Blue eyes???

I know he's only 4 months old and it's too soon to tell, but Gage's eyes are still pretty blue. Katie came out with dark brown eyes right from the start. Jace had gray eyes, which eventually changed to a light brown. I'm almost positive Gage's eyes will soon change to some shade of brown, but for right now I'm enjoying having a little blue eyed baby.

Camping and Rice Cereal

This past weekend we went camping with my family at the Malad Summit campground. We actually stayed at an old forest ranger cabin so there was running water, a shower, and bunkbeds. Also, the cabin was down a private drive so there was no traffic through our spot. It was great! The kids had fun playing with my little brother and sister and spent most of their time in a creek that ran right next to the cabin.

Katie and Jace 'fished' and made 'salad' all day. Jace sat in the creek like this for about an hour and was red, frozen and crying by the time he came out. Luckily we had warm running water in the cabin to heat him up afterwards.

This is our little cabin. Me, Scott, and the kids were the lucky ones to stay in the cabin. Everyone else was in a tent or tent trailer. It was nice to sleep in beds, especially for the kids. They all slept great! We did have a little visitor inside the second night...a little mouse on the table eating a chocolate bar. I'm not a huge fan of little critters so I was glad we were leaving the next morning.

Scott and Jace by the campfire. This is where we had our second little visitor. Both nights while we were sitting around the fire we heard rustling noises in the trees next to us. Both nights out pops a little skunk! They are actually kind of cute, but I didn't get a picture because I was more worried about getting away so I wouldn't be sprayed. He didn't stay long, but I did keep looking over my shoulder at every little rustle and noise.

Today Gage turned 4 months old! He is a very happy and patient baby, which is good for him with a brother like Jace and a sister like Katelyn. We all try our hardest to make him laugh and the kids are probably the best at it. Gage is grabbing at toys now and just learned to roll over from back to front. They grow so quickly and I'm really enjoying this one because there probably won't be too many more!

We celebrated today with some rice cereal for the first time...

It's okay...

Kind of interesting...
Not good at all!!
Oh well...we'll try again later.

We have grass!!

(As soon as we have a bit more grass to show I'll post some pics of all of the landscaping.)

Camping at Bonanza

This past weekend we went to a family reunion. It's for my dad's side of the family and has been a yearly event for longer than I have been around. I thought it was so strange when I learned that not all families get together once a year for a reunion. I have many great memories of the Peterson Family Reunion and I'm glad that my kids can go now and make great memories of their own.

This year, like many of the past ten years, we have had the reunion at Bonanza campground, about 30 minutes from Stanley, ID. There is a ghost town to visit, hot springs to sit in, and lots of forest to sit and relax in. The kids had so much fun playing in the dirt with their cousins, staying up late, and eating endless junk food. The kids and I got to sleep in my parent's tent trailer where it was warmer so that made nights much more enjoyable than they have been in the past. Scott was pretty happy about being able to sleep in a tent with no one else except for my brother. Lucky. Actually the kids did great the whole trip and we had a fun weekend.

Katie packed into the back of the van.

Jace and his buddy Uncle Matt.

The kids at Custer (the ghost town). While we were there they were celebrating Custer Days with food, free ice cream, a gun fight and other festivities.

Even Gage had a good time and did great. I'm so grateful that he's such a mellow baby.

Here's a few other pictures I have taken recently...

We found these cool things at the craft store. They are tiny little balls (they almost look like beads) that you soak in water and they grow into these slippery, wet balls. They are made for decorating...putting in vases and things...but they feel really cool and are lots of fun to play with. I think it would be so much fun to fill a tub or swimming pool with these and lay in it.

The kids played with them forever today. The only drawbacks are that they do squish apart and make a mess (which Jace found out pretty quickly), they bounce when they fall on the ground (meaning little squishy balls everywhere), they are hard to pick up off of hard floors (they're so slippery that they either pop out of your fingers or break), and they disappear in carpet (next time I may get colored ones). I think next time they will be an outside activity. But they are lots of fun, and pretty clean when they aren't smashed. I'm sure we'll do them again.

Jace had so much fun that he fell asleep. : )

I had an apron making class for Relief Society today. I made 2 little aprons for Katie and Jace and I'm going to have the kids decorate them with paint. They were actually pretty easy aprons to make, which is good for me since I am easily frustrated at the sewing machine. In fact, they were so easy I'm thinking of making one for myself.

4th of July

We had a fun 4th of July week. Scott had Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday off so we were able to get a lot done around the house and spend lots of time with family doing parties, potlucks, BBQ's, and fireworks. We also got our yard started. The sprinkler system and a lot of the landscaping is finished now. We had a concrete pad put in our backyard today, and by the end of the week we should have our grass planted. I can't wait until we have a yard! I miss grass!

