New Arrival:

We have decided to add to the Bennett Family.

Introducing:


Andee (Andalicious) Bennett

Born: March 27, 2011
Weight: She's probably around 3 pounds now.
Breed: Shih Tzu Maltese Mix

Andee has been a great addition to our family. After a strict family contract, Mitch finally conceded to us (meaning Ness, Peyton and me) getting a dog. She's the cutest thing ever. She looks like a little, fat Ewok. She likes to grab onto our pants and be dragged around (she is just barely getting her teeth). She likes to wrestle, and has the cutest little growl. She likes to snuggle up to her people. Anessa has fallen in love. To be honest, I think Mitch loves her too. It's been fun watching my kids take care of her and participate in everything that involves taking care of a puppy. On Friday and Saturday nights, Peyton and Ness both get up and take care of Andee's needs at night. She's almost sleeping through the night. Not quite. She's doing EXCELLENT on house training. Seriously. I'm very impressed. It's like having a newborn again, but it's been fun. She's a hybrid dog meaning she won't have the same health issues that a fullbred Shih Tzu or Maltese would have. Also, she doesn't shed AND she's considered hypoallergenic. ;)
Can't ask for anymore than that!

Happy Birthday to My Handsome Man!!

Cohen is 5 today! I can't believe it. He's such a special guy in so many ways. He's overcome so much and has so much to offer. The world is lucky to have a boy like Cohen in it. I remember holding him in my arms right after he was born and just feeling his sweet spirit. He didn't scream. He just kind of squeaked and then calmed right down and stared at me. Not much has changed. He's definitely an observer. Content to explore in the little worlds that his imagination takes him to. Things about Cohen.

* He looks EXACTLY like his dad. I love how everybody always says "Here comes the mini-Mitch".

* He loves to cuddle me and kiss my face no matter where we are at. I could come home from the gym a sweaty mess and he will run up and kiss me all over.

* I love how he calls spiders "si-bows" and how he's changed up a bunch of different words. He's definitely got his own way of saying things and it's so cute.

* His favorite night of the week is Friday because that is the night he gets to sleep in bed with me.

* He still cuddles with the lovie (blanket) that I bought before he was born. Can't go to bed without it.

* He is so inquisitive and is always asking questions and trying to figure out how things work. Such a smart kid!

We were in Seattle for Easter and Cohen was upstairs with our friend Loren and they were looking out the windows at the mountains and this is the conversation that transpired. It makes me cry every time I think about it.

Loren: There is so much that is beautiful in this world. Mountains are things that are very beautiful to me and flowers are things that are very beautiful to my wife. What's beautiful to you, Cohen?

Cohen: My mom.

We are so thankful for Cohen. He has taught us so much in the short time he has been here. He has taught us patience, unconditional love, forgiveness and enjoying the small things that life has to offer. He is truly a blessing. Love you so much Cohen!!

Frustrations:

Lately (okay so like the last three days) I've been feeling very frustrated. Not only with myself but with my children. I hate saying that, but I can safely say that all of us as mother's have have been there at one time or another. If you're saying that you haven't, then you're a big fat liar. Anyway, back to what I was saying. I wanted to just type out what I've been feeling lately and maybe I will get some feedback that will be helpful.

1. To go to school or to not go to school. This has been a question going through my head for about a month now. I'll be honest with you. I'm scared as hell to go back to school. I still have a semi-young child who needs me, I don't want to be gone all day long right now stuck in a class room, and with me suffering from depression/anxiety is it the "smart" thing to do right now or will it just make things worse? Then again, I need something to fall back on to in the event that Mitch got sick or died (ugh..the thought). So what do you do? Do you grin and bear it and do the best you can and possibly fail or do you wait until you're ready? The problem with "waiting until your ready" is that you could NEVER be ready.

I found this quote and I've read it a lot and I believe in it. I just need to have faith. But do I have faith that I will find a job that I can do without going to school or do I go to school? I don't know.

"The beginning of anxiety is the end of faith, and the beginning of true faith is the end of anxiety."

2. Anessa. Peyton. Cohen. Aja. I wish I could list them from greatest problems to least, but to be honest...they are all equal. I don't want to get to greatly into each of their problems; it's enough for me to say that all of them are giving me ulcers and I don't know what to do. It's not behavioral either..well except for Aja. Hers is behavioral. Cohen's is a mixture of behavioral and his disability.

