Kaeleb Turns Six

We had a wonderful week. The pictures loaded randomly and I am too lazy to move them around, so here is our week in a random fashion...

Actually, this is a few weeks old, but this is Kwint's new Dodge Nitro. We love it! It drives like a car but will be sturdy in the snow, which is why we bought it. Now we are a double Dodge family.

Friday night Kwint took me to see Jack Johnson. He has been our favorite artist for years. He chills us out and helps us relax. Brenny spent all his colicky nights listening to us sing along to Jack as he cried. It is the only thing that sorta calmed him down.

This is us, sitting on our blanket waiting for the show to start. He really puts on a good show. Jack is so laid back and makes it look so easy to be ultra mega talented. We both agreed that in ten years, it was the best date we have ever been on. The kids were even great with the babysitter!

NOW, for the BIG story of the week.... KAELEB'S BIRTHDAY!!
Like I said, these are in a random order, but we had such a fun party. We opted to keep it small, since we had not had a party at our house and weren't sure we could house many people, but boy, did we have fun!! Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Marie came to support his big day, as did Kris and Barbi and Dan and Dee with all the kids. We had 9 kids in total, which is perfect for a party.
Our first pic was one of the last I took, and I just couldn't not include it in this post. Tate, my buddy in the affinity for chocolate... Look at that face!

Kaeleb's party theme was the movie, "How To Train Your Dragon". We all loved it, it is a super cute show. So, I made the cake and put Kwint in charge of the games. So, of course, he went to the cabin and brought back LARP props. They played dragon freeze tag, a Vikings vs. Dragons bean bag toss, and Viking, viking, dragon (variation on duck, duck, goose). They had the best time and Kaeleb was so excited that Kwint did so much for him.




Here is our little viking in one of his new presents. He has wanted this little get up since the movie came out. He has been wearing it every day. :)

ANd, now for the cake. I love how it turned out. I am a simple girl, so it had to be easy, but all the kids loved it. I used my round Pyrex containers. I usually have leftovers in them, but they are oven safe and perfectly tiered, so I turned the little cakes upside down and hollowed the top one out to make it a crater.

Lastly, we have a shot of Kaeleb opening his gifts. I always love how all the kids gather around and get so excited.

Kaeleb was very happy and grateful for how his day turned out. We love him more and more. He is so imaginative and fun to have as a son. He is smart, sensitive and silly. He has always been our little intellectual, asking questions, taking things literally and understanding life in a way beyond his years.

Kaeleb and I have started reading Harry Potter together. It takes a half hour or more to get through a chapter because he asks so many questions! He loves it though, and it is fun for me to have this new way to connect with him. I have realized that he is growing up and doesn't "need" Mommy in all the ways that he used to, but we do still need each other and this feels like a good way to show it. Oh, how we love our boy!

Kwint took the boys for a hike one evening while I studied, and came back with these cuties:




I love life lessons. We have really felt uplifted by the Lord this week and are learning to relax and trust Him. Well, ok, Kwint relaxed and I relaxed as much as I am capable of. Ha ha! Kwint has been a busy bee managing his current caseload and marketing. He is working hard and I am really proud of him. The week turned out to be pretty good. We are thankful that the Lord hears our prayers!

We really do love Heber. The valley is beautiful and the summer weather has been fun. Almost every day this week it has either started out sunny and ended with a thunderstorm, or started with a storm and ended with sunshine. Kris said this happens a lot in August. I love summer rain!

Reality Checks

There are some weeks that I re-read my blog and think life couldn't get much better. And then there are weeks that feel like a slap in the face. This week was one of those.

BUT, we are learning!! We lost a major referral source and spent the week marketing and brainstorming how we can drum up enough business to make up for what we lost. There is so much potential in Kwint's career and we have a lot that we can do, it will just take some extra work and time. We are willing to work, and in the meantime we will keep learning.

I also suddenly got very homesick for my friends in St. George. I read all of your blogs and got so sad!! I was ready to hop in the car and drive down. I couldn't come on moving day like I wanted to, and I think it will be September before we can make it down and it is really pulling on my heartstrings.

We didn't take any pictures this week, but even during our challenging week we were able to spend the weekend with cousins and wonderful friends. It feels good to love and be loved, and no matter what, we know that we are richly blessed in everything that matters.

The big news from our house this week is that Brennan has officially decided (by way of persuasion) that he is a big boy and will never wear another diaper. WOO HOO!! Brennan has been very anti-potty. We have tried for 6 months to talk him into it and he just kept saying "No!" No matter how I tried to bribe him, nothing would convince him. On Friday I was making the grocery list and said "I am so sick of buying diapers. Don't think we could talk him into potty training?" So, Kwint said, "Hey Brennan, we ran out of diapers so you'll have to wear underwear now." For some crazy reason, that is what finally worked.

Friday we went through 5 pairs of undies, yesterday 3, and today only one so far. He woke up dry both mornings. I am truly pleased. I can no longer stand the smell of the garbage can.