Girlie Girl turns 4!

Today was Emma's 4th birthday. It was ALL princess and she loved every minute of it.


Pinata pull


Pin the crown on the princess


Homemade crown


Castle cake (looks blue but it is purple)

Robinson Crusoe

The boys had a great week with the cousins participating in the Missoula Childrens Theatre. They show up Monday morning, audition, pratice all week and then perform on Friday and Saturday. Only 5 day from start to finish. They did a fantastic job and LOVED it!! Hayden had the male lead, Dallin was a limbo dancing turtle, and Jacob was a frowny face tribe dude. We are so proud of our thespians!

Zoo with the cousins

One morning while the older cousins were at theatre camp, we took the young ones to the Zoo. I must say, Zoo Boise has improved a lot lately, especially with the African exhibit. YAY for giraffes.

Roaring Springs with the Cousins

Hayden goes on Trek

What a year for Hayden! Once he turned 12, there has been one experience after another. He talked in church, went to scout camp, and went with our ward on a trek. He is really honors his priesthood and is a great kid.

Jacob's Baptism

HOORAY!! Jacob was so excited for this day. We were so glad that cousins cut into their trip to come.

Jacob turns 8

My sweet baby boy is 8!! He was so excited about this birthday and the race car theme. He had a few friends over, but wanted NO party games. I finally talked him into a treasure hunt. I think everyone had a good time, but 8 boys can get awfully loud. Jacob is super excited because he gets baptized on 4th of July. So-we are going to have fireworks in his honor this year!!

Cabin photos!!

View from the dock

The bunk room.
Our original plan was to go up and get things set up and then come home. Emma would have none of that! With her hand on her hip, she convinced her daddy that it wasn't fair that "we builded the bunkbeds and didn't even get to sleep in them." so-we stayed.

The Cabin is Complete!!

Hooray! We have received the temporary certificate of occupancy. So we have started moving in.

Emma's field trip to the Zoo

Emma was highly disappointed that we couldn't find the unicorns, but we did see some penguins. We also got to see a monkey go pee-he had a lot of pee and no privacy. The highlight was the big giraffe slide. FYI-Zoo Boise leaves alot to be desired when you grew up on the Phoenix Zoo.

Easter at the Atchleys

Friday afternoon, when the boys came home from school, they found that the Easter Bunny had come. WHAT?! How does that happen? Apparently the big guy had to go to McCall and work on the floor some more. Plus-the kids got some new Wii games which they are only allowed to play on the "Wiikends" so the bunny thought they should have a little more play time. Ends up the bunny was right-nobody wanted to decorate cookies or color eggs. They were too attached to the Wii.
We ended up with a bunch of bleary-eyed boys and a mouth full of canker sores (Jacobs) due to all the chocolate consumption. But we had some wonderful family time as the boys massacred their dad in Mario Kart. We also had a fabulous Easter Sunday with family and thoughts of our Savior.

The Activity Barn in McCall

So-I think the only activities available at the barn are tubing and cross-country skiing. But tubing was enough for us. Everyone had a great time.

Apparently we have no life...

except for working on the cabin. We went up for a couple of days over Spring break to McCall to work on the floor.



We told the kids if they worked hard, we could play hard. Our first days activity was swimming in the hotel pool. Emma was THRILLED! She's been wanting to go swimming for about a month now. Summertime cannot come soon enough for her (or her mom). The next day, we worked a long time.



Then we had some super fun! We were able to go sledding at The Activity Barn in McCall. Everyone had a blast! Dallin thought it was even more fun than snow-skiing.

Another Boy Scout?

Today we took a family trip to the cabin to haul up the wood floor. Grandma and Grandpa Atchley came with us. As usual, Emma packed her purse full of all her pacis and lipsticks (chapsticks). About halfway there, Grandpa couldn't remember if he had brought the tape measure. Emma pipes up, "I have the green tape measure in my pink purse." Way to go Em!

As Steve was hauling in the boxes of flooring, it was my job to cut the plastic and open the ends of the boxes. Emma wanted to help and I had to tell her I didn't have any more scissors. She said, "I have some scissors," and scampered off. She comes right back in with a pair of child scissors and jumps right in cutting plastic.



Jacob sees us all working and really wants to help. I explain that he and Emma will have to take turns since we don't have any more scissors. "I have some more scissors," says Emma and off she goes. She returns with another pair of scissors for J to use. Apparently she has learned the Boy Scout motto of Be Prepared.

I am so proud of all the help-Dallin was great at watching out for everyone outside, and even helped Steve carry in a few boxes. Hadyen, oblivious to the entire days events, was plopped in the dining room window reading his Harry Potter book.

