1st Day

Over the last couple of weeks and days my crew has gone back to school.  Here are the pics.  

Miss Lydia went back a couple of weeks ago.  She is on a year-round track for her preschool.

This is her latest "smile" pose.  A tip of the head and a little grin.  Lydia is such a social butterfly.  She has already made so many friends.

My biggest boy, Nathan.  He is now in the middle of the pack at the Middle School.  So great that he gets to ride his bike.

The close-up.

My Danny is head honcho at the Elementary School.  He is right back at home, loving every minute that he gets to spend with friends.

Danny is really excited about his teacher.  Mr. Price has a whole collection of Superman and Batman toys in the classroom.  Danny can't quit talking about how cool he is.

Big transition for Ryan this year.  He went from half-day Kindergarten, to full-day First Grade!  He is so grown up!

So far, so good.  His teacher is a perfect fit for him.  Although he was quite nervous the first day, he has been very brave.

I love that these two walk to school.  I think it's going to be a great year.

Wedding Weekend-The Reception

We made it back to Boise just in time to grab some stuff to decorate the getaway car and head straight to the reception.

The reception was held in Brad and Tricia's backyard. The setting was perfect and in the shade it really wasn't too hot, considering the High-90's weather.

Ice Cream was served along with the wedding cake. I just love how this candy topping table turned out. So colorful!

It really was a great weekend. We were glad that we made an event out of it with all of the kids. Our family was able to create some fun and treasured memories.

In the days leading up to the wedding Valerie was super worried that someone would "trash" the car. She only wanted something done if it was tasteful, so I decided to head up the project.

With the help of some of Jim's nieces and nephews, we got the getaway car all decked out.

Clanking cans...so classic.

Before you knew it the reception was over and everyone went out front to see Jim and Valerie off. Hugs were shared from moms, dads and siblings...and in Jim's particular case from about 15 cousins. He has always been the favorite uncle.

We cheered them on as they drove out of the driveway.

Jim and Valerie-We are all so excited for you!

You two are really a fantastic couple.

Best Wishes and Many Years of Happiness!

Wedding Weekend-The Wedding

The wedding, of course, was lovely and perfect. And, of course, I cried my eyes out like a lot of people did, only I was ten times worse, being pregnant and all. I tried not to make a scene on the way out of the sealing room, but I'm pretty sure my sniffs and muffled cries were echoing loud and clear in that quiet room. :)

The entire time Lydia was connected at the hip with Valerie's youngest sister, Claire. She is Ryan's age, but these two little girls really hit it off.

They roamed around laughing and playing. At any given moment if I would ask someone, "Have you seen Lydia?" the answer would always be, "Oh yah, she's with Claire."

The happy couple coming out of the temple. Oh, so happy.

Mr. and Mrs. Dildine!

A multitude of family pictures were taken. This is one of my favorites. All of the brothers together.

After pictures we headed to Chili's for a quick lunch. We were good and hungry and had a great time eating with our cousins and other family. This is the "big kid table."

What a day for celebration. Now, back to Boise for the reception.

Wedding Weekend-Saturday Morning

One of the things that was so fun about going up the night before the wedding, was that we got to stay in the same hotel with all of the family. Grandma, Grandpa and Jim were only one floor away, and Valerie and her family were only a couple doors away.

Downstairs in the hotel, we had a nice breakfast with Jim and Grandma and Grandpa Dildine. After pancakes, Lydia got to hear a story from Grandma Dildine.

That morning Grandpa Dildine was full of stories from when he served in the army. It was also very nice for the kids to spend some quality time with their Uncle Jim before his wedding.

About 10:00, Mike took the kids on an outing to Shoshone Falls. They were really flowing!

They all enjoyed the view and then snow cones that died their lips blue. Meanwhile, I was back in Valerie's room with her mom, sister and one of her bridesmaids. We got her hair all done and had some laughs and hugs. I really do adore Valerie. I know we are going to be good friends. After one last hug, I wished her luck and told her I'd see her in the temple. Soon she was going to be Valerie Dildine!

Wedding Weekend-Friday

Mike's brother, Jim, got married over the weekend. Since the Boise Temple is closed for some kind of major renovation, we got to make the two hour drive out to Twin Falls for the occasion.

We had a late breakfast on the way out of town. We went to eat at the brand new Kneaders that just opened in Meridian.

We arrived at our hotel just in time to grab some Lunchables and Powerade at the gas station across the street, drop the kids off in the room and run (as well as you do at eight and a half months pregnant), to catch Valerie's temple session.

