Layton

My baby boy turned 4 yesterday!  It is so hard to believe.  He is growing up so fast.  He had a fun day playing with his sisters, opening presents, helping Mom make a basketball cake and finishing his baseball pinata.  Today he got to go fishing with Dad after work.  Grandpa Fennell got to spend the day with him too.  All in all he had a very happy birthday!

Baby...

Well, we found out (a couple weeks ago) that we are going to be having another baby GIRL!  We are all pretty excited about that.  The girls wanted to have a girl, Layton wanted a boy and was a bit on the disappointed side, but all is good and happy now in the Gillette house.  I have gotten right to work on getting ready for baby #4.

Catch-up... again

Here is a little catch-up for the last few months...

In February we decided that we would like to get some laying chickens.  There are a lot of people in this area that raise chickens and have fresh eggs everyday.  We have been able to get some from some good neighbors and they are HUGE eggs.  So we decided to try it for ourselves.  We bought 6 baby chicks, knowing that some would not survive the animals that like to come in our yard (among them is our dog).  One did not survive being in our house, sad.

This is the first day that we took them outside.  It was a nice evening and we wanted them to get used to the outside, and Howie (our dog) to get used to them and figure out that they were off limits.  Layton loves the chicks!

This is how big they are now.  They are about 4 months old.  They love being outside, and try to eat our garden.  So we are constantly chasing them out.  Howie has still not figured out that they are not his dinner, but he can't get to them.  There have been a few times when the chickens have wandered over to where he is and we have to run out and chase them away.  Soon we will be eating fresh eggs from our own chickens.

Austin, 2 of his brothers, a cousin, my brother, and 2 friends all played in a basketball tournament in American Falls.  They did very well.  They beat out the team that we all thought would win the tourney.  They played 3 games back to back to back.  All three went into over time, and all 3 were really good games.  They lost the championship game in over time.  They played very good for a bunch of old men.  :)

Sadly, it is no longer the year of the Bird.  Austin turned 34 this year.  He had a good 33 year though. (He is a huge Larry Bird fan #33)

Kennedy practicing her golfing out in the yard so she is ready to go when we hit the course.

Layton and his cousin Brooklyn.  She loved him and he loved her.  He is so cute with babies!

Tori and Kennedy have been playing softball this spring.  Tori is one of the pitchers on her team.  She is doing pretty good for a first time pitcher.  And she really enjoys it.  We are teaching Kennedy to pitch also so next year when she is in that league she can pitch.

Our good friends the Tarbets adopted a little baby girl, Keagan.  She was sealed to them this past week.  It was a really special day.

And last, but certainly not least... We are having a baby.  I am 16 weeks now.  Due November 21.  We are all really excited.  I am starting to feel so much better, thankfully.  This one was a pretty rough start, but things are shaping up now.  

Tori and her basketball

Tori has been so excited to play basketball since last years season ended.  She and Kennedy are on the same team this year.  Kristy Bradshaw is the coach again this year, and we are so happy.  She is a great coach.
Tori has improved so much since last year.  I am just so amazed at how much better she has gotten.  Her dribbling skills are much better and she has WAY miore confidence.  Tori and Camry are the team leaders, and are great with the younger girls on the team.  I am excited to see how much Tori will improve by the end of this year. 

Kennedy's 1st yr in BBall

Kennedy has been looking forward to playing basketball since Tori started last year.  Then when Tori brought home the flier for basketball signups 1st graders were not invited.  She was so disappointed.  I decided that since she is old for her grade I would call and see if we could ign her up anyway.  They agreed and Kennedy was exstactic!  Thankfully she and Tori were able to be on the same team. 
Kennedy is doing good for her first year.  She is still a little confused by the rules, and exactly what defence means, and how to get open.  But she is a quick learner and does well listening to her Dad and her coach. 
She is loving playing ball, and wears her jersey around all the time.  I think so she can tell people she plays basketball! 

Trains

 Layton is very much into trains right now.  He has a Lego train set, which he sets up every single day, and an electric train set.  The electric set takes up a lot of space and we have to be much more careful with it, so it is a treat.  Last week I decided that I would set up the electric set for him.  He was so excited!  I kept it on the kitchen table for him for a week.  Layton played with that thing all day long.  It was great.  I would say, "Hurry and eat your breakfast so you can play with your train."  He would be done 2 minutes later (which is AMAZING for him).  "Go and get dressed so you can play with your train" he would race to his room.  I love this train!!!  Layton loves it too, just for different reasons.  He would play with it for at least an hour at a time.  Making it go fast and so slow it hardly moves.  Each train car had a different purpose, and he would tell me all about them as he watched it go around and around.  We can't wait until we set it up again.

