Party time with the Grandmas

Over the past week and a half the kids have had there Grandmas staying here with them, and they have somehow managed to talk all of them into a sleepover. Grandma Jeannie and Great Grandma Lulu were here for a few days visiting before education week. Then Grandma Shirley came for a week while I was gone at education week. (unfortunately I took my camera with me and didn't get any pics of the kids with grandma Shirley. Or maybe she was the lucky one, cause I got them of the others)


Great Grandma LuLu and Ella

MaCayela with Grandma Jeannie

Great Grandma LuLu and Ella having a Tea Party with Mickey and Minnie.

No More Training Wheels

MaCayela has finally let Corey take the training wheels off her bike. She has been fighting us on it for over a year now and finally gave in. It only took her a matter of mins to figure it out and has done great with it.

First time Fishing...

On the last day of the Chappell reunion we decided to take the kids fishing up at the lake with Uncle Kerry and Michele. I was really looking forward to it until we got in the truck and started driving... the lake was only up the road maybe 10mins, but it was a winedy 10 mins, and then turned in to a 10-15 min windey, bumpy, dirt road. Which would normally be great fun in the truck, but this poor pregnant mama had not been feeling well all night, and then to add the drive... I spent the first part of the fishing trip just sitting on a rock not moving at all. But that didn't get to last long, before the boys had even got all the kids set up and poles casted MaCayela had caught a fish and was jumping around. (which meant mom had to get up and get on with the camera... That I did remember to bring. YEA for mom!)

MaCayela with Uncle Kerry with the first catch of the morning... She would not touch that thing for NOTHING!!!

Ella was so excited to catch her first fish and had no problem holding it.

Dallin went and picked up one of the poles that were just leaning against a rock and then started to struggle as he reeled it in... None of us knowing he had a fish on the other end that he was playing with.

Dallin and Daddy with the fish he reeled in.

MaCayela and Uncle Kerry waiting for the next fish to bite. Michelle on the side there.

Dallin's favorite part of fishing was just reeling in the line that we would cast out.

We finally talked Mac into holding one of the fish telling her it was just wet, not slimy and gross. Well if you click on the picture you can see that there is slim just hanging from the fish. Needless to say, she didn't believe Kerry or I about fish anymore.

I also caught myself a fish, but between the pregnancy and the smell and texture, I was not happy about having to touch it myself this time. (usually doesn't bother me) But how do you tell your kids that you just made hold there own fish that you aren't touching yours.

Ella just looked so cute there with her pole and waiting.

"You should see the one that got away... It was this big mom"

Ella, MaC and Dallin with just some of the fist that we caught. We let A LOT of them go.

Next Blog...

Have you ever clicked on the button at the top of the page that says "next blog"? I decided to see what was the next blog, so I clicked it and got to a really cute blog on making things with simple directions... http://makeitandloveit.blogspot.com/ I might just have to try this again sometime.

I'M MOVING OUT!

Ella has decided that she is moving out. She said that she would just like to try someone else house for a while. I'm sure the fact that her mom has had a short temper lately and she has got a good portion of it. Along with MaCayela going to school all day makes her sad to be home without a friend and mom is to tired to play much has nothing to do with it. But on the way home yesterday she informed Corey that she is moving out and going to live at the Hubers house. So when we got home she called Donna to ask if she could come live there and then proceeded to question Donna on if she will play with her and if she yells when the kids do something bad. (the whole thing had me in the giggles.) She then handed me the phone and said that I could talk to Donna while she packed and by the way, she needed a suitcase. I told her she could pack her overnight bag and then she was off to empty as much of her dresser as would fit in her bag. Well we let her know that the Hubers were busy that night and she would have to wait to go so she agreed to stay but only for a couple days, but that then runs into the time that grandmas are here, so she decided that she could wait until after grandmas were gone, but then she is moving. When I woke up this morning I noticed that Corey had shaved his goatee off and I made a comment about him shaving and he proceeded to tell me how last night during daddy time him and Ella made a deal that if he would shave (she doesn't like his whiskers, cause they hurt when she kisses him) she wouldn't move out. So this morning she begrudgingly unpacked her bag and said that she would stay.