After a nice afternoon in the temple Mike and Jim took the kids to Buffalo Wild Wings, while I was on Hair Duty with Valerie's mom, Ann. We had practiced on Valerie's hair the week before, under the tutelage of my hair dresser sister-in-law, Jeryl. Valerie and Jim had pictures Friday night, so we were in charge of pulling off the up-do.

Since this was going to be the first time Jim saw Valerie in her dress, we had him wait in the lobby of the hotel. I was tasked with riding the elevator down before the others, so that I could capture the look on Jim's face.

I could not resist snapping this photo on the way to the photo shoot.

The photographer needed some help blocking the setting sun. Her assistant, along with Valerie's entourage got involved.

After soooo many darling and beautiful pictures were taken, we went back to the hotel. We all popped our heads into the swimming pool so Valerie could show off her dress to Jim's parents and my family, who were swimming. Though I expected Lydia to run right up to Valerie and get her soaking wet, she seemed to understand the situation. She walked up very slowly and was simply in awe!

Valerie was more than ready to get out of her dress and relax, so she, Jim, Valerie's parents and all of her brothers and sisters (she has six), joined in the fun at the pool. The kids played hard and when they got back up to the room at 10:15 they were starving. Mike made a quick emergency run to McDonald's for nuggets and fries. All were snoozing by a little after 11:00. Late Night!

Sibling Prep

The following are pictures that we took to the Sibling Preparation class that the kids and I attended. We took the class at the hospital where I am going to deliver our baby. Each picture was taken at about three days old, right before they were taken home from the hospital.

Nathan

Danny

Ryan

Lydia

After the teacher introduced each of the kids by showing their baby pictures (wow, they all grew up so fast!), we went on a tour of the Labor and Delivery area, the nursery, and the Mother/Baby floor.

(P.S.-you'd think that since everything went digital all those years ago that you would NEVER have a picture where someone is closing their eyes. Remember the days when you would ALWAYS take two or three film pictures just to be safe? But alas, occasionally we all forget to check the preview screen on our digital cameras and are ALSO out of the habit of taking two or three shots. Always kind of a bummer when you see the pictures on your computer. Still cute though!)

Here Ryan and Lydia are checking out the bed where they put the baby to keep it warm, right after it is born.

After the tour we headed back to our classroom, where the kids were taught to put diapers on the dolls that we had brought along with us.

Nathan and Danny were by far the oldest in the class. They were both such good sports and actually made the whole experience so much fun!

Somehow I ended throwing this poor one-armed doll into the mix of dolls that came to the class with us. I keep telling myself that I'll get her arm sewn back on, but it just never seem to happen. I think it makes this "Successful Diapering Picture" all the more funny. Good job Nathan!

Here Ryan is cuddling his elephant that he brought. Putting a diaper on an animal with a tail presented a slight challenge, but not one that deterred Ryan.

Next the kids learned to swaddle a baby, hold a baby and then burp them. What great practice!

The class taught many other things about how to help Mom with the baby, how to handle feelings, and what a newborn baby is like. The whole thing was quite a wake up call for me, too. I suppose that this whole baby thing is actually going to happen! I think these four siblings are all prepared to welcome and help with their new little sister.

After the tour was over we concluded our afternoon by having lunch in the hospital cafeteria. As we walked out of the revolving hospital door, each of the kids had their Class Completion Certificate in hand. I guess we'll be back in just a few short weeks!

1st Visit

Though I wasn't sure how she would take it, last week I informed Lydia that not only would her brothers be going in for their six month dental check-ups, but that she would be joining them for her very First Visit.

Lydia has watched her older brothers go to the dentist every six months for years. Maybe that is why she so willingly welcomed this new adventure. She was ecstatic, not scared in the least. She was her usual social self, chatting with each and every person that passed by. She was confident and couldn't wait to pick out of the famous prize bucket that she had heard so much about.

I do have to say that our Pediatric Dentist is a pretty cool place to visit. With a spaceship, video games and movies in the waiting room, who wouldn't be excited to go? Once you are in the chair you can watch a movie right above your head.

"101 Dalmations" was playing when we arrived, but Lydia had no reservations about requesting one of her favorite movies for her First Cleaning: "Princess and the Frog." Lydia was so sweet and happy to be there, the "girl dentist," as Lydia called her, was glad to oblige.

Once Lydia had her teeth counted by the actual dentist, he proclaimed to the entire office: "Lydia has no cavities!" The whole office staff cheered for her. Lydia got her picture taken and a goodie bag full of prizes, along with a T-Shirt. She then completed long awaited dream of going to the prize bucket, by picking out a purple sticky hand.