It's a.....

SURPRISE!!  Yep, I haven't found out the baby's gender.  Me!  I don't know where this patience has come from, but I was able to get through a WHOLE ultrasound without finding out a gender.  Just in case I change my mind, I had the technician write the gender on a card in an envelope that I can open and see later.  I really hope to have the endurance not to.  I want to be able to experience at least ONE surprise!

Everything in the ultrasound looked wonderful.  It never ceases to amaze me how miraculous the formation of a baby is.  How all these cells know where to go and how to assemble properly absolutely blows my mind.  I still don't know how ANY baby is born, nevermind a healthy baby.  So far, I'm measuring right along where my dates show, except on the high end of the range (aka - another big baby).  The kidneys, liver, bladder, stomach, brain, heart, eyes and everything else seems in order and is measuring well.  The spine, legs, arms, hands and all the skeleton is perfectly formed and (surprise, surprise) our baby seems to have a really long back!  It is such a special thing to see this beautiful baby inside of you and realize that you are really doing something while you're feeling sick and tired.  It never stops being an incredible experience.

PS - I'm too cheap to spend $20 on a really blurry picture of my ultrasound.  Just trust me that it was super cute and I'll be sure to put that money towards getting really good pictures as soon as this baby is born!!

To know, or not to know....

THAT is the question.  I have always said that I want to be prepared for a baby when it comes.  Therefore, I have always found out the gender.  I NOW have boy AND girl clothes and bedding and everything.  I have no more excuse and I am discovering that it really could just be that I want to know.  I really am curious as to the difference to the experience when you know what you are having vs. not.  I am having a really hard time deciding whether it is more fun to prepare and be able to plan names and have an assigned gender in your mind or to wait and have a big climactic surprise at the end.  Thoughts?  Comments?  Experiences?  I need feedback.  I only have 1 week until the Ultrasound...

Elbow Falls

We took advantage of one of the few nice days so far this year and we headed out to Elbow Falls in Kananaskis Country to enjoy nature and have a nice wiener roast.  I must confess that I had the grumps that day and I find that I don't have as much patience with kids to get nice pictures when I have the grumps, so this is my best product.  We walked the falls first (there weren't any picnic tables) and then we searched for a picnic table again.  Still no luck.  After a LONG time, we finally got one and really enjoyed our little outing.  It was fun to have Mom and Dad, Alanna and Dustin and their crews along (well, technically it was their idea... so it was nice of them to invite us along).  The kids sure slept well after all this!!

This was before the kids got tired and hungry.  The rest are wandering around and taking the hike.  It really was a LOT of fun!

Brooklyn - the Trooper/Graduate

Most of us have graduated in May and enjoyed the wonderful time of year to celebrate our grade school education.  May 27th was a wonderful day for my sister, Brooklyn, too....

 but the weather didn't seem to want to cooperate (yes, this is just a few days away from June and only one day of snow (notice how it progressively gets deeper and deeper)). 

 
As the weather seemed to dampen some spirits, many people assumed that the planned pictures at Lake Chaparral were canceled.  Brooklyn and her date, Mark, really lived it up and proved that you can decide whether the weather can get you down!  It was really fun (albeit really cold and wet) to get some truly one-of-a-kind pictures for Grad.

Congrats Brooks!  I'm so proud of you heading out to BYU-Idaho in the fall.  I can't believe my baby sister is leaving home.  It was so much fun to do this for you!  We'll have to do a re-shoot sometime when there's weather that's a little more bearable.

A Strange Day

Usually my kids are all up and at it by 7.  Today was no different for Kaia and Kienna who had school.  Saryn woke up at 8 just in time to see them leave and Jaymeson kept on sleeping.  I cleaned up, did some dishes, stripped my bed and remade it, did some laundry, did a blog post, etc.  I just kept on waiting for Jaymeson to wake up and stop my spree...  It didn't happen.  Saryn said she wasn't feeling so good, so she watched a movie.  Right as it was ending (around 11:30), I finally heard Jaymeson.  I said, "YAY, we can go get Jay now Saryn."  She didn't respond.  She had fallen asleep... SO WEIRD! 

She transfered up to her bed and is sleeping.  I might have to wake her up before my doc's appt at 2:30.  There goes the errands I had planned, but it's been nice to have some 1 on 1 time with the babies!!  Jaymeson has just brought me another "gook" to read, so we're going to have some more fun!!

He DID it!

I truly thought that this day would never come.

After:
8 and a half years of marriage
3 degrees (BBus, MBA and Law)
4 and a half kids
8 moves in 2 countries (2 states and 1 province)
1 offer to add a 4th degree (JD) at U of Colorado
6 total years in subsidized housing
4 scholarships received
2 missed trips to Seattle (and a few more to other places)
many friendships made...

Jarett finally graduated - for the LAST time!

I couldn't be more proud of him!  Although the appreciation-seeking monster in me is wanting to write about how hard this all was for me, I can't imagine how hard it was to be the one constantly going to school and missing so much of your family life.  Jarett has worked SO hard!  And we are finally where we have been working so hard to be.  Jarett has a secure job that he loves with great potential!  He's so excited to apply his knowledge and to learn so much more.

 He LOVES meeting new people every day, who all have a different story to tell.  He LOVES that he's official a Notary Public and has that authority to notarize documents etc.  He's already been able to work on wills, discoveries, filings at the court house, litigation files, real estate files and many more things.  He's also been a make-shift tech guy around the office - which is kinda funny.  He comes home exhausted every day from working/thinking so much.  It's a real challenge in many ways and he loves it!  He's been "articling" for a month and we just can't wait until he's admitted to the bar in a years time.

Jarett received a letter from one of his professors that really touched me.  Professor Brown was unable to attend the convocation, so he wrote this to Jarett to show his appreciation for Jarett's hard work.  I thought it was very thoughtful and it really meant a lot to know that someone else saw how hard Jarett worked!

"Jarett, I have often cited you as one of the very hardest working students I know.  Your work ethic was obvious to anyone - like me - who habitually arrives at work at 7 am, to see you already hard at your studies in the student lounge.  Although your early start to the day was no surprise, given your growing family.  Now that I have a family of my own, I always wonder how students like you manage to juggle both worlds - the world of being a husband and father, and the world of being a law student.  The answer, I suspect, is in too many cases that, while law students might be able to "juggle" both, they don't manage to excel in both.  From the few occasions on which I saw you with your family, however, it was evident to me that you have managed to excel in the home front as well as in the "work" front.  I have a deep and abiding admiration for the character, hard work, sense of priority and - and I have no doubt of this - the appreciative and sustaining support of your family that this demonstrates. 

You should take no small measure of satisfaction in reaching this milestone.  It will be a pleasure to count you among my friends and colleagues at the bar in a year's time, and as such I do hope we stay in touch.

With congratulations and best wishes for continuing success in life and law,

Russ Brown"

Around the House

Well, with all the unpacking, switching schools, starting jobs and adjusting that has been going on around our house, I've been seriously boring and, amazingly enough, I really haven't been at the camera much.

After much request, I started picking the camera up again and took a few of the kids around the house so you can have a glimpse of what our house is looking like.  The FAVORITE things that our kids have been doing is riding their bikes on the path right behind our house and playing on the park that is right by our kitchen window.  Enjoy!