HALLOWEEN

We had a fun Halloween this year. I started out with a Witches party on Thursday night, then Friday night we carved our pumpkins. And Austin and I both agree that this years pumpkins beat all the other years, hands down. They were just great choices for the carvings. I did a scary face (that Layton will not look at when it is lit), Tori did a devilish flying cat/bat (we are not sure), Kennedy chose a witch stirring a brew, and Layton chose the Grim Reaper, but he thinks it is a dog!

on Saturday night our ward had our trunk or treat, which is a HUGE event here. Everyone in our Plano community shows up, brings all their extended family, and then we have a party. First the kids trick or treat, then we have a big dinner, then there is a little carnival for the kids. We invited John and his family. The kids had a lot of fun!

Tori's stitches

So a couple of months ago I noticed Tori had this little bump above her lip, almost like a pimple, but not exactly. I kept an eye on it and it just kept getting bigger. It seemed to have a clear liquid in it, but didn't hurt. After a month it was the size of a pencil eraser and Austin decided she needed to see a dermatologist. He was pretty sure it was a sist (I don't even know how to spell that!) and he didn't want to take one off of the face (would have been a heck of a lot cheaper!!)

The Dr. determined it was most likely a sist with a fancy name and we scheduled a day to have it removed. Tori was great with it until she realized she would have to have a shot to start the whole process.

Backtrack just a little.... Tori has had a few trips to the dentist this year to have teeth removed, and when I say teeth, I mean multiple teeth at a time, like 4-5. And each time it has started with one shot (which hurts like CRAZY!) and continued until she had 7 shots in her mouth ... EACH TIME. Needless to say, she is not fond of things starting with a shot.

Tori was so scared to get that shot, she did not care that he was going to be cutting her and stitching her. After the shot, which was a bit dramatic, she did great. She just listened to the Ipod and held mom's hand. She even wanted to go to school afterwards. That did not last too long because she started bleeding.

Austin decided that he would take her stitches out, so Wednesday night (6 days later) he took her stitches out. She was a bit nervous, but we held hands again and she did great. So did Austin. ;)

A couple of Moose made a visit...

Yesterday afternoon I look out the window to see where the tractor is so I can tell Layton (because this is very important to him), and what do you know, I see these two BIG bull moose watching the tractor too. They both have huge antlers and one is missing a side.

I have been so sad this year because we have not been seeing very many moose, yes, I still get excited seeing moose. I think I only saw 5 this whole summer/fall. So to have these two sitting just on the other side of our property, I was pretty excited. Think I took about 30 pictures, and all they did was sit there and stare. A bit overboard, I know!

A new addition to our family

He made his grand appearance last night...

No silly, not a Tractor. Why would you think that?!?

A NEW HOT TUB!!!

Christmas came early this year. And thank goodness! It is much easier to move this thing in before the snow starts a flyin'!! We are so excited! The kids could care less about the hot tub. They just thought it ROCKED that there was a TRACTOR in our yard. They stood on the deck forever just watching the backhoe.

We had a friend from our ward come and lower the hot tub into the "PIT" for us. That sure made the work easier for everyone.

Austin has literally wanted to get a hot tub for our "PIT" since we made an offer on this home. He has very patiently been watching craigslist and KLS to find just the perfect one. Who knew that we would find it just around the corner from us. Hopefully we will have nice hot water in the tub this weekend! I can't wait!!


He LOVED this tractor! I had to climb up and carry him out, or he would have stayed in that seat ALL day long!

Back in the blogging world...

I know! I know! It has been like 10 months! But I am back, at least for today. ;)
Life has been so busy, and sometimes I think that blogging needs to be at the bottom of my list, and so it is. Sorry.
Let me catch up for just a minute...

Tori. Tori is now in 3rd grade, and loves every minute of it. She loves reading and Math. We usually (everyday) have to tell her to put her book down and go and play. She bugged me all of 2nd grade to let her read Harry Potter. So this summer I said fine, but if it gets too scary you have to stop and wait a year or two. Well, four books later (in two months) I told her she needed to start reading other material. She gets to pick up book 5 in fourth grade. Tori looks very cute in her glasses, but has a hard time keeping them on her face. She loves to play sports, basketball and soccer, chase boys at recess, and has just started gymnastics. Tori wanted to start playing the piano, so I have been teaching her lessons. She is an easy student. She really wants to learn and practices a ton. Now if I could be consistant in her lessons. She is a great kid!!!

Kennedy. Kennedy is still my spunky, fun loving little girl, who is only one year from being BAPTISED!!!! Yikes! I am old! Kennedy is in 1st grade and informs me quite often that it is too easy for her and why can't they do harder math. She is also reading like crazy, but it is not a punishment to her when she can't read. Kennedy is very athletic and loves to play soccer. She uses her spunky-ness to her advantage in soccer. She is also in gymnastics and is very good. The very first day the instructor had the girls do a bridge. Kennedy was able to go right into one and hold the position for a very long time. She is very flexible. She is always practicing the things she learns at gymnastics. Kennedy has had a hard time with Tori growing up a bit. She just wants Tori to play with her constantly like she used to. Tori would prefer reading or playing the piano. So Kennedy has moved onto Layton. She is alwaysplaying cars and trucks, or animals with Layton. She also likes to annoy him a bit, and thinks it is funny, he does not, and neither does Mom. She is a great kid with a great personality.

