Aunt Katie is going, going, GONE!

We can't believe that Aunt Katie is gone. We had a great time sending her off. On Tuesday, she and Dan flew in town. She finished last minute items, we had a fun dinner together, then a little farewell party with friends and family (mostly family). She looked so cute in her missionary attire and was excited to go!


Morning before McCall left to school. Saying goodbye.... As I drove McCall to school she got teary and said "I don't want Aunt Katie to go!" We will have to write her lots of letters so McCall doesn't feel out of touch!



Katie did great the whole drive down, she was sooo excited! She held it together the entire time (until Mike called on the phone to say goodbye). She did have a few butterflies as we were driving up. When we pulled up to the MTC it was fabulous. They had 2 cute missionaries to each unloading spot ready to help and walk the missionary in. Katie was so cute and beaming from ear to ear. She was just ready to go...



Last photo with Dan and Spencer. (Spencer and Ruby were champs and did great)

Sorry for the fuzzy photo. They were walking REALLY fast and I couldn't keep my zoom up... There she goes and is now a full time missionary. We Love you Aunt Katie... We are so proud of you, and can't wait to hear about all of the great things that you will do!

FIREMEN!!!

Mike got some more of his fire gear. He is wearing his wildland fire coat. Spencer thinks it is Christmas every time Mike brings home more of his duds. Of course then it is dress up time for all. Can you tell that Spencer is just beaming that his dad is a fireman. Every little boy's dream!


Spencer all dressed up!

Mike got his leather plaque on his helmet. (this one's for you Patty!)

Last week Spencer, Ruby, I went down to the academy and watched Mike do a live burn. He was running the crew, so we didn't see him with the hose actually putting out the fire, but it was fun to watch him in action. Again Spencer thought it was pretty cool.

Mike and Spencer at the live burn. The academy has 4 fire engines. Spencer had to climb in every one of them and pretend to drive. He was in heaven!

FALL IS IN THE AIR!

We have had the most beautiful weather the past couple of weeks. The leaves have been at their peak. Everywhere I look it is just stunning. I keep wanting to take a picture of Mount Olympus out my front door (but of course I am forgetful) It makes me feel so blessed to live where I do. The kids have had so much fun with the leaves. We have a lot to rake up so the fun is endless!


The Girls...


Spencer...The leaves are even better with a great big cookie!

Halloween

We had a great Halloween! The weather was gorgeous and warm! The kids were thrilled with every aspect of the holiday (especially Spencer with the Candy!)


I love this picture because McKinley looks like such a sassy little devil (do you think that it is fitting?) She luckily for me wore the devil costume that I had made McCall 2 years ago. I was very thankful that it fit and was still in good shape. There were a few devils in the neighborhood, so she thought that it was great!

Firefighter Spencer!!! He loved being a fireman. Thanks to Grandma Dunn we have a costume that can be worn constantly (It is a raincoat and boots) Spencer was thrilled when this showed up in the mail. He had to bring it out and show everyone that he was a fireman. We are still pulling it out almost daily to wear here and there!

McCall was a Witch, although I thought she was a sweet one. We whipped out her skirt the day before (But it worked out perfectly). She is at the age where she definately wants to choose what she is going to be on her own. She is not to be swayed. Luckily she choose something easy. For her the hightlight is trick or treating with her friends and getting to wear make-up.

We had the annual halloween hot dog roast back in our driveway again. (We haven't hosted it since we moved) We had a GREAT turnout. I couldn't believe it. Luckily the weather was so warm and beautiful that everyone had fun. Here are most of the kids who came to the cattail roast. I love seeing all of the cute kids in their costumes. THE DUNN'S LOVE HALLOWEEN!

Our Sweet Blessing was Blessed~

We had the Blessing for our little Ruby Jean this weekend. She was a champ and was as happy as can be. Mike was stellar and did a fabulous job as usual. It was a wonderful weekend with the Dunn's in town. Grandma Dunn was even able to come up for the occasion. We loved having her join us. The kids had so much fun with everyone around and were so sad to see them leave. The only thing that made them leaving alright was that we all knew that Christopher's mission call was in their mailbox at home. We are anxious to see where and when he leaves. We had another treat of seeing Mike's aunt and cousins on Saturday. It feels like forever since we have seen them.
What a grea weekend!


