Funny things kids say and do...

#1 Steve to Shay: "Is that my little girl?"
Shay: "I'm not a girl"
Steve: "Are you a boy?"
Shay: "No, I'm a princess!"

#2 Kiana is peeling an orange when it squirts her. She points her finger at the orange and says," Did you just pee on me?"

#3 Steve was laying in bed and Shay came and stood next to the bed and leaned her head against it. Steve started playing with her hair while she stood there. All of a sudden she collapses to the ground. She had fallen asleep standing up and when she fell down she looked up at Steve like "What did you just do to me?"

Starring Kiana

Our shy timid little Kiana turned out to be quite the soccer player. This was her first year playing and oh how excited she was. She would ask everyday if she had practice or a game and when she first got her uniform she wouldn't take it off. The first game she was a bit shy, but soon went after the ball and she didn't stop the whole season. She could kick the ball really well and understood getting the ball away from the other team. She would dribble the ball down the field and make goals. She has a talent for soccer and we are excited to see it grow. We are so proud of you, Kiana.

Two medals, a trophy and a funfilled week...

What a great weekend and week we have had. Emma has been playing soccer for a few years now and we have loved watching her get better and better each year. She is great at scoring goals and this year we have seen her improve even more. Saturday was her last game for the season and though she is sad she does have a trophy to show for it. Grandma and Grandpa Wallace came down and were able to see what a great athlete she is, not just in soccer I might add.

Last year she told me she wanted to do a kids triathalon, so on Saturday not only did she play soccer, but she did a kids triathalon. We practiced several times over the last few months and when it came time for her to line up I just knew she was going to do great. I could tell she was nervous as she stood there quietly waiting for her turn. I stood at the end of the pool where she would swim and as she came down, jumped in the water and started swimming I was so choked up. I saw her swim from one end of the pool to the other and back and was just so proud that she had enough courage to do this race. I was able to help her transition to her bike and watch her ride away on her 1 mile ride. I couldn't see her the whole bike and I just wanted to know how she was doing and if she was nervous or scared. I stood there anxiously waiting for her to ride back in and when she did I ran and met her to help her hang her bike and take off her helmet. As she ran off for her 1/2 mile run she tucked her hair behind her ears in her cute shy way and I just about cried. The lady doing the announcing works for Steve so she knows Emma and yelled into the mic, "Go Emma!" I could hardly wait to see her cross that finish line and give her a big hug and tell her how wonderful she was for doing this. When I saw her running down the hill towards the finish line I was all choked up again. My sweet little Emma is growing up and is amazingly talented. She got a finishers medal which she is so proud of.

Then to show her many talents she entered the reflections contest at school and won 1st place in visual arts for 1st grade. She got a medal for that during an assembly at school today. I am so happy for Emma and that she is not afraid to go after the things she wants. I love you Emma.

Tinkerbell is hiding...

Shay had not been very consistent in the whole potty training department, so to help I bought her Tinkerbell panties and told her not to pee on Tinkerbell. Well, that didn't work for Shay like it works with some kids. Last week it finally clicked and she is doing well. She loves her tinkerbell panties.
The other morning Shay had slept on our bedroom floor and she woke and said in her cute little voice, "Tinkerbell is hiding." I said what? She said, "My Tinkerbell is hiding in my closet." She couldn't find her Tinkerbell's the night before so her first thoughts when she woke up were they must be hiding in her closet. I love the cute things little kids say and do.

Halloween

We had a great Halloween. We carved pumpkins, had several parties, dressed up in costumes, and had parades, and the girls had pony rides. We had sleeping beauty, Thumbelina, Abby Cadaby, and a pirate.

Zion, dear Zion

Having lived in Rexburg for over 4 years and never making it to Yellowstone while we lived there is just pathetic, but it took us moving to St. George to end up making a trip back up there to Yellowstone for a family reunion. I was not about to let that happen to us again. So, we ended up taking a little trip to Zions (which is basically in our backyard), after living here for almost 4 years. Our new goal is to make it to more of the fun areas around us.

The girls thought it was the greatest thing to sleep in a hotel (because they never have), but they were so excited we couldn't even get them to settled down to sleep. After our exciting night in the hotel we spent the next day hiking in Zions, even little Shay with her short legs. The sleepless night before started to show later in the day, but the girls loved it.

These girls will find anything to climb. Along the emerald pool trail there was this small break off that looked like a climbing wall and Emma just had to try climbing it.

Apparently it's exhausting being carried around all day.

Right at the end of the day these two decided they were best friends which usually isn't the case if Emma's around. They held hands and had to sit by each other. It was sad when Shay wouldn't let Emma sit by her because Kiana was, but it was sweet to see these two bond.

All our adventures...

This last weekend was the famous St. George Marathon, which is a crazy weekend for us becuase Steve is gone most of the week prior to it and all day Saturday working the marathon. I decided to do the Mayor's walk with some friends. The Mayor's walk is walking the last 2 miles or so of the marathon. I bundled up the kids because it was super cold (50 degrees) at 7:00 in the morning and packed them in the stroller, met up with my friends, their kids and strollers, and Atlas, my friends' mini horse/dog who pulled her through the race more than she walked him. Here we are at the start.


Emma's running toward the finish line!!! She has ambition. For those of you who want to know she is going to do a kids triathlon in November. We might just see her running to this finish line for real someday.