Oh what a 4yr old comes up with and the joy and excitement that she brings to our family.

Happy Birthday

To a Wonderful Man in our life....

GRANDPA AL!

grandpapa your a handyman
if you can't fix it no one can
and even though your turning 89
it won't stop you from doing plenty
you help out even though we say you shouldn't
you do things that we know we couldn't
if I were you I would be proud
for raising a weird and wonderful crowd
for loving your kids and then theirs too
for helping people as we would help you
and we hope you have a great day
and that this time is happy in every way
happy birthday to you and we hope you have fun
everyone thinks your brilliant and we love you a ton
so gather round and lets all shout
because we are so privileged to have a man like grandpapa AL about

Hangin with the other Hanks

We have really enjoyed being able to live close enough to Corey's brother and family to get together more often. The girls even got to go down to Salem and spend the night with there cousins one day. But more often lately we get to go out with them on their boat this summer. This past weekend we went down to the Hanks reunion and thought instead of driving all the way home we would just stay with Darcy and his Family and have a fun filled day at the lake or carnival in Spanish Fork with them. Well the Carnival was dieing down so we voted for the lake (which was iffy its self, it was looking like rain that day.) I don't always get pictures, but this last time Corey tried wake surfing so I thought that I would get some pics and videos of that.

Corey's First attempt at Wake Surfing

Ella and Mac learning to trust in their life jackets

My cute niece, Talia, she was trying to decide if she would jump in or not

Dallin deciding that it was nap time right then and there.

My legs after the boat ride. You would think that at my age I would remember to sunscreen myself. It took almost 3 days for me to be able to wear anything over them or even straiten and bend them without pain.

Hanks Family Hoopla

This is the first summer that we have been around for family reunions on the Hanks side, so we have been bombarded with them. We headed down to Fairview canyon for the first of the reunions. We only made it to dinner on Friday night, but had fun going down to say Hi... We didn't get to stay long and didn't get my camera out, but Allysa got some cute pics of Dallin with Grandpa Walt.

First Day of First Grade

MaCayela had her first day of first grade yesterday. She has been very excited about school coming and being there all day. She has Mrs. Fullmer and decide already that she is the best.


She was given a entry test on Monday that the teacher was very impressed with her and where she is, she completed without any hesitation all the sounds and words on the first list. Mrs Fullmer then decided to let her try out the second list of words and she did them all with only some slight hesitation on a couple of them. MaCayela then completed all the numbers given to her up to the last one which she replied "One Hundred and a Two", it was 1002. Not bad sense we have really worked on the thousands if figured.

Nap time Dallin style...

The other day was a crazy one for us with lots of errands and things to do. The last one on our list was Target and by this time it was about 2:00. Which is 2hrs after Dallins nap time and with Dallin he really likes his naps and most of the time goes and takes them without me ever telling him it is time. But this day I was so pleased with him for being such a good sport and no major breakdowns until we hit the "Thomas the Train" isle at target, (and boy I tried to walk past that isle REALLY fast and he still saw it!!) "TRAINS MAMA", "TRAINS MAMA" that is all I heard (and the rest of the people in the store) for the next couple mins. while I was looking for something else. So being the sucker that I am I told him if he would just be good for 5 more mins we would look at the trains. He was good so we went to look, and lo and behold they were clearanceing out some of the Thomas stuff, so again being the sucker that I am told him for being so good today he could pick out one to take home. He picked out this like train wash thing and held it to him like it was his lost teddy bear. He would barely let the checkout lady scan it and then readjusted his hold on it. Being that it was now close to 3:00pm and he was exhausted I figured that he would have no problem taking a nap. Boy was I wrong... Not that he was naughty, but I let him hold his new toy for his nap and when I went to check on him this is what I found...

He was still being so good and quiet, but he was playing with his toy.

