4th of July

We were talking about camping, and then we didn't go. Todd had a few things he wanted to take care of on his day off. So we stayed home. And Friday morning we took care of errands and cleaned house. We worked in the garden for a while. The kids played in the mud pit that their garden became as we watered it. We gave Garth, my brother, his birthday present a week early so we could play with it. He got a game called boom blox. And we played a lot that weekend. And we hung out with my mom. We meant to put a baby blanket on the frames to quilt, but we didn't do that much work. We went through our games at Grandma Tingey's house. We got a lot done for feeling like we played most of the weekend. We went to a picknik at my Aunt Cindy's house. The girls kept trying to figure out how to slip and slide. It was fun to watch. Then my mom took Kaylyn home--who wanted to be held the whole time. She got scared from a firework that went off near by. She has been klingy since. But the rest of us went down to Columbia River Park. I wanted to get closer to the fireworks, but Todd didn't want to deal with the traffic. So we ended up on the dock. We could see both Columbia River's firework show and the Trak's show. We weren't close enough for my taste, but Todd thought we were plenty close. It was fun to sit on the dock. We made friends with the couple next to us. Karla spent more time talking with them than she did watching the fireworks. Although she enjoyed those too. Karla is my social butterfly and makes friends everywhere she goes. In her birth blessing it says that she will be surrounded by love--I now wonder if that is because she creates it where ever she is. We also had a drunk guy who joined us. Todd helped him park his boat--and he was very grateful. He was funny. Then it was home again. We spent a quiet Sunday at home. All in all, it was a nice holiday. But after packing the baby, the diaper bag, and the girls--I left the camera again. Give me time to adjust to all I need to pack around.

Canning with the Stokers

We were able to get some cherries. It was fun because Anna Stoker, a lady in my ward, helped me get them and we canned together. Here we are making cherry syrup. It was only later that I learned that we didn't have to pit them first. We could of avoided a lot of work. But the syrup is really good. We then got together and did pie cherry filling--it was really good but again it was a lot of work!! But it was fun to share the work with a friend. We have enjoyed our friendship with the Stokers.

Before and After

Kaylyn shortly after coming home from the doctor--remember these pictures?


Kaylyn at one month!! See how much she has grown. It is only one inch longer at about two pounds, but she seems much bigger to me. Yesterday she was sleeping on my bed while we got ready for the day. When I went to get her, there were several of the girls baby dolls on my bed as well (they had fed their babies bottles while I fed mine. :) But Kaylyn looked like just one of the dolls left by the girls--slightly more porciline and less plastic, but a doll all the same.

And since we are doing before and after pictures--I couldn't resist doing my own. I've mentioned my workout routine recently. And I lost a pound a week for a few weeks. I was disappointed when I not only didn't lose weight but gained back a pound, but Todd and I have been watching it and I feel better. I can do things that I use to not be able to do--and I hurt less than I use to. I feel in better shape. And Todd says I feel firmer. I look more slender in the face. And I finally put on my skinny jeans again (although just barely). But the biggest indicator, to me, is my blood pressure. I ran out of my enarpril, so I started taking my blood pressure again--so when I called Dr Toeshoni I could have an educated discussion with her. My blood pressure was not only down but on the lower end: 138/84. When I hit 120/90 she told me I could skip my next dose and see what happened, so I did. And it was 172/98 (a little too high). So I tried simply taking a half dose of the labetol--and my numbers have been beautiful: 98/62, 96/78 and 135/86!! Yeah!! Now I just have to kick the last 200 mg.

Our garden: updated

We aren't getting as much zucchini as I had hoped. We get two--once or twice a week.

Karla's garden--right after I took this picture, we gave the garden extra water. They then played in the mud pit their garden became. Atleast it was their garden and not Todd's that they dug up. They were covered in mud, and we will see if their plants survived it. (In trying to get out of there before the baby got overheated and without getting mud all over my car, I didn't think to get a picture of the mud, sorry.)

Todd's tomatoe plants

Karla is standing by the corn (and then the potatoes) to show how big they are getting.

And if you look at our beans, you can tell one end of the garden gets watered better than the other. But we aren't in charge of the water, and we do the best we can with what we've been given. Next year will be different.

And here the girls are cheering the water on--all the way to the end of the row. Kylee was cheering better until I turned on the camera--go figure. But this is what I got.

A day out

Kaylyn slept through it!

We all went to Kaylyn's one month check up. I promised the girls a treat if they were good. They were so we went to this sprinkler park. I am trying to do more fun things for the older girls. It is easy for me to get caught up in my to do list--that never seems to get done--and leave the girls to fend for themselves as far as entertainment goes. Other fun treats have been a water balloon fight, bike rides (until it got to hot to go during the day) and the free movie: Veggie Tales The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything and Horton Hears A Who.