Missing Grandma Nadine...

I haven't posted about this yet, but I decided it was time. A couple of weeks ago, Cody's sweet grandma passed away. It's always sad when we lose a grandparent. But this hit extra close to home for us. I worked full time until Avery was born. When she was born, Cody's grandpa Hal was sick. They needed people to help take care of him at home. So, I started going over there with Avery. We spent about a year with him, then he passed away. After that we took care of grandma. Over the years it's gone from Avery and I spending time with her, driving her around shopping, getting nails done and other fun things. She'g gotten sicker over the years and was able to do less and less. But, we have always been there. All my babies were babies in her house. We've slept there, and played there at least a couple days a week for over six years. Grandma was tired, and ready to go see her husband. We know she is happy, and not sick anymore. It was hard to explain to my kids, but what a spiritual learning experience. They know that we will see her again. But we sure miss her!!!

Emrie and Grandma on St. Patty's Day 09

She loved our noisy Emrie. She'd be laying in her hospital bed and hear Emrie from another room yelling or playing or crying or whatever. She'd always tell me "that baby's yelling at you" She called her the fat baby. All the way until the end, she loved having Emrie crawling around her bed. It was sweet!

us at the funeral
I knew grandma really well, having spent so much time with her. But, at the funeral I learned alot about her younger years and all the things she did in her life. She was a tough, experienced woman. She had five children. Her and her husband were farmers among other things. She delivered mail for ten years, and was also a private investigator for a while. I thought that was cool. It was neat going through all the really old pictures, seeing what everyone looked like. She was a hottie back in the day!

This next series are just some funny pictures of silly Emrie. My sister took her out in the hall during the funeral because she was being EXTRA LOUD!!! These are some of the funny faces she makes

This is my favorite! She does it all the time.

Cody's brother Martin drove out from Texas with his three kids for the funeral, and stayed a few days. These cousins have so much fun together. We are sad that they live so far away.

We went up to the park at Anthem for the day. Perfect weather, and a really fun park!

Liam and Grace

Silly Avery and Caleb

Silly Emrie again..sitting on the playground toys. She is growing up too fast!!!

Death is always sad. But, as I told Avery. It's really only sad for us, the people left behind. Because we miss them. For our loved ones who die, they are just going home. There is no more sickness or pain. So, they aren't sad. It does make me want to show more love to my family and loved ones around me!

Back in Business!!

YEAH!! We are back online, after a long break. Cody finally broke down and hooked up the internet again. It's so nice to be able to check email without driving to the library or a friends house. I really missed putting new pictures on here. I feel like I take less pictures when I'm not blogging too. So, I am very glad to be back to normal.

Here are some quick updates...

Emrie:

It is only one month until this little sweetie turns ONE. I really can't believe it. It seems like it's gone so quickly. That probably has something to do with the fact that I think I was in a FOG for the first six months. It is getting easier. She is so cute and super fun right now. She has a million funny faces she loves to make. She has two teeth on bottom and what seems like 10 coming in on top. She is so LOUD! and loves to hear her own voice. She talks and yells. She loves to get her daddies attention by yelling "DA DA" at the top of her lungs. She is starting to walk all over. She is still cautious but can do it just fine.She loves music, and does her own version of dancing when a tune strikes her fancy. She is officially done nursing, which I thought would never happen since she'd never take a bottle. But, we did it!! She loves boys...especially her big brother. We love our sweet girl.

Enjoying a huge chunk of watermelon on aunt Ken's trampoline...huge, sticky mess!!

just hangin with mommy

showing off her new toy and skills

LIAM

What can I say about this funny, silly, boy. He loves being four, and is convinced he's turning five any day now. He loves preschool and Ms. Candace. He is so smart, I don't know what to do. He sounds out everything, loves to do his homework. He has a love/hate relationship with his big sister right now. They seem like best buddies one minute and are picking on eachother the next. I'm sure it's normal, but it drives me INSANE! He keeps me laughing and on my toes at the same time.

Pirate birthday party for his best buddy Davin

treasure hunt...he thought the feather was the treasure. silly boy.

one of his many projects, and made up"homework"

Avery:

Avery is doing fabulous in first grade. She has a great homework routine, is so good at getting herself ready in the morning, and loves school (thank goodness). She is so smart, and such a sweet girl and big sister. Her two front teeth are finally starting to come in. I've been teasing her that her and Emrie are teething at the same time. She is playing soccer again and doing a great job. We were surprised about how much she remembers from last year. She works hard and runs fast, and looks cute doing it!

Her silly pirate pose

My sister and I took the girls out of school early one day last week and spent some quality girl time with them. We had lunch, did a little shopping at Target, and went to a pottery painting place and they designed their own masterpieces. It was lots of fun and they did a great job.

gettin ready to put a hand print on the back

Avery is very artistic. She loves to draw, and was great with the paint. She painted the middle of her plate with a cute garden scene complete with flowers, grass, sunshine, clouds and a finger-print butterfly. It turned out really cute. She will love using her plate, and it was great to have some one on one time with my big girl.

