Temple Day

We decided to skip school today and go to the Gila Valley Temple open house. It was a great family trip with all 8 of us in my parents car. We ate lunch at a local hamburger joint (along with everyone else coming to Pima for the open house), played at a park while the chain gang (yes I mean inmates) mowed the lawn, and ended the trip with a beautiful tour of the temple. The chandeliers were amazing. I have never seen anything so beautiful. We are excited for the dedication in a couple of weeks, especially because Katelyn is now old enough to join us.

Happy Easter

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter and General Conference weekend!!!

You may be wondering where are our other children???

They had a fun cousin sleep over.

Candy, Candy, and more Candy

Saturday Grandma & Grandpa put together a great Easter party for all the cousins (except Jacob, we missed you). The kids had a Easter egg hunt, followed by pizza. The men left for Priesthood and Grandma, Dani, and I were brave enough to decorate eggs with 7 small children. Our hands were not the same color they started out but that was part of the fun. Carter enjoyed throwing the eggs like a ball and crushing several with his bare hands :) And of course there were lots and lots of treats. We all had a great time!!!

Comfort camping

A couple of weekends ago we were discussing what we could do for fun over the weekend and Kirk thought camping sounded like a great idea. However, that wasn't exactly what I had in mind so we compromised. We roasted hot dogs and s'mores over the firepit in the backyard (with the babies safetly in their high chairs), gave everyone baths (just because we are "camping" doesn't mean we have to smell like it), put the babies down for bed in their OWN cribs, read ghost stories and slept in a perfect climate controlled tent. Let's not forget to mention we didn't see ONE bug!!! What's not to love about this camping trip :)

My new mode of transportation

Before: This is how we took bike rides before the trailer.

After:

Our first bike ride (I wish we had a pic) was when all the kids were home and everyone wanted to try it out so Kirk had Kaleb on the back of the bike, Katelyn was in the trailer holding Emma, and Carter was sitting next to them. We had a small mishaps and the bike tire popped when we were a little ways from home so Kirk got to pump all the kids back home on a flat tire. Way to go Kirk. I am hoping to be strong like him someday and to have some awesome legs by summer :) But no matter what, we are having fun!

Happy Valentines (one week early)

I know Valentines is still one week away but as some of you may know we get so excited for holidays that we have a hard time waiting until the actual day. I took these photos of the kids for Kirk's Valentine present (I noticed that the only picture in Kirk's wallet was from when Katelyn and Kaleb were 1 and 3). I was so excited with the results that I just had to share one.

Thanks for all the props and photo tips Ashley :)

Happy Birthday Mom

We celebrated my mom's b-day by waking up at the crack of dawn (4 a.m. to be exact) and going Black Friday shopping. Even though it was only my mom and I this year we couldn't stop the tradition (thanks dad for sleeping on my couch while I was out shopping, and for Kirk who was hard at work while I was spending his hard earned cash). We hit Old Navy, Target, JoAnns, and Office Max. We were done by 8:30, just in time to get home and feed a baby.

Oh and by the way, the candles on the cake are not really her age.

Happy Halloween

I was frantically sewing Halloween costumes all day (and week) so we decided to treat ourselves to Papa Murphy's Jack o' Lantern pizza, which was very delicious but the best part was the Cinnamon wheel. This was our first experience with the Cinnamon wheel and we will definately be doing it again- mmm good!!!

Katelyn and Kaleb wanted to be Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker so that started the Halloween theme for us. Carter was R2D2 and Emma was Master Yoda (we know we cross dressed her but couldn't help it, it was just too cute). Kirk was Anikin and I was Princess Amadala (aka Padme). It was the first year Kirk and I have both dressed up since before we had kids, but it was so much fun I think we might have to do it again next year.

