Where are all the videos?

Well just to let you know, Viddler, the media file website we used for most of our videos since they were too large for blogger, started asking for a ridiculous monthly fee to keep our videos on here and since we can't afford to pay it, they shut down our account. Don't worry, we didn't lose the originals.  Maybe someday we'll get them back up --not through you tube though, because of copyright infringement with the background music. Oops. If anyone has an suggestions let us know.  For now though, we're just going to take a break (as if we haven't taken a long enough break already).  However, I will leave you with a picture of our fourth child ...since he's never even been mentioned on this blog sigh. I'll never get it together will I? In fact, the last post was about our Memorial day trip (yeah, pretty much a year ago), and I was barely pregnant at that time (and probably over-doing it).  We'll just ignore the fact that I posted it in October.  I think I planned to catch up or something and then share our good news.  Yeah, so much for good intentions.

Anyway, here's Baby Amos!

(This is the only picture I have on this computer, it's from my phone, and I took it a month ago.  Sorry. That's what having four kids in 6 years will do to you. I'll just blame it on that. Yeah.)

Memorial Day 2013 -Laura's solo trip to Utah

That's 'solo' as in I had all three kids but no Richard.  Phew!  It was a marathon week-long visit to friends and family.  First we met my Sister and went to Extreme Air in Provo which the kids absolutely loved!  I didn't buy a ticket and just supervised and took way too many pictures.  The first time I watched Ethan go on the trapeze thing one-handed I thought he was showing off, but then I remembered that the week before he had fallen out of the top bunk of his bunk bed and pulled something in his shoulder --apparently he was still favoring that arm.  It was a perfect place to burn off some of that energy from the long car ride, and to work up an appetite.  We went out to dinner afterwards (boy, am I a glutton for punishment).  After that we went and spent a few days at my friend's house.  The kids got along famously --in fact, I hardly saw them the whole time.  Ethan hit it off with the oldest boy (it may have included a little bit of hero worship which I'm sure the 9 year old didn't mind). Gabe, true to form, struck up quite the relationship with the cute little 5 year old girl, and probably played house and dolls --he's smooth like that. The 7 year old girl willingly followed Logan around like a perfect little nanny, happily playing with him and helping smooth over encounters with the other toddler in the house.  We went to a few fun parks, dared to go grocery shopping (yes, two adults and 7 kids 9 and under), and even visited a dinosaur museum. Weren't we brave?  The last night I was there after we put the kids down, we finally got some kid-free time and went out to dinner with another good friend.  It was a blast.
The next morning I took the kids to my parents' house and we stayed there a few more days.  It was the perfect spring weather and they had lots of fun there on the four-wheeler and the trampoline.  We went up the canyon with my parents for a picnic.  It was warm, and a little early for dinner when we got there, so the kids and I went for a little walk by the river.  It was bad enough that I had to carry the baby because he didn't like the tall grass poking him, but as I looked for a place to cross, suddenly Ethan started screaming horribly.  I looked over to find him jumping around like a crazy person. HJe had planted himself in an ant pile.  Being confused and scared the other two started crying too as I pulled him aside and calmly brushed the ants off-- boy did I wish I had Richard with me.  I was also afraid my kids were starting to become city kids. Luckily a Summer in Jackson eventually cured them of that.
While we were in Utah, Richard wasn't completely alone.  Did I mention we shared an apartment with another couple?  It was the only way to give the kids and us our own rooms. Otherwise we would have been on a futon in the living room again, and I wasn't about to do that again. The other couple had their own bedroom and bathroom and we just shared the kitchen/living room area.  It wasn't so bad.  Richard's childhood friend got a job there too and lived just upstairs from us, so he would come and visit all the time as well (he's the one drinking the homemade sore-throat remedy).  Richard made sure to document his week so he could share it with me when I got home.
On our way back to Jackson we found a park in Evanston to stop at where there was a real old steam engine (decommissioned of course) that the kids could climb all over.  It's an accident just waiting to happen but aren't those the funnest kind of things?  Yeah, we decided that would be our traditional stopping place along the way between Jackson and Utah (we like to stop at parks and play-places to let the kids run out some pent-up energy on long car trips).
It was a crazy week for sure, and I don't think I'll be doing that again for a long time to come.