3. I want a puppy. Badly. I've read that dogs can help a person with depression/anxiety. I don't think it would be a cure, but I do think it would ease a lot of the tension I feel on a daily basis. Mitch is against it. It bums me out. To the point of tears. The last time we had dogs I wasn't able to take care of them the way they needed. Reasoning behind it is because I was either pregnant or nursing all the time. Also, Mitch wouldn't let the dogs in the house and so I couldn't work with them like I wanted to. He says that it would just be adding another thing to my "stress list" and I can see where he is coming from, but I can see my point as well. Besides, how can you say no to this?


Anyway, those are the three biggest things that I'm dealing with right now. Any tips, advice, texts and emails are appreciated. Love to all!

Trip to Seattle Part Deux:

I think Mitch and I are addicted. We LOVE Washington. Love it. Seriously there is no better state, and the fact that we live so close to Seattle is a serious bonus. Also, the fact that we are in the same STATE as some of our closest friends again is another bonus. AND said friends just moved to Yakima! Sweet! We have the best friends here in Kennewick, the best ward, the most beautiful sites so close to us and there is just so much to do. I feel so blessed.

This year for Easter we decided to head up to Seattle and spend one more weekend in our friend Loren and Tamara's house before they are out of it for good. It was completely empty, but we just took along a bunch of blankets and sleeping bags and camped out. It was awesome. No computers or TV for 48 hours. The best. We left Kennewick at around 5:30 on Friday and didn't get into Seattle until midnight. Freaking traffic. Totally worth it though because the next day we got up and went to Skagit Valley and went to the TULIP FESTIVAL! Oh my gosh. Beautiful. And it was the most perfect day. It was in the high 50's low 60's and the sun was shining. Amazing. Here are a couple of pics I took. I took a couple hundred billion, but I will just share a few.

I actually shared an Easter message using these tulips. They were so beautiful.


Thank heavens for Benadryl. Aja was a dripping mess, but thankfully cleared up and so she was able to do plenty of sniffing!


So beautiful!


Yeah, that would be a girl who is officially taller than me.


Only two dudes who are totally comfortable with each other could do this.


Peek-A-Boo!


I loved all the pinks and reds. It was just breath taking!


EASTER!! All the kids waiting. Aja and her wonderful habit of picking her lips...Just like her mom. Sigh.


Nothing better than doing an Easter Egg Hunt in a completely empty house!


I love this little squat!


After a breakfast of candy and Subway (HAHA!) we got ready, cleaned up any evidence that we were at the house and headed to Pike Place Market (yes, again) but first. A picture of the fam showing the view that the Parker's got to enjoy every day.


Pike Place is cool. We saw this boat being dragged along by a teeny tiny tug boat. Crazy!


There were a couple of these silver men holding lights around the square. I'm not sure the story behind them, but they are way cool. Most of the shops were closed so we didn't spend too much time. Also, we were way tired and anxious to get home so we got some t-shirts and stuff to munch on and of course made plans to come back!

Autism:

Dear Autism:

Tonight I really hate you.

Sincerely,

A Mother who is at the end of her rope

A Trip To The Coast:

This last weekend we had the AWESOME opportunity to head up Washington State's amazing and beautiful coastline and visit a few places. It was a complete last minute decision and I'm so glad that we did this. The kids had so much fun and experienced so many new and beautiful things. They didn't complain ONCE about the drive (of course there were the potty break whines). I was so proud of them!

So, I've never used a map to get...anywhere. Honest. Mitch made me the map person. I insisted on being the driver, he said "No". So here is a picture from our 44 mile "out of the way scenic drive" of a cute little chalet up near the pass that was...closed. I'm happy to say that I'm a PRO map reader now!


There were SO MANY waterfalls to see and they were just on the side of the road! It was amazing!


The first place we stayed was called Ocean Shores. Since it was off season (meaning freezing cold and raining) we were able to get a room with a view of the ocean! It was beautiful. We got to eat at a really good restaurant. I'm still dreaming of the shrimp and crab melt (minus cheese so not technically a melt but it was GOOD!) that I had. YUM! We went to a couple of the beaches. The first one was blowing sand all over the place so I just snapped a few pictures and ran back to the car with Aja and Anessa (yes, we are chicken's). The next part of the beach was protected from the rain and wind a bit so we spent some time there. It was fun! And WINDY!




