More Swimming

I took these pictures of the kids at the pool, and thought they were too cute to not post them. Logan is so funny, and has become a really great swimmer. I love him and am so glad to have the pleasure of being his mom. I couldn't have asked for a sweeter little boy.
Christian is so fun to have in our family. He definitely brings the spice to the table. It has been fun watching him change and grow through the years. You can't see it here, but he has the most amazing dimples.
I love this picture of Gavyn it captures those beautiful eyes that he has. Along with his joker smile. He is a good little boy, but boy does he have a little spitfire in him.
What can I say about Jaidyn. He is such a joy to have around. He has the most inviting smile, and the cutest cheeks I have every seen. All it takes is a smile from him and it is like his get out of jail free card.
And of course then there is Emmalee. She is our little princess. And the bumbo she is sitting in is her little pink thrown. She has a house full of boys wrapped around her little pinkie. All she has to do is whimper, and everyone comes running.

The LA Zoo

Today 7/25/2008 we went to the LA Zoo. It was soooo.... hot. Regardless of the heat we did have a good time. Not all of the animals were out, since they were trying to keep cool too. On the overall we did have a good time, and got to see a few really neat animals. We are going to go back since we have membership. Maybe when the weather cools down a bit.
I had to add this picture of Emmalee. She looked really cute in the outfit that she wore, but since she is a spawn of both Andy and I and neither of us have a small head, she of course inherited our big head gene. No getting out of that one. The hat with the outfit barely fit her. It was so funny. She is a cutie though. We love her.

Funny story!! Yesterday Emmalee was screaming, and Logan yells at her to stop. Like she understands what he is telling her to do. So, we hear him yell at her, and we tell him that she is only a baby and not to yell at her. He tells us she won't be quiet. (I think he was watching a show or something.) We explained to him that because she is a girl, she probably will never be quiet, girls like to talk. It was so funny though. Logan is usually very patient, so you know she was really hamming it up. If we are not paying attention to her, she will let you know she does not want to be ignored. Logan got a full dose of that.

Going to the Beach

Saturday 7/19/2008 we decided to pack up the kids, and go down to the beach. All week the weather was really nice and sunny, and then of course when we decide to go to the beach it is a day that is overcast all day long. Although it was overcast, it wasn't cold, and the water was not freezing.
The boys had tons of fun. My brother Steven buried Christian in the sand. He was doing really good on the boogie board. Next weekend we are going to put him on a surfboard. He has been wanting to do that all year.
Jaidyn had tons of fun digging in the sand and getting it everywhere. He was so funny! He is not afraid of the ocean water, and he kept on running out in the waves to where Andy and my dad were standing. It was at least knee deep for them, so that makes it pretty deep for Jaidyn. Every time he would run out there he would trip and fall face first in the water and go under. Then he would get up, and start running again.
Gavyn and Cody were busy building a sand castle, and digging a giant hole. He had so much fun. He too loved the water. He was out there with us in the waves. At times they were kind of intimidating, but he stuck it out long enough, then retreated to the shore to get sandy.
Logan is a regular beach bum. He was swimming in the water like it was his own pool. He also did really good on the boogie board. Next weekend he will be taking on the challenge of the surf board too. He barely came out of the water long enough to get this picture of him.

I had to sort of let my guard down and realize that they are not babies anymore, and they are very good swimmers. They had a blast. We took their cousin Devin with us, and they all had a blast. They kept asking us when are we going to go back.

Hopefully this weekend will be better then last weekend. It will make it more enjoyable if the sun is out.

To Grandma's House We Go!