End of May 2013 in Jackson

It was cold when we got to Jackson, but it eventually warmed up and we were still able to get out and play in the back yard and go to parks and explore along the river and around the pond behind our apartment etc.  

It's kind of fun to see the progression the kids make each year when they come back to the same places three years in a row but find different ways to play and explore.  Take for example the big wooden spool.  For the first few years, it was a table for snacks.  Then they started rolling it up the hill and running from it, and this year they were rolling on it, or allowing it to roll over them.  The pond too.  First we would just go for a walk to it, maybe throw rocks into it, and now we try to catch water bugs in it. It's great! Of course, growing up comes with becoming more daring as well --I obviously did not condone their idea to ride bikes down the hill in front of our apartment building (it's steeper than it looks). I barely came out in time to make them at least put on helmets; but still, have they no imagination?! 

April and the first part of May 2013 -(all the way to moving again)

So yeah, I think we just went from Gabe's birthday to moving in these last two videos.  Ugh.  Some things I'd rather forget.  Leading up to the move though I was in serious denial that we were supposed to be packing and such so I just kept escaping and going on adventures with my kids.  I feel like I actually enjoyed Spring this time around!  Most of our adventures involved going for bike rides along the bike path and discovering new places and things to see; we also fit a trip to the zoo there right at the end, but to tell the truth, everyday living with these kids is an adventure and I usually feel like I live in a zoo, so... yeah, gotta include those things too.

Enjoy!

April 2013 --Gabe's birthday

Gabe's 4th birthday was a whole lot of family fun!  It rained so we did most of our celebrating with indoor activities like bowling and Big Jud's, and in the end he got a rainbow.  A few days later I went on a girl's weekend trip for a few days with Richard's Mother, sisters, sister-in-laws, and nieces (sorry, we were having so much fun I forgot to take pictures) while Richard stayed home with the kids.  The only problem was that he got sick while we were gone, and although I wasn't far away, he stuck it out rather than ask me to come home early.  By the way, Richard hardly ever gets sick, but when he does he's a mess.  When I came home it was like a bomb had gone off in the house.  Seriously, I mean there are times I let it get pretty messy, but I don't think I had ever seen it this bad (again, I should have taken a picture).  Richard's mother was so kind to stay and help me clean while we gave Richard a much needed nap.  (And to be honest, after the rejuvenation of a girl's weekend, the thought of cleaning such a mess came a lot easier.) After taking some Nyquil (which he hadn't thought of before I came home) and getting some rest Richard got better quickly.  I don't think he even missed any work.

(Oh yeah, and the "Man Cold" I was referring to came from this clip I saw a while ago on YouTube.)

The Return of the King...

...And of course the "King" I'm referring to is of the Logan variety.

Laura and I have been working on returning to our (semi) regular posting to this blog for quite a while. At least, more regular than the gaping hole that includes the entire summer (and a month on either side), three birthdays, two moves, and one pregnancy.

And, believe it or not, we're almost caught up. There are currently eight finished montages on my computer--seven after this post. I'm not sure why we haven't posted them already. I'm also not sure if it would be best to post these videos once a week, once a day, or all at once. Most likely people have stopped checking this blog, so it won't matter too much, but it would be nice to post as regularly as possible.

The music for this video is "Space Travel is Boring" by Sun Kil Moon and "Questions" by Jack Johnson. This video is right when Ethan had taught himself how to ride his bike. I was about to say "learned," but that would imply that Laura and I had something to do with it, which we didn't really. I came home one day, and Ethan asked me if I wanted to see a surprise. Since most surprises I see when I come home aren't always positive I was a little wary, but when he started riding without training wheels I was indeed positively surprised. Enjoy.

January/February 2013

End of December Beginning of January 2013

Christmas Season 2012

November and Thanksgiving 2012