Labor Day Break

I'm pretty sure I have the best husband ever. Labor Day weekend Darren took the boys on a little road trip back to Notre Dame to visit some friends and left me home all alone to catch my breath before this baby comes. It was such a nice break. I cleaned my house and it actually stayed clean . . . imagine that. I got a ton of stuff done, but of course made time for movies and ice cream too. It was great to have some quiet time, but good to see my boys again. Thanks Darren for helping me keep my sanity. :)

Quincy's First Day of First Grade

I can't believe Quincy is a first grader!!! He looks so old to me in this picture with his shirt all tucked in and his belt (he loves to do that). He was sad to see the summer end, and Stratt misses his big brother during the day, but Quincy loves school! Thanks Grammie and Poppie for his new school supplies!

I found these pictures of Quince when he started his first year in preschool when we were at Notre Dame. It makes me sad that he's so old now. :( Time really flies!

While Quincy was at school, Stratt spent the week hauling around a "pack-pack" full of notebooks and markers and toys and played "school." I love at the end of the day watching Stratt run down the driveway to give Quincy big hugs when he gets off the bus!

Family Reunion

This August we had a fun family reunion. Unfortunately Darren was the only person who couldn't make it. We missed him, but the boys had a great time with cousins. My sister lives in Utah, and so my mom and dad rented 2 townhomes up in Park City to accommodate all the families, it was really fun to all be together. Thanks Mom and Dad (and Debi) for making it all possible - we had a great time!!!

My Dad with Stratty and Ethan throwing rocks in the creek by my sister Debi's house.

Bowling with Grandpa and cousins

I love Stratt's tiny bowling shoes.

Stratt was very serious about his bowling. Any time he hit any of the pins he would jump up and down and shout, "I won!!! I scort (scored)!!!"

At the dinosaur museum

My cute mom helping the kids.

My dad was such a good sport, he took the kids swimming several times a day. They loved it!

And the kids loved hearing Grandpa Roger tell silly stories every night.

We went to the park and my mom had airplanes for the kids to fly.

The cousins and uncles played a game of soccer while the moms watched.

We ate lots of good food and treats (thanks to my mom and Debi's preparation).

And we even got all 14 grandkids to stand still for 2 seconds to take a picture.

But the highlight of the trip was meeting my brother Ben's fiance, Sunshine. She's great and we all love her!

It was definitely a successful reunion and fun to be with my family!

He's on his way . . .

Yesterday we had one of those 3-D/4-D ultrasounds at our doctor's office, it was so cool! It was fun to see our baby's face even before we get to meet him. Darren thinks he looks just like Stratt did. He definitely has the same Keele nose as our other babies. I am 34 weeks now and thankfully this last half of my pregnancy has been really great. I just keep getting bigger and bigger and we keep getting more and more excited! The other day Quincy said, "Mom, do you think there still might be a teeny tiny, little chance that it still might be a girl?" I said, "No Quince, I'm pretty sure it's a boy." And he said, "We just have too many boys in this family." I think he's finally getting used to the idea of another boy, both he and Stratt are very excited. I can't wait to see them with their new baby brother! :)

Birthday Boy

Darren had his golden birthday this year, he turned 31 on the 31st of July. Now that only happens once in a lifetime!!! We got him a new longboard for his birthday, because we ran over our other one with the car. And his sister's sent him a cheescake from the Cheesecake Factory. Mmmmm, thanks Britt and Em!! It was a fun day! Happy 31 babe!!! Thanks for being so great! We love you!!!!

Iowa Fun

After our New York trip, Darren's family came home with us for a few days. They pretty much transformed our house, weeding and cleaning and filling our fridge with great food. Thanks for everything guys!!!

Fishing with Poppie

Notice Quincy has a handful of wildflowers. My boys are always gathering wildflowers and dandelions and clovers for me wherever they go. It makes me crazy because I have dead flowers laying around all over my house. BUT it is also very sweet. :) I love my boys!

Watching the fireflies.

Getting new summer haircuts. The only way I could convince Quincy to get his hair cut was by telling him that Stratt would be able to run faster than him if he didn't cut his hair too. Of course Quincy made them race around the house right after to make sure he was still the faster big brother.

Roasting marshmallows on the patio.

We were all chatting on the deck and Darren's sister caught this little unfortunate golf incident on video. Quincy was just trying to give some helpful tips. :)

We all thought Stratt had hit Quincy on purpose (which wouldn't be out of the ordinary), but Quincy was crying and screaming and saying, "It wasn't his fault!!! It was an accident!!" It's nice to see he will stick up for his little brother through anything. :) Thankfully no one lost any teeth, but Q did have 2 silver metal marks on his 2 front teeth where it hit. Ouch!