Our Sunday Photo Shots!

We can't help but take lots of pics of little Isabel Tessa after church, her dresses are just too cute! Here are a few pictures of our Sunday afternoons!

Halloween

Luke's preschool class, he decided to be Mr. Incredible instead of batman......with his cowboy hat!

I thought I better post some pics of Halloween before Thanksgiving arrives! The kids had a fun October they were able to wear there costumes at their cousin Niamhs birthday party and then again on Halloween night and of course around the house several times. Cade and Josh were Duke and Snake Eyes from G.I. Joe. Luke was batman, and Isabel was a little ladybug. We loved to sing to her "She's a lady whoa oh, oh, she's a lady" from the boys bugs play at school. She was soooo good she sat in her carrier so happy to walk around the neighborhood as the boys went trick-or-treating with cousins Gavin and Tyrone. Jason had to work all day but arrived home just in time to come out with us!  After trick-or-treating Jason's family came over for dinner... lot's of fun!

Choose This Day

I listened to this message this morning and was so moved by Elder Eyrings words. It is such a great message..........just wanted to share!

Choose This Day

Labor Day Weekend and First Day of School!

Mackenzie, Cade, Alexis, Luke, and Josh made our loft into a "movie theater" as they enjoyed their Sunday afternoon watching movies and eating popcorn and cookies.

I posted a few weeks ago of our funfilled St. George weekend. As I was working on it the auto save kept saying that it was not saving, I finished anyway and yep it did not save and I lost my post, very frustrated! So I will have to post about that at a later date! Too much has happened since. 

My sister Julie and her family were here last weekend with my parents. Since it was Labor Day weekend and Jason was working even more hours than usual, (which I did not think possible since he has been working 6 days a week, and there store is closed on Sundays) but he did, he had to work all day Thurs. - Sat. and Monday! I'm done complaining, so while he was working it was nice the kids had cousins to play with all day! They had so much fun. They swam, watched movies, played on the computer.... Mackenzie watched all the kids for us on Saturday afternoon and Julie and I took my mom to Kohl's! They were having great sales! We made it back in time for the BYU game, that Lance could not miss! It was a great game. We had to watch it again on Sunday so Jason could see it!  It was a fun relaxing weekend.

Jason with Josh and Cade.

The boys also started school two weeks ago. They were so excited to meet there new teachers and to see who was going to be in their classes. Jason always comes with us for the first day of school, the boys love having him come, and it helps me with the chaos of finding their teachers and getting them to the right lines.  I was glad he was there! 

It is always a long day for me as I anticipate them coming home, I can't wait to hear what their first day is like. I try to get as much done during the day so I can sit down with them when they get home and talk about their day. Josh said his day was "perfect". Cade was just as enthusiastic.  I was so glad. Now if they could just hold onto that same enthusiasm the rest of the school year, that would be awesome. 

Cade's first day of 2nd grade.

Josh's first day of 1st grade.

Cade with cousin Wyatt both in 2nd grade!

Picture Perfect!

My sweet little girl is almost 3 months old, but when she was 4 weeks old my friend Kristen spent a couple hours taking some beautiful pictures of my angel.  I'm so grateful for the great images she took of my baby.

No she is a little chubbier and has many more rolls.   She's had lots of visitors in her short life,  all of whom adore her!Grandpa Echols kissing his favorite granddaughter.

Mackenize admiring her cutest cousin

Grandma Echols loving the baby smile.

Selena wondering how she can sneak the baby in her suitcase.

Sophia is going to make a great mother.

Julie loving cuddling with the princess.

Josh turns 6!

These are his cousins that live locally. As you can see he has lots of them!

Josh had a birthday last week that I neglected to post. He turned 6 years old on June 6th! He had a fabulous day. He had been very specific about what he wanted. He wanted his birthday decorations put up before he woke up. He wanted to open presents in the morning, and have a family party in the evening with his cousins. We had suggested taking him out to dinner before his party, he wanted to do that, but he chose to go to Chuck-e-Cheese, we were hoping for something a little less crowded but since it is his birthday we let him choose. So he pretty much got everything he wanted. Jon and Rachelle also took him to Boulder City with their family. They went on a train ride in the afternoon. That was nice since Jason had to work in the morning it made the day go by faster so he wasn't asking every five minutes when it was time for his party to start. He loved the train ride.
Josh had a swim party, which he loves, he is our little fish, but after an hour, he was the first one out to let me know that it was time for the pinata. He knew exactly what he wanted, he was in charge, and kept the party moving right along with cake and ice cream and opening his presents. Before the party I found him clearing off the table after breakfast, I asked him what he was doing and he said he wanted to make sure the house was clean for the party. I'm glad he was so helpful. Josh had a good day, I'm glad we were able to pull off all of the specifics of his special day. We love you Josh!

