Our Growing Baby!!

Well I realize that I have not been very good at blogging for the last almost five months since we welcomed a little sister into our family.

So, I thought it might be fun to have a blog filled with pictures of her to see she has gone from this newborn baby . . .

to this cute little baby.

Here she is still in the hospital.

At two weeks old or so, as she is saying goodbye to Grandma.

How her brother and sister love her and love to be able to hold her.

(About 2 months old.)

Lizzie always wants our little girl to sleep in her bed.

The kids love their sandbox and loved having Chloe join them for a time.

All clean and wrapped in her towel.

(Three months)

Here she is all dressed up for her blessing. She just keeps getting cuter all of the time.

She has been able to meet some cousins close to her own age.

This one from Brian's side is about a month older.

And this little girl is my brother's daughter who is about 2 months younger.

And here she is will both of her cousins that are within a month older then her. They are all four months old in this picture.

Now for a close up of my baby girl! I might be bias but I don't think babies get much cuter then that!!!

Here is my tired girl after some family pictures.

In her new bed. She looks so small in such a big crib.

The kids are still happy to be by here, where ever she might be!!

And most recently, yesterday we went to a lake and she enjoyed getting her feet wet and wished that she could have gotten in more.

It is amazing how quickly they seem to grow and how quickly one forgets what they were like. Next week she will be five months and babies do seem to just get cuter as time goes on. She has really found her voice in the last few days. It is amazing to think that just a short time ago she was such a little baby. She hasn't yet started doing tricks like rolling over or sitting up, but she is getting stronger and she has really started finding her voice in this last little while. She smiles easily and sleeps well. She will put anything she can grab into her mouth and if she grabs your hair it is impossible to get her to let go. Lizzie will often come to me with a handful of hair that Chloe has just pulled from her head.

Here is a video from the day before she turned two months when I finally got on video her laughing. It is long but it is the best sound to a mother's ears.

We are so grateful to have this little one in our family!!!

Strawberry Picking and Fishawack

Last weekend, June 12th, we ended up spending a lot of time out in the sun.

Friday, we went to a nearby farm and picked strawberries. We ended picking two eight cup bowls full. I think the kids even enjoyed it, at least they did when I would let them pick.

On Saturday was the Fishawack festival in my town. In the morning I ran a one mile race.

And Brian ran a four mile race.

After getting cleaned up we spent a few hours walking around the main streets looking at booth and having a yummy lunch. It was a fun weekend even if we did turn a little pink (or red) after being outside for so long.

Split Rock

In the middle of April we decided to take a family trip to

the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania.

Our first big outing was to a nearby state park. First, we went to a giant field of boulders. It said that this field was created by glaciers melting and refreezing. The size of it was amazing.

Almost as amazing was how much the kids enjoyed climbing on them. It took them a little while to figure out how to do it, but when they figured out that holding on to the rocks was better then holding on the a hand they really enjoyed it. They still talk about it and want to go back.

We then went on a mile and a half hike to this waterfall. The kids love when the trail had big rocks on it that they could climb on and jump off. They did a great job on the hike. The only complaining came at the last little bit when we were climbing up to the road, and we did it in less then an hour. It made me realize that we need to do more outdoor stuff with these kids and hopefully they will like such things for the rest of their lives. I often think that they are to young to do things like this, but they prove me wrong most of the time if I give them the chance.

The resort that we stayed at had a group staff members that planed and carried out activities all throughout the day. It was fun to take part in some of these activities. It gave us a chance to let the kids try mini golfing. I'm happy that it was just one hole, because it took some work for them to get the ball in the hole. It was fun to watch them, and to help them.

The resort had a play ground which the kids made good use of on a few days. Again showing their new found love of swinging. It is amazing how high they will go now, three months ago Lizzie would cry to get down in the swing went, probably, more then two feet back and forth. Jamie wasn't much better, now they want to go higher and higher even in the big kid swings.

They also got introduced to the see-saw.

WE found that the kids really liked to be in the water and would ask to go swimming every morning.

Here is the rock that the resort is named after. It made a great background for pictures.

