Labor Day Extravaganza

Labor Day was a lot of fun this year. In the morning we went to a parade at a town near us, a few of our friends were going to be in it so we thought we would go. The girls had a great time!

They even got some pirate patches from our friends' float. Note that Sophie's is a little askew, I couldn't stop giggling when I looked at her. Our friends actually bought a pirate ship to promote their orthopedic surgery office. Now it will hang out in their backyard, how fun is that?

After the parade we went up Poudre Canyon to picnic rock, a beautiful place by the river where the kids can play and the adults can relax. The kids had fun playing in the water and sand and we had fun eating and laughing with our friends.

This is Ken at the parade, pics are a bit of our order.

Kennedy had her first soccer game over the weekend. Her team did great, they won by a goal. She played a team full of Kennedy's friends, it was hard for her but she was still aggressive and worked really hard.

Updates on the girls: Kennedy has dropped one day of gymnastics because with full days of school and soccer it was too much. She was so tired and cranky that we pulled back a bit until after soccer. She now does gymnastics for 2 1/2 hours on Monday and has soccer Tuesday and Thursday with games on Saturday. She is having a hard time adjusting to the full day of school and always needs some "time to herself" when she gets home. She tells me "mom I have been around kids all day I need to be alone." We are happy to oblige because she is usually a bit of a grump until she eats and relaxes a bit. She's doing great with her homework and reading each day. After soccer she will start piano lessons on Saturday mornings and go back to two days a week of gymnastics. She is really into writing and drawing when she gets free time. She has some great friends that she plays with, we feel really lucky that we have ended up in an area where we are surrounded with such great people.

Sophie is talking so much and picking up more and more each day. I am amazed that at this time last year she was barely saying a thing. We owe a lot to her speech therapist for all her work and support she gave Sophie. Soph started preschool last week and went right in as if she owned the place. The teachers said that whenever they had play time Sophie was singing loud and clear. It makes me laugh because I can remember always singing as a little girl, drove my brothers nuts! She also started up her tap and ballet class again and seems to really love it! Her teacher even told me she was a really good listener, I about fell off my chair. We recently had her tested for allergies because she throws up so frequently. She doesn't have any food allergies but could still be sensitive to dairy. So we are now onto the next step of figuring out why she barfs so much. We are going to have her hernia operated on and have an upper GI scan to see if she has reflux etc. She is a sassy and sweet little kid. She randomly tells us she loves us all the time. And she kisses Kennedy A LOT. She has picked up on a lot of funny things lately and one of my favorites is that when Kennedy does something weird or throws a fit she points her thumb at her while moving her fist back and forth and says "that girl." She is still obsessed with chocolate soy milk, spaghettios and chicken nuggets and she loves to play princesses. She is really good at entertaining herself which has been really great.

This last picture is of Kennedy and her friends Macey and Elle at picnic rock. Not sure how I got the pictures so out of order.

I am currently 16 weeks pregnant and feeling amazing! At first I took a ton of pregnancy tests because I didn't feel pregnant at all. I have been tired but other than that I feel incredible. We weren't able to see what the baby was at my appointment so we are hoping at my next appointment that we will be able to see what we are having. I would really love a boy but I fear it may be another girl. As long as I have a boy within the 4 kids we would like to have I will be happy. As far as names go we have thrown around a lot of ideas. We love the name Finn for a boy, we also like Cameron and Carter. As far as girls go we love Molly, Cameron and Claire.
I am due February 16th.
As far as our house hunt goes we are still looking at homes that are already built and we are looking at property to build a home on. We would love to have at least an acre of land but that is hard to come by unless we want to live in the boonies. We have found a bit of land near us in a beautiful neighborhood but it's not in our ward and we REALLY love our ward. I know it sounds silly but when you don't live near your family it's important to have a ward you love because they become your family. I am really hoping we end up building because it is hard to find a house that is my style.
Mike is working a lot. He picked up a job 6 hours south of us in Pagosa Springs, he might as well have found a job in Utah. It is just temporary and he is helping out our friends' anesthesia practice. It's hard to turn down the money on these side jobs and we feel very fortunate in this economy to be keeping so busy. We have made a huge dent in our school loans, which is really exciting. We are so thankful for Mike and how hard he works. Currently he does side stuff for Dentists in Windsor and Denver, the job in Pagosa Springs and is sometimes asked to go to towns about an hour from us; Sterling and Brush. He also has his full time gig here in Greeley at the hospital. We are going with him the next time he goes to Pagosa. He stays on a farm so the girls will be able to "help" with the animals and ride the horses.
Mike and I are primary teachers in our ward, we team teach the 11 year olds. I really like the calling. I also help out a lot in Kennedy and Sophie's classrooms at school and keep busy here at home trying to keep things clean and our schedules running smoothly. I am really looking forward to having a home and decorating. We recently got Kennedy new bedroom furniture and bedding. It was fun to shop with her for everything. It turned out really cute, I will have to post pictures later.