The Blackwell's

The Final Edition!

2011-03-19T11:34:00.000-07:00

Landen Lee Blackwell

was born on March 19, 2011!

Wieghing in at a whopping 9 pounds 7 ounces

and was 21 1/2 inches long.

Being the last baby it must of wanted it to be memorable.

OUCH!!! This one hurt!

My labor started up around 6:00 in the morning and he was born at 6:38 that evening.

It was long and hard and slightly emotional being the last one, but I love having him here after a long pregnacy.

I could her Jack playing in the back yard the whole time I was in labor. The girls were at my moms and he was staying with my sister in law who happened to be taking care of my mother in law at the time. So he got to see his brother a whole day before his sisters were going to come in and take over.

He was so big that his first outfit didn't fit him very well.

We still put it on him anyway.

It's A BOY!!!!!!!!

2010-10-20T13:39:00.000-07:00

We are so excited for the final edition to our family. We had a ultrasound yesterday and it was very clear that Jack will get a brother out of this deal. Baylee and Jack were with us when we had the ultrasound and when we went to pick up his sisters from school the girls ran out and asked Jack if it was a boy or girl. He said, "It's still a boy." He knew it all along. I am so happy for him.

The Greatest Compliment!

2010-07-17T13:16:00.000-07:00

Jack turned a BIG 4 years old. There are so many things he can do now. It's amazing how that can happen over night! Like buckling your seat belt and turning on lights that he can all of a sudden reach! I am grateful for all the big things he can do now! One of the things I love most about Jack is how much he loves me. He lets me know every day randomly throughout the day! He is very good at complimenting me. His DADDY has taught him how to be a charming little boy! The other night I took Jack out on a date for his birthday and we were walking along together when he stopped and looked up at me and said, "Mom, I love being me!" I am love that he is such a happy little boy. Now if he could just stop growing up so fast!

It's NOT a bullet!

2010-07-03T17:44:00.000-07:00

This post may not be for the faint of heart. That was your warning! There are no pictures for this event. I don't take gross pictures. It's just not for me. Anyway, last night Baylee was running around naked waiting for the dad to put her in the bathtub. Jack was walking behind her to the bathroom, when he noticed something on her butt. I heard him say, "Wait Baylee you have a bullet on your butt!" The next thing I see is him trying to fling something off his hand saying, "EWWW, that's not a bullet." The poor guy will think twice before helping get something off of his sisters butt. For those of you who are wondering why he thought it was a bullet, we have a Nerf gun that has the orange bullets with the dark blue tips. Sometimes Baylee will pull the tips off. Not the case last night.

Jack takes a gymnastics class

2010-06-14T10:00:00.000-07:00

Well the first day of gymnastics he didn't do much. He just sat there and watched the rest of the class. His teacher had to carry him whenever they would go to do something different. By the end of the class they were hanging like monkeys on the bar and he decided to try that. So this is week two, and he was so cute! He did everything he was told to do. He was always checking to make sure that I was watching.

He loves to jump around and give high fives to his teacher!

Willy Wonka Play

2010-06-12T09:51:00.000-07:00

Our family got free tickets to go and see the Willy Wonka Play out at Spring Mountain Ranch. There was a rare cold front that came in and it was a little chilly for the middle of June. We love being with the kids and the family that joined us. This is the only picture my camera took. I am trying to collect more. I do love this picture of Baylee and Tracy. Hopefully I can add to this later!

MASHED POTATO HEAD

2010-06-09T19:18:00.000-07:00

I have no idea why Baylee, at the end of dinner, decided to start rubbing her mashed potatoes in her hair. I couldn't resist filming her. She is our little comedian!

More Mashed Potatoes!

2010-06-09T09:42:00.000-07:00

We went straight to the bath after this dinner.

She had never done anything like this before.

I think she liked the texture and decided it would make a good hair product.

We love that she knows how funny she is!

Journey Education Awards Ceremony

2010-06-02T18:48:00.000-07:00

We had a beautiful weather for our awards ceremony. It is fun to see all the kids in their shirts, reciting some of their poems that they have learned this year and sharing their goals that they have accomplished! I have the pleasure of being fortunate enough to work with all of the kids at the school. I love them and enjoy watching them mature and grow throughout the school year.It is so sweet how Rylee likes to be the center of attention and other times not so much. She got an award for spelling and reading this year. She is always sounding things out and is a fabulous speller! She is amazing us with how independent she is with her education. We know that will take her far!

Raygen is an amazing student and is well liked by her teachers. She got a math award. She finished one and a half math books this year. She was in fourth grade and is doing seventh grade math. It is one of her favorite subjects. She also got an award for spelling. It was her achilles heel and she worked hard to master it!

Who Is Not Afraid To Fall!!

2010-04-30T16:40:00.000-07:00

Baylee!!

I was feeding the baby when all of a sudden there was a loud screaming from the back yard where the kids were playing. I ran outside to see what was the matter. Now I know most of you can't believe that because I normally don't run when I hear my kids crying. However, I know their cries and this was a serious one. When I came back in carrying the injured child this is what I found. Baylee sitting on top of the high chair. Instead of grabbing her and taking her down, I called for Raygen to get the camera. She thought she was something else and has been climbing ever since!

The Pressure Is On!

2010-04-27T18:26:00.000-07:00

Raygen was a little camera shy when it came to do this trick. Every time I had the camera off she would do it perfectly. So I had to sneak and try to get it without her knowing I was video taping her. We had a good time laughing together!

