Frogs in our Pool

 Being back at Orchard has perks. One of the perks (which is one of the downfalls also) is that we have a pool.When we lived here before we found ducks, and once we even found a frog. Well this morning we were eating breakfast and guess what we found swimming in our pool? Yup frogs! The boys were so excited. Jacob was using the net to get them out which seemed to take too long for Eli. He just laid down on his tummy and started catching them all by himself. He is a frog charmer. Liam was so excited he starting hopping around the pool like a frog. We were worried the boys would be too rough with the frogs, but they were not. They were pretty good with them. After we were done we let them out of the pool, however I keep seeing them in the pool every once and a while.

Instagram July 6th - July 14th

 Eli and I are having fun cheering for the rattlers.

 If you missed our yard sale today you missed your opportunity to purchase this gem from Jerel.

 This is the back. Aly found a really nice spot for the price tag.

 Making his birthday party invites! It's a super hero party. Notice the capes I am making in the background. Obviously his birth was one of the best days of my life.

All done with 18 capes for Eli's super hero party.

The 4th of July

Being a resident of Arizona it makes enjoying parades almost impossible for the 4th because of the heat. Since I am pretty patriotic, and my boys love parades I hate to miss them. That is why we always go up to Show low for the 4th. Jacob had a lot of work to do so he couldn't come, and since it was in the middle of the week this year the rest of my family didn't want to drive up. I was going to go up by myself, but Jacob didn't love that idea. I decided I would text our Friends the Lake's to see if they could come. I knew it was a long shot since it was a last minute invite, but I got lucky. The Lakes were looking for what they wanted to do and Greg had the next few days off. So we went up with our buddies. The Lakes are fun to get together with because their kids are super sweet (Eli and Liam just love them) and Greg and Chelsea are always a lot of fun!

The boys and I slept at the Cabin alone because the Lakes couldn't come up that night. We ended up meeting up with them in Show low just before the parade. Now don't let the pictures fool you it really was the 4th, but yes we are wearing coats and beanies. For some reason the weather this year was cold. Everyone down in the valley even enjoyed nice cool weather. Anyway but to the parade...we really enjoyed it. The kids got lots of candy, and Liam got to see lots of horses. After the parade we played at the park, then headed to lunch. After lunch we went back to the cabin to play and relax and do whatever we wanted. That night we went to Payson for the fireworks. Not a lot of places could even have fireworks because of the fire warning so were were lucky they were having them at all. Anyway after waiting what seemed forever the fireworks started and they were totally worth the wait. They were so good and lasted forever. Liam and Eli loved it and Liam would yell boom!

p.s everyone has Eli to thank for the beautiful weather this 4th. I told him how the forest really needed rain so there wouldn't be fires. He started praying for rain. Even that night he prayed for rain again. Let me tell you there wasn't a cloud in the sky but the next day we had rain and wonderful weather.

Instagram June 14th to July 3rd

 Liam sleeping UNDER the dog bed

 My boys enjoying sushi. Or in Eli's words shhshi

 There are so many things I love. this boy and this moment is one of them.

 We are busy cleaning around here. Eli's cleaning toilets and Liam's working on the floor.

Best part of my day was walking in nature with my boys learning all about pine trees.

20 Weeks

Today marks my 20th week of pregnancy. I feel like my tummy started off growing really fast and then totally slowed down. I do however now feel her kicking when I lay on my back. She is much more active then Liam. Eli was active in the tummy too. I like more activity in m tummy it is so reassuring to feel them move around. I have been feeling better and I have been able to stop taking my pills. I still get sick but I don't throw up or dry heave any more. I have started to get cramps in my tummy if I do to much. So this pregnancy I just have to keep taking it pretty easy. I can or don't even work out!

We're having a baby...

Today is the day we found out the sex of our new baby. Jacob and I have been pretty excited about this appointment. Actually we have been excited about this appointment with each of a children. It is always fun to find out a little more info about this exciting development in our family. Everyone in the world thinks it's a girl because I have been so sick. I am not so sure because in my head I am going to be a mother of 5 little boys. However I do have to agree that this pregnancy is NOTHING like my rest and in my opinion has been much more difficult. Since it is so different I am thinking that maybe, just maybe it could be a girl.

Jacob was able to go into work late since my appointment was in the morning. We dropped the boys off with his mother and headed to the appointment together. This time waiting was much more comfortable, because they didn't make me drink as much water. So that was a major plus. The Ultrasound girl did lots of the regular test (you know the test that the ultrasound is actually for) then she got around to the sex. We are pleased to report that we are having a baby girl. We are shocked and very excited!

We told the boys in what I thought was a very cute way. We filled a box with pink ballons and then let them open it. As the balloons came out we sprayed them with Silly string. We have a video of it, but for some reason it won't let me upload it. Let's just say it ended with both boys in tears! Liam didn't like being sprayed and Eli caught one of the balloons but once we sprayed him he let go of it, so that upset him. Then he decided he was upset that we were having a girl even though we wanted a baby sister.

We're going back to Orchard... after we give it a facelift

In the mist of our home going under contract our tenants at our Orchard house were moving out. Jacob got to thinking about it and he thought it was be a fabulous idea just to move back in. I had some reservations about this: the home was small to us with just the two boys now we are adding another baby, the yard isn't child friendly, it had zero storage and a few other things here and there. However after thinking about it more I remembered how happy we were there, we loved the ward,  it would be nice to move back to smaller home, then I would have more time to spend with my boys rather then cleaning. Plus we would be saving lots of money. The idea started to get better and better. Jacob and I sat down and talked about it. We went to dinner and talked about it. To be honest sometimes we even argued a little about it. Then when it came down to it we realized all the things we didn't like we could just fix. Then the home would be perfect. Plus this wasn't a long term choice we would be there 2 years tops. We both feel great about moving into our old home and are very excited about this decision!