Isaac turned 9 this week!

    It's hard to believe just last year Isaac was baptized and we blessed McClane but it's true.  Now Isaac is nine and he had a pretty fun birthday, at least I think he did.  He got most of his wishlist filled and got to ride a pony named "Soda" who peed as Isaac was sitting on him waiting to get off, priceless and memorable.
     The whole week has also been pretty good.  No meltdowns for mom, just a little frustration with a cold that limited her yelling ability.  There's nothing worse then the need to yell at your kids and your voice is nearly gone.  But mom's on the mend and her strength is nearly full force again so look out kids!

This baby loves balloons!

And here's the birthday boy!

And in between birthday celebrating this little cutie (Shae) came to nap at our house!  Jovi was there too but not nearly as still!

Let the pony ride begin!

The boys looking on while birthday boy gets his pony ride.

And this is Soda taking Isaac around and around.

Jovi, Jackie, Carter and Brock all watching with a titch of envy.

And we're still waiting

Mom always likes to get a group shot if she can.  This is just one example of how difficult that can be.

This was as good as it got.  At least they're all there.

And what's better then pumpkin pie for a birthday "cake".

Almost everyone enjoyed their pie but it was not Brock's favorite.

Now on to presents.  And of course it's wrapped with a blanket, can't fight tradition.

The fact that we even had a box was a step up from just a blanket wrapping.

Isaac got a new watch, beyblades, a happy napper and an arena for the beyblades to battle in.  (Beyblades are basically just glorified tops in case you were wondering.)

Even though it's blurry I couldn't erase it just because of how excited Brock is for Isaac.  This is how siblings should react.

And now on to enjoying his new toys.

   Well that's it!  Happy birthday Isaac, now on to a Happy Halloween.

I Love you Sunshine!

      I can't tell you enough how much I love this sunny weather and it's been another fabulous week of sunshine and warmth.  There was a little wind over the weekend but the yard has been cleaned up and the leaves and branches are gone.
     This past week has been pretty low key.  The kids had school until Wednesday and then a nice four day weekend.  It's Utah's idea of a fall break which allows the teachers some extra education and the kids less education.  Love it!!
      My bi-weekly shopping got done this week as well as the birthday shopping for Isaac who will be celebrating his 9th birthday this coming Friday.  And Greg and I got to eat out twice together which is always a favorite pass time for me.
      I did take a few photos this week, mostly of just random things.  I'll explain as we go along.  Over all it's been a nice week and I won't share the melt down I had on Tuesday night over spilled kool-aid.  Just know that my fridge and floor did get clean and at some point McClane may or may not have had ranch dressing running down his arm after it was flung furiously from the fridge.  Just be aware you do not want to mess with me in my worst O.C.D. moments.

While on the treadmill this guy fell asleep.  You would have thought he was the one exercising himself to complete exhaustion.

Seriously, my kids fall asleep in some strange positions.

I saw a house the other day while out driving and their front yard decor was super cute so I stole a portion of their idea and thankfully I have a patient and helpful husband.  I didn't have to spend a dime because we already had the straw bales and the pumpkins and squash were all grown by Greg.  I love it!

And this is a classic case of "it's not what you know but who you know".  This guy Greg affiliates with at work offered to let him take is 1963 stingray corvette for a spin.  It was a sweet ride but not really built for a guy as tall as Greg but he still loved driving it around for a minute.  (Greg kept his work shirt on just to be sure everyone could see us coming.)

      Ok, so that's it for the week.  I'm hoping for another full week of sunshine again and I just may get my wish.

Random Fun

      Not a lot of activity this week but the most gorgeous weather to enjoy.  I'll just share the few photos and fill you in on a few of the necessities and leave it at that.

Totally cool dude.

A weird way to nap, blanket as a pillow, pillow as a blanket, but a break for mom so whatever works!

Carter and Isaac in complete euphoria with Uncle Garrett and his "digestive" issues!

Seriously, why do boys love potty humor so much!

Uncle Josh and Aunt Melissa with baby Ava.  That's how Melissa looks naturally:-)

And here's cousin Kayli with sweet baby Ava.