More Floor!

2010-04-27T18:19:00.000-07:00

Balancing Act!

2010-04-27T18:03:00.000-07:00

Raygen's Front Flip

2010-04-27T17:43:00.000-07:00

Tumbling Raygen!

2010-04-27T17:28:00.000-07:00

We took lots of short videos of Raygen. This is one of her tumbling!

Flying High!!

2010-04-27T16:55:00.000-07:00

Parents are not usually allowed in the gym but this last time they let parents come in for the last thirty minutes and take pictures. Raygen loves to do gymnastics and is a natural. Jack came with me to watch and had a great time with his sister.

She loves to do the balance beam. She can do a cartwheel and a back walk over.
Jack liked to swing on the bars. I think its funny the little girl in the back round trying to lift her mom on the bar!

We enjoy watching her! The only down fall would be what happens to our couch when she practices. However, she has started a gymnastics club with all the cousins and school friends and is teaching them different tricks. It is cute to see how organized she is with it!

Where Can You Fall Asleep?

2010-04-24T16:03:00.000-07:00

My pictures are a little out of order. So this is how the afternoon went. It was a nice spring day and we were all busy working around the house. I realized that I hadn't seen Jack in a while. Now in my defense when we are working children tend to disappear. So I really don't know how long he was out sleeping in a plastic container on the trampoline. Raygen said it was a long time! She is helpful that way. I was grateful he was in the shade and it was spring! So after taking pictures to document what wonderful parents we are, we decided to move him inside where he continued his nap.

The lesson here is that:
It is better to sleep in a plastic container on the trampoline
then to help the family clean!

Baylee has hair!

2010-04-20T12:51:00.000-07:00

Baylee is growing up so fast. She runs all over the place, yells for the kids, throws a pretty decent fit for her age, and has enough hair for her first pigtails. She only kept them in for a few hours and I couldn't decide how I felt about them. It was so cute and tiny on her and yet on the other hand she looked all grown up! We have so much fun with her. She has an amazing sense of humor and loves to tease the kids with her love. She will pretend she is going to hug them and just before she reaches them she turns on a dime and runs the other way laughing! She is good free entertainment and her siblings have decided to keep her!

Rylee gets her ears pierced!

2010-04-19T13:08:00.000-07:00

I finally got this to upload!!! Rylee was a little nervous about her ears getting pierced but, once her dad got up there and held her she was able do it! I told her this would be nothing compared to the trip to the dentist. Way to go RYLEE!!!!!

Shark Reef

2010-04-14T15:25:00.000-07:00

Our school took a field trip to the Mandalay Bay Shark Reef. It was my favorite field trip this year. We had a real good tour guide and all of the water we were surrounded by was relaxing. We will definitely come back! Next time we want to take the dad!

Can you tell which one of my kids still likes to take pictures?

None of my kids would touch the sting rays. Finally at the last moment I talked Raygen into touching it with one finger. I had also managed to talk Rylee into it but she touched it faster than the camera could take a picture and she said she was not doing that again. Jack wouldn't even get his hand in the water. According to him "It's gross!" He is all boy except for touching gross stuff!

Baylee loves her big cousin Andrew! Tracy and I joke around about it being her first little crush!

Jack is such a good boy and had a lot of fun seeing all of the fish and sharks!

Doing the Dishes!

2010-04-10T15:56:00.000-07:00

My husband loves to help! So, while I was doing the dishes I asked him if he could wash up the baby. The next thing I know she is in the sink right next to me taking a bath and grabbing the clean dishes! The problem with this is now every time I do the dishes she is going to want to help me just like she did today!

As you can see she is not interested in coming to me when I was all done. She was enjoying herself!

Thank you Daddy for the help!!!!!

Baylee's 1st Ponytail!

2010-04-07T16:10:00.000-07:00

I know it is slightly ridiculous and it stands straight up but, I just couldn't help myself. Everyone at school loved it and she was none the wiser. She left it in all day long! I don't think she reach if she wanted to. I will probably do this again.

Baylee's Balloon

2010-04-05T14:38:00.000-07:00

Baylee turned one and for her birthday present we put the kids to bed and had some play time with her. We had all of her toys out and her little tent but, the thing she liked best was one of her siblings balloons. She became very good at it. We have enjoyed this past year with our new little addition! This is also a video of the first time she walked more than two steps!

Easter Morning

2010-04-04T16:43:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things about Easter morning is the crazy hair and this year none of my children had it. I was slightly disappointed. However, Baylee got some leg warmers in her basket that made up for it.

This picture shows off her new leg warmers that shows off her fine thighs!
This egg comes with a story. The night before we were at my mother's house when they were coloring eggs and my children helped. Well Jack was working hard when his egg broke and he was devastated. My mother went over and helped him out and put one of those plastic covers over it. He held it tight the rest of the night and took it home with us. We carried the sleeping boy in from the car and tried to take it from him. He started to cry and wake up, so we gave it back to him. We safely took it from him a few hours later. Well this picture was taken the next day when he found it and as you can tell he was very excited. I was slightly worried how I was going to get him to forget about this egg because as we all know this egg won't last forever. I think the candy coma helped him to forget!

Rylee is so sweet and would have taken a picture with every little piece of candy or toy she received.

Raygen assisted Baylee in the finding of eggs!

Baylee also found her love of candy on this day.