This week we had so much fun. Since Andy had to go to Texas for work we decided to take a trip to visit my grandma. It was a fun long drive. She lives in Kingman, AZ. Which is like a 5 hour drive. It was totally worth the drive though. She was of course happy to have us, and ready to feed us all.
As you all know girls are really rare in our family. So, when we named Emmalee, we wanted her name to be really special and mean something. So we decided that we would pick from others names to give it some meaning. My grandma's name is Vergalee, and that is where we got the 'lee' in Emmalee.
While we were there my Uncle Eric came over to see us too. I love my Uncle Eric. If you don't already know he is my favorite uncle, always has been, but don't tell any of my other favorite uncle's that. Anyhow, we got to hang out with him, and he got to see the kids too. Of course as you can see in the picture Emmalee is smitten, just like I was when I was a little girl.
Since my grandma has so many fruit trees the boys all got to do a little work, and help her out by picking some of the fruit from her trees. Of course they are always happy to help when ever they can. I like to think they get that from their daddy and grandpa Thorpe.
This is Logan and Jaidyn working in grandma's backyard. They all had so much fun. We can't wait till we get to go back. Next time though we are going to bring daddy with us, and stay a little longer.

Emmalee Update

Emmalee had a check up just this past week. She is getting so big! She has already more than doubled her birth weight. She was born weighing only 7lbs. 8oz. Well, her current weight is 17lbs. 12oz. and she is only 25 1/2 in. long. She is only 5 months old, so she is on the rather big side. She is cute as a button though, and always smiling.

Yesterday on 7/13/2008 she rolled over for the first time. I laid her down on her little activity mat on her back so she could look up at her toys. Next thing we knew she was on her stomach. It was so cute.

It is so funny how these silly little things mean so much and it is so exciting when they can do thing like roll over, smile, walk, or even talk. Then once we realize how much easier it was when they were just a sleeping little baby and they didn't get into EVERYTHING, we (I) wish that they didn't grow up so fast. It would be a lot easier to protect them from the scary things out there in the world if they all just stayed babies. I guess though we all get our chance to choose what kind of person we all want to be in life. The best we can do as parents is to teach our children everything that we can so that when they do go out into the world they have the knowledge to make the right choices.

Oh yeah, the outfit that Emmalee is wearing in the picture is 6-9 months. It barely fit her. I had to jiggle her butt to get the capris on her. She did look super cute in it though.

Summer Fun

Well, the summer heat has began, finally!!! We are sure glad to be back here in California. The boys are all enjoying swimming in the pool as much as they possible can. I swear I am starting to feel like I live there. Needless to say we all have great tans. So far everyone has learned to swim except Emmalee.

Logan and Christian tried out for the local swim team. They did really well, they just have to perfect a couple of strokes until they can be officially on the team. I think I was more nervous for them then they were. They have a great swim coach named Jessica who is also an associate of Andy's. She has been teaching them all the proper techniques. I am amazed at how good they are, and the amazing amount of energy that they have.

Logan is so funny he is all about the muscles. I told him the the more he swims the stronger his muscles will become. Right after that I noticed he would swim a lap then stop, and feel his biceps. After he got done he informed me that I was right, his muscles were getting bigger and harder. It was so funny! Then Christian got in on the action. Next thing I noticed they were comparing who had bigger muscles. Boys, they sure are funny sometimes.

Gavyn and Jaidyn are taking swim lessons also. They are so cute! Gavyn is in the process of learning freestyle. He is definitely our jokester. You know the guy that tells a joke, and then tries to keep it up even though it is no longer funny? Well, that is Gavyn. Jessica will try to teach him something new, and he does something funny, then she spends the next couple of minutes trying to get him to stop repeating the same thing. And of course that gets Jaidyn going. Poor Jessica, she doesn't have any kids yet. After teaching Gavyn I doubt that she ever will.

Jaidyn has definitely perfected the float. Andy, Jessica, and I have decided that he is the lazy swimmer. He just mainly floats, he adds a couple of kicks and a few paddles in every once in a while. It takes him forever to get across the pool, but eventually he does get there. He definitely is one of those stop and smell the roses kind of person.

Both Andy and I have decided to go back to school. Yes, you read that right. For him it is if anything an opportunity to advance at work. For me it is a productive way for me to get out of the house, and finish something that I started a long time ago. Wish me luck! It was hard enough to study with no kids, but now with 5 it might be a little bit stressful.

Well, this is our first blog, so hopefully I can get this right.