Where'd the time go?

I can't believe it's been three weeks since I posted anything. I started this with the intent of updating once a week or so but obviously it hasn't worked out that way. We've been busy with JD's second birthday (I can't believe my baby is 2!) We are working on remodeling the bathroom, and other various family activities. So, without further ado, here are some more of the pics from Utah. I'll post pics from JD's birthday and the home improvements later.

JD thought he was really funny when he stole a spray bottle and started trying to get everyone with the water. I think the look on his face was really funny. Plus the fact that he didn't want to take the monkey backpack off.
JD just loved Ben and Owen. I thought he might be jealous when I held them. He was, but only because HE wanted to be the one holding them. They were HIS babies.
When we went to Lagoon, Becca fell asleep on Aunt Debbie's lap. She's so nice and peaceful when she's sleeping. I went visiting teaching on Sunday and the sister I was visiting said "I just love Becca, she's like opening up a bottle of soda pop. She just bubbles over." Living with Becca and having to deal with the frustration of teaching her how to behave makes it really easy to forget what a bright and special personality she has. I'm so glad that she brings other people joy. Even her Kindergarten teacher has started to like her, and they had a really bad first week.
This picture is of Sariah at the George C Eccles Dinosaur Museum. She likes to pull funny faces when I get the camera out. Sometimes it's really funny because she's being herself and letting her personality shine. It makes for some cute pictures. Other times it's annoying because she tends to like to pester her brother and sister when I'm trying to get a cute picture.

I never thought I would see the day when I would miss having Michelle around, considering how we got along as kids. Now we're both moms and we get along great, even though we are still very different people. My mom told me it would be that way. Turns out, she knew what she was talking about.

Wheeler Farm

As a kid I was always fascinated with Wheeler Farm. It's right by my Grandma's house. We didn't go very often, I think my mom thought it was boring. When we went to Utah, I was trying to find cheap things to do. It doesn't get much cheaper than Wheeler Farm. We took the kids on the wagon ride, fed the ducks, milked a cow. I would have liked to wander around more and show them the animals and stuff but it's a lot more crowded than I remember. We still had fun though I think. I know the girls enjoyed feeding the ducks and JD got a kick out of milking the cow.

Pics from Utah/Heritage Park

These are of the kids at Heritage Park. There's one of the family in the previous post.

Utah Trip

So the question is, after having a really nice vacation and taking over 300 pictures, how do you decide which ones to post to a blog? The answer is: I have no idea. I finally got around to getting the pictures off of mine and Jeremy's cameras. There were a lot of really good ones. We had a nice time. We went to Wheeler Farm, Heritage Park, the George C Eccles Dinosaur Park in Ogden, saw my new nephews who are way too cute and had a lot of fun in general. This picture here was taken at Heritage Park. I wanted a nice picture of the family. Let me tell you, it was not easy. While there, the girls participated in a three legged race, we went on a covered wagon ride, and they had fun seeing the Pioneer Village. We also visited This is the Place Monument, which Jeremy had never seen before. Unfortunately we picked a hot week to go there so we didn't spend as much time there as we could have. Maybe next time. Over the next little while I'll include more pictures from the things we did.

Update

My sister called this morning to tell me that amazingly enough, my cousin's baby didn't die, he made it through the night. My mother was getting information second-hand and due to what was going on medically they (my grandmother, aunts and parents) assumed he had died. So first of all I'm happy beyond what I can describe and grateful for the medical advances that we have available to us today. The baby's name is Michael Jeffrey. He's got a long road ahead of him but he's a fighter. He's got a problem with his heart and with one of his lungs that they are trying to treat. The doctors say they should know more as far as what kind of chances he has and what kind of quality of life he will have in a couple of weeks. My cousin was given a room in the children's hospital so she can be near him. I thank Heavenly Father for this miracle and ask everyone to keep Michael in their prayers.

Sad news

Earlier today, my cousin went in for an emergency c-section due to some complications she was having. My mom just called not too long ago and said the baby had died. My heart goes out to my cousin. I know she and her husband were really excited for their new son to come into their life. I saw her about a week ago. She seem happy and everything seemed fine so this was quite a shock to me. It really made me think. Although I have never been one of those women who have enjoyed being pregnant and my pregnancies have never been easy, I have been blessed to have 3 healthy children with no major problems. A few of my cousins close to my age have had to deal with miscarriages, deaths, or difficult disabilities with their children. I am the first person to admit my kids drive me nuts sometimes. Sometimes I wonder if I'm capable of raising them and I wonder if I am doing good enough. Or, if I will do such a terrible job that they'll spend years in therapy trying to recover from the job I've done. This has put things into perspective for me. I thank my Heavenly Father for my children, and for the blessing it is to raise them. I also thank my Heavenly Father for the knowledge that even if something terrible does happen and one of us leaves this earth sooner than we'd like, our family is eternal and I will see them again.

Making Photo Slideshows

I've spent the past several days trying to make a video with the pictures from Memorial Day. Picasa made the video for me, but did not give the option to add music. I would really like to be able to do that. I tried Pinnacle, but it's a very complicated program. Windows Movie Maker keeps shutting itself down. If anyone knows of easy to use software I would be grateful for suggestions.