The addiction to sugar starts at a young age! I believe that's when I fell in love with it.

They are all growing up so fast!

Easter Egg Hunt

2010-04-04T16:20:00.000-07:00

It is always amazing to me how fast a baby learns to hunt for eggs. Baylee caught on quick. They let them out by age groups and the funniest thing was when an older cousin (which will remain nameless) came and was picking up a pile of eggs in front of Baylee and Daisey Jensen.

My older kids are so fast I hardly see them, let alone get a picture of them. Rylee did pretty well for herself.
Raygen is my climbing child that will find all of the high eggs!

Jack, I mean Superman, is sweet when it comes to sharing with everyone!

She never did find out what was inside of the eggs. I figured she could learn that
next year. She was just happy taking the eggs out and putting them back in.

Coloring Eggs!

2010-04-03T14:20:00.000-07:00

Taking pictures of this event can be some what stressful. Tracy was outside doing yard work and we only had about thirty minutes to color the eggs and clean up. My pictures of the other kids are not so good because I was holding the yellow dye that Baylee was using with one hand and snapping pictures with the other.

Raygen takes her time and does very intricate designs on her eggs.
Jack loves to use the egg tools and is very patient while waiting for the eggs to turn a dark color.

Rylee loves to make eggs for the whole family and even did one for Merik our dog.

This is the yellow mess I mentioned earlier. Her hands stayed yellow for two days. I think Baylee enjoyed splashing in the dye the best.

Overall the kids enjoyed designing and coloring the eggs. They had fun and that's all that mattered. Now looking back at the pictures it doesn't seem so bad.

We are not BOSSY!!!!!!!!

2010-03-14T14:05:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Tracy and I were in the garden working with all of our kids. We sent them inside to have a little quite gardening time and maybe have some grown up talk while we were at it. Well, as usual when Tracy and I try to have grown up talk our oldest child loves to come and be a part of it. When we tried to make her go back inside to supervise the little ones (mainly the baby) she started to complain about how they never listen to her. I said that she was the typical BOSSY oldest child (something I know a little bit about) and they don't like to be bossed around by her. Her reply was our favorite. She said, "I'm not BOSSY, they just don't listen!" Well isn't that the truth. Tracy and I think it would make a good bumper sticker.

I WON the 7 year Battle!

2010-02-07T19:12:00.000-08:00

Let me start off by saying that I am well aware that my mommy battles are far from over but, I had a victory the other day. My sister Taylor was over and she came in to tell me that mom was on her way to pick her up. Rylee was standing right by me when she said it and tried to repeat Taylor but said something completely different. Then I told Rylee what Taylor had actually said. As Rylee has done in the past she started to argue. (I know this may come as a shock to many of you that know her) Well for some reason I went along with this petty argument and after a few short turns back and forth she said and I quote "Mom I am not going to fight with you because I know that the mom ALWAYS WINS!!!!!!!!!" I about cried!!! It only took 7 years. I gave her a big hug and kiss and told her how much I love her! I am so grateful for Rylee. She tests me in so many ways but all in the same moment she is one of the most loving people you will ever meet!

Rylee and Zoe's Ear Experience!

2010-02-07T13:17:00.000-08:00

So let me start off by saying we were going to wait until our girls were twelve to get their ears pierced. Then Rylee came along and decided to start asking us when she was about four years old. We were sticking to our guns and waiting! BUT! If you know the history behind Rylee's teeth you know it has been devastating. The poor girl has had caps done at two and just this past year had to have a tooth pulled and was put to sleep for that. Well 7 caps later and I don't even know how many filling she had to have another procedure. She needed a baby root canal! So we made a bargain that if she had her tooth done and sat for the dentist and kept her mouth open that she would show that she was responsible enough to get her ears pierced! She prayed about it and decided to go for it! She came home from the dentist very excited and I was very proud of her! We then invited her cousin Zoe to join us and her mom was very excited!

I love this picture of them and I am glad they went together and made this fun memory!

There was a little hesitation...
Daddy to the rescue!
Both of the girls did NOT cry. I had told Rylee that I cried like a baby!

This is why dad had to come to the rescue!

It's Raygen's 10th Pshchedelic Birthday!

2010-02-06T19:40:00.000-08:00

I would just like to thank Raquel for all the help with the parties over the years!

It is fun for a bunch of little girls to party with someone that is full of energy!

We had a disco ball and flowers hanging over the dance floor!
Then they played twister!
People have often said Raygen is like me when it comes to opening presents. These pictures prove otherwise. She got excited and let it all come out!

Baylee stayed with her dad a good part of the night.

Did I mention we also tie-dyed shirts!

Don't tell Raquel I put this on here! (She told me not to.)

I think she looks cute!

Raygen was surprised by her cake!

I baked a tie-dyed cake and it was absolutely amazing! The pictures don't do it Justice. The colors were so bright and I did it all while she was gone. When we cut into the cake everyone was blown away by the colors! I decorated with chocolate icing so it seemed kind of boring and then she got her surprise!

It was a long day but I love doing things like this for my kids. Raygen has been such a blessing these past ten years and I love all of our girl talk we have now! Now if we can just figure out how to slow her down because her dad is not doing so well with the transition into women hood!

When Is the Last Time You Slept This Good!

2010-01-17T13:41:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to join her!

Christmas

2009-12-25T13:46:00.000-08:00

This is Baylee's First Christmas!