Happy BIG 4-0!!!

Yes, that is right, Corey is forty!!!

He didn't want anything big for his birthday, and since we don't know many people here it was kinda easy to oblige him on that one. (now if we were still in Calif. that would be a different story!) On Sunday when we were talking the only comment Corey said was I really don't want black balloons hanging everywhere. So we also obliged on that one. BUT he didn't say anything about anything else but black balloons!!! So we put banners up on the garage, wrote on all the windows of his truck, and put streamers all though the house. (I did all that after he went to bed Mon. night) We even got up early and made him breakfast in bed. All in all it was lots of fun for the family, and the kids loved all the fun decorations they got to help with.



We actually got all his windows, but the pics didn't turn out that great.

The back window said" Happy 40 Sweetie" ~ I think he was hoping there wouldn't be any #'s anywhere.

All the neighbors got to know that it was his birthday, that really made him happy.

To help him keep his youthfulness Corey got a whole bunch of Nerf dart guns to play with the kids with.

I just want Corey to know that the kids and I love him so much. He really is the best husband and dad in the world and we appreciate all that he is and all that he does for us.

Summertime!!!

This summer we really have been busy when it comes to going somewhere on the weekends. (or I was laid up and couldn't do anything even though we were home.) So we decided that since we were home for the weekend we should have some fun with the Water slide, a BBQ, and homemade ice cream. (In our family nothing says summer like a BBQ with homemade ice cream and some water fun.) We are still getting to know some of our neighbors so we invited the Jaffa Family down and then Corey's brother Darcy and his family came up. The kids had a blast going on the water slide until they were literally BLUE from the cold water and the adults enjoyed just sitting and talking.

I gotta tell a funny from a kids mouth though.... Corey visited Ella's Salon last week at the ranch and she painted his toes a deep purple color. Thinking that I had polish remover at home he didn't seem to worry about it. When it came time for him to remove the polish, I remembered that we had used the end of it and not gotten more yet. So Corey had to put on his flip flops with his purple toes.....
Elise: (in a very quiet voice as to not bring attention to the conversation or offend Corey if he overheard.) Annaleesa, Does your husband know that his toes are painted.
Me: Yes.
Elise: Why are your husbands toes painted?
Me: Ella painted them the other day, when you were little didn't you ever paint your dad's toe nails?
Elise: Oh no, we didn't ever paint my dad's toes. (Then she tells me very matter of factually) Boys are not suppose to have painted toes.
She was so cute with her ways, that it just made me laugh. ..... I am glad to say that we did get some polish remover and took the purple polish off of his toes.



From the top... MaC, Faith, Cole and Elise Jaffa

Talia and Jensen Hanks

Cole Jaffa making a splash. (I can't even count how many times he tried to get an adult to stand at the end of the slide to watch him know he would soak them, He was a crack up!)

My little Ella Bella just Freezing after playing in the cold water.

Weekend at the Ranch...

We go down to visit Corey's parents quite often lately and the kids are loving all the fun of it each time. They have gotten to see different seasons and chores that are on the ranch. They love going to check on the animals and seeing how much the chicks, pigs and calf's have grown since the last time we were there. They also enjoy going to see what grandpa Walt is doing out in the fields. (This time he was cutting the hay) This past weekend as we went to the ranch it was fun for the kids to get to know their cousins again. The cousins live in Boston and spend summers down at the ranch, but it has been two years since we have been at the ranch at the same time.



MaCayela driving the mule over to rescue Corey and I from having to walk back across the fields.

Corey and I moving sprinklers so the hay can get cut.

The kids think it is so funny that the tire on the tractor is so big... Ella says it makes them look so small.

Ella, Dallin, MaC up in the tractor with Grandpa Walt. All they wanted to do is ride with him while he was cutting the hay.

Ella giving her try at driving the mule, she definitely needs some lessons before going off the farm, we were ALL over the road.

Ella and MaC getting lessons from Corey on the art of Badminton

While there it was Grace's 7th birthday. (her and MaC are just months apart and had a great time playing together.)