First French Braid

Finally! My little princess who hates to have her hair washed, much less combed, finally let me french braid her hair. After forcing her hair wash, I wasn't sure if this would go over tonight. But, many thanks to her friend and fellow Sunbeam at church, Kamae. Kamae had her hair in braids a couple of weeks ago and I happened to mention something about it in front of Emma. (Please note that Kamae has long blonde hair.) So, tonight when preparing for the combing-out-wet-hair-battle-complete-with-tears-on-both-our-parts, I asked if she wanted me to braid her hair, Emma asked, "Just like Kamae?" That was all it took. She sat so still and was so proud for me to take her picture when she was finished.

What was I thinking?

I wander through my house in a daze, wondering what was happened to my house? There are piles of laundry that didn't quite get washed, blanket remnants of forts that didn't get put away, thread and pins left out from Emma's sunday bag sewing project, dishes on the counter that needed to be washed two days ago, cracker crumbs from after-school snacks turned to ammunition for brother fights. AAGH!! How can things get this bad?
I pause, and look at my dining room floor, and realize I do it to myself. Instead of staying on top of my house and my children, I lose myself in crazy projects. This week, it was the Activity Day girls Articles of Faith Frenzy.


We are trying to memorize the Articles of Faith, so each time a girl can say one to me, (I am currently without a partner), she will receive a tag with a reminder word on it. So-let's do the math, 11 girls X 13 A of F, + a couple extra for me to practice on = 145 tags. Painting, then stamping, then cutting ribbon, trying to keep my own children away from this project! WOW! I can't wait until 5:00 p.m. when I can close the door on this. (But then I guess I will just have to pull out the vacuum...someday I will rest, someday!)

F.H.E. Activity

The cabin is coming along!

Here's the view from the dock. We are so excited to see the progress. Can hardly wait for this summer and all the fun family times! Emma has already assigned out where everyone will be sleeping-and she was excited to be in McCall with the snow.

Queen of the snow hill!

10 doctos apponitments in 8 days

YIKES! First-we take Dallin to the developmental pediatric neurologist specialist. We get the confirmed diagnosis that Dallin does have Asperger's Syndrome (a high-functioning form of autism). So, now we are equipped with counselors and social skills classes and a note saying "Do not Fail this kid in P.E."

Next, Hayden and Dallin have their yearly check-up, which they haven't had for the past 3 years. All is well but they need some immunizations. The next day, each of their arms is swollen , red and HOT.

Hayden's is about 3x 2 inches and Dallin's is 2x2. We have to take them to the after hours clinic. The dr. there thinks it may be a local reaction, but outline it with a marker and make sure it doesn't get bigger.

The next morning, Hayden's has grown to about 5 1/2 inches x2 inches and Dallin's remains the same. Since Jacob and Emma have their yearly exam this day, I take all 4 kids down there. Our pediatrician says it is a local reaction that is seen maybe in 1 out if 50 kids and how odd is that that both of my kids had the reaction. Well-needless to say, we did not give Jacob his chicken pox booster that day.

Then-a couple of days later, I take Hayden in to do the allergy scratch test. As background-this kid has had allergies since he was about 3. He has been on and off all sorts of allergy medications. Steve had to get allergy shots as a teenager, Jacob has eczema, and all of my kids have these rough little bumps on their tgriceps which are a genetic allergy sign. So-we fill out the 15-page questionnaire, the Dr. says all the signs point to allergies, let's do the scratching. So-the gal comes in, gives him about 20 allergens and then we wait. Absolutely nothing! Only the test spot worked. Are you kidding me?! The doctor comes back and says, we're going to do some more. So, in comes the gal and on the backs of both his arms, he gets another 10 or so allergen.s. We wait, again-NOTHING!! Maybe a tiny spot for dog and cat, but the nurse thinks not really.

So-the doctor comes in and says weird, but about half the people that present with allergy symptoms do not have a allergen trigger. So-we have a new nose spray and eye drop to try. Pretty crazy.

As an update, the boys arm redness went away and everything seems fine.

Hayden turns 12!!

What a handsome yet crazy kid!! (Next time I am making him brush his teeth before the photo!) And getting him to give me a real smile instead of the I'm a maniac in the making look!


Tying his own tie!! He was so sweet-he kept saying the only thing I want for my birthday is one of those vesty things the guys were to church. You mean a suit coat? Yah, that. Thank heavens for Burlington Coat Factory! He sure looks sharp. I am somewhere between tears and a giggle watching him pass the sacrament. He looks so sharp and takes the resposibility of the preisthood very seriously.

We are so blessed to have Hayden in our family. He is great fun to be around and keeps the conversation going. What a special time!

Here are a couple of friends having Bubblegum pie at the party.

Wow