Trip to Texas

We took a trip to Texas in June to visit Dave's family. The kids actually drove back there first with their aunts Jennifer and Carrie. They were nice enough to take Jacob, Kera and Michael back with them so they could visit with Grandma and Grandpa Goar. With Dave's dad's poor health they were unable to make the trip to Utah, so we brought the kids to them. That meant that Dave and I got to spend two weeks alone with Ryder, who was just two months old at the time. It was nice to have a little bit of a break, especially with Ryder being so fussy with his colic and reflux. I got to catch up some on my sleep and it was really helpful. Then Dave and I drove up with Ryder and met them in Texas. We got to spend a week with Dave's family. The kids were able to go swimming almost everyday while they were there, and I was amazed with their progress when we took them swimming. ( Jacob conquered his fear of the deep water this summer and even jumped off of the high dive at our ward swimming party.)

We were in Texas for Father's Day, so I took pictures of the kids holding up letters to spell #1 DAD and I framed it for Dave for his father's day gift. Here are the pictures from it. Also while we were there Dave's mom had easter stuff for the kids, they dyed easter eggs, had a money easter egg hunt, also had some confetti eggs. She even had little cakes for each of their birthdays since she doesn't get to spend these holidays with them. We love our Texas grandma!

Jacob's 9th Birthday ( a little late)

Jacob decided to have a basketball themed birthday party this year and invited about 9 friends over to his birthday party. They played basketball games and I attempted a basketball cake for him. While we were waiting the boys spent time on the trampoline. It turned into a huge WWF type wrestling match and I was a little worried that someone was gonna get hurt or the trampoline would suffer. But everyone remained intact and the boys had a great time. Happy belated 9th birthday Jacob!

Five Month Recap/September 11th

Oh my poor neglected blog. It's been so long I almost forgot how to post stuff. :) A friend of mine posted on her blog when she had her 3rd baby that "baby #3 tanked her blog". So for me, baby #4 tanked my blog. I have to take some responsibility and not blame it all on Ryder. I've been lazy. It seems like once you get far behind you're left wondering where to even begin.

So I will begin here. Today, September 11th, 2011. I will pause for a moment to remember that momentous occasion 10 yrs ago when our country came under attack. I remember that day clearly. Dave and I were married without any children, although we had just found out we were pregnant with our first child, which made the whole day even more scary for me. I was soon going to be a mother and I was wondering about the state of our country after being attacked by terrorists. I was staying at my parents house in California while Dave was in Texas at a training for his job with Merck. I was relieved to hear his voice on the phone since we were unable to be together. I also remember the speech that Pres. George W. Bush gave that day. I thought it was a great speech. I believe Pres. Bush was sincere when he said that America needed to defend our country and our freedom and that an attack like this would not be repeated. He said we needed to band together to fight the evils of the al queda and those that were trying to destroy America. I believe that as a country we did come together after that day in love and support for our country, for those who lost their lives, and for the freedoms that we enjoy. We need to always remember what a blessing it is to live in a country like ours and to take pride in it. I feel blessed to be an American. I know there are people out there who love to destroy our country and try to tear it down and change it from what it was divinely created to be. Okay, I will step off my soapbox now and post some pictures. As that is what blogs are all about anyway, right? I have so many pictures to post that I will do it in installments so as not to overdo it.

We'll start with Kera's kindergarten graduation. The first is a video of one of the songs they sang at the graduation. Then there is the class throwing off their caps, Kera and her teacher Mrs. Robbins, and Kera with one of her friends from class.