Ella giving Grandma Shirley a makeover while she relaxes. (I would show you the after pics, but I promised grandma I wouldn't post them.)

It's a....

We are excited to announce that we are having a....

BOY...
(I am sure someday he will be so glad that I posted this lovely picture of him in all his glory)

The girls are so excited for it to be a boy, they think that maybe then Dallin will leave them alone when they play because he can play with the other boy they say. We actually took the kids with us to the ultra sound and the girls were thoroughly fascinated with the fact that you could see inside my tummy. They got really good a telling what was what and picking out the heart. The most exciting part for them and they asked the dr a couple of times for it was the sound of the heart beat, that they just loved.

The baby is doing well and expected to come sometime in Nov. We are actually due around the 25th. (Right between Ella's birthday on Nov 7th and MaC's on Dec 4th) But I have been induced about 10days to 2weeks early with all of the others and the meds that I am on this time will most likely have it that way again. (I am hoping before the 20th so his birthday won't ever be on Thanksgiving.)

To the BEST....

I have the best girls in the world!! These two have been fantastic lately. I have been down and out with a herniated disc in my back since June 30th. I have barely been able to get out of bed let alone walk. My two girls have been amazing though. MaCayela has taken to doing the laundry at our house, she can load the washer, start it, and then switch it to the dryer (she is even better at remembering to clean out the lint trap then I am). She is just like me in the since she does not like to fold and we have about 9 loads of laundry to fold sitting in the family room. She has also stepped up in getting breakfast and lunch out for the kids and then helping with Dallin and his baths and dressing him daily. Ella has taken on changing his diaper (as long as it doesn't stink she says) and keeping the kitchen and family room picked up. They have also helped with running up and down the stairs for all the little things that mom might want and help with all that I have tried to do.

These two girls really are amazing girls to have taken all this on and at such a young age. It has been about 10days of this and they have rarely complained about it at all. They really are troopers and fantastic little girls.

July 4th...

I have been down flat on my back for about a week and a half not doing much of anything, so 4th of july was not anything big for us this year. We did enjoy some time neighbors and the fireworks that they set off... and of course the sparklers.........

MaCayela showing off her mad sparkler skills

Elise Jaffa (in the red) and one of the other neighbors... can't quite tell who.

Fresno

The second week that we were in California was spent just catching up with friends and family. We had sleepovers at Auntie Karyns house, play dates with friends, shopping for earrings with auntie and grandma, and catching up on some pool time. (nobody in Ut has a pool that we know, and the fact that it has rained for the last 3weeks and is raining while we are in CA doesn't lend as well to pool time either.) Mom (me) got to have a fun night out with girlfriends to see a movie and dessert. (Thanks DeLynn for babysitting) We enjoyed BBQ's and Farmers Market with the family and friends and I even got to get my toes done. It really was a fun time that went by all to fast.

~Fun at Auntie Karyns~


Dallin playing in the hose

Ella, Katy and Mac playing pool games

Dallin and Trevor watching morning cartoons.

~Play dates with Friends~


Mason Sapp and Ella ~ The Bestest of Friends

Spencer Folsom and MaCayela ~ MaC's first boyfriend from Kindergarten

Hannah DeWitt and MaCayela ~ Truly Best Friends

~BBQ and swimming at Papa and Grandmas~


Hannah DeWitt, MaCayela, Mason Sapp and Ella

The Girls playing in the pool

Mason and Ella after a long day being asked to smile

Hannah and Mac tired and worn out taking time for some TV

A horrible picture of LaShay and Myself, but it was the only one I got between her visit to Utah in May and ours here.

The girls and Mason have a sleepover!!

~ My fun Pedicure Day~

~ Farmers Market ~


The real reason we go to farmers market is not the produce, but the shaved ice. Ella and Virginia Belair

Dallin enjoying his treat

Virginia and Don Belair, Dallin and Grandma

The California Ground Pounders

Don and MaCayela trying out their dance moves