She got a cabbage patch doll and she loved it!

Raygen got some gymnastics outfits for her treasure hunt gift.
Rylee treasure hunt gift was an easy bake oven.

Jack loved hunting for his bucket of boy dress up clothes!

He no longer will be running around in princess dresses!

His favorite costume was the buzz lightyear. He wore it for the next four days straight. I finally convinced him to let me wash it!

Baylee has great bed head!

Santa gave the kids a trampoline!

This is the kids on Christmas Eve. They all had matching P J's!

Rylee's first dance show

2009-12-12T18:04:00.000-08:00

Rylee takes dance with her cousin Zoe. She just did her first dance recital and Tracy and I both got a little teary eyed when she was on stage. She was so graceful and beautiful on stage. It was worth any sacrifice we make for that experience! Thank you Zoe's Family for their support in all of this.

Raygen enjoyed watching her sister. It was one of those moments when she showed that she really does love her sister!

Kissing Face!

2009-12-12T17:44:00.000-08:00

We love Baylee's eyes. They are so blue and her eye lashes reach all the way to the top of her eyebrows. She was making the sweetest kissing face and I kept trying to get a picture of it but she was climbing all over me trying to get the camera to see herself.

It is blurry but she was being so funny!
She loves to drink water out of a straw. I just love her!

All Ready for Chritmas!

2009-12-05T23:18:00.000-08:00

The kids put a foam sticker on Baylee's head.

She loved it and would look up and try to pull it off.

She got so good at taking it off and wouldn't keep it on long after that.

It became more fun to chew on!

Pumpkin Carving Contest

2009-10-30T22:56:00.000-07:00

This year came upon us quickly. Our family went with the Wizard of Oz theme.

Rylee posed with Becky's dog Toto.

There is our lion with his cousin Cole Ryan.
I made Tracy carve a pumpkin this year and we didn't take a picture of it when it was all done. I can just tell you that his heart was not in it and I won't make him do one next year if he still is not in the mood! I fell bad because I didn't get a picture of Raygen's pumpkin. She made a ghost walking a dog. It was cute!

Here is our clan! We have our Cowardly Lion played by Jack. The Wicked Witch was Raygen and on her lap was our little Flying Monkey played by Baylee Sue. Beautiful Rylee played Dorothy.

Brotherly Love!

2009-10-25T22:47:00.000-07:00

Jack fell asleep while holding Baylee and she didn't seem to mind. She stayed there with him holding her for long time. He loves his Baylee Sue!

Baylee's Many Faces

2009-10-20T21:07:00.000-07:00

Baylee was making the sweetest sounds and faces.

She copied every sound we made.

Rylee put a headband on her and loves to pose with her in pictures.

We have a video of her, but it won't upload.

Watching Raygen's Gymnastics

2009-10-05T20:29:00.000-07:00

It is a long hour and a half for a little boy to stay happy.

Tracy made it all better by taking pictures of his fit!

I volunteered to hold the happy child!
As you can see things got better!

Raygen loves to work on the beam!

We like how her hands are not on the ground in this picture.

She has good form in the air.

We like the air she can get.

We enjoy when we get to go watch her.

Her teachers said they like her because she always goes and works hard.

Raygen's Vault!

2009-10-05T20:01:00.000-07:00

Raygen has been in gymnastics for the past 10 months. For the first six weeks she was in the beginner class and then got moved into the intermediate class. We enjoy watching her tumble and love how strong she is becoming, and we are slightly jealous of her stomach muscles. The night we went we watch her on the vault and the beam. She has a great time!

Marisa's Birthday Cake

2009-09-25T15:58:00.000-07:00

This is a birthday cake that I decorated for my niece Marisa's 5th birthday.

It was a lot of work. I can get a little crazy about details sometimes and drive myself crazy!

The kids LOVED it!

Raygen's 4th Triathlon

2009-09-25T15:41:00.000-07:00

Raygen is an old pro at this and loves it! She loves the triathlon and would do them all the time if she could. The older you get the father you have to go, so hers has become more of a challenge. Rylee's race was right before hers and she wanted to run with her. I didn't let her but she did run with Alize and Taylor when it was their turn to cheer them on. It is always a good workout for us. Tracy ran with Rylee and I ran with Raygen and Taylor. We love this family activity!

Rylee's 1st Triathlon

2009-09-25T15:16:00.000-07:00

We are so proud of her!

Bless her little heart. We as parents were not prepared for this one. In fact we only found out about it 4 days before. So there was no training or do we have the right kind of bikes for the girls. However they finished and did not give up. Rylee was tired when it was all said and done. She wants to know if she can skip it next year. We will see when it gets closer.She does like having a medal and showing it to everyone.

See what I mean about the bike. Her tires have been flat (well lets just say a little to long) and we didn't realize how much she had grown. We have been a little preoccupied with life. Poor thing is this what they talk about being the middle child? I hear the end up faring the best in life, as I know she will!
I just wanted to squeeze her she was so cute in the water with her swimming cap on!
Alize goes to school with them, Raygen and Rylee are in the middle,
and Taylor (their aunt) is on the end.

First Day of School!

2009-08-25T19:42:00.000-07:00

This is the first year I am not teaching full time.

There are many things I like about it and a lot of things I miss!

Jack has had the hardest time adjusting to this.

Since he was two months old he has been in a class room and this year there is no preschool,

so no class for Jack! He misses it.