Monkey Bread

Kirk came home from work with a great new recipe... MONKEY BREAD. The kids and I thought we would give it a try. It was really good and SO easy. The kids basically did the whole thing, I just supervised. The recipe we tried is from Allrecipes, but as I was looking through our family cookbook what do ya know, it was in there too(and I just discovered it after having the cookbook for about 5 years)

Movie Night

We have made it a tradition in our family to have movie night every week (Thanks Jen and Joey for the idea). We get dinner from one of our favorite restaurants and eat on a blanket in the family room as we watch. This week we watched Dreamer. As the movie started Kirk and I were in the kitchen getting drinks for dinner and Katelyn called from the other room "It is PG, can we get some parental guidance in here"

Tuesday, Day 12

Our vacation has come and gone and we cannot believe it is almost over. Today we left Bear Lake and headed to Eagle Mountain to visit our friends. We stopped at the Oquirrh Mountain Temple for the open house and then Lisa and I headed to Tai Pan. Oh how I love that store and dream about shopping there once a year. Maybe sometime I can convince Kirk to take me to the one in St. George.

Monday, Day 11

Today the Smiths and us did our annual surry ride. It always sounds like a good idea to enjoy the fresh air and beautiful scenery on a bike ride but as we ride along we decide that it is more torture than anything, especially because each year we add more children which means more weight!!!

Since we had such a good work out we treated ourselves to another lunch at La Beaus.

After naps we enjoyed a more relaxing afternoon at the pool.

Sunday, Day 10

It's a JUNGLE OUT THERE!

We enjoyed seeing so much wildlife right outside the house. We saw a moose, deer & fawns, and jackrabbits.

We were relieved that we were not outside playing kickball or volleyball when the moose came to visit- Man that things is large!

We are sorry to report that Kaleb did not have peapods for snack today in Primary.

Disclaimer: These are not the actual photos, we never had our camera on hand when these creatures came to visit, but you get the idea.

Saturday, Day 9

Today the kids went fishing with Grandpa. Even though they didn't catch anything this year it is fun to experience the great outdoors doing things we only do with Grandpa.

The babies (Carter & Emma) and Mom enjoyed this experience in the car. We folded down the seats and Mom and Carter played while Emma slept peacefully in her carseat, away from the mosquitos.

Friday, Day 8

My SIL Kristen put together an Amazing Heritage Race so that we could learn more about our ancestors. Each family was a team and each team had a book of family history to find the answers to the questions. We had a great time racing around the valley and passing eachother on the highway :) Thanks Kristen for your hard work.

Leg 1: After returning home from his mission to New England, George Frederick Bunn had the same job his whole life. The building he worked in is gone; his son Elton moved it to their dry farm in 1916. Go to the location where his business used to be and take a picture of your family there. Call Kristen to check in.

Leg 2: What was James Nye's (son of John & Charlotte) job before he died? Go to Paris's equivalent.

Leg 3: Go to where Grandpa Nye was buried. Once you are there open the Detour envelope.

Detour: Choose ONE of the following and complete it as a team. RUBBING OR SCRUBBING

Rubbing- make a rubbing of Grandma Elizabeth & Grandpa James' headstone. Use the enclosed paper and crayon to do so.
Scrubbing- Use the enclosed soap, scrubbers, and pail to spruce up a family member's headstone. Your team cannot clean a headstone that has already been cleaned.

Leg 4: James Nye, son of Rasmus & Catherine, worked where, after he worked for the "Dray" business? Go to the place he worked and check in with Kristen

All Play Roadblock: Use the genealogy you were given to complete the enclosed Pedigree Chart. The number one position on the chart should be KB Rasmussen. Complete all of the questions (when and where born, etc. Don't worry about temple ordinaces boxes). When you are finished, open Leg 5 envelope.

The kids climbed trees while the adults filled out the chart

Leg 5: Royal James Rasmussen, attended Washington Elementary School. Go to where the school used to be and check in at the mat.

Thursday, Day 7

The Beach Bums enjoyed jet skiis, raft rides, sand castle building, and the freezing Bear Lake water.

Day 6- Wednesday

The kids have been looking forward to visiting Kings for days, to pick out a toy. Well, today was the day. Everyone loves heading for the basement and cruisin' through the aisles to find the perfect toy.

Next we headed for the library and after naps we played at the Garden City Park. At the end of the day all the cousins arrived. Let the party begin!!!

Tuesday- Day 5

Today we enjoyed beautiful Bear Lake in its fullest. We parked in the reeds, worried about getting back out, and had to wade through a lagoon to get to the lake. And of course we finished off the experience by stopping at La Beau's for lunch- YUM!