Self Portrait

Oh the joy of family. We just got home from a long day at church. We were tired, hungry, cranky and the girls had wet diapers. But I thought, "Oh we all look so cute lets hurry and take a picture". Ha ha ha ha. Here are the results.

Its official!!!!

So matt as you all know has decided to join the air force! Well he made it official on Friday when he swore in as private bird...hehe! I'm so proud of him and cant wait for the new and exciting things we get to experience! Matt scored so high on his asvab test that he had to take, that he got a call the friday he swore in to leave for basic the following tuesday! He told them that he would love to go. Well when they told him they would call back and give him all the information the job and spot had been filled! I was thankful he didnt leave right before christmas but thear is always that chance! We will let you all know when matt leaves for basic and post lots of pictures! He will be one of the first men they call to leave because he scored so high on his test! He will be going to lackland air force base for basic. He will be gone for two months:( they are haveing a graduation ceremoney and its held the last four days of basic. We would love for everyone come to watch him graduate and stand tall in proud in his air force blues!! We will fill you in on the dates when he gets called. Hope everyone one has a great christmas!
-love matt and melissa

P.S. Julie thanks so much for the gift we love the water bottles!!! We have about 5 water bottles already and wear very excited to add these to are collection!! Matt loved that his was blue...hes really into blue right now cuz its air fore colors! I got a ton of complements on my pritty pink one from all the ladies at work!! We love them and thanks again!!!

Our glowing angel.

Breakfast with Santa, Bella had already eaten and got bored watching everyone else.

Merry Christmas - little early

Congrats Matt on the air force!! Very exciting! By the way - if you two get a package from LL Bean it is your Christmas present from us. There was no place to put a note that is was a gift (well that I could find anyway). Hope you enjoy!

On another note - for those of you that haven't talked to Bowen in a while - he is always hoarse and the doctor was concerned about something wrong with his vocal cords or tonsils. So we visited an ENT last week who scoped down to take a look at his vocal cords - he does have a small nodule (cyst) on his right vocal cord. It is nothing to be concerned about and it will go away with time. They said he will probably be hoarse thru adolescence. Bowen did not enjoy the 'flashlight being stuck down his nose' as he puts it, but he was just fine when they gave him 2 suckers for being soooo good.

My Air Force Man!!

Ok just so everyone one knows...Matt has decided to join the air force! We are both very excited for what the future holds for us and are the new journey that lies ahead! I will fill you in on details on friday after he swears in! Then its off to basic training in Texas. I wont get to talk to him for 2 months but we are encouraged to write lots and lots of letters! We will fill you in on more info when he goes and when he graduates. So if anyone wants to go to texas to watch him graduate just let me know and when we know what dates it will be i can fill everyone in and start searching for hotel rooms on or off base. Also thear are some fun things that we can do in texas like sea world and many other places for very very cheep! So just let us know if your intreasted so i can start doing some reaserch now! Well we are off to bed lots of love-matt and melissa bird

Merry Christmas. Lily had just stuffed her mouth full of candy cane and it was bulging her cheeks so much she couldn't smile. Maren thought it was fun to pull his hair.

I realized Maren is almost 8 months old and I don't have any nice framed pictures of her since her blessing. So with my wonderful new camera, that I'm still learning how to use and my poor photo skills I got a few cute posed shot. If you eant me to print one for you let me know. Hopefully we will have a nice family picture soon too.

blogger workshop

It seems that Amy and I are the only ones posting lately.  Bring your laptop when we get together next week and I'll go over any questions with you.  Way excited to see lots of you soon!!  Love to all,  Katie

art pic

I'm having a great time taking pictures of something other than my kidos.  Then my teacher says great landscapes, why don't you try to integrate your kids into them now.  So I'm taking pictures of the kids again.  They are pretty good at going out on cold foggy mornings and standing in weird places, for a long time, holding mostly still for me. I'll upload some of those a bit later.

Sibling's Christmas Exchange

We're trying something new!  The theme for this year is camping. Vanna White drew the names out of a hat.  Isaac isn't on the list but I encourage everyone to send him a letter and maybe a package ASAP.  We love you Elder Bird!!!!!!  There are quite a few miles between us these days so, please make sure to have the gifts delivered before Christmas.

______ gives to_______

Mike-Matt                             Katie-Mike

Jackson-Amy                         Matt-Jackson

Johnny-Katie                         Amy-Johnny

Look What We Made

Maren can sit up pretty well on her own now... for about 30 seconds. She is getting better at it every day. Lilith loves her new toddler bed. We finished it on Saturday, so now the girls share a room. They even both slept through the night last night. Yippie. If any of you have a suggestion on how to secure the half rail to the bed better then a wire hanger let me know. We are also getting ready for Halloween. Like our Trick-or-Treat bags?

