HOT HOT Lava Springs-2009

or should I say Lava HOT Springs? Nah-I like it the 1st way. At least Connor does. We went to Lava Hot Springs at the end of June for a Kjar family reunion and that is the way Connor kept saying the name of the town. It was so cute and funny! Well if you haven't been to Lava, you are missing out! The town is tiny, but we had a great time. A friend of our family has a cabin/house up there that she let is rent from her. It was awesome! It slept 18 adults! We got to Lava Thurs night and went swimming on Friday. The pool there was so much fun. The boys loved the water slides, and Peyton especially loved swimming in the pool and playing on a giant play snake that is in the pool. Even Shane and I had a blast on the water slides. On Saturday some of us went and sat in the hot springs, which were, shockingly HOT! Once you got in, it did feel really good. That afternoon we met at a local park and had the big reunion. It was so fun to see cousins that we only see every few years. We can't wait to go back to HOT, HOT Lava Springs!

                 Braydon and Sadie
  Peyton is the one in the middle with the orange water wings
Wow-I look HOT!! Anyway-it was a fun day and Shane and Sadie look cute!
        Connor loved the slide!
           Look at that excitement!
            Sadie and Aunt Kim 

a little of everything

Just some thing we've been up to:

Peyton got the Rise Award at school. Congrats Buddy! He had to do 8 out of 12 requirement to get the award, and most had to be done at home. It's something that takes most of the school year to complete.  June 8, 2009

Connor and Mom spend a day at the zoo.
Sadie got her 1st haircut on May 31, 2009. Here is the after picture-what a cutie!
Before haircut-she had a little bit of a mullet going on.

Sadie can sit up on her own!!!! June 9, 2009

Just some fun things we've had going on at our house!

For Time and All Eternity

On May 30th 2009 we had our daughter, Sadie Lynne Kjar sealed to us. It was a beautiful day! Sadie looked beautiful in her white dress when she came into the sealing room. She was just a delight. So happy! We had a few moments after the sealer had spoken to everyone in the sealing room and we were waiting for the kids to be brought into the room. The sealer asked us if we had anything we wanted to say to everyone. Shane said thank-you to everyone for coming and sharing this day with us, when it was my turn all I could say was that I was happy. I was so overcome with emotion and gratitude. It is a feeling I will never forget. I loved seeing our boys when they came into the sealing room. They looked so handsome! The temple workers even had tie tacks for them to wear. They just looked so grown up and happy. The actual ceremony was very short, but so wonderful. I am so grateful for eternal families. 

lately

So here are a few things that we have been up to lately......


Bats in the backyard.....I opened up our umbrella to get some shade with a neighbor and this is what I saw. To say that I freaked out is an understatement. We ran inside and I promptly called animal control. It took them a couple of hours to get to our house, meanwhile I had to keep the kids inside because we didn't know if they bat was rabid. The animal control worker took our umbrella out and put it on the ground. She was able to get the bat into a coffee can and take it away. It made for an eventful evening.......one that I might add, Shane was at work!
Signs of a good nap......this is what your hair looks like after a great nap. What a little cutie!
Gardening....we've been doing a lot of work in our yard, and Connor was a big help while Peyton was at school. We planted two new trees this year: a Pansy Locust Redbud and a Haruko Nakishi Willow. We also planted two new shrubs: Wagilla (not sure if I spelled that right). We got all our annuals planted: graniums, petunias, and impatience. I planted our 10 pots (I know I go a little overboard here, but I LOVE the pots in my front yard and love the color they bring to our backyard.) I also got the "garden" planted. Since our yard in wider that it is deep, we have gotten creative with our garden. We don't have a square plot dedicated to this, but we plant our garden in our flower beds in our backyard. This year we did, 2 cantaloupe, 1 watermelon, 2 trellis' of pole beans, 2 cucumbers, 1 celebrity tomato, 1 cherry tomato, 2 habenero chilis, 1 red pepper, 1 zuchinni, and 1 crookneck squash.

Ducks in the yard. Since we live pretty close to a river, our neighborhood has a lot of ducks every spring. This little bunch waddled through our backyard with 9 or 10 baby ducks. Connor and his friends loved to see them. It's fun to see new life and new little families each spring.

BASEBALL!!!!! This spring has been full of baseball! Peyton and Connor both played baseball this year and it's been busy!!! Here is a picture of Sadie at a game. The weather was weird-games were either HOT or COLD. 

Peyton up to bat. He played for the Yankees this year. It was his 1st year doing player pitch games. It made for some seriously long games. He did great this year! He had great coaches that really built up their team and taught them that teamwork was #1.
What a good lookin' dude!

