Recently, we decided that Cohen was big enough to "graduate" to a big boy bed. We found one at Ikea (my favorite store) and promptly fell in love with it. Apparently, a lot of other people fell in love with it also, because it took two trips to Ikea before they had the bed in stock. Here are some pictures of the fun time we had putting it together.


Here is all the stuff required to build this bed. That box was so heavy!

Instructions are for people who don't know what they're doing. That is why I always use them!

Cameron was a great helper despite the obvious lack of enthusiasm.

Almost done. Just need to attach the slats that will hold the mattress.

I'm a big kid now!

Finished product! Mom built most of the bed and dresser by herself. Cohen even has a little "hideout" underneath. He has already had a picnic with a brother and reading time with mom under there.

This is the coolest bed EVER!!! And it's all mine!

Fall Leaves

Last week, I received a phone call from a neighbor who lives up the street. Brother Williams is an older gentleman who advised me that the leaves in his yard were raked into a pile and I could bring the boys up anytime to play in them. So the boys and I went up the street and played for a while. Then we got some big bags and cleaned up our mess. The boys had a great time and did a little service too. Way to go boys!


Carter and Cohen playing in the leaves and having a great time.

Mom took this picture laying in a pile of leaves.

See how cute I am! Take my picture!

The 3 Musketeers and some weird kid puckering his lips.

One cute toddler! This was only the second time he's ever played in leaves and he loves it.

Go Big or Go Home!

Cameron has had a few "mishaps" over the last few weeks. Here are a few pictures to explain what happened.
Warning: A few of the pictures are kind of gross!

This is a black eye Cameron received from a friend a school. They were goofing off, slamming each other in the shoulder and the friend's head hit Cameron's eye. Result: very beautiful black eye.

Cameron was running to catch me after swim practice because he thought I didn't see him and was leaving him and he ran into a sign at the fitness center. Ran right into the edge of the sign and sliced his head up nice.

This is a close-up of the cut. The white part in the middle of the cut is his skull!

This is what it looked like after the stitches. The nurse practitioner who put the stitches in did an amazing job. She had a really nice, straight cut to work with also.

Cameron only needed to have the stitches in for 5 days. This is what the cut looked like after the stitches came out. He will definitely have a scar but hopefully with some good after-care (he has to make sure he wears sunscreen on it for a year anytime he's in the sun), it will not be too noticeable.

First Day at Monticello

The boys are attending a new school this year, Monticello Academy. It is a charter school near our home. We have quite a few friends whose children attend and they all say what a great school it is. The boys have a "uniform" they are required to wear. Here are a few pictures of their first day.
Mom likes the uniforms because it makes getting ready in the morning much easier. The boys aren't really that crazy about it. I think they look so handsome!

Too cool for school! Watch out girls, here comes Cameron!

Another sharp looking boy. I think Colby is going to love his new school!

Carter looks so nice in his uniform. He told me on the first day that he was going to make an army of new friends.

For those of you who don't know, I had bunion surgery on both of my feet about 7-8 years ago (Colby was crawling for my left foot and just walking for my right foot). Well, there was a pin in my left foot about halfway down to hold the bone in place where it was supposed to be. Recently, June 26 to be exact, this pin decided it no longer wanted to be part of my foot (the pin was supposed to stay in my foot indefinitely). Here are some pictures of it's journey out of my foot.

This is what my foot looked like with the pin trying to get out. Kind of like a big zit on the side of my foot. The only shoes I could wear were my Teva sandals.

This is my foot all wrapped up after I returned home from having the pin removed. It only took about 30 minutes for them to remove it and I was awake but really numb.

Here are the stitches. There were only three of them. We took the gauze off while I was at Girls Camp. I just had to keep a bandaid on it.

The star of the show! This is the pin they removed from my foot. It's an inch long and has a very sharp point on one end. I'm so glad it's out of my foot and I can wear flip flops again!

Girls Camp 2009: Heber Valley

This post is going to be about the mom and the awesome time she had a Girls Camp last week. We went to Heber Valley camp this year. It's in the mountains east of Heber, Utah and it is run by the LDS church. It is a dedicated area and they call it the "temple without walls". It was gorgeous! The girls left Monday, August 3 and returned on Friday, August 7. I wasn't able to go up until Tuesday because I was having a pin removed from my foot from my bunion surgery 8 years ago. The girls had such a great time and were able to do a lot of fun things that we usually don't do. There was a challenge course and a lake they were able to canoe on. We also stayed in cabins while we were up there which was really nice on Wednesday when it rained on us. Here are a few pictures of the great time we had. Hope you enjoy them!

This is the inside of the scout trailer before they left on Monday morning. It seemed like there was a lot more gear for the girls this year. Probably because we made sure everyone had something soft to sleep on.

Making t-shirts. This was just one of the crafts we brought for the girls to do. We had a lot of ward time.

Beads, beads, and beads! This is the girls' favorite craft to do at camp. They made bracelets and earrings this year.

Their other favorite pasttime at camp is doing each other's hair. There were some interesting hairstyles walking around this year.

The great and spacious building on the hill above the lake. I guess some bishop lives there and it has like 14 bedrooms and 20,000+ sq. ft.

Girls on the lake. No one tipped over which was good because that water was gross. This is Dora Nielson, Serena Woodhouse, and Alyssa Swett.

E'owyn Jorgenson, Kristan Nielson, and Janae Mills. Don't they look good!

Rachel Taylor in the front of the canoe. What a leader!

Chandra Marshall in the pink shirt. She was riding with some friends from another ward.

Mabby Jordan, Samantha, and Cassidy Mills. They are working hard.

Aubree Davis, Alexa Jordan, and Becca Mills. Three of our awesome Laurels.

Lynsay Carter, our camp director and fearless leader, and her niece Samantha. We did this a lot at camp this year. We were always laughing!

There was a sandbox by the lake. Becca and Aubree were building a giant sandcastle.

Brother Hess and Brother Lems on visitors night.

The whole gang right before we left to come home. What a great bunch of girls and leaders!

Family Vacation 2009- Waldport, Oregon

Well, here are some pictures from our recent vacation to Oregon. We had a great time and were able to see lots of fun and interesting things while we were there. We also had a wonderful time visiting with my mom and dad, a.k.a. Grandma and Grandpa Mallen. They spoiled us while we were there. The boys have been asking when we are going back to visit again. We will have to see when the mom and dad are ready to drive that far with 4 boys again.

Packed and ready to head out from the house in Hermiston.

The whole gang at Seal Rock, right before we got to Waldport.

Cameron and Colby playing on the beach on a very foggy 4th of July.

Don't they look handsome all dressed up for church at the Waldport Branch.

The boys at Smelt Sands in Yachats. There were a bunch of huge rocks and cool blowholes.

We put them in the tank at the Oregon Coast Aquarium.

Carnage at the crab place in South Beach. It was so yummy, Cohen even ate some!

This is how we kept Cohen entertained during the trip!

Staircase and the Yaquina Head Lighthouse. 114 steps to the top.

Lighthouse as seen from the Sea Lion Caves.

Tillamook Cheese Factory. Wall-to-wall people!

This truck was in the parking lot at Tillamook.
Swiss license plate...do you think they drove here?

Smallest harbor in the world; Depot Bay, Oregon.

Beautiful Mt. Shasta on our way home from Oregon.

The view from our hotel room in Reno.