4th of July Weekend!

WOW! What a great weekend we had! It was very funfilled and entertaining! It all started by waking up on the 4th of July and heading over to the Blackfoot Airport to meet up with one of our really good friends, Josh Miles, who was flying in from Rexburg. He was so kind to take Scott and I for a plane ride. I had never been in a little plane before, in fact, I have only flown twice in my life. It was a thrill! We went up and flew over our house and found a couple other ones and then he did a trick called the "belly jiggler". It was so crazy. The only thing I can compare the feeling to is the "Rocket" at Lagoon. You are up in the air and somehow you get the plane to feel like it just shuts off and then you just start free falling. It was so fun! Thanks so much Josh! I had a blast!

When I landed, Austin wanted to sit in the plane for a moment. We let him know what it feel like to sit in a plane.

Austin thought it was the coolest thing!

Then it was Scott's turn! He flew back to Rexburg with Josh and had a great time. It was nice for them to chat and have some time together before Josh left for dental school. Thank you so much, Josh! That was incredible! Good Luck in school! We will miss you guys!

Later that day we had an extended Kesler family reunion at my Grandpa's house. It was a good time. We played in the backyard and visited with everyone trying to catch up on eachother's lives. Austin and the rest of the kids (and some adults) had a great time on the slip-n-slide.

It took Austin a while to get used to the slide, so he would just run down it for awhile!

Grandpa Kesler finally got him to slide down on his tummy! Great job Dad!

Bostin Kesler (My nephew) and Will Jackson (my cousin's little boy) a.k.a. the underwear boys (they were sliding just in their underwear) were loving the slip-n-slide especially with the ski rope.

Later that night, the fireworks got pulled out and the kids were loving the sparklers.

Right after this sparkler went out, Austin grabbed the part that had been on fire. He was hurting for a little while, but got over it pretty fast and wanted another one.

It was great to be among so much family because Koen was passed around like crazy.

Watching the Blackfoot firework show. Can you tell that Koen and I are so tired?

Saturday we went with my family to Jensen's Grove (the local lake) and had a great time being in the sun, playing in the water, and visiting. Scott had his first ski run of the year and did a great job.

He did awesome and it was really fun to watch him!

Belle (my niece), Kelsi (my sister), Jordan (my brother), and Austin

And this is Addison (my niece). She was so funny! We gave her this apple and she was going to town on it. Great face Jordan! We had a great weekend! Thanks Scott and everyone else for such a great weekend!

First official camping trip of 2008

Two weekends ago, the Ulrich family all went camping for the weekend up in Heise. It was a great time and the weather was perfect. We loved being able to play in the sun, the dirt, riding 4-wheelers, and just hanging out as a family. It was a great time. We were able to celebrate Scott's mom's birthday while we were there. She loves to be camping on her birthday, so it has become a tradition to go this weekend and celebrate while we are there. We love to do it and always have a great time. Here are some pics from the occasion.

Koen was excited about his first camping trip!

The kids always love to sit on the 4-wheelers and pretend like they are driving. (Austin, Carsen, Kamdyn, Macie, and Makenzie)

Austin, Carsen, and Nate (Where in the world does Austin get those nostrils? I think I have a good guess)

Some super cute neices love taking pictures! (Kamdyn and Macie)

Austin checking out his competition. He is very competitive - can you tell?

Teaching Austin to go potty in the wilderness was a little more difficult than we thought it would be (even though there were trailors to go potty in). Thanks to Brady and Edee for providing the child potty. That sure was handy and very convenient.

Austin loves it when Scott takes him for a ride. He loves being with daddy!

Scott went fishing that Saturday morning with his dad and he caught a trout for his mom for her birthday breakfast that morning. She was so excited! Way to go, Idaho! (inside joke - sorry!)

Whenever one of the adults would go to get on a 4-wheeler, all the kids would run over and say, "I want a ride" and so we had many mini rides with as many kids as possible (Scotlyn, Austin, Carsen, Brady, and Makenzie)

These two are little buddies. It sure is fun to see them grow up together. They are almost 2 months apart. (Austin and Carsen)

Our first camping trip as a family of 4. WEIRD!

Koen

Austin

My super hot hubby!