So I have tried to make him mommy's little helper!

Raygen is our BIG fourth grader now!

She loves school and has new teachers this year that are not her mom or aunts!

This is very exciting when family teachers is all she has ever known.

Rylee and her cousin Zoe are in First grade this year.
This makes me happy since Rylee could never remember the word Kindergarten last year and had to ask me every time someone ask her what grade she was in.

Rylee loves her teacher Mrs. Taylor!

This will be a GREAT year!

What A Little Daddy!

2009-08-18T19:28:00.000-07:00

I Have A Great Future Husband On My Hands!

(he will not be available until after his mission)

I walked into the Kitchen and found Jack

with Baylee's bath tub giving some dolls a bath.

He was very good at making sure they had clean faces.
He even dunked them upside to rinse their faces.
He was a little rough. I am sure he will get better with age.

I love my boy!

Jack's SUPERMAN Birthday Party!

2009-08-08T17:30:00.000-07:00

Last year we didn't have a birthday party for Jack when he turned two. I swear he knew it because, every birthday party we attended when everyone started to sing he would get very excited and then they would say someone else's name and he would be devastated. (ask Jenny she saw it first hand at Van's birthday party) So instead of spending a whole year of feeling like a loser mom, I had a Superman party. We are blessed to have Jack's party at my bother in laws home with their beautiful pool.

He loves his new superman pajama's he got.
He shows great emotion when opens his presents (He did NOT get that from me. Sorry to anyone who has experienced that, I really am happy on the inside!)

When it came time for the singing to Jack, he suddenly became very shy and wasn't sure if he liked it. As you can see he got over it and blew out his candles.

The one week we decide to have his party, we had a random cold front come threw and it was only 85 degrees out. So the pool was freezing, but the kids enjoyed the spa!

Baylee hanging out in the shade with her Daddy!

This was one of my easiest cakes of all times!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACK!!!!!!

Bowling With FOUR children!

2009-07-16T16:02:00.000-07:00

I have learned my lesson!

We went to a birthday party at the bowling alley. It was the middle of the day so Tracy had to work. For some reason, Jack was grumpy until the party was almost over and then was feeling much better after consuming three cupcakes. (At that point I was just glad he was not on the ground kicking, so he could of had as many as he wanted.) Between running back and forth to help Jack and Rylee bowl, plus bowling for myself, oh and nursing Baylee, I was exhausted and will most likely never go with out Tracy again. I guess all that matters is that the kids had fun and were all happy by the end. (Until it was time to leave of course)

You can't see Jack but I am dragging him out of the way so the next bowler can go.

(Look I am still smiling)

Raygen and Haley eating Cupcakes.

Rylee with Jack before the cupcakes!

Raygen got pretty good at putting the ball straight down the middle.

Rylee looks like a dancer when she bowls.

She also does a little dance move on the way back.

This picture cracks me up. Ruby knew I was taking pictures and she didn't even look where she was going. She just smiled and chucked the ball down the lane!

Jack has now had his cupcakes and was having a good time!

Baylee's Blessing

2009-07-12T11:33:00.000-07:00

Baylee's Baby Blessing

She was almost five months old when we blessed her.

As you can see it was very exhausting.

Tracy gave a beautiful blessing and it was nice to have our family with us.

Jeff, Bishop Truman, Baylee with her dad, Tom, Danny

(John Hawkes was MIA)

Baylee with her Great Grandma and Grandpa Koeller

A Charmer Like His Daddy!

2009-07-09T17:11:00.000-07:00

There is something to be said about boys and their moms.

Yesterday I was laying on the floor with Jack looking at his Baylee Sue,

when I said, "Jack, isn't Baylee so beautiful?"

He replied, "Yep, just like mommy!"

That's why we are definitely keeping him around.

He is the sweetest little boy a mom could have.

I thought this picture was appropriate for the comment that he made.

This is a picture from 2008, but he just looks like a smooth talker in it!

Beach Babies!

2009-07-06T11:55:00.000-07:00

The Sand Between Our Toes!

Jack helping his dad make a sea turtle

in the sand.

Rylee was covered with sand from head to toe.

She still has sand in her bathing suit.
Life is hard when you are the only boy and
three years old!

Raygen and Jack with the sea turtle the dad made.

Jack started to wink on vacation.

Happy Fourth of July!

2009-07-04T16:29:00.000-07:00

The Cousins!

We had a fun day of swimming and relaxing at Uncle Tom and Aunt Denise's house.

They have such a beautiful house and yard and with the great

weather we played outside all day.

Noah, Rylee, Raygen, Baylee, and Jack

Elle and Baylee in their Bumbos!
Tracy and Baylee dipping their feet!

Chunky rolls makes us happy!

I love my wonderful children!

Sea World

2009-07-03T14:32:00.000-07:00

The SOAK ZONE!

We cashed in our change under our bed and took the kids to Sea World .

The weather was a beautiful 72 degrees and we were able to spend time with my family!

These are pictures of the night time show Shamu Rocks!

Tracy took the girls down and sat in the soak zone, while I stayed in the dry section with a sleeping Jack and a happy Baylee.

I couldn't get this picture to turn but I just love her little grin!

Tracy got to ride on Elmo's Flying Fish twice.

Once with Jack and then with Rylee.

What a lucky guy!

Noah and Brooke

Star Fish Fun!

Everyone held the star fish.

