GUM in hair...

So, the kids were jumping on the trampolien the other morning...and Taelin comes in holding her hair, and on the shortest part of her hair (she has long side bangs naturally) on the bottom, there is a big blue gob of GUM!

I told her, "Taelin, I thought I told you no candy on the trampolien!"
Taelin: "Mommy, gum is not candy, its gum!"
Mommy: "Ok, hold your hair, let's go cut it."
Taelin: "Hurry, its getting so heavy! and my arm is tired."

So, now she has short hair. She really likes it, and kept starring at herself in the mirror all day, but i think she's used to it now and loves it. Less brushing!

Catch up!

So, life here has been busy but laid back all at the same time. We are still getting projects finished, attending family functions and trying to keep up with the new school schedule. So far, so good. courtney was here until Sept. 5th, and oh what a blessing that was for our family! This was the first baby we had meals brought in (what another blessing), the first baby with someone here and now my mom is helping me. What a blessing family and friends are! I am learning that asking for help is so much better than trying to do it alone! :)

Other than having grouchy kids this week (anyone want a diffiant 2 year old and a grouchy mean word spilling 4 year old?!) we are all doing great and loving baby Evan. Taelin is enjoying joyschool on tuesdays, Chase is LOVING (as long as he's fed before he goes) preschool 3 days a week and gymnastics on Tuesdays too. Kelton LOVES his first grade teacher, and says that she's super fun cause she plays games with them all day (if she can trick him into thinking learning is just games, you go Ms. Gill!). I LOVE snuggling with baby Evan and have actually really enjoyed him in the middle of the night (something i've never said before)! Daddy is busy at work and just got called into the Young Men's as Scout Master (he's psyched).

I'm trying to get announcements out soon! :) Life is busy...but wouldn't have it any other way! :)

Welcome Baby Evan 8-26-10

Here he is! EVAN BRYSON JANSEN. Bryson is a name sake for Vanessa's two grandpa's (Grpa Bryan and Grpa Johnson).

Each of the kids adore him in their own way. Labor was about 8 hours (w/ wierd pre labor) and I got the epidural at 4 cm. It was peaceful and I cried...it was the first time I was able to really take in the experience. He didn't cry for the first 24 hours, and is such a mellow, sweet little guy.

Kelton is such the big boy and I can always count on him to hold Evan and not move! He read him a story today and I love that he always wants moments with Evan alone. He's such my big helper.

Chase LOVES to laugh with him. He loves to kiss him, hold him and talk to him. He often ends up bouncing near him, but his intentions are soft. He loves to just lay next to him, talk to him and point out Evan's facial expressions.

Taelin, the mauler we should call her. She is always where he is, but she does listen when she is asked to give him space. She loves it when he has a poopie diaper, and races to be the helper. She also soothingly talks to him when he's frustrated with me (not getting him nursing fast enough) and will tell him softly, "its ok baby, hold on, mommy is trying."

Overall, we are SO grateful for this little spirit in our home. AND SO thankful for an AMAZING sister-in-law that has come for 2 weeks to be the second mommy! She has been a LIFE saver!

Chase, no training wheels!

This was Chase's first ride by himself! Guess we should have taken them off sooner! He is addicted to his bike now, with the "freedom" to be a big boy now! :) Can't' believe we didn't think about taking them off sooner!

Warm River ~ August 6-8th

We went to a family favorite river up in Ashton, Idaho to get away. We came home with a broken awning, but after the horrendous storm (where Kelton thought we were all gonna die and got the kids into the bathroom of the trailer), we were lucky to all be left unhurt. We moved to a shady spot for the next few day and altho we had to drive back home to get tools to fix everything, we did still have fun! We floated the river, played in the tubes, made fun with rocks and water, and ate REALLY yummy dinners because of Daddy and dutch oven cooking! It was SO nice to get away and have a break from the everyday.

Taelin's New Pic

This little stinker! Since the day we took group family pics, her eye was all swollen, we decided this past Sunday was a good day to go out and take her yearly pic. She was kinda excited, and I really enjoyed spending time with just her. She kept smiling all scrunchy, watching doggies pass by, people watching and then posing herself. She kept looking away from me, and when I'd say to her, "look at me in the camera!" she'd look at the people passing and say, "me am mommy! me am looking at you!" even tho her eyes were not. She said she wanted to be by the tree, and then posed herself with her leg up behind her. I had to put her on a log to keep her content. I finally had to tickle her and try to get a steady shot while she was laughing so that she didn't scrunch her face up.

Kimber's Senior Pics

I can't believe we are already taking her senior pictures! She is an incredible woman, just freaking out a little that I can remember her being brought home from the hospital!

HaPpY PiOnEeR dAy! 2010!

We didn't have Daddy this past weekend, since he was busy driving to Boise then Page, AZ. with Uncle Kyle and Aunt Courtney.

