Here is the link for Adriana and Madison's pictures:

http://bethgrahamphotography.com/duvall6.23.08/index.htm

Unfortunately it looks like we didn't get any of Adriana's cat pose. Let me know what you think.

Adriana's photo shoot

One of the things that Adriana wanted for her birthday was to get her picture taken. So yesterday I finally got around to having her picture taken. She had such a great time. She loved every minute of it. She kept giving the photographer ideas on how she could pose. Some of her ideas were a little off the wall like when she wanted to pose like a cat and so she laid on the ground and pretended to be drinking out of a bowl. I am hoping that I will have the proofs tomorrow and I will post them for your enjoyment.

Crazy Pieper Moments

A couple days ago Pieper got mad at Harrison and said, "Fine then I'm not your favorite." Harrison was crushed!

Pieper is really big into saying the blessing on the food and she actually gets angry when anyone else says it. So yesterday Jeff was helping Pieper bless the food and I guess she wasn't closing her eyes so Jeff said Pieper close your eyes. So Pieper says, "Bless that Pieper can close her eyes."

Roasting Marshmallows

Jeff's cousin Brittney's husband Mark (that's a mouth full) made the best fire ever. He's a firefighter and he must know his stuff because some how he built a smokeless fire. It was amazing because none of us smelt like smoke after sitting around the fire for over an hour. Needless to say, Parker and Harrison had a great time helping Mark get the fire started and thoroughly enjoyed throwing the branches on the fire. Pieper didn't enjoy the fire very much because she said it was "too hot." Everyone enjoyed roasting marshmallows and making smores. Abby, my sister-in-law Michelle's daughter, had a little to much fun and kept getting a little too close to the fire. She loved to burn the marshmallows off her stick.

Horseback Riding

Jeff was a good sport and went for an hour horse ride with the kids. He wasn't too excited about it because he is terrified of horses (I think it has something to do with a bad memory from his childhood) but like a good father he did it anyway. Harrison and Parker wanted to go on the half day ride but we convinced them that an hour was enough (mostly because we didn't have a lot of time but also because it was $35.00 per person for just an hour ride). Adriana really surprised me and decided to go for a ride. I really thought she would be afraid but she had a great time. Pieper rode on the horse as well, which didn't surprise me because she is not afraid of anything. She just rode around (while the guide held onto the rope) while all the other people were mounting the horses. She didn't want to get off, which didn't surprise me either. All in all they had a great time and saw some great areas that they otherwise wouldn't have been able to see.

Pieper Family Reunion

This past weekend we had the Pieper family reunion and it was a lot of fun. It went from Thursday through Sunday but we weren't able to make it until Friday afternoon. We were hoping to leave Thursday around 5:00 pm but we didn't head out until 9:00 pm. Luckily we weren't going too far (Pocatello). We didn't arrive there until 12:30 am but it worked out because the kids were tired so they slept the majority of the time.

We were so worn out the following morning so we "slept in" until 8:00 am and took our time getting there. We arrived in Island Park around 12:30 pm. I have to admit that I was a little skeptical about the sleeping arrangements because we had been told that we were going to be in a bunk house where everybody was going to be staying together. I was nervous that my kids would be too noisy at night and keep everyone awake but it wasn't bad at all.

We had a great time visiting with all the relatives and getting reacquainted with all the cousins and their kids, and aunts and uncles. There weren't a lot of planned activities, which allowed us to visit and have a great time just relaxing. The only problem was the dang mosquitos. Luckily my sister and brother-in-law thought to bring mosquito repellent, which they kindly let us use. The food was great and atmosphere couldn't have been any better.

We were about 45 minutes outside of West Yellowstone so we took a quick trip in and were able to hear some stories about Grandma Pieper while she worked there playing the piano.

I would have to say that the highlight of the trip was definitely seeing Grandma Pieper and how happy she was. She can't really talk anymore and she has a hard time seeing and hearing but she was so happy! Bekka, Jeff's cousin, stays and Grandma's house and takes care of her and she does such a wonderful job. I am sure it is a hard job but a rewarding one at the same time. Bekka got Grandma some sort of device that had headphones on it and makes it so Grandma can hear a lot better. It was amazing because it was obvious that she could hear what was going on and she was in the heighth of her glory. She is such a special lady and I am so glad that she was able to make it to the reunion and see her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren gathered around to spend time together.

