More Joy pictures

 

 

 

 

We took a lot of pictures tonight and it's hard to pick only a few, but this is the last of them. We think the last picture is Joy saying "Hey, somebody ate all my cake!"

More Joy Birthday pictures

 

 

 

 

Here's some pictures of Joy eating her cake.

Happy 1st Birthday Joy!

 

 

 

 

We had a very fun 1st Birthday Party for Joy tonight. We had quite a turnout with Nana, Papa, Uncle Scott, Auntie Lisa, Grandpa, Grandma, Great Uncle Don, Great Aunt Chris, Aunt Chrissy, and Uncle Jon. It's so nice to have a house that can fit so many people and so nice to be so close to so much family! Joy seemed a bit overwhelmed by all the people but curious and happy. She got into the new presents more than I thought she would and she loved her cake. I am so glad that she is part of our family. She reminds me every day that miracles are possible and that Heavenly Father loves us and blesses us so much. I tell her often that I love her too much, because my heart is just overflowing at times. Have a great week!
Love,
Aubrey

Matching girls and Joy walking

 

 

 

Today was an unusually warm day in Boise so I couldn't resist dressing up the girls in their matching summer outfits one last time. I know they're a little old to all match, and they're not twins, but I can't help it. I always wanted a little girl, I would have been happy with one, but I was so lucky to get three! I'll stop matching them at some point, probably, maybe. And our precocious Joy is walking already, it's usually just a few steps at a time, but sometimes she'll go a little farther. She's so much fun!

Everything else is going well here. The weather has been gorgeous here, I never realized how beautiful Boise is. Sometimes you have to leave a place to really appreciate it. Grace is liking preschool and BethAnne is tolerating 2nd grade. Her favorite part is lunch. BethAnne's been trying to think of ways to make money lately. She's been begging us to let her have a lemonade stand or sell cookies. Then yesterday she came up with a new idea after they had spent the day trying to catch bugs (they succeeded in catching a fly, which died a short time later). She wants to sell dead bugs to make money. She even made a sign that said "dead bugs, 25 cents". So if you're in the market for a dead bug, you know who to call.

Speaking of funny kids, Grace and BethAnne made themselves some snacks for a picnic today (without permission). BethAnne made sandwiches with bread and chocolate syrup and Grace made a cake with cookies and chocolate syrup and lots and lots of ranch dressing. Yum. So if you're in the market for new and interesting recipes, I guess you could call us too. Have a great week!

Love,
Aubrey

More September

Tyler lost 2 teeth in the last several weeks. But the funny part is that he actually lost both teeth before he could get them under his pillow for the tooth fairy. Who loses their lost teeth? Crazy kid!

Brian turned 9 on Saturday. I think I will go down in history for having some of the cheesiest cakes ever, but the kids like them anyway.

Brian got a Swiss Army pocketknife for his birthday (and a yo-yo, an mp3 speaker and a book about King Kong). He is excited to spend his $9 as well. I think Tyler is the only one who has cut himself with the knife so far. Big Brian gets the Best Dad of the Year award for showing him how to whittle a bar of soap. Cute boys!

September at the Llewellyn's

We finally finished the motorcycel puzzle! Sure it was missing a few pieces, and several others have been chewed on by various babies throughout the years, but it still looked pretty impressive. Thanks for your help!



Jon got more use out of my motorcycle in an afternoon than I have in 6 years. I really need to stop being such a ninny! But anyway, Jon did great and I think he had fun. I'm bummed we didn't get pictures of Aubrey's family while they were here. Trudging through the cornfield with grasshoppers flying in our hair would have been a good memory to capture, or our fun game of Phase 10. Thanks for coming to visit. We love you all!

I had to post this so Chrissy would believe it. Yep, you don't need help me clean it out now. (but now you can come and do something more fun!)

I could only fit half of the bus stop line in. We have around 40 kids from our neighborhood who all get on at the same spot. Very fun for them (and for the chatty moms too).

We also got to see Mom and Dad this month - it was so nice to have you here overnight. We love you!

Pretty Joy

 

 

 

 

It's been awhile since I posted pictures of Joy. She's growing so fast. She'll turn one next week and she's already walking a little bit. She's so busy all the time and she's such a joy to our family.

September

Jeff's brother Lester and family came to visit over Labor Day weekend. We had a great time with them.

Eva started 1st grade the day after Labor Day (isn't she so pretty?). She is in a Spanish partial-immersion program, which means half of her classes are conducted completely in Spanish. I was a little worried that she might get frustrated, but so far she loves it. Eva also started soccer again. Last Saturday was her first game, and she scored a goal!

Aiden started preschool yesterday. I forgot to take pictures, so instead I've included a cute picture from his birthday last month. He was feeling sick yesterday (I thought it was allergies so I brought him to school, but it turned out to be the flu - oops) but he said he had fun. One of Aiden's favorite activies lately is drawing people and making "maps" (dozens and dozens of maps). These are four examples of his latest artwork:

Yesterday was Xander's first birthday (my baby is growing up so fast!). As you can see, he loved the cake. After he ate the piece we gave him, he looked around for more, and when he couldn't find any, he stuck his face down and started licking the tray. He is such a sweet boy.

Grace Comedy

I've always thought that the usual alphabet song might not be the best way for kids to learn their abc's. Yesterday Grace sang a version I hadn't heard before that made me chuckle. She sang "A B C D E F G H I J K Lemonade O P..." She does love lemonade :)

Summer fun

We had a great time hanging out with Brian's brother's family. They live in North Carolina and we haven't seen them in years. I loved shopping with the girls.

Brian and Tyler's first day of school. I have good boys!

Puzzles have been the latest obsession around here. I'm not sure if we'll ever finish the 1000 piece one. Maybe Aubrey and Chrissy can help when they're in town this weekend so we'll have a place to eat dinner Sunday night!

Brian got his Wolf last week. What a big boy! Here he is after getting home from fishing with the scouts. He caught one for everyone. I'm just glad I didn't have to gut or cook them. Thanks hon!