Happy Halloween!

I love Halloween!! I usually plan our costumes way in advance. Beau just knew that Iron Man was the only costume he was interested in. Since this was the first year I had two cute little girls to dress up, I decided to match them. Bailey is crazy about Mickey Mouse, and since we are going to go visit him in a few weeks, I thought Minnie would be the perfect costume for my girls. I couldn't decide what I wanted to be, so I just threw together a pirate costume. Take note that you don't see Clay in any pictures, he is a Halloween "Bahumbug"! He did help Beau carve his pumpkin though :)

Bath Time Baby

Who can resist taking pictures of a naked baby :)

So far behind!!

I have not posted in 2 months! I have put some of the pictures from the last two months on FaceBook, but I haven't taken the time to share them on my blog. Here is a quick run down of what we have been doing.



We took the boat out a lot this summer. All the kids really love it! Bailey got a new life jacket, so she can swim all by herself!

Beau turned 5. He wanted a Hot Wheels cake and got a new bike.

Reagan turned 7 months old and Clay and I celebrated out 10th anniversary on the same day. We were all excited to see Reagan start to sit up!

Bailey started 1st grade and Beau started his second year of Joy School.

We went on quite a few camping trips. We finished up with the Erickson reunion. Everyone looks forward to this over Labor Day Weekend. Beau and Bailey rode their bikes and had many Ranger rides. The camp rule is, if you take the Ranger, you take Bailey :)

Reagan just turned 8 months. I can't believe how quickly time flies by!! She can now stand up to something for a few minutes. She is getting so big, we have really enjoyed having this happy little girl in our family!

Hippo therapy

No, there are no hippos involved :) This is the second year that hippo therapy has been available in Star Valley. Bailey loves animals, especially horses. This year has already been a great experience! Bailey talked soooo much her first day. She usually calls a horse a "puppy", but this year she called them their appropriate names. She also learned to tell the horse "walk on". It is so exciting to see neat programs like this come to Star Valley!

The mare Bailey is riding had this colt 2 months ago. I can't believe how tame it was. Bailey tried to feed it rocks :)

Swimming

I took the kids swimming at the pool here in town. We recently ordered Bailey a special life jacket so she could swim on her own. Today was the first day we tried it out. It worked great - I was so happy that we all could enjoy being in the pool and not worrying about Bailey drowning. Bailey was so happy not be contained and free to swim wherever she wanted. This is going to make our summer so much more fun! Plus, little Reagan was such a good little girl and sat in the shade and napped :)

4th of July weekend

We had the best 4th of July weekend this year!! Clay had to work on call in Jackson, so we decided to join him. Julie and DeLane came in their trailer and brought Ben and Amy. Chad, Jamie and family came and brought Grandpa Erickson's trailer. Clay pulled our trailer up and found us a great spot next to Lower Valley's Wilson Sub Station. We spent the weekend camping and being "tourists" in our own back yard.

First we took the kids down the Alpine Slide

On Saturday we took the boat across Jenny lake and hiked up to Hidden Falls

Saturday night we took the kids to the Cowboy Shootout on the Square. Beau got to dance with some of the Indians in the show.

We watched fireworks at Teton Village on Saturday night. On Sunday night we went to Clay's work condo for a cookout and watched the fireworks at the Snow King.

The whole weekend was a lot of fun!! Even little Reagan enjoyed herself!

Taking a break

I am not sure who was taking a break here - the kids from the sun, or mom from the kids :) Either way, the kids were entertained for hours and I got a little time to relax! Finally summer!!!

Play Ball!

We signed Beau up to play T-Ball this summer. He has been so excited about it. We were getting ready to go to his first practice and he told me "I am going to be a STAR!! Someday Dad is going to watch me on T.V. and say that is my Son." Tonight was his first game - if you want to see funny, go to a T-Ball game :) As they were getting ready to bat, his coach called for Beau and told him to make sure he didn't swing the bat until he was given the okay (he is a little crazy with the bat). He did a great job at bat, but out field was a different story. He did get a few balls and attempted to throw them to first base. He had a great time playing, when he was done, he told me "I didn't let you down Mom". I am so excited to start watching my little boy grow up and become a "STAR"!!

The Holy Ghost

Beau has to give a talk on the Holy Ghost this Sunday. After discussing this with Beau, we decided that he wanted to give a talk on what happened to our family on Memorial Day.

We invited my in-laws to come over and have a Memorial Day cook out with us. After they got here, we all got busy getting the food ready. After awhile, I realized that I hadn't seen Beau. He had been playing with friends, so I checked there first. None of the kids had seen him, but said they would look around for them. I grabbed Clay and my in-laws, and started to look around for him. After we checked all the usual places and made sure he wasn't in the house, we started to get a little panicked. We all said silent prayers and spread out. Clay got in his truck to look, the neighbor got in his Ranger and started looking and the rest of us continued looking around the house. By this time he had been missing for at least a half hour. The Spirit told my mother-in-law to look in the trunk of her car. She immediately went and opened it up, and there lay my little boy. He had been curious about her keys that opened the trunk, then decided to play hide and seek. Thank goodness it was not a very hot day, or we may have lost him. I am also very thankful for the Holy Ghost and that my mother-in-law was in tune with the Spirit that day.

We have talked this over with Beau, not only for his safety in the future, but also for a spiritual lesson. When I saw the subject of the talk he had to give, I thought it would be a good idea to write down this experience and share it with others. I think Beau will remember this lesson the rest of his life.

Miss Bailey

Bailey has both amazed me and challenged me the last few months. She has made so much progress! She is talking in short sentences and running faster than I can keep up with. She has also hit the "terrible 2's". She is obsessed with coloring! She loves to draw circles all over anything she can touch (chairs, walls, windows, beds, hands, feet ......). We try to keep all writing utensils out of her reach, but she somehow manages to find something to color with. She is also obsessed with Reagan. The problem with that is that Bailey is not gentle. I can't set Reagan down anywhere that Bailey can get her. This proves to be very challenging when I am busy trying to get anything done. Even with all the challenges (I could go on and on with them) Bailey is my special little girl. My life would not be the same without this sweet little angel. I am so proud of her and all she has accomplished! Here is a quote that I stole from a friend of mine.

"God doesn't give children with special needs to strong people; he gives children with special needs to ordinary, weak people and then gives them the strength. Raising a child with Down Syndrome, brain injury, CP or other special needs doesn't TAKE a special family, it MAKES a special family."

Happy Birthday Mom

Today is my Mom's birthday, she would have been 62. All day I have wished that I could just pick up the phone and talk to her. I miss her everyday, she was my best friend. I decided what better way to remember her than to post pictures of my sweet baby that bears her name. I love to think about my Mom kissing her in heaven and sending her down to me. I love you both!

Of course I need to throw in pictures of my other two kids too. My Mom loved her grandkids so much, they were her whole world. I know that she watches over them, and on special occasions, she gets to be with them. We all love and miss you mom!