September 2009

As usual, we have been busy. Here are a few high-lights from September.

After living in our house and walking on a lawn full of thistles for four months we felt like it was time to have some grass. Both Levi and Chin Chin love it!



Mommy got to have a break this month. I went to Time Out for Women up in Logan, UT. Poor Josalyn got the flu again while we were visiting at Mom's house.

"Sheesh!"


Chin Chin took her first trip to the groomers, and we couldn't stop giggling about how cute she looked!

Later in the month we drove down to the Denver area for Uncle Ben and (now) Aunt Sarai's wedding. As an extra treat for the kids we visited the Denver Zoo with Grandma Tippets.

The kids were quite stylish at the zoo as the donned cute little hats.


Levi LOVED the monkeys! He went right up to the gorilla behind the glass, bent over with his little muscles flexed and growled out, "Hulk SMASH MONKEY!!!!" This kid is all boy! And yes, I know the monkey in the picture is not a gorilla. I was laughing to hard to get a good picture of the gorilla.

The biggest event of the month was Uncle Ben and Aunt Sarai's wedding. Sarai looked beautiful, Ben looked handsome, and everyone had a great time. We are all SO excited that Sarai is a part of our family now. Good job Uncle Benny!

Sarai's hair was gorgeous!


The Cox side of the family.
The Rayback side of the family.
The kids found their own ways to stay entertained during family picture time. Thank goodness the reception location had a great lawn out back.

And then...we danced the night away. Little Levi stole the show when he had a circle formed around him and had everyone clapping as he wiggled his little booty!
I had to make sure this picture was added.Grandpa and Grandma are such an inspiration and example of how good a marraige can be.



Grandpa Rayback and Adele.

Whew! What a month!

Congratulations Girls!

As an extra homeschool activity the girls entered the local banks, "Through the Eyes of A Child" photo contest. To our surprise all three of the girls won ribbons. Katey and Alyssa both won Honorable Mention ribbons, and our little Josalyn won 3rd place (and a savings bond) out of the whole competition! Josy's picture was picked out of about 150 photos. YEAH GIRLS!!!

Josalyn's prize winning photo of a soccer statue in our field

Alyssa's photo of Chin Chin

Katey's photo of Levi kissing a statue outside Town Hall

A gust of August...

Whew! Is anyone else wondering where this summer has gone to? If time keeps moving at this rate, I'm going to be 75 before I know it.

Derren and I began Aug. with an over-night fishing trip. Our party caught 50 fish. I know that sounds sissy-ish to my Alaskan friends, but I'm pretty proud of the bunch we captured.





One of the high-lights of this month was when Andrea (a.k.a. Emmett) Oliver came up to visit. The kiddos loved her and I had fun taking a stroll down memory lane with her. Andrea and I sure had some good times together.


Shortly after Andrea left, Josalyn decided to cut her own bangs, and for some reason I decided now would be a good time to treat Josalyn to a hair cut at the "beauty shop." I think the final results are pretty cute.

This month we studied ancient New Zealand history in homeschool. The girls decorated themselves like Maori warriors.


Yesterday, we returned home from UT. While we were in UT we visited the Taylors, went to the Salt Lake Parade of Homes, were able to see Uncle Benny, stayed over at Mom's, and met little Baby Reagan for the first time.

Everyone agrees that Reagan is very VERY cute!


As you can see, Katey took most of the pictures at the Parade of Homes.

Uncle Benny flew in for the fun, and made it just in time to see all the kiddos come down with a nasty case of food poisoning.
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These photos are some fun pics. I took at my mom's house.<

Happy 2nd Birthday Levi!

It seems as if time has sped up with each child. Levi turned 2 today, and I'm having a hard time believing it has been that long since he joined our family. The last two years have been filled with many hugs, kisses, and love for our little guy. He is
the best surprise our family has ever had.

Levi is a fun little 2 year old. He has outgrown his Mama's boy syndrome (for the most part) and loves to play with friends, go to nursery at church, and explore outside. He is incredibly friendly and will say "Hi Grandma/Grandpa" to anyone who looks like they'd fit the part. Levi enjoys searching for bugs and then squishing or - I hate to admit - eating them occasionally. Levi's current obsession is the Hulk. He'll walk around growling the words, "Hulk smash!" as he bends over and flexes his little arms. He has a set of Hulk gloves which he enjoys "smashing" his family members with. Levi loves balls, especially "basketbowls" and "soccerbowls" and all animals. He is a little maniac when it comes to swimming. When water is around, fear is not a part of his vocabulary. Levi will jump right in, submerge himself completely, and then come up sputtering and laughing. His favorite foods are "chocate," "go-go" (yogurt), and "eyecream." His favorite songs are Michael Jackson's, "Beat It," "Boo Boo Boo," "Do-Re-Me," and "The Bones Song." We love to hear Levi sing, especially when he is performing a Levi opera.

We went to the Ridgeway Reservoir today to celebrate Levi's birthday. We swam, enjoyed icees, and played with our new puppies. Happy birthday Levi, we love you!!!

His and Hers...

We would now like to introduce you to Athena Tippets (a.k.a. Derren's dog). Athena is a Great Dane and is welcomed warmly by those who feel Chin Chin is a little too girly.