The Picture Tag

So, I rarely do things like this, but I thought it would be good for history's sake

to see what our house looked like on 8/14/08.

The idea is to make a tag with 10 different pictures of things in your house. And you can't rearrange anything beforehand. This is the best time to do because all the kids are gone to Grandma lewis's house for a cousin's party and my house is CLEAN. So, here goes!

1. The Fridge. I just went shopping....it was really empty before I went so, there you have it,

the Fridge.

2. The Closet. Here is our closet. Notice all the plastic hangers, I have a thing for plastic hangers, no metal ones here. The lightbulb burnt out a couple nights ago.......so it's a little dark in there these days. Nothing like dressing in the dark.......

3.The Bathroom. This is our Master Bath. The door goes to our closet. It's all white for the time being, but I want to paint it some fabulous color very soon. Any Suggestions? Our Master Bedroom is the color Painted Turtle so it needs to coordinate with that.

The beloved bath tub in our bathroom. Time is well spent here.

4.The Laundry Room. Ah, yes, a good day for the laundry room. you don't want to see it on a bad day.

5. The Kitchen Sink. Dishes were done this morning at 7:30 AM right after I woke up. yes that is sleeping in for me. Regular rising time is between 5 and 6 AM. 6. The Self Portrait.

7. Favorite Room. This was a tie between the office/piano room and Baby Malin's Sports Room.

This is a collage I made of some of Malin's sports cards and game tickets. Love it.

The boy's bed. 8. What are the kids doing?

WELL, the kids are on their way home as I write this.....so I better write fast. They had a wonderful time in Ajo, AZ with all their girly cousins. I will post pics of soon! I miss them so much. Especially Baby Malin. He's such a mama's boy. But Grandpa Lewis took him so he wasn't that sad when he left because he loves his PAPA. It was nice to not wake up to MAMA at 5 AM for 2 nights. But I love it and I actually miss it!

9. Dream Vacation.....

Puerto Vallarta , Mexic0

This is where my husband served his mission. We hope to return there someday and visit all the wonderful people he met there. He also served in Guadalajara, TLaque Paque, Jalisco, and more that I can't pronounce.

10. My Favorite Shoes . My Sunday Wedges. I love, love love.

THere you go. A tag done by Sarah. I apologize to all the others that have tagged and I haven't done it..........I tag, Jen Mix, Linda(I want to see your new house) Martha, Jolene George, and anyone else who wants to!!!

SunSplash!!! August 9th 08

Mom and Dad came to pick up Tylynn on August 9 and also do some school shopping for my little sisters(their not little anymore....but anyways) They all stayed with us Friday night and we had pizza and watched the opening ceremonies of Summer Olympics in Beijing 2008. Which were amazing by the way. SO amazing. Saturday afternoon Savannah got to attend a Birthday Party for her friend ALYSSA FRARCK and she had fun dressing up as a princess for it. She had a blast. Aubrey wanted to go SO bad so I distracted her by telling her that her Birthday is in 3 months and we need to start planning it! So, ofcourse, that's all she talks about. Aubrey loves having friends. After the party, Savannah, Aubrey and I made our way up the Sunsplash in Mesa for the 4 to 8 pm special with Grandma and Grandpa and the girls. Daddy and Baby stayed home to get some much needed homework done. Here's a few pics of the fun the girls had. If only I had a picture of me being a beached whale in the wave pool.......oh what am I going to do with this pregnant body. I even went on the tube slides, yes the tube slides, at 5 1/2months pregnant. It was so fun!!! Savannah and Aubrey got to go with Dad and I on the double tubes. Not to be negative, but when you go to Sunsplash, please remember to use selective sight.....it's amazing what people think passes as a swimsuit! I just couldn't believe my eyes..........my girls eyes even had a to be covered a few times. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for passing up the hotel so we could come along with you to Sunsplash! Grandma even bought S & A some school clothes. Thanks Grandma. I guess that's what happens when you're kids are the only grandkids so far............

Aun Tylynn stays with us.......August 2-9 '08

Aunt Tylynn, my Baby Sister, came home with us from the Reunion. She'll be 10 in October. She was so fun to have around the house! I'm sure I called on her a little too much to help me, and if you ask her, she'll tell you that she prefers being the baby of the family instead of the oldest. She was definately the oldest at our house. But, it was good for her to realize that she's old enough to help! We love our Tylynn! We had a fun time at the Desert Aquatcs Center in Chandler. Ty was a pro at the slides and even talked Savannah into going down them. We went their twice because it was so fun. The first time we went with Danae Keime from our ward. She's a great friend. Love you Danae! I forgot my camera when we went with her. Darnet. Aubrey is watching the older girls go down the slide. She's not tall enough to go yet. Poor girl. Savannah was nonstop at the pool.....can you find her under the mushroom? We went with the Lewis Sisters and their kids. Dayna on the right, actually had her baby boy a whole 12 hours after this pic was taken. Congrats Dayna and Glen!!!

