It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to!

We celebrated Timberlyn’s birthday on July 17.  We had family over for dinner and a party outside on the deck.  It was a beautiful evening.  Kelly and Sara came with Bridger; Grandma and Grandpa FitzSimmons were there; Aunt Jodi was there with her kids: Cora, Emily, Anna, Dillon, and Juniper; and of course, all of us – Me, Leonard, Kaydra, Kanyon, Miranda, and Timber.

We had grilled chicken with some delicious sides and then we had a yummy chocolate cake from Albertson’s.  If you order a sheet cake (I ordered their snickers chocolate cake) then you get a little cake for the baby free! on their 1st birthday.  What a deal.  I’ll post a few of my favorite pictures separately and the rest in an album you’ll have to watch if you want.  Timberlyn wasn’t feeling very great and she didn’t really like all of us singing Happy Birthday at the same time while looking at her.  But after she got a taste of chocolate cake – she decided that  birthday parties might be okay. 

The yummy cakeThe cute baby cake – all for Timberlyn!

My pretty girl all dressed up for her party !Is that for me?

Stop looking at me!!

I don’t like all this attention!

Oh wait – it tastes like Chocolate!! Why didn’t they tell me?

BEST DAY EVER!!

I think I might be done!

Bath time!

 

Timberlyn’s Birthday Party VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Timberlyn turns 1

Timberlyn turned one year old today! 

I can’t believe it has been a year.  She is such a fun little baby.  Her only downfall is she still doesn’t sleep through the night.  I am moving her out of our room this next week though and hopefully that will help.  I am so tired of not getting a full nights rest – ever.  Now on to the good things! 

She is happy and smiley and she loves to follow me around the house now that she has crawling down to a science.  She is creeping and pulling herself up on all the furniture but still not brave enough to take a step on her own.   She knows how to get what she wants and has somehow inherited Miranda’s scream when she is upset.

She can be VERY LOUD!  She loves to eat and will eat everything we feed her.  She can wave bye-bye and she will also say “HI” and wave if she is in a good mood.  She also says, “UH-OH” whenever she drops something and it is quickly becoming her favorite game in the high chair.  She scrunches up her nose and she pats my back when she gives me a hug, which I LOVE!  Leonard has to work on her birthday so we are celebrating it on Tuesday.  So, look for that  in the next post! 

Love this little girl!

4th of July

We were able to go to Idaho Falls this year for the 4th of July holiday.  I was really looking forward to it because it had been several years since we had been in Idaho Falls for the 4th.  We had a great time. 

On the way there we decided to take a different route that took us through Phillipsburg, Montana and their featured sapphire mines.  We spent a couple hours looking at piles of gravel and discovering sapphires.  The older kids loved it and Kanyon says he wants to take his kids there someday – now that’s thinking ahead!  We also picked up a bag of gravel “to-go” and brought it home to teach the Beck kids how to mine for sapphires.

They had a good time searching though piles of wet gravel.  The little girls got board pretty quickly although they each found a couple little stones. We found 48 carats of sapphires by rough weight.  We think their pretty cool. 

While we were there we were able to attend the annual Block Party in front of my parents house.  The kids were excited for the bounce house and to see all their old neighborhood friends.  We even drove by our old house a couple times – we are so grateful that we are not in charge of weeding that yard anymore!!

We were able to do so many things that we used to take for granted.  We were able to go to the regular family dinner at my mom’s house.  We had BBQ ribs and it was delish!

I was able to attend my cousin Lauren’s bridal shower with Jana, Courtney, and my Mom.  That was a great time to see lots of family.  Then on the 4th of July we went to the parade in the morning, had authentic southern style pulled pork at Aunt Sharon’s and went to visit my Grandma and Grandpa Fuller all before we attended the greatest fireworks show this side of the Mississippi!  It really was a great show and we had a good time down by the river.  On Tuesday we had planned to take the boat out on the lake but it was too windy so we decided to hike Mesa Falls instead.  It is a beautiful place and even though it was pretty hot, it was cool to see the falls again.  Plus – my mom and dad had NEVER been there.  Actually, no one had been there except for Leonard and I and our kids.  All this time it was so close to us, yet we never saw it before – Crazy!  Anyway- it was beautiful and a good chance to get out of the house.

We had a great time in Idaho Falls and I wish I had more pictures – I guess some is better then none!  We headed home on July 5.  We were welcomed back to Coeur d’Alene by the Throckmorton’s who have come to visit for a month!  We love cousins!  The kids were so happy to be out of the car.  Then for the next three days we had a reunion for all of Kay’s family at the farm.  It would be like me inviting all the Parry’s to Coeur d’Alene for a family reunion.  ---Some day, we just may have to do that!  It was fun to see people from reunions past and have the kids make some new friends. 

