Eli's Project

Eli's school had a science fair and because he is in ALPS, his entire class participated.  I was so proud of him to come up with the ideas, methods and plans.  Jared worked on the protocol and I helped him write it and bring it together. 

We started with a honey oil and asked Eli if it would sink or float in water.  He guessed that because of the thickness, it would sink. 

We tested cornstarch, oil and honey oil for viscosity (timed it in a funnel) and then weighed each liquid.  He learned that weight was an indicator for liquids floating, not viscosity.  What made me so proud was that he did it and was interested.  He did argue with the writing, but he did it!

Practicing Reverence

Growing up, when we would misbehave our parents would make us practice when we got home. They would keep adding minutes each time we misbehaved.  It is a really good punishment because it puts power in the kids hands and allows them to stop their behavior if they don't want more time.  I decided to use it too.  Here are Riley and Eli doing just that.

Love that Shark! And my Morgan

I just love this Shark vacuum.  I eliminated a portion of the attachment to make it just her size and she loves it.  This is a very good thing because she gets to clean up her cereal mess with it and help out mommy.

Happy Birthday/Father's Day Grandpa!

For Grandpa's birthday, we bought blank canvasses and each kid painted them for him.  He was supposed to come home for his birthday and Aunt Gayle's funeral, but he ran into issues with scheduling a flight and he couldn't come.  He did come to Utah for Father's day and so we gave it to him then.

Granola

Riley loves granola and loves to help me make it.  While we were making it, I was on the phone with Grandma and Grandpa and Riley kept going on about how wonderful granola is. Also, the apron on Riley was made by her grandma and I have one just like it.  Morgan doesn't have one and so I found a pink one and made it fit for her tiny toddler stature. She loved it and she loved helping too, or picking through the granola with licked fingers.

Laundry Day!

I am behind on laundry and I don't think I will catch up for a few years.  As you can see, Baby is wearing the end of his wardrobe.  I had to pull something that was too small to fit him because he is out of clothes.

This is a Good Thing!

My sweet little girls have learned to clean the toilet and they love to do it. This is a good thing, this is a very good thing!

Photo Shoot!

Mickey is 3 months old now! My has time flown, I can't believe he is that old already. He is starting to get baby chub and has such soft skin. I sure love this little guy!

I don't know about Mickey, but I sure had fun taking these pictures.  I trying things out in natural light.  They sure turned out great.  Also, the blanket was my brother Jason's when he was a baby.  It was made by my Father's Aunt Judy.

Eli Finally has a Brother

He may have jumped the gun, but he was so excited to play Legos with his little brother.  He can't grab yet, so we let him in the Lego room to play.  Eli is so happy to finally have a brother.

Goodbye Rachelle!

Rachelle is leaving on a mission to Sacramento California.  She will be leaving in a few days and graced us with her presence for a few days because she will miss my little ones, especially the littlest one of all, Mickey. When she gets back, he will be the size of Morgan.

First Photoshoot

I had a great time taking pictures of this little guy. He did not like it at first, because he was hungry.  After I fed him, he was a little trooper and let me take more pictures.  I guess he better get used to it, because I am a little shutterfly.
We were trying to take them in natural light, next to a window.  It was a little bright for him and so his eyes are closed for many of them. I still love the pictures, since he is only two days old!

Michael is Born

Welcome to the world Michael!

This is Michael Allen Koyle. He was born January 21st, weiging 7 lbs 10 oz.  He is my biggest, by not so much.  All my babies were 7 pounders and all were short deliveries, but this was my shortest and it should have been even shorter.  I went into the hospital at a 6 dilated and after two hours of labor, they broke my water, I was almost ready within an hour, but the doctor wasn't in yet and so I decided to get an epidural.  I was thinking that if she took too long, then I couldn't last that long without an epidural.  So, after I was dialated to a 9, I got one.  The entire labor was 3.5 hours and would have been shorter if I hadn't gotten the epidural.  I really could have made it without, but I remember thinking, why not, they were made so we could have comfort and a better experience.  I will never get another epidural again.  For months following, It hurt in the location that I got the epidural everytime I stretched, arched or reached for anything.

Anyway, enough about that, here are some amazing pictures of his first few moments that Jared was able to capture and I will cherish always.

Here is our beautiful family finally meeting our Mikey.  To say they love him is an understatement.  Riley made up a new song about being welcome to the family.  Morgan kept calling him "Baby Ours." Eli kept asking why we didn't name him Ethan. He did love him no matter what he was named.

Here are some shots that I just took of my precious baby and a shot of Daddy and Micheal sleeping.  Also, the hospital provided a special celebratory meal for me and Jared.  It was amazing.

Morgan's Surgery

Morgan was born with her left eye slightly crossed. After a year of waiting to see if it would fix itself and going to specialist to monitor it, he advised us to have bilateral eye surgery.  He went in and nicked the muscles in each eye.  The prognosis is typically 70 percent because eye sight is very neurological.  Needless to say, we were nervous for her to go under the knife and so we prayed and asked family members to pray and fast also.  The surgery went exactly text book.  The results were even better.  The first day she was groggy and tired as expected. The second day, it was like she was twice the toddler.  Being 9 months pregenant and a BUSY toddler, I could not keep up with her.  Finally, she could see and it was like she had a whole new world. She was falling less, she was into everything, but the best party was looking into her beautiful eyes and knowing that she can see me.