On August 13th, I took Isaac to Flagstaff to have his fingers separated. He was so cute at the doctor. This is a picture before he went in. He was just kissable in his little hair net!!

I talked to him about what was going to happen and we took pictures of his fingers.

Let me see your hand honey.

No the other hand silly.....

This one?

I told him that they were going to make it so his fingers were apart. I am not sure everything he understood but he pointed at his fingers and said "mom?"

Right after he woke up, I was holding him while he was coming out of the anesthesia.

They would not release him until he was able to hold down liquid. They gave him a drink of water out of this little cup and he kept drinking. He drank 5 of them and they cut him off.

He was not sure of this big wrap on his hand. It only took him a half hour to get it unwrapped on the way home. I had to stop three times in the 2 hour drive and re-wrap it. I ended up buying some tape and wrapping all over that!

He is so cute even when he is drugged!!

Nate's 25th Birthday ;-)

Nate would not let us do anything for his birthday. So we made a cake and sang. The kids thought it was very very funny to have so many candles on the cake.

"Wow Dad, you are old!!"

Ready to sing????

For some reason, I don't think Nate really likes his birthdays. Is that just a polite smile?

Get ready.... you will have to blow hard to extinguish that many candles.

Wow... that is a lot of smoke!!! What if the smoke detectors go off?

And now... Dad is another year older. He is a very fun Dad. Nate works so hard to take care of us and provide for our family. He is a very good man!! We love him very, very much.

So back to real life....

The first day of school....

The kids were up at dawn I swear!! Ok, maybe not dawn but pretty dang close… They were so excited to go to school. They had each picked out their clothes the night before. They ate breakfast faster than ever and then got ready.

Each one stood in front of the fireplace and posed for me…trying to get the perfect picture.

Smile Kaydee....

A real smile.....

You are so beautiful Kaydee! Check out that toothless grin!

Now it is Gage's turn.
Can you smile a normal smile?

Ok, that is not normal...

That is a little better.

Now that is a real, sweet smile. My very handsome Gage. I can not believe that you are old enough to go to school. Wow!!!
Where did the time go? I feel like I blinked and you were grown up!

Autumn blushes when I tell her that she looks so cute in her Ladybug Dress. Grandma Barlow made it for her and it is not only darling but it means so much to her.
Thank you Grandma Barlow!!!

She still can't smile...why? She is sooooo not shy!!!

There we go... You are a beautiful little lady Autumn!

Taylor and her new hair cut.... she loves to comb her hair now... and rightly so.... she is very cute!

But she can't focus on the camera, someone is on the stairs being silly...

Tay, look at the camera.....!!

Madi isn't going to school this year but we must take her picture!!

She has the best smile of all...

And the wildest hair!

And we can't forget Isaac!!

I was lucky, I got to take all the kids to school and then spend the morning with Gage.

Here is Kaydee in her classroom. She found her desk in a flash, sat down and smiled. Kaydee loves school. Maybe it is just the thought of the playground that made her smile so.

1st grade

Autumn was also very excited when she found her desk. She recognized the name of someone next to her and hoped that it was the person she knew last year.

Gage's first day was different. We sat in the gym for a little while listening to all the new things the kids could expect for kindergarten. Then the kids went to their classroom to find their cubby's and listen to a story. The parents sat in the gym and filled out paperwork. I think Gage got the better end of the deal. I would have much rather heard a story.

This was the next day and the next, and the next, and the next.... well, I think you get the hint.
Each morning, the kids wait for the bus to come. It can be kind of confusing to guess which is going to actually stop for them. 5 buses go past our house each morning.

They wait, and play, and wait some more. They scared me the first morning by getting to close to the road so now they sit on the porch and wait for the bus. Then they run, sometimes walk, some times strole, to the bus.

And what do Isaac and Madi do while we are waiting for the bus?
Look for bugs....

Bye !! Have a wonderful day at school!!

And there is the proof that I am getting old.... Gage is getting on a school bus!!!

Another video

Lets try again.....

Music...sooths the soul...

Isaac loves music. He dances in his car seat, in his booster seat, while he is taking a bath… anytime he hears a tune, he dances. He will even start to sway back and forth when my phone rings. It is so awesome!! He is such a happy baby.

Here are a few videos of some amazing dancing skills… ( Isaac is going to be a lady killer…lol)
In the first video, all the kids were dancing to Taylor Swift. I tried to catch some video of Isaac with his little tush in the air and moving backwards but I was too slow.

Madi, Kaydee, and Gage all love to dance and they try so hard to do some of the dance moves Taylor teaches them but it doesn't happen quite as well as they plan.

I was able to get one video to upload... I hope to get the others too.. they have more of the other kids in them. Anyway...

Enjoy!!

A few clips from the last week.....

It is hard to keep Isaac entertained while we are reading scriptures before bed. The other night, he found a purse of Madi's and thought he was the funniest thing in the world when it ended up on his head. He would look at you and laugh. Nate was trying to read and Isaac leaned over in his face and laughed so Nate would look at him. He is such a clown!!

It fell off and I can't get it back on...
Will you do it Dad?

See, I told you I was funny!!!

For Valentine's Day, we gave all the kids Croc's to wear around the house. Our kitchen floor is very slippery...as you can tell. Who knew you could have such fun with a new pair of shoes?
I told you I could do the splits mom!!

One night after baths, Madi was in the family room by herself singing and dancing. It was so cute!!

I tried to get some pictures without her noticing but it didn't last, she caught me.

But it didn't matter, soon she was posing for me..

And what, you ask, was she singing at the top of her lungs??

"Don't go wasting your emotions.." (Lay your love on me) from the sound track of Mamma mia... we have watched it a few times...lol....