Happenings

October.....gone.

November....almost gone.

2013 seems to be just about halfway over.

Before I turn 40 I better get another update in, huh?

For some reason, we manage to get people to drive south for 5 hours to visit us every so often.  Our good looks?  Our charming personalities?  The beautiful expanse of cedar trees?  Hmm, must be our good character because cedar trees are nothing but overgrown sagebrush if you ask me.

Well, no matter the reason, we LOVED having family come down the past few weeks.  Our first visitors were Grandma and Grandpa Israelsen.  We get plenty of love and attention when Grandma and Grandpa come, and we are always sad to see them leave.  While they were down we managed to head into town for the annual Sheep Festival complete with a parade of tractors, sheep camps, horses, and of course, sheep.  Kind of fun to see a whole bunch of sheep trotting down mainstreet.  It was a perfectly beautiful fall day to spend together as a family.

The following weekend Uncle Karl and Aunt Julie came down to visit.  We laughed and ate and had just a great time together.  I would love to show you it all, but well, I didn't take a single picture.  I was so engrossed in all the fun!  Thanks so much for coming to see us Karl and Julie!  We can't wait to meet our newest little cousin next year.  Another little lady- go figure.  Looks like Ty man is going to have to work overtime to keep the Israelsen name going strong!

And of course I need to throw in Halloween.  Halloween Israelsen style, that is.  I'll let the pictures do the talking.

And let us not forget another visit from the toothfairy.  One of my favorite parts of being a Mom is watching my kids encounter each little milestone.  And have maybe just a twinge of sadness that tooth by tooth, my little girl is quickly becoming my little lady.  I'll just enjoy these baby teeth as long as I can, I suppose.

Intelligence

During a visit with my dear Visiting Teachers a while ago, I was discussing with them about my two oldest ladies.  When Kenna and Allie are in public, such as school or church, they really are good little troopers and are actually quite a bit on the shy side.  When they are at home, however, they are two big balls of energy who seem to have more personality than their sweet, kind Mother knows what to do with.  The one Sister said she had read somewhere that when children exhibit this kind of behavior, it actually is a sign of intelligence that they can differentiate between times of needing self control and others when they are able to let loose a bit.

Well, yes, of course!  My children are extremely intelligent!  Please, I don't need a study in a journal to tell me that!  For example-

The other day we were in the van riding back from town, and it just so happened that the girls had switched booster seats to sit in.  They were having one of those afternoons where they just kept getting on each others nerves.  Here is the conversation in the van:

Allie:  "Kenna, I just farted in your booster."

Kenna (trying to be oh so non-chalant):  "I don't care."

-silence in the car for a few moments as Kenna is deep in thought-

Kenna:  "Oh yeah Allie?  Well that's a fart-switching booster so now it's in yours."

Yes I do believe that's intelligence right there.

Stuff

I could lament about the lapse in blog entries....

.....but I won't.  So goodbye to things I am not blogging about but really should. 

So here is a bit of a snapshot of the Israelsen comings and goings as of late:

I'm lovin' my new jogging stroller.  My days with it are so limited!  We are soon to bid a fond adieu until warmer weather lest I subject my poor babies to frost bite. 

Ty Man loves him some little sister, and insists we always take a picture.

Little sister loves her some fingers.  Yes, she really is the most lovable, adorable, sweetest little lady that ever did exist.  And 5 months?  Really, 5 months?  I can't believe it.

The girls did a cheer camp and performed during half time at the high school football game.  Pretty much well on their way to fame and glory.

And of course they looked equally darling sporting their tiger hats for hat day during Red Ribbon Week at school.

'Tis the season for all things Halloween, and the ward Halloween carnival was the highly anticipated event of the week.  Kenna was adamant she be a witch.  Allie was initially going to be a cat, but soon switched to the dark side with her sister.  And close in tow are my little punkin and flower.  Love me some cute kiddos all dressed up!

And don'tcha just wish you could come snuggle up with us on a cozy Sunday afternoon as we read a chapter or two out of Charlotte's Web?

Yep.  Yep you do.

In a Nutshell.....

I am so overwhelmed to update this bloggity blog. Life has seemingly gone into turbo mode and I am doing good to keep my head above water some days!