After leaving Ocean Shores we found this neat little town. WARNING: Adults Only! HAHA! Seriously. I'm sure there was another name on the ballot. What happened?!


Here we hit up another beach. It was beautiful. It was made up entirely of little rocks that were perfectly round. Loved it!


Yes, my husband and kids were freezing. We didn't plan very well with the packing, but we had fun! Just froze and wore the same thing..over and over. HAHA!


Mitch was in awe over the trees. I have to admit. It was beautiful and it smelled amazing! He was totally at home. I think one day he's going to buy a cabin around there!


A bad case of hemorrhoids or some knots that fell off a tree? You decide.


Yep. We went to Forks. Forks wasn't much to look at, but La Push was absolutely beautiful!




We then went to Port Angeles and spent the night. We didn't spend any time there but we did take this semi cute family picture. If only they would all look at the same time *sigh*


It's FERRY TIME! My kids were SO EXCITED about riding the ferry. I kid you not. They were bouncing in their seats. Our ferry's name was PullYaUp. Cute. It was a lot of fun for everyone..but me. I got seasick once it started moving. I didn't recover until we hit Seattle. Mitch and I are both afraid of heights and deep water. Not a good combo when you have kids that are daredevils. We quickly took our pics and then ran back into the boat.


SEATTLE! Oh my gosh! LOVE Seattle! It's AMAZING! Our friend Loren and his wife Tamara graciously housed our crazy family of 6 and Loren took us around to see the sites. We got to see a fountain that I of course forget the name of and...


We then went to the Seattle Aquarium and got to pet a whole buncha stuff! It was slimy. The kids loved it..all but Aja who is still afraid to touch anything. We got to feed sea urchins, pet starfish, see an octopus and pet a sea cucumber! Fun!



After the Aquarium we hit up Pike Place Market. Did we get any pictures there? NO!!! How lame is that!! I just have to say that Pike Place Market is so COOL!! I could seriously spend all day (and all my money) there. So many neat things to see..A man dressed completely in silver. All types of musicians. Beautiful flowers that you can buy for CHEAP! Amazing. Anyway, we obviously had a good time, can you tell? I gained 6 pounds but promptly dropped it 2 days after getting home *phew* but it was totally worth it!

I *heart* our new neurologist!

Today we went to Spokane to establish care with Aja's new neurologist. Spokane is about two and a half hours away. The drive is beautiful. Washington is beautiful. Every day that I wake up I look out the window and think about how grateful I am to be here! Anyway, back to our little trip. Thanks to my awesome memory skillz, we were there a whole hour early! Mitch was so GRATEFUL for getting up 45 minutes earlier this morning for...nothing. So we decided to check out Gonzaga University, one of my favorite schools of all time! Not only do they have an awesome basketball team, beautiful grounds, they are home of two of some of the funniest guys ever. Barats and Bereta.

Chickity Check them Out!


After some initial confusion with the elevator (Boy were there a lot of buttons!), we found our way to the neurology floor. It was decorated so cute! We didn't have to wait long at all and the doc came in and here is what we found out!

1. Aja won't have to worry about her children having hydrocephalus. It's hereditary in boys the majority of the time. Hers came about because of my traumatic pregnancy and birth.

2. Her issues with being overly scared and stuff does not have something to do with anything going on inside her brain, it's just her :) (we were worried about her having equilibrium problems and depth perception issues).

3. This is the best part (even though it's a small chance, it's still something to hold on to). We love Aja for who she is and we will help her with her shunt for the rest of her life if need be, BUT she may just have a blockage that they can essentially "clean out"! YES!! So what they would need to do is have her go in and do an MRI under sedation so they can pinpoint the exact problem and then from there they can determine exactly what type of hydrocephalus she has. All we do know is that she does NOT have a tumor there. We chose to not have them "explore" when first placing her shunt as she was so young and everything happened so fast, it was hard to decide what to do. We just needed to get her taken care of first. But this means that maybe in the future Aja may be completely shunt-free! If not, that is fine, but it would definitely be a bonus.

4. Doctor who listens to me = a happy Monique!! He was so nice and so helpful!

After wandering around the hospital, and for all you Scrubs fans out there it's called The Sacred Heart, we went to lunch and headed home. All in all...A good day!

