The 4th of July!

Hello! Hope everyone had a great 4th! I know we did. Tiring, but lots of fun. Here's a nice brothers picture to start us off. Carter loves to hold him, and Teague loves to reach up and grab faces.

I put this one in just for Ave's face! She is such a clown. Sometimes I forget she's only 2 1/2!

There's a nice one of all my monkeys. I just love them!

Teague has some fantastic thighs - don't they look muscular?

We finally have lilacs here. It's amazing what a little sunshine can do! I was telling Ave that they are my favorite smell. She decided she likes them too!

Grandma and grandkids. How cute is that? They love Grandma.

They were all being so good that day. They decided to have some tummy time with Teague. Teague's face kills me. I can tell Teaguers is about to make one of his lovely new screeching sounds!

Avery wanted to help Grandma plant some tomato plants Mr. Patrick gave us. It was a little chilly that night though, and this is the only coat we could find. So "The Gorton's Fisherman" ended up helping Grandma!

We have found some of the cutest summer clothes for Ave at KMart this year. Doesn't she look gorgeous? She likes to twirl around in her "dancy" clothes as she calls them. She was pretending to bring food for us out of this birthday gift bag - I got a delicious "Lava sandwich"!

Teague loves his bouncer. He is getting really good at starting the music on it. I love his feet crossed and hands clasped together too.

We went to the carnival for awhile on Sunday. It was pretty fun for the kids. It was hot too! I'm not complaining though. I'm so happy that it finally feels like summer! Here they are on the motorbikes. This was Carter's favorite - he went three times in a row.

Here they are in the cars...

Lando, of course, wanted to be in the firetruck (cause it's red!).

Carter and Ave steered around a big yellow bus.

Ave and Jordan went on the berry-go-round or whatever it was called. Ave had a good time luckily! She's not as adventurous as Carterman.

Carter and Abbey were spinning around and around!

After we finally got them out of there (we had to get back to Teague, who Grandma kindly watched) Poppa let them soak the yard. He's getting sod soon so he doesn't care. Ave made me a mud pasty!

I was trying to get a picture of this swimsuit Erica picked out. It has little cutouts on the sides which make me laugh. This picture is great though - shows her personality!

We went up to Copper Mountain to watch the big fireworks. Ave and Carter had a great time swinging in the dark!

The boys looked so cute on their little folding chairs. They were tired though and very goofy.

This is Teague at the parade. He slept almost right up until Abb and Jord's float came by. He missed Connor on the Tae Kwon Do float, but we waved to him!

The kids in their 4th of July best. They liked wearing their red, white, and blue clothes! It was sunny as you can tell...kind of a squinty picture.

That's Jordan and Abbey in the front of MRI's float. It was Gnomeo and Juliet themed. They looked hilarious!

The boys couldn't wait to see Michaelangelo. Landon remembered him from last year. They gave him some nice high fives.

Teague was such a good boy all day. He had a little bellyache at home last night, but he loves being outside and the fireworks didn't bother him at all (unlike my poor Laney).

Ave enjoyed her sparklers. Thank you Jordan and Poppa for helping the kids with the fireworks (which Grandma kindly got for them). We didn't get out much though because the mosquitos are so so bad this year - they were attacking Teague everytime we tried to go out. Poor Carter has about six bites on his face.

Carter had fun too. He loved the fireworks. He was so excited to get a parachute from one of them. Hope everyone had a lovely weekend!

Big Big Week

Dad loves his Father's Day present Kelsie!

Jordan brought over their new slip and slide. We didn't have swimsuits at first, but that didn't stop my Carterman!

I love his face in this picture. He's soaking wet and enjoying every second of it!

He wasn't having much luck sliding down by himself so Poppa helped him out!

All the kiddos love their Uncle Kyle. I am not sure what they were looking at on his IPod, but that's quite quiet for them. Usually it's some sort of pillow fight!

Abbey needed a ride home the other night. Kyle had just gotten done with work so he took her home in the cop car...and cuffed her. Ha Ha!

A smily boy in a summer romper. I love these outfits! I remember Lando Commando wearing this one!

I feel like he's saying "Why Mom, why are you torturing me?". Gotta have tummy time - sorry buddy!

Kind of a blurry family picture. We had to use my automatic timer and this was the best. The reason I titled this post Big Big Week was we had Carl and Jenny visiting (Yay!), Volleyball camp all week, Big Sky State games on Saturday, and the Pig Bowl Saturday (with lots of family visiting). It was crazy but lots and lots of fun!

