::bryan wrap-up::

A couple of things I didn't get to post.
10,000 little boys:

(There are six boys in this picture--you can hardly notice Clayton on the far right for some reason, and Quin is hiding in his car seat. But they're there for sure!)
This was the morning they left. Max didn't want them to go. He was pretty bummed for the rest of the day.

Best park ever:

(I stole this picture from Kari.)
Can you believe the size of this slide? Our friends in the ward told us there was a two-storey slide park in town that their kids would beg to go to--we thought they were exaggerating. But no. It's HUGE.
The boys loved it. Too bad it was super windy (springs tend to be out here.) It was so windy that the babies couldn't catch their breath. So we'll have to hit the park again next visit. Twenty minutes probably wasn't satisfying enough for the dudes.

To wrap it up, we had a great time. We're so glad that Kari & her family came even though they all ended up sick with pink eye and colds a couple of days after they got home--they were forewarned though, so it was a known risk. Thanks for driving all the way out and risking the dreaded pink eye guys! Come back soon!

::house::

While at Sam's the other day we spotted the playhouse kit I'd had my eye on for while. Max and I saw it in April, but when I went back with the intent of getting the thing, they had been cleaned out. And I hadn't seen them in again. Until Saturday when we were getting all the food and snacks for Kari & Aaron's visit.

So we got the dang thing. And when we got home Kris got right to work putting it together. Bryans were due at around 3 and Kris got to work around 1. He figured he could get the things done and the kids could be happily playing by evening.

Hah. It took him ages just to get all the pieces untangled, then making sense of the instructions (which never really happened) took another forever. I think he had a couple of the bay windows put together when they arrived. He did a little more that night, but it still didn't get far.

But the kids were anxious. So he and Kari spent a bunch of time sunday afternoon working on it while the kids noodled around in the backyard and the babies napped.
Unfortunately they ran into a few snags, such as one of the roof panels being blown over by the wind and breaking into a bunch of different pieces, argh. But Kari is serious about building stuff and she didn't let Kris slack on it.


Closer, but still not done.

Then, memorial day, after we went out to lunch and had some fun, Kris manned up and finished the rest of the thing up. What a great dad, because it was a pain.

Happiness and joy ensued. Parker hollered, "This is SO AWESOME!!" and the house was chock full of kids from there on. Also, it has a working doorbell and the thing is LOUD. That thing didn't stop ringing all afternoon.



The big boys went and got Max's play food and made the house into a drive through restaurant. Such smarties.

Fun stuff!

::bryans::

Kris's sister Kari's family is here visiting with us over the holiday weekend. We're having a lot of fun with them, but the kids are the ones really having a blast--between the screams and accidents and falls and crashes that is.

It's so fun when cousins can spend time together and have fun.
Today we went to church together and then the kids spent a bunch of time outside. When they were all worn out we watched a movie. The new living room is perfect for that sort of thing.


After that we had a fire and smores with the bigger boys. Now they're all in bed, at least for now.
Looking forward to some more fun tomorrow!

::while in UT::

When we were in UT for the funeral and the week after I hardly took a single picture. I was just too busy trying to survive--I got a bad cold and the baby woke up about 10 times per night every night we were there. But we had a really nice time, and it was so great to be there with everyone. I wouldn't have traded it for anything.
The last day we were there was conference sunday and it was a nice peaceful day. I pulled out my camera at the very end of the day and snapped a few shots of cousins and grandmas and aunts and uncles.

Max and cousin KC having some fun together.


New cousin Quinn.

It took a little coaxing to get a smile out of Parker.

Cousin Clayton.



We're just all so lucky to have each other.
And if you want to see pictures of MY side of the family go here. It was really nice to get to spend some time with them too, and also get to hug and chat with Laura, Murphy's fiance!!!!