The Birthday Bike

We finally got it!

Like I said in an earlier post, this bike was not in stock in time for Maddy's birthday. But we HAD to have this one. Now you see why... Is that the cutest bike you've ever seen?
And the cutest girl?
Maddy in action on her new bike...well worth the wait for that smile. :)

The bike is a 7-speed made by Giant by the real selling point for me was the lavender color. Plus, I LOVE those white wall tires!
And here is Jake on the purple bike. A little blurry but you get the point. I think Jake likes the bike as much as Maddy.
And this is Maddy's friend, Megan, that we copied. Aren't they cute "twinners?" When we saw her bike, we had to have it. The quality was so much better than anything else we had seen and since she was finally getting a "big girl" bike, we figured it was worth getting one that will last. Plus, I love those white wall tires! (I think I already mentioned that)

Such a cute bike for my "little" girl.

Cabin Fever

Well here we are in Island Park, one of the most beautiful places in the world! This is one of our favorite places to visit and lucky for us, we visit here at least once a year and if we're lucky, twice. Look at that blue sky, fluffy white clouds, and green pine trees. It is definitely "God's country." I look at this picture above and think it is a perfect family picture of us (other than I'm missing, of course, but I actually kind of prefer that in pictures:) But I love family pictures that describe a family and what they love to do together. For us, that is four-wheeling. Now I will admit, it is not Maddy and mine's favorite thing to do, but we definitely enjoy it. There is nothing like being with family and enjoying the beautiful sights, sounds, and smells of nature. I love it! When we are out together, I feel like everything is "right" in my world. It also reminds me of my childhood growing up in that area so it makes for a nostalgic experience for me every summer.

This is Jeff & I, with Maddy, at Big Springs. We have to visit Big Springs every time we come here. It's just a short, little jaunt from our cabin and is beautiful. There's tons of fish to see and unfortunately, a lot of seagulls, too. They seem to be taking over the place and leaving quite a mess behind, if you know what I mean.

Me and Maddy. I hope we are always close as we are right now. :)

The guilty culprit that is taking over Big Springs.

The kids (well at least the boys) love to get a shot of them on their machines. As you can see, Josh is trying to give us his "cool" look.

I thought this was so cute of Maddy. She kind of looks like she's heading scuba diving.

And here is Jake on his machine. I used to be a nervous wreck about him driving himself but he has come so far! He is way better than me now and loves it almost as much as Josh.

Me and Jeff at Fishing Bridge...on a windy day, as you can see from my hair.

We also got to enjoy some time with part of Jeff's family at the cabin. Above is Tina (Jeff's sister) and her daughters, Thea and Gwen.

In addition to the beautiful scenery, our favorite part is the amazing wildlife we get to see each year. As you can see, we got quite lucky this year in capturing some good shots of great animals...

We saw several bears this year which is always a huge deal. We even got to see 2 bear cubs close up. They were SO cute!! Maddy and I wanted to bring them home with us, they look so fuzzy and cuddly.

This picture was taken right across from our cabin. As you can see, we are surrounded by aspen trees when we were there and I absolutely love it! It is so peaceful to hear their leaves rustling in the wind.

As you can see- we had a nice, relaxing week surrounded by the beauties of nature. Although there are times when we would like to enjoy a different summer vacation, I am so grateful that we have this peaceful retreat that we can go to and enjoy. It truly takes me "back to my roots" and makes me feel "at one with nature." Sometimes it just feels so good to sit back, relax, and slow down this crazy life we lead. It's amazing the joy and gratitude we can feel as we take time to enjoy all that Heavenly Father has given us. I feel so very blessed and am so thankful I was able to enjoy this time with my whole family. :)

On our way home, we stumbled on to an Air Show in Idaho Falls. Interesting, because we LOVE air shows! Every time the Thunderbirds come to HAFB, we're there! So it was especially fun to be able to enjoy this show of the Blue Angels. Pretty cool!

I know alot of these shots aren't great, but let me tell you, they are going SO FAST that it wasn't easy getting them on the camera at all, so I was quite proud of myself.

It's amazing what these planes (and pilots) can do...

And so beautiful to see them against the blue sky...

When I see them and hear them, it just makes me think of the wonderful freedoms we enjoy in this nation.

Wow!

It's weird to see the blue planes of the Navy. They never come to our area so we are used to seeing the white Thunderbirds of the Air Force.

Either way, I think it is a beautiful sight! Absolutely breathtaking!!

As you can see, we literally just pulled off the highway and watched from the truck. It was scorching hot but well worth it. It was a great way to end our trip.

