whirlwind of events

Alot has happened these past few weeks! It was a little crazy and I didnt take pictures of everything so I stoled pictures from my sister Valynn.

First off... Mike came home from his 2 year mission in Bolivia!

Everyone was so excited for him to be home that we made him a sign. The kids had fun decorating it. 

My dad and mike. I have a picture of my mom hugging him too, but its on my camera still.

mom mike dad

On our way back to my parents house, I was following my parents and mike. Once we got to their house they stopped the car right when they pulled into the drive way and mike jumped out bare foot onto the grass. He hasnt walked barefoot in grass for two years! I dont think he has had his shoes on since he has been home unless hes leaving. After being released from a full time missionary, he decided to jump into the pool in his old suit.

My dad watching mike

The kids had fun being able to swim with mike the following days. Tyler was playing in the pool and some how broke his toe, so my sister took him to the ER and now he has a padded shoe :)

On Sunday, Mike had his homecoming talk. He did a great job, but you could tell that he hadn't spoken english for a while. He bore his testimony in Spanish, and I had no idea what he was saying but you could definitely feel the spirit. It is such a blessing to know that even though there may be a language barrier that you can still feel it and know of its truth.

We renting wave runners and had so much fun on them! It was really cold, so none of us wanted to tip over so we weren't being as crazy, but it was still a lot of fun playing in the water. I took my niece Kaitlyn out and she was a little scared, it was hilarious until she started squeezing the air out of me.

Wednesday night, we all went to the temple while my parents braved watching all the grandkids! It was the first time that we were able to all be there together and it was such an awesome experience to share that with all my siblings!

Welcome home mike! We love you!!


Secondly, Liam turned 7 months! (again my recent pictures are on my camera)

(he is the cutest baby ever)

Liam ...
*bounces all the time! I love it though.
* loves to play in our entertainment center and bang on the wood. When I lay him on the floor he will automatically make his way over to it.
* I started giving him puffs and he now loves them... most the time.
* Loves fruit and some veggies, but hates the turkey or chicken baby food. I dont blame him, they smell disgusting.
* He has started to scoot to me and will grab my leg when he wants to be picked up
* loves playing in the pool. I have yet to actually "swim" with him since its been a little cold. But now that its 90+ outside Im sure it'll happen this week!
* Loves his uncle mikey!

Thats all I can think of right now!  I have more to post, but we'll save that for another post!

Only one letter left..

I can not believe that my little/bigger then me, brother will be home in less then 2 weeks! I cant explain how extremely excited my whole family is! He is the baby and the only boy, so this was a first for all of us to have someone on a mission for 2 whole years. We've missed him like crazy and cant wait for his plane to land! Sunday, I wrote one of my last letters to him as a full time missionary! We only will have to write one more, and the next time we "communicate" with him will be in person. :)  

One of our family friends is down in Bolivia doing some volunteer work, and ironically, she is in the same town as michael and is actually staying with one of their investigators! She was able to take some pictures of him and send them to us. Im so excited to see him! She said that he looks great and is an amazing missionary! We're so proud of him! Chase bet me that I'll cry at the airport, since my family can cry rather easily, but I am a tough cookie. However, I think I may loose this bet.

 

11 more days!

Watch out mom and dad, Im about to....

CRAWL!

(sorry the picture was taken on my camera phone which sucks)

Tonight Liam has been getting into the crawling position! I have a love/hate relationship to this new "trick" of his. While we were at my friends house today (whose baby started crawling a few weeks ago) liam decided to copy Spencer and look like he was crawling. I was shocked how many times he got into this position. I told them that we cant hang out with them anymore because my sister doesnt want him crawling for at least 3 weeks (she'll be here then!!!) and he picks up things fast from spencer! haha.... I was kidding ofcourse, but Im not sure if mommy is ready for a completely mobile baby. Looks like I'll be baby proofing my house this week. Yikes.....

262,800 minutes old

Thats half a year!

I can not believe my baby is 6 months old, time really does fly by when your having fun! Liam is such an awesome little boy! I love waking up everyday knowing that I get to spend the day with him. If im in a bad mood or had a hard day, hes one of the only people that can make me feel better! He has such a sweet smile, and uses it to his advantage! This little boy is a flirt, im afraid im going to have to put a leash on him at an early age.

Liam loves to grab his feet and he has found the joy of sucking on his toes. If he sees toes, he will suck on them. Last night I was laying down with my feet on Chase while he was holding Liam, and all of the sudden I felt a wet little mouth on my toe. 

When I give him a bottle, he reaches up at my face and strokes my cheek or grabs it. Its not so sweet when I havnt cut his nails in a few days! 

My mom bought him a jumper which he absolutely loves. The down side, whenever im holding him on    my lap, he starts jumping. But its worth it when hes happy and Im able to get things done.

He rolls everywhere now. If he sees something, he is determined to get it. He also has been doing the "stink bug" and is getting good at getting up on his toes! 

A couple of other things that he loves are, remotes (what is it with guys and remotes), and being outside.

memorial day weekend

I love memorial day for a few reasons! First of all, it lands on my birthday "week!" Yes, I started dedicating the whole week to me so that my husband will play with my hair (willingly) while he watches tv :), secondly my family is usually in town and we have a BBQ and then go put flowers on my brother and grandparents graves. This year, we went and saw a week old foal. A family friend of ours has horses and invited us to come see it. She was so cute, I wanted to bring her home with me.

We got to see our own little rodeo as he was trying to catch her. 

Liam loved the horses. Most of the grandkids were able to sit on the mommy horse, but brennen isnt much of a "cowboy" and this is what he did...