The whole time I just kept praying that none of my kids would fall in.

Raygen was two last time she did this!

Look how she has grown up!

This is the only Sea World picture I got in. I am barely there.

I almost spent $25.00 On a hat because I thought she looked so darn cute in it!

Tracy has always liked to pose our babies in pictures. What you can't tell is that she is on a top shelf in a store. A lot of people took her picture sitting up there.

I love Raygen's little hat!

All day long I was counting kids to make sure we had them all.

Poor Aunt Denise ran all around with us .

What A trooper!

See what I mean about Tracy and his pictures he likes to take!

The San Diego Zoo

2009-07-02T12:46:00.000-07:00

Fun at the Zoo!

We took the kids to the zoo with my cousins kids.

It is so much fun to watch my kids play with my cousins Bryon's kids. I love my memories of playing with him and his sister and now I am blessed to watch my kids do the same!

Thanks to the Stromer family for housing us and for

being crazy enough to walk all of those hills with us!

Raygen took this picture of Tracy on the sky tram.

Noah, Jack, Rylee, and Raygen with the flamingos.

Noah and Jack loved the Gorillas and Monkeys!

Raygen and Rylee love to pose (it's a girl thing)

The kids loved the hippo especially when he did what they call the "sprinkler poop" ! YUCK!

They thought it was funny. The things you get to see in nature.

They also had some fun nature lessons with the giraffe.

We wont get into those.

I carried Baylee in her sling most of the day.

She was nice and cozy and was well protected from the sun!

Elle LOVED the characters walking around

and would scream when we had to leave them.

Jack is signing Rhinoceros.

We are all feeling pretty good about they way our back ends

look after seeing this poor animal!

All the kids with a lion.

Elle with her mommy (Brooke)

Me and Rylee on the bus tour.

Noah ready to ride the bus.

Squash! It's Whats For Dinner!

2009-06-28T12:11:00.000-07:00

Learning The Ways!

We are learning lots of different ways to cook squash for dinner.

Everyday they start out small and the next day they are huge!

Rylee's Birthday

2009-06-24T11:44:00.000-07:00

This One Was Only 2 Months Late.

Yes, Rylee's birthday is April 23rd and I had a Tea Party on June 24th. I am only two months behind on this one. Jack's birthday is July 3rd. My goal is to do the birthday in the month of July. Rylee didn't seem to mind. Everyone came and had a great time.

She got a new headband and press on nails that she loves!

She got a lot of fun things. One of her Friends made her a pillow and another one made her an apron! Of course she got shoes witch she loves and lots of accessories!

All of the girls had fun and this was the easiest party I have ever done.

I think I will plan them all in 24 hours from now on!

I let her wear a dress that I wore in my mom's wedding.

She had to walk around holding it up like a real princess. She loved it!

This is her tea pot birthday cake!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RYLEE!

Helping With The Dishes!

2009-06-17T11:27:00.000-07:00

Bylee is good Company!

Baylee will sit in her chair and watch me do dishes. One day she got bored and leaned back and found the screws on the under side of the cabinet. It just looked funny and she kept doing it. It must have been very exciting.

This is how I feel when I am done doing the dishes!

She loves to hold her hands!

Showing Off!

2009-06-15T11:14:00.000-07:00

We love to dance!

The girls are always dancing and flipping on to my furniture.

I have warned them that when they get the new furniture that I will be over to flip on their furniture. They just laugh at me. I will up date you in about twelve years on that.

This is Rylee telling me that her husband wont let me.

They are sticking to the ground when I am in the room, but
I still catch them when they think I am not watching.

Rolls and More Rolls!

2009-06-10T11:04:00.000-07:00

To Be Sooooo Cute!

Baylee always is chewing on her tongue and will twist it sideways.

Wouldn't it be nice if when we are old and our checks hang

below our chin if we could be this cute.
She has the best smile!

The Things We Put Up With!

2009-06-09T10:51:00.000-07:00

Save Me Mommy!

This is the world's best baby!

She cried for a minute when she was born and that was the last time we heard her cry.

Sometimes one of the kids will be on top of her giving her lots of love

and she still wont cry. She just makes little help me sounds.

I love these pictures because I think you can tell what she is thinking.

This one says it all!

I think she would like her hand back.

She is just so happy!

Tin Can Stilts

2009-06-08T10:26:00.000-07:00

Trying to be like the Risenmays

I gave my kids a hard time about not being creative

like the Risenmay boys and this is what they came up with!

Raygen was the one who came up with this idea, she had read it in a book

the night before. We had four other kids at our house that day and made

seven pairs of tin can stilts!

Jack's stilts were made from tuna cans!

Rylee's were made from big fruit cans!

And Raygen had our food storage cans!

They painted them, we put holes in the sides, then tied the strings on,

and away they went!

They had races around the yard and I am happy to announce no major injuries.

My back was killing me however,

from slowly walking around the yard helping Jack walk on his.

Jack's 2nd Hair Cut

2009-05-18T12:58:00.000-07:00

Not What I Had Expected!

So when the Risenmays were here in February Tracy and Shane went and ran some errands and got Tracy and Jack's hair cut while they were out. When I asked how it went they said he screamed the whole time and that there were two ladies working on him, not to mention that Tracy was having to hold him down. So, I went with him this time hoping to recapture it all on tape. You tell me dose it look anything like what they had said . He sat completely still and didn't move a muscle. What a good little boy!