So here is a marathon that hopefully will cover our last month.  Nothing is going to get all the attention and details it deserves, but hey, beggars can't be choosers.

Let's start with some visitors:

We had a mission buddy of Jacob's and his wife and 3 boys come to visit for a night, and it was also the same weekend Aunt Marlene came down for a visit.

Here we have the makeshift breakfast table with part of the crew.  Oh ya, when you come to visit we roll out the red carpet, baby!   The kids thought it was just amazin'.

Is it any question Aunt Marlene is absolutely loved and adored?

We enjoyed a good ol' hometown 24th of July parade where Dad and the kiddos got to ride on the ward "float"- or rather a big flatbed trailer with some bales of hay on it.  Ahh, such cute little pioneers.

Dad and the girls had to break in the playhouse with a delightful sleep over.  It was reeeeeeally tempting, but after a lot of back and forth, I just ended up sleeping in my own warm comfortable bed.

Our family vacation this year was a week-long trip up to Logan.  I can't even begin to give this week the time and detail it deserves, but you can trust we had a perfect time and it went by entirely too fast.  First up was Allie's birthday, complete with swimming with some cousins, ear piercing, and cake:

Of course we can't forget the final triumphant year for the Israelsen clan at the Cache County Fair!  I'm quite certain Jacob, being 32 years old, still got a butterfly or two in his tummy awaiting this big weekend.  Just like the good old days.

Uncle Benson pretty much reigned King of the Fair and won every category he was in.  Since Benson isn't one to toot his own horn, we'll do it for him.  YOU ARE AWESOME Bensy!  Here is the master at work:

Yes, he is holding a blow-dryer.  Pre-marriage I would have never used the words "cow" and "blow-dryer" in the same sentence. 

The Israelsen grandkids all got to show a heifer and they thought they were in heaven with their blue ribbons and 2 whole bucks.  Ty got excited to lead his heifer at first, then soon changed his mind and decided to supervise outside the ring.  And I'm quite certain that only a handsome little 2-year-old boy can wear snakeskin boots with silver rimmed toes and actually be deemed cute doing so.

We attempted the rodeo Friday night and got rained out after about a half hour.  I was SO BUMMED.  It was going to be so fun with the entire Israelsen clan.  Ty could have cared less about the rain.  He and Kylie thought splashing in the bleachers was the best thing that could have ever happened!

And I have a zillion more pictures of the fair I could go on and on about but this post would never end.....

We went up Smithfield Canyon with the Otte clan to do some S'mores.  Here is the grandkid lineup (minus a sleeping Lexi):

The week culminated in the blessing of our Miss Lexi.  It turned out to be a beautiful day.  Even if I did escort the entire Israelsen family to the wrong church.  Not my most shining of all moments.  I try to keep it so my frequent brain lapses affect only me but I struck out on this one.  Fortunately we all managed to make it to the right church just in time.  Look on the bright side- we at least were at the right denomination!

My mom put her talents to good work and sewed Miss Lexi's blessing dress.  The picture doesn't even come close to showing it off, but it was absolutely beautiful.  It meant so much to have it come from Grandma Shelly!  

The proud parents:

The proud Israelsen Grandparents:

The proud Otte Grandparents (who leave for the Ft. Worth Texas mission in a matter of days!):

The proud new shiner.  Ty managed to fall down the cement steps of the church.  Thankfully after the meeting was over.

We were so sad to see the week end.  All good things must come to a close, I guess.

We made it home just in time to meet up with some friends who were visiting from California, who happen the have the cutest twins you ever did see!  The only downer was we didn't get to spend as much time with them as we would have liked.

We didn't have but a few days left of summer before we jumped right into SCHOOL!

Here we have the cutest first-grader in the world!:

And of course the starting of school wouldn't be complete without a 500-year flood.  It was crazy rain and a lot of people flooded.  My poor neighbors were a casualty.  You can't even tell where the curb and sidewalk are in the picture.  The following Monday was a city-wide service night to help out all the homes that had been damaged.  It was so neat to see so many people out lining the streets helping wherever they could.  

And a week later we have the cutest Kindergartener in the world!:

But of course we can't forget the wildest and cutest 2 year-old in the world!:

My bookshelf is empty for obvious reasons.