Avery with two of her very favorite people. She got to help in a play at the high school. They did Alice in Wonderland. There were a bunch of kids that got to dance on stage with the cast. She loved it, and had lots of family come watch her performance. My mom, cody's parents, and Aunt Kenra and her cousin Kendi.

The school year is cruising right along. Avery is getting into the swing of things quite nicely. Homework, reading, reading logs, etc. She even has spelling tests. This is not the first grade I remember! She has an alarm clock which she loves. She gets herself up and dressed before my lazy rear is even out of bed. She amazes me.

Liam is loving preschool again this year. He loves Ms. Candace. He is getting smarter everyday. He tries to read everything, and can read half the stuff Avery brings home. He loves being four and is telling me that he'll be five like any day now!

Emrie is everywhere. She stands on her own all the time now. She will be ten months tomorrow. Where has this year gone? Seriously, I don't know where. It has gone so fast, it's kind of sad. Her bottom tooth FINALLY broke through this week. She is definitely our slowest teether. But, she's so quick doing everything else I guess it's ok.

Cody's hair is GONE. He looks like my young, handsome husband again. I love it! All is well at the Carmichael house. Busy, but well. Hope all is well with everyone else too!

First day, again?

I can't believe summer is over and we are back to school already! It seriously feels like yesterday that I was getting Avery ready for her first day of Kindergarten. Now, she's off to first grade! She was telling us last night that she doesn't know why people get so nervous for the first day of school. It's not like it's the real first day, we did that last year! She had such a great Kindergarten teacher and first year of school, I think it helped her to be excited now. Her new teacher seems really nice, and I know she's going to learn so much and change so much again this year.

Here is her new HSM back pack loaded with TONS of supplies. Our friend brought us a cute back to school breakfast of pancake dippers and syrup, the kids were so excited.

she looks a little different than last year. she's bigger, more confident and she has no front teeth!

I love her sweet smile. She is a sweet daughter, a great big sister and she'll be an awesome first grader!!

My BIG boy turns FOUR!

What I wanted to say was my sweet, little boy turns FOUR! But, he would be so mad if he heard me say that! He's all about being a big, grown up, crime fighter! He is a sweet, crazy, boy. He can be very grumpy, and moody. But, he still always has a snuggle for his mom. He is more of a mommy's boy than my girls. He does love playing rough and mean with his dad though. The crazy stuff is reserved for daddy time.

I kept thinking..."i need to plan something for Liam's birthday!" but then I never did. When I asked him what he wanted to do, he said the most dreaded two words..."CHUCKIE CHEESE" they love that place. We don't love it, but decided it was much easier than planning an actual party. We called cousins, loaded up a few friends and hit Chuckie's. He was happy as can be. It was a pretty easy birthday.

This is him getting in on the decorating action. Liam and I went to the store to pick out stuff for his cake. He wanted Chocolate Cake, Chocolate Frosting, and Chocolate Sprinkles! Funny boy. We did get some bright colored sprinkles too.

Liam posing with the mouse himself, and good buddy Noah on a ride

Everyone gets a picture with the cutest girl at the party! Aunt Ken and Daddy

Kendi and Davin

We went back to Aunt Kenra's for cupcakes after the pizza party

Baby Wyatt's first time navigating the stairs...he did great (don't worry, daddy was close by!)

Cute party girls Kendi, Avery and Autumn

Gotta love Papa Ron in a party hat! Doesn't he look thrilled to be there? Gammy has been in ALASKA ALL summer, so papa came to play with us. We miss Gammy Jane!

Uncle Cy, Aunt Janelle, and Wyatt

gettin down to the good stuff...PRESENTS!!!

Daddy picked this out for the birthday boy...surprise, surprise, it's a weapon!

Liam and cousin Shaley...look at those eyes. Hers are the coolest green, and his bright blue

He had so much fun...he wore himself completely out. This was after a huge fit in the car. He was so mad that everyone kept saying "happy birthday" to him. He said "mom, why do people keep saying that to me? "

I said "because it's your birthday, and they want you to feel special"...he said "I KNOW it's my birthday, and I alredy KNOW I'm special!" he needed to go to sleep

This is where he's been living lately, the fort in his room. Sound asleep in his sleeping bag.

We Love our Liam. With all his moods, and silly games, and sweet hugs, and everything else that comes with him. He loves his sisters, he is always sweet to Emrie. He is so smart, he loves puzzles (but not with help). He loves school and primary. He is a fun, fun, boy. I can't believe he's already four and will be going to school for real next year...where does the time go!