass all of this on to my children as my parents have for me. This gospel has brought so much joy into my life, I love our Heavenly Fathers plan and I am grateful that I can feel His love in my life. He is truly a merciful, loving God, I can see it in the little things in my life, if I will just stop and look for them, they are all around!

BEARTOOTH PASS

leaving the hotel in Billings to head up the pass
Addie is on top of the world!
part way up the pass
the kids cooperating for one second

Isaac on top of the mountain. There were lakes everywhere.

The kids in front of an amazing Yellowstone waterfallAddie & Isaac were fascinated with the statues all over West Yellowstone

Andy was going to Billings for a prebid and we thought it would be fun to all go together since the trip there and back is so beautiful. It was a really great 2 days, we are glad we decided to do it! I had heard about how beautiful the Beartooth Pass was but I was still blown away at the beauty. (being a native to Alaska, that is saying a lot!!) As we came down from the pass we went through Yellowstone. We had never gone through the park on that side, so it was neat to see other sights that were new to us. Half way through, Ava threw up and she didn't hold anything back! Fortunetly we were pulling up to a gas station at the same time so we were able to get it all taken care of non-pioneer style! All in all, it was well worth the time to go and we hope to do it again.