It's better when we're together...

First of all, we took some family pictures. It is really hard taking your own family pictures because there is no one standing there trying to get you to smile. You just have to look at the camera and pretend someone is there and try to put on the best smile you can. Result: Fake smiles. Oh well.

I have to make note of some of the things Gavin does. First of all, have you ever known a 3 year old to EAT and actually LIKE raw onions? Gavin does. I guess that is good, but it kind of grosses me out! :) They were even making his eyes water, but he kept eating them.

Second, i was sitting by him in primary today. He started rubbing my arm and i looked at him and he kept rubbing my arm, looking at me with this smile and said, "I love you mommy. I am gonna tell daddy i love him too." He is the sweetest little thing! I love when he gets in those moods.

Third, he talks a lot about the Holy Ghost. We had a conversation about the Holy Ghost. After that conversation he said, "I feel the Holy Ghost in my chest," and put his hand over his heart. I said, "Yeah, me too." He said, "It makes me sad when the Holy Ghost leaves." He said that because i told him that when we are mean the Holy Ghost might leave. Tanner was just sitting there listening as we had this conversation. He said to me, "Does Tanner get sad when the Holy Ghost leaves?" I said, "I don't think he understands yet who the Holy Ghost is." Gavin then asked Tanner, "Tanner does it make you sad when the Holy Ghost leaves?" Tanner said , "yeah," in this sad whiney voice. It was so cute.

Air Show Tradition...

We went to the Air Show today with our friends. This is our third year to watch the main attraction : The Blue Angels...well, actually, last year they had the air force Thunderbirds(i think that is right). We love the Blue Angels though! It is a blast to watch and Gavin and Tanner really get into it. They do cool tricks and sometimes it gets soooooo loud! These are just a few pictures out of many that i took! I think we will go on Monday to watch them again. We can't get enough! While we were there Tanner met a little friend. She kept following him around. When he noticed her following he fell to the ground and then she came over and layed by him. They would just stare at each other and smile.

The kids really had tons of fun wrestling each other to the ground. It was so fun to watch.

Leaving so Soon?!

Mandi, Shane's sister, has been visiting us this month. They will be going back home on Friday. We are going to be sad to see them go. The kids fight over the toys a lot, but i know when they realize that the other isn't there they are going to be so sad. They are more like siblings now than cousins. I will have to post more pics soon of what we have been up to. It has been so much fun having them here with us. We have tried telling Mandi that she needs to move here. We have almost convinced her, but maybe not quite enough!

NoT sO LiTtLe AnYmOrE?!

I can't believe it. A few days ago i was telling Shane that i think Tanner would catch onto going pee-pee and poo-poo on the toilet faster than Gavin did. He had been telling me that he was poopy and wouldn't let me sit him in his highchair if he was. Last night i was changing his diaper and he said, "poopoo"....I said, "Do you need to go poopoo?" He said, "Yeah." So, i went in and sat him on the toilet. I didn't think he would actually go. I just thought he liked the idea of it. I was wrong. He went and i freaked out. He started laughing b/c he thought it was funny. I couldn't believe it. So, since last night he has gone poopoo again on the toilet and has gone pee twice. It is so awesome. The possibility of having him potty trained really soon is very exciting to me. He feels soooo proud of himself! It is cute. He turns 2 yrs. old on the 28th of September and my goal is to have him potty trained by then...the way he is going i don't think it will be a problem! :)

HELP WANTED...

On Thursday the 28th Shane and Mandi and I have tickets to a football game. Yay, very exciting, BUT we need a babysitter!!! I didn't want to call anyone b/c i didn't want anyone to feel like they were being put on the spot or pressured into babysitting, so i figured i would do it this way to see if anyone would be willing or able to do it. I figure i also better throw in something to make it somewhat worth watching 4 kids! We would need our babysitter from 6:00 p.m. to somewhere around 11:00 probably. I don't know how long football games last for sure, but it starts at 7:30 p.m. My boys go to bed at 7:30p.m. Mandi's kids go down at 8:00 p.m. I will pay $15 for the time that they are awake. I wish i could pay more. Otherwise i will give a free photoshoot. You choose. We will have them all ready for bed so you will just have to lay them down. They go down easy. And if they do cry, just let them cry. They stop within minutes. Well, that is it. We truly appreciate it! :)

4 kids vs. 2 moms...

