Medtronic

It's official, Randy is the newest employee at Medtronic. He will be specializing in Pain Management and Neuroscience. His territory will be based in Casper, Cheyenne, Gillette, and Scott's Bluff, NE. This is a great opportunity that he worked hard to get. He likes his new boss and team already, which is a huge blessing. He will be able to be in the OR, which he loves. And, he will have the potential to grow the Wyoming industry, which is something he does well. I am so proud of Randy for all of his hard work to get this job. We know Heavenly Father blessed us with this opportunity. He got a call from a head hunter out of the blue, went for it, worked hard for it, and got it. We have been supremely blessed. We will miss GSK, however. It is the number one Pharmaceutical company in our eyes, and was a great company to work for. They treated us right from day one. We love and will miss all of the employees, boss, and company. So, here's to Randy- Here, Here! Congrats on this new job! You'll do AWESOME. I love you!

Mallows

Caden was complaining and asking us to quit our challenge, since they don't get treats. We decided to take a little break and give them a treat. We went onto Casper Mountain and had smores. Here are my pyro's stoking the fire!

Of course we brought Randy's hammock. He bought this in Brazil and we set it up every time we go. The kids love it.
Randy enjoying his kids- and his hammock!
Brennon was getting pretty tired. We left for the mountain about a half hour after he normally gets into bed. We got home four hours after he's usually zonked!

So, we say good night to all!

We love Casper:)

Sticky Mosaic

We found these fun crafts at Hobby Lobby. They're called Sticky Mosaic. Here was 2 1/2 of crafting...

This is what the look like unfinished. Each color has a number. You peel and stick the small sticky squares and stick them to the number. They're way easy, way fun, and way inexpensive.

It was a good way for Keilie to practice finding her numbers and Caden made up adding, subtracting, and multiplication facts. It's a stretch, but fun to say we kind of worked on math today!

Cruel Irony

About 10 days ago my washer stopped working and wouldn't stop beeping at me. Randy came home and took a look. It was a digital one, so it told us the problem and what we could do to troubleshoot. Today, I waited from 10:00- 2:13 for the man to show up. He said it would cost us about $500 to fix it, plus labor. We had been talking about a new washer, seeing as ours would get stuck every once in a while on the wash cycle and run for hours if left unnoticed. Well, here she is...

We paid a little extra for the pedestal so it wouldn't be so close to the ground, which makes it look super tall. In the owners manual it talks about how it will have more sounds and vibrations than a top loader. The funny thing is, it's quieter than our old one. It literally sounded like a jet was taking off in our home when it got to the spin cycle. I haven't heard a sound. So, in comes the cruel irony. Our friend was selling a really nice washer and dryer since they had just bought a new set. She offered it for $1,000 and when I was going to make the offer, she wrote they had been sold. We got just this washer, pedestal, and detergent for close to that. Dang it!! Isn't that always the way?!

Summer Lovin'

Summer- it doesn't get any better than this. Unless, you have a pool that fits all the kids at once! 94 degrees, no wind, and perfect blue skies. I'm lovin this!

Shelby's

Randy and I were talking and laughing about how much Shelby is talking these days. The funnest part for us is to hear her refer to everything as "Shelby's." "I'm going to ride this Shelby scooter." "Will you help me put on my Shelby shoes?" "I'm ready to eat Shelby breakfast, lunch, or dinner." It's so much fun to hear her talking so much after hearing the ENT say she was going to be a bit delayed from the last 6 months of her first year being practically deaf from infections. "Shelby's ears are just fine."

Bruiser

We had Brennon's 15 month check up today. He's switched roles as far as weight and height. Where he used to be 50% in weight, he's now 25%. Where he was 25% in height, he's now 50%. He still is such a chunk, it amazes me that these numbers are correct. We checked them twice, like we always due, just to make sure. He's a healthy little boy! I just wish he wasn't so grumpy all the time. Maybe when he learns to communicate more?! I sure hope. Mommy doesn't know how much more screaming she can take from this cutie. It's a good thing he's so cute!!

Mama

Yesterday Brennon started actually referring me to as Mama. I have been waiting for the longest time for him to actually know that what he was saying was me. Now he says it super loud while looking at me and smiles when I look at him. He's as happy about this whole thing as I am. It's sad to know he knew banana before he knew me. He's coming along, slow but sure:) Who knew that one little word could light up my life so much?!

Bowling or Bust.

Tonight we went Bowling to help Caden earn his first belt loop for Cub Scouts. It was fun. He had to tell us some safety rules and play a game with the family. We all went, but Caden, Keilie, and Randy were the only ones to play.

Keilie didn't throw the ball super hard, but she did super well. She won Caden. Caden was trying super hard to get a strike. He came close many times, but fell short a bit.
Shelby spent most of her time cooling off at the fan. It was super cute.

The total scores. Congratulations to Caden for achieving his first belt loop!!

2 for 1 Toy

The Occupational Therapist came to work with Brennon yesterday and brought some homemade toys that he loved. She had two different toys, so I combined them into one and came up with this...

It will help the strength in his hands to pull the balls out of the container, velcro them onto the side, and then pull them off. She had a small coffee container with velcro and green blocks. I just used the balls.
She then cut a hole in the top of a peanut butter jar and had these little cat balls. They have a bell inside that Brennon just couldn't get enough of. We'd put the balls on the floor, have him sit to pick them up, stand up to the couch, and drop them in like this...

He would then sit down and start the process all over again. This works great. And the best part is it only cost $5.00!! Can't beat that! Try it. It's simple, but Brennon loves it.

Possibilities

She's making a way for herself. She knows how to do hair, makeup, and now polish. I think I know what she'll be when she grows up!