Pieper kept going up to Grandma and taking her hand, which Grandma thoroughly enjoyed. Grandma would put Pieper's hand up to her mouth and kiss it. I am not really one to cry but it brought tears to my eyes because it was obvious how much she loved Pieper and how happy she was to be up there amongst her posterity. I am so happy that we were able to take time out of our busy schedule and spend the time with everyone. We had a great weekend and it was a lot of fun.

As I have gotten older I have realized more and more that there is nothing more important than family. I love spending time with my family and Jeff's family and I always look forward to the time that we can spend together. My family and Jeff's family are some of my best friends and I don't know what I would do without them.

I wanted to post this picture of my niece Kynli since her mother doesn't have a blog. We went to dinner a couple weeks ago at Los Hermanos with Jennifer, Creed, Kynli, my kids, and Jeff. When it was Kynli's turn to order she told the server that she wanted a taco with only cheese in it. The server thought that was a little strange but he did it any way and Kynli enjoyed her "cheese taco." She ate ever last bit of it.

Scouts, Scouts, and more Scouts

Harrison and Parker have been working so hard the past month on passing off scout things and it paid off on Pack Night when they were awarded several different badges (if that's what you call them), pins, and belt things (I don't know the technical name but it's whatever goes on the belts). As you can tell I don't have a clue about any of it and so they have had to do a lot of it with a wonderful neighbor of ours that loves scouts and is so gung-ho (sp?) about it. They were both so excited to walk up to the front and be presented with several different awards. When we got in the car after Pack Night they immediately began planning their next awards that they were going earn.

I am a little behind on my blogging because the past couple weeks have been so busy. I didn't think that adding the nursery to my list of jobs would make a whole lot of difference but I was definitely wrong. Don't get me wrong...I love to be busy but at times I feel like I am running in circles and not really getting a whole lot of anything done. Oh well, such is life:) Anyway...I am tired of working on business stuff and decided to sit down and post a few pictures and get caught up a little bit.

This is a picture of Madison a couple weeks ago when she had her second x-ray to make sure the pneumonia was gone. I wanted a picture of her face but I didn't dare ask the technician because she looked at me like I was so weird for even taking one of her. I guess she doesn't have a blog:) Madison did a little better the second time and she didn't start crying until the last minute. I showed the picture to Pieper and all she said was, "Hey, who took Madison's shirt off?" I was so relieved to find out that her pneumonia was better and that she wouldn't have to stay in the hospital.

Harrison has been working on getting his Weblos badge and one of the things that he had to do was help put the girls to bed for a full week. I have to say that this has been a wonderful week because we haven't had to worry about getting them in bed since Harrison has taken care of that for us. He is pretty good at it but last night he failed miserably. Adriana and Pieper were so wound up they wouldn't calm down. After one hour of laying down there with them Harrison decided to bag it and go in his room because he was so frustrated. Parker was already in bed asleep at that point. So at about 10:00 pm Adriana and Pieper come walking up the stairs. We asked them where the boys were and they told us that they were asleep. So I guess Adriana and Pieper ended up putting Harrison and Parker to bed instead of the other way around.

Last Saturday the kids decided to sleep out in the tent. The adventure started out with Harrison, Parker, Adriana, Pieper, Nate, and Whitney. We got them all bundled up and put all the pillows, sleeping bags, and blankets in the tent. About thirty seconds later Adriana came inside and said she was afraid so Harrison volunteered to come inside with her until she fell asleep. About two minutes after that Nate came inside and decided he wanted to go home so he left. One minute after that Parker, Whitney, and Pieper came inside to "get a drink." Then went back outside and then about two minutes later they came back inside and said that Pieper was afraid so they were going to sleep inside. So basically they were all scaredy cats and couldn't even last five minutes outside. At least I got some pictures before they all came inside:)

Harrison loves to tease Pieper, but in a loving way (most of the time). Some mornings she is okay with his teasing and she go along with him but some mornings she is not in the mood but Harrison doesn't quit. His favorite thing to say to her is, "Hi, my name is Pieper. What's your name?" Sometimes she'll answer him and say that she's Harrison but some mornings she freaks out and starts to argue with him that she's Pieper.