Shane's sister is here visiting us for the month. She has a little boy, Lincoln, that is Gavin's age and a little girl, Karsyn, that is 10 months old. They are such cute kids. Having 3 boys together can be very tiresome. They like to pick on each other and get territorial and act like, well, boys. :) It is so much fun though. We are doing a fabulous job handling 4 kids i think. I think the kids get more tired than we do...example: Tanner asleep in his highchair. That never happens.

These are just random pics that i wanted to post. I had a photoshoot yesterday and afterwards decided to keep my camera out and snap a few pics of them doing there thing. They saw the camera though and cam right up to the lens....that is why a few of them are so close up. Lincoln liked smiling for the camera... He says, "cheese" and gives me a big grin. Perfect! :) Anyway, we are having lots of fun, and another thing keeping us sane is our books. We are reading the Twilight series. We are completely hooked. I am on the last book and Mandi is on the 3rd book. I finally was convinced to read it when my best friend told me "you have to read it," and then bought me the first two books. I had to read it then. She is so sweet and the best. Well, now i LOVE them! :) I am not a big reader, but if i could stay hooked on every book like i do on this series then i would read all the time! Oh, and i just found out that Stephenie Meyer is in the fam. I think that Shane's cousins wife is cousins with Stephenie Meyer. Something like that. Cool huh? Not that i will ever meet her probably, but that would be so cool! Maybe she could teach me a few things about writing and then i could put my english degree to use and try to write a book myself. Just kidding. That would never happen...but i guess i can dream. :)
Anyway, we stay busy. Every morning we go to workout at 9:00 a.m. at Bally's. Every morning. We bring all 4 kids with us. It is quite a task. They all try to run opposite directions or run way ahead of us. The same nice gentleman is always at the desk. He just laughs everytime and told me the other day, "YOU HAVE YOUR HANDS FULL!!" Yes we do. Then we come home. Read our books, watch Olympics, play outside, and make dinner. Having 4 kids is crazy but fun!! I told Mandi, "I guess i am getting a taste at what it would be like to have 4 kids." She was like, "Well, it is actually a taste of what it would be like if you had 2 sets of twins." So true.

Riviera Maya...aaahhhhh

Our bedroom was AWESOME! This was a five star hotel and it didn't disappoint.

This crab lost its way. He was walking down the hall outside our rooms.

More of our bedroom!
These doors on the left were sliding doors that opened to a BIG bathroom with 2 showers even! :)

There were hammocks all over the resort! We went out just about every night and it was so relaxing!

The pool at night. We swam in it in the night and it was so nice and relaxing.
Rodents of unusual size that roamed around the resort.
There were iguana's all over.

Beautiful beach!
We got a massage in this little hut right on the beach. You could hear the waves and it was so dang relaxing.It is like what you see in the movies.

They had these built in seats all around the pool. It was so nice!

This is the area where our room was located.
There were waterfalls all around the pool.
Can you even see us?
We went up to this swim up bar a few times and got ourselves virgin daiquiri's. They were so yummy.

The entrance of the resort.
We had to walk through this hallway anytime we went to eat, shop, or leave the resort.
Our room was located back in here.
Just PART of the resort. It was HUGE!!

They lit this gazebo up every night in this bright blue color. It was so cool.
By the fountain near the front entrance.
The Italian Restaurant.
Me and my little brother!
So cute!! :)

This was the best most relaxing vacation ever. It gave Shane and i the opportunity to reconnect. It was so romantic!!! We had the best time together!! I fell in love all over again. Sounds corny, but it is true! :) We really enjoyed being with my family too. They always make us laugh and we love spending time with them!!! Thanks so much mom and dad! Shane and i are starting to plan our next vacation, but it will be one that we pay for. It will be another vacation 2 years in the making. We are gonna go after we graduate. I am already researching and i cannot wait.

We went to Playa Del Carmen while we were there and did some shopping and we also went to Xcaret. We swam through underground caves, which was awesome! On the beach at the resort we could snorkel. It was cool. We saw lots of fish with different colors, cool plant life, a barracuda, and sea turtles....all right on our own beach. It was awesome! Every part of the resort was open up to the outside, except for the NICE restaurants. What i mean is that they didn't have windows, it was the coolest thing.