The week before school started for Steve, we were lucky to be able to visit his sister and her family in Washington.  They needed some electrical work done in their house and Steve and I both needed some dental work (her husband, Kevin, is a dentist).  We were there for basically four days and had a lot of fun.  We all flew there and it was so exciting for Brinton and Zander to go on a plane.
Conley did pretty good and only cried a couple times total through our three (we had a connector) flights.  Brinton got the window seat, but he and Zander would switch.  I guess I was surprised that Zander was so excited and liked to look out the window.  I sort of thought he would be clueless, but he really knew what was going on.  My most favorite part of the flight was during the first plane we were on.  Just as we were on the runway speeding up, getting ready to take off, Zander was so funny.  He had both of his arms extended out in front of him and he was saying "Buzz Lightyear."  You know in Toy Story 2 at the beginning when Buzz is flying through space?  My kids like to reenact that when they are playing.  I was laughing so hard that Zander thought that one up on his own.  So funny!  We were really close to Seattle, but didn't really make it out to do touristy things.  We weren't really sad about that because it was nice just to be with Trish and Kevin and all the kids had a blast playing together.  One evening, we went to a park that has a little lake the kids can get in. 
Can I just say that their parks are way cooler than ours here?  The trees there are so huge and the landscaping is just naturally so beautiful and green.  It was really nice to have shade at the park and the kids had a lot of fun playing in the water.  McKenzie, Hailey, Brinton and Zander all shared a room while we were there.  The girls have a bunk bed with a trundle under.  Surprisingly, they did really great and chose to share beds rather than have one of our boys sleep downstairs with us.  Brinton and McKenzie would share, or Zander and Hailey would share.  It was really cute.  I didn't really get very many pictures because we were just hanging out and playing the whole time.  If I get some that Trish took, I'll add them later.  I loved Sophie, too.  She is so cute and actually just turned one a couple days ago.  We had so much fun and it was so nice for the cousins to spend time together.

On August 22nd, Brinton turned four.  It fell on a Sunday, so we just celebrated the whole thing on the Saturday before.  This year, Brinton was so excited to have a party and a green cake.  For the party, we invited some friends and cousins and just had some water fun at my parents' house.  It was a lot of fun. 
They played in a sprinkler, on a slip 'n slide, swam in a pool, and had a water balloon fight.  They probably loved the water balloons the best.  I spent probably a half hour filling them up and then they used them all in like five minutes (then asked for more).  Of course, being in my parents' back yard, there was just some good old fashioned playing as well.  It was nice there because I really just let them do whatever they wanted and they entertained themselves. 
With Brinton's friends, we just did cupcakes and pre-portioned ice creams.  They all got a little messy with green faces.  We were outside to blow out candles in the cupcake and it was windy so Brinton had to blow them out one at a time. 
The kids all had a lot of fun and Brinton loved having everyone there.  Later that night, a few of my brothers and their families came to my parents and we all had a barbecue.  That made it so everyone was there for Brint's real cake and ice cream.  He also had his Great Grandma Bishop, Grandpa and Grandma Bodell, and Grannie B come (in addition to my parents and other family there). 
Once again, Brinton had a green cake . . . inside and out.  He loved it! 
During that evening, he had a few cousins just itching to help him open his presents, but they were really good about just watching and being excited with Brint.  He got great presents all day long and has loved sharing them with Zander, which makes me so happy :)

First the first time, I took the kids to the splash pad in Highland.  I ended up going with Tasha and Heather (and their kids).  There were a lot of kids there. 
Brinton had a total blast.  Zander didn't like the fountains of water shooting at him, so he just ran around and played in the stream part.  He found himself a random friend who enjoyed running down the sidewalk with him.  Brinton just played with Izzy and Brayden the most.  Poor Ashton got sunblock in his eye and all of his fun was over at that point.  Heather left a little early with her kids while Tasha and I stayed for a bit.  The kids have a lot of fun together and I'm sure it helped that we had some delicious treats to snack on while we watched :)  I love that it's free and think we'll try it again next year.  I bet Zander will like it even more by then.

See this here?

We do a family reunion with my immediate family every year and this year, we went camping at the end of July.  We ended up going to a place called Smith and Morehouse for a few days this year.  We  had a lot of fun.  There were projects for the kids to do and we took them fishing and hiking. 
Mostly, all the cousins just loved running around together all day long.  The kids got pretty dirty, especially because it rained a couple times.  Luckily, we had an extra tarp and Steve set it up for some great shelter.  And luckily, it didn't last long when it did rain.  On of the afternoons was so hot that we stripped the babies to just their diapers because they were sweating so bad.  I  had to take a couple pictures of Conley and Eliza (one month younger) sharing a pack n' play in just their diapers.  We played games and visited and this year, Steve and I dutch-ovened for the meal we were in charge of.  We had to do dinner - thanks, Brian (not).  We ended up using six dutch ovens for dinner and a huge 16" one for dessert.  Our group is pretty big :)  The kids did pretty well with camping.  Brinton especially stays in his sleeping bag and just sleeps all night.  I think Zander woke up early one time and ended up sleeping next to me just so he didn't go out of the tent to play.  I am always surprised at how well the kids can do camping and we had a lot of fun!

At seven and a half months, Conley got his first tooth.  These bath pictures are the first time I had any proof of it. 
If you click on the collage, you might be able to see the little thing growing in.  Both Brinton and Zander didn't get their first tooth until they were about nine months, if I remember correctly, so I was a little surprised.  I love when babies suck on their feet, it's so cute.

Every year for the 4th of July, we have a great tradition with my side of the family.  We always have a barbecue and then we sleep in tents in my parents' back yard.  We watch a movie outside during the night and just spend a lot of time with everyone.  This year was no exception. 