Tops off

BEFOREAfter 2 years and 2 months, Jake got his top braces off today - yea!!! He has been so excited! He was still in Elementary school when he got them on, the end of 6th grade. If I can figure out how to scan in the picture they took of him that day, I will. He looks so little! It's adorable. Now he is looking all grown up. It's unbelievable to see how much he has grown in 2 years.

This is Dr. Rich pulling teeth. Okay, not really. But I think Jake would have been fine with that if it would have got him out of braces.

He has been so dedicated at wearing his elastics and brushing his teeth well and not missing appointments. And as you can see...it was all worth it!

AFTER


What a handsome kid!! 2 more months and his bottom ones will be off and he'll be completely done.

1 more kid to go.

Maddy's Top Ten

In celebration of Maddy's 10th birthday, here are the top ten things (in no particular order) that I love about my Maddy:

1-Her smile! It truly lights up my day with those 2 dimples on 1 side. :)

2-I love having a daughter that I don't have to DRAG shopping with me, like her brothers. It's so fun to have someone that is a "natural" at it, by my side. We always have fun on our little shopping excursions. (I just hope I'm not creating a spoiled monster. ;)

3-I love Maddy's free spirit. I call her our little "flower child." She follows her heart and for that reason, she always seems happy. I wish I could be more like that instead of worrying about what others think.

4-I love Maddy's art! She is always drawing pictures and decorating our house (and cars and my office, etc.) with them. Seeing them always brings a smile to my face and reminds me to treasure this time.

5-One of my favorite things about Maddy is her sweetness. She genuinely cares about others and worries about their feelings.

6- I adore Maddy's hugs! I don't know what I would do without them. There are so many days that she has noticed me having a bad day and knew exactly what I needed - a hug! She is so affectionate to both me and her Daddy. I hope that lasts forever!

7-Another sweet blessing of having a little girl is being able to watch her dance. I always wished I was a ballerina and so it makes it even better to be able to watch Maddy in Ballet and know that she loves it. She absolutely loves performing and soaks in every speck of joy from her recitals. I want to be the type of Mom that allows her children to follow their hearts, not mine. But for the time being, I think Ballet is a part of Maddy's heart, as well as mine. So I'm enjoying every minute of sharing that experience with her.

8-Maddy is so talented. She started playing the piano at age 5 and is doing so well! This is another part of Maddy that I love. Although it is much to her brothers' dismay, I love it when she practices so I can hear her creative side ringing through.

9-Another one of my favorite things about my Maddy is her talent for writing. She leaves us notes all over the house and my office and it makes my day!! There is nothing that makes my heart swell more than slipping into bed and finding a cute note from my little girl or walking into my office and finding a picture that Maddy had left there for me. Sometimes it's an actual letter and sometimes she has written a poem. The most recent was a note she left me in my bathroom drawer telling me how much she would miss me while she was on the Daddy Daughter campout over night. I was homesick for her and finding that note was all I needed to put the spark back in my day. No matter what form her "messages" are in, they always make a positive impact on our days. That little girl should be a writer some day.

10- Maddy is often the "glue" that holds our family together. I absolutely love that she looks forward to Family Home Evening each week and is often actually the motivating force for us to have it. Although we some times hear grumbles from her brothers, they always seem to enjoy it after and alot of that is brought by Maddy's special spirit and enthusiasm. Maddy is also our family prayer reminderer (is that a word?) and loves to see her Mom and Dad show affection to each other. Even in her young age, she seems to already know what matters most!

Maddy- I love you with all of my heart and am so thankful that Heavenly Father sent you to me!

Double digits

This is my baby girl... And she is now in double digits! 10 years old- how did that happen?? It seems like only last year that I was bringing her home from the hospital and moving into the house we now live in. I remember every detail of her birth and my time in the hospital with her. I remember it as one of the most peaceful times of my life. My kids were all healthy and doing well. I had 2 awesome boys that were pretty much self-sufficient, my husband had a great job, a new house almost ready to move in to, and a beautiful baby girl. I remember thinking that I had finally made it! I had got through some pretty serious issues and we were now in a stable part of life, ready to raise our cute little family, and totally at peace. And now... we have somehow been through 9 additional summers, completed 5 years of school, and is certainly now a "tween." Breaks my heart that she is not still that baby I can hold in my arms and not let go. But I am so lucky because even though she is no longer a baby, she is still our baby. She is the sweetest thing and still lets us "baby" her, although I know it drives her crazy. I'm so happy she has kept her sweetness and the loveable spirit she was born with. Just as when she was born, she brings such a wonderful spirit into our home. 10 years ago, she truly changed our family.