Worst mom ever!!!

A couple months ago when I was volunteering in Josh's classroom his teacher mentioned that she noticed Josh had been making excuses of getting out of doing his work, he wasn't trying very hard. Whenever it was time for writing he would often make the excuse of having to go to the bathroom or his tummy hurt to get out of doing his work. I talked to him about it and he said it was hard for him to see the words on the board that he was supposed to copy. I told him that he needed to move closer to the white board so he could see the words better. I didn't realize that he literally could not see the words.
Well, he goes on track break, he goes back to school everything is good he says "school is perfect," until the beginning of this week the school nurse calls, Josh is not feeling well, his tummy hurts. We decide over the phone that he is well enough to stay. When he came home from school he tells me that he threw up in his class, I thought it was odd that that the nurse never called me to come and get him. The next day the nurse calls and has Josh in her office again, he told the teacher that he had thrown up at home the night before. Well that wasn't true, but I picked up Josh from school. We talked about him lying to me and the teacher and why he is making excuses to get out of school. He then tells me that his head hurts, his eyes are blurry, and he keeps running into walls at school. I was hesitant to believe him because he had lied about being sick, but I knew by then that something was wrong so yesterday he sees the eye doctor and come to find out Josh has horrible vision. His vision is at an 8. Which for Jason and I who do not wear glasses had no idea what that meant, but it is really bad! I felt horrible, I continue to feel horrible. Besides glasses, we were referred to a pediatric opthamologist for eye therapy! It is just hard to believe that his vision has been so bad and we never picked up on it sooner. There were just never any signs prior to this that we can think of. I also start thinking of all the trips we have taken in the past 6 years of his life, Disneyland, the beach, yellowstone, Knott's Berry Farm, Legoland, did he not see any of it! I am still in shock. And he has to wait 10 days for his glasses to come in! I0 days is an eternity! Oh but wait he has just gone through a year of preschool and a year of kindergarten without being able to see a thing, what's another 10 days! I just can't believe we never had his eyes checked sooner. I am the worst mom ever!! Just get your kids eyes checked if you haven't already!

1 week old!

I meant to post these pics last Tuesday when she was one week, but here they are now. She has had a good first  couple of weeks. I pretty much hold her all day and she sleeps much better when she is with me, so she sleeps with me too. Jason says she looks like an extra attachment on me. Although the boys have been a great help, Josh has fed her a bottle, Cade holds her when there is something that I need to do, they adore her and even on occasion I have heard them call her little princess. She is pretty spoiled already!  Cade and Josh have been out of school these past three weeks, it has been nice having them home. Jason was able to take them to a father and sons camp out last Friday night with our ward. So the baby and I had a night to ourselves. It was a quiet evening. The boys had a great time with their dad, grandpa and cousins. 

Baby Time!

                                                        




The Saturday before I went into the hospital the boys washed the car to get ready for their new baby sister.  

These past couple of weeks have been so long waiting for the baby to get here.  Now she is here! I went into the hospital on Monday night and she was born the next morning, Tuesday May 12th at 11:16am.  The delivery went smoothly, except the epidural only working on my right side, so I guess i can say I had a half natural birth. She was delivered only about 30 minutes after getting the epidural so it wasn't that bad. I am definitely glad to be home and grateful to have her finally here. The boys adore her. The first morning she was home they came first thing in the morning to see if she is awake yet. It is definitely fun having a girl! 

So I did not have to take the dog with us after all. My mother-in-law called the morning that I was leaving and said that she would take care of it while we were away. It was so nice of her to do that for us. We had an enjoyable weekend in St.George it was our last getaway before Jason starts his new job and before the baby comes. 

The boys had fun camping and I met them at the condo and they were able to clean themselves off in the pool. Yes swimming, it was a beautiful day. The next day we went up to Zion's and took the bus tour through the park and got out at various spots for hiking. It rained off and on, so the boys complained that there feet were cold, but they had to step in every puddle they came across.