Layton. Layton is just growing up so fast. He gets to hang out with me at home all day, just the two of us. I thought for sure he would have a hard time, but he seems to really enjoy the one on one time. We get along great. Layton loves to do anything that Dad is doing. Fishing, hunting, playing basketball, or playing with Howie. His true loves (lately) are tractors and big trucks, like dump trucks and potato trucks. He loved grain harvest because he got to watch a tractor at work right behind the house. It was good motivation to eat. :) Layton loves his Uncle David too. David lived in Rexburg while he was at school this last year and it was great! Layton would light up when Dave would come to visit, or hunt in our fields. Uncle David left on his mission a month ago and Layton really misses him. The other night while he was saying the prayer, Austin prompted him with, "Please bless Uncle David..." and Layton said, "Please bless Uncle David to shoot a dove." So cute. I had a hard time not laughing during the prayer. Yesterday Layton and I were running errands, and in the last store (of many) he needed to use the restroom. We hurried into the bathroom and Layton said, "Mom this bathroom stinks real good." And it did. He is a joy.

Austin. Austin is getting more busy at his clinic all the time. He is delivering about one baby a week, which is what he wants. He really enjoys where he works and the people he gets to serve. Plus, his clinic is like 2 blocks from the river, so he goes fishing almost everyday during his lunch. He has gotten to do lots of hunting and fishing very close to home, which is good for all of us. Austin still loves basketball and plays at least once a week, usually twice. He was called as the Elders Quorum President not too long ago and has spent a lot of time doing that. He loves the area that we live and hopes we never have to leave.

Rachel. Well I keep myself way too busy. I have been making quilts like mad craziness, for everyone it seems. And I have been filling more and more of my time with photography, which I am loving. And besides that I do the usual, running kids to activity days, gymnastics, library, cleaning the house, doing laundry, cleaning the house, you understand. I do what every mom has to do. But I do love naptime. That is MY time. I do not work. I spend that hour and a half doing something that I want, reading, sewing, or napping. It is wonderful.

Well, I hope that you are satisfied with my catch-up. I will try to do better, I swear!

THANKSGIVING in PAUL

We were so grateful that we were able to make it home for Thanksgiving. The weather was not exactly cooperating, but we still gave it a go. When we left Rexburg we were pretty sure that with the wind chill it was between -25 and -30. It was so cold that if you were out in an area that had no wind block it was so biting you could only stay there for about 15 seconds before running back to shelter.

SO COLD!!
We were able to spend Thanksgiving with Austin's family. His brother's and sister's family were not able to come because of the weather, so we had a nice quiet Thanksgiving.
Austin serenaded his mom and I while we were preparing dinner. Kennedy and Tori helped with the rolls. Kennedy loves to help bake anytime there is baking to be done. She is a great helper, and will someday make a great baker/cook.

Uncle Damon did a great job of entertaining Layton. I think it was pretty easy though, Layton just wanted to play basketball.

Grammy had made all the granddaughters butterfly wings. My girls love them, and are already planning a dance to do together with the cousins this summer when they are all together.

Gail did such a wonderful job with our Thanksgiving dinner. She had been planning and preparing for weeks! It was so good, and I think that we ate almost everything that day... so much for leftovers! Yummy!

Playing in the snow

Right before we left for Thanksgiving in Paul we got dumped on with snow. And then the winds started... and didn't stop. So we ended up with some AWESOME snow drifts and no school. The kids were in Heaven. Austin's clinic even closed on the Monday because the drifts were so big and bad. We all had so much fun out in the snow that day. As you can see, the drifts are taller than Layton.

The girls acted like they were penguins sliding down the drift. They would laugh and laugh at the bottom, then climb back up and do it again. I love that they have such fun imaginations.

I just thought these drifts were pretty cool. This is down in our walkout basement that is all enclosed. I think the wind just kept circling the snow around and around. The highest drift down there was 3 feet.

Austin worked really hard to make a path up to the door, just in case we got any visitors. I was obviously working very hard at making sure I captured the moment. It was hard work!

And this is what the front looked like before Austin got started. The drift was a good foot above the top stair.

After we worked so hard we moved on to bigger and better things... HOT CHOCOLATE!

First Snow

Our first snow occurred on Monday. Quite a shock to me actually. I mean, we live in Iceberg now, so I assumed it would happen early in the fall, rather than late. It started snowing right after I got Tori on the bus, assuring her that it was not going to snow today, so she did not need to bring her snow boots. Then when it did start, I thought, "it will never stick." So much for me and my thinking! It didn't stop snowing the entire day. Kennedy was ecstatic! She wanted to play in the snow so bad.

By the time the girls got off the bus at 3:30 there was about 4" of snow on the ground. And me, being the nice Mom, of course, let the girls go out and play in the snow without doing homework first. Dang Daylight Savings! If it wasn't for that we would have light until 6 and the girls could have had longer to play. They did have so much fun. Layton was a little nervous about playing in the snow the first day. But he has loved it everyday since.