Casey won some ribbons at her gymnastics meet. She is sure proud!

Here are the kids waiting for the bus on the first day of school.

This year the kids kept saying they were not excited about school starting but they didn't act that way. They got up extra early, got ready without complaining and were out watching for the bus 20 minutes before it was even supposed to come.

Casey is an awesome big sister! My mom always told me that having babies when your oldest kids get bigger is way easier. I never believed her. Now I know what she was talking about and she was right!

We spent a good part of the day playing with the train and some blocks. I think every kid likes making tunnels and towers for things to go through and around.

We took a little trip up to Deep Lake to catch some fish.

We didn't even get a bite!

Mom is losing her touch with fishing.

We sure had fun though.

Maybe this is why we didn't catch any fish!

Anna didn't care about the fish or playing in the lake.

Whit ended up without pants because he was so wet.

Anna is turning into a little chunk. She has already gained about 5 pounds in about 7 weeks.

Casey!

Casey had her first gymnastics meet. She was nervous and excited at the same time. She has worked so hard! She did a great job and we are proud of her!

Random Happenings!

Levi had fun getting ready for the fair. Every Monday night he practiced with his club. I have to be honest, when we brought the sheep home they were a bit wild. As time moved on the sheep continued to be wild. Chris kept reassuring me they were doing just fine. I was sure we were going to have a rodeo when fair time came.

Anna keeps growing and getting more plump all the time. This photo is about two days after we brought her home.

Whit has had a blast this summer riding his bike. He thinks he is so grown up!

Anna is still eating and sleeping and pooping and growing and crying.

Every night Whit asks for a bubble bath.

Anna is still growing!

The fair finally came around and we did not have any rodeos. Chris was right! This is Levi waiting to go into the show arena with his ewe lamb.

This is our brood taking a break at the fair. Anna was a trooper at 2.5 weeks old.

Here is one of Levi's lambs getting a beauty treatment before the show.

As you can see we had some extra help.

Casey, Levi and Heston each entered a chicken in the fair and won some ribbons plus some premium money which is great for snow cones.

This is Levi with his ewe lamb. There were 110 lambs at the show. They had 11 classes with 10 lambs in each class based on weight. He took second place with both of his lambs in both of his classes. The top two lambs from each class are invited back to the finals.

Here are his two lambs in the final competition. The boy with the red undershirt is showing Levi's second lamb. Levi ended up taking 13th & 14th place out of 110 sheep. The top 15 sheep in the show are called the star class.We were so excited for him!

Here is Anna taking her first real bath. Her umbilical cord finally came off!

Levi and Casey took a horse class all summer. Last Monday they had their final show. Casey chose not to participate because she didn't want to be in front of all the people. Levi had a blast and won some ribbons and a trophy.

This is a photo of dad helping Levi get ready.

Here is Anna. Still growing! She is about 8 1/2 pounds already! At her two week checkup, they wanted her back to her birthweight. She was a pound and one ounce over her birthweight.

Here are some videos for your viewing pleasure. They are random but cute!

Baby Anna July 26, 2010

Sunday evening Jodi and I dropped the kids to Grandma Nielson's house and headed to Cedar City so that she could be induced. At about 10:00 pm they began the induction. I will spare you the details but it involved a foley bulb and some pitocin. By about 8:00 am, her body was well on its way to being in labor. They gradually upped the pitocin levels and by 2:00 the doctor broke her water and a little later she received her epidural. The baby girl was born at 5:28. She weighed 6 pound 15 ounces and was 20 inches long. It only took one big push, there was no tearing, and the little girl began eating right away. I call her little girl because she didn't get her name of Anna until the next morning just prior to the birth certificate lady coming in. Jodi's mother was there for the delivery and she is always so helpful. The hospital in Cedar City in my opinion is the best. They always take such good care of us. It is definitely worth the drive. Cameron, Jodi's sister, came up just after Anna was born to take some pictures and visit. It was very nice of her. We waited our 24 hours and headed home. Everything went so smoothly and as planned. Jodi's recovery has been exceptional. We are really blessed. Enjoy the pictures.

2 minutes

10 minutes

8 minutes (oops out of order)

2 hours and 20 minutes

4 hours

27 Hours

38 Hours and the novelty still hasn't worn off. We will see if they are all this excited to change her diaper in about a month.

July 2010

One of Casey's Wednesday schedules:

Gymnastics 10:00 to 1:00

Birthday party 1:30 to 3:00

Piano 4:45-5:15

Horse Club 6:30-8:30

Look real close, she fell asleep during her instruction

Rented a big slide for the Hills family reunion

The reunion took us up the canyon for dinner, hiking and fishing

It takes a lot to get ready to impress the Hills family

Wednesday evening is dedicated to horse club

Getting Levi's show lambs ready

Our little town of Annabella turned 100 this year

Casey rode on a truck with her team during the 4th of July parade

Kid's parade in Annabella

Heston finishing up T-Ball