Aunt Chelsey visits

I am SO LOVED!  My sister came out to visit us for TWO whole weeks!  To say "amazing" is an understatement. It was so fun to have someone to just live my life with me.  So of course we mainly did the mundane things of daily living but it was SO FUN! 

The kids picked out these flowers to decorate our house for Aunt Chelsey.

 We took the kids swimming almost everyday to get out some energy...

 Rascal fell in love with Chelsey... look at him snuggled up to her!  

 I was applying for my California Hygiene license and Chelsey volunteered to be my patient, (she had to get Nitrous, 9 shots, and STC.  What a great sport!) so we drove to Sacramento one weekend and got some alone girl time while I finished my course and exams.  

We seriously ate everything we wanted in Sacramento!

 Went to card club and had a super fun craft night.

 Volunteered at "Cougars Rock the Walk" for our elementary school

 Reesa was a super star and ran for the entire hour!!!!!

 Mitchell being cute after a blowout in church...

 We finally took her to see Yosemite and those curvy roads reminded me why I don't go more often... I was SO CAR SICK!  

 Jansen loves every dog we see and wanted a picture with this dog...

 Gorgeous views!

 Went to dinner at Bass lake

Put Mitchell's chair up at the table and he LOVED being part of the group!

I had such a great time with Chelsey, of course I'm a little worried her husband will never let her come again because she stayed so long...  Thanks for all your help Chelsey!!!

First day of school, Jansen's five, Mitchell

Aren't you just dying to see how cute Mitchell's gotten?

A.D.O.R.A.B.L.E!!!

 First day of school.  Reesa started 1st grade this year.  Jansen is in Kindergarten and Mitchell started school too.  He goes 5 days a week from 8 til noon and he LOVES IT!  I think he likes knowing something is just for him.  I had a lot of anxiety sending Mitchell and didn't think it would work. But honestly we have the best teachers!  They love Mitchell so much, they rock and hold and cuddle him when he needs it.   Everything I ask them to do, DONE!  They never make me feel dumb for all my special requests, like Desitin with every diaper change.  They use his g-tube to vent and hydrate him, feed him juice through a sippy cup, and do all the therapy I HATE doing.  (because it's hard for Mitchell and he cries. a. lot.)  He's so happy every time I pick him up.  So of course I'm loving life!!!!  This has been wonderful for me too!!!

 We celebrated Jansen's 5th birthday with the traditional swim party.  So easy and super fun...

 Our new life...
Here's the best part... we took Mitchell to school and took Jansen and Reesa to the zoo.  Mitchell requires so much that it takes 2 parents to care for him... so R & J often get the shaft.  We decided we needed to spend some time with these two kids doing what normal families get to do.

 Jake had the day off and we all had so much fun.  Then we picked Mitchell up at noon, and checked Reesa and Jansen into school.  I felt like we were breaking the rules.  AND... to be honest, we felt incredibly guilty we didn't have Mitchell.  Even though he would have hated being at the zoo it seemed mean...

Summer Beach Reunion

We had a lot of fun with Jake's family this summer.  We rented a motor home so we could take Mitchell camping on the beach for the family reunion!  It was perfect.  Seriously the only way we could have gone with Mitchy.   We had a little pirate them going on... "We be one hearty crew."  and talked about the scripture, where your treasure is there your heart is...

It was perfect!

I didn't take any pictures, not one.  So these are all stolen from Shauna... but look at these great shots she got of my kids at the beach!!!  I love 'em!

Here's the proof I helped cook for the masses... 

Then to top it off Allison and her family drove up and visited a few days.  Here's the best photo we could get.  Typical right?  So much fun, thanks for coming guys!

Summer Trip to Utah

My sister flew 2 of her girls to Utah this summer and I desperately wanted my kids to see their Virginia cousins.  I mean Mitchell is NEVER going to survive a trip there in the near future.  So my sweet dear husband agreed to let me and the kids take a direct flight to Utah, spending a small fortune to get us there... ugh! WE arrived and our trip was packed!  We went straight from the airport to Thanksgiving Point and explored the kids museums...

 Rylee, Whitney, Remy, Mitchell, Reesa, Caprice, & Jansen

 Whitney and Jansen

 Grandma Sue, Mitchell and Aunt Simone

 Reesa, Me and Jansen

 Papa Bill and Mitchell

 Okay this is the cutest picture... I would find Rylee talking to Mitchell just like this ALL THE TIME!  Seriously it's so hard to give a baby attention who doesn't laugh or smile back, or spends most of his time crying when you're around him.  I feel most kids try to avoid being around him because he's SO HARD!  Rylee has a special spirit that was just drawn to Mitchell's!  I'm bawling my eyes out just remembering these precious moments...

 Cianna, Zoey and Zaylee added to the mix...

 Getting hair cuts...

Spending a day at Raging Waters with ALL the cousins.  So fun!

 Jake flew in and out for the weekend to see everyone.

 Celebrating Whitney's and Jansen's birthday.

We had so much fun.  It's sad we all don't live closer, but makes you really appreciate the time we do get to spend together!