Cousin Kade and Baby Boy Malin eating lunch together at the pool.

Little Man watching the girls on the slide. He's getting alittle sun....... All the kids!Expect Emma , Elias and Amrie. Aubrey always sleeps in the weirdest places. THis is after the pool.

We also had a fun time with Tylynn doing other things. We went to the open day of Mcdonald's in MAricopa, made crafts, rode bikes, watched movies, had a fun FHE on being a CHild of God,got Savannah registered for school, and Tylynn was my babysitter on Wednesday when I taught piano from 10 to 5. Wednesday is my big day for piano lessons. I teach the homeschoolers in the morning and public school children in the afternoon. I have 14 students this semester. Any Maricopa friends that know of a place to have a Recital,can you send suggestions my way? I have had it at my house in the past, but we don't have enough room any more. Thanks girls!

Aunt Tylynn we love you and we miss you already!!!

Hannagan Meadow Part 2: 1st Annual Don Innes Family Reunion

WE had our First Don Innes Family Reunion! It was a great Success. Here is all the family in attendance. The only person missing our handsome little brother who is faithfully serving a mission for the LDS church in Argentina. He comes home in October! Yeah!

Savannah absolutely loved this cowboy hat. We couldn't resist letting her wear it for the pics. We're in the moutains right?

Daddy and Baby Malin taking a much needed nap in the cabin. Baby Malin was up 4 hours every night. He didn't do well away from his own bed this time.

Uncle Ryan having fun with his little Bud, and only Nephew so far.

Baby Malin is telling us something really important....can you tell?

The parents and their goofy smiles....... Pregnant body at 23 weeks.

Aubrey, Malin and Savannah. Love em.

The kids with their Aunt Leisel.

Dad and Mom leading our first family council! Mom did a great JOB on the family history. I really grew more love for my ancestors. What a great heritage we have.Most of the family posing for a fun picture. Missing is Malin(napping iwth Baby Malin) and me, taking the pic.

Our little Family. All the sisters. Rikki on the right is due in October. I'm due in December. All the other sisters aren't pregnant, get it?

Aunts Jill and Leisel did a great job sending the kids on a scavenger hunt throught meadow. They loved the treasure(candy)

Aubrey zonked out as soon as we left. She was EXHAUSTED,

This is the cabin we stayed in.

This is Bill. He's the manager of the Lodge. They call him WildBill because of his role in various movies, including "Postman" with Kevin Costner. He is a TRUE cowboy. He was SO nice too.

Dad and drew, and Ryan were making Baby Malin laugh.

It was a wonderful first Reunion! Thank Mom and Dad for all your hardwork!!

Check out hannagens meadow here if you are looking for a cool get away in Arizona.

http://www.hannaganmeadow.com/

Hannagen Meadow Part1: Camping with our little family.

On July 30th, we packed up all our camping gear, plus more for the following days at Hannagen Meadow Lodge, and left Maricopa at 9 AM. We stopped at Best Buy in chandler to get a Mini DV for our Video Camera. We then made our way to Payson, where we stopped to eat lunch and take a potty break at Mcdonald's. We visited Safeway next to buy food for our campout that night. We though we might camp in Payson for the night, but it was 95 degrees there! So, we kept driving. When we got to Sholow, we thought we might camp there, but it was still 90 degrees! So, we stopped at Walmart to buy more food for our weekend at the lodge. (that's the next post) and took a potty break again. We made it to Greer and it was still hot there.....SO we decided to just drive until it got to at least 70 degrees. Like we thought it might be, it didn't hit 75 degrees until we got to Hannagens Meadow so we finally made it there..........at........6 PM!!!! That's the reason I wrote everything we did, because we turned a 5 hour trip into an 8 hour trip. We could have added one more hour and made it to Utah! Anyways, my point is, when you are driving with kids, plan alot more time just to get there! Anyhoo, Hannagens Meadow is in the White Mountains and it sits at the highest point at 9000+ feet elevation. Hannagens Meadow Lodge has been around since about 1926 and is currently owned by my Uncle Larry Innes. It's SO beautiful. WE planned on attending the 1st Annual Don Innes Family Reunion on Thursday 31st through Saturday 2nd. So we decided to go up a day early on Wednesday and have a vacation with our kids. Let me just say that camping with 3 kids is not a vacation....NO sirree. Here is Malin and Savannah standing next to the tent they just put together. We put another smaller one right next to it, with the doors facing each other, and that's where Savannah and Aubrey slept. Surprisingly, they slept all night! Never got cold at all! Baby Malin and Aubrey where so glad to finally get out of the car. They had fun playing pretend in the forest. Baby Malin loved his little shovel. Aubrey loved her own camping chair. BYU baby filling his tractor with pine needles. Cute.... On the 31st we went fishing in the Black River. IT was breathtaking. Malin didn't have much luck because the water was a little too fast. We found out later that we didn't go down the river far enough where the reserve was. Bummer. It was still a beautiful drive though. Savannah found a lizard doing pushups on the bridge. She isn't very happy in this picture because we told her she had to get back in the car.....what little kid wants to get in a car when you are in the mountains?

