Our Little Dancer!!

Its been such a great year for Vienna and I just wanted to post a few pics of her competitions. She did a duet with her best friend Taylee this year and they did very well. At their first competition they took 2nd, at their second competition they took 2nd overall, and at the last competition she took 1st place!! We were so excited for her. She also did very well with her group taking 2nd and 1st twice. No more competitions but recital is just around the corner. She has 6 dances in recital this year so she will be one busy little girl! We are so proud of her! Great job Vie!

Getting Out!

The Higbee Kids at Arches (delicate arch in the background)
Vienna and Balanced Rock
Kael ready to attack the desert!
Mama and Baby Cache (hoofin' it of course)
Saxon out for a midnight ride! (note the Spiderman moon boots in 80 degree weather, Sweet!)

Being pregnant and then having a baby can tie you down a little, so we decided to take a weekend trip to Moab for some good ol' fashioned fun! We had a blast! The kids got to try out their mountain bikes in the desert (Bryce got to do Slickrock), we got to see their favorite sight (balanced rock) in Arches, we rolled down an enormous sand dune, hiked a lot, swam a lot, and ate some good food! What could be better. The only problem was it was way too short. I could spend a month in Moab and it still wouldn't be enough time. I just love that place and I love that my kids love it too. It is definately a family favorite destination. School ends next week and we are just getting ready for summer! No big plans. Lots of swimming lessons and playing with friends. I just started back teaching dance and it's going to be awhile before I am back to normal, but I guess thats how it goes. Cache is doing great! He has yet to have an uninterrupted nap due to three siblings who are completely in love with him, but he doesn't seem to mind too much. He will definately be easy going because he has no choice. We are just so happy to have him here!

Updates!

Well, just thought I would post because I think someone told Mark they needed a link to my blog to catch up on us! I know Lori has it, but anyone else - here it is!

You can see we've been really busy! Hope you all had a great Mother's day. I have had my littlest sister Natalie here for the past 2 weeks helping us out until the baby comes and it has truly saved my sanity!! It's getting really hard to move, yet thanks to her I have not been put on complete bed rest like with Lena and Dane! Mark put together our new ROUND crib today in the baby's room! I am really excited about that. Her room is slowly coming together.

Mark is working hard as always- they are in the process of searching for a third partner at his practice- so that it continues to grow. Lena is learning to read slowly- it's been a struggle for us but it is finally working. She is loving the spring weather though and riding her bike a lot. We are excited that she was accepted into a Magnet school specializing in the ARTS for 1st- 5th grade. She will love that I am sure. Dane is my sweet boy as always. Lately he has been carrying a bag around saying he's really busy and has to go to work- as a race car driver. Big shock- huh! haha. He told me the other day that when he drives his race car Mark and I, Lena and Natalie should all come to watch him. haha! So cute.

Anyway- that's all for now - we'll keep ya'll updated when the baby comes! Love ya!

Mark and Rachel

Geoff at Invitational Track Meet.

Geoffrey had another meet tonight. His Best was 5'-8 this year but tonight he had a break through. It was windy so I thought he would probably not do very well but his adustments came together. They made everyone start at 5'-8 which was Geoff's highest jump and he was worried, but he jumped that on his first try. Then they moved it up to 5'-10. He also was able to jump that on his first attempt. Then they moved it up to 6'-0, 4" over his best. He jumped it on his second attempt. He was surprised, and so was I. So he placed 4th out of 20 jumpers, most of which were Juniors and Seniors. And I thought this would be a building year. Here is the video.

Hi again. Well it is starting again. Stephanie is on the Tennis Team and won a match the other day. Thats nice, as it has been a hard season.

She also went to Prom with Aaron. This is the picture that I like the best.

Geoff and Morgan are starting their baseball seasons again. Geoff is also on the Track team and his best High jump this year is 5'-8.




Jessica is finishing her spring term at the local college and is going to work at North American Stainless this summer as an Intern in the Safety Department.

Super Stoked for Summer. We can't wait to fill the boat with $5 gas. Hope everyone is well. We miss you all so much.

Congrats Bryce and Lori on you beautiful Baby. Keep up the good work Allen.

Love you all. Brian, Roxanne, Jess, Steph, Geoff, Morgan

He's Finally Here!

Cache Thomas
10 lb. 7oz.

I came home from the hospital today (a day early) because I am really missing my bed. The only problem is, my bed is too high to get up into so I will have to get creative! It is good to be home. Bryce and I had a nice relaxing and quiet day here because the kids are at mom and dads. They are on their way home right now and we are preparing for our quiet little home to once again become the wonderful crazy home that it usually is. The kids can't wait to see their little brother again. I am going to have to get out my kitchen timer to rotate who gets to hold Cache. He is going to get a lot of attention, thats for sure. I stocked up on hand sanitizer and we are ready to go.

The surgery went beautifully. No problems at all. I am recovering quite well too. Other than the usual post surgery/delivery pains, I am doing great! Don't get me wrong, I am not doing cartwheels (yet!) I am excited to take it easy for awhile.

Cache is a perfect baby. I have only heard him cry once and that was because he gets a little impatient for food. All the nurses at the hospital fought over who got to hold him next because they all loved him so much. He is a big boy with lots to squish! Squishy babies are the best! So, that is all the news. We are so excited to have Cache! Here are a few pictures! The bloody ones are for Brian!!

Spring Break Surf Trip.

Hi everyone. Like to tell you a story about three guys who wanted to get out of the rat race and chase the sun in Cocoa Beach and the ramps at the Orlando Watersports Center. The plan was.. there is no plan, other than camp on the beach, eat cerial out of the box, ride the waves and soak up the sun. The weather was bad in Indiana and we were all burned out from school and work.

No Worries!

