Bike Riding

Austin and Aubree have both decided (Aubree more than Austin) to try riding their bikes without training wheels! They are both doing really well, and considering the terrain where we live (gravel, dirt, weeds, and hay), it's really quite impressive.

Austin has even learned how to start riding his bike all by his self and is now teaching Aubree. It'll be nice when we don't have to keep helping them get started.

We're pretty proud of these brave, big kids!!

1st Grade

Austin had his first day of first grade yesterday. I was kind of nervous about how he would do since this is his first year going to school all day. But he did great! He came in the door and said, "Mom, first grade is fantastic! I love school!!" I was so relieved to hear what a great day he had.

Aubree, however, did not enjoy him being gone all day in the least! She kept asking me over and over, "When is Austin gonna be home?" She just moped around all day and did nothing until he came home. It's amazing to see how much she misses him when they fight and argue so much when they are together. When he's at school, it truly is like she's missing her right arm!

Two Months Old

Brooks turned two months old on Wednesday. I took him in to the doctor for his check up yesterday. He weighed 13 lbs. 5 oz. which puts him in the 80th percentile for his weight and measured 22 1/4 inches long which is in the 24th percentile. So in other words, he's a CHUNK!!! But I LOVE how squishy he is!

We are loving seeing him smile at all of us. And he enjoys having "conversations" with anyone that will talk to him (when he's in the mood). It's so fun to hear him goo and coo. He is so precious and we love having him as part of our family!

He wouldn't smile very well for me today. Probably because he's still mad about the shots he had to get yesterday. But, this is what I snapped this morning...

This is his cousin, Conn. Conn was born the day before Brooks, but Brooks has him beat when it comes to weight. Look at those thighs!!!

Brett's Accident

CAUTION! This is not for weak stomachs!! I'm gagging just glancing at these pictures. So proceed with caution!!!

A week ago today, I got a phone call from my mother-in-law around 10pm. She called to tell me that Brett had had an accident and was on his way to the emergency room. I hurried to the hospital as soon as I could to meet up with Brett and his dad.

Apparently, Brett and his dad were either trying to hook our trailer to our pickup or they were trying to take it off. Anyway, there were 17 - 100 pound bags of sand (for sandblasting) on it and the weight of it broke off the jack that goes to the trailer. So Brett decided to use a different jack.

Once he got the trailer raised, the jack started swaying under the weight. Brett could see that it was going to fall, so he tried to catch it when the original broken jack came down on his foot, smashing his big toe and the one next to it on his left foot.

He ended up losing both of the toenails (one lost entirely, the other just dangeling) and breaking both toes. On his big toe, the x-ray showed that the bone was completely broken with about a 1/4 of an inch gap between the two pieces of bone. And the other toe's bone was still intact, but there were cracks all over it.

The doctor put in several stitches in one toe and sewed back on the toenail that we still had. But before he sewed it back on, he cut the nail, making a new nail for the toe that had lost it's one. I hope that makes sense. Or maybe it's better if it doesn't.

He was so lucky that was all that happened. It could have been much worse if the jack came down on a higher part of his foot. He's also lucky that it wasn't his right foot, because then he wouldn't be able to drive for a while. And I think it's amazing the little damage a 2,000 pound trailer did to his foot.

Brett's decided that he'll only be wearing steel toed boots from now on. That could have prevented his injuries. Oh well, we are certainly counting our blessings!

Here are pictures of his battle wounds. Thankfully, Brett's mom is a nurse and can handle helping him with his foot. I, on the other hand, cannot!

This is how I like it to be kept - all covered up!

Andrew's Wedding

My crazy kids!!! Read on for the story...

There was an open candy bar and Aubree LOVED that!

Crazy hair!!

Our little family

Cute little tuxedo pants!

My brother, Andrew, got married two weeks ago. We all think VERY highly of his new wife, my new sister-in-law. I remember the first time that I met her; Tatiana is her name. We were visiting my brother, Kevin and his family, staying at their house when Andrew brought Tat over. I watched them interact with each other. I was very impressed with how she kept him in line. I knew that he liked to be super cuddly and smoochy with girls, but Tat was very concious of those around them and made sure no one was uncomfortable. I liked that.

She was very sweet, attentive, and playful with the little kids. I liked that. My brother, Kevin, is a very funny and sarcastic joker. Any time he made a joke, she was able to shoot something right back at him. It was very entertaining to watch and listen to. I really liked that.

But what struck me the most was when I was upstairs helping Kasi get dinner ready, Tatiana came upstairs, by herself, and said, "Alright, Kas, what do you want me to do?" Kasi gave her a job and she did it. It was right at that moment that I knew Andrew needed to marry her. It was like she was already part of the family.

They broke up a while after that and Andrew dated some other girls. I tried to sound happy for him when he told me about the other girls, but I knew that none of them compared to Tat. When they finally got back together, I was SOOOOOOOOO excited!

Here are some pictures of their beautiful wedding...

I'm so excited that Andrew and Tatiana are married. She's such a great addition to our family!

Mission Call

I'm a little late on this, but Nathan got his mission call. He's going to Puebla, Mexico! He'll be in Heaven there since his favorite food is anything Mexican. I told him he's going to have to get recipes for me ;-)

He heads to the MTC November 11th and will be living with us, going to school, until then.

We're so excited for him!!!

Great Weekend

We had a very busy and eventful couple of days last weekend. My brother, Andrew, went through the temple for the first time Saturday morning and had my mom, aunt, and grandma go with him. Then they all drove up here to go through the temple with Nathan for the first time Saturday evening. Brett and I were so excited to be in the temple all of them and share in that wonderful, special experience. Andrew is preparing to get married on Friday and Nathan is preparing for his mission. I'm so proud of them both!

On Sunday, we blessed Brooks in church. It was such a treat to have so much family be able to make it for his big day. My mom, aunt, grandma, and two younger brothers where able to be there from my side of the family. And Brett's brother, Marc, and his little family from St. Louis, were here along with his little sister, Chelsea and her hubby and new baby.

Brooks in his blessing tuxedo (the same one Austin wore)

As Brett has blessed all of our kids, they have each been blessed with very specific characteristics. Austin was blessed to be a good leader. Aubree was blessed to be a good example. Brynnlee was blessed to be uplifting. And Brooks was blessed to be successful in doing the Lord's work.

I'm so lucky to have been blessed with such amazing spirits. They have a lot of work ahead of them. I hope that I can teach them the gospel well enough for them to be able to fulfill their duties that they have been blessed with.