   Wednesday there was a fun safety fair at the Orem City Fire Department so I decided it might be "fun" to take all six kids by myself and it actually wasn't bad minus losing Brock for a minute and having to lug 20 lb. McClane around because I didn't even think about bringing a stroller.  (My arms were sore for two days.)  And ironically Brock was wearing the same red and white striped "Where's Waldo" shirt just like the last time we lost him in a big public gathering.  This time I was alone though so I didn't go into quite the same hysterics as Greg and I found him without calling on the local firemen.  He was just standing in the driveway of the fire station eating his popcorn oblivious to the fact he was on his own.

Here's Isaac and Carter (who you can't see) sitting in the life flight helicopter.

  

And then it was Brock and Mark's turn to sit in the helicopter.

    Did I mention how lovely the weather's been all week?  Well it was just amazing so I couldn't keep myself and the two little boys holed up in the house all day so I got out a few toys for McClane and we spent a little time out front exploring the neighborhood, crunching leaves and eating a few too.

This is the possessed John Deere 4-wheeler that sings spontaneously through out the day and night so I finally removed the batteries.  McClane loved it though.

And it was even better when I came up with the idea to attach a tether so we could pull him around the neighborhood.

He absolutely loved it and Brock did ok pulling him for a minute. 

   So that's about it.  It's been a nice week and today Greg's got us all busy trimming and cutting down trees in the back yard and hopefully before the day is over we'll have the house and yard looking great in preparation for fall and Sunday.

Family Time!!

    Before I forget let me update you on McClane's stats and his 12 month visit to the doctors.  First of all, have I mentioned what a fantastic little baby boy he is?!  At the doctors I was informed that he had an ear infection, the third one that we know of in less then a year and like before, McClane showed no signs of feeling sick or being in pain but I'm glad it was discovered and that we could get on top of it before it got worse.  He's a champ at taking medicine which is always helpful.  As for the rest of his visit he looks healthy and is on track with his development.  He weighed in at 20 lbs. 14 oz. and is 30 1/2 inches long.  That's about 25% for weight and 75% for height so typical Kmetzsch size.  And he survived his three shots and was quickly appeased with a sucker from the nurse.

And here's my little angel with his Angel Daddy!

   Now on to the fun parts of our week.  With Justin and Cassity visiting from Texas they decided to have a belated birthday celebration for Etta and we were all invited to a super fun place in Springville, Utah called "Jumping Jacks" which had lots of bouncing toys and slides and the kids had an absolute blast and then got to top it off with yummy cake and a balloon to take home.  Thanks Justin and Cassity for the best Family Home Evening activity we've had in a long time.  And thanks to Cassity's parents who recently became the owners of this fun place and made it happen without any cost to us!

McClane loved it all and got to practice his balancing skills a lot.

This is me and Carter headed up for a fun slide down. (This is a great place for a fun workout!)

And here's blurry proof that I did participate a little in all the fun.

Brock was in heaven!

And here's uncle Greg with cute Lydia Kmetzsch.

Greg, Carter and McClane having a group slide.

And of course we had to see how McClane would fair going down on his own.  He liked it just fine.

After this fun party it was on to Friday's event, Heidi and Blaine's wedding!!!  It is official, Heidi's married and the new Mrs. Blaine Dickerson and the whole day was great, at least for us.

Here's baby Ava Smith, Garrett and Melissa's darling baby girl.  She'd just woken up from a nice snooze on daddy's lap.

I didn't take a ton of photos because that was being taken care of by several other people but this is before the reception started and Heidi was just arriving.  She looked so gorgeous!!

And the boys loved their self-serve ice cream and brownie dinner!

McClane had the most fun climbing up in the window.

He's too cute!!

On the move.

And what's more fun then piling up in all the table clothes!?

Aunt Camille with cute baby Ava.

   Well that about wraps up our week.  I won't go into detail about all the wet, cold weather we're having and how much I HATE it.  If all goes well we'll be back in the 70's next week and back in denial that fall is here.
Happy week to you all!