Yesterday Pieper got mad at Harrison and she said, "Fine then I'm not your favorite." It was funny because she seriously thought that was a punishment for Harrison. Harrison always asks Pieper, "Who's your favorite? Me, right?" She really showed him.

On Sunday morning I went to check on Pieper because she was being awfully quiet and this is what I found...She decided to rip up a whole role of toilet paper. I had to take a picture of her before she cleaned up, which she was more than willing to do (probably because she could tell I was upset).

First of all I want Kellye to take note that I changed the font. Second I am finally going to do the six random things about me since I have been tagged twice. They aren't that exciting because I couldn't really think of anything that random (at least I don't think it is).

1. I love to be busy...I mean really busy! I love to be so busy that I am almost ready to scream! It's such a good feeling at the end of the day when I feel like I have gotten a lot done.

2. I love lists. I make all kinds of lists and my favorite part about them is the fact that I can cross stuff off when they are done. Jeff tells me not to make lists because he thinks it will discourage me when I don't get all the things done on my list. I think he is secretly worried that I am going to put things for him to do on my list.

3. I don't like feet (except babies). They gross me out. I don't like people to touch me with their feet and I don't like to touch other people's feet. The weird thing is that I love to get pedicures.

4. I don't like people to grab my ankles or my knees. It makes me feel claustrophobic. So if you are looking to make me really mad just go ahead and try it but let me forewarn you that more than likely you will get punched.

5. I have a major fear of tripping or throwing up in front of a large crowd of people. I don't know why but I always worry about that when I have to get up in front of a bunch of people. I think it might have something to do with the fact that I had to give a talk when I was eight months pregnant with Parker and my leg fell asleep so I fell to the ground (on the stand). It was pretty embarrassing.

6. I don't like Disneyland, except to people watch. Most of the rides scare me (I know I'm a big baby) and I don't like waiting in line. (Example: I could not handle the Pirates ride, it scared me to death when we went down that little hill. I can't even handle the log ride at Lagoon.).

I took Madison in to the doctor on Friday because she had a little sniffle and she was a little bit fussy. Dr. Valdez said it looked like it was just a cold and to watch it and take her back in on Monday if it didn't get better. So today I decided to take her in again because she was still fussy and she started coughing a little bit and she wouldn't drink her bottle. I thought she might have an ear infection or a sore throat. I made an appointment for 6:30 pm and off I went to the doctor with Pieper, Adriana, and Madison. Pieper loves Dr. Valdez and wants to go every chance she gets. So he checks Madison's lungs and says that they sound okay but he wanted to do a chest x-ray just to make sure that they were clear. Adriana, Pieper, Madison, and I head downstairs for Madison's x-rays, which I was dreading because it is the saddest thing ever when a baby has to be x-rayed! The technician tells me to put Madison on this little apparatus that looks a bit like a saddle and her legs straddle it and hang down. I told Pieper that Madison was going to ride the horse for a minute and she was okay with that until the technician asked me to hold Madison's arms above her head so he could fasten a plastic surround around her little body. Madison was not pleased at all and she began to scream. Pieper started crying and kept telling me to take Madison off the horse because she was scared. Adriana got a little emotional as well (she has such a tender heart). I don't usually cry but I was on the verge because I felt so helpless. I knew that it needed to be done but I just wanted to rescue her and take her off the "mean horse" (as Pieper put it). Well to make a long story short...Madison has pneumonia. She has to take a prescription for a couple days and have breathing treatments 3-4 times a day and then on Thursday I have to take her back in to see Dr. Valdez to make sure it has cleared up. If it doesn't clear up we will have to hospitalize her for a couple days (so please pray for her). I took a picture of her while she was doing one of the breathing treatments but I didn't get a picture of her while she got her x-ray because I didn't have my camera with me.

Madison did not like the breathing treatment one bit. I don't really like it either because the medicine or mist that comes out of it makes me so dizzy!

On Saturday, May 31st, Parker was baptized and confirmed a member of the church. He has been looking forward to his baptism for such a long time! He was able to share his special day with his youngest sister, Madison, because she was blessed on the same day. Parker also had the privilege of being baptized on the same day as his best friend, Nate Perkins. Parker turned eight on March 23rd but Madison was too small to bless at that time and had really wanted to have her blessed on the day he got baptized (just like Pieper and Harrison). So we thought about doing it in April but we had General Conference and when Parker realized that Nate would be baptized at the end of May he decided to wait and do it at the same time. It turned out to be a beautiful day and we are thankful that we were able to share it with our family and friends.

