Another sleepless night. I took an Excedrin PM, but I don't know, maybe it hasn't kicked in or something. Anyways, while lying in bed I couldn't help but think of my family and how much I love them. Summers are the best because we are all home together and we have the opportunity every day to do things together. I know we are blessed that way because some families don't have that. I look at my husband of nine years and thank the Lord that I have him. He is my strength. Some days I think that without him I would be on the couch all day watching life pass me by. He is my motivator and my best friend. He supports me in everything I want to do and is there for me when I need him. I love Garrett so much.
Nolan, my baby. He is my growth. Wherever I am, he is right there at my side. Our favorite spot is the couch. If I even sniff the couch, he is right there ready to sit and relax with me. He loves hair and the couch is the perfect place for him to play with it while he is sucking his thumb. What a character my youngest is. He just comes out and says and does funny things all of the time. He is such a dare devil too. He jumps in the pool with no life jacket and no idea how to swim and just expects to be o.k. I hope that I am always there to catch him until he figures out what dangerous means. I love my baby.
Avery, my only girl. She is so smart and such a good girl. Avery is quick to do whatever I ask her most of the time. She loves to do school work. She could read and write for hours. She is so independent most of the time, but tries to get attention when she thinks she needs it. Her and I don't spend enough girl time together. Starting school in three weeks, I know she will do well. She always strives to do her best. Avery is a lot like me in that she stresses about things. She doesn't like when there are bad feelings in the room and she feels sorry for people who have bad things happen to them. I love that girl.
Austin, oh Austin. What a quick thinker he is. Always working his mom and dad to get his way. He comes at us in so many different directions. It makes it hard, but it just goes to show that his brain is always working. I do feel for his teachers because they are in for a lot of answering to, as far as Austin goes. Austin loves sports and is athletic. Anything he does, I can tell it just comes natural to him. He will always have his dad there to push him along and give him pointers. Dad is already looking at a golf set and Austin cannot stop talking about it. I love my little athlete.
So I vowed to do more girlie things with Avery (being the tomboy I am). The boys went to gymnastics and Avery and I had an hour at home by ourselves. This was a great opportunity for girl time. Avery wanted her hair curled so we curled it. It took us the whole hour. Then we painted our toe nails on the back porch. As soon as the boys got home, the kids played in the water and the curls were gone. A whole hour of curling, but it was the time spent together that counts!
Garrett also took the opportunity to plan some boy time. He took the boys to get golf clubs on the way home. Austin was stoked. Now he can go golfing with dad! They all tried out the clubs in the back yard. I though Nolan was going to take someone's head off.
We also had some family time this last week. We took the kids bowling and had a great time.
Above is the kids right before we went into Turtle Talk. Avery didn't want to go because she never gets picked to talk to crush. I told here she had a better chance to get picked because of her beautiful dress and pretty bow in her hair. She got picked!!! She asked Crush what his favorite food was!
Every time Nolan saw a character at Disneyland it was always too late to get a picture with them. This time we were in the front of the line to see Woody. Definately one of Nolan's favorites!
So we go to see another show and Avery got picked again to go on stage with some entertainers and sing a line in a song. She looked so scared. She did finally sing her line on the second or third try and then the singer gave Avery a picture of Mickey. During the show Cinderella showed up and we get a picture! Good day for Avery!
Whenever we wanted to do big rides, someone had to opt out and do a little ride with Nolan. Most of the time it was me and Nolan going on Matterhorn while the others did something else, but this time Garrett took Nolan on Pooh while the kids and I want on Splash (my fav)!
World of Color was cool, but not worth all of the trouble. (A whole nother story)
We all love bugs land because everyone can ride the rides! Austin loves the catterpillar because he burps like 3 or 4 times.
Avery, Nolan and I went on Matterhorn the most. Here we are in line yet again.
The twins!
Splash, my favorite ride. We got wet of course. Austin was brave and I didn't have to hold him!
Some of the fireworks got pretty big, so here is Austin hiding under the table. Of course the rest of us were stupid and sat there and waited for the fireworks to hit us.
Peyton didn't make it through the whole show, but she is so stinkin cute. She has a brother due next month!
We had a pre-firework try-out and we let of some screamers. Fun!
Here is Grami with Kaylin, Wes and Tesha's new baby. And now that we know, Leia has a baby in her belly in this picture!
THis is Garrett and the kids anticipating the big firework show. Notice the mound of fireworks int he background! We love the 4th!
Here is Avery in the backyard being crazy in the bounce house. Backyard fun consists of bounce house, slip n slide, kiddie pool, and swings. 
So I keep the bounce house folded up and in this tote in the garage. Filling the tote with water was a big hit. It was so funny to see their little heads peeking out of the top.
Grami and Grandpa moved out of their old house with a nice pool and into their nice new house with just a bunch of dirt. So for the last couple of weeks we are trying to enjoy the pool before the new tenents move in. Today, we were there and Austin did the best he ever did at swimming. I was so proud of him.
This is typical Nolan. Always teasing and pestering anybody he can get a reaction out of. He is so full of energy and personality we just love him.
More cousins at Grami's pool with Evan.
Nolan getting a reaction out of Grandpa! Grandpa was pretending to get after him.
To finish our day, we went to the new house and got to see baby cousin Kaylin. Austin and Avery did not want to leave her side. Nolan was kind of weirded out at first and acted really shy and kind of scared of her, but after he held her, he was another one who wouldn't let her out of his sight. Don't worry Kaylin, I think you got enough cousins to take care of you.