Carl and Jenny left Saturday morning. Hope you guys had a good trip back! It's always so much fun when they're here. Ave gave Jenny a very nice love before we said goodbye.

We spent a lot of Saturday at the gym. Luckily, they're were so many people there. Avery and Reese (Geah's older girl) played so well together. They're cute!

The boys did ninja moves with hockey sticks and Reed (Dana's nephew). He was only 3 when his Mom used to watch Carter as a baby. Now he's 7!

I love this picture! I know it's kind of washed out, but his eyes look awesome. He's my good boy. He was at the gym from 11-3:30, and then at Tech from 3:30 to 7! All the kids were great on Saturday (including our wonderful helpers Abb and Jord!).

There's Landon at the Pig Bowl enjoying some licorice. It was a beautiful day for a football game. It got a little windy at the end, but it was so much fun. Kyle scored the first touchdown of the day on a fumble recovery. Unfortunately he tweaked his knee pretty good. It's swollen, but hopefully nothing bad. He's heading to the doctor tomorrow just to be safe.

My Avery was cheering for her Daddy. We had a great crowd there. Ali brought down Breanne, Colty, and Kaden. Grandma and Grandpa Barsness were there. Erica, Lando, Mom, Abb, and Jord too. It was all for charity (Mariah's Challenge, David DeLaittre scholarship, and Special Olympics), so it's okay the cops lost!

Daddy and his girl after the game. Carter was busy running on the field. We're proud of Kyle. The Pig Bowl is a great event, and he does a ton of organizing, coaching, practicing, and fundraising for it.

Kaden is such a cutie. They came over for awhile on Sunday, and he really wanted Teague to wake up! He kept kissing his head. Thanks everyone for coming down for a visit. Our families are fantastic!

He looks very sneaky here. He was playing in his bouncer on our lazy Sunday when I caught this face!

Ave looked absolutely gorgeous on Sunday in her yellow dress. She's been wanting to wear dresses everyday lately. I'm going to have to get her some more!

Teague did not have very many naps on Saturday so he was exhausted yesterday! A little thumbsucking always helps a guy sleep!

Landon found his Raphael costume and decided to try it on. So of course, Carter had to find his too. They were fighting Poppa which was hilarious!

Avery put on her Minnie Mouse one (which was way too small!) and was casting some sort of spell on Poppa. The boys were beating him up, and Ave was dancing and chanting next to him. We could not stop laughing at her!

A Peek-A-Boo video!

Here's Teague playing some Peek-A-Boo followed by some of his lovely noises!

4 Months Old already!

My little chunky monkey was 4 months old last Monday - I can't believe it! Here he is rocking his 4 months sticker.

I like this picture even though his head is a little cut off. He likes to stand up and immediately try to eat my fingers. Look at those eyes too!

There's my big boy in all his glory. He loves to stand like that. He thinks he's really cool when he puts all that weight on his legs.

Carter and Avery have decided they really like to wear Poppa's hats. They look fantastic in them - that's Avery's new "smile" too. Lovely!

Mom likes those month stickers I got when Teague was born, so she found some other ones online. Here's Teague with his I Can Eat sticker. It's a little hard to see, but awfully cute. He is doing better with his food. We tried sweet potatos last night, and he loved them! I guess he just needed some flavor!

I love this new outfit Grandma found for him. A bright shirt and shark shorts - hopefully it gets nicer so he can wear it again!

His first time in the high chair. He looked so little and so cute in his puppy pjs and puppy bib!

We went up to St. James for about an hour and a half on Saturday. It was a little overcast but not cold. The new playground up there is lots of fun, and we were the only ones there.

Half our time was spent walking up the giant hill and then running down as fast as we could. Carter fell the first time and rolled down a bit. Luckily he was laughing so hard!

Landon and Erica met us up there too. Lando hung on to this umbrella forever. Kyle spun him around like five times - he is strong!

Boo Bear hung on for a minute too. I just love how tiny she looks (and Kyle's face behind her).

We have been having Dairy Queen withdrawals since the downtown location burned to the ground. We got our fix at the uptown one on Saturday thank goodness!

This boy loves to play Peek-A-Boo. He opens his mouth so wide when he smiles!

These little fools decided to turn their Daddy into a birthday cake with some darts. They were singing "Happy Birthday" and pretending to blow them out. For Father's Day, Daddy was a cake and later a mailbox. They have some good imaginations!

This is what Boo's hair looked like Sunday morning. It was hilarious! She didn't want to brush it either - she liked her crazy hair!