Better

After a good nights rest Eden is in much better spirits, Thank goodness after her crankiness yesterday I didn't want to go through another day like that. Our front yard roses are in full bloom and they make such a pretty place to take pictures of my kids.

 As  usual Eric was being a pill at picture time.

 I caught this one only after tickling him.

Oh and this was Josh's impersonation of a rock star and the annoying sound of a rock star to go with the look.

So Sad!

I'm not sure why but yesterday and now this morning Eden has been unusually cranky. It could be teething it could be something else. Nothing seems to make her happy so the only thing I can do is send her back to bed. I hope my happy girl comes back soon because this cranky one is driving me crazy!

I miss my happy girl's smile.

My favortie pictures from the camping trip

I'm so blessed that all my children loved being outdoors.

We went camping

We promised our boys that we would go camping this last weekend but with it raining last Friday we had to delay it till Sunday. It was an adventure the entire time. We camped at a place called Beckwourth it is about forty five minutes north of our home. It is usually a very private place to camp and be together as a family without the annoying interruptions from other fellow campers. It is also free to camp there which is a big factor as to why we keep coming back. Now the adventure to our little trip, Jason thought we had more than enough gas and being that it was Sunday we didn't want to break the Sabbath by stopping for gas, so we kept on going on to our camping destination. The only problem with that is there are no gas stations with in thirty miles of Beckwourth. Our gas light turned on just as we entered the camp grounds and quickly discovered that all the camping spots were full, so our only option was to find an old logging road and create our own camping spot. So thats what we did. We found a beautiful secluded spot where the kids could play and we could listen to the calm serenity of the place. We didn't worry about the gas at that time, we built our camp and had a really good time and being that it was still Sunday we held a little spiritual thought, Jason read from the Book of Mormon about the story of Christ coming to the Americas and teaching the people. Then night came and the temperatures dropped to  freezing. We had lots of blankets and before morning came all five of us were huddled together in our two person air mattress trying to stay warm. I think the baby was the warmest out of all of us. Needless to say Jason and I didn't get any sleep. Morning came and with it Sunlight which warmed us up a bit and we made breakfast and cleaned up camp and went for a fun family hike. I'm particularly pleased with how well our boys did. They are your outdoor loving guys.  Eden did really well on the hike all snuggled up to Daddy.  On our way home is when Jason started really worrying about the gas and the fact that there are no gas stations for thirty miles. I fell asleep that's how worried I was. I did try to be supportive of my husband but I had just spent an entire night freezing to death and the sunlight coming through my window put me to sleep just as fast as it did our three kids. I did wake up as we were coming up on the Beckwourth pass. I think Jason's unusual stressed out manner brought me back to consciousness.  At the bottom of Beckwourth pass was the happiest sight in all the world. A Gas Station. We made it and all was well. Even though we were colder than I had ever been I'd do it again. It's memories like camping with our children that will sustain our family through tough times.  

 home sweet home for the night

 Our air mattress was like three feet thick. I think Jason was tired of our old thin mattress.

 Our new tent was big enough for our huge air mattress a playpen and the boys beds if it hadn't been so cold this would have been a very cozy set up.

 our fire pit that Jason built.

 roasting hot dogs.

 This was Monday, we were getting ready for our hiking trip.

 I took this from the top of our hiking trip up the mountain. If you look really closely in the bottom right corner you can see our car.

 Top of the mountain with the boys. They walked up all by themselves.

 Mommy and Josh

 Eden was totally asleep before we got back to camp.

I think this was the most appropriate name they could have given this gas station. 

All in all the trip was well worth it!

Eric's not so good picture session

I'm trying to get Eric's birthday poster together for his and his cousins joint birthday party. Let me tell you Eric is a pill when it comes to having his picture taken. He doesn't run away he just makes nasty faces to get the picture time over with as fast as he can. These were the best pictures I could get from the picture session. Soon I'll start working on my nephews poster. I love seeing how much they have changed in three years.

Crazed smile

A smile / growl

I'm going to say cheese till my Mommy takes the picture

Starting to loose patience

The bored cheese

Not even trying anymore

Bored out of my mind

It only took me two pictures of Josh to get this one.

Experiment

I'm still trying to figure out all the settings on my camera and how the camera works. These are some of my favorites from my experiment. Eden as usual was more than happy to smile for the camera. Eric as usual was not but he has the most beautiful green eyes so he got his picture taken whether he was smiling or not. Josh as was all smiles for the camera, it's crazy how much Josh loves the attention from the camera.

 I just love her eyes!

 I finally got him to kinda smile

 The picture is a little blurry but it captures her sassy personality.

This was random Eric just got up and gave Eden a hug,

 I'm so blessed to have such beautiful children that love each other.

Yesterdays solar eclips

Just because we are a bit dorky and are very easily amazed by our Heavenly Fathers creations we observed the solar eclipse yesterday and I'll tell you it was amazing to see the ring of fire as I've heard it called. We are wearing very dorky glasses so at the very least you will get a good kick out of how funny we look. Eric and Eden both slept through the whole thing but Josh, Jason and myself enjoyed it. I hope many others took the time to experience the solar eclipse.

 This picture was taken at the beginning of the Solar Eclipse notice the colors are still bright.

 This picture was taken right in the middle of the eclipse. There were funny shadows being created by the phenomenon.

All over!

 goodness we look goofy and tired.

100 piece puzzle

Josh's teacher is busy clearing out her classroom right now and it seems that all the things she did not want are making their way to my house. One of which was a 100 piece puzzle. I felt it was to advanced for Josh but Josh sat down Friday afternoon and put that puzzle together on his own. It took him two days to complete it but his brother was courteous and left it alone for Josh to complete. Josh never ceases to amaze me.

Eden 10 months

Is Eden really 10 months old already? Time has just flown by us. Things Eden can do now, she can feed herself cheerios, she is no longer sensitive to dairy products, she is starting to crawl, she is beginning to pull herself up on things. She is very independent, more so than her oldest brother and if you have hair anywhere near her no matter the length she will pull it. She also has a nasty habit of biting to show her affection and well that hurts. She is a very happy baby girl and I love her smiles! Her hair is getting longer and we have been pulling it back into pony tails and pig tails with bows, so far she leaves the bows alone. She is fitting into 9month clothes and is getting chubbier. She is just right where she should be in her growth. Due to her bad habit of biting I weened her about nine and half months. She transitioned to formula without any problems. Eden loves food! We are so lucky to have her in our family.

This is a 12 month outfit. It's a little bit big on her but she looks so cute in it, It wont be much longer before she is busy running around with her brothers.

Piggy's

It is so fun having a baby girl. Today I made Eden some matching bows to go with her piggy's. tell me what you think.

Vegas trip part 2

Family picture at the water park.

 

We visited Jason's elementary school in Summerlin Las Vegas.

 We also stopped by his high school, 

 This was Jason's old house before he left on his mission, not much has changed in ten years.

 Eric having a little apprehension about swimming.

 Eden loving every bit of the water.

 Jeremy had fun playing with the kids. Someday he will make a terrific Dad.

After the pool party and dinner the adults settled down for visiting time and the kids had an amazing time playing with all the Austin's grandkids toys. 

Oh and did I mention that traveling would have been a lot harder if we hadn't had a DVD player for the car. Too bad the kids still got fussy around Tonapah but thats understandable they did travel around 650 miles in three days.

All in all it was a awesome trip!