Through the snow, up hill both ways...

Last Sunday Jake, Geronimo, Henry and I drove up to the Uintas and chopped down some trees. Two to be exact- dead ones. You know that old saying about a tree falling in the woods? Yeah, it's amazing that you can't hear that in the city. I swear that's about the loudest noise ever. Gathering wood is usually pretty fun in my opinion. I like chainsaws. And axes. And wearing my Carhartts. I also like Jake in a pair of Carhartts, with a chainsaw, and his big beard. I'm getting sidetracked... So, getting firewood=fun. Getting firewood with two babies in tow=lame. Gmo was napping when we arrived, so it started out well. I was able to help Jake a bit. I just put Henry in the backpack and did what I could. But when Gmo woke up my task became making sure he didn't die. Gathering wood is not a task to do with children. Big things, i.e. trees, can fall on them. Chainsaws kick- I'm sure if I was clever I could come up with some sort of pun for that. Luck for you, I'm not clever. They can swallow bad things, get attacked by wild animals (Honey badger don't give a sh**!), or get run over by stupid "campers" on OHVs. Lame. So Jake was pretty much on his own after that. As the sun started to go down and there was still a ton of wood to cut and load, I relegated poor Gmo to the carseat with some crayons and a coloring book, loaded Henry on my back, and did what I could. That last sentence sucked. I didn't party all the way through college. I promise. And I inhaled, but just a little. Promise.
Here are some pictures of our exciting wood gathering expedition.

 Don't I look like I work hard?

 The fruits of our labor. I mean Jake's labor.

 

7 months

Guess who is 7 months!?!?!

This guy!! He is the happiest baby ever. He loves his mama. Loves to grab his dada's beard and give it a good tug. Loves to watch his brothers. LOVES to nurse and cuddle. He cut his first two teeth several weeks ago and it barely bothered him. He is super ticklish and I loves me a ticklish baby- especially ticklish chubby little legs. As you can tell by the picture he is a huge fan of the bouncer. He even walks himself out and swings back, giggling the whole way. The bouncer gives him a good view of all the activity in the house. Sometimes I can see the little cogs turning while he's watching Gmo tearing around the house. It's like he's thinking "someday soon I'm gonna do that". 

Someday buddy, but take your time. Your mama is barely keeping up with little Gmo. Speaking of Gmo, now that he's in bed it's time to clean. Hooray.  

First day of school! First day of school!

So here are the poses. Isaac is so so so so so so so excited for school this year. Isaac gets to learn to play the violin, hence the case, and gets a locker. Seriously, I didn't get one of those until I was in the 7th grade. Isaac gets to ride the bus (don't ask me why that is exciting). 

I teared up a little as Isaac was walking onto the bus. I just can't believe how much Isaac has grown. What a cute kiddo. 

G.I. Jachel

This is a shout out to my aweso husband. I've been bugging him for a long time to make me a pull up bar. For those of you who don't know I'm just slightly obsessed with crossfit. I've been going to Heber Valley Crossfit since May and I LOOOOOOVE it. Tasha and Carli are amazing trainers.They really know how to keep you motivated and keep the WODs interesting.
Back to the bar. Apparently it's made from a stabilizing crossbar off an '80's 2WD Toyota pick up and some scrap medal from the barn. My husband is a Toyota fanatic. No joke. We have house full of  Toyota 4wheeling mags to prove it. He's also somewhat of a ih8mud superstar (that is a Toyota website where you post all the awesome sshtuff you do to your rig). His friend Tom was going to make a bumper sticker for his FJ40 that said "Yes, I know Jake". That is how super cool my husband is.
Back to the bar again. It's awesome. Honestly, how can a pull up bar that's covered in grease and welded together not be super awesome. Do I feel like a badass? Yes I do.

A pic of one of the welds

The whole bar and a not so bad pic of our driveway.
Jake made this bar on the same day that I did my very first unassisted pull up. Hooray!
Now I just have to work on being able to do more than one.

My Dear Grandma B,

I miss you. Our last visit you told me not to be sad, that you were going to your honeymoon in paradise. I know that you are happy to be reunited with your husband, whom you have been separated from for over three decades. But I am still sad that you are not here. I will miss our card games. I will miss our long talks. I will miss you singing to me and to my babies when we leave. I will miss your snort at the end of your laugh and the way you put salt on everything- including watermelon. I will miss you blessing the food before we eat.

Even though we are of different faiths, I will always respect how dedicated you are to yours.You left this world with dignity and on your own terms. Despite never claiming it yourself, you are a strong woman Grandma B. Your daughters and granddaughters are a testament to that.

Your celebration was beautiful, just like you planned it. Enjoy your honeymoon in paradise, but please forgive me the tears I shed for your departure. I selfishly thought you would live forever-the same way you thought I would always stay little. We grow up, we die. But you will not be forgotten. I will cherish all the wonderful lessons you taught me. I will laugh when one of my boys turns the sprinkler on in my face (*wink*). I will put my family first. I love you... a bushel and a peck.

Your loving granddaughter,
Rachel

TA da da da!! The new blog!

Sooo.....
it's been a while. I've had two babies since my last post on my old blog. It has been pretty crazy. There is definitely too much to type, so I'll give you, my dear blog reader person (of whom there are probably 5), the quick picture version with a short synopsis.
Isaac is now 10 and growing more and more everyday. He is awesome with his brothers (Gmo idolizes him), currently enjoying sports camp, and loves to dance dance dance. Isaac's obsession is the Titanic (both the movie and the actual ship). He can tell you all the details of the horrible event and has all the lyrics of that horrid song by Selene Dion on our ipad. Isaac is a lover of all things furry, is sensitive and caring and an all around good kiddo.
Geronimo (aka Gmo, Mo, Gpants, don't throw that at your brother!) is two and is our little parrot. That's not so great when someone cuts me off in the car, but otherwise it's super cute. He currently rocks a surfer boy bun with his curly blonde hair and loves loves loves balloons! His favorite saying currently is "it's mine"! He loves to give kisses to baby Henryhank and keep me on the run.
Henry is six months. He is my little observer. Henry is probably the best baby in the whole whole whole world. He rarely cries, and loves to cuddle and nurse. He tolerates just about everything his toddler brother dishes out. Henry is trying to figure out the crazy world of crawling- he had rolling down. He is my little love bug with the cutest little giggle.

Henry with one of the coolest pits in the world

 Gmo loves to get air!

 The two little boys in diapers

 My sweet Isaac with trouter troutface dog paws

 Goose the wienersnout (currently on probation at Grandma's)

 Isaac's 10th celebration. Absolutely fabulous!

Me and the beardguy