Thanks Ulrichs for a great weekend. It was way fun!

Obsessed Much???

Austin has a bit of an obsession (I guess you could call it that.) He is also a little bit particular about how things need to be and how they are done. (I don't really know where he gets that from :) Lately he takes these cars with him everywhere. They are the Lego version of the cars from the movie CARS. When he takes them to bed, they have to be right by him and in a certain order and in a particular spot. They have to be lined up just right or else it just ruins everything. It is so funny how precise he is. If they are a little bit off, he has to fix it. It's so funny to see that in such a young little boy. He is pretty funny about it though, but then again it can be very irritating.

Happy Father's Day!

I just wanted to wish all the fathers a Happy Father's Day, especially Scott! He is such an amazing dad and I am so grateful I have him as the father of my children. He always knows how to make them smile and laugh and teaches them so well. He is such a good example to them seeing as Austin copies everything. He works so hard to take care of our little family and I am so grateful for that!

As you can tell, the boys love to be with him. Scott is the first thing Austin asks for when he wakes up and before he goes to bed and they both light up with Scott comes in the room. He is such a good dad and I am so glad that he chose me to be with him for eternity. Thanks so much Scott for all you do. You are amazing and I love you so much! Happy Father's Day!!!

Koen's Weapons!!!

Koen has two teeth that he uses all the time as some pretty ferocious weapons. He loves to chew on everything now. He chews on his fingers so much that Austin has picked up the habit as well. He is pretty miserable some of the time because I think his top two teeth are coming in as well. He is still a pretty happy baby and a real joy to have in our home.

Koen's First Rice

Well, we finally braved the rice feeding. We have been putting if off because of his RSV and asthma and what not. We actually started on his 6 month birthday (May 30th). He did really good. He took to the rice really well. Here are a couple of pics of the occasion.

First bite - huh - pretty good stuff! Doing really well!

Not so sure. . .

He has had enough!

Afternoon feeding went really well. He finished the whole bowl!

A week later we introduced Peas - wasn't quite sure he like it.

We survived the peas! But doesn't want anymore EVER!

All in all - we made it and Koen loves food!!!

Potty Training + Babysitting = Bad News

Well, here it goes, my first blog ever! Katie refused to write this story down and I thought it was great and that we needed to share it. That and Katie threatened to kill me several times if I didn't post this. Don't worry fellas, I am still officially a non-blogger. Today, I am only fullfilling my duties as last years winner of the "Husband of the Year Award" and will only do this when my wife asks me to, so here we go:
The other day a couple of my young men came to me asking to have a chance to babysit Austin. I told them that they could and to come over that weekend while Katie and I went to dinner. Of course I made sure that their parents were home and ready to help just in case something bad happened, but it's just Austin and Koen, how bad could it be? Right? Before we left we gave them all the instructions and told them that Austin was starting to use the "big boy potty" and to help him if he needed it. Well, Katie and I really enjoyed dinner and it was great to get away from the boys for a couple of hours. Just as we were pulling into the drive way we got a phone call. Of course, the babysitters claiming they had a serious problem. We walk inside to find Austin with a new pull-up in his hands saying repeatedly "I don't want a cold shower, I don't want a cold shower" (never a good sign). Apparently Austin had to go to the bathroom why we were out. Well, he was a little late getting to the bathroom and Katie and I in the past have been rinsing off his poopy bum with not so warm water to help motivate him to go in the potty. So........... in order to avoid the cold shower, he decided to transport the evidence to the toilet to recieve a fruit roll-up instead (smart kid, gets that from me). Well, he wasn't as coordinated as he needed to be with it (gets that from Katie) and ended up smearing it all over his hands, the toilet and the floor. Trying to clean his hands off, he got more on our bath mats, his legs, arms, and face (apparently that crap was hard to clean up). Unfortunately we didn't take the time to take a picture, but the experience was priceless. Worst news, however, is that we have two more people out there that are unwilling to babysit our son ever again. Oh well, Austin is a champ and is doing great. Since that day he has never pooped in his pull up. We are coming up on three weeks. This week he is in "big boy cars underwear" and we are hoping for the best. Way to go Austin - you da man!