Bella Fun

baby bird

Isabella Kathrine Bird

CJ & Tristen finally get to hold their new baby sister.  Bella had a bit of trouble coming and even more trouble with jondice.  But that hasn't stopped her from growing.  A few weeks old and already grown out of her newborn clothes.  Gathering from all the reports,  she's more than perfect and already has Daddy wrapped around her little finger.

Christmas is coming. . .

This summer flew by.  Christmas will be here before I can blink my eyes.  I'd like to know what each of my siblings wants to do for our Christmas exchange. We have finished our rotation and can start something new if you'd like.  Also, if you don't want to be a part of the exchange please let me know.  I'd hate to have anyone sad.  I like to celebrate the gift of the Savior and also show my family how much I love each of you.  If you have any ideas of how we can do this, please share.  Julie mentioned doing something theme based like camping or kitchen time.   If you're interested in a theme help me brainstorm some more ideas then we can vote or something.  I'd really like to have some input from each sibling!!!  Isaac we don't expect you to do any shopping or shipping.  Because of this, I don't think we should start our rotation again until he's back in a couple years.  Maybe we could draw names or something.    Please make a comment, new post, e.mail me jkm99@centurytel.net, or give me a ring 573-294-6027.  I'd like to have it all decided before Halloween.       Katie

Hope everyone is doing well.  Neat pictures Amy- I'm glad you have power too.  A Great Big Congratulations to Johnny and Susana and family! I can't wait to see pictures of my namesake.  (If you can't post pictures here just e.mail them to me and I'll post them for you.)   Brice it was fun watching your football game.  Did everyone have fun at the nutfest?  Wish we could have been there.  James had a cross country meet and I had a lot of homework.  It was actually a pretty bad day.  Dallas got a mosquito bite on his eye that is now swollen shut today.  Addie has a virus or something that is keeping her, Dallas, and I  home from church today.  And last but definitely not least,  Carsten had a quick trip to the ER for a couple stitches in the back of his head. Not much to tell about it.  Carsten hit the edge of the dishwasher when he fell off a kitchen stool reaching for who knows what.  He and I headed in to Hermann hospital about 20 minutes away.  They got us right in, Carsten was verrrrrry tough.  Two stitches and back home within the hour.  The part that took the longest was cutting all the curly hair that was in the way.  He still has so many curls, looking at him today you can't even see anything (added stitches or missing curls).        Love to all.  Be swell!  Not swelling like us.

These are a few pics from the last couple weeks. Our awsome fire pit in the back yard. And playing down at Pete's Aunts house. It has been a fun adventure, but I'm glad we have power again.

Dallas' 1st Birthday

Dallas is one!!! He made the usual tasty mess of his first birthday cake. Dallas is toddling along finally. He falls alot, but is pretty good at catching himself. He's always giggling while he's walking and can say U-ohhh when he falls. I'm really loving it.

James and I got him this cute red wagon which he has been enjoying the outdoors in ever since. I actually had to use it this week in a dire emergency. We've been having trouble with James' little Geo, so James took the van in to school last Wed. I was supposed to take the truck over to the bus stop that afternoon to pick up the kids. Luckily, I found that the truck had a dead battery before lunch when I wanted to mail some letters down the hill. (Not lucky the battery was dead, but good I found out before I really needed it.) It was a nice day, so I got out the mountain bike and the kids trailer. I got it all cleaned up and found all our helmets. I even figured out how to take Brigham's bike in the back of the trailer for him to ride home. With Carsten all excited we were ready to head out. I thought I'd better air up all the tires and my back tire wouldn't hold any air!! The strollers were in the van in Hermann. So I plopped the boys in this red wagon and headed for the bus stop 1.8 miles away. Good thing there aren't any big hills in that direction. I was pretty beat when we rounded the last corner just in time to wave down the bus. Addie and Brigg were very relieved to see us and take a nice slow walk home instead of riding the bus back to the school and then home again with Dad.

Speaking of the bus, here's a picture of Addie riding the bus for the first time on her first day of Kindergarten. She likes her teacher Mrs. Gerlemann. Addie always has lots of new things to tell me about after school. I think she's told me more in these few weeks than Brigham has in years. I'm doing well in my classes. I just aced an online quiz. Carsten and Brigham are roudy as usual. James is preparing to butcher pigs. He's been running with his cross country team all over Hermann every day and traveling to meets on weekends.

We love and miss you all! Have a great week, Katie & family

Hi fam! Sorry it took me so long to get on this blog. I'm doing great here in Scotland. I don't have much time, but i love you all and hopefully i can borrow my companions usb cord so i can post some pictures on here next Monday. Love you all, cya :)

Kentucky State Fair

This past Saturday we took our annual trip to the fair grounds. This was our 3rd year and it was lots of fun. I just got a great side by side double stroller so it was easy to haul both girls and all our stuff all over the fair grounds. We saw lots of farm animals that Lilith loved. We got to see the Looney Toons, show/trick pigs, high flying frisbee catching dogs, tight rope walking tigers, Travis Tritt and much much more. We only had one melt down in the day when the girls were tired and so sweaty from sitting outside waiting for the pig show to start. We were there for a total of 7 hours. whew! We were all exhausted by the time we left and all slept well that night. You all should join us next year. We'd love to have you.

