Fun with Kingston Girls

Camping in the back yard with cousin Maddi

We were lucky enough this month to have two of my nieces with us for a few days. Karen and her family came up on Friday the 10th to pick their daughter Nikki up at EFY the next day. They had to be to BYU-Idaho by 7:30 so they spent the night at our house. They left all buy 1 kid sleeping at our house and then came back after picking up Nikki and her friend. While they were here Karen and Kenny came up with a plan to let the kids play longer. Karen left Maddi (11) and Gabbi (9) with us and then we were going to send them back plus Ben and Sarah with Grandma the following Thursday.

We had a wonderful week filled with many activities and we're so glad the girls were able to be here. I hope they had as much fun as our family did. Saturday night Kenny and I left the 4 oldest kids (Maddi, Gabbi, Sarah Kate, Ben) and we went grocery shopping. It was so nice not to have all 5 kids and our kids loved being home with their cousins. On Sunday night we took them to the river for a walk. We fed the ducks and let the kids walk around in the water a little. The following day was our zoo day. That afternoon we took the kids to the zoo. It's something we've been wanting to do since it opened back up for the season and having Maddi and Gabbi with us was a great reason to go.

Sarah watching the silly baby Llama. He looked so funny resting his head on the fence.

Gracie feeding the goats.

Riding the tiger!

Gracie, Gabbi, Ben, Sarah Kate, Hannah, and poor Maddi being drug behind

Tuesday was an interesting day. Gabbi was getting pretty homesick by this time so Karen and Cory drove up to get her. Maddi didn't want to go home yet so they left her at our house. Before they came to get Gabbi I took all the kids minus Dan, who I left home with Kenny, to the free movie they play weekly at the movie theater. The movie this week was Surfs Up and though I thought it had potential, the little girls were bored stiff. That goodness it was a theater full of kids and their parents and it was a free movie because I couldn't get them to sit for more that 10 minutes at a time. Even though the little girls didn't enjoy the movie it was a good outing and I think everyone was glad we went. I'm debating weather or not to be brave and take the kids again.

Playing in Rire Reservoir

After Karen came and got Gabbi we decided to take the kids to the reservoir. Rire Reservoir has a great swimming area near the dock and we enjoy taking the kids there sometimes to swim. The water was cold, but all the kids and Kenny got in. I'm not suppose to swim until 6 week after having Dan so I stayed on shore and watched the baby and watched the kids have fun. Kenny blew up the raft and pulled the kids around and everyone had a great time. The weather wasn't the warmest so we only stayed for about an hour, but it was a lot of fun. That night Maddi, Ben, and Sarah Kate decided to sleep outside in the tent. They were so excited and enjoyed being outside. Ben got a little nervous but did well once Kenny talked to him. Kenny set up the little tent next to them after they went to bed just to make sure they were OK. They did great and had a great experience.

Getting ready for bed in the tent.

Being silly in the tent before bed.

Wednesday we waited for Grandma to come. The kids enjoyed riding bikes, playing in the pool, and just hanging out. Grandma Newbry arrived around 3:00 and we all had fun spending time with her. Kenny and I left that night to go to the movie and Grandma watch the kiddos for us. The next day Kenny made a great banana pancake breakfast and then Grandma headed home with Maddi, Sarah Kate, and Ben. They were suppose to be picked up at Grandma's house by Aunt Karen, but due to some issues at Karen's house they never got picked up. Instead Aunt Karen arrived around 9:00 at night and spent the night at Grandma's house.

The big kids had fun playing at Grandma's and Kenny and I enjoyed life as parents of 3 for a day. Man was that easy. I got some much needed cleaning done, I played with the girls, and then we took them to the park and Walmart. It was a great day, but I did miss my big kids. I'm one lucky mom.

Happy 10th Anniversary

On our wedding day. Wow how we've changed.

So Kenny and I have been married for 10 years now. July 9th was our 10 anniversary and we're both just amazed that it's been that long. On the one hand it's hard to remember life without him, but when I think about it, 10 years is a long time and I can't believe it's been that long. Only adults are married for 10 years, not old adults , but grown-ups none the less. It's crazy, but I'm so glad I married him and I'm so excited for the next 10+ years.

Last year our friends in Virginia, the Gulick's, celebrated their 10th anniversary by going on a cruise without their children. At the time Kenny and I were dreaming of all the things we could do on our 10th anniversary. 10 years is an important number and we wanted to celebrate it with something special like they did. Well here we are a year later, on our 10th anniversary, and we have a 2 week old and no job or spending money. Things didn't turn out as planned so we didn't get to go on our vacation for our anniversary, but we did get to go out which is something else we never do. Kenny's mom came and watched the kids the week after our anniversary so we could go to a movie together (we would have done it on our anniversary, but we wanted to see Harry Potter and it didn't come out until the following week.) It was so nice to be out with Kenny and enjoy some adult time with my husband.

