*yawn*

Earlier in the month, I explained my love/hate relationship with co-sleeping with Liam. Well, in the last few weeks, he has upped the ante. It went from being somewhat uncomfortable, though tolerable, to not working at all in a few weeks time.

Basically, he has gotten more restless and more kicky and I just can't sleep with him anymore. Even when Joe sleeps on the couch, he finds me in the big queen bed, sleeps with his head digging in my back and kicks me. Not cool.

This combined with the fact that a) my belly is only going to get bigger and more cumbersome b) it is really hard to get comfortable in bed when I am largely pregnant anyways, sans the kicking toddler and c) the newborn that will be in our bed in a few months, we decided it was time to bite the bullet and try out something different that respected his need for companionship and everyone's need for a good night's sleep.

The Solution: The Sibling Bed(room)
As you can see from our picture, we moved Issy and Isaac into a room with Liam (his is the bed in the middle, he wouldn't turn around and pose for the picture) in hopes that he would feel comfortable enough to stay in his room, since he would have them in there. And that then he would not feel the need to sleep in our bed and harass me all night.

It is really nice in theory, isn't it? But as with many things with 2-year-olds (well, at least Liam) there is a large gap between the theory and the practice. As of last night, it was a total bust, but that only means that there is no where to go but up, right? (RIGHT?!) At this point, we are just going to have to stick to it and hope it catches on quickly because the alternative wasn't working either. And I want him to get used to it well before the baby comes so it is not perceived as a "baby usurping my position" thing. Honestly, I would be more than willing to let him sleep in our bed indefinitely if it was working. But it Just. Is. Not. Here is him this morning after being awake from 1:00 to 6:30 a.m. Trust me, you don't want a picture of me or Joe this morning :P
A final reflection: Honestly, I had no idea that parenting would be this hard. Seemingly simple things liking sleeping and eating with ease and unhasseled are a distant memory. Know what, though? It is totally worth it. I remember in college, I would nap for hours and hours a day even though I had a full nights sleep. But I didn't appreciate it. Now, every hour of uninterrupted sleep is hard fought and I see it for the gift it is. It helps to know that there is an end to all this too. I trust that it will not always be like this. When Liam is 16 the problem will most likely be how to get him *out* of bed and I won't have to hold his hand while he falls asleep.

Sweet dreams to all my readers :)

A Marney Family Christmas

At 4:22 a.m. Issy came in to tell us that Santa had come and it was time to get up. We assured her that even though Santa had come, it was definitely not time to get up yet. We put her on the little bed on the floor of our room. About an hour later (and I am pretty sure she was awake during that time) she told us it was time to get up and again, we told her not yet. Apparently, she fell back asleep, because Isaac came in shortly after seven and we got up.

Liam has decided to would like to go live with his godparents, Mary and Tim, so he was attempting to package himself up.

Mmmmm, chocolate before breakfast.

Isaac and Joe plotting putting together Isaac's United States floor puzzle.

We got them all skis, which they insisted on trying out in the living room.

Yum, snow!

Trying out the new skis. They were actually really good at it! They have kind of creepy clowns on them, but they were a good deal and the kids seemed pleased. They just strap on to their boots!

Issy and her much wanted American Girl Doll.

Singing Happy Birthday to Jesus.

We enjoyed an Apple cake for Jesus' birthday, it was delicious!

Preparing for Christmas

This is our Learning Shelf, that houses our books, puzzles, crayons and other educational toys for when we do our schooling. This year, we decided to decorate it for advent. We have our Jesse tree, which we have been decorating with symbols of salvation history that lead up to the birth of Christ. We have our advent wreath, that has candles for the four Sundays of Advent, in which we nestled the baby Jesus. And we have our Nativity set, minus Jesus, who will get to move over there on Christmas morning. The kids have really enjoyed our advent activities and the focus has been on Christ's birth at Christmas.

We are very excited to get to spend our Christmas here as a family. We are definitely going to miss all our family and friends in Kansas, but are looking forward to relaxing and making some of our own traditions here. And I am thankful not to be traveling since I has been snowing for the better part of the last week and a half.

Have a merry and blessed Christmas and know we miss you all!

A sweater for ME!

