Quick Trip

I picked Brooke up and we drove with the kids to Vegas for a quick trip. It was really fun to just kick back and have some fun in the sun. We haven't all been together since last August, so we were just enjoying family time!

In order from youngest to oldest with my mom in the middle -Brooke, Me, Bre and Candice

Dad and his girls Saturday we all went to the lake (minus Hailey and Mia). I think it was the nicest I've ever seen at Lake Mead. It's usually windy, but the water was like ice!
The motion of the boat always makes Scott really laid back...but he looks like he's got that "I'm cool" look.

Scott is not really a water kid, so for him to get in this tube was a huge deal! As you can see, grandpa was going extra slow for him. He loved it though and kept saying, "Diego has one!" and "Just like Diego!" (Diego has a little raft boat)

This is not your typical grandpa is it? Show-Off! We had a blast and Scott was way tired by the end of the day! It was so awesome to get to spend time with Bre and Wally since it's just too long for me to drive 12 hours with kids to see them! Scott really took to Wally this trip and even included him in his prayer for dinner. He peeked right at him with a grin and said, "and we're thankful for Wally". So cute! Scott was also excited they brought Rocky along to play. I love this picture because Scott has his arm on Candice's leg. He loves his aunts so much. My mom is always telling me how beautiful her grilling is and I was able to see first hand! Yummy! One of my main goals for coming was to get Scott use to the water. He was really scared at first, but he did pretty good the last few days. Hailey had no problem what-so-ever. She is a water baby for sure! I can't believe this actually happened- look at her little arm lounging on the tube fast asleep! Here's our big blue eyes! She's such a cutie!Scott never looses sight of his grandpa. The minute he hears his truck coming home he goes running out there and never leaves his side until it's time for bed. You can hear him just gabbing my dad's ear off. It's so funny. My dad still has our first little bike (yes it's pink) and so Scott got his first try on a bike!He would much rather be fixing it then riding it though. He tipped it over and my mom said, "I'll go get you a screw driver for the bolts" and Scott pointed up at her with one finger and said, "Actually a wrench!" Kevin sure has taught him some great handyman skills! A little too much-he took the horn off and I'm surprised the rest of it is still there!
My sister Bre bought Hailey and Mia these cute little outfits! They are only 3 months apart and about the same size (Hailey December and Mia March)
We were attempting to give the girls baths, but by the time we got them undressed Scott was already in the water ready to join. It was a little crammed, but still fun. I love the look on Hailey's face!
One more big piece of news- Hailey started crawling! Watch out everybody! (especially Scott)

Hailey met her new best friend- Rocky

This is my sister Bre's dog and every time he would bring his toy back in his mouth Hailey laughed hysterically...I think almost to a point that it was hurting she was laughing so hard!

Hailey is really enjoying her baby food!

Last week it finally warmed up outside! We decided to walk over to the park across the street for a picnic and some family fun.
Notice how Scott's arm is wrapped around Hailey...just so she won't fall out-she is Scott's precious cargo
Father and son picture- they are both so handsome!
Kevin and Scott on the swings
I was seriously only swinging with Hailey on my chest for a few minutes, but it was enough to lull her to sleep...

Thanks for the cute shoes grammy! They looked so cute for church on Sunday!

When I met Kevin I knew he would make a great husband, but I think I underestimated how wonderful he would be as a father. When Scott was born all of the nurses thought it was our 2nd or 3rd child because Kevin was a natural. He picked Scott right up and got to work with diaper changes, etc. It does come natural to him. He is a hands on dad-always helping with the kids. He is definitely not a "sideline" dad, that's for sure. He is an AMAZING father and I know Scott thinks so too! :) I thought it would be fun to take go through his journey of Fatherhood- here ya go babe- Happy Father's Day!

Hailey is 6 Months Old!

Hailey had her 6 month checkup today!
16 pounds 6 ounces (59th percentile)
25 3/4 inches long (50th percentile)

Hailey is doing so many new things! She is great at sitting up on her own, and can even go from sitting position to her stomach. She rolls a lot, though she prefers trying to reach for things she can use to pull herself up with. She hasn't conquered that trick just yet, but if you are sitting near her she will reach until she's in your lap so that you can sit her up. She is so close to crawling already! She gets on her hands and knees, but then she scoots herself back (which of course just makes her really mad!) She has been eating baby food for probably about a month, and her favorite even over fruits is sweet potatoes (which was her first food). I gave her a regular plastic cup last night with a tiny bit of water in it and she knew just what to do with it. She used both her hands to hold it up to her mouth, but then she needed help after that. She was pretty proud! She also still LOVES bath time, and took her first dip in a pool a few weeks ago. She's a "water baby" (you can pour water over her head and she'll smile!)

One thing she does now when she's frustrated is this little snorting thing with her nose. Scott use to do the same thing when he was this age, but what makes Hailey so much funnier is that she puckers her lips at the same time! Here's a video!

She sleeps from 8:30 pm until 6 or so (but I sneak in and feed her in her sleep at 10) She loves to take cat naps, but I've finally (after 6 months) gotten her to a schedule of 2 big naps and a cat nap each day. When she's not sleeping she is super active and busy!