Onto our other adventures for the day. After watching the marathoners and cheering for some friends from the ward for awhile and seeing an old friend from high school (Natalie Arnold) as she was coming up on the finish line, we had to head to both Emma and Kiana's soccer games which just happened to be at the same time that day. It was a crazy day.
Kiana is playing soccer for the first time and she is rocking it. She has watched Emma play for the past two years and has learned a lot. She kicks the ball really well and on this day she made 3 goals. She loves it and I think she is only going to get better. Hello my sweet Kiana! I'll have to post some more pics of both of them playing soccer. Emma is doing really well also.

BTW, she is so little that the soccer uniform drowns her. Her shorts are pulled as tight as they go and they are rolled up, but she still complains about them falling down.

6 months already

Boy, does the time fly or what? My baby is 6 months old and cuter than ever (of course I am biased). We took him in for his check up and his stats are... 18 lbs. and 27 inches. He is a solid mass, but he is a mover. He now sits up briefly, rolls every where, and has even started army crawling to get where he wants.

His little smile brights up my day and makes me happy even if I am having a tough day. I can't help but giggle when he giggles and talks to me. I love you little guy!!!

Garden friends...

We have become garden lovers these last few years, watching it each day like a baby, seeing what has grown and changed! We water it and feed it and find surprises lurking in and around the leaves. Here is our latest friend, the praying mantis. Steve found a baby praying mantis a months or so ago. He was only an inch long, but this guy is huge. We don't know if it is the same one or not, but it's been fun seeing him. Emma held him and he climbed up her arm and onto her back before she starting getting nervous!! Gardens are great for more than just food.
Besides all the great food we also get to show our kids all sorts of interesting insects.

Maddux's blessing

We blessed our sweet baby boy on Sunday while both our parents were here. Maddux has had a rough start in this world, but we feel he is finally doing well. He has become so happy and content instead of fussy all the time. The smiles and giggles he shares with us are priceless. We love you baby Maddux

My little princess

Kiana said to me "Mom, I want a princess birthday party" and that's exactly what she got. We invited all her little friends to come over dressed up like princesses and then we got sparkles on their cheeks and lips and painted flowers on their fingernails. Each girl got to decorate their own crown and then we ate princess cake. I can't believe my princess is 4 already. She is such a cutie with a personality to match. I love you sweetie.

This weekend my parents came to visit, which was such a needed blessing. It's always great to have extra help especially with Maddux being so fussy. My mom bought cute 4th of July outfits for this kids so we went and took some family pictures of our new family of six.

8 years...

Hooray for being married to my best friend!!!!! 8 years ago today we were married in the Salt Lake Temple! Thanks Steve for all the laughs and for always being there for me, especially through the hard times. You are the best and more than I could have ever hoped for!!! xoxo
(Boy we sure look young and skinny)

If you want...

We are going to go private with our blog so everyone who wants to keep up with us needs to email me with their email address. Our email is binghamtribe@gmail.com

Love Story meets Viva La Vida

I have always been a huge fan of Jon Schmidt and other piano/music artists who are local and very entertaining. I saw this link of a composition Jon Schmidt did of Taylor Swift's "Love Story" meets Cold Play's "Viva La Vida" and I fell in love with it and thought is would be a shame if I didn't share with everyone. Click on the link below to watch it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0v3d6SFcDys

Easter, Art Festival, Bedtime Stories

Thanks to our great neighbors the Blakes we have a fun Easter Egg Hunt every year!! The girls lined up waiting for the "go" and then the ran. Shay wasn't sure what to do at first, but caught on when she realized what Kiana was doing with the candy. I told Emma to run to the opposite side of the park and then work her way back and she would get more candy. Well, her Easter basket was overflowing by the end.

After the Easter Egg hunt we headed to the Art festival where the girls got their hair done in wacky ways. They thought it was fabulous to have crazy hair.

The other night Steve came home from work right before the girls were headed to bed and to save my sanity he went in and took care of the night time routine. All the girls were piled on his lap listening to the stories they picked. Who could resist taking such a cute picture of Dad and his girls. Love you Babe!!!

My little guy!

I am surrounded by the most talented people and one of those people is Deb Ouzts who takes the most beautiful pictures ever!!!!! She is amazing!! Here are some of the adorable pictures she took of Maddux. You have to go check out her website and see just how talented she is. www.funnyfacephoto.com.

Isn't he precious!

Maddux Robert Bingham

This is the newest addition to our family... Maddux. He was born Mar 27th at 4:36 AM weighing 8 lbs. 6 oz and measuring 19 1/2 inches long. Already he is the most loved baby by his three older sisters who can't get enough of him. They all want to hold him and see what he is doing.

The delivery went well. My contractions started about midnight and were about 5 min to start with but not painful at first. At about 1:30 my water broke and there was meconium in the water so we went to the hospital. Got there about about 2:45 and my contractions were only just a few minutes apart. We got settled in the room and I ended up with the best nurse ever. One of my biggest fears was having a mean nurse so I had been praying for a good one. Not only did I get a good one, I got the Queen nurse of going natural. She had 10 kids all natural. She was so encouraging and understanding and showed us this pressure point that made it possible to endure through the end. The other nurses were so helpful as well and it made the whole experience wonderful.

I didn't know what we were having, but I was almost positive it was a girl. Steve had kept the secret and had done a great job playing coy! When the baby was born I remember asking " what is it, what is it?" They didn't answer me, but the doctor smiled and held him up. They had to rush him away to suction his lungs from the meconium and all I could say was "NO Way, I can't believe it's a boy!" He was just fine breathing and after giving him some oxygen and making sure everything was out of his lungs they brought him to me and I held him against my skin and was so excited and shocked that he was a he and not a she. He's beautiful and sweet and is so loved already!!