I know, I'm really late posting this, but better late than never, right??
We had a really fun 4th of July this year. The kids LOVED the fireworks and the parade.
Ronan loved the candy even more than the fireworks! 
Niamh took this pic of Scott and I, it turned out pretty good. 
Last week we went down to Utah for a few days. Scott had a food show to go to, so the kids and I tagged along. We had a great time.
The kids loved swimming, Ronan would have stayed in there all day if we would have let him. He gave us a scare when he took his floaties off and jumped in the pool, luckily he has done it before and Scott was right there beside him. He has no fear at all. 
The hotel that they put us up in was fabulous. It was the nicest hotel that we have ever stayed in. The kids kept asking if we could live there. Kian even said "I have an idea Mom. We should give our house to someone who doesn't have one and then we should live here forever" LOL.
This was the view looking from the kitchen into the front room. Yes it had a flat screen TV and a DVD player.
A close up of the kitchen. It had a dishwasher, fridge/freezer with an icemaker, microwave and stove. All of the cupboards were stocked with pans, plates, glasses etc. It was awesome. 
This was the bedroom, with a very comfy king size bed and a flatscreen TV on the wall. The second pic is looking into the bathroom. Ro was saying "cheese" and really wanted to be in the pic.
Close up of the bathroom. It had a huge shower and closet.
To finish, a super cute pic of Liam that I couldn't resist throwing in.
Ronan's birthday was May 28th. I know, it has taken me forever to blog this. It has been crazy since the kids got out of school for summer.
We decided to just have a fun family day for Ro's birthday. He really can't handle much more than that. We started out opening presents. He was more excited about his Ironman birthday card then he was about anything else. 
We then took him to the Zoo. He loved the animals and it was sooo cute to hear him make the animal sounds. He had a blast. 
After that it was over to Scottys for shakes. Then we picked Niamh up from school and went out for dinner. Once that was done we came home and had a few of our close friends over for cake and ice-cream. Ro got a slip n'slide for his birthday so we set it up and the kids had so much fun.
When it was time to sing Happy Birthday, Ronan was so excited that we didn't even make it halfway through the song before he blew the candles out and started clapping....it was so cute!
Ronan has come so far this past year and I am so proud of him. Simple every day tasks can be such a struggle for him but he is an amazing little boy with a very, very strong spirit. He truly is an angel. There are many days when he drives me crazy but then there are the sweet moments that I wouldn't trade for anything. If anyone can overcome the challenges that he faces it is Ronan. I can't wait to see where this next year will take him.
Ro, I am so proud of you and so blessed to be your Mammy. You are such a special boy and I am so grateful that you are part of our family. I can't wait to see where the road ahead of you will lead. We love you buddy!! xxxx
Kian had his last day of preschool on the same day as Niamh's dance recital. His preschool teachers are awesome. I would highly recommend them to anyone! For the kids last day Jana threw a pirate party at her home. The kids had a blast. Kian was soooo excited and he was the cutest pirate I have ever seen. 
Niamh's dance recital was on May 20th. She looked so beautiful and grown up. I don't know where my baby girl has gone. I do know that her Dad is in big trouble when she is a teenager!! 
Earlier today it was a little windy but nothing out of the ordinary for Idaho. About 4p.m. Scott had to run into work and do some stuff. About 3 minutes after he left I heard this huge noise and Niamh and Kian came running out of Niamh's room scared. A huge storm had hit all of a sudden and it sounded like a freight train. The next thing I knew, our trampoline was flying through the air outside the living room window.
The wind had lifted it about 20ft into the air and was tossing it about like it was a piece of paper. It was pretty scary to watch. So our huge, heavy trampoline that looked like this last summer
now looks like this!!! 
Crazy or what?? The wind carried it about 200 yards and dumped it in the middle of the lot that the Charter School sits on. It is an absolute miracle that no-one was hurt. The car park of the school was full of cars and people and I watched, with my heart in my mouth, as the trampoline was tossed in the wind praying that it wouldn't hit anyone or anything. Unfortunately we weren't that lucky and Jeff & April's poor gazebo now looks like this! We are sooo sorry guys!!!
What a blessing that the only things hurt by the freak storm that passed through were material possessions that can be replaced. It was a huge reminder to me today how things can change in the blink of an eye. I am so grateful that my kids weren't playing on that trampoline and that nobody else was hurt.
Sunday 26th was my handsome hubby's 30th birthday. We went out to celebrate on Saturday night. We started out with dinner at Bubba's and then we went to the Second Chance Prom hosted by Classy 97. It's a free dance that they host once a year. They played all the old classic 80's and 90's songs. We went with our good friends, Kris & Jaime. It was soooo much fun to get dressed up and go out. I LOVED spending a few hours dancing and chatting with my handsome husband and not having to worry about what the kids were getting into or anything else. It was so much fun and it made me remember all over again why I fell in love with him. 
We are already planning on going next year, anyone who wants to go with us, the more the merrier. I would definitely recommend it as the best free date I have ever been on.