Father and Son's

2009-05-18T12:38:00.000-07:00

This is Jack's first time going to the father and sons camp out. He was still nursing this time last year witch is crazy because I was pregnant with Baylee. ( I didn't have much of a break) Tracy has always gone but has always taken boys that needed to be taken. This year he drove the Johnson boys up there and Dan flew in from Utah and meet them . We will sure miss them! Anyway, They had fun, the weather that night was awful and I thought about them all night as the windows would shake from the 50 mile per hour winds. Luckily the rain didn't come down. The next day was nice and they were able to swim. Tracy really enjoys having his boy!

Field Day

2009-05-18T12:09:00.000-07:00

Journey's First Field Day

It was put on by the upper grammar students (5th-8th) at our school.

They planned all the events and the lunch . It was a great day.

All the kids had a lot of fun and became extremely tired.

They were divided into four teams and competed in events such as tug of war,

doge ball, obstacle coarse, kick ball and many more.

It is fun to see kids of all ages work together and cheer for each other!

Raygen's Loser Mom

2009-05-18T11:42:00.000-07:00

Raygen's nine and a quarter Birthday Party!

Let me first PLEAD my case. Yes, her birthday is Christmas day. We usually have her party in January. That way it gives everyone enough time to recuperate from the holidays. Well this January our niece Brittany was getting married so we were a little busy getting ready for a wedding. Then yes I could have scheduled her slumber party but I was afraid if I did I would go into labor. So we waited! Then I needed time to recover after the baby came. She eventually got her birthday party and we managed to do it before her sister had her birthday in April. (No, I haven't had her party yet either) It is taken me awhile to get back into the swing of things.

I think she had a good time. We had a disco ball that we hung in our kitchen and they danced around to girls just want to have fun. They played twister with the disco ball turning and used the strobe light too. They ate pizza and ice cream cake. ( I try not to be offended that she didn't want her mom to make the cake, In the end I was kind of glad it was less work for me) Then watched a movie and went to sleep at a reasonable hour.(Tracy and I were happy about that) In the end I don't think we damaged her by having her party in March!

Changing the brakes

2009-05-18T11:22:00.000-07:00

Daddy's Little Helper!Tracy is already teaching Jack how to work on the cars.

You are never to young to start.

I think he enjoyed being with his dad and getting dirty.

A Saturday well spent.

Look at our garden grow!

2009-04-27T11:30:00.000-07:00

Our faithful little garden

These are our artichoke plants.

The little one died in a wind storm

(or so we thought),

but is now growing again.

The bell peppers are doing well. Next year we will plant more.

The tomato plants are growing like crazy and have little tomatoes already.

We cant wait to have fresh salsa!

Look how cute!

The second half of our garden

2009-04-27T11:29:00.000-07:00

Garden part 2

This is our biggest bell pepper.

Next year we are going to grow our green beans and cucumber up our fence.
Our zucchini plants are growing fast.
Our little herb garden has
white onions, green onions, basil, and two cilantro plants.

Hot Mama Pants

2009-04-21T17:08:00.000-07:00

Getting Chunky!

We have a pair of jeans that Baylee wears

and they get a little tighter everyday.

(That is a good thing when your her size, not mine.)

Tracy calls them her hot mama pants.

We love her little bum!

This is when she was new and they were still a little loose.

Jack loves the I pod!

2009-03-09T16:46:00.000-07:00

Tracy got some ridiculously big ear phones from a co-worker for Christmas.

Jack loves to watch Cars on his I pod

and we love the way his cheeks look with the ear phones on.

He gets into a movie like his dad.

Jack likes how portable the I pod is.

Baylee Sue

2009-03-08T13:39:00.000-07:00

Baylee's photo shoot with Stacy!

Mommy gets lots of love.

Baylee's has her eyes wide open.
Our sleepy girl!

Our newest addition!!!!

2009-02-18T10:12:00.000-08:00

Baylee Sue Blackwell was born on 2-18-2009 at 3:48am. She weighs 7lbs 15oz.

Mom and Baby was both doing GREAT!

Alena is the most AWESOME woman I have ever known. She has proven again that she is the most fantastic mother around. I'm so proud of her.

The Rain Came Down!

2008-12-18T09:14:00.000-08:00

We have had a small leak in our family room. Now with two days of snow and rain it has become a BIG problem. Last night the ceiling felt extremely wet, so Tracy got a knife, stab the sheet rock, and out came the water. We stayed by hole, dumping out the water from the buckets. As you can see in the first picture water was also coming through our high quality window. We also removed stuff from the closet where water is now coming in through that light as well. More rain is expected starting on Monday all the way to Christmas. We will let you know how this saga ends!

Winter Wonderland

2008-12-15T14:51:00.000-08:00

Yes, It's snowing in Las Vegas! The kids were very excited when the flurries started to fall. Soon the snow flakes became bigger and we got ready to play. Rylee mastered the art of snowball throwing and Raygen built a snowman with her Great Grandpa Jack. This is Jack's second year of experiencing snow and still wants nothing to do with it. He stays under the patio cover and watches with grandma. We had fun while it lasted.

Our Painting Night

2008-12-01T18:30:00.000-08:00

Every year as a family we paint some kind of Christmas decoration. The girls painted several ornament and finished a few from last year. Jack enjoyed painting this year and used a variety of colors. Tracy finished a decoration that he has been working on for the past three years. He is very detailed in all that he does. Plus, he usually will fix anything of mine that I beg him to. (The kids get their artistic abilities for their dad.) It is fun to see the kids art improve over the years. Raygen says this is one of her favorite traditions.