Ruby... She even graced me with her first "real" smile on Saturday night. She spent most of the weekend cozy in Grandma Patty's arms.

I will attach some better pictures of Ruby's blessing dress. I couldn't find one that I liked so I decided to make one. I wanted something with meaning, so Grandma Midge graciously agreed to let me cut up some very old pillowcases that her mother had hand embroideried. They were beautiful and I was very nervous cutting them up knowing that they were irreplaceable. It turned out pretty precious.

We love our sweet Ruby Jean!!!

3 WEEKS OLD!!!

I can't believe that Ruby is three weeks old! She is such a little gem. EVERYONE loves her very much (sometimes to much) Spencer thinks that she is only his "baby Ruby." He gets very upset when anyone says anything otherwise. She has grown quite a bit and is now weighing in at a hefty 6 1/2 pounds. By the time Ash and Amber get here in a couple weeks she is going to be a full on chunk (at least we are hopeful...)


Here is our little peanut. Words cannot express how small she is.


Ruby showing off her chunky legs. A week ago dad and scott were amazed with how wrinkly and saggy her thighs were. Now they are starting to fill out a bit!!!

Just after a bath. Ruby is a good little mix of our other girls. She looks a lot like McKinley but there are times she reminds me just of McCall. She does have McCall's hair line and we have seen some dimples creeping into those cheeks. It will be fun to see what she ends up looking like. She is so sweet and loves to be cuddled. We love her tons!!!

A Little Setback

Last week Ruby had a few setbacks. She ended up at Primary Children's Hospital from Monday to Wednesday night. The timing couldn't have been better seeing that Monday was the first day of school j/k... But that is the way life goes. We survived thanks to Mom, Grandma Midge, and my great friends. Mike has made it very clear that he is not cut out to be a stay at home dad. Although he was awesome at coordinating everything and having the kids a ton.


Ruby is finally enjoying herself under the lights after being pumped full of IV fluid. She surprised me with how quickly she lost weight and went down hill. When we checked in she had lost over 1 1/2 pounds. She was sooo sunken. I was so greatful for modern medicine and the children's hospital just 15 minutes away!



Finally taking a break from the lights. (She actually loved the lights and hated anyone messing with them...what a bathing beauty!!!)

I love it how they just make a label and tape it to them. No medical bracelet for Ruby!

She is home, gaining weight and doing well... We feel so Blessed!

And the New Dunn Family...with Ruby Jean!

Our new family photo. Mike and I were a little overwhelmed seeing this. Wow we have a lot of kids!!! Ruby is LOVED by her sisters and brother. They constantly want to hold her and help.


Ruby came out 6 lbs 14 oz. she was 19 inches long. She came out screaming. Mike and I were laughing so hard. We have never had a kid make that much fuss. She is very sweet and we love her.



Mike with his little girl!

Grandma and Grandpa Swallow.

Grandma Patty Jean (Ruby's namesake) came into to town to meet her. She was such a help with the other kids while we were in the hospital!

We are so excited that Ruby is finally here. She is adorable and we can't imagine life without her!

Sad Times for Spencer...

Spencer has no more Binky. The other night Mike snipped the top off of Spencer's binky. Spencer felt that this completely ruined it. He was in utter dispair. He wanted nothing to do with it once it was snipped. It has been very sad times for the past couple of days, but last night was much better!

On a happier note... we were having Sunday dinner at mom and dad's and the kids found a baby grasshopper. They were in heaven. Spencer was sooo excited. He has a hard time saying the first sounds to his words so he ran around telling everyone that they found a baby "asshopper." It was pretty funny!

OH WHAT A 4TH!!!

We love the 4th of July. The kids look forward to it every year. This year did not disappoint! We were so excited to get a package from Grandma Dunn and Katie. Inside Aunt Katie had tie- dyed some awesome shirts for us. They sent a lot of fun things.
We started the day out early and walked to the parade route around 7:40 am. Liz and David and their kids were in town which was a huge highlight for our kids. We had a fabulous breakfast in the park and then headed to the parade.

