Where there is Renee, there is a party. This is Paul's sister Renee. Here she is with her AMAZING cinnamon rolls. So much for me trying to lose that last bit of baby weight. Not with Renee cooking up a storm for us. She and her family were wonderful hosts as we visited them in Florida.
This family has such a different life than we do. Our kids are so envious. They live in the middle of the Deseret Cattle Ranch. They are surrounded by gorgeous trees, wide open and I mean wide open spaces, and endless wildlife. A kids paradise REALLY!
And here are the cows!
These short little knobby things coming up from the ground are called tree knees. They are actually the roots coming up out of the ground. It looked like a scene out of a movie. So moody and interesting.
Anne at the shell pit. On the ranch they mine shells, most of the roads in Florida are made from shells. Who knew? Not me.
So I am still learning how to post to this blog. I am so sorry that these pictures are in a crazy order. I am too tired to start over so I am just going to continue with the way they are coming up. Here is Grace at the Epcot center making a mask.
France at the Epcot center. This is as close to Europe that I am going to get for awhile.
This is where you could find Anne for four days. They had a big tower to climb up and jump off of. The trees were amazing.
Grandpa, Uncle Erik, and Paul on the airboat.
Grace loved riding the horse.
We had a great day at Cocoa Beach. We went to Ron Jon's Surf Shop.
We spent three days at Disney. We did Disneyworld, Animal kingdom, and Epcot. Really crowded, really hot, and very tiring with two kids in diapers, and a big stroller. After three days we asked the kids if they wanted to go back to one of the parks or go back to the Ranch and they all yelled "THE RANCH!" We are glad we went but we are little disneyed out. We hardly took any pictures, our hands were always busy with little kids and we were so tired.
I feel like four kids is a lot for me to handle. I am still getting used to it but living in Gilbert you see families with four and more kids all of the time. So really I don't feel like four is a crazy number. When we were in the airport traveling with our kids we could feel the people staring at us and commenting as we went through security. It actually was quite a sight to see us break down the double stroller, load the bags and backpacks on to the kids, take off everyones shoes and chase Grace who had crawled under the security tables behind the little gate while holding a baby. It was a relief to get through that each time. That was the trickiest part of the whole trip. We felt like a crazy out of control group which we were. After we got to the gate we joined our friends who have six boys and are expecting their seventh baby, then people didn't stare at us so much. At one point Paul and the other Mom were standing in line with all ten kids without the other spouses and they got some serious looks and comments. You could see the people trying to count the kids. Any way the kids did GREAT on the flight.
The three statements heard over and over again from Grace. "Where are my sungwasses?"
"I can't know! " and " Are we going to Disneywand?" Grace kind of has a low voice and she makes us laugh non stop.
The definite highlight of the trip was the airboat boat ride. Uncle Erick is the general manager of Deseret Cattle Ranch in Florida owned by the LDS church. The ranch is about 350,000 acres. It is unreal! Cattle, citrus, alligators, snakes, frogs, wild turkeys ...... there was no end to the wild life.
This alligator was just laying on the side of the river. We turned around and watched him for awhile. It was so cool to be so close.
Anne had so much fun with all of the cousins. She and Lizzie collected frogs, drove the go cart, rode horses, played in the trees for hours and painted shells.
We had a wonderful with family that we don't see very often. We sure wish we lived closer the the Brenchley cousins. We enjoyed every moment that we got to spend together.
Painting with my big sis while only wearing a diaper...... what more could I ask for? Grace has really become one artsy kid lately. She asks at least once a day "Can I paint?" So we have the routine down. Strip clothes, get out paint, clean up kid and kitchen later. I may not have a house of order but who cares. This is what I call a great day. I have lots of time to figure out the clean house when my kids get older right?
Gracie Girl.
Brooke 8 months.
Every morning Grace wakes up and asks in a very sad voice "Did Daddy go to work?" After I tell her yes she starts to cry and say "I want Daddy!" She knows he goes to work before we all wake up but I guess she just hopes that every day might be Saturday or something. So I finally decided that maybe it would help her to see where he worked. So we drove the 45 minutes to go have a 15 minute lunch date with Daddy. As you can see the girls were thrilled to see Daddy at lunch time. 
Daddy even gave them a tour of the office. Grace loved getting stickers and a pencil but did not like getting in the exam chair... smart girl.
Sam and Griffin after getting their haircut together. What a fun play date! I just had to throw this cute picture in too.