Updates!

WOW! It's been so long since I have blogged. I can't believe it. Sorry about that folks. Life has been a bit crazy since moving to Washington so I haven't had time to really update. I know you all have been foaming at the mouth for a little look see at my house so I guess I will let you see it.

This was right before we moved in when it snowed here in Kennewick. It's not everything we want (houses move FAST around here), but it works for right now and we couldn't be happier.


Anessa and Peyton have both started at the local elementary here and have really enjoyed it. Of course there was some apprehension about starting at a new school, but both have found great friends and that's what matters. Schools in Utah were a lot more behind than here in WA so the kids have had to play catch up since being here, but they seem to be doing okay. Anessa will be starting middle school in the fall! Hope we survive. She is now officially taller than me for all of you wondering. She's raiding my shirts all the time and has started wearing a bit of makeup. She's getting so big. Peyton is pretty much the same. Hasn't grown much, but is a big hit with the ladies! He says he gets chased around the playground a couple times a week by a couple different little girls. Funny how they show "affection" at that age.

Cohen has started at the Discovery Center here and he is thriving. He makes us laugh all the time. I can't believe he will be starting Kindergarten soon! It brings tears to my eyes. I'm happy to say that he has earned his title of "The Kennewick Pimp". He certainly has a way with the ladies and always talks about his "girlfriends". Yesterday, while I was teaching Zumba, a friend of mines daughter and him were ballroom dancing around the gym. It was pretty funny.

Aja is a running, dancing, sneaky little girl. She recently got her first hair cut (pics to come soon) and looks SO SO CUTE! She's in love with her daddy and has him wrapped around her finger. She's always saying something funny that she's overheard from one of the family. She's still as tiny as ever, but getting a little bit tall. We have the best pediatrician here and she's been really good on keeping up with Aja and her needs.

Mitch is enjoying his job and recently got a bit of a promotion. We are happy about that. He really loves Kennewick and he really loves living in Washington. I'm so glad he's happy here. He's been hanging out with a good group of guys and goes and plays poker and basketball often. He recently got called to be Assistant Cubscout Master and he's really excited about his calling. He's been really involved in helping Peyton get his badges and passing off things. He's gotten back into running which makes me happy. He has always loved running and the weather here in Kennewick is AWESOME.

I've been doing really good. I've settled here in WA a lot better than I thought. I just decided that even though I'm far away from a lot of great friends, that it doesn't mean I can't make great friends here and keep the ones in UT too! It's been so fun to hang out with different groups of awesome ladies! I couldn't ask for a better life right now. I've been teaching Zumba for free at my church, but recently got a subbing job at a local gym here. I'm really excited about it. It's a great opportunity. Also, I've been training for a body competition in July. I've been working out at Gold's for about 1.5 hours daily and then come home and either teach Zumba or participate with my friends doing P90X six days a week. Everyone calls me the workout queen. HAHA! It makes me laugh. Some days it really wipes me out (like today), but I've really enjoyed the changes my body has made and how it makes me feel. Mitch has been 100% supportive the whole time and helps keep me motivated.

Anyway, that is a quick update. I will post more pictures in the future. I just had a minute to update. I hope all is well with you and yours!

Hard Times:

This post is very personal and actually really hard to write, but I kind of wanted to let people know what was going on with me so they could understand.

About 4 months ago, things at Mitch's work were not going well (not any fault of his own) and it started looking like things weren't going to last. Now most people who know me know that I can roll with the punches pretty good, but for some reason I was not bouncing back from this one. I started to have a lot of headaches and crying spells. I had been having a lot of problems with my sinuses so I went to an ENT who diagnosed me with an enlarged turbinate and eustacian tube dysfunction. Yay. It was easy to deal with although having a constant stuffy ear is never any fun. They did a CT of my sinuses and all was clear.

A few days later I started having a pain in the back of my head that wasn't going away, and the crying spells were getting worse. As in, I couldn't get off the couch and could barely take care of the kids worse. So I made an appointment with one of the local doctors who told me I had an anxiety disorder and put me on 20 mg of Prozac. The first night I was on that drug I was walking the house until 3 a.m. crying, scratching my skin until it was bleeding and not sleeping. So Mitch sat up with me and helped me to try and calm down.