Looking back it's been a crazy, busy, sometimes scary, but wonderful 10 years. Life has definitely not gone the way I expected it to go, but I'd never change it. I love my husband very much, I love my children very much, and I feel very blessed to have them all in my life. Sure there are things we would do differently had we know how our first 10 years were going to shape up, but I guess we'll just have to do better in our next 10 years. I'm excited for those next 10 year and all that they hold for our family. Happy Anniversary Kenny.

4th of July

The Grandkids in Grace on the 4th (minus Savannah)

After finally getting pictures of the kids on the 4th of July, we headed up to Grace for some Newbry family time. When we got there April and JJ, Michael and Sarah, and Kenny's parents were already there. Ben wanted to get his bike out so, as much as I didn't want him to, Kenny got Ben's bike out of the trailer and let him ride all around my in-laws yard. If you haven't been there just picture a large hill and that's their driveway and yard. It was very scary to watch my no fear 5 year old ride his bike down the grassy hill onto the dirt driveway. He crashed quite a few times, but he did very well overall. He learned how to correct himself without sliding on the dirt and he made some impressive saves. He's doing so well for just learning how to ride a bigger two-wheeler.

Sarah, Ben, Travis and Trent waiting for the rocket to go off.

Gracie enjoying her salad.

Trenton taking Hannah on a ride.

We packed a lot into our short visit with Kenny's family. Uncle Michael shot off little rockets with help from the little kids, the kids played outside while the adults visited, Gary made his famous huckleberry ice cream, and we set off sparklers. It was a very enjoyable trip and we were glad to be able to spend the 4th with both sides of the family.

The kids watching bottle rockets in amazement.

Sarah with her sparkler.

Ben with his sparkler.

Sarah Kate and cousin Savannah enjoying their sparklers and each other.

Kids Annual Pictures

As I've mentioned before, we've been trying for months to get good annual pictures of the kids. Well, I'm proud to say we finally got some. We went to Logan for the 4th of July and decided it would be a perfect time to try pictures again. We arrived on the 3rd around 1:00 and hung out at my Mom and Dad's for a few hours. We put the little girls down for a nap and Grandpa took Ben and Sarah to USU campus to ride bikes. That evening we headed up the canyon to try for good pictures. The kids were NOT cooperative and neither was the lighting. We were so discouraged, especially Kenny who was taking the pictures. The main issue was Hannah who just wouldn't cooperate. She got in big trouble and was put in the car crying.

After our failed attempt at pictures we were supposed to go to my Aunt Cindy's house to have a BBQ and watch the Logan City fireworks. We were late because the pictures went so bad and to top it off, a few miles before we arrived Hannah threw up all over herself and Sarah. It was not good. We dropped Ben and Grace at Aunt Cindy's and took the others to Grandma's where they got a shower and changed their clothes. Turns out Hannah was sick (duh) and that's why she was such a stink at pictures. We had no clue until she threw up, but felt bad about getting so mad at her. As much as I didn't want to, I left Hannah and Daddy at my parent's and took Sarah and the baby back to Aunt Cindy's to watch the fireworks. The kids had a blast playing with cousins and watching the fireworks. I enjoyed showing off my baby and seeing family I haven't seen in awhile. Due to the craziness, I didn't take any pictures, but we had fun anyway. I love the fourth and really enjoyed watching the fireworks with my family and my cute kids. The only thing that would have made it better would have been if Hannah and Kenny could have been with us.

Daniel 1 1/2 weeks

Gracie Grace 20 months

Hannah Beth 3 Years

BenBen 5 years

Sarah the Kate 7 years

The 4th was a better day overall. Hannah woke up and her fever was not nearly as bad and she kept telling us she was not sick. We decided to try pictures one last time before heading up to Grace. We stopped and got Hannah some medicine which seemed to do the trick and she was much happier and a lot more cooperative. They say third time's the charm, but in this case it's more like 5th or 6th time's the charm. I lost count of how many times it took to get good pictures, all I know is we finally got them after 4 hours of shooting on the 4th.

Daniel's One Week

I'm a week late on this, but I wanted to share Daniel's one week picture. We were going to wait and take the pictures the next day, but around 10:30 at night he decided he was going to be awake. I laid a blanket on the bed and we snapped some shots. There not the best, but what more do you expect from a 1 week old.

Newborns pull the cutest faces.

One week old Daniel Truman.

On Thursday night Kenny wanted to take some pictures of Dan downstairs on the photo paper. He needed a good picture to send to his grandma so when Daniel woke up around 10:30 (again) we rushed him downstairs for pictures. Kenny took a bunch of practise shots, trying to get the lighting just right, and by the time the lighting was good enough Dan was back asleep. The window of opportunity is so small with a newborn. Oh well! I think the pictures turned out cute even if he was asleep.

Here's one of the test shots with pacifier and blanket. At least his eye's are open.

Daniel's been a good baby. He's got his days and nights figured out which has been so wonderful. He sleeps for about 3 hour stretches at night and is very good to just eat, get changed, and go right back to sleep. Sometimes he only eats for 10 minutes. It's been wonderful. The other kids still love him, though some of the novelty has worn off. We all still think he's cute. Luckily we've had no other issues or problems. He's a healthy baby boy who is very loved.