More Pink

Congratulations to my sister Megan and her family on their newest family member! They don't have a blog (non conformists) so I'm taking the liberty of posting the details. We got to meet little "Addie" last night and she is absolutely adorable - chubby cheeks w/ dimples, does it get cuter than that? When it comes to children my sisters and I seem to specialize in one gender, Parker being the exception of course! Well, when you're good at something....
Welcome to the family Adelaide!

Our Favorite New Toy

The kids love the new trampoline they bought with their own money! They earned it "doing pins" for their uncle, of course mom and dad helped too. They are all learning tricks and having a great time with it. Our back yard is finally a fun place to play!

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

The Backyard

I wish I had "before" photos of our backyard. Just picture lots of dirt (actually clay), weeds, way too much cement on the west end, and a big tree off the corner of the patio. Oh, and don't forget the swimming pool & deck that we got rid of right after we moved in. It has taken a lot of time, hard work, and lots of green stuff (in the form of cash), but we FINALLY have a backyard for the kids to play in! Parker has a slab of cement to play basketball, they girls have space to run around and Kenny has grass to mow. Our plan is to build a deck next summer and plant a few trees and bushes along the fence. The kids plan is to get "more fun stuff" to do (a trampoline, etc) in the yard. For now we are just enjoying having lawn!

*Editors Note: Hence forth, my plan is to do the majority of posts in the form of digital pages (created so easily with CM Storybook software) from our family album. That way, at the end of the year I will have a completed album I can print for our family to look at and enjoy, pages for the kids scrapbooks, as well as an updated blog to share with the world at large (or at least those of you who care). Yes! I LOVE when one task accomplishes so many things! ~ Michele

Cardiology Visit

Just a quick update on Taryn...

Her Cardiology Visit was this morning and I'm happy to report the trip there was more eventful than the actual visit. (We were running late due to nasty traffic and then she threw up as I was getting her out of her car seat...too much fun before 9 am for me!) It took three of us to hold her down to get x-rays. I talked them into letting me wear the big heavy lead apron thing and stay with her, which helped a little but she HATES being restrained and is quite the fighter so it wasn't easy. After that she gave the carido nurse a run for her money trying to get the rest of the tests and EKG. I had to stand on the scale w/ her and then let her stand across then hall and protest while they weighed me alone so we could get her weight. BTW, if you want to feel better about your size I highly recommend weighing yourself in Kilograms, the numbers are much lower! The good news is that she is great. All the tests look great! Her energy level is of no concern (mine is another story, however) and she won't need to do synagsis (RSV) shots again this winter, yea! I asked Dr Sarrel if the look of her sternum will improve as she grows, it pokes out quite a bit and hurts her when she bumps into things. She said that they all heal differently and, unfortunately it won't likely flatten out as she grows. Oh well, we'll take a few scars and protruding bones in exchange for a fixed heart! We feel very blessed that she is doing amazingly well!

I promise to do an update on the family soon....

Welling Family Reunion

We had a great time at the family reunion 2 weeks ago. We stayed in a beautiful cabin in Mt Plesant, Utah. By way of explanation for the following photos...the "family follies" consisted of an Oreo eating contest, paper airplane making/flying, jumping rope, and a frozen T-shirt contest! We also had a "un-talent" show, got matching T-shirts and ate WAY too much. Gavin brought Grandma Welling, which was great. One good thing about loosing your memory- she couldn't remember that we kept her up late at night with our game playing and visiting! The honorary guests were cardboard cutouts of Mom and Dad, which the kids loved almost as much as Grandma! We sure missed having them there but are so proud of all they are doing "helping other people for Jesus", as Ainsley says. Thanks to LeAnne for all her hard work!

Guess Who's Four?

Ainsley celebrated her 4th birthday on Saturday, July 19th. She was so excited that her birthday had finally arrived!


Our stake had a float in the Days of 47 Children's Parade so I walked in the parade with Michaela, Bridget, and Ainsley. She thought it was pretty cool that she got to be on TV for her birthday and go to a party - they had lots of those blow-up slides, activities, and games at the end of the parade for all the kids who participated. On Friday she got to go to Build-A-Bear Workshop and get her first BAB bear, which she dressed in a pink (of course) princess dress and named Ella. She was excited about her new bike too!

Ainsley is so much fun to have around and keeps us all on our toes! Her Grandpa Welling says she's "nuttier than a fruitcake", which she seems to think is the ultimate compliment. We sure love having her in our family!