I was on that drug for three weeks until it got way worse. I had lost 7 pounds, was very shaky and had even more anxiety than before. Then the "itch" started. It felt like an itch in my brain and it was driving me crazy. I couldn't function. The "itch" was basically consuming me. There was a day when Mitch had to come home and take care of the kids so that I could lock myself in my room and sleep it off in a Xanax induced coma. I called my doctor and he told me to just stop the medication cold turkey. Not smart. Less than a week later it happened again, this time I was on the verge of taking a knife to my head so that I could get the "itch". It scared Mitch enough that he ended up taking me to the emergency department. They did a full check of my blood and a CT scan of my brain. All normal. I was going through Prozac withdrawl AND on top of it all I am "allergic" to it.

I finally had had enough of this, so I made an appointment with a doctor in SLC who had done a lot of research on SSRI's and the like. He spent an hour with me. Read my CT reports said I did not have MS or a brain tumor (thank heavens!) and told me that I needed to get on something else. He also had me do a type of test that showed that I had a very high suicide risk and needed help. So he tapered me off Prozac while putting me on Lexapro and then gave me Klonopin to help with the constant anxiety I was feeling.

At this point things at Mitch's work had basically ended and he was able to stay home with me and help me with the kids. He was such a huge help during this time. He was just letting me sleep as much as I needed and was very understanding. Unfortunately, the Lexapro made me act like a zombie. I showed no emotion, I felt no emotion and I just sat there on my couch not doing much of anything. So back to the doc we went. Luckily, with the Prozac out of my system and the Lexapro doing it's job, I was no longer a high suicide risk although it's always there. He diagnosed me with "situational depression". He took me off the Lexapro and put me on Celexa which seems to work very well. Now if any of you know my life, you know we have moved...a lot. I guess it had finally taken it's toll. It's hard to admit this, and it's hard for me to "see" myself like this, but I'm glad that I'm getting "better". Situational depression can last anywhere from 3 months to a year. He told me I'm probably going to be on this medication for a year.

I've received many blessings and have been on my knees a lot and I know that I'm not alone during this trial of my life. I'm so thankful for my husband (who at this moment is mooning me and dancing around) who stepped up to the plate and played Mom and Dad for a good two months all while trying to keep his own emotions in check and trying to find a new job. I'm also thankful for my Zumba class and all my students and boss who were there to support me and helped me forget about my problems three times a week. I'm thankful for the Pilates classes that helped to get me out of bed every morning and get going on my day. I'm thankful for supportive friends who stood by me and offered a listening ear and would take my kids any time I needed them to. Most of all I'm so thankful for a loving Heavenly Father who helped keep me going even in my most darkest moments. I know this trial will just make me stronger and more sensitive towards those that are going through something like this. Lastly, I'm thankful towards both my moms, my dad and step-dad who all called me daily to check on me just to see how I'm doing.

The Last Supper:

A few days before we moved some of our friends threw us a good-bye dinner. It wasn't very long (I had Zumba to teach), but that 2 hours that we spent together was so much fun. I miss all of them so much. I miss Lisa and Doug and our Hand and Foot nights and dinners we would always get together for. She usually hosted since we have no table. My kids loved playing over there and we always had fun.

Here is my Lisa:


My friend Ginger and her husband Kevin are such a crack-up. It's great when you can be yourself around someone and they don't judge you. For some unknown reason (I'm thinking it's because Ginger finds me unbearably HAWT) we were always grabbing each others butts or doing something off the wall. I also loved to give Kevin, her husband a hard time....Can I get a little WHAT WHAT???


We had just started hanging out with the Hilton's, but man...they are a funny couple. Mitch home taught them and they both would come to my Zumba class. I loved to give Brent a hard time at class and Mindy would just sit there and laugh. Again, it was just awesome to get together with them because we would do nothing but laugh. They had such awesome personalities. I'm going to miss all of our friends, but not to worry we are planning some fun vacations this summer and the laughter will start again.

The Group:

Happy Birthday/Baptism Peyton!!

I'm really late in posting this. Life has been crazy, but I wanted to say a big Happy Birthday/Baptism to my boy Peyton!!

Peyton turned 8 on September 23rd. Eight years since that little boy entered our lives. He was such a cute baby, but definitely hard. I'm happy to say that he has turned into the most sensitive, cute, funny little guy ever.