I didn't take any pictures of us watching the movie, but this year, my parents rented a big bounce house and the kids all loved it.  Everyone got to watch Brian and Kerstin wrestle for a good 30-40 minutes straight and I snuck in a few pictures.  Zander found some one's tent pole and hooked it together.  I watched as he ran and pitched it into the garden a minute later.  It was a good thing because my brother was looking for it soon after that and I knew just where to look.  In the morning, all the guys helped my dad do a little work on a water feature that he is getting ready to do.  We all had so much fun and I love getting together for this every year.

At the very end of June, we hiked Stewart Falls with some of Steve's friends, Allen and Gretchen.  We don't see them very often, so it was a lot of fun.  Brinton had a great time with both Ava and Max. 
Poor Steve had to hike the whole time with Zander on the back and Conley on the front.  That was except for the time when I was feeding Conley a bottle.  He was so mad that the sun was in his eyes so we put Steve's sunglasses on him.  It was funny to me.  Brinton couldn't hike the whole thing on his own and I ended up carrying him for probably half the time.  Once we got to the top, it was beautiful and chilly.  That was nice because we were all hot from the hike, but the kids got cold pretty quickly, so we didn't stay long.  I think that will be a nice hike to do again once the kids are older.  It was a little too hard for them, but I'm still glad we did it.

Pleasant Grove always has the Strawberry Days in the middle of June.  They have a carnival, rodeo, and all that other stuff I never go to :)  They call them the Strawberry Days because they serve fresh, sliced strawberries and cream.  I really wanted to take the kids to the carnival, but we didn't want to spend that much money so I think we bought $10 of ride tickets and let the kids ride a few rides. 
Brinton liked them all and wanted to do more and more.  Zander was good at first, but then got a little timid.  They were in a flying saucer and everything was fine until it started going higher and higher (in basically slow motion).  Zander started crying for me to get him about half way through.  At the end, we let Brinton ride one on his own and Zander had more fun just pointing to him and watching him.  We didn't want to waste money on the carnival food, so after that, we packed the kids in the car and ate dinner at Arctic Circle.  They have a play place there and Steve and I figured that we could have just gone there and it wouldn't have made any difference.  At least we sort of tried the carnival :)

On June 10th was our five year anniversary.  It's funny how it seems like it hasn't been that long and how it must have been much longer all at the same time.  This year, we were lucky enough to get away (via plane) or five days in California.  We went to San Diego for part of our honeymoon, so we thought it would be fun to go there again.  I really wanted to go to Sea World again.  I love Sea World!  It is so cool that they have all the shows you can watch with the animals . . . that would be my favorite part.  We got all day meal tickets so we could eat as much as we wanted.  I'm pretty sure we got our money's worth there.  That might have been just to make sure we got our money's worth, but we got it nonetheless.  I only took pictures that day and they were just mostly of the stuff at Sea World. 

On June 7th, Zander turned two!  It is hard for me to believe he is already so big.  We just had the grandparents come over in the evening for cake and ice cream to celebrate. 
Don't try to get him to smile on his own for the camera or you'll get a real cheeser with closed eyes.  He did a great job blowing out the candles and licking the frosting off his cupcake :) 
This year, Zander was able to open his presents all by himself.  Brinton was so excited for him, it was cute to watch.  Zander loved everything he got and his birthday was a big hit.

For a preschool field trip (in the middle of May), we went to the Farm at Thanksgiving Point.  I was glad that Steve was able to come with us that day, its always so helpful.  The kids had a great time looking at the animals, feeding them, riding the ponies and especially just running around. 

There was a peacock there that had it's feathers all fluffed out for over a minute straight.  It was definitely trying to impress a female that was in the same cage, though he was denied in the end.  Brinton and Thayne ran off on their own and caused us to search all over for them.  When we found them, Thayne said, "I was not lost because I just wanted to see the sheep."  Good to know!  They both got a little talking to about running off without an adult.  Most of the boys ended up riding the ponies twice.  Brinton had to choose the largest horse both times, even when there were kids bigger than him going in the same group.  No one seemed to care, which was nice.  They had a great time and I always love visiting the farm.

Back in May, Zander and Brinton were fighting over a toy.  For the most part, they play well together and they certainly love each other.  However, boys will be boys.  And brothers also fight.  Zander won the fight, which is typical.  He is more of a bully to Brinton than the other way around.  As he won, he flew into the foot rest part of one of our kitchen chairs.  They are square, to have corners that are apparently perfect for splitting open a little gash above your eye.  It didn't look too bad, but as it was swelling, it started separating more and more.  I was lucky to have my friend, Nikki, come watch Brinton and Conley while I took Zander in to get the stitches.  He did really good while we were getting admitted and waiting for our turn. 
They put a wrap all the way around his head to hold on some numbing ointment.  I was shocked that he left it on.  It didn't seem to bother him that much even though it made it so he couldn't fully open one eye.  The nurse came in and had to give him a shot of anesthesia right through his cut.  Ouch!!!  I had to pin him down and I did feel really bad because that must have hurt so much.   When it was time for the stitches, they had to strap him onto a board and me and a nurse still had to hold him down so he would stay still.  It was really cute (and sad) while he was getting the stitches.  He was yelling, "Help, mom" and,  "Stoppey" (stop it) to the nurse.  My favorite was "I stuck!"  He said it over and over again.  "I stuck, help."  It was sad, but so cute because he didn't think I knew he was stuck.  Five stitches later, they gave him a sucker and he was totally fine.  I wish he would learn a lesson and not fight with Brinton over toys.  Yeah, right!

When it was time for him to eat, he started licking the food out of the spoon like a cat would drink milk.  I laughed and laughed and laughed :)

I always love the pictures from their first feeding because I think its so funny to see their reactions.