4th of July

We met up with a bunch of family to have a picnic and wait for the BIG firework show.  The kids spent most of their time sliding down the grass hill on cardboard boxes.  Blair's white shorts definitely aren't the same as they used to be.  I really didn't think that one through.  Oh well she had a ton of fun with her cousins and that is all that matters.

Ella, Dyer, Bekah, Easton, Braeden, and Blair

Blair

Easton and Blair waiting their turn to go down the hill.

Blair getting ready to go down with Austin.

Video of Blair and Austin going down the hill:

Easton going down with Austin.

Video of Easton and Austin going down the hill:

Blair and Bekah

Video of Blair and Bekah:

Haha!  They crack me up!

  

Blair with Aunt Jessica.

Two videos of Dyer dancing:

I couldn't decide on which one I liked best so I included both.

Easton cuddling with Grandma Gretch.

Easton laying down trying to sleep.  He was so tired and I don't blame him since he was up the night before throwing up with his baby brother.  Dyer got the worst of it but luckily it only lasted a couple hours.

Dyer and Torie

Dyer and Grandma Gretch

Fireworks!!!

Video of about 10 seconds of the show we watched:

The whole show was like this but it lasted just over 30 minutes.

Easton fell asleep during the show.  Apparently he doesn't care must for the Idaho Falls fireworks since he is 2/2 for falling asleep during them (granted the last time we were there he was just over a month old!)

Cousin Time!

Braeden and Ella came over for a couple days to hang out.  We went to the park twice and played in the pool and slip n slide in the backyard.  All the kids get along really well which is nice but sometimes when all the kids get together it can get a little too noisy at times.

I thought this picture was funny.  Ella was trying to pick Braeden up so he could swing.  Braeden and Ella are two years apart but they are basically the same height and I'm almost sure that Ella weighs more than Braeden even though Brae is older.  I wouldn't be surprised if this was Easton and Blair in the next year or two.  A lot of people already think they are twins and I think it is because they are about the same size.  

Blair playing at the park.

Easton

Dyer

Ella and Braeden showing me the worm they dug up.

Easton picking up a worm

Cute Blair

All the cousins!

Too bad they all couldn't smile and look at the camera at the same time!

Back at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Braeden and Easton hanging out in one pool...

...and Dyer, Ella, and Blair hanging out in the other.

There was a slip n slide as well but I apparently didn't take any pictures of the kids on that.

Grandma Gretch came up for a couple days as well and the kids had a blast with her.

Blair all ready for her Princess Picnic at the park with Grandma Gretch.

Princess Ella

Braeden didn't want to wear a crown but still went to the princess picnic.

Easton left the house before I had a chance to take a picture but as soon as Dyer got up from his nap we met the kids and Grandma Gretch at the park.  I snapped a quick picture of Easton before it was time to go.

G&G Stockton's 50th Wedding Anniversary!

We drove out to Idaho for Nathan's grandparent's 50th wedding anniversary.  Because it was still June Nathan couldn't get any time off so we had to wait until he got off work Friday night before we could take off.  We had to make a little detour to drop Nathan's car off at the airport so that he had a car to drive home when he flew home that Sunday.  It was a really quick trip for Nathan.  We decided to drive out there since I wanted to stay about a week longer and thought it would be nice to have a car while there.  It was really rough driving all through the night to get there.  We were all exhausted by the time we got there because no one slept very well.  If we ever have to do another quick trip and it would involve driving through the night I'm pretty sure that we will be flying and if needed we will be renting a car.  I don't think we could do that again.  Plus both Blair and Dyer threw up so that was really disgusting!  We definitely had a good time once we got there but it was pretty miserable getting there.   

Watching the sun rise as we are driving to Idaho Falls.

We left California a couple hours before the sun went down and we didn't get to Idaho Falls until the sun was already up and shining for the day!

Grandpa Stockton singing to his bride of 50 years!  It was so sweet!

Video of Grandpa singing to Grandma:

I only got the very end but it was still so cute and sweet!

Happy 50th wedding anniversary Grandpa and Grandma!  We sure love you and admire you!  Thanks for your example!  

I had to include this random video of Blair.  She's too funny!  I think she thought the fan was a microphone!

Video of Blair singing:

If you can't tell she is singing three different songs into one!  (Born in the USA, Somebody That I Used to Know, and What Makes You Beautiful)

Swimming Lessons

Easton and Blair were once again in the same class for swim lessons.  Neither one of them passed which I guess is not uncommon for this class.  I was told that most kids don't pass the first time around and a lot don't pass the second time either.  I thought Easton did really well.  He just needs to get over putting his head in the water when he is floating on his back.  I guess he doesn't like getting water in his ears when he does it. I knew by the second day that Blair wasn't going to pass the class because for some reason she was acting like she was terrified of swimming and didn't want to participate.  She was totally a different person three weeks earlier when she would jump right in and do everything her instructor asked her to do.  I'm not sure what happened!?!  I don't think it helped that the very first thing her teacher did when they got into the water on their first day was dunk them in the water.  Blair will put her face in the water but it has to be her idea and on her time.  I think it freaked her out that everyone was getting dunked so she opted to stay away from her teacher just in case her teacher had the crazy idea of dunking her.