Yay, my beautiful purple sweater is done! I started it the day that I found out I was pregnant in early October. And I finished it right in time... the baby belly popped this week :)

The way the sweater is laying in the picture makes me look bigger than I actually am. See those beautiful ribbons? As the baby gets bigger, I can make them looser to accommodate the belly. I am very pleased with my first venture into sweaterhood :)

Ode to Ewok

They make a big show of annoying each other while they are in the house, but when they are outside, Ewok goes up to Clementine and gives her love.

See, ya'll hung in there with me when I didn't update for a while, and now things are paying off for you, eh?

Karen has inspired me to take more pictures of my cute, sweet kitty Ewok. We got Ewok when she was just a little kitten, about a year before we were married and she lived in my Dad's basement for six months. She had a brief stint living with some friends when we first moved up here and then she came to live with us last December. She is a sweet, sweet, patient, loving girl. I mean patient. She was actually purring in these last two pictures, even though there was excessive hugging.

This last summer, at the ripe age of 7, she decided she wanted to be an outdoor kitty. Would show up every couple of nights to eat. And now that there is lots of snow on the ground, she has decided she would like to be an indoor cat again. Spoiled kitty.

My cozy corner of the world

I have had the opportunity to spend my Saturdays at the yarn store for the last few months. I have no complaints. I get the chance to unwind, to sit and knit in front of the cozy stove, to talk to people about yarn and all the beautiful things they can make with it. It is nice to have some down time, away from the kiddos for a few hours (because who doesn't need a break from all that cuteness ;) And these days, I don't get much knitting time at home, since Liam is always on the move and, frankly, by the time he is in bed, I am just too darn tired. Because of my Saturday time, I have been able to nearly complete a sweater for myself (just need to finish a sleeve). I should be done and modeling by Sunday :)

O Tannenbaum

Everyone who knows else well knows our love of large (sometimes called obnoxiously large) Christmas trees. We had quite an adventure last year getting our tree by cutting it down in the forest. It was not exactly what we were looking for, but when you are trudging through the snow with three children, sometimes you have to alter your standards a bit. I liked it. I had character. And it was $5.

This year, we decided to support our local businesses by going to the nursery here (it is a seriously awesome nursery!) and getting a tree, since they had fresh cut trees there, and it was more manageable with the children. And we had a variety of "perfect" Christmas trees to choose from that we didn't have to walk through the snow to get. Maybe we will try that again when the kids are older.

And I will have you know, by Marney standards, it is a positively modest tree. It is only 7 feet tall and not horribly wide. It is gorgeous.

Liam has been driving me fairly crazy with it (although this should really come as no shock, since Liam often drives me crazy, in general, with seemingly benign things). He was really good with the tree last year and really didn't mess with it, so I assumed (HA!) now that he was a bit older that it would be smooth sailing. But he really really likes to touch the ornaments and, frankly, to pull the glass ones off of their hooks, which is annoying and dangerous. Alas, any that I put within Liam reach have been pulled off (by him) and put higher (by me).

Then there is the issue of straightness. This has always been our flaw in the saga of our tall, gorgeous trees. We only sometimes manage to get them straight on the first try. Sometimes we try again with better luck. Sometimes, we try again, and it isn't much better than the first time.

This one was crooked, but steady. We just weren't satisfied, so yesterday we tried again. We made it more crooked. And unfortunately, it got more crooked as today progressed. So much so, in fact, that it fell over an hour ago. We are going to have to start from square one tonight. With children in bed. And we will get it right this time.

Edited Tuesday Morning: When Joe got home and we put the kids to bed, we started fresh. Used our big, good-for-large-trees base. Perfect. Stable. We redecorated the tree, making sure all the breakable ones were near the top. Then we sat and enjoyed it :)

I love/hate co-sleeping

Ahhhhh, the little one. Beautiful, isn't he?

The story of Liam sleeping with us, Part I: Pre-Liam
It would be difficult to understand where we are without understanding where we have come from. It all begins with Issy, ridiculously easy, mellow, laid-back infant that she was. I mean it too, this is no exaggeration. I mean, she was a little tricky the first month (two?) and she had the fussy in the evening, but then she was magical. If I just laid her down, she fell asleep on her own. No fussing- just cooing, then sleep. We had nursing issues at first and I couldn't nurse laying down because it made my guts feel like they were going to fall out because of the c-section. When she was almost three months old, she started doing these huge nursings in the evening (hours and hours) and in the morning, but she was sleeping through the night. She slept in a little pack and play by our bed, but boy, did she sleep.