Thank you Daddy for letting us have a fire in the backyard when it is never convenient and the kids will not get to bed on time. They loved it and somtimes making fun memories isn't convenient
What cute Girl Scouts. Anne and Audrey did a great job collecting blankets for the County Hospital. Thank you friends and family who helped them help others.
Where there is Renee, there is a party. This is Paul's sister Renee. Here she is with her AMAZING cinnamon rolls. So much for me trying to lose that last bit of baby weight. Not with Renee cooking up a storm for us. She and her family were wonderful hosts as we visited them in Florida.
This family has such a different life than we do. Our kids are so envious. They live in the middle of the Deseret Cattle Ranch. They are surrounded by gorgeous trees, wide open and I mean wide open spaces, and endless wildlife. A kids paradise REALLY! 
And here are the cows!
These short little knobby things coming up from the ground are called tree knees. They are actually the roots coming up out of the ground. It looked like a scene out of a movie. So moody and interesting.
Anne at the shell pit. On the ranch they mine shells, most of the roads in Florida are made from shells. Who knew? Not me.
So I am still learning how to post to this blog. I am so sorry that these pictures are in a crazy order. I am too tired to start over so I am just going to continue with the way they are coming up. Here is Grace at the Epcot center making a mask.
France at the Epcot center. This is as close to Europe that I am going to get for awhile.
This is where you could find Anne for four days. They had a big tower to climb up and jump off of. The trees were amazing.
Grandpa, Uncle Erik, and Paul on the airboat.
Grace loved riding the horse.
We had a great day at Cocoa Beach. We went to Ron Jon's Surf Shop.
We spent three days at Disney. We did Disneyworld, Animal kingdom, and Epcot. Really crowded, really hot, and very tiring with two kids in diapers, and a big stroller. After three days we asked the kids if they wanted to go back to one of the parks or go back to the Ranch and they all yelled "THE RANCH!" We are glad we went but we are little disneyed out. We hardly took any pictures, our hands were always busy with little kids and we were so tired.
I feel like four kids is a lot for me to handle. I am still getting used to it but living in Gilbert you see families with four and more kids all of the time. So really I don't feel like four is a crazy number. When we were in the airport traveling with our kids we could feel the people staring at us and commenting as we went through security. It actually was quite a sight to see us break down the double stroller, load the bags and backpacks on to the kids, take off everyones shoes and chase Grace who had crawled under the security tables behind the little gate while holding a baby. It was a relief to get through that each time. That was the trickiest part of the whole trip. We felt like a crazy out of control group which we were. After we got to the gate we joined our friends who have six boys and are expecting their seventh baby, then people didn't stare at us so much. At one point Paul and the other Mom were standing in line with all ten kids without the other spouses and they got some serious looks and comments. You could see the people trying to count the kids. Any way the kids did GREAT on the flight.
The three statements heard over and over again from Grace. "Where are my sungwasses?"
The definite highlight of the trip was the airboat boat ride. Uncle Erick is the general manager of Deseret Cattle Ranch in Florida owned by the LDS church. The ranch is about 350,000 acres. It is unreal! Cattle, citrus, alligators, snakes, frogs, wild turkeys ...... there was no end to the wild life.
This alligator was just laying on the side of the river. We turned around and watched him for awhile. It was so cool to be so close.
Babies in the tub are so fun. Brooke loves her tub time. We get to see her so happy when she is taking a tub so we thought we should snap a few shots.
It was an exciting day for Sam. We just finished reading Ready Freddy "Tooth Trouble" about a boy who was the only kid in his class that hadn't lost his tooth. Sam was feeling bad that he hadn't lost a tooth yet either and the same week it happened. Anne and Sam like to leave letters for the tooth fairy and ask him/her lots of questions. The tooth fairy always leaves them a tiny, tiny note answering back.
Anne is now in 4th grade and Sam is in 1st. They started school on July 23rd. It was a hot and sweaty morning. Everyone was very excited to see each other after the summer break. The kids are doing great and have adjusted well to their new classes.
Sam waiting for the whistle to start the race. Sam and his cousins are doing swim team for the first time this summer. They are learning a lot. It has been a fun challenge.
Sam is my little lover boy and I love every bit of it. He made me a crown and told me that whenever he sees flowers it reminds him of me. Sam sang some great songs for me and got to introduce me to his class. Before we went up together he whispered into my ear "Mom you should dance around up there and make everyone laugh, that will be so cool!" I hope he wasn't too disappointed when I just stood next to him and hugged him. It was fun to be with him enjoy the afternoon together.
Sam really got the hang of soccer this season. He and his friend Blake dominated the team scoring most of the goals every game. I love to see sweaty little kids at the end of a soccer game.
