Happy Birthday Nikki!!!!!!

Yesterday was my sister-in-law's birthday. She is 21 now, so if we were drinkers, we could have gotten drunk last night! But since neither of us has ever tasted so much as a drop of alcohol, it probably wouldn't have been a pretty sight. Nikki is more like a sister than an in law. I love this girl - one of the best benefits of marrying Joseph was getting Nikki for a sister. My kids lover her too. Today I was teasing Kellyn and I asked her if I was her favorite or if Joseph was her favorite, and she goes "wellllll.....actually Nikki is my favorite"!!!! I love you Nikki! We are taking our trip to Vegas soon! Happy Birthday!!! This is for you:

Back to School-can you believe it?

Last Thursday, the kids went back to school. I had gone to register them could not believe how quickly the beginning of the school year had come up! I am so excited about the school they are going to-there are so many awesome art and music activities and programs and it is a small school, so the teacher to student ratio is really good! Syracuse Arts Academy is a charter school - it is touted as a private school education without the cost of tuition. We were really lucky to have had the kids' names drawn in the lottery to attend. I think it will be a good year - and they are building a SAA jr. high which will be open next year, so if we are still here during the junior high years (also known as the armpit of life), they can stay with SAA!


Maryn and Rylynn before the start of the first day of school

Tristan on the monkey bars

Kaydin and Trevin, before the first bell rang on the first day of school

The first day of school-in their uniforms!

The night before school started, with our fun "back to school" cake, and Kaydin is striking his smarmiest, used-car salesman pose!

More summertime fun

Here are some more pics of things we've been doing this summer. We took the kids to the Hill Aerospace museum, which they seemed to enjoy. It kind of makes you wonder though - the technology they have on display there must be so old as to be almost obsolete, or it wouldn't be on display, right? So, what kind of new technology do we have that isn't made known to the public? I would bet it's a lot. Anyhoo, then we went to Layton park. It was also fun, but Tristan got (accidentally) hit in the face and got a massive nosebleed. It seems like I can't take my kids anywhere without one of them getting hurt.


Ewan, looking very dashing in just his diaper - which, unless we are going somewher, is his usual outfit

Kellyn and Tristan practically live in the sandbox

Kelly playing in our backyard sandbox. Yes, she has to have a bath every day.


The kids' seriously spun on this thing for 30 minutes. Just watching it was making me sick.

This is (I think) called and SR-71 "Blackbird"


The fam (and the girls' friend, Jordan) in front of a gigantic airplane!

Catching up!

I am happy to report that my family is finally FINALLY all together again. I have been down here for almost a month (which is why there has been no blogging - the last month has been nonstop craziness). It is nice to be, in the words of Peaches and Herb "Reunited, and it feels so good". Yes, I miss having any time to myself, but it feels so normal to be crazy busy and stressed out and cooking enough food at each meal for a small army. Joseph is working in Park City, builing ridiculous houses that cost a bazillion dollars and loving it. Not loving the commute, but loving the work. I am still getting the house organized and reintroducing structure and routine to my children. Fabiola has a job working at Subway - which she doesn't love. My kids names were drawn in a charter school lottery and on Thursday they all (well, the 5 of them that are school age anyway) started at Syracuse Arts Academy. I am thrilled. It is such a neat school and they integrate the arts into every aspect of the curriculum. Also, they wear uniforms, which I think is fantastic! Maybe that makes me a nazi mom, but I love the uniforms. It takes all the guess work out of school shopping and makes getting ready for school in the morning much easier. I took some first day of school pictures, which I will post soon, but for now, you can enjoy pictures from the rest of the summer if you just scroll down!

Summer fun - good times!

Here are some pictures of the rest of the summer. We had such a good time at the Baker Family Reunion. Swimming, talent show, tent being ripped open and blow over by a windstorm - need I say more! It really was fun, though. We also got to take the kids to Lagoon. Taking kids to Lagoon and watching them on rides is hilarious. Maryn will ride ANYTHING. Kaydin won't. Trevin is in the middle. Kellyn and Rylynn cried (more than once) because they weren't tall enough to ride a lot of rides. Joseph took Tristan on the new roller coaster - Wicked - and he was silent for almost two hours after that. I think we should build this roller coaster in our yard. I went to the release party for "Breaking Dawn" with Nikki and Shannon. Shan gothed us out with makeup and we laughed so hard we were almost peeing our pants. I wish I could show you all the video. Here are some pictures of the fun!

Kaydin and Kellyn at Lagoon - good times!
Reunion fun at Lava Hot Springs - we took over the pool! Those people are all Baker's!

The Fair!

I made it to the great Gallatin County Fair. It's just not the same without the kids. And they didn't have the cow with the exposed internal organs this year. But still, a pretty good time was to be had!

Can you guess what this is? It's....a....chicken! I am not making this up!
It's Wilbur - just like in Charlotte's Web!
Wicked fun rides (I love rides)

Uh Oh! Maybe I do have mad cow!