Then Isaac came along. Nursing was much easier and he liked to nurse a lot at night, so I pushed through the "guts feeling like they are going to fall out" part and learned to nurse laying down. And it was fine until about 5 or 6 months, when he started being restless. So co-sleeping was no longer working, and we tried to get him to sleep in his own crib. There was a lot of rocking and patting and shushing and nursing. Then when he turned a year, things got easier and he was a little more persuadable. And he too, started sleeping in his own space.

Part II: Liam arrives
He liked to nurse at night and I wasn't recovering from a c-section, so nighttime was much easier. He nursed and I would put him in a bassinet beside our bed (or not). At 5 or 6 months, he hit the "restless" phase and we side-carred a crib (basically, you shove a crib with one side off up against your bed) so he could have his own sleeping space. This worked awesome for a while.

Part III: The Ear Infection Phase
From about 11 months- 16 months, he had as many ear infections as not, so he would nurse and flail and nurse and flail and cry all night long. It was rather torturous for all involved.

Part IV: The End of the Ear Infection Phase and Nightweaning
So, during the ear infection phase be became accustomed to nursing all night long, which was fine for that time period when he really needed it, notsomuch for when he was all better. So we nightweaned him and it was glorious. He slept in his room until 3 or 4 or 5 a.m. then came to join us.

Part V:Liam Turns Two
I should have expected this, but I didn't. It happened with Issy, it happened with Isaac. When both of them turned two, they realized they could get out of bed at night and come to Mom and Dad's room. And they preferred it there. No biggie with them, we set up a little bed on the floor so they could slip in relatively undisturbed. Well, Liam started it too. Going to bed at 7:30 or 8 and then waking up at 10:30 and coming down to our room. But being the stubborn little fella he is, he wanted nothing to do with a bed on the floor, he wanted in bed where all the warm snuggling was.

Part VI: The Present
Which brings us to this point in time. And the love/hate relationship with co-sleeping. I love it when he walks into the room all sleepy, hair rumpled, puts his arms out, waiting to be loved and snuggled. Very sweet. He usually asks for a drink of water, then yawns and rubs his eyes. I love to watch him relax near immediately as he lays down in his Daddy's arms. And his little limbs get all limp and he closes his eyes and falls back into his little sleepy world.

Then I decide to go to sleep. And sometimes the night is ok and there is minimal encroachment upon my space. And then there are night like last night, where his little feet find me near continuously all night and he plants (seemingly) strategically placed kicks on me just to interrupt my sleep. And I keep shoving him over near his Papa and he finds me again. And again.

Sigh. I think I need a king-sized bed.

And yet, I have this feeling that he would still find me and kick me.

The rest of the Halloween pictures

So, apparently, there is a sort of on/off switch on my memory card. Joe turned it on. Honestly, whenever I think I am starting to the hang of this whole technology thing, I get thrown for a loop. Ahhhh, well, just means I need to keep the good old hubby around for trouble-shooting.

So yeah, he was actually grimacing in this picture, although I think it could pass as a smile. He really wanted Daddy to put him down so he could run into the street. Being the good parents we are, we didn't allow that.

He really liked the Jack O'Lantern

Here is my beauty.

Well, no pictures....

... but not because of a lack of trying. I have tried to upload my pictures on two computers in a couple of different ways the last couple of days, but to no avail. Joe said he would look at it for me, so I must wait patiently.

Life is life here. I am starting to have a good, normal-feeling day here and there, which is nice. I am hoping to get more of those, the first trimester blehs are getting old. I am truly thankful, though, when I consider how much better I have it than some women. In all of my pregnancies, I have had varying degrees of nausea/tiredness during the first trimester, but I never actually get *sick* which is awesome. So I will not complain :)

I am really looking forward to this Advent/Christmas season. The kids and I have started our Jesse tree, which they thought was very cool. We also got out our Advent wreath and I am hoping to make a paper chain of things we do that are kind for each day of Advent. We are staying here for Christmas, since traveling last year was such a nightmare. I am going to miss our family and friends, but it is also going to be nice to start some of our own family traditions. Issy and I were actually just talking today about what kind of cake to make Jesus for his birthday. We might have to take a vote.

So something nerdy I am really excited about. I got one of my Christmas presents early: cross- country skis! I am so excited, I want it to start snowing more (there is snow on the mountains but nothing substantial has stuck around in the Valley yet). I can't wait to get started! This is going to be a good way to stay in shape during this pregnancy :) I actually dream about my skis often.