This year, I thought it would be fun to start a new tradition on the kids' birthdays. I usually decorate if it is a party year but otherwise, I have just brought them a balloon bouquet. I figure even if we don't have a formal party at the house, why not decorate and make the day even a little more special, right? Well, my thought was to get up early the morning of her birthday before her and decorate her room. Unfortunately, she was so excited for her birthday that she was wide-eyed and bushy-tailed at 7AM. So I had to ban her to watching cartoons for awhile (which wasn't too hard) while I worked a little magic in her bedroom transforming it into a party room. I had my 2 helpers (Dad and Jake) out blowing up balloons in the garage. I am horrible at blowing up balloons so I gave that little project to them. Jeff had the brilliant idea to use his air compressor in the garage so instead of only having like 5 or 6 balloons to decorate, she got alot! They did enough that I was even to bury her bed in balloons, so that was fun.

These are her presents, pre-opening. NOTE: Her main gift this year was a new bike, not shown above.

And these are her presents, post-opening. As you can see, still no bike shown. Sadly, the bike we chose had to be special ordered and was not in for her birthday. So we wrapped up a bike bell instead. This new bike is purple and SO cute, it will be well worth the wait. :)

After opening presents...We were off for a day of fun with family and friends at Lagoon.

Maddy's 2 friends, Lindsee and Olivia that live on our street were out of town. So she chose these 3 cute friends to share the day with her. Left to right, top to bottom: Brea, Megan, Paige, and Maddy. Man, did these girls have fun!

Dad and Jake came along for the rides, too. (And me but I'm the official photographer.)

Megan and Maddy

Paige and Brea

I can't tell you what a delight it was to be with these girls. There is nothing better than to hear the sound of a little girl giggling...other than 4 girls giggling. They had a such a riot and they all got along so well.

These girls were brave, too. They rode almost all the rides, even the big ones, even ones that Mom wouldn't ride. Of course, that's not saying much. :)

Here-they were on top of the world. Okay, just the ferris wheel but there are some fabulous views from up there.

And here was the only hiccup in the day. Jeff REALLY wanted Maddy to try a new ride. Maddy REALLY didn't want to. I'm not sure exactly how it happened but somehow they got her in line for the ride. Her friend Brea loves the Rocket and agreed to ride it with her. But it was a long 15 minutes waiting in line. I think her fears just got bigger and bigger as she had to wait. It broke my heart to see the worry in her little eyes. Her friends were sad, too. They thought it was weird that her Dad was making her do this. But it is a strange custom in his family to take the young kids and scary rides. Kind of crazy, I know.

It was nice to see this (above), aka. RELIEF, when she came back down. Although she still hates the ride, against all of her Father's hopes, I think that she was proud of herself for trying. We were certainly glad to get that over with! They made ME try it last year and I'm sure if there were pictures taken, I would have looked much worse.

This is the Fabulous 4 waiting in line to try out the new ride of the year, OdySea. As our luck goes, they shut the ride down for repairs right as it was almost our turn. Oh well! Plenty more fun on other rides.

This is Maddy and Brea on the Dinosaur Drop. It is the kiddee version of the Rocket. As you can see, it is much more Maddy's style. She's all smiles, which I love to see!

We had to ride the water ride to try and beat the heat.

As you can see, it worked. We all got soaked!

I couldn't resist snapping this picture of Maddy and her Daddy. SO sweet!

And this is Jeff and I with the 4 girls at the end of the day. It truly was such a pleasure celebrating Maddy with them. They were well-behaved, got along good, and made Maddy's day the perfect birthday.

After we dropped the girls off, Josh had got off work and Jake had finished football practice so we were able to grab a quick bite of Arby's and come back for more fun as a family.

While the boys rode the really scary rides, like Wicked, I took Maddy over to ride some kiddee rides she thought she would still love. As you can see from her expression above, they were not as exciting as she remembered them. The cars used to be her favorite but she was so huge in them now, whe wouldn't even let me take her picture. She couldn't stop laughing over that. I can't believe we're past the Puff the Magic Dragon roller coaster stage. She is really growing up.

And seeing this picture makes me laugh. I wish you can see the other 10 pictures that I took trying to get this one. I kept getting Jeff but couldn't see Maddy. The ride was moving so quickly it was hard to get anything but a blur. But in all the pictures you can see Jeff's green shirt and him making faces. Very funny! I'm glad I was able to get this cute one, though. It is the new OdySea ride that she had wanted to try out.

And at the end of the night, she got pictures with her brothers...

...and Mom and Dad.

What a wonderful day!

Happy Birthday, sweets! We love you~