As usual, I forgot to bring my camera to most of the big events, but here are a few recent pictures of us all.

Gage is 3 months old and is smiling and laughing now. It's so cute! Katie has done so well to help me take care of him. If it weren't for Jace attacking him every minute, having three kids wouldn't be nearly as hard.

Gage and his cousin Wade, who is just 2 1/2 months older.

Scott's brother came over for the holiday from Cheyenne. The kids had fun playing with their cousins. (Jace, Macie, Katie, Gage, Raegan, Wade)

A rare picture of the two of us.

Jace in the Allen's backyard. He is such a funny boy. I can't wait to have a yard so he can run some of his energy off outside.

Update at last

It has been the craziest few months...first a baby, then moving and settling into a new house. I feel like there's an endless list of things to be done. However, I'm so glad our original house buying plans didn't work out. When we first put an offer on our house the closing date was March 31, just a few days before Gage was born. But since we decided to finish the basement - plus all the inevitable building delays - we didn't close until May 29. It was still hard with a 2 month old, but it would have been impossible with a newborn!

Anyway, we are loving our new house. It is so much better than anything we have ever had before...and it's ours! We have so much room to grow and I love that I can put things where they should go (as opposed to food storage in the closets and pots and pans in the laundry room like we had in Denver). The only bad part is that there is so much more to clean, and since we live in a mostly empty subdivision there is a ton of dust. But the good outweighs the bad and we are happy.

We also hope to have a yard soon. Dirt, rocks, and weeds just don't cut it. The kids love playing in it, but it will be so nice to have grass and trees and a garden. That's our next big plan and hopefully we can get that going in the next week or so.

Here are a couple of pictures of the house. Sorry they are kind of boring, but I really don't have much to show. That entryway table is really the only decoration I have up...decorating is one of the many 'to do's' I have on my list. Plus, most of our house is empty space. We are severely lacking in furniture, but it does leave a nice empty basement for the kids to run around in. I'm excited to get this house furnished, but I have to keep reminding myself...one thing at a time.

Our bedroom. It's a huge room and the rope lighting in the crown molding is a plus.

Our one and only decorated area, and it's actually not even finished yet. I'm not quite sure what else to put there, but I think it's missing something. My favorite part is the picture that you can't really see because of the flash, but it's of the Sacred Grove. Scott gave it to me for my birthday and it is so beautiful!

Part of our living room and the kitchen/dining area. I love having all of this area open to each other and the kitchen is great. I've always wanted an island and it's nice to have a desk area for our computer to go.

Our living room...another view.
The kids are adjusting to their new surroundings. They've actually been a little difficult since we moved, but I think all the craziness kind of threw them for a loop. Jace is especially naughty, but I'm pretty sure that's mostly just the way he is. Besides beating up on Gage and throwing food, he is chewing on everything, from library books to clothing to game cards. I find spit wads all over the house. The best remedy for him is to get a ball and run around with him in the basement or go outside...anything to release all that boy energy.

Katie's also been more defiant lately. Just becoming more independent I guess. However, she's also a big help with Gage...singing or reading to him and showing him toys. I get a lot done with her help. Some days I'm at my wits end, but then I have to remember to be thankful that I can stay at home with my kids. Not everyone has that luxury.

Gage is doing great. I just took him in for his 2 month appt and he weighs 14 1/2 lbs and is 25 1/2 inches long, both at about the 95% for his age. He's so much bigger than my other kids! Jace better watch out...when Gage gets bigger he is going to deliver some serious pay back for all those face squeezes and head bonks. Gage is smiling a ton now and even laughed for the first time yesterday!

One of his first smiles.

This was taken today, and it's of his first real bath. I actually tried to give him a bath when he was just a few days old in a little tub, but it was a disaster. He kicked water everywhere and then pooped. Great. So I have been sponge bathing him or hanging him over the sink for baths every since. Today I finally decided to try the tub, and of course he peed the minute he got into the water. But he liked sitting in the tub and I think we'll finally make the transition for good.
Jace is our extremely messy eater. You probably can't see, but he has chili all over his face under the chocolate.
Katie and Jace with their beloved Uncle Matt.
The three hooligans.

We're still here...

We have moved! (We just barely got internet today...finally!) We closed on the 29th and moved in the next day. It is so good to be finished with it all! We've unpacked almost everything and now I'm just working on putting out the decorations.
So far we love it here! It's so nice to have all of the extra space and the kids loving having more room to run around in . Our ward is great and we've met some nice neighbors. Looks like we're going to like it here!