why awesome?

So, in my last post I had mentioned that Elijah keeps asking me how to spell "awesome". Honestly, it is a daily question. I finally realized today why he is determined to know how to spell "awesome" . . . he thinks it is the password to log onto the laptop! I must have told him, one of the million times he's asked me what the password was, that it was "awesome". Too funny!!

Everything else is going good. The other night I was up till 1, and had thought of some great things to blog about. Unfortunately I didn't write them down, so I don't have anything clever and witty to share. Oh well.

Noah has decided hat he LOVES soccer. He plays all the time (when it's not raining, or snowing, or cold). Lucky for him his twin brother likes to play too, so there's always someone to play opposite of. Oh, and Noah was crazy excited for the earthquake drill yesterday. Van's handwriting is still terrible! And by terrible, I mean, even he can't read his own handwriting. He can do it if he slows down, but getting him to slow down is the problem. Love that kid, but he's always thinking of what's next, not what's in front of him. Marlee finally has her own room again. She's in heaven. And she has another fieldtrip this week. Elijah is Elijah. He's just a happy kid. Except for last night when I threw out the last half of his pb & j that had sat out ALL DAY LONG. He cried and cried and cried some more. Than he stopped and went in the kitchen to eat his dinner. At least that's what I had thought. Wrong. He pulled his half eaten pb & j out of the garbage and was just ready to eat it. Luckily I walked in and stopped him before he took a bite. Then he cried and cried, and cried some more. (I'm such a mean mom.)

Here's a couple of pics from Easter. Enjoy.

Miss Marlee

yellow tie = Noah. red tie = Van

there, that's better.

Noah, Elijah, Vance, and Marlee

a fresh start ?

Ok, it's been waaaaayy too long since I've done the blog thingy. It's time to start again. I was going to catch you all up on the last few months, but have decided to just start fresh with today. . . .

We are still trying to sell our house. The market is finally coming to life. There is hope. I hate that Nathan has to drive so far every stinking day, but I really don't want to leave South Ogden.

We fixed our lemon of a car. Fingers crossed (and a couple thousand dollars), it should work good now. When we got it back yesterday, Marlee said how much she likes the car. I told her it was a good thing, since it will probably be her car when she's 16. (Heaven help me it's only 6 years away. it's really not that far!!)

The kids are doing great at school. The boys have done great this year in separate classes. (I'd like to think I have done great with them in separate classes too. LOL) Marlee is doing great too! She's smart, responsible, kind, and helpful. What more could I ask for?! Tama (Elijah) is learning his letters. He asks me everyday how to spell "awesome". I'm not sure why that's such an important word for him, but it is a daily question.

Nathan's loving his new job. Only 2 weeks till the Luau that he's in charge of, it's quite the event!. We're all excited to go and see it though. It should be fantastic. He is really enjoying the advising part of his job. It's been a big change, but one that he really loves!

Yes, I am pregnant. Starting to really show now. Hopefully not just looking "heavier". I am due mid September, but we will be having this little baby a few weeks earlier than that. We'll find out the end of April what "flavor" we are having. I have been looking for my maternity clothes for 2 weeks. Last night I found one small grocery bag that consisted of 1 pair of pants that need mending, a sweater that might fit Marlee, and 2 shirts that are 10 years old. NICE. (sarcasm) Then I remembered that after Elijah, I sold my stuff, thinking that IF I was to get pregnant again I would just get new clothes. Smart idea? Not so sure. ;)

There ya go, a "quick" update. Keep checking back. I promise to write more . . .

It's a Kiwi Christmas!!

Nathan wanted to dress up like Santa Claus. (He remembers his Uncle James doing this once when he was little) . . .

Marlee couldn't stop laughing . . .

Van had fun . . .

Noah couldn't stop giggling . . .

Elijah thought it was great . . .

Merry Kiwi Christmas y'all!!

First Day of School

Here they are . . .

Van, Marlee, Noah, and please ignore the strange face that Tama is trying to make

Timpanogos

For Nathan's birthday this year, I thought it would be fun (adventurous) for us to summit Mount Timpanogos (11,749 feet). We woke up early, excited, and a bit anxious. The weather was going to be perfect. It was the start to a great day!! We started hiking about 6 am. The trail was nice and quite.

Watching the sun rise was beautiful. I think Nathan took over a dozen photos of it. We decided it looked just like a Bob Ross paining.

Now this wasn't our first time attempting to summit this mountain. I tried once in college and only made it to Emerald Lake (10,380 ft) Nathan and I tried once when we lived in Aspen Grove, but we were ill prepared. Not enough water, and terrible blisters made us turn around after only 2 hours of hiking. So, we figured "3rd times the charm" spelled success for us this time around!!

I love these waterfalls!!

Last time I saw them, they were just a trickle! As we were walking we kept saying over and over how we couldn't believe how much water there was!! There were so many places that we had to cross streams. I just didn't remember that from the last time I hiked. (But it had been over a decade ago)

We started passing some areas that had seen multiple avalanches over the years. There were lots of gnarly trees like this . . .

And then we started crossing a snow field.

Yes! It were very slippery.

And then we crossed another. And then another.

And then we started thinking . . . well, Utah has had record snow fall this year. I knew we would eventually have to cross some snow. I just thought it would be at the top, like 10,000 feet. I suppose we should have looked at this site before we left. oops. Ice picks, and crampons required?! It's the middle of July!

So, at about 9,500 feet, we admitted we had been defeated yet again.

Mount Timpanogos 3, Ormsbys 0!

But we did have lots of fun, and that's really what it's all about.

Love ya Nathan!! Happy Birthday.