We heard at church on Sunday that they were going to have a kid's parade for Pioneer's Day. We set out Thursday evening to the dollar store for our fixin's. It was a perfect break to our Friday (w/out dadding coming home) afternoon. We decked the kids' bikes out (they switched around) and Saturday morning they were SO excited to ride in the parade. The boys thought it was more of a race, so they sped past everyone tieing for "first". Taelin thought it was grand and wanted it to last as long as possible. She didn't even need me to walk with her, but it was cute to see an older man taking her picture since she was just "too cute".

We decided to go out to Grma Choffin's house the rest of the day. We got to ride the horses, ate lunch and then went to the Splash Park (where Kelton laid with Grant, trying to see why he loved the trees so much) and Grma treated us to a ride on the carousel. After that we grabbed dinner and drove home. It was a long but very fun day!

The BLUE ANGELS were in town Saturday and Sunday, but since we live so close to the airport, we saw more of them throughout the week than the days of the shows. It was fun to watch and hear (they got SO close, it was almost too loud inside!

making blog a book?

does anyone have any suggestions for putting together a book/journal of all the blog posts? i have used up half of my "memory" so i'm just wondering what to do except for copy and pasting?!

Family Pictures

Jansen Family

Choffin Family

We may not have it all together, but together we have it all!

Since Jake's parents live so far away, I like to keep family pictures on the walls of our home to remind them of what they look like and that we are family. Now that they are older, they remember a lot better, but now they can also point to make sure we have the right person. And I love pictures, so enjoy! For those that know my family, can you guess who everyone is still?

P.S. Kelton kept asking when we were in florida when the rest of daddy's family and "his people" were going to show up. When I explained that Daddy only has one brother, he asked for Aunt Susan (cause she's a really fun lady).

FLORDIA!!!

Jacksonville Beach: the kids had SO much fun! and it was perfect weather the day we went!

We'll definitely have to keep the beach in mind this summer!

Children's Museum...can you find Kelton?

she seriously wore these shoes for 2 hours! they were womens size 6! she loved the dresses!
pump it up...the kids had a BALL! (and daddy too!)

4th of July!!!!

It was hot...really hot. But we still had a great time at the beach (a fav. of the kids'), a jump place, a kids museum (the grocery store, etc.) and lego building, movie watching, duck feeding, computer playing with oma and we even got a little shopping in! It was fun to be together and the best part was that the plane rides weren't stressful! It was nice to have time away from Idaho, and get to do fun Florida things. The 4th was small with just our fireworks...and we realized how much we really do love living in a highly populated LDS community where they don't celebrate things on sundays!

My Baseball Boy

Dear Chase: You love baseball like I have never seen a 3 or 4 year old like baseball. I am sure you are a replica of what your Grpa Choffin would have been like at your age. You hollar for Kimber at her games and ask each players name so you can cheer them on...and you cheer on all of your teammates even tho you only knew 2 of them when we started this tball team. You are mesmerized by the game, rules and passion for the sport. Well, most sports really. I love your passion to even play by yourself, no one else is needed as far as you are concerned. You picked out a tball bag and helmet as your bday present, I should not have been surprised.

You LOVE this game and I am SO glad that we could give you a taste of summer tball! I love you SO much and am so proud of how hard you worked for your team! Love you Sweets!

Happy Father's Day!

I know I am behind....but we can't go without saying that we think we have the bestest daddy in the whole world. We all adore you and think you are just grand. We love that you play games with us (and most of the time you are asking us to play), tickle and wrestle with us, read to us, and are always available for a hug and kiss.

WE LOVE YOU DADDY!

Taelin Talk

maybe its just me, but i think she's dang cute!

STAYCATION 2010

Friday: Idaho Falls Temple

Saturday: 9:00 am BIG breakfast

11:00 Riot Zone (mini golf and go karts)

2:00 Lunch at Wendy's

4:45-6:00 girls and jake at the mall (sorry kyle!) and kids in the car with Kyle
6:00-7:30 Bowling at Bowlero's (and some arcade)

Sunday: Church at Mom's (great talk Bryce)

Dinner at Mom's with games, tball, and baby Grant!

Monday: 11:00 am Kelton's tball game 2:30 pm Chase's tball game (whole family came down)
Chase is one serious player - he never looses focus or has to be told to run, he's a really fast runner and for barely 4 years old, this kid LOVES the game of baseball. Well anything really, he would rather watch sportscenter/espn than cartoons most days!

4:30 Zoo with Family

p.s. happy anniversary! 7 years and I love you more!

7:00 pm Dinner @ Applebee's

Tuesday: 4:00 am Jake is back to work

6:00 am Kyle and Courtney head back to Boise

Staycation scale: 10.5! Altho Bear Lake would have been fun, this weekend rocked!