Connor-after his "slide". He is So funny! Connor is way into baseball. I mean this kid loves baseball! He has been patiently waiting for 2 years to be old enough to play tee-ball. He was on the Pirates this year and has loved every minute of it.
What a cutie! Look at him, so proud at 1st base.
Connor hits the ball so hard-I'm not just saying that because I'm his mom. All of his coaches are amazed when he throws and hits the ball. Everyone asks "How old is he?" Everyone thinks he is older because of his size and his athletic ability. We love ya Connor!

So in a nutshell....that's the randomness we have been up to lately.

Finalization

Today we took Sadie to court and finalized her adoption! Yeah!!! We are so thrilled that her adoption is final. She is offically SADIE LYNNE KJAR! She was darling during our meeting with the judge and cooed and was really sweet. The judge asked the boys what they thought of Sadie and they were both  SO quiet! I think the judge in her black robe was a little intimidating. I have to admit-I was sweating it just a bit. I wasn't too worried that things wouldn't work out, but come on-this judge had the future of our family in her little pen! I always get emotional during finalization when the attorney asks if I have bonded and love the child. This time was no exception, but the tears started a little sooner when he started to present the case to the judge and I was feeding Sadie and he pointed to her and said we were here for this sweet baby girl. I totally started to tear up and was thinking how blessed I was. I still can't believe she is ours! The circumstances of her adoption is a total miracle that we got her. The proceedings went really smooth and before we knew it, the judge was signing the adoption decree to make everything final. We actually held the hearing in the judges chambers, which was a first for us. After the proceedings, we went to a late lunch/early dinner to the Cheesecake Factory. It was fun way to celebrate the newest "official" member of our family. We couldn't be more thrilled!!

                                       Grandpa Kjar and Grandma Gay with the kids
Grandpa Vick and Grandma Janet with the kids
                                                          Our family with the judge

Mother's Day

I had a great time on Mother's Day. Unfortunately Shane had to work on both Saturday and Sunday morning, so I was kind of on my own those two mornings, but he totally made-up for it after church. I was so tried after church and had spent the morning fixing breakfast, getting kids ready, picking up the house, and I just didn't want to think about what to make for dinner. I was all set to do grilled cheese and canned chicken noodle soup. I got home from church (Shane had gone home after sacrament because his parents had stayed over night and were headed home, and Peyton said he didn't feel well). Anyhow, I got home and Shane had steaks grilling, baked potatoes done, and veggies done on the stove-top. I can't even say how excited I was. The dinner was delicious-and Shane even cleaned it all up! Woo-hoo! It was great!!!! 

I have to say it was such a busy day that I didn't have a lot of time to reflect about being a mother like I usually try to do. I am, however so grateful to be a mother. Sometimes I can't believe how blessed I am. I know there are a lot of women that struggle to get pregnant, or have a hard time making their adoption dreams come true. I heard a saying the other day that was something like: Sometimes we can't see the whole picture at the time of a trial. What we don't realize is that Heavenly Father has much greater blessings in store for us. Something beyond what we ever hoped for. I'm sure I didn't say that right and I wish I could remember where I heard it, but I love that thought. It is so true for me. After all we went through I have so many more blessings than I could ever have hoped for. Truly-I am blessed. 

 

Easter 2009

We went up to my parents home the day before Easter for lunch and an easter egg hunt. The grandkids had such a blast searching for the eggs. It was raining that day, however the rain stopped just in time for the hunt. This was one of the 1st times we had Sadie in a "grandkid" picture. We just wish it would have been warm enough for the twins and that Abby, Parker, and Macy could have been there too. Taylor, Trista, Jefferson and Kylee must be too old to pose for a "grandkid" picture-ha ha!

Peyton with all his eggs
Madison and Peyton
Brendan, Madison, Peyton, Aleah, Hailey, Easton and Connor
Connor with his eggs

  Sadie, Brendan, Madison, Aleah, Hailey, Peyton, Connor and Easton

Easter morning at our house was pretty uneventful. The boys were pretty excited for their easter baskets in the morning. They each got a movie in their baskets-Bolt and Bedtime Stories. Sadie got some new binki's, some hair barrettes and some crocs. She was pretty tired after awhile and I got this shot of her under her new toy from Hollie and Jeff. She was asleep holding so tight to the toys-too funny.








Shane had to work that day in the morning, so we just kind of hung around and enjoyed each other and watched movies. We talked to our kids about the real reason we celebrate Easter and how grateful we are for the Savior and his sacrifice for us. Peyton is trying to understand the atonement. A couple day after Easter Connor asked me if he had to get nails in his feet when he dies too. I explained to him that he did not and that only Jesus Christ had to give of His life so that we may return to live with our Heavenly Father again. I love little teaching moments like that when we can reinforce gospel principles and bear testimony to our kids. I love being a parent, but I have to say, it's the hardest job I've ever had. Thank goodness for prayer. Thank goodness for the gospel. Thank goodness for scriptures. Thank goodness for great parents to help us out.