Jeff had been working on a large job the night before and didn't have a chance to run through the sprinklers so he had to go early Saturday morning and make sure that the sprinklers were working so the new sod could get watered. At 9:15 AM I called Jeff and asked him who he wanted to baptize Parker because they were supposed to be at the church at 9:30 AM and I didn't think he was going to make it. He promised me that he would be home on time and somehow he was.

I don't think Parker stopped smiling the whole day. He loves attention and he got plenty of it that day! He is such a fun little boy and we love having him in our family. He always keeps things interesting around the house in more ways than one. He is a very sensitive little boy and is constantly aware of other people's feelings. He has a big imagination and loves to pretend. He is definitely all boy and loves every sport ever invented. He is fun to be around and we love him to pieces.

Madison was a little fussy up until the time she got blessed. I had her blessing dress made and the top half of the blessing dress was made out of my wedding dress. I had a lady that use to live in my old ward make it for me. She did a wonderful job and it turned out so beautiful. When I showed the dress to Adriana and told her that Madison was going to wear it for her blessing dress Adriana said, "Is she going to grow that much by Saturday?" I didn't understand what she meant at first but I quickly realized that she was referring to how long the dress was.

Madison is such a sweet little baby. She is always happy and loves to be held! She has such a fun personality and we are so happy to have her in our lives.

After the baptism and blessing we met at my house for some lunch. It was fun to visit with everyone and bask in the warm sun (unfortunately we haven't seen the sun since then).

Sorry Kellye I forgot to change the font on my most recent fonts. I'll stop by the store tomorrow and buy you a magnifying glass:)

I took Madison to the doctor today and she has caught her first cold. To celebrate this moment I am going to have a give away...just kidding. It's pretty sad because she is usually so smiley (is that even a word) but today she hasn't been that happy. She will randomly start crying and it takes a while for me to calm her down. She is not a cuddly baby and hates to be held down with her head in my arms (cradle position). She usually wants to be up and looking around but today she actually fell asleep in my arms (which I enjoyed very much). Hopefully it won't take long for her to get over it and return to her happy self.

A couple days ago I found the cutest bright pink purse and decided to buy it (since I'd had my blue purse for at least two months). I gave the blue purse to Adriana and switched everything over to my pink purse. Adriana was so excited to have a new purse and she immediately put all her little trinkets into it. A couple minutes later she came in and asked me if she could have my pink purse when I was done with it. I told her she could and didn't think anything else of it until today when she said, "When are you going to be done with your pink purse because I am just dying to have it." It's amazing how fast she is growing up!

I took the kids to get Arby's for dinner (don't worry Liz I didn't eat any of it) and on our way home Pieper kept saying that she wanted her Barbies. I kept telling her that when she got home she could play with her Barbies. She kept getting mad at me and saying that she wanted her Barbies. After a couple minutes I finally realized that she meant Arby's. She wanted her roast beef sandwich and not her Barbies.

The other day a few of us got together and had a lunch at Dani's house. We had a great time

visiting while the kids played in the water...from the drinking fountain. Dani set up a pool and I brought a sprinkler for them to run through but they were more fascinated with the drinking fountain. Kids are so easy to please it's amazing!

The other day Jennifer and I were working in the office and Creed came upstairs and kept telling us that he wanted to go outside. Jennifer tried to tell him that it was raining so he couldn't go out there but he didn't understand and started crying so she decided to let him go outside. She thought he might feel the rain and change his mind but obviously it didn't bother him one bit! He actually had a great time and didn't want to come back inside.

I need to do a little back blogging because I didn't ever post these pictures and Adriana really wants everyone to see what we did for her birthday. She decided that all she wanted for her birthday was to go to lunch, to go shopping, and get her pictures taken. It rained on her birthday so Jeff was able to join us in all the fun. Adriana picked where she wanted to eat and she chose Sizzler because she likes to eat off the salad bar. (Side note: Adriana has loved salad since she was about one year old) We ate lunch and then we went to the University Mall. She had a great time trying on clothes and shoes. We did pretty well and left with four pairs of shorts, two shirts, and three pairs of shoes. She got a pair of red wedge shoes that are her favorite because they look like "mom" shoes (whatever that means). It was fun to watch her pick out the clothes and look at herself in the mirror while she tried them on. She had a great time and so did I! We haven't had a chance to get her pictures taken yet but we have an appointment next week, which she is so looking forward to! She wants her hair straight so it will be "long and beautiful."