Video of Easton getting dunked:

Easton volunteered to be the first one.  I was so proud of him!  Too bad Blair didn't go first because it all went down hill from here.  If you watch the movie again you should look at Blair (yellow swim suit).  You can kind of see that she is really not sure about this dunking thing.  I'm sure it also didn't help that it was freezing the first day.  The Saturday before swim lessons (2 days earlier) the temp was 109 degrees.  On Monday the temp dropped to 64 degrees and it was really windy.  

Video of Easton swimming with kick board:

Easton

Video of Blair swimming with kick board:

I was actually really surprised that she finally got in and swam because she was being as stubborn as ever.

Blair

Blair smiling!

I asked Blair to get dressed for swim one day and this is how she came down the stairs!

Video of Easton swimming:

WEEK TWO:

They actually moved the kids to the bigger pool because the heater went out where they normally do their swim lessons.

Video of Easton swimming with the kick board on his back:

Video of Blair swimming with the kick board on her back:

This is a video of what it generally looked like when Blair got into the water.  Usually it was her instructor grabbing Blair and bringing her into the water:

The only thing missing was Blair begging to go back the second her instructor grabbed her.

Video of Easton swimming underwater:

I was so proud of Easton.  He was so brave to do it!

Easton

Blair of course clenching onto her teacher for dear life.

Video of Dyer:

He was so proud of himself that he could get over that bar.  He now climbs in and out of the bathtub!

Even though Blair acted like she was afraid of the water I was proud of her that she got in the water by herself everyday.  On the last day she finally seemed back to her normal self.  She was blowing bubbles in the water and even putting her face in the water.  Her teacher was definitely shocked.

Some of Dyer's first steps and Father's Day!

Dyer took some of his first steps over a month ago but he still isn't walking much.  He has taken as much as 15 steps at one time but he still prefers crawling over walking and actually probably prefers being held to crawling.  Yes, he is a bit spoiled.  

Video of Dyer taking some of his first steps:

Nathan had (I think) a pretty relaxing Father's Day.  We got in really late the night before because we went and saw Wicked, but somehow I still managed to get up early and make him breakfast in bed before we had to get ready for church.  I saw this really fun idea of making bacon roses so I thought I would give it a try.  

Up close picture of the bacon roses.

I got a nice laugh from Nathan so my mission was accomplished!

We love you Handsome!  Hopefully you had a great day!  Thanks for being such an amazing father and husband!

Father/Son Camp Out and Mother/Daughter (and Dyer) Hang Out

Our ward every year has a father/son camp out.  While the boys were having fun setting up camp...

Dad and Easton camping (from Nate's phone) 6/16/2012

... us girls had fun at Chuck E Cheese.  

Blair having fun at Chuck E. Cheese

Proof that Dyer was sleeping!!!

While the boys had fun roasting hot dogs and marshmallows for smores...us girls had fun eating at McDonald's.  While the boys (mainly Easton) had fun playing sword fights with friends and getting dirty...

Easton with his friend Andrew

Easton

...us girls had fun painting our nails and getting facials while watching a movie. 

While the boys slept in a tent in really HOT weather... us girls enjoyed a very comfortable bed in an air conditioned house.  Although the boys didn't sleep as well as the girls, I'm pretty sure everyone in the end had a great time!  I know I had a blast hanging out with (mainly) just Blair.  Dyer was with us too but he was sleeping most of the time (with the exception of dinner) so most of the time it was just the two of us.

Overdue Pictures

Many times when pictures are taken on Nathan's phone I tend to forget about those pictures and they don't end up on the blog at all or not for a long time after.  A few days ago I decided to cut Dyer's hair (1st hair cut) but because my camera wasn't charged I used Nathan's phone instead.  When I was sending those pictures to my email I came across some pictures that Nathan took a while ago and I decided I would add those to the blog.

Blair's first time flying with Daddy!  She was so excited for this day! 4/28/2012

Blair next to the plane they rode in.

Blair ready to take off!

Back in May (5/25/2012) Nathan attempted to climb Mt. Shasta with a friend.  The weather didn't cooperate so they weren't able to summit.  Nathan was a little bummed but they are going to attempt Mt. Whitney later this year.

Isn't it beautiful?  I'm glad that I can see pictures of it and not have to participate.  Camping out in the snow and hiking in snow for two days really doesn't excite me much.  Can you tell that I'm not a big fan of snow?  I like camping and hiking every once in a while but when it comes to being cold, I'm not a fan.  I'm glad that Nathan has friends that enjoy doing this with him so that I don't have to!  Thanks Dan!

I've got other pictures from Nathan's phone but they will be in some future posts.