We had a party for him that Saturday. He wanted to have a Star Wars themed party. I want to thank the following vendors for having what I needed to make this a galactic, wet day. Walmart: For having Star Wars EVERYTHING so I could decorate our backyard. Dollar General: For still having water noodles!!! We cut them in half and made them look like light sabers. They also had water guns that were pretty stars wars-ish looking and water balls for "bombs. Then finally to Family Dollar: For still having water balloons!! Thanks to my friends for the slip n slides and pool. Mitch and I filled and tied over 300 water balloons. They were gone in 15 minutes. We had 5 little boys and 2 girls over here and water was flying everywhere. They had a blast. Then a lunch of hot dogs (*gag*), chips, grapes and of course his favorite drink of root beer. We then did presents and of course he was stoked about everything he got. Then of course we dug into the Star Wars cake that took me 9 hours to make and was devoured in 30 minutes. Oh well. It is how it is. Then of course they trashed my basement (oh well) and home they went. I think he had a fun day. I'm actually positive he had a fun day because he couldn't stop talking about it.

We gave him a Nintendo DSi for his birthday. Boy, was he ever excited. He also got 4 new games to go with it from family members. Thanks! Those games are expensive.

On October 9th Peyton got baptized. He was the ONLY one in our stake getting baptized that day, so we had to arrange EVERYTHING! It was insane, and to be honest I wasn't too thrilled about it. As if I haven't been going through enough stress as it is, but I'm happy to say that it went really well. I want to thank my friends for bringing food and helping me out with prayers and standing in the circle. My grandpa said a talk on the Holy Ghost and I gave one on Baptism. Then came the dunking. It was such a beautiful experience and I'm so proud of him. He was baptized and confirmed by Mitch. What a great day. He looked like such a stud in his suit. I wish I had pictures of it, but of course I still can't find my disc.

Here is one of Peyton from when we got our family pics taken. So handsome.


We love you Peyton and are so proud of you and your decision to get baptized. You are such a wonderful boy.

Never Again:

Price doesn't have much to do. Seriously. So when we moved here, we had a lot of people tell us a bunch of free things that could be done around here. One was heading over to the local museum and watching them feed the snapping turtle, alligator and big lizards. So a few weeks ago, I asked the kids if they would be up to it. I will admit, I was a bit hesitant because...well...I know what they feed them.

So off we went. I felt pretty lucky in that there was only one other set of people there waiting to see the action. I did explain to the kids how they fed the animals and they seemed intrigued. What came next will forever haunt....all of us. Except for maybe Cohen. He thought it was cool. Weird kid.

First on the menu: A hamster. Apparently the pet store couldn't sell this particular hamster because it kept biting people. Fitting end for said hamster? I'll let you decide. Anyway, he tossed that sucker in and my kids literally gasped. The snapping turtle came right up and snatched it and took it way down into the murky depths of the tank. All you saw was sand billowing out everywhere. Next were a couple of mice. I don't think I have ever seen Peyton more terrified. He sat there with his hands over his mouth, trying not to scream as the alligator attacked each little mouse. The last mouse took a bit to get eaten and we watched the poor thing climb onto a rock...trying to live. Needless to say, my kids were quite well traumatized by the time they started feeding the lizards.

Here are a few of the lines from Peyton that echoed throughout the museum during this display of...nature:

"PLEASE!! We will take the mice home and take care of them if you don't want them!"

"NO! No! NOOOOO!"

"Mom. This is horrible. Will you please take us home?"

Me: So...uh..What did you think?
Peyton: I think I never want to see that again!
Me: Agreed.

So thanks to all of you who recommended this "activity" and said that it was actually pretty "cool". My kids have not forgotten it...and neither have I.

Age Old Question:

The battle has been going on for many years. Man vs. Woman. He-Man vs. She-Ra. Superman vs. WonderWoman. Batman vs. Catwoman.



VS.




I don't know when it happened. I don't know how it happened. But lately Cohen has been very aware of his gender. Not only have I gotten a line like this: "I will do it the MAN way!" but I've gotten a line like this "I want a burrito from a man!".

Seriously?

I'm still here!

It has been a really busy month! First of all my computer died SO SAD! but my awesome hubby surprised me with a new laptop! SWEET! So when I find my little disc to post pictures...I will.

