Xander is ONE!

I can't believe our Mr. ONEderful is ONE!  How does a year go by so quickly?! He is the easiest baby. Xander has 6 teeth, crawls like a pro, can do stairs (up AND down), eats everything, loves to go go go, loves his red car, and wants to do everything Nick is doing. He loves noise and craziness - so he is the perfect little man for our #6.

 

Scary Little Stair Climber

Well, it's official. The scariest time of toddler-hood. When your toddler can climb up the stairs but can't go back down and also doesn't have the sense to be scared of the heights or falling down the stairs. To make things even more stressful our stairs are wood - and land on wood.

The other day I was laying on the couch very jet lagged - just trying to rest for a bit - when Xander started crying. He normally doesn't cry - so I knew something was really wrong. I got up and started looking for him and he had climbed up two sets of stairs and was at the very top of the stairs almost to Ben's room. I tried to not scream, stay calm, and quickly (but not startle him) get to Xander and pick him up. Baby gates are great - but I just need him to learn to climb down the stairs and then I can rest again.

 

Church in Lahaina

Zack was too tired to stand up and take a picture for me. He always makes himself right at home - where ever he is....

We were able to attend church while in Hawaii - which is always fun. It is amazing to me how that building is filled every Sunday. I had to go out with the boys and discovered most the ward members were sitting in the RS or Primary room listening to sacrament meeting. It was quite the party in the halls and rooms.

Funny story, we wanted to get a whole family picture with Grandma and Papa so I called after two gentlemen as they were walking out of the building - only to discover it was Ed! We had a great chat, caught up a little bit (after we reminded him who we were!) and even met up a few days later at his house for a swim and tour. Blessings all around!

Father's Day

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We were able to celebrate this awesome guy of ours for Father's Day! The kids were so excited about this card they picked out that I had to record Christopher opening it. Who do you think these kids get their sense of humor from?!  Why are we so lucky to have Christopher in our lives?!

To finish off his special day, we tossed all the kids in the cars, boys in strollers, and Kal in a wheelchair and headed to DC!

Trek

A quick note about this video: While replaying it I asked Andrew what he is saying in it. I've always told Andrew he doesn't speak very clearly  - to which he emphatically responds that he does speak clearly. This video proves my point. Even ANDREW couldn't figure out what he, himself, was saying. So I'm right, right?  We tested it on Ben, Kallie, Andrew, Taryn and Nick - no one knows....

(Kallie thinks he is saying "the answer doth cometh to me")

Back to Trek! These two happy campers got in their old time pioneer clothes, straw hats, all their gear in a 5 galloon bucket, and headed out to Marriott Ranch! They were so excited. Andrew was upset because he didn't understand why he couldn't bring a knife, a gun, or any weapons of survival. I told him to ask the leaders.....

We have such a great group of kids in our ward! We had a pretty strong showing at the stake trek. It was great knowing our kids were going to be surrounded with so many people they knew - not to mention the incredible leaders who took such good care of them. Don't they look so cute?!

Once they got to the ranch they traveled 12 miles in 3 days pushing and pulling massive handcarts.  They would stop at a few places for a little devotional. They had such a great experience.

Andrew, Korynn, Erica, Aubrianna

Korynn, Kathryn, Gigi, Ian, Kallie (notice the ice pack - story is coming), Erica, and Andrew

Day one Kallie was helping pull the handcart with she got between the handcart and a tree. She sacrificed her foot and it got ran over by one of those huge cart wheels. Most people (ie, everyone) would have called it quits and come home.  Not Kal!  This girl walked 6 plus more miles on a horribly hurt foot.  I'll give that it's own post.

 

Kallie and Andrew came home tired, dirty, sick, and ready to appreciate a hot shower, hot meal, warm bed, and medication.

A video of them pulling the carts - looks so hard!

And a side note - we received an email from the stake presidency informing everyone that there had been cases of EColi reported. Apparently the cow pies all the kids were walking through were covered with it - which cased several kids to get very very sick. Super fun.

 

Hop-along Does it Again

Oh Kallie.  I love this girl. No, I adore her! But for the life of her she can't help but get hurt! A few month ago she ended up in a walking boot after going to a party with a bouncy slide house. This time she was on day one of trek - out of three days and 12 miles. A wagon wheel ran over her foot - then, because this girl doesn't ever complain, she walked 6 MORE MILES on this foot!  As soon as I got her back I took her home for a shower then right to Urgent Care. Everyone was shocked when it wasn't broken. The doctor said "some times the nasty looking ones surprise us". Yep, it looked that bad.

Want to feel like a weird/bad parent? Try explaining trek to a non-Mormon, healthcare provider. "We send out our kids, dress them in long dresses and long sleeves with all their things in big wagons that they have to push, sleep outside - oh yes, it is 90 degrees outside with 100% humidity. Oh, is that another tick on her?  Yes, she is sunburned, oh yeah, and she most likely has sun stroke.  Oh and she was throwing up too." I'm completely shocked they didn't call CPS on us....

Good thing we still have her walking boot....and we are heading to DC in a day and Hawaii in 4 days.  Should be great....