Do I hear a drum roll? Yes, I do! It must be time for our annual update. Rainee has been incredible busy chasing the kiddos around so the responsibility has been passed to me. I'm really not at all bothered by the idea, in fact I'm rather excited to share some wonderful events. This past year I've slightly rekindled my love of photography. So I am going to share a small selection. I've found that it's much easier taking the picture, editing and storage is what kills ya!


Chloe and I enjoying the fire pit behind our house. Everyone wanted to dive directly into the smores but being a good parent I made them eat the hot dogs first!


Many of you have been requesting updated photos of Hunter. Well here he is, smiles and all!


I always thought that Adelyn was going to be a wonderful cook. Then I realized that she seemed to always help me when I was making cookies, and for some reason she almost always disappears as soon as we're done mixing the dough... I wonder why?


I couldn't resist this shot. The kids love playing on an old snapper garden tractor stashed in the back yard next to the shed.


This is the view of the Kenai river behind our house. Takes all of 30 seconds to walk here from our back door. I'm a little nervous hanging out here in the summer time without a gun, too many bears.

twins first walk outside

wow...three days in a row...I think this might be a record for me!!!
I just have to say that I finally did it. I finally took the twins outside, and let them walk around...together with just me and the dog!! They were so cute. We walked down the street to let Rudy run around and they were waddling around in their cute little pink boots. Aubrey thought it was fun to try and run around and make footprints in the snow. Chloe was a little more cautious and was typically about 15 feet behind us, at least until the return trip! They had sooo much fun. We saw a small plane fly overhead and Chloe was so impressed, staring up in the air with mouth open wide in awe. Aubrey was to interested in everything else to notice it. They tried to pick up every snowball and rock they saw. They also got to experience the falls from walking on slippery ice and the crunchy ice that cracks and crumbles when walking on (Chloe found this especially interesting, until she kept falling and couldn't stand anymore!) Their cute little pink squishy cheeks were all grins until it was time to come in, and let me tell you...it's tough trying to get them both in!! All I am saying is leashes will come in handy this summer!!!Again, I did get some pictures, but, will get them up sometime. Trying to get back into all this technology stuff takes time!!!

New bed

After 4 1/2 months of sleeping on an air matress, while pregnant...We finally got a new bed!!! While the air mattress wasn't too bad (we had foam pads on to), my aching hips, back, belly, etc are soooo ready to sleep in a REAL bed!!!!

Oh, on another note, we woke up to find a momma and two baby moose in our back yard. One of the babies was really curious about the kiddos peaking through the window and came within about 2 feet of the window. The kids were SOOO impressed, I will try and post pics later. Chloe kept grabbing my hand and pulling me back to the window! I love Alaska!!

A long overdue post

ok..so Meggan suggest that I just jump back on the bandwagon and start writing in the blog again, since it has been almost a year. I am taking your advice. Pictures might come later, or might not. :o)
Ben graduated from Logan in August, yea!! We have now been living in Alaska for 6 months, it is amazing how fast time goes!!! We are loving it up here being close to family.
The twins are now 16 months old and running everywhere. It is so much fun to watch them together. They went from biting and hitting each other over EVERYTHING, to these past few weeks being the best little buddies. If one finds a binkie, she will run over to the other and shove it in her mouth, to which the both start laughing. They will bring toys together to share, etc. SO CUTE!!!! It is starting to get easier, well, at least more enjoyable compared to a year ago. They both have such fun, different personalities. Chloe tends to be a little more of a loner and will usually play or read by herself or mommy. Aubrey is usually found chasing Adelyn and Isaac (especially Isaac) around trying to keep up and play with them, which amazingly enough, they usually love! They both love dress-up and are constantly trying on new clothes, including mommys and daddys, and Isaac and Adelyns. Along with all the princess dress up clothes, hats, etc. They both love jackets and shoes. You can usually find Chloe sporting a winter jacket ALL THE TIME and Aubrey trying on shoes, especially if they belong to daddy!
Adelyn is just as cute and fun as ever. She idolizes Isaac like any little sister does. It has been really neat seeing her grow and mature this past few months. She is starting to try and write words, and draw pictures to match, and loves to play with barbies. She still trys to play rough and tumble with Isaac, but is turning into a little lady as well, loving to have her hair done and choose out her own "classic 4 yr old" clothing (not matching). Last week she was running around with Isaac playing buzz lightyear when all of a sudden she stops running, takes off a banana label sticker she was wearing and says, "I gotta take this off, it makes me play like a boy"!! We just got back from her Renal ultrasound this morning and everything looks good as well. We were a little nervous because her blood tests came back off in her BUN levels and glucose levels.
Isaac is now in Kindergarten, and has probably had the most difficult transistion to the move. He started out at Mtn view elementary in Kenai, but it didn't last long, it was a REALLY rough class. So now we are homeschooling him (and Adelyn for preschool). For the most part it is going really well. it has been fun to see his progress and know that I am responsible for teaching him to read, etc. They seem to enjoy it, but are really missing there friends in Missouri. That would be the nice thing about going to a regular school, friends. He is such an amazing little man though, and such a loving brother and son. He is eager to help teach and help his sisters, and they all adore him. It has been fun to see him change and become more self assured. He also recently (in February) tested for his yellow belt in Karate, and achieved it. Unfortunately I don't think that we will continue with it though. It is 4 days a week and late at night. We are currently looking for more activites though.
Ben is currently working for Arctic Chiropractic and loving it. This winter they have been working as the Palmer High School hockey team chiropractors which has been a lot of fun. The kids have really enjoyed watching the games and see their daddy head out on the ice to check on players. He is an amazing daddy and the kids and I all adore him.
I have been a stay at home mom, literally. For as much as we were on the go in Missouri, it has been quite the change, but for the most part, I enjoy it. Surprise baby #5 is expected to make an entrance May 9th, 8 1/2 weeks to go!! We planned on keeping the sex a surprise, and even held out at the dr's office. They then gave us a 25 minute video of the ultrasound, which we weren't so strong with, and proceded to go second by second in slow motion to see if we could discover anything. Minute 22 and 10 1/2 sec, we think we see a pretty clear picture of a...boy! We'll have to wait for sure though until little one comes, so the surprise is still sort of there. THe kids are sooo excited. They are constantly asking what the baby is doing and saying. Adelyn told me today that (as she is placing her tiny fingers all over my tummy) ouch...the baby bit my finger! When I proceeded to ask how this was possible, she show off her best baby inside tummy finger bite impression! Indiscribable, but so cute!!!! They both call the baby, baby (insert name), I will post said name later. It is so nice to hear their excitement, because it wasn't that way when we told them. Their responses where very similar, " not another baby" !! Glad they changed their minds :o)
Well, that was quite a post, nothing like trying to catch up on journaling for a past year for a family of 6, soon to be 7 (7 soon to be 8 if you count Rudy, who tends to be the biggest kid and mommas boy of them all).