THE CLARK CLAN!!!

SOOOO, I FINALLY broke down and started a blog! Never thought I would, but all you friends who have bravely gone before me, gave me courage and hope, that a crazed, sleep deprived Mom like me could do it too! Hopefully I will figure out how to do cool stuff like you all, but for now, a few pictures and journal entries will have to do!

HIGHLIGHTS OF 2008:
This winter seemed to last forever, maybe it felt that way since I was counting down my last trimester of our 4th girl, Avery Marie Clark. (Yes, fourth! Good thing Scott is a great girl Dad! He toughens them up, gets them to all play sports, and can calm them down immediately!) Avery came two weeks early in April and has been SO much fun! Of course, she really has FOUR mothers, as the others are 9, 8, and 5 1/2! I am finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel as she officially slept through the night this week! I had been a walking zombie (as all moms, right?!), but now, I think 5 hours in a row is a treat! Avery is a chunky, er, healthy baby weighing in at 15 lbs 15 oz at four months! As long as she is taking it from me, I think the chunkier, the better!

OTHER highlights include: Dance Concert/Competitions for Shailee, Rilee, and Eden; Las Vegas with dad's golf;




Vacations to Breckenridge, CO outside of Vail with my family to meet up with Jeremy and his family. Gorgeous views everywhere we turned!;









and our yearly Lake Powell trip with my family, to name a few.

Also, Rilee got baptized and we blessed Avery the same day, very cool. They had great family turn out, which made them feel very special. To make it even better, their cousin, Ashlyn, got baptized too--very fun and unforgettable for them!




For us, school is already in full swing as our year round track started July 28 this year! It seems crazy that 3 of my 4 girls are in Elementary together! (Can't wait for Parent Teacher conferences...!) I am amazed at how well they all adjust and seem to excel and and love learning! Eden, 5, especially has been excited to start Kindergarten. She can't wait to do her "homework" and loves reading already. It is weird to not have her around with me all day, which is an adjustment, but I'm getting through it! I certainly have enjoyed the time to spend doing just Avery, 4 months. And just when I get through a feeding and a nap for her, the girls are home, all fighting for their turn to hold her again!

I love summer and the looks on my kids' faces when they are beet red and panting from running too hard, or from riding their bikes, or from getting their "exercise". (Rilee, 8, especially seems to love anything to do with exercising! In fact, once we were at Grandma's and all the Aunts wanted to do a workout together. Rilee decided to join in and by the time we met her in the gym, she was running on the treadmill on her own at 6.2 mph! Gotta love her energy!) I also love how they get to play all day with their many friends, since there is usually about 10-12 kids in our greencourt in front of our house every night playing games. So fun!

We're especially excited that summer will last a bit longer as our year round track will take another break the last 2 weeks of August and first week of September. Oh, to be a kid again, and only worry about how to quickly do your chores (or pretend you did and try and trick Mom), so you can decide who to play with that day! Sprinklers, ice cream, BBQs, s'mores, vacations, swimming...how can one NOT love summer?!