Riley Turned One!

I really can't believe it has been one year since this sweet girl joined our family.  She is so calm and loves her brother and sisters.  She has a silly smile and her first words were mommy, daddy and doggy.  She loves her blanket and never sleeps without it. 

 

This is the morning of her birthday.  

 We were driving to Oregon the next day, so the kids helped clean out the car.

 We just did chocolate muffins instead of cake and ice cream.  She wasn't very happy with the muffins.  I guess I should have added frosting.  ha ha

 Sadie and Zac made Riley some rattles out of cups and easter eggs and rice.  And lots of tape.  ha ha. She loved them!!

 She loved her candle. She wanted to grab it but we blew it out before she could.

Riley started taking steps on her own a few days before her birthday.  She takes more and more steps everyday.  Happy birthday Riley!

Hike with friends

 The week we were going to leave for our vacation to Oregon, Rob spent three days at scout camp.  My friend asked me if I thought we could do the waterfall hike by ourselves with our combined 8 kids.  So we decided to try it.  I never realized how much help Rob was on our hikes until I went without him!  That trail was a lot more steep than I remembered it being.  ha ha

 Here we are at the beginning.

 We made it to the waterfall!  IT was so nice and cool there and it was empty!  Score!  So we let the kids play around in the water and rocks.

 Sadie and her good friend Jake.  

 On the way down I just told the kids to slide on their bums because I couldn't be there to hold all of their hands and it was pretty steep.  This was them at the bottom.  ha ha

 We had a picnic after the hike.  These kids are the cutest! And great little hikers!

On our way home I kept hearing these two laughing really hard at each other.  When I looked back this is what they were laughing at.  ha ha.  

Reading with Daddy

Rob really dislikes reading girly books to the kids.  So whenever Emery asks him to read a My Little Pony or Strawberry Shortcake book, he has to do something to keep him interested.  So he makes up weird voices for all of the characters.  The kids love it.  Oh and I think it is funny that the whole time Emery is picking her nose...and eating it.  Yuck!

Scripture Reading

Sometimes scripture reading in our house seems like a circus.  This particular night all of the kids crawled into a sleeping bag and giggled the whole time.  Someday I will miss this. 

4th of July

This year for the 4th of July we had no plans.  It was kinda nice just going with the flow and doing whatever we wanted.  ha ha.  Rob had Friday off of work and so we went to the splash pad.  I actually wore my swim suit this time because the last time I didn't and it was really hot!  But this time it was breezy so it was chilly when I got wet.  Oh well, it was still fun. 

 My kids are getting so good at looking at the camera at the same time!!!  :)

 So fun.

 Riley just crawled around and licked the water off of her hands.  

 And when did she get big enough to actually play on the playground?!

 This swing is almost never vacant so we had to try it out when it was free.

 It was pretty fun.  I couldn't stay on it too long because ever since having kids, swinging makes me feel sick!

  Emery was so cute.  She played in the water the most.

 Poor Riley.  I kept seeing blood coming from her toes.  I guess she drags the tips of her toes on the ground when she crawls.  ha ha.  She didn't seem to mind at all.  

 Later that night we went and got snow cones.  Yum.  It was so hot that it was melting faster than we could eat it though.  :) 

 The next morning we went to the parade.  We drove part of the way and walked the rest.  Let me just say, I enjoyed the parade so much better this year than last!  Last year I was 8.5 months pregnant and it was SO HOT!  This year there was actually cloud coverage and a nice breeze. 

 The crew. 

 At the beginning someone came over and gave flags to all of the kids.  

And this clown was kinda freaky.  But that didn't stop my kids from going up to him to get a piece of candy.  ha ha

In the evening we watched fireworks in our front yard.  There were SO MANY all around us.  Our neighbors must spend tons of money on fireworks.  Riley slept in her room the whole time and Emery mostly cried because they were too loud.  It was a good holiday.  I am grateful for this country that I live in and the freedoms we enjoy. 

Father's day/ Rob's birthday

Ok so all the pictures above are ones we took for Rob for Father's day.  I printed them out and put them in little frames so he could have them at work.  And I just think our kids are the cutest!  :)

Rob's birthday happened to fall on Fathers day this year.  Double bonus! Church starts at 9 this year for us Rob didn't really get to sleep in since he had to pick up the young men to set up chairs at 8.  Happy birthday!  ha ha  We invited Rob's family over to have dinner and cake and ice cream.  Rob requested mac and cheese pizza (a Kevan specialty) and I made some ribs too.  The kids made him a treasure hunt all by themselves.  It was a great day.

Here Rob is reading some of the fathers day books the kids made for him.  I love this picture.  This is what I see every night before the kids go to bed while Rob reads Calvin and Hobbes to them.

Rob and Luke had to have a tickle war of course.  Sadie joined in.

Brothers.

Rob let the kids help him open his presents.

William loves Uncle Alan!

We got these shirts for Rob.  The kids modeled them for everyone.

Singing happy birthday.

ROb blew out all the candles.  And yes...I put 34 candles on that cake!

And of course...we ended the day with a video chat to his parents.  

Happy birthday and fathers day to the best dad and husband in the world!  He rarely complains and I don't think I have had to take the trash out in months!  The kids just adore him and things get crazy when he gets home from work because they just want to play!  ha ha.  We love you Rob!