Too Funny, I have to share!

Yesterday was a very funny day at my house! John has recently found his sense of humor and LOVES to make me laugh! During our vacation, he discovered that he can roll his eyes and in so doing, MOMMY LAUGHS! So now he does it all the time! It kills me! I must share!

The next part of my giggle fest began when John walked up to me with this silly smile on his face. It is his way of saying, "Aren't I adorable, aren't you proud of me, Mom?" I smiled back, for a moment...and then as he continued to smile at me like that, I looked closer, he was showing me his "adorable art work" that he did with a PERMANENT marker...see what this blogging obsession is doing to me? I am ignoring my kids to document my life with these same kids!! It doesn't look bad in these small pictures, but just humor me and imagine horrifying destruction! All is well however, I have ZOUT and TIDE WITH BLEACH on my side, and so needless to say, his shirt is fine! :) And finally, the greatest shocker of all... I had plopped John in his highchair for some tasty and oh so nutritious lunch (the only thing he will eat these days is PB&J) and then I quickly went back to the computer (to BLOG of course,) when suddenly things got very quiet. The kind of quiet that you know something must be terribly wrong, or that you only hear at 2:30 in the morning! So I jumped up to check on Johnny, John, John, and this is what I found. Ruby laughed so hard it startled him, that is why his little noggin kept bobbing from one side of the highchair to the other. THIS CHILD HAS NEVER FALLEN ASLEEP ANYWHERE BUT IN HIS BED!! I guess his mischievous ways are beginning to wear him out!! Maybe the "terrible twos" won't be so terrible! *please note: John is much too cool for a bib, that is why you will find him in a new shirt after every meal/snack. If you can't get a hold of/find me, I will be in the laundry room!!

It's the little moments that count!

Every morning when John wakes up, he asks for Dad. His disappointed reaction is always the same to my answer, which is always the same, "Dad is at work." But today, he was suddenly filled with joy when he found Dad's shoes at the bottom of the stairs, it somehow made everything better! YAY DADDY! KNOW THAT YOU ARE LOVED!

Summer is drawing to a close.

Wow, I CAN'T BELIEVE IT, in less than two weeks, we are BACK TO SCHOOL!! At the beginning of the summer I wasn't sure I was going to make it! I was nervous about the length of summer vacation and now I don't want it to end! We have had a grand summer! I just flew by! Here are some highlights from our summer...

Over the 4th of July Weekend, we celebrated Great Grandmother and Great Grandpa's 60th wedding Anniversary at our Fairbanks Family Reunion in Salt Lake City, it was AWESOME!

After the family reunion, we brought Marshall, one of our FAVORITE cousins, home with us! He is so fun and so cool! We played hard & enjoyed having him here! WE LOVE YOU MARSHALL WHITNEY FAIRBANKS!! Hope you'll come visit us soon!! (and bring the rest of your family as well!!)

The next weekend, Auntie Katherine and Ada came for a visit! What a treat it was to have them all to ourselves, the only thing that could have made it better would be having Uncle Darry here. Ada thanks for making us smile, you are adorable! The following weekend, Grammy and Grandpa arrived to help us celebrate RUBY'S SIX BIRTHDAY and to cheer for Hannah, Kirk and Ruby at the swim team championships, it was SO WONDERFUL to have them here...THANKS GRAMMY & GRANDPA! We had a great time, thanks for cheering for and supporting our swimmers!! The kids all did great at the championships, and Ruby earned 5th place overall for her awesome backstroke!! YEAH RUBY!! We are so proud of you! Hannah Montana is all that matters to this six year old girl!! RUBY, YOU ROCK!!

July was FULL of family and fun, we loved it...now if we could just get some KIRK FAMILY up here, it would make our summer complete!! hint hint :)

A big day for Hanny-hoo!!

ATTENTION ONE AND ALL, HANNAH GOT HER BRACES OFF!!SHE JUST HAD TO CHECK OUT THOSE GORGEOUS PEARLY WHITES HERSELF!! She looks BEAUTIFUL!! Before After ***CONGRATULATIONS HANNAH, I LOVE YOU!! YOU LOOK AMAZING!! (When did you take your braids out, silly?)***

A little family time...

We just returned from NINE HEAVENLY days in West Yellowstone, Montana...our FAVORITE place on earth! We had loads of fun spending time as a family, we played lots of games, rode bikes and 4-wheelers, went on picnics in the park. Kirk and Ruby went fishing with their Dad, while Hannah, John and I did some shopping. The kids also got to be "keeper kids" at the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center. SO COOL, they get to go inside the Bear exhibit (while the bears are safely locked in their den) and hide buckets of fruits and veggies for the bears. It is fun because afterwards, they release the bears out into the exhibit and the kids get to watch the bears find the food they hid for them. Ruby got a BIG KICK out of that this year. One day we ventured over to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where Rich and the kids went through Ripley's Believe it or Not...I was lucky enough to shop, while they saw & "enjoyed" the "musuem." It was a treat to see the Tetons and Yellowstone all in ONE DAY!! I WAS IN HEAVEN!! We had a great trip, probably the most relaxing trip, yet! There are so many things to do in West Yellowstone, no matter what time of the year it is!! Here are some pictures from our adventures! We took this picture at the Jackson Lake Lodge in Grand Teton National Park...check out those gorgeous mountains in the window's reflexion!! These were taken at Yellowstone Lake, the kids could have stayed there all day!! It was BEAUTIFUL!! I forgot how much fun you can have with just rocks and water!! Whenever John wanted to go on the 4-wheeler, he would simply point at his head and scream, "DAD!" HOW DO YOU ENTERTAIN YOUR KIDS ALL DAY IN THE CAR???? Just throw Hannah into the vehicle, she will take care of business!! What a "nutcase!!"