My housekeeping has suffered the last couple of months, with the lack of motivation. The spirit is willing and all that stuff...

I am off for now (to do the dishes, actually) but will post when I have the pics!

This is what I have been working on

My lack of blogging as of late would mostly be due to the fact that for the better part of October and November I have been feeling yucky and exhausted. But all for good reason! I have been building a person. Takes a lot of energy out of a girl! But come June, it will have been well worth the effort. I am almost out of my first trimester, which is great, and hopefully will be back to feeling a bit more normal. And back to blogging. There are ton of pictures I have to share, I will try to upload them later today or tomorrow to share. Until then, take care all!

Alright, my faithful readers

Sorry my blogging has been lacking as of late. Things have been good here, I just haven't felt terribly motivated to blog. Here are some pictures of the kiddos from Halloween. I have one of Issy by herself on my other memory card, I will try to download those sometime because it is very sweet. Liam didn't really want his picture taken individually, so I took this one of him looking at the pumpkin. He really really like the pumpkin. We had a great time... the weather was pretty mild for ID this time of year.

Isaac doing his Spidey pose.

My three munchkins

Sweetheart Meme

My sister-in-law Patty at Holy Banana Hands tagged me.

Husband's Name: Joseph Charles

How long we've been married: coming up on 6 1/2 years

How long we dated: Dated a year and were engaged a year. We knew weeks (days even?) into it that we wanted to get married though.

How old is he? 27. He is two months older than me exactly

Taller: Him, by 3 or so inches.

Who can sing best? Him. I can carry a tune alright, but he has a really good voice. So much so that people in Church often comment on how well he sings. He has sang to all our babies, which I love. Ask him to sing you the "Liam the Super" song sometime.

Smarter? He is marginally more intelligent than I am. I was way better at school, he would have been much better than me if he had tried ;) He totally outdoes me in the "useless fun information" department. I have to thank his Grandma Irene for that, since she got him a subscription to National Geographic when he was little.

Laundry: Me, for the most part. Occasionally, if I wait too long, he will throw some in. I like it this way. When I am out of town and he does it himself, something always seems to go awry... like a sharpie in his pocket.

Paying bills: Both. He takes care of online stuff and I take care of ones that are mailed.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Currently, him. Honestly, our bed arrangements have mostly been dictated by my pregnancies and which side was closer to the bathroom.

Mows the lawn? Mostly him, but sometimes me. I did it more in Kansas, because our yard was smaller and we did it more often. I have only done it once here, and I got drug through a thorn bush by the self-propelled mower.

Cooks dinner: Mostly me, since he usually doesn't get home until after six. He does on the weekends sometimes. He is a pretty good cook.

Who's the first to admit when they're wrong? At the beginning of our marriage, him, hands down. I have mellowed a bit and I would say it is probably closer to 50/50 now.

Who kissed first? Him? Is my memory really that fuzzy? Perhaps it was mutual.

Who wears the pants? Gosh, I don't know. We both do? I tend to have stronger opinions about most things and he usually doesn't feel strongly enough about those things to argue with me. If he does have a strong opinion, it is in my best interest to listen since it must really be important to him.

I'll tag:
Michelle @ Mishysquishy Knitter
Clara @ Stepping on Legos with Bare Feet
Karen @ Erik and Karen (because they are recently married and adorable)

Yummy

A rather lame post, perhaps, just wanted to share.

Last night for dinner I made this yummy pumpkin soup recipe and I thought it was delicious. Issy did too. My boys, not so wild about it, but you can't please everyone. Enjoy!

The birthday boy

I apologize for the lack of blogging as of late. Things have been busy around here as always, and I just don't get much time to sit down at the computer that I put pictures on. Here are the shots of Isaac's birthday. He had a great day!

Helping Mommy make his chocolate birthday cake
And of course, cleaning up is the best part
We woke up to several inches of snow that day. He was very excited, "It is snowing for my birthday!"
The cake. Tasted great, not so pretty. Not great at adjusting for the high altitude so everything rises quickly and falls. But Joe told me it the was the best chocolate cake I've ever made.
Puzzles! He has had a ton of fun with these, nice and big floor puzzles.

My hubby is cataloging all our pictures and I haven't figured out the program yet, even though there are pics I want to share. Will have to try to get him to explain it all to me!

