{Tubes AGAIN! and the rock adventure}

Little miss Ellie went in for her ear check and we found out that her left ear has fluid in it. We tried medication and nothing worked. It meant surgery again. This is Ellie's ninth surgery. Poor little ladybug. She was a trooper this time. She was so brave and didn't cry much at all.

Sharing the bed with her baby sister

She is starting to get a little loopy right about now.

One of the funnest moments was with Grandma. Ellie HATES and I mean HATES the blood pressure cuff. When she got out of surgery she was lying in her bed and all the sudden looked over at Grandma who was on her left where the cuff was and said "HEY!!" With a very angry voice. I couldn't figure out what was wrong until I realized that the blood pressure was being taken. She thought it was Grandma who did it to her. It really was hilarious.

Daddy loving his angel

Boo taking care of her sister? :)

Who can resist that smile?

After surgery I thought we would go home, watch some movies, and relax. Nope! Ellie had other things on her mind. Instead when went on a nature walk, looked for cows, tried to climb barbed wire, and found some rocks to paint. They painted two rocks an my oh my can little kids make a mess with the paint. I need to get different paint cause it was all over my kitchen by the time these two got done.

Ellie even went to Emma's soccer game that night. She really did so well. I am glad that it didn't take a lot out of her. It is already making a difference in the way she can hear. Let's hope it helps the speech.

Special visitor at the soccer game.

It is that time again. Soccer is upon us and we are busy, busy,busy. Ellie, Emma, and JJ play. THey all play on different nights. So we are running all week. Ellie was lucky enough to have Uncle Carl come to one of her games. Carl is such a great uncle. The kids love him and are so excited when he comes to town. We were blessed to get one nice game with all this yucky weather so Papa and Carl came to the game.

Papa with his soccer star

Hang Loose soccer style

Boo is not to thrilled to be hanging loose

Emma and JJ with Uncle Carl

Even though we don't see him much we are so grateful for the time when we do get to see him. I sure do love him. He seems more like a big brother to me than an Uncle. I always wanted a big brother so I am glad that I have one now.

The fellas hanging out

We always take pictures of the kids, the women, but we never take pics of the guys together. I thought it was high time Jeron and Ryan got a pic with dad. The worst part was that JJ told Ryan that he was short while the picture was being taken. Jeron had just crushed him in double shot so (Jeron can't help it he is just that good:) Ryan was already feeling a little defeated then JJ said that.
The best part was when we solved the issue. My parents driveway is a hill. So we just traded places and look at that. THey are all the same height.
Maren and I are very fortunate that our husbands get a long so well. I wish that they lived closer cause we really do like hanging out with the Vogels. That is not a ploy to get them here it is just a fact. We just love them to bits and pieces.

Emma Baptism Day

Today is one of those moments as a parent that you wait for and hope happens. We kind of live our lives in milestones and this is one huge one for Miss Emma. She is so sweet and has been so excited to get baptized. Before you get baptized you have what is called a bishop's interview. He meets with you to see if this is something you really want to do. I told Emma that she should study up on baptism. She studied for many hours and was extremely nervous before the interview. She said "Mom, what if I don't pass?" I decided I should probably let her off the hook and tell her the only way she is not going to pass is if she says "NO, I do not want to get baptized!" This made her a little more relieved, to the point that she might not pass out at the thoughts of having to talk to an adult all by herself. When the bishop came out her expressed how ready she was and how impressed he was with all she already knew. See, the studying paid off.

Early Saturday morning Maren, Ryan, and I took Emma and Lucy out for pictures. They turned out so pretty. I wish I had remembered to buy her bow before we did these. Oh, well we will get more at the temple someday when I have time. She might be 15 but we will get them:)







After pictures we went home to get everyone ready and then headed over to the church. Emma chose her Daddy to baptize her. He did such a beautiful job. He melts my heart when he gives blessings and when he baptizes his children. She also received the gift of the Holy Ghost. She had another wonderful blessing from her Daddy. It was such a wonderful day. There was many members of our family and friends there to share in the big day. Thank you all for coming.






Also we can't forget to mention all those that helped to pull this event off. A big huge thanks goes to Mama and Papa for arranging everything, filling the font, setting things up, conducting the meeting, leading the music, and making treats, and helping with cleanup. They really were awesome. I loved that Papa was able to conduct the meeting. It was so much more personable. (Lacking a better term) Also to all the people who brought treats. Thanks you so much. They were YUMMY! I maybe tried one of each thing. We love all of you and appreciate your support for Emma.