Anessa has started Level 5 of swimming lessons and she's doing really good at it! She's going to be trying out for the swim team here in a few weeks. She has been working hard on her multiplication facts, reading and writing. I can't believe she's going to be in 5th grade!!

Peyton will be starting gymnastics here in a few weeks. The adventures in our house have not ended. Him and Cohen are constantly making up a new story line to entertain us with. He has also been reading up a storm. He reads so well. I'm one proud mom.

Cohen of course has been making us laugh with his quick wit and funny personality. We have been working on sight words this summer and he's catching on quick. He has been helping his dad out with the garden, and when I say that I mean he's been eating the peas out of the garden as quick as we can pick them. I can't get him to eat veggies that I make, but whatever works I guess!! Right?

Aja is doing really good. She's a little actress. She sings songs, dances and bowls us over with those pleading eyes every day. We. Are. Suckers. She's been having fun running around outside trying to keep up with her brothers. The poor girl recently had a run in with a spider or something, but she woke up with bites all over her face. She looks rough. I'm hoping they disappear soon. For now, she's sleeping in our room while we deep clean and hopefully kill whatever has gotten to her.

Mitch and I are doing really good. Just busy with work and raising our kids. I recently had the opportunity to do a Zumba demo here in Price. It was a lot of fun and hopefully will get more people interested in it. Mitch has been really busy at work, but he's managed to keep up on our garden and I'm happy to say that we have some fine pumpkin and squash plants growing and an endless amount of peas. Hopefully we get some tomatoes before it gets too cold. I was excited to hopefully get some raspberries, but the stinkin birds keep getting to them! I curse the birds! Life is good. Price is a great/interesting city. We are trying to learn to sleep through the hours of 2-5 in the morning when it seems that people like to come home or go to work. It's really weird. Price is a whole other world I tell ya!

Born on the 4th of July! No..Seriously.

My Grandma Moore was born on the 4th of July. Sweet. So we decided to pack up our bags and head to SLC for the weekend. Man. It was busy. We got into SLC on Friday and OF COURSE had to hit up our favorite Mexican restaurant, La Puente. Seriously. When you live in a teeny-tiny microscopic town and you head to the "Big City" you need to plan where you are going to eat because in your teeny-tiny microscopic town...there is NOWHERE to eat. Anyway, back to what I was saying. Saturday morning we managed to get my Pop out of the house and see the Last Airbender with us. Great movie! The kids loved it! Then off it was to my grandmas for swimming and birthday celebrations. Didn't get any pictures of kids swimming as I was in the pool too, but trust me..they had fun. After getting sufficiently wet, we went to the SugarHouse fireworks show. We hadn't gone for a long time and they had actually stopped doing it, but had managed to get funding to do it this year, so we decided to go. The kids had so much fun. I just love watching them because it makes me feel as if I'm getting some high parenting points.

Daddy and Aja waiting for the magic to begin. Hey..Nice garments, babe!


My mom and step-dad, Jim. He thought I wouldn't be able to get him on camera. Did I mention that I've got 4 kids? Yeah...I've got the picture taking skillz down by now buddy!


Peyton and my cousin, Chase, hanging out. Yep. I said cousin.


Ness with my cousin (far right) and a friend. They had fun and most DEFINITELY acted like girls. Aja kept trying to keep up with them. She would sit by them and gossip in her little toddler voice. So cute!


The birthday girl herself. She's having FUN! Whee!


We rarely ever get pictures of us together and I thought this one was cute.


So Aja was with the girls being girly, and Cohen was with the boys doing what boys do best, fighting with swords, but when the fireworks started it was a HOLY CRAP! DUCK AND COVER! moment and they dived into mine and Mitch's laps. Pretty funny. Aja wouldn't let Mitch un-plug her ears and she wouldn't do it herself. So this is how Mitch spent his time watching fireworks.


Cohen has the cutest profile. We make the best looking kids ever!


Sunday we headed off to Grandma and Grandpa Bennett's house. It was pretty chilly up there and my kids didn't want to be outside too much. So we played inside, looked at the garden and OF COURSE no trip to Idaho would be complete without Mitch burning stuff down. We had fun visiting and catching up with Grandma, and she got herself some laughs from my kids shenanigans. Unfortunately grandpa was sleeping when this picture was taken, but my kids sure do love him and grandma. They talked about them all the way home.