Dad and the girls next to the Black River

Aubrey, Mommy and Savannah reading books and coloring while daddy fished. Baby Malin is asleep in the car not too far from us. We also got a kickout out of hide and seek. The girls hid and daddy found them. Savannah hid by the river and made bird sounds to distract daddy. It was pretty funny. We camped by an LDS family from Mesa. They had six kids ages, 19, 18, 17, 16, 14 and 13. WO! Crazy! and only one girl! They were very nice. They gave the kids some glow sticks too. We packed up about 1pm and then took a drive to Alpine to eat lunch. While we there we spotted 20 elk in the middle of a pasture right smack dab in the middle of Alpine! Malin wanted to go Elk hunting.......right there. After eating we made our way back to Hannagens Meadow Lodge to meet the family and start the family Reunion! See next post for full details and pictures!

Happy 16th Birthday Aunt Julianne!

Aunt Juliianne turned 16 on July 28th 2008! We just want to express how much we love and adore Julianne. She is smart, polite, humble, very positive, helpful, very grateful, kind to everyone and very unselfish. That is Julianne. Thanks for helping us so much Julianne and always being willing to babysit when we go to the temple, date night, etc. We love you SO MUCH!!!!

Personalities....

Little Miss Aubrey wanted me to take a picture of her all ready for church.....she is definately a cutie. She's wearing the new headband I made her at Sisters Retreat. Aubrey is a smarty pants. She is always telling me the new things she's learned........she amazes me! I caught the kids sitting together eating their popsicle. They know they can't eat on the carpet so when I tell them to go in the kitchen with it, they always sit right on the edge of the tile and the carpet. That's our kids for ya. Popsicles are a food group in our home. I just had to stop buying them so they would eat something else! This picture explains alot about our kids. Malin's little mischevious face describes his ability to tease his sisters and make them scream. and when he's in trouble, he gives us this face and then laughs......we try to hold our laughter in. Helikes to make this face because he knows we'll laugh. He loves to dance and he's really goo at it! He makes this smile when he dances. Mischevious is our Malin in a nutshell. Aubrey's face explains her innocence. She is so cute and doesn't know it. She always has something profound to say. Notice how she's so close to her sister? She LOVES her sister. When she learns some thing, she says " Mommy look, I'm doing it like Savannah!" I am told often by her Sunbeam teacher that she is always telling the girls in her class to be reverent. She makes parenting easy. Savannah's face......oh where do I start. She looks innocent, but she knows how to pull mommies strings. She is definately the oldest child and she has all the symptoms. She knows how to persuade her sister when she wants something and she always wants to take charge when she and Aubrey play house, store, barbies, or school. She is definately a big helper and wants to help all the time. FOR ExAMPLE, a couple Sundays ago, Savannah said she wanted to do the dishes. Ok, I thought, I'll let her try. Wow, was I surprised. She unloaded the whole dishwasher and then rinsed and loaded all the dirty dishes WHILE we were eating dinner. We tole her she could come eat, but she said, " no, I need to finish these dishes and then I'll come eat." What? Is this how it is? Hopefully she'll never get tired of doing the dishes! So, I love my kids and this picture is perfect for this stage in their lives.

Baby Malin starts Nursery

Our little boy is rapidly becoming the cutest kid on the block. He is pure boy. He recently started Nursery and is doing great! I can't believe how much I love that kid. He is so cute. I love to snuggle with him, even in the middle of the night(ugh) and I especially love when he says "mama" over and over again as he falls asleep in my arms. When you have your first child, you worry that you won't be able to love the 2nd, 3rd, etc as much as the first. But, I'm here to tell you that each child is SO special. I love em all SOOO MUCH.