"Coushin Oooshe" and th kids...and other people

Okay so the best part about having Ryan, Maren, and Lucy here besides holding little miss squishy pants is the hanging out. I love to talk to them and get teased by Ryan. He thinks he is so clever but really I own him. Even though I would love a little less couch time and a little more doing time I wouldn't trade the talking time.

Papa is so cute with his grandkids. Look at him with his two babies. You can just see him oozing with pride. Elsie couldn't get enough of Lucy. It was cute to watch. She was a little scary but such a mother to Lulu.

The biggest surprise to me was how much JJ adored her. He wanted to hold her all the time. It was cute to see him be such a sweet older cousin.

It was nice to get to know Brynn better as well. Michael and her are so cute together.

Poor mom having to put up with Ryan's endless antics. WHat are we going to do with that boy.
Maren's face is priceless in this picture. She looks a lot like me here. Hahaha

Maren is hilarious or obnoxious you take your pick. We know when she comes to town we will eat Cafe Rio, Taco Time, Spankys, and I am missing one, oh well, you get the picture. My kids were really bummed out when Spankys got scratched off of the list. We will have to hit that in June.



Goodnight Maren...Lulu go back to sleep.
I waited to send this tell now so that maybe you could read it to keep you busy during the late night feeding.
I love you!!

Michael goes to the Temple and My squishy pants is here

We have a fun filled week planned. My baby bro is going through the temple for the first time. My sister and her family are all coming from DC and Emma is getting baptized and Lucy is getting Blessed. The first part of the festivities was the SLC temple with Michael. It was really neat to spend time with family and catch up. We really missed those that could not come.

I am not sure if he is being GQ or picking his nose.

The next part of having a fun family night was getting to see my little Lulu. She is so much bigger then when we were in DC. Yikers! I hate that she is growing so fast. But hey if she is that cute she can keep growing I guess.

My Lulu

Jeron was smitten by her. He loved holding her and was even heard saying "THis makes me want another." Okay all you friends of mine with babies bring them over for Jeron to snuggle.
It is no secret I really want another one. Jeron not so sure. Let's convince him:)

I love when my sis is here. I savor every moment. And hate when it has to end.

I am so proud of my baby bro for making good choices. He is a great kids. I just love him to death. He will always be my little bro even though he is 6'5". He is a whole foot taller than me.

Easter Sunday a week late

We didn't get these posted and I think they looked cute so I had to post the Easter Outfits.

Oh, how I love fresh new things. I think these kids are pretty stinkin' cute.

Tickets $60, Parking Free, Having a fantastic final day of Spring break...PRICELESS

We got an awesome deal for the weekend. It was $10 a ticket and free parking to go to Lagoon. Since it cost us $$$ a lot more than that to take our family we couldn't pass it up. We were shocked when we told our kids we were going to Lagoon and JJ and Emma both whined "Doooo weeee have tooooo?" Seriously are you kidding me. When we went to Lagoon growing up there was nothing that would have gotten in my way. I would give up almost anything for a chance to go to Lagoon. Proven by the fact that my dad would drop us off at 9am on his way to work and my bro and me would wait until it opened a couple of hours later. Now, I am not so much the Lagoon fan but I do enjoy going once a year. So Jeron and I were baffled by our children complaining.

We thought about leaving them home but that didn't pan out so our only option was to take the ungrateful rug-rats and try to have some kind of fun. Well, on the drive over the mood in our car started to get a bit excited. By the time we drove to lagoon they were ecstatic about going in.

JJ, Emma, and Ellie Puff.
JJ and Ellie's faces are priceless. Bored to tears and scared to death

Ellie and Elsie on the tug boats.
Elsie bawled her eyes out after this picture. Hilarious!

Daddy, JJ, and Emma enjoying the headache mouse, I mean the Wild Mouse.

Just Chillin'

Ellie and Mommy on the music express.
Ellie was scared until I told her to put up her arms and smile.

SkyRide with JJ

Daddy and Emmers on the sky ride

I will have you know that the little ladies and me beat them across Lagoon on foot and stopped to take pictures of them. We made it over to my FAVORITE ride The Samaria right when it closed. I sweet talked the worker into letting me go on. JJ and Emma went on the Umbrella ride for there finally ride. It was only 5 hours at Lagoon but that is plenty for me. We had a great time and now WE ARE DONE! Wahoo!