All in all it was a good holiday and it was so nice to have a week free from work for both me and Leonard.  If only we could do that more often!!

More company :)

We have had more animal company and I thought I would share.  This little big guy has found a home in our foundation drain pipe.

 
I don’t blame him – its moist and cool and about 10 feet underground.
 

Kanyon spent about half a day waiting patiently by the pipe hoping to catch him so we could all get a good look at him.  It worked once but now he is even more afraid when he sees us and usually hides deep in the hole.
 
Big toads are so ugly yet so fascinating at the same time.  The kids thought is was great to hold him for a bit.

Our next visitor wasn’t quite as friendly.  I was walking down the stairs as we were getting ready to go to the beach and I saw an animal about the size of my fist moving along the wall between my fireplace and the front door.  At first I thought it was a mouse, but it was really slow.  Then I thought it was a frog, because it was crawling along a little like a frog.  I said to the kids, “There is a humongous frog crawling in our house!!”  They started looking around and shouting, “Where? Where?”  Then Kaydra spotted it and said, “I see it!”  She went to get a closer look and quickly took a few steps back as she said, “That is NOT a frog ---I think it is a BAT!!!
WHAT!!!
Sure enough – we had a little brown bat IN OUR HOUSE!  Our best guess is that it came down the fireplace.  We learned that they only need 1/4 of an inch of space and they can fit through.  Kanyon touched it with a pencil and it started clicking at us – sending out it’s sonar to see what we were.  I had no idea what to do – So I called Neil.  Kay answered the phone and I said, “There is a bat in our house and the kids are freaking out and I don’t know what to do.”  Inside I was thinking – “And their mother is freaking out too!”  She said she’d send Neil over.  He came right away and picked it up with a net and graciously took the bat to the woods for us. 

What a guy!! 
We definitely live among the animals!!

Graduation

I am really behind with blogging.  Summer is underway and having four kids in the house all the time has kept us on our toes!  I want to blog about Kaydra’s 5th grade graduation.  Kaydra will be in middle school next year!!  She has really grown up this year.  It has been fun to have her around.  It’s also been fun because I really remember my 5th grade year and I know she is making memories that she will remember forever. 

Here is Kaydra on the 1st day of school this past fall --

And here she is on graduation day!

She is turning into a wonderful young woman.  Grandpa FitzSimmons was able to come with us to her graduation and we enjoyed watching a video that her teacher had put together of the kids throughout their elementary years.  Then the kids were introduced and walked across the stage.  Sorry about the next pictures – I wasn’t very close!

Kaydra’s good friends from church were in her class this year – Kaylee and Makenna.  (not looking at me!)We loved Kaydra’s teacher this year – Katie Lovitt.  She also happened to graduate from high school with Leonard – so that was fun to have her teach Kaydra all year.

We will miss Winton Elementary for Kaydra but we are excited for her new adventures at Lakes Middle School.  Mrs. Lovitt was a bit sad to have Kaydra leaving but I told her not to worry..… We will have a kid at Winton for at least the next 11 years!!  She’ll get to see Kaydra every once in awhile!  I am sure the time will fly by, just like the last 11 years have since Kaydra was born.  Congratulations Kaydra!

Timberlyn - 10 1/2 months

I haven’t posted an update on Timberlyn as often I would have liked and it is definitely time to post again!  She is such a fun baby to have around.  She finally started crawling the last week of May.  She is still pretty slow.  Today I noticed rug burns on her knees so she is starting to crawl a little more!  Time to keep the floor MUCH cleaner!  I have also been baby proofing the house.  I used to put her on a blanket and not worry, but now – not so much!!  Along with crawling she is pulling herself up on things and starting to creep just a little bit.  When she decided it was time to move  – she didn’t waste a moment. 

She is still waking up a couple times during the night – much to her parents frustration.  She is still in our room and we are quick to respond to her because no one likes to have a crying baby in the room with them!  We get up, feed her, and she falls back to sleep.  I am pretty sure we are training her to wake up in the night so she can eat.  Oh well – I’m sure she’ll outgrow it some day! 

She has started saying “hi” and waving her hand – which is just about the cutest thing I have ever seen!  She also loves to stick out her tongue.  She loves to eat and wants to try anything that is on our table when we are eating.  She is no longer satisfied with Gerber “puffs” while we eat chicken enchiladas.  She wants whatever it is we are eating!

Yesterday I took pictures of her when we were getting ready for church.  She looks so grown up!  I can’t believe how fast time seems to go.

Seriously, look at those eyelashes!!!

The kids wanted to get in on the action too!  How did I get so blessed?

Love those kids!!