My little boy turns 4 today

My not-so-tiny newborn, weighing in at 9 lbs and 5.8 oz.

Big yawns! (I love baby yawns)

The summer after he was born, hanging out at the zoo. What a handsome fella!

Isaac's life has been a journey. I am so thankful for my little unique fellow who has high-highs and low-lows. He is creative, imaginative, sweet and cuddly, and enthusiastic about life. Happy birthday, little boy!

Grammie's visit

A Mama's Body

When I became pregnant with Issy, I accepted that my body was no longer solely my own. I shared it with her for nine months, giving her a place to grow until she was strong enough to be out here. But it didn't really stop there. We went on to have a 13 month nursing relationship and by the time she weaned, I was three months pregnant with Isaac. Who went on to nurse for 16 months. And you guessed it, by the time he weaned, little Liam was growing. And my Liam, who really likes to nurse, is now 26 months and showing no sign of stopping.... and so my body is still not solely my own.

When I got married when I was 20, I had the body of a teenager. Three pregnancies and three nurslings later, I have the body of a mother. The weight fluctuations have been frustrating. It seems after my initial weight loss after I have my babes, I gain ten pounds. Yuck. It has happened with all three of them. It is like my body is saying, "Wait, you have to nurse this kid still, lets store a little more fat!" And given that I come a family of relatively thin people, this is kind of a kicker to my self-esteem. And I start longing for that teenager body.

But this Mama body rocks. Seriously, it has done some amazing things- building people, making enough milk to grow them to a generous size, recovered from one birth and two c-sections (which is no small feat!) . This body is a giving body... it takes care of small people needs at night- getting drinks, snuggling, singing - when it would prefer 8 consecutive hours of sleep, it does laundry to cloth a small army, cooks when it is tired. This Mama body has served me well and I shouldn't take it for granted.

Health is the goal. I wasn't healthy when I was a teenager, weighed 115 lbs and was drinking 6 cans of Pepsi a day. I just was gifted with a great metabolism. So I vow to not wish for the teenager body. I am pretty sure it doesn't exist anymore anyways, lol. I have lost 17 lbs over the last nine months and I am feeling good in my skin. But it isn't about the longing for the teenager body, it is about embracing the Mama body and loving it for what it is. I have been more active and have been eating healthier and I have had a windfall of weight loss. I wasn't really trying for it, just trying to take care of this body, this blessed Mama body, this giving body. So it can do more great things

Confessions of a 20-something wife and mother

1) I sincerely like to cloth diaper. Perhaps an odd amount. And I can't really pinpoint why. All the options? The way a little baby bum looks swaddled in cloth? The cheapness? The feel of a clean, fresh diaper straight out of the dryer? Sweet wool longies? Clean covers drying on the countertop? I am not sure... but I am addicted.

2) My kids are really awesome people. Seriously. They are highly entertaining. Like right now, Isaac is sitting next to me drawing food on the Magna Doodle for me to "eat". We have been doing this for a good ten minutes. Issy is playing dress-up (a white flower girl dress, Cinderella crown and shoes, a furry coat and she is holding her baby doll. And Liam just shut himself in their room and is probably getting into trouble ;)

3)And my children also drive me nuts. Each one of them at least once a day. There are times that I think that if they whine at me one more time I might spontaneously combust. It hasn't happened yet...

4)Before last December, I hadn't ever baked anything from scratch in my adult life. In my mind I had built up baking as this huge, tough thing. But I bit the bullet and it really wasn't so bad. Fun, even. Very tasty, definitely.

5)I have known my husband for 12 years, we have been together for 8 years and married for 6 years and he is still my best friend and there isn't anyone I would rather spend time with. He is an amazing Dad (I have never seen a man that is so at ease and patient with teeny tiny babies) and he puts up with my idiosyncrasies with minimal complaints. Amazing guy, he is.

6) Bodily fluids no longer bother me. I have cleaned up enough accidents, changed enough diapers and been with enough sick kids that very little grosses me out anymore. Dog poo is still yucky.

7) I really want to get a tattoo, but haven't found the "right one" (and am a bit chicken) so it hasn't happened yet. I don't want to get one just to get one and don't want to be hasty, so I suppose it will probably wait a few more years.

8) I had no idea 6 years ago when I was pregnant with Issy that being a parent would change me so drastically. Things that I didn't have any opinion about are some of my strongest held beliefs now. Becoming a mother has made me realize things about myself that I would not have learned in 50 years without my children.