Raygen & "Locks of Love"

2008-11-30T22:40:00.000-08:00

THERE GOES THE HAIR

Raygen had a school friend a while back that came to school one day with a dramatic difference to her hair length. She explained she had cut it for "Locks of Love". "Locks of Love" is a non-profit organization that helps children suffering from medical hair loss. The hair is used to make wigs for these needful children.
Raygen had immediately decided that she was going to grow her hair out long enough to cut it and have it donated. The organization requires a minimum of 10 inches with no chemicals or dyes.
So two years later and just over 10 inches to cut, she did not want to wait a day longer. She's having a lot of fun with it. Her goofy Uncle Jeff taught her Sunday school class today and acted as if she was a visitor to the class. She says its funny to put clothing on and not have to pull her hair from out the back of the collar.
We are proud of her decision to make such a selfless choice for those less fortunate.

Plimoth Plantation Play

2008-11-20T19:00:00.000-08:00

Our school has started a new tradition this year. This was our first annual Plimoth Plantation Program. The girls had parts to memorize and then got up on the stage and did very well in front of all the parents. Jack enjoyed watching his sisters and running around the gym after the performance. The whole week before I was making costumes for everybody. My mom is proud of me and said I am ready to move to the next level of sewing.

My Little Man

2008-11-18T22:39:00.000-08:00

I just had to share this.... I walked in and found Jack sleeping with his hand stuck in the back of his pants. I found it funny that he felt comfort in doing it. Perhaps its a man thing. Or perhaps his fingers get cold and he simply found a warm place.... look at his other hand, warmly tucked under the pillow.

All I Want for Christmas is My Four Front Teeth

2008-11-11T18:36:00.000-08:00

Rylee loves showing how she can stick her tongue out of her mouth without having to open jaw.
We told her this will be the last time she'll ever be able to do this..... (hopefully)

Baby Bunny

2008-11-11T11:50:00.000-08:00

We got one of the videos to upload. You can see how much Jack loves the baby bunny and wants to stay as close as possible.

We caught a bunny!

2008-11-10T12:24:00.000-08:00

About two months ago, three small bunny rabbits appeared in our backyard. We have no idea where they came from, but only know that there have been a couple grown rabbits running through our neighborhood for a while. We have felt privileged that the baby rabbits would choose our backyard and grass to live in for the duration of their growth. Well as rabbits do they have continued to multiply and our neighborhood is now infested with them. Alena, with her bunny catching skills caught one of the new baby rabbits. The kids enjoyed holding the rabbit and Jack was very protective of the rabbit when Merik (our dog) came anywhere near. We probably should have kept him in hopes of slowing down the rabbit population, but we decided to let him go.

Balloon Babies

2008-11-10T08:00:00.000-08:00

The kids were pretending to look like me and have a baby in their belly. Rylee was able to pull it off better than Jack. Raygen just ran when she saw the camera and wouldn't let us get a picture of her. A few weeks later Jack lifted up my shirt saying, "balloon?" He was a little disappointed to see it was just my big belly.

Toy Story 2

2008-10-25T18:35:00.000-07:00

This was the families 7th annual pumpkin carving contest party. Our family did the Toy Story two theme this year. We chose this because that is Jack's new favorite movie. Rylee was Little Bo Peep, Raygen was Jessie and Jack was Woody, of course. I worked on the costumes for about a week and lost a lot of skin due to glue gun injuries not to mention the numerous pokes from the needles. However, I was happy with the results. We won the costume contest. Jenny Jensen says she is going to learn to sew and give me a run for my money. I would love the challenge.

This year Tracy struggled with an idea and had no plans for a pumpkin. He won best overall much to his brother Mark's disappointment. Mark usually only feels he is truly in competition with Tracy. Mark still won most creative but this did not satisfy him. The next day our girls had a message on the answering machine saying how their dad is going down next year. I am glad the children have such wonderful examples of good sportsmanship! Tracy thought this was hilarious because he put little effort into this pumpkin. I must say it was the most clean cut of all the pumpkins.

Raygen's Triatholon

2008-09-27T22:57:00.000-07:00

This was Raygen's third City of Las Vegas Triathlon. She loves participating in the event. I don't think its because she feels she needs to win, but she feels proud that she'd able to try her best and loves the support her mom & dad gives her.

At the completion of each years event, she discusses what she would like to work on to improve her performance in anticipation for the following year.

After her first triathlon, we worked on riding the bike in a standing position to increase speed. This past year, we worked on swimming and the technique of a proper freestyle swim. This coming year she wants to work on running agility. This seemed to have been her most challenging leg of the event this year.

Regardless of technique and agility though, we teach her that winning against the other competitors is not he point of doing this. Its the challenge of starting what you finish that is most important. Every year thus far, I lay in bed with her the night before the big race and read the same story to her. Many people are familiar with it... it is called "The Race". Its about a boy and his struggle to compete in a race. He keeps stumbling and falling to the ground. After falling four times he is ready to quit. All the other competitors have already crossed the finish when the boy crosses in last place. To listen to the crowd cheer for him you would have thought he'd won the race.

I read this to her ensure she understands its most important finish than it is to win. I love her so much and I know that she is fully capable to do anything.