We also thought we would try out bowling. The kids were so cute carrying their light ball and throwing it down the alley.

And finally we decided to let them try some pool. This they didn't do quite so well at but it was still fun to help them try. I wasn't much help though, I don't think I hit anything in even on my own.

We had such a good time just playing together as a family and relaxing that we realized that we need to do more of it. Most of our vacations have been to visit family or to visit places. This was nice because we were able to have fun as a family and not feel like we had to be rushing to different places or doing things all of the time. I hope that we will get many more of these and be able to make memories with our kids like I have from the trips that we took while I was growing up.

Just Playing Around

I was looking through our pictures and thought that I would share some pictures of the kids just playing around.

These first ones are of them playing at a friend's birthday party at Pump It Up, which is a place with some blow-up toys. Like a obstacle course, bouncy castle . . .

and a big slide. This was the second time that we had been there and the first time they liked the slide, but this time it was to fast. It took them a while to like the bouncy house to, but finally got used to it as long as they didn't have to walk on it themselves.

These pictures are from a play group that we went to at a nearby park.

The kids have decided recently that they really like swinging, and it is now all that they want to do at the park. The best part about this park was that the swings were low enough that the kids could get on themselves. This was especially helpful as I was still recovering and could not pick them up, but also because they could play on them by themselves and I didn't have to spend all of my time there by the swings.

We got Jamie a toddler bed, also since I couldn't pick him up. One day I was cleaning it and the kids decided that they wanted to clean it instead. They spent quite a while scrubbing away at it!! Oh, the things that they find so much fun!!

I signed the kids up for a story time at the library, one week they were taught this great dance.

Easter Fun!!!

We had a great Easter this year, not only did we have Chloe around but Grandma was still in town to help us enjoy it.

To add to that fun a friend of ours invited us to an Easter party on Saturday. The kids got to dye Easter Eggs.

And then they had a big Easter Egg Hunt in the backyard. The kids all had tons of eggs by the end of it.

We had lunch with them and watched part of conference, before heading home to watch the rest of the talks.

That night we made our Easter cookies, but somehow this year they didn't get cooked enough. Someday I will perfect those cookies. They are really good when they turn out right!! Until then I will keep working on it and hoping that through making them I can help my kids to find joy in the resurrection and come closer to Jesus Christ.

Sunday morning the kids woke to find their Easter basket filled with goodies. After breakfast and getting ready for the day they went out to the back yard to find the lawn covered in more treats from the Easter Bunny.

It was lots of fun to watch then run around and collect the eggs. I found it interesting that they would pass many eggs and just pick up one from an area and then go to another. We went around the yard many times before they found all the eggs that the Easter Bunny left and there were a lot of them. I have no idea how I collected so many in just one year.

After all of the treats were found Grandma and Grandpa Hunter show up to watch conference with us and enjoy Easter dinner. They kids had a great time playing with their grandparents and distracting them from conference. (I have a feeling that the grandparents enjoyed it just as much.) It was a great day and we were happy to have some family with us. We missed that while living in England. It is nice to be a little closer to home and family.

It was also great to be able to hear from the Prophets and other leaders of the church. Even with the distractions, I found that many great things were said that I will need to study better. There is always such a great spirit that makes me want to do better and be better in all that I do.

Easter at the Farm!

Brian and Grandma took the two older kids to a farm nearby for a Easter event that they were having there. They got to see baby animals, like pigs . . .

and bunnies.

They went on a hay ride.

There was a Easter egg hunt in a hay maze.

And they climbed a hay tower.

I was told that they got scared with most of the activities offered. There was also a Easter Bunny to get pictures with, a corn box, and pony rides. All in all I think they have a great time, even with being a little scared of things and all of the people around.

Welcome Home Chloe!!

After four days in the hospital we brought home our little Chloe May.

The kids have loved having Chloe around. Lizzie loves to hold her and see her and take care of her. It has been fun to see how much she loves this little baby.

Jamie has also taken a great interest in his sister.

All of the kids really enjoyed having Grandma Neff around.

Feeding time!!

We are so blessed to have this new little baby in our home and we have been enjoying her very much.