We found the best Philly steak and Cheese in the whole state.

Geoff rode in a nice one while I was on the pier to snap a pic.

It was all over too fast.

Go Lori. Go Lori.. ooh. ooh. ooh Good Luck ..We love you.

Big Basin Redwood Forest fun

We have fun dragging the kids away from their normal daily rituals and putting them in the thick of nature and history. The last thing they want to do on a school weekend is learn more stuff.

The Big Basin Redwoods State Park has a surprising number of waterfalls and a wide variety of environments from lush canyon bottoms to sparse chaparral-covered slopes. Many animals such as deer, raccoon, coyote, fox, an occasional bobcat, mountain lion, and many bird species--including California quail, egret, heron, hawk, owl, woodpecker, and the endangered marbled murrelet--call Big Basin home. And of course there are always plenty of banana slugs!

Hi every one We are coming out of winter in Indiana here and man are we glad for that. We don't normally get much snow, but just just a few weeks ago we got 14" all in one day.

We had some fun with it though.

Morgan made some good use of one of our ice storms this winter. Hopefully we have a cold winter next year because we all have hockey skates and I am planning a hockey rink in the back yard.

Then it all melted within a week or so then Morgan and I went back packing in the Apalacian mountains with the scouts.

It was a very nice trip.

We Hiked in Natural Bridge State Park in KY.

Good Luck Lori. Hope that everyone is enjoying life, you might as well, you only get one ticket to ride.

CYA Brian

Happy Birthday Mom!

Mom and Dad came over tonight for the ol' Corned Beef and Cabbage Affair! I asked mom if she ever gets tired of that on her birthday and she said "No Way! I love the stuff!" So I guess I did o.k.! We ate, watched home movies, talked, had cake and played. It was a great night. Mom loved her dishes and she promised me that she would donate all of her old dishes back to where they came from!! We sure do have a great mother. She is such a great grandma and we love her! Happy Birthday Mom! How does it feel to be 39 again??

Had to break the blogging dry spell!

Vienna and her friends at a pseudo-slumber party.
Hannah Saxontanna! Oh to have a big sister!!
I love these moments!
No, this is not a blue whale!!

Well, I wish I had some great news to share especially since it has been so long, but nothing new to report here. We are family living in a state of waiting. The kids are very impatient for their new brother to arrive and I have to admit I am a little impatient as well. I am just counting down the days and hoping that he comes sooner than later. I am still teaching and it is getting very difficult, however I am in the middle of choreographing 11 dances and it is something that needs to be finished before I deliver so away we push. The kids are so excited to finally get outside. Our 25 foot piles of snow around town have finally vanished thanks of a week of 50-60 degree weather and other than a lot of really soggy grass it has been beautiful. For some reason this winter has been particularly long. Since January we have been hammered with storm after storm with huge amounts of snow. Usually I have no problem with this, but being unable to snowboard doesn't really make me very happy. Vienna is getting ready for dance compeitions. Soccer starts for her and Kael in a week. Saxon is still trying to drive us all crazy!! So things are pretty much the same around here. Like I said, we are living in a state of waiting.

I had a very special experience today and thought I should share. Bryces friend from high school passed away last week and we had the privillage of going to his funeral. I say privillage because I believe that not a single person who attended was not touched spiritually by the words that were expressed. Rob was 34. He was diagnosed with meloma cancer in December after a terrible migrane. He had 5 children, his youngest 2 year old twins. It was difficult to see his family, whom I know well, suffer. One speaker said"For the past three months hundreds of you have been praying for a miracle. Praying that the Lord would provide a miracle that Rob might be cured and many of you feel that that miracle was not granted. I want to show you the many miracles that did take place. Husbands and wives held each other a little closer. Families spent more time together. Countless prayers were said to our Heavenly Father. Temple attendance had increased. Paychecks were donated to children that people didn't even know. Many miracles happened, just not in the way we were expecting them to."

This talk was so powerful. I have spent my day pondering this. I too held my husband a little closer. Reminded my children how much I love them. And I drew from this experience a deep gratefulness for the gospel in my life. So for those of you who read this, I hope you might for a moment feel the same.

Allen's MTC pictures

Sorry for goofing up the previous post, I'm just learning how to do this!

Here are a few pictures of Allen in the MTC that I thought you might enjoy. I posted his address a couple of days ago. His P-day is on Wednesdays. His Birthday is Febuary 5th for anyone wanting to wish him Happy Birthday!

Here is his last e-mail:

things are going well here, its cold, but im tough... ill go and try to find a pack, it'l be a little tough though, because i can only go on P-days, and i don't have a car, so that means we have to ride everywhere... this can be tough, but ill see what i can do. Its pretty windy today, but most of the snow has melted, which means... MuD... and its a groady brownish orange mud, and it makes your pants look crappy --.-- Ive been feed well, thanks for the care package, it turned out that we had the chance to go at like 9:30 at night to get food after i wrote the email saying that i probably wouldn't go shopping... Not a whole lot has happened this week, other then we have been trackting and pretty often and one of our investigators is reading in the Book of Mormon and we think that he likes it. Oh, last night, we went over and played games at another companionships apartment <> and was up till 1:30 AM before we got home and to bed, and we also set off the alarm to the house which Frazzeled me for a bit because i was the one that set it off >.<> Oh well, always fun... Love you guys tones and happy Birthday again! Tell everyone Hi for me and that i love em...

I love taking pictures of myself in the mirror!

Hey everyone... I'm heading to the Temple!

Heading to class or is it dinner????

His classroom

Allen with his companion Elder Dickerson (middle) and another Elder

Allen showing off the MTC sign

I think this is his district at the MTC

Clowning around for Christmas

Well this is home...my bed is the bottom one.

Showing off for the camera as always!