Scott, I hope you had a fabulous birthday. You certainly deserve it. Thanks for being you, for loving me unconditionally and for being a fabulous Dad to our kids. Thank you for working hard so I can stay at home and raise our children. Thank you for being a worthy Priesthood holder and taking me to the Temple. I am so blessed to be able to share eternity with you. I love you so much! Happy Birthday Baby xxx
Easter weekend was so much fun. On Saturday morning we took the kids to an Easter egg hunt. They had a great time finding eggs. Liam figured it out pretty quickly, once he did there was no stopping him! 
After the egg hunt we took the kids out for a fun lunch, then we came home and dyed eggs. Ronan LOVED it. He just wanted to put all of the eggs in every colour dye. His eggs were beautiful by the time he was done!! 
The kids all got new church clothes for Easter. They all looked gorgeous. I loved the boys in their suits, they were sooo handsome. (I know I'm biased, but look how cute they are!)
I made the most of getting Niamh into a pretty dress this year. Those days are coming to an end sooner than I would like, but at least she humoured me for one more year. 
Not the best shot of all 4 of them, but we take whatever we can get around here. 
I am so grateful for the Easter season that we were able to celebrate together as a family. I had a lot of time to reflect on the true meaning of Easter. We decided to simplify things this year, the kids didn't get a lot, but they didn't care. They were so happy with what they did get.
I am so grateful for my Saviour, for the sacrifice that he made for me. That he loved me enough to lay down his life for me. I am so grateful for the resurrection and for the knowledge it gives me that I will live again. That I will be blessed with the opportunity to live with my family eternally. Nothing will bring me greater joy than to return home and see ALL of my family there with me. It isn't easy, but it will definately be worth it!!
The first week of April, the sun came out for a few days. One day was so nice (about 65*) that I decided to take the boys to the park for a picnic. We had so much fun. The boys loved playing on the slides. We were the only ones there for about an hour. 
Liam was so funny, he kept hiding behind the big tree that was by the playground and making the funniest faces when he popped round the corner. I managed to catch one of his cute expressions.
On Good Friday I left for 10 minutes to go and pick Niamh up from school. When I came back, this is what I found....
Earlier that morning I had mentioned in passing to Scott, that we needed to take Kian to get his haircut that afternoon. Kian decided that since it was 2:30pm and we still hadn't taken him, he would do it himself. ARGH!!!! I was sooooo mad. We took him to get it "fixed" and the hairdresser did a pretty good job, considering what she had to work with!! We just have to spike it to camouflage the parts that he cut down to the scalp. 
April 2nd is World Autism Awareness Day. It is a cause that is very close to my heart. Living with a child with autism is very challenging, but I wouldn't trade it for the world.
Ronan has taught me soooo much. He has taught me lots and lots of patience. =) He has taught me unconditional, Christlike love. That is on his part, not mine. I am working on it, but he is such an example to me. He loves everyone, no matter what. He is so forgiving and eager to help. He is such a sweet, special boy. We are truly blessed to have him as part of our family.
Having said that, there are definitely days when I don't feel that way. There are many days when I cry and ask "Why Ronan, why my child?" Receiving the diagnosis was very hard. Although I already knew that Ronan had issues, having someone confirm it was very difficult. I have sat many times and wondered whether Ronan will ever get married, have children, be able to live on his own. For a long time we wondered whether we would ever hear his sweet voice. If he would ever say "I love you." The first time he said it was AMAZING! Every new word brings great joy, it is something that we work very hard at and some days it breaks my heart to see how frustrated he is when there is something he wants to share with me and he cannot communicate it. It is a daily struggle but every new achievement makes it worthwhile.
Please take a minute to think of someone you know who is affected by Autism. 1 in 150 children is diagnosed with Autism, it is 4 times more likely in boys than girls. That raises the stats for boys to 1 in 94. With odds like that, chances are pretty high that you know and love someone who is living with Autism. I know at our house, we do! We love you Ro, thank you for being YOU!
Niamh has been desperate to loose a tooth for a while now. She is the last one in her class to loose and tooth and was feeling a little sad about it. Her tooth has been wiggly since the beginning of December and she has been giving us a progress report every day.
On Monday when I picked her up from school she said "Hey Mam, there is something back here behind my loose tooth. I think it is my 'permament' tooth"
When we got home I had a look at it and sure enough her permanent tooth was growing in behind the baby tooth. It was pretty far back and I was worried that if it stayed back there she would have to get braces eventually, so I told Scott that he had to pull her baby tooth out. Niamh was so excited that she was going to lose her tooth but as soon as Scott started pulling it and she freaked out!
You can see from this photo that she had been crying, her face was all red but as soon as it was out she stopped and laughed. 
If you look closely at this photo you can see her new tooth growing in behind the hole where her other tooth was.
The tooth fairy came last night and she must have been pretty brave because she left $5, wow it's gone up since I was a kid. I think I got about 50 pence (which is about $1)