To add to Jackson's comment you can add comments as yourself if you type in your own google name and password. But the way this page is set up I don't think we could post as ourselves unless Katie changed some of the settings.

Glenn Duffy here we come

Hello ya'll!! Depending on if you are talking to a native Arkansasan, you may hear this phrase. In the area we live, there a lot of locals. There is either the ones who have moved hear in the past 5 years because of Wal-mart, or they have been born and raised in the same community, give or take a few miles. It is fun to be part of a small town community where everyone knows everyone and family is real important. We have a lot of country kids. I am excited to get to know more and more families in the area. Jackson and I want to be a part of the community and the school. Well you are probably wondering what is "Glenn Duffy" - it is the name of the school Sally and Rex will be attending on Monday. This past Thursday, we went to the school to meet their teachers' and drop off school supplies. Rex's teacher is a young and cute gal - Miss Steele. He gets kind of bashful and giggly when you ask him if he likes his teacher. It is real cute. Sally's teacher is Miss Bontke. She is older but seems on top of things. She guessed Sally's name and made her feel right at home. Miss Bontke wants to have parents help in the class room - so I hope to be a part of Rex and Sally's lives while at school. There is a big room for parent volunteers and has an area with toys, TV, couch for the kids. I feel like I will have more flexibility in my schedule to go to the school and help and interact with the older kids, since I will only have 2 kids at home. I wanted to remind all of you to make comments on any of our posts by clicking on the comment link at the bottom of each post. And then check the comments each time you log on so you can see what others have posted about each of our individual posts. Does that make any sense?Well Kassi just woke up so I am going to stop for now. Hey I really like this blogging thing. Now we all just need to be regular on posting so things from our lives.Oh, Jackson and Rex are digging holes for our clothes line. Great thing about living in the country is that you can hang out your underwear and no one can complain. :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MELISSA !!
THANK YOU TO KATIE FOR POSTING THE UPCOMING BIRTHDAYS ON THE BLOG PAGE. IS THERE ANY WAY THAT WE CAN SET UP THE BLOG SO YOU CAN INVITE EACH ONE OF US TO BE CONTRIBUTORS AND EACH OF US CAN POST AND VIEW OUR OWN BLOG USERNAME AND PASSWORD. I WILL MAKE IT EASIER FOR US TO REMEMBER OUR OWN USERNAME AND PASSWORD AND I THINK WE WILL HAVE MORE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE FAMILY BLOG. I KNOW IT CAN BE DONE BECAUSE THAT IS HOW IT IS SET UP WITH RACHEL'S FAMILY BLOG. JUST A SUGGESTION. ALSO I THINK THERE IS A WAY YOU CAN ALERT YOUR INVITED READERS THAT THERE IS A NEW POST.

WELL HOPE ALL IS WELL IN ALL OF YOUR FAMILIES. WE LOVE AND MISS YOU.

JRSRKP

Brigg's Baptism

July 5th, 2008
Is a special memory for Brigham. Thanks to a family who went out of their way to make his baptism special. Uncle Jackson, thanks for filling in for Grandpa at the last minute. It was a great talk. Thank you Aunt Rachel and Aunt Amy for the music. Thanks Grandma for the stories and testimony. Thanks to everyone who came to support him. We love you!

Hi Family,

Okay so sorry for all the pictures but i finally found my cord that hooks from my computer to camra so i was finally able to upload all are pics! So this was are fun and exciting trip to california! The first 3 pictures are in disneyland! It was so much fun that day we got to ride all the rides cuz it rained out and everyone cleared the park! We didnt have to stop and wait in any lines at all! So we took a picture on every ride we went on cuz it was not busy! The only line we stood and waited for was the finding nemo ride and it was a 30min wait.(and since matt is always hungry he had to buy pizza while we stood in line) It was nice in the moarning and in the evening so the only time we got rained on was mid day. The next pics are in sea world obviously. We had so much fun in sea world and decided that was the place to take are kids. It was so interactive and we fed the sea otters, sting ray, played with the dolphins, and ate with shamu! We hit every animal attraction that they had! It was nice we went on a monday and nobody was thear! We walked all around the park and only saw a small handful of people so it was like we had a privet tour of the park! We went and saw all the shows they wear so cool! The shamu show seemed so fake it was like a dream. Matts favorite part was the sharks he loved it and thought it was cool to stand under them as we walked. We had such a fun time and it was the perfeact time to go! The best part was getting all are stuff out of storage! It was like christmas i forgot how much stuff i had! Well that was are fun vacation in a nut shell!

Love,

matt and melissa