When we got home we ate dinner and then we had one more surprise for Adriana. She has been asking for a laptop like mine for over a year now. She was a little disappointed when Santa didn't bring her one this past Christmas. We put the laptop in a case and when she opened it up she screamed and got the biggest smile on her face (thanks McKell). She has had a great time with it. It has been a great learning tool for her because I can write words on a piece of paper and she will copy them on the computer. She loves to put her laptop right next to mine and "work" with me.

It's amazing how grown up she is. I can't believe that she is already five years old. I remember how excited I was when I found out that we were having our first little girl. She had Jeff wrapped around her little finger from the very beginning and she still does. She has such a tender heart and is very sensitive to other people's feelings. She is very fashion conscious and loves to put on makeup and wear jewelry. I feel like she is five going on sixteen. She is such a tease and loves to egg Parker and Harrison on. A couple months ago Parker went through a phase where he thought that Adriana or Pieper were going to be kidnapped so as soon as Adriana realized this she used it against him. She would hide behind doors or in closets and wait for Parker to realize that she was gone because she knew that he would get upset and think that she had been kidnapped. She would sit there for 15 minutes at a time just waiting for him to get upset. He would start crying and look all over the house for her. All of a sudden she would walk out and say, "Hey Parker how's it going?" Needless to say, Parker didn't think it was too funny! Adriana is always looking out for those around her. In pre-school she was very conscientious about what was going on around her and she was always trying to help the other kids when they were sad or upset. She was willing to give up whatever she had just so they would be happy.

We love her so much and we are so glad that she is a part of our family.

Jeff's Homemade Belt

Jeff came home from work the other day and showed me the belt he had made because he forgot to put on one in the morning and his pants kept slipping down. I laughed so hard when I saw that he had used a piece of wire to hold them up. Like the saying goes...desperate times call for desperate measures.

Six Random Things About Jennifer

I am going to do six random things about Jennifer since she doesn't have a blog and I can't seem to think of six random things about me right now.

1. Jennifer cannot stand to get up on even numbers. She sets her alarm for 7:37 or 7:47 but never 6:45 or 6:30. She even has to put an odd number on the microwave when she is warming something up because that bugs her too.

2. Jennifer has to put deodorant on about ten times a day because she worries that she is going to stink, even though she never has.

3. Jennifer has to have an even number of silverware in her dishwasher tray. It drives her crazy if there is an odd number. The other day Dustin was in the mood to tease her so he loaded the utensil tray with odd numbers and as soon as Jennifer saw it she had to fix it.

4. Jennifer can not stand to have any of Creed's sippy cups missing. She has to count them and make sure she knows where all of them are at all times. So if you want to tease her hide one and odds are she won't be able to sleep that night.

5. Jennifer cannot stand to leave her house unless everything is in perfect order and in it's place. It drives her crazy if things are not put away and in their place.

6. Jennifer is a great worker and I couldn't find a better person to help me in the office and with my kids. She is like a second mom to my kids. I think Jennifer was almost more relieved when Jeff and I decided that we are done having kids because she usually watches them when we leave town.

I have to admit that I am so glad that last week is over! It was such a crazy hectic week that by the time Saturday rolled around I was pretty well drained! It was nice to have a break on Saturday night and go with my sisters and some friends to dinner and a quick trip to the mall. Jeff stayed home with the kids (he even volunteered to watch Jennifer's kids) so I could go by myself. We ate at the Olive Garden, which was very yummy! It's always fun to visit and just get away for a little bit. We didn't get to stay at the mall for very long because we got there so late but most of us managed to find at least one thing to buy. We all had a great time and it was nice to have a night out with the girls.

Yesterday was such a special for our family because Parker got baptized and Madison was blessed. I will post some pictures later but I wanted to write something that Pieper said before I forget. We were waiting by the baptismal font for Jeff and Parker to come out and Pieper said, "Daddy's going to get in the 'ta-tub' (which translates into bathtub) but I'm not going to get in. I'm going to get baptized tonight." I was a little nervous that Pieper would jump into the font but luckily she didn't.