Had a great week!

For the last week, Joe's Mom came to visit us. It was such a great week! It was pretty relaxed (well, as relaxed as you can ever get with my three kiddos around) and we invited Grammie to join in our life for a week. We did school in the mornings, did our afternoon "rests" and then took Grammie all sorts of fun places we go- the library, the hardware store, the pet store, the Emporium (where you can get the best Huckleberry ice cream ever!) the park. Then we would come home and play outside. It is so gorgeous here, the leaves are falling, it is in the 70's, just lovely. We loved having her come visit us and sharing what our days are like!

My dear husband replaced my camera, so I have some pictures of Mom's visit on there. In response to how he broke it.... good question ;) We aren't really sure. He took a very short overnight business trip to California a couple of weeks ago. He didn't want to take his camera (its a bit bulky) so I told him he could take mine. He didn't use it, it was wrapped in his clothes in this bag, but when I pulled it out, the casing was dented and was coming apart. I think it was someone at the airport having a bad day! But I (tentatively) like my new camera and it is good to have one again!

Had a great birthday! We all went to Idaho Falls (which is the "big city" compared to here!) and did a little shopping and went out to lunch. Had to get Issy some new jeans, she is getting so big and running out of hand-me-downs from her girl cousins. Size 6 (slim) jeans! I can't believe my little girl is starting to wear "big girl" clothes. As with most things about my children growing up, I can't quite articulate why this is strange for me. Perhaps because I remember my own mom buying my size 6 jeans? When did my little girl get so big? I digress! My birthday- we came home, Joe grilled some hotdogs, and we had the most delicious pie from Village Inn. It was really just a joyful day. 27 is looking good!

So now that my birthday has come and gone, we are looking forward to Isaac's birthday in a couple of weeks. He is really getting to be a big boy! He just gets sweeter and funnier every day. Such an imaginative little fellow. He was such a tricky infant, very intense, but those qualities are quite endearing now. His highs are very high and his lows are low. He is a bit of a spacey guy, unless he has something to focus on, then he is quite intent on what he is working on.

Alright, I am going for now, but I will try to update later with pictures!

Life is good! (and other stuff)

So my wonderful husband somehow broke my camera (which he has apologized profusely for and promised to rectify the situation) and so for right now, it is just going to be me. And any old pictures I can dredge up.

Things are going really well here! Compared to this time last year, when I was homesick, Joe was working a ton for Crazy Boss, Liam was ill every couple of weeks and very high- maintenance, and things were generally kinda miserable, life is about 100% better. I love the autumn! The crisp fall air is here, the leaves are turning all shades of yellowy orangey redish gold. In a couple of weeks, I think we will have enough leaves to rake and jump in the piles (which is pretty exciting since we didn't ever have enough leaves to do this in our Kansas house).

I am working at the yarn shop on Saturdays which is super relaxing, a chance to sit and knit, to talk to people about yarn and all the beautiful things they could make with it, and a chance to put aside some money for Christmas. Which is good since Issy has decided she really really really would like an American Girl doll (one of the little neighbor girl's has one) from Santa. She brings it up at least once a day, often more.

So my 27th birthday is coming up. Whoa, 27. I am not quite sure why 27 seems like a big deal, compared to say 25 or 26. Perhaps it is because it is all that much closer to 30. Hmmm, I don't feel quite like I should be pushing 30. In my mind, I am still this 21 year old newlywed. But I have lived a lot of life in the last few years. Since 2000, I graduated,went off to college for a year, decided that wasn't my thing and to come back, my mother passed away, got married, had a baby, had another baby, had yet another baby, moved 1,100 miles.... hardly time to breathe! It has been good, very good, though. And I don't mind getting older, sometimes I just forget it is happening. Time goes by so quickly now!

Alright, it is almost time for "school". Until next time!

A visit from Uncle Matt

We got the chance to have Joe's brother out here for almost a whole week with us recently! It was lovely to get to spend time with him since we haven't really been able to- we moved shortly after he got ordained. The kids loved spending time with their Uncle :) Here are some pictures from his visit:

I took him to the other side of the mountain one day (and bless his heart, he endured the car ride with our three littles!) These are a couple of shots of the Tetons from the Jackson side.

The kiddos helped him put his things away after he said Mass for us. How special!



Just a little stroll in the woods