We met up with the Calton's from our old ward. It was so great to see them. The kids had a blast collecting candy and playing with their old friends!

Mike set up the volleyball net in the front yard and the Thorne kids played with our kids all afternoon. The teenages were so nice to play with our little kids. It was a lot of fun. Later we did a bbq at grandma Kayes, then back to our house for smores and fireworks. Oh how we love smores! (there is an advantage to not having all of our landscape done. It is very easy to did a big fire pit)

Spencer eating his smore. He was a mess by the end.

We love the 4th of July at our house. It is one of our favorite holidays!

Where has the time gone...

I can't believe that we are coming towards the end of June... We have been so busy! We took the kids down to St. George for a quick get-a-way. It was exactly what we needed. They were so excited to spend time with Mike and just have fun. McCall loved hiking and climbing. She could have done it all day long. But of course we had to fit in some pool time also. Mike decided that next time he would bring some of uncle Scottie's climbing gear and he could have her do a couplr of small climbs. The weather was perfect and it was so fun being with our little family.


The girls climbed through some narrow slots. They had to do it by themselves because mom and dad couldn't fit. They both thought that this was a highlight!

We had to take an ice cream break!

McCall Climbing!

McCall and Mike climbed up a steep rock to a cave by the Circus wall. They had a lot of fun!

It was a great trip and much needed. We are sad because dad is now back to his busy,crazy schedule again. We can almost see the end of it though. We hope that everyone is having a great summer!!!

Spencer's week on the POTTY...

So we have had a busy week of potty training Spencer. He is being a rockstar (although I truly loathe potty training). He is doing great at peeing in the potty. We haven't had an accident in days. Pooping on the other hand has been a little tricky. I don't think he has the patience to sit there. One huge surprising bonus has been nights. Spencer has not wet a diaper during the night or naptime since we started. I believe that I am done buying diapers for this little guy, which brings a huge smile to my face!!!

T-BALL

Our lives have been taken over by t-ball. We decided to try this instead of soccer this spring and McCall loves it. She is actually in coach pitch, and McKinley is in t-ball. I feel like we are living at the field. This is a picture of what Spencer does. He will sit long enough to eat snacks, then he is up running and causing trouble!


McKinley posing. For some reason she always has to kick up a leg!!!

McCall on Base.

McCall batting...

We didn't get many pictures of the funeral, but here is a great grandchild giving grandpa a Kiss! Grandma's funeral was wonderful! She was an amazing person...

What A Week!!!

It has been quite the week. On Friday my sweet grandma Swallow had a stroke. She was at the temple completing a session and didn't feel well. Things have gone down hill since then and we don't expect her to last long. Yesterday I went up and spent a few hours. It was so sad to see her just lying there. We saw her just a couple of weeks ago at Jame's baby blessing, and then for Easter dinner. She was so full of life then! She and Grandpa are two of the most Christ like people I have ever met. They are absolutely amazing. At 90 they go to the temple 4-5 days a week. They are so happy all of the time. I don't think that in my whole life I have ever heard either of them say anything negative about another person. They have unconditional love for everyone! It is going to be a huge loss...

Another sad thing this week was my good friend Katy had a sweet baby girl on Tuesday. She had Trisomy 13. She lived a short 14 hours before she passed away. I was able to go to the hospital and hold her. She was a little angel and so Precious. I attended the Funeral on Saturday. It was very heart wrenching...

McCall got the flu on Friday night. She is still a little under the weather. I am really hoping that she starts to perk up. We have too much going on.

I also can't believe that it is May already. School is going to be out before I know it. We have a lot of things going on which is good, because Mike is gone so much. I was really depressed when I wrote out our May calendar, looking at how much he is working. He gets about 1 1/2 days off for memorial day and then has to work for 13 days in a row...wow!!! I feel bad for him and worry about him working so much. Luckily it will all be over the end of July! Yeah...

Other then that we are doing well and keeping busy. The kids are fun and loving t-ball and spring weather. I got the garden planted, which was great!