And last but certainly not least, the cutest 3 month-old in the world!: 

And there we have the past month and a half.  I barely skimmed the surface, but now I can check this off my list.  Now on to the other 9,457 things left to do.  And then start again the next day......

No Commentary Necessary

Mi Vida Loca

Pretty much I am way behind.  Hopefully I can do a quick catch-up and do the past little while some justice.

First off, a huge shout out to the newest 2 year-old of the family: TY!  Happy Birthday little buddy!  And really, balloons is all this kid could ever hope for for his birthday.

 But the birthday fun doesn't end there, oh no.  Right behind Ty by only a day is Jacob's birthday!  So a shout out to the newest 32 year-old of the family: JACOB!  According to Jacob, it's "just another day."  Whatever!  And really, getting rid of the balloons is all Jacob could ever hope for for his birthday.  Perhaps the BEST birthday gift for Jacob was that his special day fell upon the same weekend his brother Ross came down for a visit.  He actually was a SAINT (yes Ross, you are a SAINT- did you know that?) and delivered some cattle down to us that he went and picked up in Montana.  Jacob was in heaven having a brother down to work with.  Poor Ross got worked to death.  Not only doing all the farm goodies we (we meaning Jacob) get up to, but also working on the playhouse.  Yes, the playhouse:

 It seems to get bigger every day.  Anyone looked into the price of lumber lately?  Ya, we might have a second mortgage just for the playhouse.  But hey, it got my parents down here for another visit.  Yay!  My Mom and Dad came down over the 4th of July where Dad and Jacob spent some more blessed hours on the playhouse:

And I must add that no one fell off said playhouse, as I was quite fearful they might.  Hope the kiddos appreciate this!

But of course Dad managed to do some other VERY important work as well:

And looks like Mom got the shaft on pictures this trip, but is much loved nonetheless (insert smiley face).

Let's see where are we on catching up?.....

Oh yes, our experience which qualifies us for parents-of-the-year:

So the Saturday Uncle Ross was here, Lexi and I headed off to do my grocery shopping (which now happens once a week- on Saturday when I can leave the majority off the kids behind) and Jacob and Ross headed off with Ty, Allie, and Kenna to the Home Depot.  I had been in town for a good 2 hours when Jacob called to decide where we could meet up to grab a quick bite to eat.  After a few groans from Kenna on deciding where to eat he asked me where Allie wanted to go, and I said, "I don't know, why don't you ask her."  The reply was, "Well, she's with you."  Suddenly I could see my face start to go pale and I asked Jacob to quick teasing me like that.  To sum it up, he wasn't teasing.  We unfortunately experienced a classic "I thought she was with you" parenting moment.  So there I stood, tearing up as I stared at the Cool Whip in the freezer aisle, imagining poor Allie having a come-apart when she realized we all left her.  I called a neighbor in tears and asked her to run over and make sure she was okay until I could get home.  Can I just add how much I do not like crying in the middle of the grocery store?  SO NOT FUN.  Nor do I like trying to pretend I'm not crying and end up gushing while on the phone with a neighbor.  Embarrassing.  I rushed home, ran in the house, and found Allie just as content as could be sitting on the couch watching cartoons.  I was crying and swooped her up and gave her a big love.....and she sat there and looked at me like I had lost my marbles.  Basically she was happy as a little clam and probably wished I had been gone another hour or so.  Uh, okay.  I certainly wasn't expecting that reaction!  Fortunately she was just fine.  Not one of my finest parenting moments.

Moving right along here....

My little ladies had their first opportunity to show an animal a few Saturdays ago.  And of course the animal of choice was a goat.  Yes, a goat.  When Jacob and I were dating, he informed me that goat people are weird.  I like to say there are exceptions to every rule....

Here they are in the show ring:

Kenna ended up feeling a bit too far out of her comfort zone and the poor thing stood there crying most of the time.  But finally after a while decided it was okay and dried up.  Winning $9.00 wasn't a bad deal either!  Of course the winnings were by default- they were the only ones in their category.  But hey- a winner is a winner!

Now if the goats don't do it for you, perhaps the ponies will?

Yes, two little divas on ponies.  Nothing like a leisurely summer Sunday afternoon horse ride, huh?  Now me, on the other hand, I prefer to sit in the house and ooh and aah over this:

 What a perfect way to end this blog entry, I think.