August

August was a very busy month! We had 2 major vacations planned! At the beginning of August, we went to Yellowstone with my family. It was so much fun! My parents booked condos for all of us, and we went to see all the sights.

Yellowstone was amazing, of course. Our first day there was very drizzly and wet. We all thought, as we waited for Old faithful in the rain, that we weren't sure this was going to be a great week. But the weather was great after that day!

It was so fun to see all of my family, and to spend the whole week with them! Besides Yellow stone, we also went to the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center in West Yellowstone village. The kids loved to see the bears eating and hang out with their cousins all day!

Each evening, 2 families were assigned to cook for everyone, and we would all get together for one big meal. It was a crazy, chaotic time, yet really fun time.

We also all went swimming together a few times. That's what's great about staying in condos!

There were 5 babies born into our family in 2010. This was the first time we were able to get them all together! Left to Right- Evan and Jared Rappleye (August), Alyssa Rappleye (July), Briggs Ford (May), and Sean Doyle (November). It's amazing how similar they all look! They must be cousins.

Over all, It was a great trip to Yellowstone, but best of all was the reunion with my family. The only ones who were missing was Richard and Callie. (They went away for the summer to install alarm systems.) Bottom left corner-Monica and Ruston Ford + 6, front right- Mom and Dad, middle right-Mindy and Lafe + 4, top right- Roger and Tasha + 1, top left-Ryan and Jocelyn + 3, across the middle- The Doyles.

On our way home from Yellowstone, we decided to stop off at the Idaho Falls Temple. It's a beautiful place, and a beautiful Temple!

At the end of August, we went to Lake Powell again. This has become a yearly trip that we’ve taken with some friends of ours. John’s taken up skiing and he’s getting better every time.Erin went cliff-jumping, knee boarding, snorkeling, and swam so much that she came home with swimmers ear. She also learned to ski!!! She’s tried before, but this year she was successful. She loved it. Devin went cliff jumping too! And he really liked knee boarding and the jet ski, but his favorite thing to do this year was tubing. He was always asking if we could go tubing. Colin slept on the top of the houseboat for the first time this year. In years past he’s slept inside with me, but he was a big boy this year! He also just loved going out on the boat and especially loved the jet skis. I was kind of worried about taking Sean to Lake Powell, but he slept great, even for naps. And he was easily entertained by swimming, going on the boat, or playing in the sand. He loved it!

The Past couple of months

I've been a little busy, and this is the first I've been able to blog in a while. Let me give you a brief overview of the past couple of months. Here are a few pictures of Sean in the hospital.
My Mom & the boys.

John's Mom Came to stay with us for a few weeks around the time he was born, so we were well taken care of. It was nice to have someone there to do everything, so that I didn't have to worry about it.

John's brothers also came to visit shortly after he was born. We had a great time with them here. We had a nice Christmas dinner one night (thanks to my Mother-in-Law and John) and John took them up to temple square to see the lights.

My Mom and Dad and Brothers Roger and Richard came to see us too. My dad: This is Richard and Callie

Here is Roger, Tasha and Sean's cousin Alyssa who's 4 months old here.

Here's Sean at 1 week old.

John and the kids did all the decorating this Christmas. It was so nice! and it looked beautiful.

We had a very quiet Christmas here at home this year. We played out our own nativity scene with our very own real live baby "Jesus". It was fun to have a new baby at Christmas time this year, though tiring. He's a cutie.

Santa was really good to all of us this year. It was a fun day for everyone.

And before we knew it, Sean was 1 month old!

We had a great new years eve too. We played games and ate great food. Then at 10:00 we celebrated the new year with New York and sent the boys to bed. If we were smart we would have all gone to bed, but Erin really wanted to stay up til midnight. So we did.

Sean came home to a house full of eager siblings. They all love him and want to hug him and hold him, and feed him, and entertain him. They just can't get enough! Especially Colin! I think Sean has been so good for him. He now feels like he's one of the big kids. He's even finally decided to go in the potty and stop sucking his thumb! What a big boy. Erin is always wanting to help. She'll wash her hands just to hold him and she'll entertain him for half an hour sometimes! Devin is not quite as motivated, but if I give him the job of watching the baby while I do this or that, he is so happy, and has a great time. In fact, Devin is really good at getting Sean to smile.

This weekend Sean turned 2 months old. I can't believe it's gone so fast! When I go through this blog I can really see he's changed so much! The house may not be clean or the dishes done, but we're getting by. Sean and I are learning together to find out what makes his tummy happy, and we're having more and more good nights. Happy Baby makes Happy home.

September!

So, I guess I should fill you all in on our very busy month of September. Erin started school on Monday Aug. 30th, the day after we got home from Lake Powell. She was a little nervous about not having met her teacher, but now she says that she has the best teacher ever!

Devin had his first day of Kindergarten that Friday, Sept. 3rd. He was so excited about starting big kid school! He loves his teacher, and going to school like a big kid. His only gripe: Not being able to go all day like Erin.

My little brother Roger blessed his sweet little baby Alyssa on Sept. 5th. It was a beautiful blessing, and they had a yummy luncheon afterwards at a near by park. That was a great idea, cause the kids were able to play and run around after lunch.

Karate has gone to a whole new level lately. John and Erin both earned their red belts on Tues. Sept. 7th. I am so proud of them for sticking in there for so long. They are now working on their Brown belts. after that it's Black! What will it be like to have 2 black belts in the house!?! I think we will be well protected.

Erin has been growing her hair out for a long time! Years actually, and we decided that it was time to cut it. Here is the before picture.

She decided to donate her hair to Locks of Love, who make wigs for children who don't have hair due to childhood sicknesses. What a great cause! I'm so proud of her! The lady who cut her hair was telling us that she's had girls crying and moms freaking out when they found out how short their hair was going to be, but Erin was excited and happy to be donating her hair. I think it looks really cute!

Well our little Mr. Colin has had his 3rd Birthday! I can't believe it's been 3 years! He is such a fun kid! He's so talkative, and sweet! He mirrors everything that his big brother and sister do.

He got cars and a big car case, and tools too. This is great cause he loves to copy his dad too, especially when he's out in the garage building things. That tool set has seen a lot of action all ready!

Happy birthday to my sweet car-loving, talkative, cuddle buddy, Colin.

August has been very busy. And since we're going away again, I decided it was time to update you all. We all had a great morning at the splash park near us. The kids really love it! Especially colin.

We have been waiting and waiting for our chickens to start laying eggs. John built this hen house for them in June, and they seem to be happy, but no eggs. Finally we got one!!! At the beginning of August, the John and the kids found an egg! They cooked it up right away and ate it! They definitely taste better fresh! Here's a picture of our Happy chickens!

My little brother Roger and his wife Tasha Just had their 1st baby. She is such a cutie, and the first baby girl since Erin! Her name is Alyssa.

Erin's favorite thing lately to do with Colin is to dress him up like a girl. Colin just loves getting dressed up and lets her do what ever she wants. These are the results:

Devin seeing all the excitement, decided to get in on this attention.

With only a couple more weeks of summer left til the kids go back to school, we decided to go camping. We went up to the High Uintas where it's cool, and neither John nor I have been there before. We camped in a smaller campground with a river running right through! It was so fun to sit on the banks and watch the kids play. We drove up to the Provo River falls they were beautiful! There are several layers to the falls too, so it was fun to hike along and see all the different falls. We also went to Mirror Lake. It's such a peaceful place! What a beautiful place.

While we were out and about, John decided it was a good time to take a profile of me, cause I'm definately starting to show.