Hailey is such a joy to have in our family, and truly brings such a happy spirit into our home. She loves to smile and laugh, and loves to nestle her head on mom or dad's chest when she's tired. (my favorite of course)

New Jammies!

My sister Candice, her husband and baby all came up to see us on their way to visit more family up in Idaho. It was great to see them, and fun to get the kids together.

Here's Scott trying to hold Mia's hand....how precious!Here's little Mia trying to talk with Hailey....And here's little Hailey showing Mia her new spitting trick (her all-time favorite thing to do now)...Sorry Mia!

KEVIN TURNED 30!!!

Last year we were in the hospital with Scott's scare for Kevin's entire birthday weekend. It was shortly after that when I decided I had to make it up to him the next year, espeically since it was his big 30! I remember the night I thought of my scheme, because I was up all night tossing and turning with excitement! The plan was to get all the siblings (no spouses) up here to suprise him for his 30th. When Kevin is with his siblings, he has a perm-a-grin and I love it! I knew it would be a hard secret to keep, so I didn't mention it to anyone until around January. They were all on board. So I managed to pull it all off and trust me, I was getting worried towards the end! Kenny flew from Florida into Denver, Colorado where he met up with Carson and Chris to fly here to Utah. Kelli also flew with her three kids from Florida. They were running a little late getting in, and they still had to drop off Kelli's kids at our house and beat us to the resturaunt to suprise Kevin! So I got 2 babysitters for Friday night (Kevin didn't even think anything of it) and told him I had to go to Walmart before dinner. It was my job to stall him for 30 minutes in Walmart! I kept sneaking away to call the sibs and see where they were. So after I couldn't come up with anymore items to get, I sent a text to Chris that we were leaving Walmart and he told me they just pulled into Iggys (a fun sports bar). I was worried we were going to meet in the parking lot, so I told Kevin to park far far away so that our new car wouldn't get ding-ed. We walked in and I was looking everywhere for them and started to wonder if we still beat them there. We got a table for 2 and Kevin said he was going to run to the bathroom. I was frantically looking around trying to hold Kevin back, but off he went. There were his 3 brothers and sister sitting at the table right next to the bathroom, and Chris was videotaping the whole thing. Kevin walks right by them, looks right at Chris with an irritated look like, "Why is this guy taping me!?" and they all yell "SUPRISE!" The whole resturaunt fell silent and even after 15 minutes Kevin was still really confused about what was going on. It was sooooo funny! It couldn't have worked out any more perfect! It was awesome! We ate dinner and then Kevin took them on a tour at his work while I went home to round up 5 tired kids.

Saturday the plan was to go shooting up at the mountains, but the boys loved just hanging out in the garage and enjoying their time together for majority of the morning, which of course also involved washing the Scout and taking it for a drive.

Then off to the mountains to do some shooting...

Saturday night we all had chicken fajitas for dinner at the house, and then they went over to the driving range to smack some golf balls, and then came home and watched movies and ate popcorn...
Sunday was the day everyone spent together. It was mid-morning when I remembered I still had to make a birthday cake for Kev, so I was lucky to get these 3 helpers to help me make the carrot cake in no time! TJ and Summer are always wanting to help, especially in the kitchen. TJ got to peel the carrots, Summer washed them, and Scott kept them company and ate a few... The guys in our yard playing with Scott's T-Ball set

Then we went to the base of the canyon for a picnic and games
Kevin and Chris

Kelli and Kenny

Carson, TJ and Summer

This is Scott eating his lunch about 20 feet away from the rest of us. I guess he needed his space after all his toy invasions....(notice the tight grip on the mit)

The crew: Chris, Carson, Kelli, Kevin and Kenny

Kevin swinging Scott and Chris in the back swinging summer
Kevin and Scott playing catch

Our little family

Then Sunday night we had frozen pizzas and soda for dinner, and then ate cake and icecream and opened presents

After presents Kelli and I got the kids ready for bed while the boys dug a pit in our sideyard. If you know the Riggs' boys, you know they have to have some risk taking involved, so here's the bon-fire they built in our yard! We had lots of fun roasting marshmellows and talking around the fire.

So Kelli and I spent majority of the weekend together with the kids while the boys were playing. Here's some of the highlights-

While the boys were shooting, we went to the pool

(No, I don't have a matching pair for Scott- these are Haileys!)

While the boys were riding bikes, we took the kids over to the park. TJ said he was strong enough to pull Scott and Summer...pretty cute.

We also took the kids over to this really awesome greenway trail that follows the river

TJ got a little tired towards the end- Kelli the supermom!

And LOTS and LOTS of playing at the house...

Scott (2 1/2 yrs), TJ (almost 6), Hailey (6 months), Matthew (1 1/2 yrs) and Summer (4 yrs)

I had to show this picture - there's a little space between the treadmill and the couch and this is where Scott hid all of his special toys so that nobody would take them. He wasn't using them, he just didn't want anyone else to either. I should have taken a picture of everything we found in there when everyone left....pretty funny!

TJ helped me feed Hailey pretty much each night while I was preparing other stuff.

Bathtime!


Playing in the tent before bedtime