Cub Scouts

Caden's been in Cub Scouts since he turned 8 last month. I got his uniform all put together and wanted to show you the whole enchilada. Doesn't he look so handsome. We went through his book today and worked on "Scouts" for about 4 hours in addition to all we accomplished while in the car for 38 hours last month. The house went to pot with neglect, but it was all worth it to hear Caden say, "Thanks, Mom, for working on this with me. It's so much fun!" He only has 15 more to sign off on and he'll be done with his "Wolf." He's blazing through, and we're both having a blast. I love my Scout!!

Perogative

I'm not sure if it's the fact that this is our last, or what, but we are having second thoughts about his name. I was for sure that we'd have Hyrum, because I promised Randy that if he let me keep Brennon (I was already 32 weeks when he remembered) then I wouldn't come up with alternatives for our next son. We're having a boy, so he got to keep his name. Well, on our way back from Utah this weekend, he said he wasn't sure about the name. He likes Hyrum Smith, but isn't sure if it's the name for us. So, it's our perogative to change it, it's your perogative to vote for your favorite from our 4 favorites. The poll is on the right. Adam, Brady, Ryan, or Jackson. Those are the ones we've weeded out of a list and are looking at. It's one of these, I can feel it:) Just like Baylie, Keirstyn, then Hadley, then Madison!!

Crazy Hair

Um... I think it's time for a trim. I want it to be longer than Caden's, so they don't have the same cut, but not this long. He sure is a cutie though, huh! I love that mug:)

All in my head!!

As many of you know, I am a binkie mom. I push them so hard that the kids take it just to pacify me! I would rather get rid of a binkie than a thumb, and I would rather have something to shove into their mouth when crying than anything. So, now, you have this situation. Shelby: has been without her binkie for a while, but still steals Brennon's any chance she gets. She'll hide it, she'll sneak it, she'll connive to get it! Brennon: wants it more and more in the day, is getting used to having it, has Shelby taking it more and more, yet still wants it more! So, do we let the cycle continue? We have Hyrum coming in 5 months. Will Shelby have one till she's 5? Will Brennon become the Shelby monster and take Hyrum's? NO. So, on Tuesday I had this thought and knew it needed attention. I called Randy and told him they were gone. FOR GOOD! Brennon cried the first nap for an hour and half. However, he's never cried again. EVER! It's been over a week and he's never asked for it again. All the stress was just in my head. That seems to be the case a lot these days. I just need to trust my kids a little more. They're not addicted; I am!

Names

We were so excited to find out we're having a boy. No one more so than Caden. He had told me many times that, "He hoped the test was lying." So, it was no surprise that as Keilie yelled, "it's a boy," Caden yelled, "YES!" We then told Dr. Vigneri that his name was Hyrum. After the ultrasound, as I'm wiping down my belly, we were saying stuff like, "so it's Hyrum?" and other such stuff. As we were walking out of the room, Caden turns and says, "Don't worry Mom, we have 20 weeks to come up with a better name!" Um... I hate to break it to you sweetie, it's Hyrum no matter how many weeks we have!

Caden's Baptism

Our ward always has the font scheduled at 5:30 on the first Saturday of the month. This was our original scheduled time, but due to stake conference, we had to move it to 3:00. This caused a little stress, but everyone was able to make it on time. Caden got all dressed and in the car at 2:00 saying he just wanted to get there. He was SUPER excited. We got there and had to set up chairs around the missionaries stuff, since they had had zone conference in there all day. We were smooshed in between so much. I really appreciate all that was done to get him baptised on this day!

Don't they look handsome. Like Father like Son!
I sure love my little missionary!!

The first baptism in the Randy Dirks' family.

All ready!

On this day, Caden chose to follow the example of the Savior, and get baptised to wash away all of his sins. He knows that this is the first step to enter into God's kingdom. I am so proud of him. I want to thank all of those that traveled so much. The farthest was 15 hours just to make it. It was a perfect day. I love you Caden. Heavenly Father loves you, too! You made the right decision!

Play day in South Dakota

Steve and Natalie came up on Thursday night to go to Mount Rushmore on Friday before the baptism on Saturday. Randy wanted to spend some time with his brother (they just moved back after three years living in Indiana), so he took the day off to go with them. I needed to get some cleaning done to prepare for the rest of our guests, so he took Caden, Keilie and Shelby. They sure had a cold, wonderful time with them. Allyson is 10 months older than Caden, Caden is 9 months older than Carson, Hudson is 1 year older than Shelby, so they got along great. We are SOOO happy to have them back. We're hoping for me day trips like this often. They drove out at 9:00 AM for the 4 hour drive to Mount Rushmore. They also decided to go to Bear Country USA. They said that was the funnest. It's a drive through a park that allows the bears and wolves to roam free. Like come up to your car and sit, free. You aren't allowed to open your windows, for obvious reasons, but can watch as long as you'd like. Shelby was the only one riding with Randy, so Steve and Natalie had the other 5 kids. It was fun just having Brennon to myself. He really enjoyed it as well. He can be so funny when he's the only one to hold your attentions! We all had such a good day.

Half-way done!!

This is the first picture I took when I found out I was pregnant with number 5!! 6 weeks pregnant!

This is me today at 20 weeks and 1 day!!

Introducing Hyrum Darwin Dirks!!

Baptism Update

The day after the invites were sent, I found out that it was Stake Conference weekend and was told we'd have to move it. I got them to change the time instead of the date. So, for those of you that are interested in witnessing this huge event, the time in now 3:00 PM. This is only 2 1/2 hours early, so it should give you enough time to get here if you are leaving on Saturday morning. I'm also happy to report that the whole Burrell family will be together once again. We're so lucky!